Swing Set "Fun"

Tom's parents got a swing set for the grandkids to play on for years and years and years....well they better for all the work that went into it! :)

Tonight Tom, Dan, Tony and Adam Burkholder put it together. Ok, let me clarify that...Adam told Tom and Dan what to do then Tony showed up and helped too. :) JUUUUUUUUUUST joking!!!
Tom is actually really good at putting these sorts of things together. Dan...Let's just say... is a much better supervisor. :) You know we love you Dan...and I'm kidding.

The girls played with the kids, chatted and just had a great time watching our men work their butts off. In fact as I type this, they are still over there working, probably with the car lights lighting the area. :) Here are few shots from the night. I particularly love the one of the kids getting into the chips on the table.

My Mom

My Mom....Honestly is one of the most fantastic people I know. With out a doubt, the most kind and caring. With having Madilyn, I am more and more thankful for the time she spent with me growing up and how she helped raise me.

The saying "bad things happen to good people" is very appropriate here. I really just shake my head sometimes thinking of all of this. I would obviously never wish hardship onto anyone, it's still frustrating when it's happening to someone so wonderful and worse when it's your Mom.

Most of you know that my Mom was in a terrible car accident two and a half years ago. When she was having all sorts of tests the first day she was in the hospital, a CAT Scan showed that she has a rather large tumor in the back of her head. Later tests showed another smaller tumor towards the base of the brain, near the brainstem. They were both determined to be benign in nature and at that time nothing really to be concerned with, as they may have been there for many years. In the recent months tests have show that there has been growth to the point that the larger of the two must totally be removed and part of the smaller. My Mom is scheduled for brain surgery on June 13th, downtown at Spectrum.

We know that the factuality at Spectrum is fantastic and have a great deal faith, but I have a huge belief in the power of prayer. When we almost lost Madilyn in those first couple of weeks of her life, the power of prayer played a huge part in her healing as well as our comfort. So, that is what I ask of you now.

Please keep my Mom and Dad in your thoughts and prayers as they enter this frightening time. As strong as they are, it's going to get scary so the more pray'n the better!! :)

Maddie and her G. G. Courtright

My Mom, Aunt Marilyn (my Mom sister), Maddie and myself spent the weekend at my Grandma's house in Mt. Pleasant. We had a wonderful as always. :) My Grandma can still out shop me and she'll be 89 in October!! That's say'n something! Tom was in Traverse City golfing and had a blast. Great Memorial Day weekend had by all.

Peeking...One year later.

One of my very favorites pictures with Maddie and her cousins was taking almost a year ago right now. This past weekend I captured Maddie running up to the same fence, only this time she was alone. Here are the two pictures. My, my, my how our little girl has changed. :)

Way To Go Katie!

We are so proud of you Kaite!! Katie walked 24 hours for Relay For Life, starting Friday afternoon and ending on Saurday. She walked in honer of Grandpa Snellink who passed away fighting cancer. Maddie and I walked the final few laps with her. It was perfect, because by that point she was moving at about Maddie's speed. :)

The relay raised so much money for cancer research and it is such an amazing experiance. If any of you have not made it to a relay, you should try to get to it next year. It's really moving.

Great Job Katie!!! I stole this cute picture off of the Bibler Blog. :)

Better late then never...

Yeah, so I have been such a slacker!!!! Here is a picture from Mothers Day. :) We had brunch with my parents in the morning and Gracie's Denication in the afternoon. It was a beautiful day!!

Golfing With Daddy

The weather has been so amazing! We have finely brought out Maddie's golf clubs. We were so close to getting her real toddler clubs, but got the plastic ones instead. She LOVES them. Here are a couple of shots from the other day. As Maddie would say "just me and my Daddy". :)

Expressions

Madilyn is 23 months now and says just about anything. She not only is a chatter box but actually makes sense most of the time!! :) She can count to ten (skipping 5 from time to time) and sometimes all the way up to twenty on her own. She recognizes all of the letters of the alphabet and says the ABC song pretty good now. She knows tons of colors, pink of course being her favorite. She sure is a smarty, lets just hope she keeps it up through school!! :)

The most amazing thing is her memory. It truly shocks me with the things she remembers. Like..."Maddie can you spell your name?" and she says "yup, M.A.D.D.D.D.I.E YEAH!!!!" Yes, she spelled it out, with a few added D's. ;) But the funny thing is, I told her that ONCE. One time! This means she is remembering EVERYTHING we say, do and show her. Time to make sure we watch our mouths at all times!! :)
That's whats new in our house right now.