Almost Done!

Hey Everyone! Just letting everyone know that I am almost done!! I graduate on Thursday, May 31, 2oo7! : ) I am almost ready to start this next grand adventure. I only have 58 more school days left!!

Just so everyone knows and can keep the date available, my open house is on Sunday, June 3. It will be at our house.

If ya'll have inspiring words of wisdom for one about to embark on this crazy adventure we call the "real world" just let me know : ) Love ya!

--Luke

PS-- I'm going to be an uncle!! : )

What I Learned from Summit

I will always look back on my trip to Summit Ministries in Colorado as the event that started me down the road to adulthood. It changed a lot of things for me. Some changes were immediate, but some of them took years for me to even notice. Like a tiny seed that doesn’t even begin to grow until the conditions are right. Then a little rain comes down, the soil softens, and suddenly there’s a beautiful flower in your life that seems to have come from nowhere. Here are some of those flowers.

The first thing I learned from summit was how to face fear and push past it. I know this may sound kind of crazy, but I don’t think I ever did something truly on my own until I went to Colorado. I was terrified to get on that plane alone and fly out into the unknown. What if I missed a connecting flight? What if I couldn’t find the bus to take me to Summit? How do I find my luggage once I’m in Colorado? There were so many questions without answers. If I had been given a choice whether to leave or stay the morning that I left I’m certain I would have chosen the “safe” thing to do and stayed home. However, I was in a position where I hadn’t left myself a choice, and so I stepped out into the unknown. It was terrifying and exhilarating at the same time, and I have discovered along the way that this is how it should be. If we aren’t regularly facing fears, then we have allowed ourselves to lounge around in the comfort zone of life. It sure is cozy, but it sure isn’t living!

After pushing past the fear, my adventure started almost as soon as I got on the plane. I saw two beautiful girls around my age on the plane. I thought they were a bit older, but I couldn’t tell for sure. When I arrived in Colorado, I overheard them talking and realized that they were on their way to Summit as well. Karen and Sarah ended up talking with me on the bus ride from the airport, but at the time I was painfully shy (as most of you probably remember). Any way, as soon as we got to Summit they were flocked by other guys that were a lot more confident. I spent the next few days keeping an eye on them from across the room and saying “Hi” when I got the chance. After a few more days they started spending more time talking to me and hanging out with me. That was when I realized that sincere, nice, and shy still beats confident and annoying! It never went beyond a friendship, but it was still a big boost to my self-confidence to realize that being myself was okay!

The adventure continued the entire time I was there. It was like a giant social experiment with me right in the middle. Of course there was the trip to the Garden of the Gods, and the white water rafting, but I actually learned more from taking a trip to the Laundromat. Again, it probably sounds stupid, but I was all up in knots about how I was going to get some clothes washed. That’s when I learned that there are always other people in life around you that need the same things you do. Keep your ears open and you’ll find help from them some days, and other days they’ll find help from you. I was able to tag along with some other guys and I just followed their lead. Presto – clean clothes. New challenges can be scary, but they’re seldom as difficult to overcome as you think.

Then there were the classes. They taught me to learn to question what you read, hear, and watch. We all have a brain for a reason. We should collect as much information as possible from as many different sources as possible on any given subject. Then take some time to digest what we’ve learned and finally make some decisions on what we really believe about the subject. Of course, our decisions will be based on our worldview, which is another thing that Summit taught me.

Everyone has a view of the world around them. It’s developed from what you’ve read, what you learned in school, what you’ve seen on the news, the movies you’ve watched, and the principles you were taught by the people in your life. Well, at least that’s the raw material for your world view. What comes next is the most important thing – what you do with the raw material. Most people just take the path of least resistance – they accept everything they’ve seen, heard, and been taught as the truth. They let someone, everyone else define the way they look at the world - the lens through which everything else is focused. What an incredibly dangerous thing to do!! Why would we let the most important decisions we make every day be influenced to such a large extent by the world around us. In case you haven’t noticed, the world we live in is a hailstorm of negativity and half-truths. Summit taught me not to accept everything the way most of the world does. Develop a world-view based on the word of God, and let that be the foundation for your life, because the storms will come.

