A whole hand!!

I can't believe it, but Paige is officially FIVE!!  She is thrilled to show anyone and everyone her entire hand when she is asked how old she is.  I look at her and can't believe she's old enough to head to kindergarten in a few short months.  That "long days, short years" quote couldn't be more accurate.  

Paige, you are fun, athletic, compassionate, driven and an incredible sister to your siblings.  

You are such an incredible blessing to our family and we love you to the moon:)

We had a great celebration week for Paige - beginning with a trip to Chicago with Mormor and Aunt Erika.  We stayed overnight, walked Michigan Ave, ate lunch at the American Girl store and just had fun together.  It was a blast and a memory Paige will not soon forget!

Paige loves her Aunt Erika.  They are 2 peas in a pod:)

We spent her actual birthday traveling all over Grand Rapids, doing all of Paige's favorite things....

It was a full and very fun day.

Donuts at Forest Hill Foods

Meijer Gardens

Culver's for lunch with Grams and Grandpa.....  

Grams took Paige shopping on her birthday.  A highlight for sure:)

We capped the day off with a pool party with our buddies.  

It was a HOT day so the pool was a perfectly planned activity for all of us!

Natalie, Paige and Ava

All the buddies....we missed Luke, Langley & Kendall!

Most of the night was spent in the pool since it was so hot.

Our birthday girl, all clean after a fun and full two days!

Pure 30

Well, Ben decided to join his older wife in turning the BIG 3-0 last weekend:)  I told him based on my last 6 weeks of experience, it's really not so bad!  Ben decided that he wanted to spend his birthday doing all things, as he put it, "Pure Michigan":)  We were able to spend the weekend up north at one of America's most beautiful spots...Sleeping Bear Dunes.  And Ben certainly celebrated in style.  Happy 30th birthday, babe!  We love you!!

 He began his day Salmon fishing out on Lake Michigan with his buddy, Mark.  I think they had a blast....

and we had a delicious dinner thanks to their successful efforts!

 Of course we forgot candles, so he blew out the lighter with a little help from Paige.

 And the kids were so happy that they got to wear birthday hats:)

 The next morning, Ben competed in the M-22 challenge with Mark.  It was Ben's first time and he did awesome.  We were so proud of him.  And I think he liked it so much he's going to do it again.

 It's a 2.5 mile run, beginning by sprinting up the Sleeping Bear Dunes (they sort of looked like little ants), a 17.5 mile bike ride and a 2.5 mile kayak. 

 Here's Ben in action!

His proud wifey and kiddos met him at the finish line.

Annie-pants

Of all her nicknames, this seems to be the name that has stuck:)  

Miss Annie-pants is almost 16 months old!  It's been awhile since just Annie has had an update so I thought it was best to document all things that make up Annie these days.

She looks so sweet but let me tell you, this little princess has some lungs.  She LOVES to scream whenever she needs attention.  My doctor assures me this is a very normal phase and it will go away once she learns to communicate a bit.  I guess I should just be thankful this phase as only shown it's ugly head with one of our kids:)  Maybe she'll be a singer!  She is slowly gaining a vocabulary....her favorite words are "uh-oh", "mama", "fan", "baby", "blankie", "wee!" and "no Gus!" 

She loves her siblings.  And will usually go along with any of the shenanigans that they put her up to.

 Annie is all things girly.  Paige was never like this as a little girl so it's been fun for me to experience her infatuation with babies, etc.  And let me tell you, she LOVES babies.

She is a daredevil.  She will try anything, has no fear (especially of water which makes me incredibly nervous for the summer), and is relentlessly feisty.  Her daredevil tactics have resulted in a few of these:

(poor baby girl)

Probably not to stay but she is getting some summer curl to her hair!  We still can't quite figure out what color hair she'll have....sometimes I see a little reddish hue to it.  

 Historically, Annie has been a bit of a momma's girl but I think the tides may be turning.  She is loving her daddy these days!!

Happy Father's Day to our wonderful daddy!!

We just love you to pieces, Annie Joy.  

Here comes the bride!

My dear childhood friend, Kristel, got married over Memorial Day weekend and Paige was honored to be her flower girl.  I think it was a memory of a lifetime for her.  She just LOVED every moment of it.  She keeps talking about how Kristel looked like a princess and how much she loved twirling in her dress:)  We're so happy for you, John and Kristel!  Your wedding was such a beautiful testimony of you as a couple, your families and your love for each other and Christ!!

 The beautiful bride and her adoring flower girl!

How does my little girl look so grown up?

A little pre-ceremony pep talk from Mormor

Paige's dear buddy, Griffin, wanted to see Paige as a flower girl so he came to the wedding to see her:) Melts my heart.  Love these two's little bond!

Missed our other two but loved sharing this memory with Paige!

The other wonderful gift of the wedding was being reunited with my 5 dearest friends from my childhood.  It had been a few years since all 6 of us had been together - we have slowly spread all over the country, from California, Las Vegas, Nebraska and Michigan so it truly was a gift to be together!!!  Love you, 6 pack!

Just a precious daddy-daughter moment.....a highlight of Paige's day for sure.