Northern Bay 2011

Hi! Summer is FLYING by! Ahh!!! I took the girls school shopping for their little supplies the other day and we took over the store. Every color folder was on the floor and then all the notebooks ended up in our cart and they were just SO excited. :) And it's only 3K.... We had the school ice cream social for all the new families so the girls got to meet their teacher and see their room. So much excitement. I'm excited for them too. :)

Anyway, last weekend Mom & Dad Dooyema took us all up to Northern Bay again!!! We go with our good friends, the Otten clan...and we have so much fun every year!! THANKS SO MUCH!!!!

Here we are playing intense volleyball. This is one of my favorite things to do in the whole world. :) That and country line dancing are right up there. :) :)

The SEVEN Dooyema GIRLLLLSS!!!
Em and Grandpa, Addy and Ry, and Hailey and Uncle Shane
Trying to get a kid pic :) 3 boys...and 3 girls
Us :)
Hanging out by the lake (HAE)
Jumping in the pool...again and again and again. (Emily, Tyler, Hailey)
Getting ready to head down by the tennis courts, playground, and pool area (EHA)
Then one day, the grandparents offered to watch the little kids so us "bigger" kids could go tubing down the Wisconsin River for an afternoon. It was so much fun! So relaxing and so fun to act like a kid again! Here's Ry and I running for the football. Can't remember who caught this one. :)
The tubers
Family pool pic (EHA)
Hailey working on her tennis skills....
Emily & Hailey at sunset
Bedtime stories with Grandma and Grandpa
Last year, we ended up in the ER with Emily after she fell in the hot tub and got overheated. This year, we were happy NOT to make it to the ER but then of course, the LAST night at like bedtime, Emily gets kicked off the slide and gets a big gash right above her right eye. I freaked out cuz it looked like her whole eye SOCKET was bleeding...so we thought about bringing her in for stitches...but the ER out there is not very good...so we risked it...and decided not to take her in. Nurse Auntie Jody helped get a good bandaid on and now it's actually healed up pretty nice. SO glad she was okay!!! Other than that, we had such a fun time and played many rounds of this great game called "What.." Can't wait til next time! It is such a highlight of our summer!

Elizabeth's Wedding

What a fun and busy week! I was honored to stand up for Elizabeth...one of my former youth group girls....and now one of my close friends. :) And the girls were flower girls for the wedding as well! The day was beautiful. It was outdoors at the Boerner Botanical Gardens. Absolutely gorgeous. The only thing about outdoor weddings in 90 degree weather with ultra high humidity was that we were all dripping by the end of the wedding! And each of us bridesmaids had about 3 bees in our bouquets while we were standing up there. It was so hard to not cause a scene and to just stand still watching bees swarm around you up front. :) But everything was just perfect. And the girls did a great job too! At rehearsal they would not go down the aisle...but the day of, they walked in line. Phew! Every time they are flower girls, I tear up when they start walking down the aisle. Hailey was supposed to give Andrew a kiss on the cheek...but then switched to a high five the day of. And then Em was confused why Hailey didn't give him a kiss so then she switched to give him a kiss. :) And then Addy gave a whoppin' big high five. It was great! We'll miss Elizabeth a lot as she moves to Alberta....but at least it's good to know she's with a great guy!

Addy, Emily, Hailey

And to make the week crazier, the girls were in Vacation Bible School all week from 9 - 12. So my neighbor and I thought it'd be a great time to have a rummage sale even though all of the other days were packed with bridal luncheons, nail appointments, etc. Just had to take a pic of all the shoes that I was selling :)...and it also shows how HOT it was this week. My camera lens fogged up just because of the high humidity. It's amazing people actually came out in the heat to shop!

EAH
And here we are at Elizabeth's Bachelorette Party the weekend before at her lakehouse. We tie-dyed shirts which is a total elizabeth thing to do. It was so much fun!!

Busy July

Hi! This summer is flying by!! Ahh!Here's what we've been up to:

My sis came for a visit over the fourth! I LOVE having her here and wish we lived closer...we had so much fun catching up. Love you sis!!

