Briella in WI--Cute and Goofy

Briella loved being around so many people willing to play with her or hold her . . . she got goofier every day and I'm not sure if it was the heat, the lack of sleep, or the overdose of attention . . .
The best part about the trip for Brie was the opportunity to hold her newest cousin.  It makes me wonder how she will handle our little one in a couple months . . . the baby cannot be held ALL the time!

Baseball Games

 

Recently we have been to a couple of baseball games . . . last month when my parents were here we went to a WhiteCaps game with my sister's family (above).  Zion's (where I used to teach) baseball team played at the same stadium this past weekend.  Our kids were excited to see Uncle Paul (from church, not a real uncle) play.  We came home with two squishy baseballs, a game ball, and a red shirt from some radio station.  Gideon loves the little baseballs and carries them around the house saying "baseball game" and "baseball game again" and "uncle Paul baseball."
(All photos are from Stephan's i phone)

 Paul had his 100th strike out of the season during the game!  Gideon threw his ball up the stairs around 100 times, too . . .

 Briella found lots of friends to sit by, share snacks with, get autographs with, go to the dugout with, and cuddle with . . . she is way more into people than sports!

Memorial Day Parade

 Jenison has a parade every Memorial Day, last year it was rained out . . . this year the kids could really appreciate the excitement of free candy and all the entries.   Rather than walking to the end of our street and settling for the left over candy at the end of the route, we ventured up the street a mile of so where someone had saved seats (at 7 am).  (Thanks J!)

 I think Briella's favorite was the float of fake animals that waved, although later she told me the frog had candy in his hand and did not give it to her :(  Her least favorite were the various fire trucks making loud noises.

Gideon loved the trucks, including an INONTIME truck that I didn't take a picture of . . . and this mini Tonka truck.  The low point for Gideon was when some boy scout lobed a candy really high and it nailed Gideon's eyebrow (he had a red mark from it).

Fun with Cousins

 We had Sunday dinner at our house with my sisters and their families.  Fun Uncle Stephan was showing/helping/supervising Angry Birds on the ipod and drew quite a crowd.

 We spent a night at my sister's house with their 6 kids--what an adventure.  I always know approximately where my 2 are at our house, but there I was never sure and wondered at times if I lost any?!?!  In the morning the early birds enjoyed some cartoons before pancakes, I thought they were so cute in their PJs.

I didn't get a picture, but later Garret laid down on his tummy and Gideon sat on his back, then decided it would be fun to bounce --Garret said he didn't care and Gideon thought it was awesome.  Fun cousin bonding!

The Park with Grandma and Cousins

This morning we met Grandma B at the park with some cousins, we had a fun time and only a few bumps and falls (all Gideon's). It has been less humid these past few days and that is such a relief---it isn't unbearable to be at a park for a couple of hours, so we took advantage of it!




Snack time. Briella and Ellie have become little buddies after playing 2 of the past 3 days, it is fun to see them interact as they grow.
On his first attempt down this slide Gideon tried to walk down and ending up somersaulting until I could catch him . . . it worked much better with Kate :)

Garret says Gideon is his buddy . . . I have a feeling in a few years Gideon will be climbing and running as much as Garret did today at the park -wow!

WW-- Fun in the Snow and Slipper Exchange

Wordless Wednesday--silly and sweet cousins

Brute and Tiny--what happened?!?!?

Evidently one of these boys has been growing a lot more than the other in the last couple of months! Remember this? So "Brute and Tiny" is no longer appropriate . . . now they're just buddies, I guess.
We had Quinn over for a few hours last night and thought we should take a few pictures, Briella really wanted to get in on the photo shoot and "hodit" and she got Quinn to smile as she let go of him . . .
"hodit" = hold it/ hold him

5 months and counting . . .

All 7 grandkids on the P. side :) I snapped at least 10 shots and this is the only one with all 7 faces visible and no fingers in one boy's nose . . .



Gideon is 5 months and 16 pounds. He is rolling over and enjoying cereal, too. He still smiles when he sees Briella even though she is not always so gentle with him.

Big Star Lake

We recently spent a long weekend up at a cottage on the lake with Stephan's sister and brother and their families. We didn't have the greatest weather, but the one nice day (Monday) we did get the suits out and Briella had a ton of fun with Addy in the sand. Addy taught her to make sand cookies :)
Briella also bonded with their dog Sammy. Saturday afternoon she was bonding with his tail and he took her for a ride. Her forehead met the corner of the end table, it wasn't pretty. She got quite a bruise, but it healed quickly . . .

BOYS

Brian and Caleb, Stephan and Gideon (B&S are 17 months apart, their sons are 6 weeks apart). It was so fun to meet Caleb and have the boys 'play' together.

(I'm noticing this snake and realizing that in the future there could be a lot of trouble with these two. . . I wonder if they'll play tricks on their sister(s?) and cousins with snakes . . . we'll see

PS:To the anonymous impatient family member, our computer has been down and we have been busy with family in town, sorry for the delay. If all goes well I might be able to post again tonight :) Do you think it's funny that your initials are PS (+ W), but the PS part is what is funny to me write now . . . oh my a lame MrHoekema joke, I better stop!

Recently . . .

Mindy got these matching dresses for Tessa and Briella--aren't they cute :)



Stephan and I were the master and mistress of ceremonies Friday night for our friends Bill and Michelle from church. It was a beautiful day and I enjoy weddings because they remind me of our wedding and the joy of being married in the Lord.


I'm just wondering ?!?!?
A. Did anyone notice my big toe in the previous post?
B. Is there another time when being a mistress is not scandalous or just when dealing with MOC and weddings !?!?
C. If I ask more questions will there be more comments . . .