A few reasons to smile. . .

Summer is here!! This means that there are many reasons to smile and be thankful. In the Booy family/Schafer clan, one(well several) of those reasons are due to an abnormally large number of birthdays in June. (FYI: 2 on the 3rd, 1 on the 8th, 12th, 16th, 17th and 18th. oh, and then there is Father's Day!) There are always weddings to attend and outdoor gatherings to just celebrate friendship and lovely weather. So, it is a great time had by all. I wanted to share a couple of pictures that exhibit our family engaging fully in this summer's festivities!!


Arend, Arden, Ian and Stefan. I love this picture. I think it is great to wonder, "Is Ian laughing at Nonno, Arden, or is is the sheer joy of saying 'cheese'?"


Here we are enjoying our first barbeque with the kids and Stefan's dad. He was in town visiting a sister and the rest of the family. We celebrated his stay at our house with a very American dinner.



Lilly and Arend(aka: Nonno)at Lilly's 28th birthday party! I know. . ., it is amazing how much the Booy family resemble one another.


Arend and Kelly at the airport's terrace right before he headed back to Italy. We thought we should take a picture of the two of us. Arend's visit was different this time around. I felt more myself and was able to communicated in a way that I hadn't tried before. There was more of an ease. That was encouraging to me.

Some of you will be glad to know that I actually found a store in Holland that sells Mountain Dew. I am not an obsessive MD drinker, but I like it and it reminds me of good times and friends. So, I had one friend in particular on the look out at all of the local grocery stores, etc. My friend, Henny, happily reported back to me right before my NYC trip. She found a store that had an "American" food section of one of the aisles. She was able to nab a cherry flavored Mountain Dew, the original was sold out. Okay, so, when I visited I got completely stocked shelves. I think there were maybe a total of 20 individual single cans for sell. I limited my purchase to only two cans. Kind of funny to think about a small luxury such as this costing the equivalent of a 12-pack. He. he. And you know that the cashiers will know me as the "Amerikaans vrouw met een obsessie voor Mountain Dew." I am pretty sure you all can get the gist of what that means!!



And finally, a picture of what is to come near the end of the summer. Lilly and Ferdinand will be getting hitched on the 16th of August. She invited me to a trial make-up session at The Body Shop. So fun. She truly was the canvas and the attendant helping us an artist. I enjoyed hovering over the artist's shoulder and watching all of her glittering techniques. I hope I have committed it to long term memory. Yippee. I get to help make Lilly look even more beautiful than she already is, on this special day.