Fourth of July - Vande Voort Style!

I'm a week late, but we had the most wonderful Fourth of July weekend! As you may have heard, Tom and Angie came home for a visit. It was great to get to see them again and be able to introduce them to our Maddie Grace for the first time.

We did a whole lot of nothing-special and it was completely wonderful.


We played a lot of ladder golf (I am surprisingly skilled at this fun outdoor game). We picked some not-so-ready apples. We cleaned up a fallen tree branch. We went on some walks down the road and explored the pioneer cemetary on the corner. We read books, took naps, watched almost no tv and played TONS of games. We also did a lot of laughing - something we specialize in :) We sort of lose our minds when we play Balderdash. We soaked up the time together as much as we could.




Every sentence in that paragraph started with "We" and that is because we spent a whole lot of time together just hanging out. My Mom did the smartest thing - she made a bunch of meals ahead of time so all she was able to not miss out on having fun with the family.



The girls had a great time playing outside as much as they wanted - which was a lot. And even though it was a warm weekend, the nicely shaded front yard was where we spent most of our time. It was fun to see them playing with Tom and Angie and getting to know them again.

Of course our time together came to an end quickly - good things always do, it seems. But I don't have any regrets about us not being able to spend more quality time together because we had loads of it and made the most of our mini-family reunion.



Let me just take a minute here to say this: I love my brother a lot. I love my sister a lot, too. Those two mean the world to me. I absolutely adore them and we have always gotten along really really well. I am proud of the people they are. BUT, what I really want to say is that I really really love that sister-in-law of mine. I think she is just awesome. And I miss her so very much and am so excited to see her become a mommy. I truly love her as a sister - not just someone who married into the family. She's simply wonderful, sweet, kind and thoughtful. And very patient. She is and is going to be a GREAT Mom!



We look forward to seeing Tom and Angie again around Christmas time when they will be coming home (with a new baby!!!) for a year of schooling. What a blessing all that family time was! We are so thankful for God's great faithfulness to us!