Happy 5th Birthday Sam!!

Sam counts to 10 in 3 languages

In honor of Sam's first week of pre-school...

Adilyn Sings

We like to call her "little and loud"! Whether happy or sad she loves using her voice.

Sam's 4th Birthday

Sam celebrates his 4th birthday with his friend Braylen.
Adilyn shows off her big eyes!
Adilyn likes to greet Sam when he wakes up.
Sam wanted so badly to ride his bike. The problem is that it is winter. No problem... move some furniture and Sam is a happy boy.

Part of Sam's birthday present was a ride on a real train. Dad and Sam rode the Amtrak from GR to Holland where Mom and Adilyn picked us up. We had a great time!

Adilyn

It has been crazy busy as of late, but I at least wanted to give a quick Adilyn photo update.

Week 1

Adilyn is already 1 week old. Kath and I have joked that when Adilyn isn't eating or sleeping she is... crying!



That was really the first couple days. She is adjusting quite well and is happy and awake much more. Here she is happy, being held by Grandma VW.

Meanwhile Sam has been working on his latest stunts at the local skate park. X games, here we come!



Sam got a chance to sit in the cab of an excavator working near our house. It was raining but Sam didn't care, he was having a great time.

Isn't She Beautiful!

Adilyn loves sleeping on Mommy's chest.

Our good-good friends (the Herzogs) took care of Sam for 3 days while we were in the hospital for the birth of Adilyn. He had an incredibly good time. What a gift... Thank you Herzogies!

This one is for you Letha... never mind the outcome of the game. Kath surprised me (Duane) with the Michigan blanket for Adilyn for game day. I love it!

Sam has been a very loving big brother... so far.

Her first ride in the car seat leaving the hospital to come home was obviously exhausting for Adilyn.

I promise the next post (coming soon) will have pictures and videos of Adilyn with her eyes open. Thanks for sharing in this joy with us!

Introducing...

Adilyn Ruth VW - Born on Oct. 2 at 7:58am. She weighs 7lbs 3oz and is 18 1/2".

Thank you so much for all of your thoughts and prayers. Adilyn is a precious gift!

Proud big brother holds Adilyn for the first time.

Summer Rhythm

Ahhh... sweet summer rhythms! Here are some highlights of our summer rhythm that went something like: fishing, playing at the beach, hanging out with good friends, eating good food and sleeping well!

Sam's first catch of the summer!

One of many trips to Millennium Park beach.

That's a good tired.

Sam and Braylen pushing the wagon to the beach.

Freshly picked corn from our garden. Mmmmm good!

Seriously, are there any cuter 3 year olds on the planet?! (Julia & Sam)



Letha, Kath and Sam on a boat ride with friends in Canada.

Sam caught this one entirely by himself (including the cast).

Blast Off!

Kath and I got away for our 13th anniversary!

Stay tuned for a newborn baby-filled picture post coming very soon...

Big Boy Weekend

This past weekend Sam ran his first Junior Jog at the Brian Diemer Race. Kath ran the 5k for the 19th time (this year she was 23 weeks pregnant!).

Brian Diemer was getting the 3 year old boys ready to run and asked if they were fast. He held the microphone up to Sam and Sam said loudly and clearly "I am going to beat you!" That's our boy! Brian had fun with it and made sure that Sam did indeed beat him.

Sam is off to beat Brian!

Kath and Sam after the race. Sam is sporting his gold medal and Kath is sporting the latest member of our family.
Sam has been working hard over the last few weeks earning his "Big Boy Bike." Sunday marked the big day of putting it together and riding it for the first time.

Happy Birthday Sammers!

Wow!! Sam is turning 3! Kath has asked Sam several times to just stay 3 after this birthday. We love the stage Sam is at right now. He is learning so much and he is just funny... well, most of the time. I thought his birthday would be a good reason to catch up on some photos of our family trip to Seattle, WA this past October. Sam on the plane to Seattle, WA in October.
Sam ditching the backpack to hike on his own at Twin Falls.