Girls are all ready for the Parade...
They LOVE Auntie Kara
This is very random....those are the Happy Whistlers....those are their stomachs that are doing the whistling... oh boy..
Waiting for the fireworks to start. The girls look a tad tired. :) (And Hailey is randomly sporting a tie from Uncle Duane - thanks). :)
The girls found their good neighbor friends Avery & Addison at the fireworks.
Swimming! Emily and Hailey have figured out the whole "going under water thing" and now it's like they don't come up for air! They were having so much fun starting across the pool from each other and then running to each other, pushing each other over and then going under water....I love watching them play together!
Best of friends.... :)
And the girls started soccer!!!! One of Ryan's high school friends just started a 3 year old soccer team for fun and the girls are having fun with it! Coaching 3 year olds is rough though! They are all over the place! Here's Addy...(or I should say Addison I guess. She wouldn't wear her team shirt since it said "Addy" on the back. She KNEW her name had the letter 'N' in it so that was NOT her shirt. :) ) Oh man...
Look out world...here come the Dooyema girls...
"We love soccer!" Cheer...
Last weekend we hosted a Croquet Tourney for a bunch of our friends. 26 people came and we had a blast! Too bad the mosquitos decided that THAT was the night they were going to come out in force. Oh well - it was still great. The champs from last year showed up with their own mallets, golf shoes, and these "Wicket Good" shirts. Love it! Too bad Ry and I won the tourney this year. :)
Then last night, we took the girls mini golfing for their first time. Ry would love it if even just one of the girls would take up a love of golf. Well, let's just say we realized that golfing at age 3 is just all about having fun. :)

Here, Em was taking instructions from Ryan on the very first hole....but then decided to forget his instructions and so she just held the club backwards and just swung at it with one hand...and wouldn't you know it but this girl got a HOLE IN ONE on her very first time out. We shook our heads and couldn't believe it. So funny. Very first swing of her life. Still can't believe it. Let's hope she has that luck on the real courses someday. :)
Taking lessons from Daddy...
Hailey
Nice follow through Hailey!
Then this hole really concerned the girls. We told them that you don't want your ball to go in the water in this one. So they just picked up their balls and wanted to skip this hole altogether. They were NOT about to lose their "pink, purple, and green" balls.
And the last hole really through them off. They looked down that hole forever wondering where their balls went. Overall they LOVED it though and want to go again. So fun!!
Oh - and this is a random side note story but I just didn't want to forget it. So, the other day, Emily was making a bead necklace which she's done like a ton of times before. She was just quiet all by herself making her necklace. Then I come to see how she's doing and she said "Mom, I put a bead up my nose." WHAT?!! Oh no! I panic....and see that she does have blood around her nostril....and I'm like "okay...be really careful NOT to sniff in....and on the count of 3, blow your nose hard." Ry was there too and H and A were all concerned. So we all counted and then what does she do....but she snuffs INNNNN!! We like screamed at her. No!! And even now I still have the chills thinking about this bead going all up into her brains. So then I tried to get a tweezers to pull it out but that didn't work and just kinda nudged it in further. So we tried the blow method again....and she snuffed IN AGAIN! We were like beginning to panic and laugh all at the same time because now the bead had turned and any time she breathed it made a whistling sound and just sounded awful! I'm seriously squeamish as I write this. :) So Ry and I were looking at each other like how long do we let her keep this bead up her nose before we have to go to the ER? And we didn't want to ask her to blow her nose again for fear she'd snuff it UP again! All of the sudden, she sneezed and out it came. PHEW! It was a random scary couple of moments...so glad we didn't have to go to the ER!

It's SUMMERTIME!

Finally! :) :) We were getting a little worried summer wasn't going to come to WI this year. Addy even said "Mom, why is God not making it a very nice summer for us?" :) But now......July hit...and it's GREAT! THIS is summer!!! We LOVE it!!Picnics outside!

Slip N Slide Fun
Addison & Em
Hailey & Emily
Pool time!

Em, their good friend Isabelle and soon to be CLASSMATE (ahh!), Hailey, and Addy
Playing in the sand...

Making me a strawberry, banana, blueberry, chocolate pie :)

Swimming lessons

Addy

Sun bathing

Em & Hailey
Nappin' :)
And partyin' :)

I hosted a bridal shower for Elizabeth.... (EHA)

Ephesians 3:20

Our God is pretty amazing. Let me just tell you. He is FULL of love, a giver of incredible grace, and the best Author to write the story of our lives. I just wanted to share a pretty incredible story of a friendship that has been a gift from God in so many ways.

Okay - so Heather was from a small town in South Dakota and I'm from big city Denver...and we both wound up at Dordt College in Sioux Center, Iowa. We first became good friends on a service project trip to Center, Colorado during our sophomore year of college. We worked on a ranch with troubled teens...and had a great time.

