Six weeks and counting...

Baby Mulder is doing well and kicking like crazy! S/he gets the hiccups at least once a day now. It's fun to watch my growing belly bounce up and down, but not so fun when a little heel (or was that an elbow?) catches me in the ribs. The weather is definitely feeling "fallish" this week. With the cool nights, long sleeve shirts, and leaves beginning to turn colors, I beginning to feel like October 23 is just around the corner! Do you think this little one is going to be a boy or a girl? Take your vote at the bottom of the blog.

Woodchips

Last Thursday, we got a HUGE pile of woodchips delivered to our driveway. Dave and I had to head to Huntington for a few days to close on the house there. (What a HUGE praise. God's timing is so good!) When we got back, we hosted a "Pool Party." It was really a woodchip moving party in disguise... but we got lots of help and had most of the pile gone by Saturday afternoon. Our neighbors polished off the pile Sunday and we now have our driveway back. Check out some of the improvements to our yard--

Dave and Dad Mulder put this part of the fence up this past spring. They designed and built the gate themselves. Now it's wide enough to easily fit the lawnmower (or a wheelbarrow filled with woodchips!) through.

Rob was the brainchild behind our updated fire pit. We added the evergreens, grass, bricks, and--of course--woodchips, this summer.

32 Weeks

This Thursday marks the official 32 week mark. Only eight more weeks to go and we'll find out who this little one is. Boy or girl? Hair color? Eye color? It's exciting to think about. Whatever he/she looks like, I know there are some super cute older cousins anxious to meet her (him?)!

Weekend Fun

Check out this video brother Brian made for Dave's triathlon last weekend...

****I'm having technical difficulties... I hope to have this up soon. It's super cool!

We also had a great visit with some friends from Huntington last weekend. Jason, Tanya, Jacob, and my goddaughter, Rachel, came to splash in the pool, hang out by the campfire, eat good food, and take an airplane ride. We had a blast!

Rachel and "Bebe" watch Jacob get strapped in for his first ever airplane ride.

What a cutie!!

Can you see the evidence of s'mores around their lips?

Safari Fun

A Canadian Safari....

We went to visit Dave's sister, Andrea, and her family a couple of weeks ago. We had a blast hanging out with the nieces and are getting excited to the newest addition in December. How exciting that our little one will have a cousin about the same age! While we were there we visited the African Lion Safari. Such a cool place! Giraffes, rhinos, baboons, and of course--lions!, right outside of our car! A little bit of Africa... right there in Ontario.

Christel and Dave on the Safari train.

Several baboons hopped right on the van! I'm not sure who was the most excited. Geneva and Brooke or their parents and aunt and uncle. It was so cool! We checked the van for "monkey damage" after safari car trip. Thankfully the only evidence we found were little monkey footprints!


Geneva, left, feeds some deer while Brooke, in Uncle Dave's arms, can't decide if the baby camel is worth petting.

Back in Midland....
The Safari theme continued when we returned to Midland and put the crib together in our Africa-themed nursury with a little help (a lot?!) from Aunt Rebekah and Grandpa.

Adam, Erin, and soon-to-be-cousin Tristan joined us for some Michigan summer fun. Tristan splashing with his Daddy.

I'm not sure what they were pointing at here. Maybe Rob had just completed one of his famous back flips.

I'm thinking that this little kid's gonna have a cousin!

A Safari Shower....

Rebekah and Erin hosted an awesome safari-themed shower for Baby Mulder in Huntington. It was great to see family and friends from Indiana. Thanks, sisters, I had a blast!!

Friends from Bible Baptist Church

Great Aunt Judy sits between Great-Grandma Deal on the right and Great-Nana on the left. (Although, I personally think they've all been "great" people for quite some time!)

Our Southwest Adventure

We took a vacation in June to see the Grand Canyon and other spectacular natural wonders. We flew into Las Vegas and rented a car, then spent the week camping at several different National Parks. Here are some of our favorite pics...

The Grand Canyon

Arches National Park

Zion National Park

Bryce Canyon

The Mulder Family Blog

This is the part were I'm supposed to write something clever about how this is my first blog attempt, and your expectations shouldn't be too high. However, I feel it's time to make sure everyone at least has an opportunity to be updated on all our current and coming life adventures.