And the storms are not random events… There really are forces working against us, and if we don’t do anything about it they will succeed. Summit taught me that we all need to stand up for what we believe even when it’s unpopular. We need to question everything and continually point people back to the truth – God is real and so is Satan. If we aren’t living for one, than we are living for the other. There is no middle ground. So, take a side (the right one), grab a weapon (the word of God), and join the battle. We already know that we ultimately win, but don’t we want to kick some butt while we’re in the battle? I do, and that leads me to the flower that has taken the longest to bloom.

The most precious thing I learned, and the one that has taken my whole life so far to realize is that we only get one shot at life. That’s it! Am I going to live a small life of insignificance? Am I going to have a nice suburban family with a nice job and nice friends? Am I going to occupy my time with small concerns? Am I going to be remembered as a nice guy? My answer is to that is the same as John Eldredge’s in “Wild at Heart” – No Way!! I want to be a world changer. I want to make an impact that spans generations. I want to go to my grave with thousands of people hating me. Yep, you read that right. I want to stand up as a beacon of truth in the world, and that is one thing that no one can remain indifferent to. It will either change you or really tick you off, and either one is fine with me.

So, I’ve made the choice to pursue a life of significance. I have a plan and I’m working toward it every single day. I have an awesome family backing me up, and some fantastic mentors guiding me down the path. But most importantly, I have God on my side and He has promised that “all things are possible to him that believes (Mark 9:23).” I’ve just decided to be someone that believes.

So thank you Grandpa and Grandma for sending all of us to Summit!! It must have been a very large investment for you, but the return will certainly be infinite and eternal. You were the original world changers in my life, and I’m so proud to be a part of your family, your legacy. I love you both!

Mark

ARIZONA

Hello! We (David & I) just returned from Tucson, AZ. We visited my parents who drove the motorhome out a couple of weeks ago and are staying in a condo in Oro Valley. We had a wonderful time.
Andrea & Tim, Ryan & Ross came out this weekend and will be home tonight but here they are laying by the pool trying to warm our white and freezing cold bodies :) Right behind is Mt. Lemmon, which has snow on the top!
Our last breakfast together before we headed home, trying to soak every last bit of AZ sun.
Although out of order, this is Mt. Lemmon, quite the experience getting to the top.
All David's chickens needed was to be left alone! His first eggs . . . . always a fun discovery!

Stacey & Jason head out this weekend. . . . .they are going to have a blast! I'm sure she will astound you with her photography when she returns!

A Vander Veen Update...

Hi Everyone! It has been quite awhile since we posted a blog so I thought I would send a quick update. Things have been a little crazy around here... Mostly good, but a few rough patches.

My grandpa has been in and out of the hospital and isn't doing well at all. He is 88 and has lived a long wonderful life. My grandma passed away sixteen years ago and he has lived alone since then. He has taken very good care of himself and has never really had any health complications. He lives in Lansing which is where my mom and dad grew up. My parents went to Lansing to see him a week and a half ago and he couldn't answer the door. They had to call 911 to get into the house and found him in bed unable to get up. So they rushed him to the hospital. Since then he has been in and out of a hospital in Lansing, living is Spring Lake with my mom & dad, and now is in Hackley Hospital. It has been pretty rough on my mom because her brother (my uncle) is stuck in Las Vegas. He was on vacation when this all started and all the flights out of Vegas were cancelled last Sunday. With everyone trying to get new flights, he couldn't get back into GR until tonight. My mom was with my grandpa last night and he told her he has been asking God why he can't just die? It was a pretty tough conversation for my mom to have with him. Then early this morning he almost stopped breathing but he still fought through it. If you all could pray, it would be great. We are praying for two things. On one hand my grandpa says that he is ready to die. He is saved and he knows where he is going. But on the other hand, he talks about how he still wants to be able to drive. So it seems that he is torn. We have been praying that God gives him a peace and for God to give him clear direction. The second thing I would love you to pray about is my uncle. I am sensing two things with him. First of all, I am not sure he is saved. Secondly, when my grandma died, he was not with her. He has had a tremendous amount of guilt from that situation and honestly has never dealt with it. So him being stuck in Las Vegas has been very rough on him. So I want to pray a peace over him, a speedy return, and for God to show himself to my uncle Lon through all of this. I want to pray a healing over him from all the hurt from the past. That God would bring reconciliation in his life. From my understanding, my uncle did get saved at one point in his life. So as far as his salvation, that is between him & the Lord. But I do know that he is not currently living his life for the Lord. He has judged my mom for her relationship with the Lord many times. So I really want to pray that he will see God working through this situation in a powerful way that will draw him unto Him! It is such a blessing to have such huge family of believers. You are all so awesome! Oh Yes... one more prayer request. Elli has been sick and that has caused a few complications with my grandpa. So if you could pray for health in our family so we can do what we need to do, that would be great!

