Welcome!

Hello friends,

So, we decided that we would start a blog. I am not much of a writer but have always loved to keep journals, diaries, etc. We'll use this to update you on things going on in our lives, vacations and much more.

Here's what has happened in the last few weeks:

At the beginning of May we went on a cruise and we definitely recommend a cruise if you're looking to plan a vacation. If you're trying to decide which cruise line you should look into Carnvial: www.carnival.com the FUN SHIP =) The cruise we went on was Carnival Imagination and it sailed out of Miami and to Nassau, Bahamas. In Nassau we went to the Atlantis resort, which was pretty much AMAZING! 3 aquariums, the beach, a waterpark and beautiful weather made for a great day there.

This past week, I went on a young leaders retreat with my coworkers and it was great. We biked 60 miles (I couldn't have done it without their support! Thanks friends!), camped, went to Mackinaw Island and had some great conversations.

In a couple of weeks we take off to the Dominican Republic for 2 weeks. We are very excited especially because Ismael hasn't been home in 9 years!!!! He is so ready to see everyone again. I am excited to meet the rest of our family. Ismael's sister is pregnant and is due in August so we are bringing her a bunch of baby stuff...our first niece (my brothers don't really want kids...)

Another really great thing that has happened is that we are going to be Project Neighborhood mentors. Project Neighborhood is a program at Calvin College. They own 5 houses in the Grand Rapids area and at each house there are 6-8 students that live there. For more info visit: http://www.calvin.edu/admin/housing/pn/

We'll post some pictures of the house soon!

Vanessa