Always the last Saturday in June!!

We do the Okoboji Campus Bike ride every year and it is always the last Saturday in June - this year we rode with 14 of us. Mike, I, Marcus and Jamie - Jamie and Shera Van Zee and their kids Brandalyn and Austin, Dave and Jill De Ruyter and their daughter Hope, and Mark and Jessica Kooima and their daughter Shanae

Two blocks into the 25 mile ride we blew a tire on Dave's bike - Mike had an extra tube along and was mister fixit man while everyone else watched. - We were blowing it back up and the rim was busted and the new tube broke at well - Dave's bike needs new tires - so dave went back and his in-laws have a place up there and got another bike and he joined us at our first stop.

We take 4 breaks along the way at refreshment stands and just to take a little break and breather. I love this picture of Jamie with her dad!!!!!

Everyone made it and here are the kids showing off their new t-shirts. It was a VERY WINDY day but we still had a ton of fun and the kids all did awesome. Until next year - our group keeps growing so we'll see how many we have next year.

These are pictures of our ride home - jog well done - now time to rest!!!!

The ride is either 25 miles, 50 miles or 100 miles - we always do the 25!!!!

Wedding Pictures!!

The couple getting ready for Pictures!!

The bride getting sick of pictures!

The full wedding party with ushers - Marcus is next to my brother Brad in the back row on the left-Brad makes him look short and the girl next to him is 6'1" - tall girl!!

Keeping the mother of the groom in smiles!!

At the wedding dance and I was giving out - but really was a fun day and all went very well!!
Congrats Adam and Brittany!!

Hello Everyone!!

Jamie had a softball tournament last Saturday in Spencer - she left home at 7am and returned at 10pm - they had a very long day but as you can see it was rewarding - they won the championship and are sporting their trophies in the pic. Tomorrow we go to Sibley - need to be there at 7:30 but the tourney gets over by 2 - so not quite as long as last week.

Today - we have my nephews wedding in Rock Valley - Adam De Ruyter is getting married to Brittany Koele from Sioux Center - Jamie and I helped set up all day yesterday and it was fun and very gorgeous - I will try take more pics today and share them as well - it is a gorgeous day here and will be fun.

Also - HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEG - we hope you have a great day and sending many hugs your way - can't wait to see everyone in Arkansas!!!!!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY to all the awesome dads we have. No matter how old our children get it always seems that dads are really important and we don't ever want to take them for granted. Dads are always there for us and watching over us no matter where we are or what we are doing and their love goes with us always. Just like our Heavenly Father our earthly fathers watch and love and care for us always. Give thanks for your father today and give him a hug if possible he deserves every hug you can give and if you can't hug him just think about him often and let him know if you can how much he means.

Swim Lessons

I was suppose to start Swim lessons on Monday - Monday 9am - phone call - the pump is broke at the pool - pool is closed till Tues at 2 or 3 - cancelled all lessons on Monday . Tuesday - cancelled 1st hour - pump is in and fixed but levels are up - maybe 3 - cancelled 2nd hour - no pump stopped - bearing fell off - fixed again maybe open at 4 - NONE - levels still not up - ended up canceling all day - both Monday and Tuesday were 80 degrees and gorgeous - pool opened at 6pm - did 1 hour of lessons on Tuesday night. It's Wed. morning and now it is raining - we'll see what happens today ?!?!?!?!?

Church Retreat Weekend

This past weekend we had our church retreat at Inspiration Hills. Was great fun we got up there at noon on Saturday and they had planned an Amazing Race. Mike and I were on a team, Marcus was on a team and my brother and sister-in-law both had teams. It was great fun and they had 10 different stations where you had to do different activities and get a puzzle piece when completed and then move on to the next one and so on and so forth until you were finished with them all and put the puzzle together and then you won. Mike and my team came in first, Marcus' second, Brad's(brother) third and Kerri's(sister-in-law) fourth. We had a great time - one station was Bible trivia, we did paint ball guns, blowing bubbles, balancing, sudoko, bobbing for apples, etc.
Since Marcus was such a professional apple bobber they asked him to do it at the talent show that night so he aggreed and got Brad and his buddies to join him on the demonstration. They were very funny and had a great time - Marcus didn't push the apple against the side and get it with his teeth - he dove in and pushed the apple to the bottom and came out with it in his mouth.

Getting ready to dive in again.

The guy in the back was getting too wet so he jumped off and the rest kept going - Marcus has the muscle shirt on and is the one that is the wettest!! :)

Jamie (in pink) and her friend Josie Kollis were also in the talent show - they sang the Mom's Song by William Tell Overture - it was awesome as well - it's a song about all the things a mom says during the day in under 3 minutes. Everyone got a big kick out of it and laughed and they were very clear and we were quite proud.

Saturday night the deacons grilled everyone burgers and hot hogs and on Sunday we had church outdoors and then had a potluck at noon. Was a very nice weekend, the weather was great and we all came home and took naps - sore from running the race and tired from all the activities of the weekend. Good fellowship with everyone and fun for the whole family.

A Variety of PICS

It was a fun weekend of kids, kids, kids at the Altena household - Jamie recieved a 100' long landscaping tarp for her birthday last year which we use for a slip n slide in our backyard - this is one gift that has been used ALOT and they love it - wow - who would have known - she had 6 friends over on Saturday and slid away - we put the garden hose on it and then buy dish soap which they put all over their bodies to go faster and away they go!!

Marcus had 15 friends (boys and girls) over on Friday and did the slip n slide and then had a bond fire and roasted hot dogs and smores on the fire - they also had a great time.

We have been feeding and watching Baltimore Orioles all week on our deck - very beautiful birds - we feed them oranges and grape jelly - they come and go all day long.

Jamie had her piano recital this week and did an excellent job - I taped the whole thing with my camera and have been trying all afternoon to try and upload it onto this blog and yeah - i didn't succeed - so here is a pic - sorry about that and we'll see if I can figure it out sometime.