obsession with a dog bed

The other day Meili was OBSESSED with Otis' dog bed in the kitchen. She saw Otis laying in it when she first came in the kitchen so when he left, she wanted to try it out. She laid on it, sat on it with his food bowl, and later tried to pull her walking cart over onto it. Check out what her hair looked like after all that hard work!


Another beautiful weekend!!! Here are some pictures from our visit to the Meijer Gardens on Saturday. We had to take some pictures in the barn. The lighting in there was so cool!

family shower

Another fun weekend.... this time a "Meet Meili" shower with family and friends of the family in Ontario. We enjoyed the BEAUTIFUL weather and spent as much time as possible outside. Thank God for SPRING!!! Here are a few pictures from the weekend. (It was a challenge getting a picture with all five of the tired Kingma grandkids: Meili, Jean Baptiste, Christian, Benoit, and Carloyne).

the next generation

What a fun day! Yesterday some friends threw a "meet Meili" party. We spent time at the butterfly exhibit at the Meijer Gardens and then hung out and ate lunch at our place. This group began as a group of high school friends (Henry's). The guys all lived together while they were students at Calvin. The group grew as everyone got married and it now includes kids. It's so fun to see our friends as parents and to watch everyone's kids grow. Here are some pictures from the Meijer Gardens.

the tongue and a new dress...

Meili discovered her tongue last week. She loves pointing to it, sticking it out, and making different noises using her tongue. She often sticks it out when she is trying to concentrate on something. And the drool just keeps on flowing....


Here's a picture of Meili in her first Easter dress. She wasn't very happy because I set her down to take the picture. Thanks for the dress Renee!

they got him!!!

HOORAY! Kim and Mark are now officially Ben's parents! Follow their journey here! Ben is a little boy who lived in Meili's orphanage - he and Meili are just a few days apart in age. Kim and Mark received their referral for Ben the same day we got Meili's referral. However, their paperwork was still being processed so they had a longer wait before they could travel. Here's a picture of Ben and Meili at the orphanage -Ben is wearing the maroon sweater and Meili is wearing the one with all the bright colors. We sent the cake to help celebrate Meili's birthday.

a car rock star!!!

Meili is a traveling rock star! We drove for 8.5 hours in the car today to get to Minneapolis. Except for a short 25 minute nap, Meili was awake the whole time - just playing and talking. No crying at all - just a short whimper when she got hungry for lunch. How great is that!

We're busy making plans for our visit - lots to do and not so much time. It's cold right now - some small flakes of snow blowing around. BRRR... so much for a warm spring break.