Still a Zoo

I really like living near a big city, with all the amenities it has to offer, like the parks, and the museums, and the zoo, and the thrift stores.  (Yes, the thrift stores rank very highly in my estimation!)  Our three favorite places are the children's museum, the science museum, and the zoo, all of which are conveniently located within walking distance of each other, and bordering Hermann Park, another favorite spot.  All three offer free admission once per week or month, but as of just recently, we have memberships at all three, so we can enjoy them whenever we want.  When I was growing up, the children's museum and the zoo were very rare treats, so unlimited access feels like a real luxury, you know?

Anyway, last Tuesday was this month's free admission day at the zoo, so my sister suggested that we all (the moms and kids anyway) go.

The boys and I, being zoo members, got to skip the line (the lap of luxury, I tell ya) so while we were waiting for the others, the boys of course had to climb on the rhinoceros.

Mercy and her beautiful daughters:

Luke is a popular little guy.

 Thomas and his mama

Admiring some Ankole cattle.  They have impressive horns!

 Snack time!

The petting zoo was a big hit.

As you may have heard, I now have a new niece.  My brother and his wife were blessed with their fourth child a couple of weeks ago.  She's beautiful (of course) and hopefully at some point I'll post some photos.  But life is busier than ever, so no promises. :)

Newest Babies Two, Three, and Four

This year, we've added three more babies.  This one is my youngest niece.  At the time of this photo, she was in my kitchen begging me for a bite of pancake fresh off the griddle.  And how could I say no to this eager little face?

Then over the summer, John and Naomi were blessed with this little guy.  He is actually smiling in this photo, but you can't tell because his mouth is full.  (Might be teething...)  He is a very good natured and smiley little boy.  I think he looks a lot like his mother.

And finally, just a few weeks ago, Carl and Stephanie had this little boy.  Or maybe little is not the right word.  He was and is a very big baby!  Hard to believe he's not much more than one month old.  Look at his little mouth.  It reminds me of somebody.  Hmmm.

Some siblings and cousins of the above, along with Joseph (left) and Rev. K. D. MacLeod (right):

This was taken today at our Thanksgiving dinner.  Mr. MacLeod is visiting from Scotland for two weeks.

Family Photo 2012

As usual, I have quite a backlog of things to post, but no time to post them.  This week has been especially busy, because I am preparing to fly up to Indiana this Saturday to attend the Reformed Presbyterian International Conference.  I expect that the conference will be quite interesting, and am very much looking forward to it.

Anyway, this is just a quick post to share a photo.  Mom and Dad are here visiting from Israel, so on Monday, before Caleb and Leah took off for a month in Canada, we all got together for one last visit.  We thought it would be a nice opportunity to take a family photo.

So here's Mom and Dad, their children and spouses, and grandchildren.  Back row, left to right: Ben, Leah holding Preston, Caleb holding Brooklyn, Jesh holding Shona, and Mark holding Charlotte.  Front row, left to right: Elijah, me, Dad holding Noah, Mom holding Olivia, and Mercy.

I'd like to think that when I get back from the conference, I'll have time to post more, but the reality is, I may not.  But I will try. :)

Growing Fast

So, Noah lost his first tooth.

Isn't he the cutest thing??

He can also be pretty silly...

With his big brother.  Elijah does not look at all himself here.  This blank polite smile is most unusual for him.  He is usually much more expressive.

(Did you notice Elijah's new glasses?)

 

The boys have grown so much.  They really aren't my babies any more, are they?

Speaking of babies, did you know that my little sister Mercy is expecting her third?  She is due in December.  I can't wait to meet my newest niece or nephew. :)

Wedding Bells

Wow, I had a big surge of blog hits on Saturday and Monday!  I know why you're here--you want to hear about the wedding, don't you?

Dave and Sarah were married on Friday.  The wedding was lovely (happy, but a little sad at the same time), and the reception quite enjoyable.  I took lots of pictures and I'll post a few in a minute, but first I have to give you an update.

When I wrote about Sarah's wedding shower, I said it was too bad that Sarah's sisters Leah and Rachel wouldn't be here for the wedding.  Well, as it turns out, they were here after all!  You see, Leah had to come back to the US a little earlier than expected.  And it would have been very difficult to fly back alone, while pregnant, with two small children, so her sister Rachel came along (with two of her own children) too.  While it will no doubt be hard for Leah and Caleb to be separated till March, the silver lining to the cloud is that Leah and Rachel were both able to attend their sister's wedding!  How nice to have all seven siblings together for the momentous occasion. :)

I'm sure you are all eager to see pictures, so here goes:

The groomsmen were all Canadian cousins of Dave's: Jonathan, Ben, and Randy.  The bridesmaids were Sarah's sisters Anna and Leah, and her cousin Shelby.  Ushers were Sarah's brother Josh, and Dave's brother Casey.  Here is the receiving line, after the wedding.  Left to right: Sarah; Dave, giving his mother a hug; Jonathan; Anna; Margaret greeting Ben Kuiper; Leah; Randy; Mr. Kuiper walking past Shelby; Josh; and Casey.

The wedding was performed by Rev. John MacLeod of London.  Here is Rev. MacLeod outside of church, talking to Donald from--you guessed it--Scotland.  As you can see, it was a beautiful day, warm and sunny.

The head table at the reception.  Left to right: Randy, Ben, Jonathan, Sarah, Dave, Anna, and Leah.  I managed to cut Shelby out of the picture somehow.  Oops!

