New Titles

Today Elise proceeded to refer to me as "Mrs. Kooistra" and Jer as "Jeremy the Daddy." I wonder if this is going to be a new trend...

A Night at the Zoo

Last night was Jer's company picnic at the zoo. All the employees and their families received free admission and they brought in dinner catered by a local BBQ joint. By 5:00, they had asked the general public to leave the zoo so the entire zoo was available only to employees and their families. Along with free admission and dinner, we were given free rides which normally cost anywhere from $1-3 per ride. They have a couple carousals and a bunch of rides for little kids. Being the thrifty people we are, we decided our time was much better spent on the free rides since we already go to the zoo about once a week. Elise loved the rides and as soon as it would slow down, she would yell, "'gain!" And the great thing about it was, she could go again right away without even having to get off the ride. There were so few people that there were no lines to wait in for the rides. She enjoyed her times on the carousal, the Zoomer, the boats, and the rocket ships. After a while she finally decided she wanted to see some animals so we visited the favorite alligator (Chompy), the turtle, the lions, tigers, other cats, and the ducks and flamingos. By the time we were finished with that, it was late and time to head home. It was a fun evening and much better than any boring traditional company picnic. The only down side to it is dealing with Elise the next time we go to the zoo and I have to tell her she can't go on the rides because they won't be free. :)

Elise needs to work on her "posed smiles"

"Wave to Daddy!"

Ringing the bell on the boats

Riding the rockets

One of our favorite animals

Looking at the tigers

A quick picture with "Chompy" on our way out (all alligators are named Chompy)

Four Generations

I thought I would post some old pictures today and found these two of our families. I love these pictures because it reminds me of God's faithfulness.

Jeremy's Grandma, Elise, Jeremy, Jeremy's mom, and Grandpa

My dad, me, Elise, and my Grandma