Words

It has been quiet here, so no new pictures to post. Russell and I have been on a few playdates with our other mom/baby friends. Dan is either working or sleeping or relaxing.

Russell is getting quite insistant lately, when he wants something- like going to the park. He'll grab his shoes from the shoe box at the front door and bring them to me so I'll put them on his feet. Then, he'll march over to his stroller and tug at it. The sound of jingling car keys is also his sign to grab his shoes.

Russell is also recognizing words and we have to spell them if we don't want him to know:

-park
-shoes
-milk
-go
-bath
-nap
-cookie
-dog
-cat

He doesn't say too much but we understand his sounds for: 'mom, dad, oh wow, oh no, Noah, dog, and duck'.

That is all for now in the Russell-Report!

Colorado Trip

Dan's family: us, Jon & (sister) Carolyn (hat, red shirt), (sister) Bev & Kurt & kids (12, 10, 8), and his parents. Bev & Kurt hosted a family BBQ on Friday night. It has been the first time we've all been together since Carolyn's wedding in 2004!




On Saturday, we drove with Kurt & Bev up north. Their property is about 5 miles from the Wyoming border. The lot is 35 acres and is beautiful. It is easy to imagine the 'olden days' when one is in that environment. In fact, Chimney Rock is nearby and it was once a marker for the 'Pony Express' of yesteryear.



Camp Kniegge. The trailer is 30 years old but provides a small kitchen and a dry roof in case of rain. We slept in the trailer and the Kniegge family braved the cold night air outside. Russell ended up sleeping with me in my sleeping bag since it got so cold at night and he was shivering.

The future outhouse. The earth was so hard, Dan and Kurt returned later in the week with equipment to dig a larger/deeper hole. In the meantime, Russell loved to climb in/out of it!




Lunch time!

Cousins together:-)

Krystal and Russell hangin' out...

Us:-)



At first, Russell didn't know what a lollipop was, but once he sucked on it, he wouldn't let it go until it was finished.


Pool time!

Ruth Graham

"I am so grateful to the Lord that he gave me Ruth, and especially for these last few years we've had in the mountains together. We've rekindled the romance of our youth, and my love for her continued to grow deeper every day. I will miss her terribly, and look forward even more to the day I can join her in Heaven." -Billy Graham

Colorado

We're leaving on Friday for 7 days in Colorado! We'll be meeting with Dan's sisters and their families and his parents. Hopefully, we'll get some fun pictures of the family and will be back later next week to post.

Now, off to Target to find a harness for Russell...

Maria van Dop (Dec. 25, 1924 - June 3, 2007): Faithful Servant

Four generations: 1924, 1953, 1979, 2006

This morning, my Grandma van Dop passed away. How can such simple words carry such heaviness? Last week she went into the hospital for kidney stone removal but her kidneys shut down and on Saturday her heart began to fail. My Mom knew that Grandma wanted to go to her heavenly Home.
My siblings and I have many memories of the Farm out in the Fraser Valley in B.C. We visited at least once a year and Grandma made many trips to the Island to stay with us as well. She always called us her little 'monkeys' and now as a mother, I understand why.

Grandma was always a prayer warrior for her children and grandchildren and her faithfulness to her Lord was a testimony to her life. She loved her family and did the best with what she had.

We last visited with Grandma in December at the van Dop Christmas celebration. She had her four children and their spouses, and ten grandchildren, and one great-grandchild all together. How grateful we are for our godly heritage and the investment she made in our lives. What a legacy to leave behind!

We know Grandma is now at home in Heaven and we rejoice for her ultimate healing, but please especially pray for my mom and her sister and brothers and they mourn their mother, and us, our grandmother. How she will be missed...

Connections

We've never been interested in using MySpace or Facebook but a couple of days ago, a friend of Dan's from his LeTourneau University days 'invited' him to join a page of LU classmates. So Dan joined. He's enjoyed reminising about the days of old and I've enjoyed seeing pictures of his university days.

Out of curiousity, I wanted to check to see if there were any old classmates from my high-school and university years as well. My 10 year reunion is this summer in Duncan, B.C. and we're hoping to go. I was suprised to see so many from '97 on Facebook. So, if I've been linked to your page, please understand I've just connected to see some old classmates and where time has taken us in the last 10 years!

We hope to take off from August 3-16th. The reunion is August 11th.