Happy 4th from us!

Independence Day is celebrated by our family this year in the Bahamas! That's right... we are on SASSY in the Atlantis Resort Marina on Paradise Island, Nassau Bahamas. We are enjoying fabulous hot sunny weather with our family. We were able to bring along 2 babysitters for the kids (9 of them) and us adults will be able to enjoy some dinners and evening entertainment. Last night, July 3rd, Rick, Julie, Chuck, Jennifer and Sandy saw Reba McEntire, here at Atlantis in concert. We enjoyed a fabulous japanese dinner (sushi, yum!) and saw the concert, then went to a new club that just opened recently and danced the night away to an awesome DJ. Our sitters were happy to report this morning that all 9 children behaved very well and went to bed as told. Today, July 4th, we woke up to rainy skies and clouds; which to much of our relief was a good thing... you see we all have had lots of sun over the past few days. Tonight, the Atlantis resort will put on fireworks for the USA Independence Day, however, the Bahamas celebrate their Independence Day on July 10th; so we will see another fireworks display then too! SASSY is very beautiful and more spacious than the last girl, offering different amenities this time that we did not have before. We are all sleeping well and eating well and enjoying the sun, pools, and Caribbean music.

Happy 4th to all of you bloggers: more to report soon. Pictures are not uploaded yet; still on the camera.

Tom is away at camp

Tom, 10 1/2 yrs old, went to camp today. Springhill Camp, Evart MI, is an awesome Christian, exciting activity based camp. He will be there 5 days and 5 nights; home on Friday. He is at camp with 2 cousins(Nick and Ginger) and 2 friends(Gavin Percha and Nick Riggs). Tom went to this camp last year and was eager to attend again this year. If you have time, click on the link and check it out... it is an impressively run, clean camp with phenomenal staff and volunteers. Here he is with one of his counselors, Luke, and with his cousin and friends (Yes, Luke's hair is a red mohawk). We get to log into the website daily and email Tom and see pictures of him too. This year Tom is very excited to be there with kids he knows; last year he was very brave and stayed in a cabin where he knew no one. We are very proud of Tom and can't wait to hear his stories when he gets home.

Family updates

Lots has happened since our last post. Trevor completed his First Holy Communion on Sunday May 3rd, Taryn was Baptized on Sunday May 10th, and Mother's Day. Baseball has been going well for Tom and his team. McGuirk Sand sponsored his team this year so the team colors are "mcguirk" royal blue and white.

This Saturday, May 16th, is FREE PLAY SAND and Community Day at McGuirk Sand. If you are local to Mt. Pleasant you will know what I am talking about and will want to mark your calendars and come on Saturday sometime. Free food, play sand for the kids, large piles for the kids to climb, etc. Good times for all!

We also want to ask our fellow bloggers to pray for a family that just lost their Dad/Husband. Tom's friend (10 years old) is in shock, of course, and we ask for prayers for his family during this difficult time. Tom's friend has two older sisters too. Mom is a wonderful person and needs all the support she can get, so a few prayers from above will be welcomed.

I also ask for prayers for our son Tom during this time. He has not had to deal with death yet and is very sad for his friend and I'm sure confused also.