Rainy Day

It's pouring down rain today, and it's a good day to catch up on our blog. I don't think I'll be doing too much else today. Well, besides keeping my little hoodlums out of trouble.

There's a lot of good news! First, my brother got married to the girl he's loved for a long time. We all flew back to be there and had a wonderful time.

While we were in Idaho we got to go camping with Dirk's parents and sister's family in McCall, which was a lot of fun. We also had breakfast with the whole family (all 15 grandkids too!) and managed to get some pictures too.

Dirky slept in the baby buggy. 

Arie hunted tigers.

Ioan loved to drive the boat.

These aren't in great order, but here are pics from Jordy's rehearsal dinner, hosted at my parents' home.

The happy couple, two days before the wedding.

There were great preparations....

And the kids had fun in the gorgeous yard while we got ready.

Before the guests arrive:

I couldn't leave this picture out. My dear friend Emily, and her sister Sally, were my angels during the two days of rehearsal and ceremony. They took the little ones when they got too fussy for the grown up events, and allowed me to chase the other kids and even to sit down and enjoy the whole thing. God has blessed me with some wonderful friends!

The party went late into the night. Most good parties do.

 OK. This picture isn't that good, but it gives you a rough approximation of all the DeWinkle cousins.

 And when we got back, we had a baby shower in our church. Our church has a lot of little girls, but we came here and it seems that boys have become the new trend. Hmmmm.

Several CREC churches from our rather broad area (covering at least a few states) had a picnic in the Howell area, and Dirk, of course, volunteered for the skit. 

Like father, like son.

We went to the zoo while the weather was still nice. The kids thought the little train ride that we took at the end of the zoo tour was the best part. I enjoyed all of it---a day off for just our little family was a real treat.

 And we just finished up a marvelous week with my mom and sister's family. They all converged in Michigan, and we had a wonderful time together. Our kids loved it.  So did I. It'll probably be at least a year before we see them again, and I was so happy they could all make it.

And a few last tid bits of news. Dirk is just about finished up with his ordination process. He and I flew out to Minneapolis (him for 4 days, me for 2) for him to be examined by a committee and answer any questions they could throw at him in a public exam. I was glad I got to go, and I think he did well. Hopefully next month he'll be officially ordained. 

And last, but not least, we are excited about upcoming arrival of yet another DeWinkle. One trimester down, two to go! God has blessed us abundantly, and I must throw in there that He was especially good to me in relieving me of some pretty nasty morning sickness about SIX weeks earlier than normal. What a blessing with three little ones to look after! Maybe this means it's a girl... We'll let you know before Christmas!