Myriam is 6 months Old!

Isn't she cute!

Happy Birthday!

Lolee decided after Hayes' birthday that she didn't really like cake with frosting (sound familiar to anyone?). She requested marshmallow popcorn for her birthay treat. We made it into a four-layer cake like Sleeping Beauty's.

Her favorite present was the card that gave a rousing rendition of the Superman theme. She quite loved her whole day.

Hayes is 2!! It is his new favorite word.

What next? It's so overwhelming!

Hayes loved his cake--until he tasted it. Then he decided he didn't like it anymore than Lolee did. I had enough fun creating it and he liked it enough that I didn't feel too bad. Our enjoyment was in looking at it all day before destroying it:) Hayes' favorite part was blowing out the candles. We let him do it 7 or 8 times.

Beautiful early summer

We put my parents to work and built shutters for our house while they were here to see Myriam. They had to to home to get some rest after we worked them nye unto death. ;)

Elyzabeth played Tball this year. She came a long way from the beginning of the season. Her coach loved her, even when she picked flowers in the outfield. Every person watching knew her as the one who waved to the spectators as she ran to first base--the whole way! We see people around town that greet her by name after having seen her in a game. It's pretty funny.

We're still working on that throw.

Michigan Mile

My girls both ran the Michigan Mile on their own two feet. Elyzabeth ran it alone and in just over 12 minutes. Daddy ran it with Lolee and they finished in under 15. We was so proud of them.

The victors!

Myriam!

This mom loves her little angel baby. And she loves her bath and her sleep. We get along so very well:)

Hayes loves his little sister, though he definitely does not like sharing his mom. (He can get a little violent when he's feeling jealous.)

We were so blessed to have so many family members present for Myriam's blessing on Father's Day.

My amazingly talented mom made Myriam's blessing dress the night before she was born. (More pictures to follow)

Traditionally, Grandma gives baby their first bath. Myriam loved hers, and I am so grateful my Mom was here to keep up as many traditions as possible.

How many babies get to have Dad and Grandpa there for their first bath, too? Actually, David has been present for every one! Pretty amazing.

July 4th

In keeping with a 4th of July tradition, we staged our own race on the track of Mason High School. We were all winners! :)

We watched the Mason parade with most of our ward on a dirt patch just across from the High School. Our matching shirts are courtesy of our number 1 fashion consultant, Aunt Tricia. Thanks, Trish!

What 4th would be complete without fireworks. The kids loved the sparklers, and so did the missionaries(they spent the evening with us).

Our New Arrival!!

Little Myriam joined our family on Sat. June 13 at 6:14 p.m. weighing in at 7lbs. 8 oz. She's a real cutie and blond as can be. She has about 4 times as much hair as any of our others.

Sameerah is the midwife that delivered Myriam. She is wonderful and we loved her.

All our little ones were so excited about the baby. They could hardly stand it. It's a constant fight who gets to hold her all the time.

Visit to Lake Michigan

This is out of order, because we went to Holland first, and as it was but 5 miles from the lake, we went there next.  However, most of you are familiar with my blogging issues, so I hope you'll forgive me.  I love beach pictures, so forgive me for the plethora of those, too:)

Toes in the sand.  I just couldn't keep the tummy out of the shot.  I guess Myriam just wanted to be part of the girls:)

We got brave and let Elyzabeth take a picture so David and I could be in one together.  She did a great job with what she had to work with I think!

Lolee had way more energy than some of us.  She thought chasing the seagulls was great fun.

We also got to see another great lighthouse.  Don't know what it's called, but what's in a name, right?

I think the two photoes below have to be some of the cutest I have ever seen.  I love my boys!  What a sweet dad to give up his hat.

Holland Tulip Time Festival

David had a week off school between semesters, so we celebrated the completion of his first year of medical school by going to Holland!  Though not the real thing, it was very beautiful and everything was in English.  Not to mention it only took an hour and a half to get there in a car and required no passports:)

This windmill is called "The Swan" and is the only Dutch windmill that exists outside of the Netherlands.  The miller is trained and certified by the Dutch, and is also the only one outside of the Netherlands.  We're not sure exactly how they pulled this off, but it is true.  It is a working mill, and is over two hundred years old.  It came here in 1964 with a rich history of milling and sending secret messages during WWII.

There was a parade down the main street that all 7,000 k-12th graders in the county marched in.  We caught less than the last half, but still saw at least an hour.  It was cute and very small-townish, which we loved.

We completely wiped Hayes out.  Thank heaven for our stroller.

At Windmill Island there was an antique Dutch carousel the kids got to ride on.  Lolee and Hayes both freaked out a bit even though the animals didn't even go up and down.  It made us laugh.

There was a small tulip field reminiscent of real-live Holland where the tulips stretch as far as the eye can see.  It was still beautiful.