Aw, yes! Is there anything better for Sam than having Letha read him books?
Sam, painting at the Seattle Children's Museum, is focused!
Sam and Kath picking out the best places to throw rocks at the base of Mt. Rainier.
Duane, Sam, Letha and Kath at the base of Mt. Rainier experiencing an afternoon like a piece of heaven.

My God is so Big!

Grieving, Hope & Healing... yeah not a light post!

I have let life's busyness get the best of me and have completely neglected this blog. That's a bummer because a lot has happened. I hope to get back to some picture updates soon but this post will be a break from the norm and is about the process of mourning a loss.

Recently our sister-in-law lost her 36 year old sister to cancer. As Kath and I have been going through this with them, it has brought back a lot of reflections and feelings from losing our daughter Abby. I remember desperately needing friends and family to go through it with us. I also remember (for me anyway) some well intentioned words of encouragement that simply didn't help. Often the pull for many Christians going through a loss is to focus on the fact that their loved one is in a better place now... Heaven. While this is true and a beautiful thing, I realized that what I really needed at that time was to fully grieve the loss.... and then I could move towards hope. Oddly enough the most comforting moments I had were in the tears and embraces with very few words spoken. Our Pastor came to the hospital shortly after Abby passed away and spent hours with us and he said very little. He embraced us, cried with us and sat in silence with us.... for a while... and it wasn't awkward, it was God's presence... and it was very close.

Music also played a part in mourning Abby's loss. I found myself again being most comforted in a song that was sad and dealt with loss, but didn't wrap it up nicely at the end. The song stays in the moment... it stays sad... it cries out... and fully embraces the pain of loss. I think some very profound healing comes when we let go of the need to wrap up a time of grieving with a nice bow, but rather sit in the sorrow. "The sorrow grows bigger when the sorrow's denied" is a quote from one of my favorite songs that has helped me grieve in a healthier way.

Hope is crucial to healing, but I think hope can be better and more authentic when sorrow is fully engaged without being rushed into "everything is OK".... when it is not OK. My hope for this post is to encourage Lyndz & Brian (and others going through loss) to allow yourselves to fully feel the pain and sorrow of your loss.... so that you can experience God's close embrace because in that close embrace is where healing and hope comes.

Abby's Birthday

On Monday we celebrated Abby's 4th birthday. What would our lives be like with a 4 year old girlie girl running around?! Oh, how we wish she were here!

We rode our bikes to the cemetery to bring a balloon and found Grandma's roses there. Later we went to the beach for some fun in the water...

Of course we had cake on Monday too! Sam helped decorate the pink frosting with sprinkles.

People have asked us, "Is it easier as time goes by?" No, it will never be "easy," but how we feel is different each year as we look forward to celebrating Abby's birthday. When we hear stories from you such as, "I remember Abby each time I wear my pink scarf," or "when a butterfly flits past I think of Abby..." we are so thankful that it's not just us who misses her. We think of her everyday and wonder what adventures we would be having with her and Sam.
Happy Birthday Abby...from Mommy, Daddy & Sam

First Camping...

Aw-yes camping with the Herzogies... is always a highlight for our summer. This year we camped at Muskegon State park.

We went on a couple of letterboxing adventures that Leslie looked up for us. We were successful on finding one of them. For more info on letterboxing... check out it out here. http://www.letterboxing.org/

Julia's potty training didn't stop just because we were camping. Sam decided to pull up a chair and well, we're not quite sure why he pulled up his chair to watch.

Sammer's is growing up too fast.

On Monday it rained... and rained some more. So we all went into our tent and made the best of it!

Now that's a morning of letterboxing and playing hard. The little ones were wiped out!

Sam checking out his first catch!

Sam & Julia absolutely loved riding their bikes around our campsite and just being crazy together.

The crew from the top. Jeremy, Julia, Gabby & Sam.

Thanks again Herzogies for another fun camping trip!