Dancing Queen

I've talked this video up to my friends and family...it's high time I shared it!

We recently took Paige to a family-friendly outdoor concert performed by our favorite local band, Sweet Japonic. Pre-Paige, we went to every show they had in town! Now...well, we did see them back in January...the guys usually include a few covers in the their sets, including "The Wall" by Pink Floyd. How interesting (and hopefully not an omen) that this appeared to be Paige's favorite song...she unleashed a crazy montage of dance moves!

My favorite is the little John-Travolta-Saturday-Night-Fever-one-hand thing at the end.

A Week Full of Milestones

This past week has been pretty busy, so yes, I'm catching up again!

Last Sunday, August 9th, was our wedding anniversary...6 years! Every year is counted as another wonderful blessing, and this was no different. We had decided at the last minute to go to Mom & Dad Buning's for the weekend, and they watched Paige on Sunday afternoon. We went back to Manistee & Frankfort, where we spent the first couple of days after we married (we took our honeymoon to Mexico in December). We were sad to see that many shops and restaurants we'd liked in Manistee were no longer there...so we drove up M-22, through Onekema, Arcadia (stopping @ Arcadia Bluffs to admire the views...and the course), on to Frankfort for dinner and a walk along the pier.

(This was our best attempt at taking a picture of ourselves on the pier. We have a half dozen with various parts of our faces, so I'm thinking I'll piece them together for one funky artsy thing. You know, in my "spare time". )

But that's not all...Matt and I just got back from a surprise anniversary trip, in which he got tickets to a Jason Mraz/G. Love and Special Sauce concert in Sterling Heights! Those are two of my favorite artists, and to seem them both in one night was fantastic, at a cool outdoor theater similar to Pine Knob. SO fun to get out and away from all the worries, even just for 24 hours!

Speaking of marriage...Friday morning in Bangladesh--Thursday night here--Josh and Popy were wed! I'm still hoping for video, but some photos have been posted, and it looks like it was quite a celebration. It was special, as it was traditional Bangladeshi but Christian. They are now on their honeymoon in India, and moving back to South Korea after that. When I know more about the whats and whys of the ceremony and the other practices, I'll share more, but for now, here's my favorite picture:

Aren't candids the best?

This past week was also Kevin and Haylie's wedding anniversary...Congratulations! Forget June...August weddings sure are popular!

And finally, Paige is now 11 months old. I keep asking myself, "How did this happen so fast?" I lived 28 years without her, Matt and I were together 10 years (including dating) without her...but now we wonder, what did we do before there was Paige? It is truly exciting to see her grow and learn, but my oh my, that baby won't be a baby much longer.

In case you're wondering, most pictures of Paige are now like this...a chubby hand lunging for the camera!

Popy and Josh

My brother, Josh, is soon to be married to Popy Hembrom, whom he met while teaching at a mission school in Bangladesh 2 years ago. Popy is also a teacher at the same school. Just two days ago they had their formal engagement ceremony, where they announce their intent to be married to the community, then marry 2 weeks later. A number of things are keeping us from being there, and after seeing pictures, I'm even more upset. It just doesn't feel right that we are so far away...there have been lots of tears and anger at myself and at the circumstances for not being there. Josh and I are not good at keeping in touch, so I feel like we both miss out on a lot in each other's lives, even though we know we think of each other often...But, at the same time, I did not think we would get to see pictures so soon, so I am very thankful for Christian, the director of the LAMB school, for providing us the link to their blog and explaining the wedding rituals to us. Check out the link on the right!

After Popy and Josh are married, they will return to South Korea, where Josh has been teaching English at the public schools for the past year, and will continue to do so. In January, we will finally see the happy couple when they come to Michigan! A celebration is in the works! I cannot wait to meet Popy! We've e-mailed, and she is so nice. She is quite smart--fluent in four or five languages, I believe--and as you can see, she is beautiful! She loves children and is very popular at the LAMB school. Popy is excited to meet Paige...actually, so is Josh!

So, while I pout here at home about missing the wedding, I continue to keep them in prayer...for happiness, love, laughter, health, safety, and God's blessing on the beginning of their life together. We love you both!

This Is What 67 Pounds of Blueberries Looks Like.

Yes, blueberry season in West Michigan is upon us! We planned for a Saturday of blueberries and beach in Holland, but thanks to another cold/rainy/windy summer's day, no beach for us. Darby wanted plenty of blueberries to help fill his new deep freeze, and had lots of other people ask for berries when they heard he was coming out to pick. So we picked. And picked. And picked. Paige was definitely a trooper, hanging out in the Kelty. If we hadn't been in a blueberry patch where she could eat her way to happiness, we may have been in for a much shorter trip. At one point, I felt the bucket tied around my waist swinging...I looked down to find Paige yanking it back and forth, stopping to grab a handful of berries, then yanking again. Maybe that's why it took longer for my buckets to fill...or was it my own munching...don't tell! (actually, I have a belief that U-pick berries would be even cheaper if they didn't think that people are eating the goods while they're picking...not that I'm condoning stealing, people). Matt actually doesn't like blueberries (gasp!), so it's only me that's waiting for the "blueberry revenge" for Paige and myself, if you know what I mean...




We stopped in time for the rain to really start, so Paige and I sang rainy day songs (Singing in the Rain, If All the Raindrops...) all the way back to the car. We stopped by Grandma & Grandpa Parrott's, where Paige got to work on climbing stairs, since we recently tore the carpet from ours...and they're yucky. She made short work of those stairs, and in this clip, you'll see her new favorite trick...Peek-A-Boo. She doesn't always get her hands in the right spot...when Paige first started this, we thought she was having headaches!