A Member of the Family

Well, we finally picked up Josie on Sunday. She is so fun and so adorable. She sleeps through the night so far with no problem, then wakes up around 5am because she has to pee really bad. But it is going really well and we are having a good time getting to know her and training her.

She had her 1st vet appointment today. She weighs in at 3.12lbs. She wasn't due for more shots yet, so we have to wait for her next appointment. The vet said she was in excellent health though, no issues.

We have a baby-gate to keep her in the kitchen, and then have her crate in the kitchen as well. But when we are just around the house we let her follow us around. Not to many potty acidents, just a couple ones, which oddly happen right after we let her out. We leave her just behind the gate when we go away during the day, and that seems to work perfect. We leave the door open to the crate and whenever we come home she is usually just laying in there. She brings in all her toys into her crate, its so cute. Alec comes home at lunch and lets her out and plays with her for about an hour, and then she is ready for another nap. Then I come home a few hours later, works out really well. After a little while I plan on taking her with me when I go babysitting, but they have Bradi who is a little wild and Josie should have more rounds of her shots before exposure to other dogs.

Another Josie Update

We got these pics about a week ago, I put them on facebook but not here. She is looking SO cute and actually looks like a puppy now! We are so excited, still nervous though as well. We pick her up on Sunday, so only 2 days away now! Hopefully it is a smooth transition. We (well more I) have been reading puppy books and did all the shopping of the stuff we need for her. But who knows if we are actually prepared or not, we shall see I guess.

The breeder said she "talks" to them all the time....when I heard this I though, OH BOY! So I am sure we will have some work to do, but hopefully it will all go well. We really want to make sure she is crate trained and get a huge head start on potty training since we are taking her camping in 2 weeks for a few nights with my family. I am sure it will be a lot for her to take in, the only part I am a bit concerned about is when we all go to the beach. Dogs are not allowed on the beach, so we'll have to leave her behind in the crate. Hopefully its not too hot, and she doesn't bark the whole time. Otherwise we'll have to work something out, like take turns staying with her or something. But other than that I am not too worried about it.

We bought an 8 person tent a few weeks ago since we have 3 camping adventures planned (all of which I believe Josie is going on...maybe we'll change our mind after the first trip, haha). I was originally shopping for a 6 person tent, knowing a 4 person one was not big enough for us, stuff, and dog crate. But I found this 8 person tent for a decent deal, much cheaper than most of the 6 person ones I was looking at. So now we have a tent the size of Texas, but oh well.

Well I am sure I will post more pics later on after we pick her up Sunday!

Dan and Katie's Wedding

We were in Grand Rapids/Grant, MI again this past week (its now been every other weekend since I have finished school). But we had an awesome reason to go because Dan VandenAkker got married! Dan is Alec's childhood friend, high school buddy, and college roommate! So they have a LONG history. He married Katie Roelofs, who just graduated from Calvin with nursing. They are an adorable couple and we were so excited to be there as they started their married journey!

We had a great time with the wedding. Alec's mom did the pictures for the wedding, and I was her special helper. Basically I just ran around telling people what to do (I know it is hard to imagine me doing that), so I enjoyed my position. Alec's brother, Derek, was also a groomsmen so it was a family affair! Almost the entire DeLange family was able to make it to the wedding, so it was a really good time. The only absent family members were Emily (younger sister) who couldn't get away from camp Roger, and poor Steve (Alec's brother in law) who came down with the flu and was throwing up all day (I guess that's a legitimate excuse).

We had fun dancing the night away and catching up with friends and family.

The Grant buddies

Was a beautiful ceremony at LaGrave CRC in downtown

Grand Rapids

Lauren DeLange & Laurel DeLange :)

The groomsmen and Dan planned a ridiculous 'dance routine' for Katie, but it was really funny and I got most of it on video

A Visit From the Scholtens

This past weekend Alec's sister Anne, her husband Rob and their four boys came to visit us here in Milwaukee. We had so much fun with them and were so happy they made the trip out to see us. We all went to the zoo saturday which was a huge hit. Then we went downtown to see the beach on THIS side of Lake Michigan. It was a great weekend, and it was fun spending time with their family!

Colin

Gage

Cotter

Will

Memorial Day Weekend

I am little behind, sorry.

Memorial weekend was so much fun. We went to our friends Aaron and Catherine's house, they were having a problem with their roof and so Alec and Aaron worked very hard to do this project. It was hot and humid, but they powered through and fixed the problem. I am not really sure about all the details of the roof problem, but I believe they had to change the pitch of a portion of the roof, replace boards and then re-shingle over the work they did. It turned out great, and it was even tested since it POURED on Monday in Grand Rapids.

Catherine and I spent a lot of time making cards and taking care of the guys every need! Alec worked out of MI for most of the week before memorial day weekend, and so I took the Lake Express ferry across Friday afternoon. It was an excellent ride, I was a little nervous because another time I took it I got really motion sick. But it was a smooth ride and I sat outside on the deck the entire time (and didn't think about sunscreen, FRIED my legs.....yeah that was a huge oops). But it was really relaxing, I just sat in the sun, listened to my iPod, and looked at magazines.

On Sunday we all went to my Grandma and Grandpa DeKruyter's house to have lunch and my family came over from Dearborn. It was great to see everyone again. We then headed to the beach to enjoy the gorgeous day! It was so much fun kayaking, swimming in the freezing water, and enjoying the sun. Then on Monday we did the Parade of Homes with Aaron and Catherine. So much fun, and sooo many sweet houses. Half way through doing the parade though it started absolutely pouring, we couldn't even drive through it and had to pull over. We found a house for sale and Catherine wanted to go get the flyer for it, LOTS of water (see pic below). We even saw some portions of the road get washed away.