I drove a 15 passenger van full of teenagers (mostly my siblings and siblings-in-law) up to Beulah, MI for our church's youth retreat. I have to say, this group was exceptional - well behaved, respectful, and a lot of fun! Abel had a blast too - he was never without a sibling (nine of mine were on the trip) and enjoyed being the youngest on the trip. A very generous couple from the Roselle church hosted all 28 of us including all the chaperones and the pastors family in their vacation home on Crystal Lake. Mr. Laslo took us out on his boat and many people went tubing (I admit I did jump on the tube - the last sporting activity for me for a long while). We went to the Sleeping Bear Dunes by Lake Michigan and most of the group did the 450 foot run down to Lake Michigan and the exhausting climb back up - this I didn't do but I did it last year with my family. It was a fun 5 days (June 27- July 1). I wish Paul could have come, but he has to save all his vacation days for our trip to Canada and the baby.
On July 16th Abel turned 6 years old! We went swimming at a pool with my family - a great way to spend a hot afternoon. We had a cupcake with his mom at our house this past Sunday and are going to have some of his friends over in a week for a little party.
For all of you who are wondering, Kristine is doing great and loving her time serving in Mexico!
I haven't talked to her on the phone but she has texted me a few times and I am kept updated by my mom. When she first got down there, the English teacher was gone for three weeks. Kristine became the full time English teacher for 30 kids (I think K-8th grade) within days of arriving. The school was using paces and a video program for the class, but the video system was down for awhile so she had to make up her own curriculum till it was fixed. The school at the orphanage is from 8:30 AM to 5 PM and runs all year round except for three weeks (she teaches the last hour of the day). One of those weeks was last week where the orphanage had a VBS - like camp. I think she worked even longer hours during that week! She told my mom that if she didn't have things to come back to, she'd love to stay longer! She gets back on August 26th.
Abel at a Lake Michigan beach.
Anna (Paul's sister), Brittany (my sister), Ruth (Paul's sister)
and a friend.
Some of my favorite guys: Caleb, Josh, Philip, Timothy, and Michael
Brothers: Caleb, Jesse, and Timothy
Bible study led by Wil Franco.
Abel hard a work on one of his creations!
Partial view of the 450' drop - you can't capture it in a picture.
Standing at the top you can't see all the way down as it is so steep!
The group almost back from their climb. They went swimming
while down at the bottom in Lake Michigan.
A little tired maybe?
Another brother shot
A beautiful sunset over Crystal Lake.
The clean up Freidel/Knottnerus crew!
The birthday boy!
Abel and Caleb
Here I am a couple weeks ago starting to get a little belly.
We heard the baby's heartbeat a couple weeks ago -
it was so nice to hear. The Lord has been very
gracious to me this pregnancy - I've hardly had
any nauseousness. I've been very tired, but still
have enough energy to keep on top of a very
active six year old! The due date of our first baby
was a couple days ago - God has given us peace about
the experience. If we had had that baby, we wouldn't
be having our little one now growing inside me and
we wouldn't have had the opportunity to love and care for Abel.
I am so glad that God knows what is best for us!
