van der Horst family Reunion at Lake Oconee, Georgia

We had a wonderful week. Lots of fun playing in the water and good time to connect with family.

Jen and I made this collage of the group. Unfortunately, Bret, Chrissy, Lance and Logan could not join us for the trip, but they sent us some pictures and we included them in this family photo.

Good looking family

Cooking for 26

We made a sausage and shrimp gumbo- two large pots full

We made this spumoni ice cream cake to celebrate Grandpa's birthday.

On Sunday, we had a worship service together. Grant is giving his talk here to the family. Everyone participated in some way.

I brought along one of my guitars for playing- one of my favorite Sunday activities.

We brought our fishing poles. I didn't expect to catch anything, but boy were these fish biting.

Jen caught the biggest fish all week. She really didn't think she'd like fishing, but I think she actually had a great time.

Lots of time to play games.

Paddle boat...

... and kayaks ...

...and jet skis...

... and skiing ...

... and boarding...

... and tubing

Jumping rock

Rope Swing

Lots of fun in the pool

Laurel is upside down

Laurel has been witnessed spontaneously cartwheeling all over the place.

Memorial Day at Cold Harbor, Virginia

We visited the battlefield and cemetery at Cold Harbor to honor Memorial Day this year. In case you didn’t know, Cold Harbor was the last large Confederate victory. In a failed attempt to break through and take Richmond, the Union lost 6,000 soldiers compared to a Confederate loss of about 1,500. After this battle the conflict moved on to Petersburg, which turned into a protracted siege that eventually ended the war. Most of the Confederate casualties were buried in Hollywood cemetery in Richmond, the Union soldiers were buried here, near where they died.

National blow a bubble day

The employee entrance to the hospital is covered with this supportive chalk graffiti