Mike's graduation from Bethel

My cousin Mike graduated from Bethel College in Mishawaka (aka South Bend), IN with a degree in Awesomeness. Since Mishawaka's only a little over 2 hours from Grand Rapids, we were very happy that we got to go see the ceremony.

Here's our view of the stage.There's Mike with diploma in hand. You can see my cousin Laura behind him and to the left... she'd gone up closer for some action shots of Mike on stage.
The Rings enjoying the ceremony.
You can see (sort of) in this picture the Sudyks (Mike's family). His parents are all the way on the right, about 3/4s of the way up right next to the rail. His sisters, Jenn and Laura, his brother-in-law, Andy, and nephew, Axel are on the same row as his parents but in the next section to the left right on the aisle (look for the baby in the car seat and the man in the blue shirt staring right at the camera... that's Andy).
Me and Lyla. Lyla only got about a 20 minute nap because of the travel so we let her have the pacifier to keep her calm. Despite the lack of sleep she did great all day.
Katherine and Will. Will had no problem sleeping.
Lyla cheering with the crowd as names are called.
Here's video of Lyla cheering, you can just catch her yelling "Yay!" as the video begins.

It was a long day (it took us 3.5 hours just to get ready and get out of the house... traveling with small kids is the nuts). But it was a lot of fun and so wonderful to get to celebrate Mike's accomplishment. I still remember when he and the rest of his family came to my college graduation in 2000. I really appreciated that they made the effort to come out and see me graduate all those years ago and now we've come full circle. Congratulations Mike!!!

Last weekend

Last weekend, Katherine's mom (who had been in Grand Rapids since Will had been born) went home to Marion, IN and took Lyla with her. When she asked if Katherine and Iwanted her to take Lyla for the weekend, we were conflicted and had mixed feelings. Katherine's never been away from Lyla for multiple days, while I have had to be away for days at time before for work. So we both didn't want her to go because we knew we'd miss her. On the other hand, Katherine was still recovering and the idea of taking care of Katherine, Will and Lyla was daunting. So in the end, we decided to let our little bird fly and spent Thursday through Monday just me, Katherine and Will.

While we did miss Lyla a lot (I mean A LOT!), it was a relief to have some low-energy, quiet time. In fact, one day at lunch Will was sleeping and I said to Katherine, "The lack of noise is almost deafening. What did we used to do before Lyla?" Her answer: talk to each other... seems vaguely familiar.

The weather was somewhat nice a few of the days so we did get outside for a short walk up to the corner and back. Here we are at the apex of our walk:
Here's Katherine and Will getting ready.

Here's Will in the awesome hoodie that Mandy loaned us (Ian sure is a stylish kiddo).

Another shot of cute Will.

And here's our first thought as to what Will could wear if we took him outside. Unfortunately it was bigger than we needed. Which is too bad because he sure is cute in it. It reminds me of another cute kid I know...

The Tale of Little Blue Overalls Skirt*

Once upon a time there lived in a certain village a little country girl, the prettiest creature who was ever seen. Her mother was excessively fond of her; and her grandmother doted on her still more. This good woman had a little blue overalls skirt made for her. It suited the girl so extremely well that everybody called her Little Blue Overalls Skirt.

One day her mother said to her, "Go, my dear, and see how your grandmother is doing, for I hear she moved to within a 4-hour drive from you. Take her a kiss, and this little poofy side ponytail."

Little Blue Overalls Skirt set out immediately to go to her grandmother, who lived in another village (Marion, IN).

When she arrived she noticed all of the boxes stacked all around her house. "Grandmother, what big stacks of boxes you have!"

"All the better to move close to you with, my child."
"Grandmother, what a pretty bird you have!"

"All the better to make you smile with, my child."
"Grandmother, what tiny chairs you have!"

"All the better to entertain you with, my child."
The next day, Little Blue Overalls Skirt returned home after a wonderful time at Grandmother's and Grandfather's house. She was all tuckered out from the exploring and playing and reading that she did there. So she grabbed her bear, Bear, and went to sleep.

The end.

*Liberally borrowed from "Little Red Riding Hood" by Charles Perrault