But I did get a nice picture of Shelby later on (she's on the right), with Anna, and a Canadian fellow who decided to jump into the picture. :)

Mr. and Mrs. Kuiper were very happy to have gained a daughter-in-law.  Look at their smiles!

Here is Sarah with her stepmum Anna.  Anna had the most beautiful purple hat.  Sadly, I did not get a photo of the hat.  

Leah is supposed to be staying off her feet and taking it easy, but she was a trooper and managed to stand through most of the wedding, only sitting down for a few minutes at the end.  I tried to help her take it easy by taking Brooklyn off her hands at every opportunity.  Of course, I was competing for Brooklyn with Leah's siblings, who are also happy to hold Brooklyn every chance they get!
Here are Leah and Shona looking pretty.

Shona was happy to reunite with her cousin Olivia.  These two get along beautifully.  They have long conversations that the rest of us can't really understand.  Shona is concentrating on her candy here, but of course just after I took the photo, she gave me a beautiful smile. :)

Our accessor elder from Scotland, Mr. MacPherson. 

My sister Mercy and her mother-in-law, also the bride's aunt, Terry.

Jenny and Martha from Canada.  

A good-looking Dutch couple. In the background are Dave and Sarah with Rachel Winkels.  

Another good-looking Dutch couple--well, half Dutch--Mr. and Mrs. Weprin. :)

Dave and Sarah with John, who is looking forward to a wedding of his own in about two months.

Stephanie and Carl.

My boys.  Easily the most handsome young men at the reception!

James and Hayley with their two boys.  Hayley made the wedding cakes--cheesecakes that is.  The chocolate caramel pecan cheesecake was fantastic!

Last but not least, Nat and Gerrit, photographer and assistant photographer, respectively.

(Is that enough photos for you?!  Sorry I don't have a better shot of the bride and groom!  Though if you're on Facebook, you've probably seen photos there, and I'm sure there will be more forthcoming on Facebook and on a blog or two.)

Now, sadly, we must say farewell to Dave and Sarah, who are off to Canada to start a new home together.  We wish them the best in their married life.

Brunch at my Sister's

The other day my sister hosted a birthday brunch for her oldest daughter, Olivia, who has recently turned two.  My sister is quite a good cook, so I was curious to see what she would serve for brunch.  As it turns out, she served a delicious breakfast casserole, along with fruit salad, muffins, coffee cake, and these delicious scones (plus, of course, juice and coffee).  The scones were so pretty, I had to take a picture. 

Above the table were these lovely poofy things (sorry, I don't know what you would call them) made of tissue paper.  This is the sort of thing that I would never think to do, but my sister has more of an eye for pretty things than I do, I think.

My boys are old enough now to be mostly independent at social gatherings, leaving me free to socialize--and hold babies. :)  Here is Caleb and Leah's youngest.  She is such a cheerful and good-natured baby.  This picture doesn't really capture her cuteness, but it's the best I could do.

And this is Calvin (Joseph and Carolyn's youngest) looking serious.  Look, his eyes match his shirt.

A few of the children (and one adult) eating lunch.  From left to right, Shona, Sarah, Jenna, Cameron, Elijah, and Noah.

Here is Julia (Calvin's big sister) reading a card to the birthday girl, Olivia.  I have a hard time getting good pictures of Olivia.  I have concluded that a lot of her cuteness is in the way she acts, and the way she talks, and you can't really capture that in a photo.  But you can still tell that she's cute. :) 

More pictures coming soon!

Travel

Jesh recently went to Europe for a conference.  

The weekends before and after his conference, he spent in London,
where he did some sightseeing with a friend, and attended FP services.

He saw, among other things, Big Ben and the Westminster Palace.

Then he was off to Vienna, where, between conference meetings,
he wandered the streets

taking photos of rose gardens

and old cathedrals

and Mozart's grave.

I haven't traveled much myself, but someday I hope to.  It would be nice to make it to Canada again; and some day I would really like to visit Scotland and England to meet all the wonderful people that I've heard so much about.

Of course, being on a tight budget, I won't be traveling at all for quite some time.  But it's quite easy to open any number of mini-savings accounts through my online bank, so with a few clicks I opened an account entitled "travel."  Of course, since travel isn't high on the priorities list, I didn't have much of anything to put into the account; but it feels good to have made a beginning, anyway. :)

A Trip to the "Alligator Park"

We live not far from a state park known for its population of alligators.  One morning recently, I checked the weather forecast and saw that the day would be exceptionally beautiful, so I decided to take the boys to the "alligator park."

As it turns out, we only saw one alligator in the wild.  He was pretending to be a log, and waiting for dinner to come along.

We did see baby alligators in the nature center, and a nice lady who worked there got one out of the tank for the boys to pet.  We also saw an alligator skeleton in the nature center, and lots of other creepy (live) critters like poisonous snakes and spiders.  I think the nature center was the boys' favorite part of the park.

I, however, most enjoyed our hike.  The boys like to run, so they did.  I reminded them of the story of the tortoise and the hare, but to no avail.

We saw lots of white birds (what are these?)

And grey ones (don't know what this one is either)

And cool trees.  I like live oak trees.  How do they grow such huge branches parallel to the ground without the trunk splitting open?  A marvelous feat of engineering!

The boys liked this hollow one...

By the end of our hike, this tortoise mama was still good to go, but the two hares boys were worn out, so we called it a day.  Look at our dusty feet.