Clara's 1st birthday was yesterday. Megan was at my house because she's getting a kitchen remodelled. Jacob was a special guest. Tissue paper makes a great toy!

Clara would rather play with the paper, too. We had to keep reminding her to look in the bag.
Cool! A great gift from Aunt Jen, Uncle Justin, Emily and Jacob!

Looks like a little attitude here! It is her birthday after all.

Megan had to blow it out before Clara grabbed it!

Ready for the first bite.

Mmmm.................

Jacob likes the cupcakes, too. But he didn't get to eat it by himself!

What a mess!

Clara didn't really like her dirty hands.

She did have fun destroying her cupcake.

Jacob can't believe what he is seeing.

Can it really be only 11 days left?

My sister, Pam, hosted a shower for the Haveman side of the family (my maiden name) It all looked so classy, with decorated glasses, and wine and punch.

My daughter-in-law, Jen, daughter Valerie Slingerland with her daugher, Izzy.

My daughter, Lisa, niece Nicole Orchard, Bethany, niece Caitlin Haveman, and niece Kirsten Orchard.

My Mom, gotta love her, my two sisters, Pam and Liz. I love them, too!

Great niece Amberleigh and her Mom, my niece Rebecca Dearing.

Daughters Lisa and Bethany, great niece Heather Dearing and niece Caitlin.

My son Simon, along for the highspeed computer Pam has, and my daughter Megan VanDyk.

Heather, having a great time with all the aunts and cousins! I think she won the necklace game.

My sister Pam, the hostess, and my sister-in-law Chris Haveman.

Wow, only 2 weeks! Crunch time. Making more lists of what still needs doing.

What in the world are Mark and Herb carrying?


It's huge! Could hardly fit out the bedroom door!


It looks like they are moving out a coffin!


Mark, what a goof! This is the hope chest he built for Bethany. It turned out a bit bigger than he thought it would!

They both easily fit in, I probably could have squeezed in, too.

It will hold a lot of blankets and sleeping bags, but it won't fit upstairs in their house. They do have a nice finished basement.

Here's some of the stash Bethany got at the Pennings Shower. Today is the Haveman Shower. Should be fun!

Time for a haircut. I've been teaching Bethany how to cut Mark's hair.

Watch out for his ears! At least his hair will grow back if something goes wrong!

All pretty for the wedding. Bethany did a great job on his hair.

The countdown continues...

Pennings Shower March 25

Left to right------Diane Postma, Anneke Naves, with Mary Beth, Amanda Naves, Henrietta Naves

Megan VanDyk, Joanne Vandenbrink, Julianna Pennings

Nicole Talsma, Adrianna Pennings, Marilyn Pennings, Denise Pennings (floor)

Gerda Pennings, (Oma) Linda Brouwer

Jen Pennings, with Jacob, Lisa Pennings behind, Lauren Pennings, Amy Luiting,

Bethany Pennings, Kayla Postma

Jen with Jacob. He just wouldn't sleep! I think Jen missed a lot of the shower.

Herb Pennings, Ron Pennings. Hiding in the other room.

Jacob hung out with Grampa for a little while.

Thanks for all the work you did, Lisa.

We are really getting excited about the wedding now. Only 18 days. And as if there is not enough to deal with, Bethany's car broke down. An unexpected bill.
We'll see how much blogging I'll actually do, but I'll try. It's been a long time!

The invitation

Our calendar with the day marked, April 10!



Our traditional blackboard countdown


Our week ahead. 3 showers. One here, one at my sisters, one at church.


A sneek peek at the bridesmaids dresses. They are all altered, bigger, smaller, shorter. Now they fit perfectly. All the girls look beautiful in them!

A peek at my clothes. Nice button, don't you think?


Bethany's room. Packing, wedding stuff. Where to put it all?

One of the flower beds. It will change, too, as the days go by.