Susan and Lucy

Last week, Robyn and I (Lily) auditioned for The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe and were picked to be Lucy and Susan! We will be performing on December 4th. We are very excited!

Total Impact

Brian and Angela are gone with the church youth group on a weeklong missions trip to the fruit pickers and their families up north. They cooperate with an established ministry to the Hispanic people in the area. Each night, they do bring kids in from the work camps to dinner and a VBS. The other girls and I like to go up a couple nights and help serve dinner.

Knollcrest Music Camp

Angela spent a week stretching her musical muscle at a Sr. High summer music camp held annually by Calvin College. She participated in orchestra and chose the elective classes: The World of Music, Conducting and Music Therapy. Pictured are Angela and her stand partner, Janae who was a veteran to the camp, a strong Christian girl and very kind.

Hope's Birthday

I recently celebrated my birthday in grand fashion. I spent the morning with my mom at the sewing machine. In actuality, she mostly slept; but, we "sewed together". We made a tote bag for her and she was very pleased with it. I got a cake from the best bakery in the world, the one I grew up on--marble with bavarian cream filling and butter cream frosting. I gave myself the gift of a 1 hour massage and then our family grilled out for dinner and spent the evening with treasured friends.

Our Anniversary Trip to Mackinac Island

The Mackinaw Bridge

The Grand Hotel

Brian and I recently celebrated our anniversary and spent a couple of days up north along the lakeshore. We took the ferry from the lower penninsula on MI, parralleling the Mackinaw Bridge, up to Mackinac Island. It was a beautiful day and we rented a tandem and biked the 8.2 mile path along the coast. Then we hiked through the woods in the center of the island which rises to a bluff peaking at arch rock. The view is fantastic! No cars are allowed on the island. Everyone travels by foot, bike or horse. I'm posting a brief video so you can see the view in panorama. The Grand Hotel photo is especially for our friends the Andersons who we are trying to convince to make a trip up to see us next year.

Kids Worship Arts Camp

It's me-Lily. A couple of weeks ago Robyn and I participated in Kids Worship Arts Camp at our church in Michigan. Robyn is in the younger group and I am in the older group. This year Robyn's elective was voice. Mine were video and sculpting. This was my last year in KWAC. Next year I am going to Teen Worship Arts Camp. So this year I graduated from swimming and KWAC. On the 19th we did the program. This years theme was "Livin' Inside Out". I had a part in the play. I was a mean girl. I had three lines. Last Sunday everyone who participated was invited to watch the production. We all had lots of fun, I think it's my favorite thing I do when we come up to Michigan.

To see the photos larger, click on the photo and it will show it in full screen.

Greenfield Village and the Henry Ford Museum

Recently our family took a day trip to visit Greenfield Village and the Henry Ford Museum. We spent most of the day in Greenfield Village where you can walk through many historic homes and places. We toured Henry Ford's childhood home, Thomas Edison's laboratories and the first home that has his electric lights installed, we saw the Wright brother's bicycle shop and passed Noah Webster's house, George Washington Carver's cabin and many more historical places. One of our favorite things to do was riding one of Ford's Model Ts around the Village. We also had a horse and carriage ride and rode on the oldest continually operating steam locomotive in the U.S.
To view the photo collage on full screen, click on the image.

Besides the historical houses we visited the craftsman and watched the glass blowing, pottery making and printing. It was a fun and educational field trip day for everyone.

Angela's Mural at the Nursing Home

About a month ago, Angela observed that the walls at the nursing home were "not very cheerful". She had an idea to change that by painting a mural. We approached the owner, who after seeing pictures of her previous 2 projects, was enthusiastic to accept her offer to volunteer for the job. She decided to do a beach scene and started to work. What an amazing process! She had all sorts of adventures during the 15 hours she spent in the dementia hall painting. Residents watched her. Some thought she was a naughty girl for painting on the walls. One resident asked her "How much money do I have to pay to get out of here?" Some admired her work and told her "You're doing a beautiful job honey!" Employees came to see her progress. Visiting family members praised her talents. When she finished the picture, she took her fine paintbrush and black paint and wrote in the top corner "Painted by Angela Webster in loving memory of Irvin P. VanderMeiden." We both stood back and inspected her work for a few moments. She spoke first saying "I'm happy with it." As for me, words failed to express what I felt as a I gazed at her accomplishment. I'm amazed that she is so gifted. I'm proud that she would choose to invest her time and energy into such a worthy endeavor. I'm grateful for her art instruction through Mrs. Kunkel who taught her drawing for 5 years. I'm reflective as I recall my Dad's encouragement of Angela's earliest attempts at drawing. In my mind's eye, I can still see the two of them sitting at the kitchen table drawing together. In that moment I found myself saying silently "Oh Dad, I hope you can see how Angela honors you today." Psalm 103 talks about the blessings that are passed on through godly heritage to our "children's children" and I saw living proof of it today.

July 4th parade

Another kid tested and approved tradition is our community parade on 4th of July. We always go with Christine and her boys. Combine candy and patriotism and you can't lose.

Texas Visitor

Our friend Megan came to visit us last week from Texas. So, we had fun revisiting all our favorite tourist spots with her.

We went to Dutch Village, a mecca of all things dutch.

We had a "perfect" summer day at the beach catching minnows, floating in our inflatables and building castles in the sand.

We took in a baseball game, the botanic gardens, the Gerald Ford Museum and toured a historic victorian mansion.

We went cherry picking.

We gave her a tour of Grand Haven--the trolley, the pier, the beach, worship on the waterfront and the musical fountain.