Beyond that, things are going really well. Tori is a little reader and writer so school has been awesome! Both girls are in gymnastics and swimming at the Y. Elli actually has her first swimming on Thursday but Tori is a fish. I think Elli may be a little timid in swimming but we will see. I am coaching a few gymnastics classes at the Y while the girls are in class. I am actually Tori's coach. I thought it would be rough but it has been OK. They are both loving it! Mark is doing great. He is really stepping into his anointing in the business world and it is so fun to watch. He has just finished reading a book called the Slight Edge and it has made quite an impact on him. He is such an awesome man. We just had a 'Hero Day' with our girls on Saturday. We took them to Nana V's work... which is amazing for all you parents out there. We have a thing in our family that whenever anyone does something extraordinary, they earn a hero card. Once someone has earned 10 hero cards, they get to pick an outing. Both Tori & Elli earned 10 at the same time, so we did an extra special combo Hero Day outing. They loved it! I was pretty bummed that I forgot my camera. (Not like me) Well, I think that is about it. Thanks for all the prayers and we all hope everyone is doing well!

Update

Ok! things have sort of been settling down here in Honduras and I wanted to update you all on what has been going on. First of all, THANKYOU for your support, love, comments, and most of all prayers. How blessed I am to have a family like this...I love you!

So, last week both Carlos and I had meetings with our superintendent who wanted us to get married within a month to 6wks. YIKES! We told her that wasn't a wise decision for us at this point and as a result we have "lost" our jobs. However, since the school cannot legally fire us because I'm pregnant they are still paying me through the end of my contract (June) and have even agreed to extend my insurance through Dec. in case there are complications with the baby/delivery etc. SO, overall, I think this is a blessing in disguise. I do understand the school's position and reasoning and I'm thankful for their understanding. As of March 2 I will no longer be working, which, as a result allows me to come home sooner! Yay! Right now I am planning on coming home end of March/beginning of April and staying until the middle of June. The school has asked that I stay in Tegus for a few weeks to help transition the new teacher who will take over my position (my poor kids), which I am very happy to do.

Carlos and I are in the process of discussing what would be the best option for us as a couple and have tossed the idea of a legal/civil (basically signing papers) ceremony and then having a wedding in the spring of 2008. This way we can be together when the baby is born. As of now, it seems to be the best/ most logical option. I'll keep you updated.

