Flowers

Rhino

Michigan Moon

By Kristen

Some pictures from Mexico and my backyard (Kristen)

4th of July 2009

Here she is playing Grandma to my doll, Thijs!! She got her hands on any babies she could find, then bought one for her baby back home. I hope Aiden likes little Hans Christian. I sure did!!

Jeanne will LOVE this one, but I had to show the cake Izumi made for us. Yummy!

We are having dinner at home here. See the sun? Stayed with us almost the whole time!!!

Jeanne and Greg do Europe

Tried to post several pictures, but I am not too good with this. So will try to add the others now.

Jeanne and Greg in Europe

Jeanne and Greg arrived in Holland on the 28th of May, well rested after thier business class ride(thanks Ryan!) and ready to roll. Well Jeanne was. Greg watched a stupid movie, so after a bit of a nap, they were both ready to roll. And roll we did!!! Spent two weeks doing as much as we could and seeing as much as we could. Spent the night with Christophe and Izumi in France, a highlight, and two nights in Germany at the Mosel. It really was a good trip for them and a nice time for us!!! Jeanne was the Euchre Champion in the end, we won't mention who lost! Ready to show Guissepe around next!!

Easter 2009

Surprise visit to Arizona!

I surprised Papa and Gramma this weekend by flying out to Arizona. Thanks to Justin and Sarah for letting me stay with them!! Good to see everyone!

Kristen

My winning photos!

Brothers

Post from Jeanne

Papa getting to know Aiden

Dan Champagne

Dan Champagne

Some of you know, but some of you may not have heard that my husband, Dan Champagne passed away on Monday, March 2, 2009.

He will be greatly missed by family and friends. Dan hated funeral homes and funerals and his philosophy was to spend time with the living. His family is honoring his wish to not have a funeral at a funeral home or regular religious services. However, I often told him that wakes were for the remaining family and friends to support each other in their grief.

So while I am respecting most of his wishes, we are having a "Celebration of Dan's Life." There will be an open house luncheon on Saturday, March 7, 2009, from 12:00-4:00. Between 1:00-1:45 we will have a time dedicated for sharing stories of how Dan was involved in your life. It was Dan's philosophy to help people in ordinary ways in their daily life without any fanfare. I would love for you to share your funny, inspirational, or ordinary stories if you would, please, so that everyone can see the full scope of his life.

The location is First Presbyterian Church of Royal Oak, 529 Hendrie Blvd, Royal Oak, Michigan 48067. They are located 1 block east of Woodward Avenue, approximately 1/2 mile south of 11 Mile Road.

In honor of his favorite past time, we will be holding a casual B-B-Q inside Fellowship Hall, please dress comfortably (Dream Cruise attire if you desire.) Please forward this invitation to anyone you know may be interested in joining us in this memorial.

Love,
Claudia Champagne
(Josh, Andrea and Rachel)

Relaxing Weekend in Drenthe

Hans and I went to Drenthe, which is a county north of here, our favorite place in Holland. We spent alot of time in the forest walking (we did not bring our bikes) and really just had four days of peaceful reflection of our time here in Holland.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday, Uncle John!

Pics from Tom

I'm posting these for Uncle Tom from his MySpace page since there seems to be some technical difficulty. -Kristen

Photo Contest

BASF is having a photography contest, so I thought I'd share the photos I am entering. (Kristen)

"Electrifying Fun"

"Buddhist Temple, Kyoto Japan"
"Serenity"

"Hope"

"Pineapple's Cousin"

"Bee Happy"