AUGUST

August was a blur...we worked hard...and played hard!! Definitely the highlight month of the summer for all of us! With the excitement of school starting and thinking about our new little girls, my mind isn't much for journaling, so, here's some photos to recap the highlights...

Below is a picture of all the VanderMaas cousins! As you can see, adoption is a big part of the Vander Maas extended family. It was such a gift to catch up with our "St.Louis" cousins, and Andrew and Lisa, too!

Finally, in August, Silas decided to brave Mona Lake. After a few swimming lessons and wanting to keep up with the big cousins, he decided he didn't want to miss out. Not only did he overcome his fear of swimming in a lake, riding the "fast" boat, he also braved the waves and went tubing behind the speed boat!! Now we can't keep him out of the water!

Isabel absolutely adores her cousin Zoe. Such a gift to have a cousin so close to her age!



We spent an afternoon at MI adventure with all the Van Solkema cousins! Silas' favorite was the water park!



This is another highlight summer day for our kids. They love being with their Grandpa and Grandma, aunts and uncles, and cousins, and really look up to all of them! We are so blessed to have such a wonderful extended family!!!



We participated in the BCS-Families Helping Families Serv-a-Thon.

We had a wonderful morning helping a family from Africa clean up around their home.

The kids were hard workers...

...but, it wasn't all hard work. I had fun playing games with the kids while John and an other family worked very hard, weeding, cleaning, fixing things...

Thank you family and friends who sponsored us in this! Your generosity meant the world...We raised $1,200 that will go directly to another family who is willing to adopt a special needs child...we've experienced first hand being "gifted" money for our adoption. Words will never be able to express our heart's gratitude for what someone near and dear to us has done for us...it was only natural for us to want to help another family take away some of the financial burden of adoption costs!

Below is the day we found out about our 2 new ninas! We were on our way to a Detroit Tigers game when our caseworker gave us the big call! It was fun to be with John, as he was always at work when we received the call. You should have seen his face when he learned that he was going to have a house full of girls...

I was a bit distracted. I think John was, too! But, not to distracted to sit and explain the game to Isabel...

Enjoy some yummy ball park food...

And listen to Silas yell on the top of his lungs (every 5 mins.) "Go Tigers! Go Magglio! Go Tigers!"

We ventured to Cedar Point for a day...Silas' favorite...

...and Great Wolf Lodge for 2 Nights...that would be Isabel's favorite!

And naturally, ending the month with our hearts so full and overwhelmed with God's goodness...for the 2 newest additions that we can't wait to have join our familia!

August 2009 will be one month we will never forget! The end to a season as a family of 4...the anticipation of what life will be like as a family of 6! All that, and there is no updated pics of our house project...no time this month, having to much fun. I'll update those soon! Praise you, Jesus!! Dios es bueno todo a tiempo!!!