With this fresh Spring weather, it feels rude to reminisce about the fun times had in February with school friends on our ski weekend together at Caberfea - but I’ll do it anyways. It was a complete Grand Rapids Christian Eagle takeover - you couldn’t throw a snowball and miss hitting someone in our group. There were snacks… there were laughs… and we left with such fun memories. It was so much fun that we’ve already booked our dates for the 2026 Takeover!
How about a hard pivot to the opposite of skiing in Northern Michigan? Last weekend, I spent 4 days in gorgeous Cave Creek, Arizona, with my girlfriends, soaking up all the desert sunshine. We ladies snuck away for a long weekend and spent our time wisely: hiking, dancing, playing pickleball, drinking spicy margs, and floating in the pool until dinner reservations called our names. We relaxed, played hard, and had an incredible time together.
In addition to Arizona, I also spent a weekend in Chicago with my friend Amber, visiting the one and only Cassie Guba—one of my oldest friends and the maid-of-honor at our wedding. I did a terrible job taking photos, but rest assured, we had a fabulous time. Cassie was the hostess with the mostest and toured us around her neighborhood hot spots for dinner and drinks. On Saturday morning, we busted our butts with a 60-minute SoulCycle class, followed by some good old recreational shopping.
Back at home, work has been steady for both Jeff and me. Jeff’s travel is on the uptick, while my schedule has been filled with lots of events. It’s about to be gala season, and we’re looking forward to the fun times on the horizon. In addition to work, our board commitments are keeping us engaged as well. Jeff remains on the Finance Committee at the kids' school, and I’ve stayed active with Broadway Grand Rapids and Habitat for Humanity of Kent County. Broadway GR recently announced the 2025-2026 season lineup, and it’s incredible! Habitat Kent also had big news this week with the reveal of The Imagine Campaign—a capital campaign aimed at providing affordable housing for 100 families all within a three year timespan.
This weekend, the kids and I are relaxing at home, preparing for our Spring Break. Jeff is up north catching up with college friends and watching March Madness. I have some free time today to pack, Spring-clean, and work out, and I'm also happy to blog. Writing is always a joy, especially when reflecting on the fun moments from the past month. In March, we had a March Madness party (my bracket’s not doing great while Thomas’ is thriving), we hosted our annual Ottawa Hills Cabin Fever party, and celebrated our friend Alisa’s birthday with a girls only lunch.
And you know it’s officially Spring when the Butterflies are Blooming at Fredrick Meijer Gardens. Each year we attend this event and it never gets old. If you’ve never been, we highly recommend checking it out with the family. Pro tip, the Gardens are open late on Tuesdays. Please enjoy Natalie’s photography skills in the images that follow.
Miss Natalie is happy as can be and living the 4th grade dream. We toured the middle school a few weeks ago and she’s VERY excited to make the big jump to 5th grade and become a middle schooler. She crushed her school project about Walt Disney with an over the top diorama of Disneyland’s ribbons cutting. She’s so creative… she took the light sticks from a roller skating party apart and used them as fireworks. Natalie continues with piano lessons this Spring and in May she’ll participate in her first recital under her new instructor. She is also looking forward to starting tennis next month.
Thomas turned 8-years-old this week and celebrated with his buddies at SkyZone, followed by cheese curds and custard at Culver’s - an event only Thomas could craft. We will continue the birthday celebrations with extended family next month, where we will enjoy the official cake and candles. For his school treat he chose lemon cookies and it sounds like they were a hit!
Thomas’ class took a very unique field trip to the SuperMercado Mexican grocery store where the PTO gave each student $3 to spend on an item of their choice. The class grouped up into smaller pods and went on a Spanish scavenger hunt throughout the store. GRCS has a very robust Spanish emersion program, as well as twice a week Spanish classes for our English students. I chaperoned the trip and thought it was a super fun way for the kids to all practice their skills.
And last, Thomas and the rest of the 2nd and 1st graders from Iroquois Elementary performed in the beloved Spring Program. Our guy had a speaking line and did awesome!
To close us out, hang with me as I get a touch sappy. Our kids are getting older and each day they become more and more independent. As someone who’s constantly planning for the next thing, I must keep reminding myself to soak in the, ‘Mom take our picture’ moments when they are messing around at the restaurant. I need to pause and witness when they do sweet things like sit on the floor together and watch the cinnamon rolls bake on a Sunday morning. Thomas still asks me to cuddle when we’re watching movies and Natalie will hold my hand when we’re walking together. I know these moment are fleeting and I’m soaking them all up.
I hope your Spring is filled with lots of great moments. Cheers!