Then, randomly (or not so randomly), Heather wanted to work that following summer somewhere fun and warm - waitressing in Block Island, Rhode Island. So, on a Sunday afternoon in the college cafeteria, she mentioned this to me and said I should join her...but I only had like 12 hours left before the applications were due to work there. Amazingly, my parents didn't hesitate and said I could live AWAY from home for a WHOLE summer in a place that we've never been to and where we knew no one. (The fact that they said YES to this so easily is STILL amazing to me!) And then double amazing, I got hired as well!!! So we spent an entire summer together, waitressing on the beach. It sounds like a dream...but once we got there, we found out people around there called it the "Island of Sin" and Heather and I were forced to stick together and be there for each other as we worked 16 hour shifts and dealt with some pretty crazy stuff. God was so real to us there - as we were surrounded by incredible beauty...and as He empowered us to resist the temptations of sex, drugs, and alcohol. We wouldn't have survived that summer without each other. It was like people had never met people like us out there. They had never heard of 20 year old virgins.....and SOO many people thought we were sisters....and they kept saying we had so much "positive energy" (which we knew could only be the joy we receive from knowing God). People continuously thought the two of us were sisters. Some, I remember, would even ask of if we were TWINS. But ANYWAY, I know you're probably wondering where this is going....I'm getting there. :)

Okay so then I get married and move to WI...and Heather meets her hubby in Iowa. He happens to want to apply for law school and thought it was a long shot but applied to get into Marquette (in Milwaukee) even though it's really hard to get in to. Well, HE GOT IN...and I will never forget it when Heather called me on my birthday to tell me he got accepted and that they'd be moving to Milwaukee. What are the chances that God would lead two best friends and their hubbies to the SAME CITY of all the places in the world to get jobs. So THAT was pretty neat. So, for FIVE years, Heather lived by me, we led a high school girls small group together, we attended the same church, we were in Bible Studies together, she helped me a ton with my girls, and we just had FUN living by each other. Well then, about 2 years ago already, God opened the doors for them to move back to Sioux Falls to be closer to both of their families. So they went...and they had their first son there. Sweet Tyler who is now 18 months old.

Okay, thanks for reading all of this....

So THEN.....just 2 weeks ago, Heather called to tell me that they were expecting again. And I was pumped! But even as she told me that....I waited for more....because I would just like to say that I have ALWAYS said that I thought Heather would have twins. I have told her this numerous times and was surprised when her firstborn, wasn't a twin! I just always thought she'd be a great mom of multiples...and her dad is a twin.....so I waited for her to say "and we're actually having TWO babies!" BUT....GOD WANTED TO THROW ME FOR A LOOP TOO.....cuz Heather did NOT say two babies....but she said "SHELLY, WE ARE HAVING TRIPLETS TOOOOOOOO." I get tears in my eyes every time I think about this. What in the world???!!! WHAT are the chances that two friends would have triplets....let alone two best friends, maids of honors, college roomies, etc....I can't BELIEVE IT and we both say that we are never going to believe it even when we are 90 years old and we're sitting in our rocking chairs with our afghans over our laps, talking about all that has happened in our lives. :) REALLY THOUGH - I LOVE HOW GOD WORKS and how He seriously knew this plan this WHOLE TIME that our friendship was growing! And I'm in awe at His GRACE through this whole thing!!!! Just the fact that He led Heather and Evan to Milwaukee for 5 years so we could keep our friendship growing strong....because He KNEW we would need each other then...and NOW even more. And, since Heather has been in complete shock and overwhelmed and excited and freaking out and amazed all at once these past couple of weeks, Heather said that God planned even the timing of it all out so well because two weeks after she found out, I happened to be IN her area for my brother's wedding last weekend....AND then this week, she has been here for work....so I've been able to just encourage her and calm her nerves. (I told the girls to be on their BEST behavior!!)

So anyways, please just join me in praying for her and Evan....as she goes through this pregnancy and prepares to double the size of their family. Please pray for peace, for strength, and health for all. And join me in praising God for writing this amazing story. I AM SO EXCITED and know her babies - ALL of them...are SO incredibly lucky to get Heather and Evan as their parents!!!!! They are some of the most loving, compassionate, and FUN people I know. I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS!!!!!!!

(P.S. The chance of two friends BOTH having triplets...is like 1 in FIVE million just so you know) It just makes me wonder what else God has planned for our friendship...and for all of our kiddos.... I love that He's in control.

Heather and I at her wedding 6 years ago....

This is Heather and I at their good-bye party/baby shower for little Tyler.
Heather and my triplets - a little foreshadowing maybe? :) :)

And Heather's mom, Grandma Nancy - has always loved my girls, and pretty much checks this blog every night... so I'm told. :) Well, now she knows a little of what to expect. :) Congratulations!!! :) :) :)

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." Ephesians 3:20