Ben's Shower

Bob's parents put together a nice picture of ben with his name in the frame and bought these pretty flowers. How sweet!

Party favors included a candle and a Chinese take-out box with Chinese candy and cookies inside:

Beautiful quilt that my talented mom and dad made for Ben. So special!

Uncle Bill, cousin Bill, Wendell, Aunt Taffy, and Aunt Priscilla:

Edgar and Maria Leguizamon (Monica's parents), Aunt Donna, Uncle Terry, Bob's dad Chuck, and Bob's mom Janet:

My mom, friend Sheila, my dad, Bob's brother Dan, and Bob:

Two of my best friends are out of the country, Italy and China, but I know they wanted to be there for Ben and were with us in spirit! Friends Maryfrances, Andrea, Jeanne, Becky, Rachel, and Susan:

Friend Sheila:

Gift time:

I don't have pictures of everyone's gift here...some pics didn't turn out too well and there were so many gifts. However, every guest was so generous and kind and we loved all the gifts! Thank you to everyone for a lovely shower! My dad and mom helped organize gift time:

Dan thinks about stealing the planes Cousin Billy gave to Ben:

Awww...a teddy bear from Sheila:

Ha ha...Sponge Bob Squarepants!

Becky gave me a T-shirt that says "mom" in Chinese...How sweet!:

How nice of Michael and Monica to send gifts even though they couldn't come. They live in Seattle. Zanzibar bedding:

Bob can't wait to start playing with the construction set:

Bob is excited about getting another toy for himself...a dump truck:

Andrea's baby Gianna finds a bow to be tasty:

Creative Susan wrapped each one of our gifts in a different color of tissue paper:

Susan hand-knit this sweater for Ben! How sweet. And it looks so professional!

My grandma Dot wasn't up to the drive from Indiana, but she sweetly sent along this wonderful Play-Do Creativity Center:

Ben's Birthday was Tuesday

I wish we could have spent Ben's 3rd birthday with him, but he is still in China. We had a service send a cake to the orphanage for him and other kids to split. I hope the workers gave it to the kids; one woman who used to volunteer there told me that she doubts the kids saw it. But we can only hope. I baked a strawberry rhubarb pie for us to celebrate Ben's birthday...wish he could have had a piece! This picture is for him.

Could someone tell me how to get rid of arm flab?

Ben's little cousin

We got to visit our sister-in-law Monica and our niece Isabel while they were in town a week ago. In Monica's parents' (Maria and Edgard Leguizamon's) backyard:

Bob, Sally, and Dan go to Michigan

We ate at the Mermaid Restaurant on the marina in Saugatuck on Friday night, after going to Oval Beach:

We walked along the Saugatuck Dunes State Park beach on Saturday. We had to hike for a little over a mile through wooded dunes to get to this beach, but it was worth it. We came upon the Saugatuck Dunes by accident, after missing a turn for the Holland Dunes. It turned out to be a good thing, as this is a very nice, uncrowded beach:
We ate outside at Restaurant Toulouse in Saugatuck on Saturday night. Bob and I had a romantic dinner there a couple of summers ago. Before dinner, we stopped at the Fenn Valley Winery and sampled some wines. Restaurant Toulouse:
On the way home on Sunday, we stopped in Southhaven for a few hours. We took the nice walk out to the lighthouse:
Walking along the inlet in Southhaven:
Looking at all the boats in the Saugatuck marina on Friday and Saturday nights and the Southhaven marina on Sunday morning was so nice with the sun sparkling on the water and the summer breeze. It was a beautiful weekend.

I love seeing sailboats on the water. It will be fun to bring Ben to Michigan next summer so he can enjoy the beaches and the boats. Maybe next summer, we'll take a boat ride! Boy, my head looks weird in this picture!