Evan is Eight!

Happy Birthday to our Evan who is now eight years old! He has figured out that he is halfway old enough to be able to drive!

 He had a great party at our new house with 7 friends.  Lots of soccer, running, playing,

 and a  bonfire with spidey dogs & campfire cones!

What could be better?!

 He got a few  more lego sets for his birthday, and has quite the collection right now.  He also got a book about space, and has been learning all sorts of interesting facts.

He is such a good reader these days, and loves to sit and read to his brothers.  One day they asked if they could go to bed early so that Evan could read Hardy Boys to them in their room!  He shares a room with Isaac now, and helps him get dressed and comforts him when he's sad.  He is so responsible sometimes, and can be very helpful with making supper, cleaning the house, or working with Daddy outside.

He's still our outdoors boy.  He will spend all day outside, if he could.  Just puttering around here and there, having a great time.  He loves our new house, and thinks that all the farm vehicles that pass our house is GREAT!

Happy Birthday, Evan! We love you so much!

Opa & Oma's Visit

Opa & Oma came to officially see the new house.  Everyone had a great time!

Oma was building her muscle strength.

Darren posing by Opa

Isaac beating Opa at Guess Who

Oma winning at Sorry

Enjoying the view

Great spot for Opa's birdhouse

Hanging out...

Isaac, Opa & Scardy Squirrel...

Darren wearing Oma's shoes...

Opa trying out the new lawn tractor

Liam & Oma having a very serious discussion...

Roasting marshmallows (and trying to convince Oma that they are delicious).

Just chillin'  (and Isaac resting just before heading out to the hospital).

Bubbles!

Isaac is 3!

Isaac had the first birthday in our new house!  Here is Evan reading his card to him.

And an exciting card from Oma & Opa with  Thomas stickers!!

Isaac had a wonderful day. He insisted on being called "Birthday Boy" instead of Isaac.  Birthday Boy Renkema. 

Every day before meals, Isaac prays for "Liam's birthday, Darren's birthday, Mommy's birthday, NOT Evan's birthday. Amen."   and it gets a little higher pitched with each word.  Now he can pray for Isaac's too, and soon Evan's!

He is pretty much done with naps (maybe once a week, he might nap).   He was done with diapers a few months ago - much earlier than his brothers!  He loves sharing a room with Evan now, and Evan takes great care of his youngest brother.

Isaac loves to sing, and will sing at the top of his lungs.  One of his favourites is still 10,000 reasons.  The best part is when he belts out, "SING LIKE NEVER BEFORE, OH MAH SOUL, and worship His holy name!" 

Isaac also loves having visitors around.  If he is bored or lonely, he'll walk around and say, "I want any peoples."  That usually means Oma & Opa, Grandma, and any other people who have been here lately.

He spent 2 nights in the hospital last weekend with asthma.  Even when he was weak and gasping to breathe, when the Dr. asked him how he was, Isaac always responded, "Good. You?"  He charmed all the hospital staff, and loved the fact that he had his own TV and remote.

He still is our "Hurricane Isaac" and attempts everything his brothers do, so he is usually covered in bruises and scrapes.  One of his little friends is a girl named Brittany.   Her speech is sometimes unclear, so its funny to watch the two of them playing together. Brittany will say something, then Isaac says, "What you say?"  She'll say it again, louder.  Isaac will yell back, "WHAT YOU SAY?"  Kind of reminds me of an elderly couple that's hard of hearing.

Happy Birthday, Isaac!  We love you so much, and we can't wait to see what this year holds for you! May God bless you with many more years!

Happy 6th Birthday, Darren

Our Darren is now 6 years old! 

He really wanted a race track cake!

 

And the one thing that he most wanted for his party was an Angry Birds piñata.  He and I worked hard on it for a whole week.  When it came to be party time, no one was able to break it, so Daddy had to play baseball with it!

Darren continues to be a very sensitive, thoughtful person.  He loves helping people, especially when Daddy needs an extra hand fixing something.  He enjoys his one day a week at Preschool, playing with Gavin & William.   He can read short books, and can write very well, sounding out each letter instead of asking for help - such determination!  He now sleeps on the top bunk in the room he shares with Liam, and gets to be the big brother.  In swimming, he continues with that determination and works so hard.  He even jumps off the BIG diving board in the deep end without a life belt!!

Happy Birthday, Darren! We love you so much!

Moving Day

The weather was great for our moving day.  We had lots of help from friends and family, and even our new pastor showed up to help out.

 

Our new house has a much bigger yard than our older one, so Eric just had to get a new "toy!"

 Hard to say which of the 5 boys is more excited about it!

The lego board has now moved upstairs, under the bunk bed.  It gets daily use and we have wonderful creations everywhere!

There is a neat old barn across the road, and we see the sunset behind there every day.

Our yard has a lot of hills on it - great for sledding in the winter, and wagon-ing in the summer...

We are so happy to be here, and thankful to God for the many blessings He has given us!