Makayla Faith Estep

 Ten days after her due date, Makayla Faith Estep

decided to finally grace this world with her presence

on Thursday May 26th.  Bethany, my cousin, and Lloyd

have their hands full with this new little edition to their family, 

making a grand total of five children now!  Congrats Bethany & Lloyd!

 Aunt Hannah & Makayla

A proud Grandpa John! :)

Joanna Estep's K5 Graduation

 Joanna Estep, my cousin Bethany's little girl, had her K5 graduation

on May 20th.  Mom and Pab drove me down to Chicago where I

could then meet up with the cousins to go back to

Ann Arbor.  We even got to take Levi with us! :)

As you can tell, he's great with directions! ;)

 We met up at Culver's!  So good to see them all again!

 Aunt Bethany gave Levi this bear to play with.  He loved it! :)

 Congrats, "little Jo!"

 As you can tell, Jo didn't miss a beat..

even though others are distracted, she

keeps her smile and focus on the camera!

We've trained her well! ;)

 We went to a reception when the graduation was

finished, and, of course, we stayed late.. in fact,

I do believe that we were the last ones there

besides the cleaning crew!

Couldn't resist this picture of Tab & Levi!

Although Levi doesn't see her much, he warmed to her

quite quickly!  Of course, he's always liked loud people! :)

 Relaxing in the hall while we're waiting to leave.

 On Saturday, we met at a closeby mall.

Levi loved the escalators! :)

 And he was enthralled by the big screen! :)

 Joanna, Carter, and Levi

 When we were in the van, I heard Levi saying

something about building a tower.  I wasn't sure

what he was talking about, so I looked over to see

this.. he'd built a tower with his feet!  So cute! :)

 He loves to drive!  He's been used to driving with

dad in his jeep and on his four-wheeler, I guess!

 Joanna had fun pushing him around on the bike,

and Levi had fun being pushed! :)

 Uncle John taking a little nap while he patiently

waits for us to be ready to go.

 Suzy's so creative!  She used this screwdriver to put

her hair up!  Whatever works!  You're amazing, Suzy! :)

"Big" Joanna & Alyssa

Thanks for having us, Bethany & Lloyd!

We had a great time! :)

Bonfire at "Headquaters"

 The night before I left Wisconsin to come to Ann Arbor

for most of the summer, we went to the Rains' house

("headquaters" as they call it) for a bonfire!

It was a lot of fun!  I was glad that the twins ended

up being able to be there for a little bit before they

went to go practice.  Philip & Levi had fun picking flowers!

 Don't you just love Brooklyn's

little outfit?!  I broke down & got

it for her.. even though I DO NOT

like Wisconsin, I had a hard time

resisting a cute little outfit.. :)

 I also got Levi this Wisconsin shirt as

an early birthday present.

Poor guy.. he fell twice just that afternoon

and hit his head on the pavement!

 

Levi wasn't too sure about the bug..

 But they ended up being close buds! ;)

 Couldn't resist a picture of all the Wisconsin outfits!

 We finally made it to the bonfire out back!

Here's Steve showing off his nice shoes.. he's so 

proud of them. Maybe he needs new shoes more often?! :)

Brooklyn was quite enthralled by the fire, can't you tell?! ;)

Tina & Steve.. well, they just took the time to cuddle up.. :)

Great to be with y'all for a couple weeks!  I'll miss you!

BCM Class of 2011 Graduation

 David, Stephen's brother, graduated from BCM this

past Sunday night, so we all went for the graduation.

Yay, Dave!!!  Done.. for now! :) Congratulations!

 The Rains' brothers.. missing Michael, though!

From L to R: Philip, Paul, David, Luke, and Stephen

 Random Rains'! :)

 Dave's "second mom" helping him out with his grad attire! :)

 Dave with his adorable niece & nephew! :)

Tizzy & Brooklyn

 Philip & Levi

Levi looks kinda out of it.. I think he just woke up!

 Dr. Jim gave the message.. it was great to hear him again!

Felt like I was right at "home".. :)

 Dave gave a speech, and he did a great job!

 Actually, all the speeches were excellent!

 Mary Faith, the president's daughter, graduated..

here's a pic of her daddy giving her a hug.. aw.. :)

 Pastor O'Gorman gave the challenge to the graduates..

(the background of this picture makes me laugh.. :))

 He looks kinda happy, huh? :)

 Yay!!!  DONE!!!

 After the graduation service, most of the crowd headed

out to the land (where they're planning to build a future

BCM building) for the ground breaking!  In answer to

specific prayers, they'd received over $200,000 in the

past week and just that Sunday night in order to begin

the ground breaking and building process!

 David with his good friend, Kayleb Foerster

 The things they think to do! ;)

 We stayed really late.. just couldn't leave, I guess!

We had a great time talking, laughing, and making memories! :)

Mom & Mrs. Smith after a long day and night.. :)

They still look pretty awake, though! ;)

Congrats, Dave, on your graduation from college!

I'm excited for you as you look ahead to the 

future that God has in store for you! :)