Speaking of Carlos I want to "introduce" you to him a little before you actually get to meet him. He is Honduran (one of the few tall ones ;)) although he and his family moved to the States when he was 2yrs old. He was raised in a Christian home, and yes, he loves Jesus too! He lived in Atlanta, Georgia until he was about 12/13yrs old. English was technically his "first" language (he speaks perfect English :)) because he went through all of elementary school in the states, although Spanish was of course spoken at home. He lives with his mom Carmen, his older sister Aileene, a younger sister Andrea, and a younger brother Jose (Joseph). When Carlos was 20yrs old (he's 22 now) his dad died of health related issues after a blot clot in the brain, up until that point Carlos was 2yrs into a computer engineering program at a university here in Tegus. When his dad died Carlos changed career courses for a less demanding administration degree (which he'll finish in Mar) so he could support his family. I am continually amazed that somone his age has supported his family the way he has. One of Carlos' major goals is to finish the engineering degree (he's about 2yrs short), mostly for his dad who was a major support/advocate for him in college. I am so sad I was never able to meet Carlos, the dad :), I moved down here about 3mo. after he died. Carlos (my Carlos) loves sports, and especially playing basketball, which is initially how we first met, we were playing up at the school and I challenged him to 1-on-1 (yes, I was probably flirting...:)) and I beat him...several times (ok, only twice ;)). And like a true Latino, he loves soccer too. :). Some of the things I love about him...his heart/genorosity...he hates to see people hungry or needing something and does what he can to fix that, especially for his family. He makes me laugh (and yes, sometimes cry), he's very smart/ good with money (a huge sigh of relief for me) and he will be a wonderful father...ok, at the risk of making him sound perfect...i know he's not ;), there are, of course things i would change...but, overall, I'm happy! A few days ago he spoiled me and took me out to get my hair cut/colored and a pedicure/manicure...It had been almost a year since my hair had seen some TLC. I felt special!

Earlier this week Carlos had an interview/was offered a new postion administering a "cushy" bar/restaurant here in the city. It is a significant increase financially for him and something he is/has studied in school...all good things. You know, I'm not sure I'll ever understand his need to provide/support, but for the 3days ish that he was "jobless" he was definitely stressed/ on edge. But since he has accepted this new position its like he's a new person, dancing around, singing, making me laugh...more relaxed! Thankyou Jesus for that provision. As far as my job goes, I had a great job lined up teaching in the fall at a different school, but that has since fallen through due to my pregnancy...who wants to hire 2teachers instead of 1? :P. The baby is due in the beginning of September, so I wouldn't actually start work again until Nov/Dec. at the earliest. Carlos has told me that as of now, I don't need to worry about finding a job until 2008, something I'm so happy about, I really want to be able to be home for a time with this precious baby. Although, neither of us really know how expensive this is going to be...so I'm really hoping we can afford that :).

Please continue to pray for us...there are still a lot of decisions that need to be made and we really want to make the wisest ones. I love you all!

Tashina

Lent

Hey it's been awhile since I posted and we are doing great over here in Hamilton. Avary is growing and our hearts are growing to fit all the love we feel for her inside. I have written in my blog about Lent as well so if youy want to check that out have at it.( http://bpolavin.blogspot.com/2007/02/lent.html)
I wonder what are your experiences about and around Lent? Why don't we have another conversation around this.

good morning

Good morning all the the TerBeeks! (It's Stacey) I know it's 1:16am why am I so chipper? No clue, absolutely no clue. Actually I'm tired but I can't bring myself to get into into my cozy bed just yet. Soon, very soon. Jason is working on school work in his "office" (spare bedroom) right now. He's getting ahead of schedule so this weekend he doesn't feel like he has to spend the whole time reading books and writing his paper. Plus next week is the last week before spring break starts and I don't think that he can even get excited until he is all done with everything. I am a different story. I can't wait for Spring Break. Today I was already going through the list in my head of what clothes I can bring! We leave for Tuscon Arizona next Saturday! Hopefully we will get a lot of sunning and hiking done and don't worry I will take a ton of pictures. There is not much else going on in the UP right now. They (whoever "they" are) say it's supposed to snow and blow tonight, but currently it's 30's and raining...but we do live in Michigan. We did decide to "give up" TV for Lent this year. It's a time sucker and we wanted to be a little more productive and use our time more wisely. Just today I cut all the pieces for a quilt I am making and I hand sewed one square tonight after meeting with some girls to study. I'll take pictures when it's done. I am so excited it's very bright! I don't mean to be light about Lent but if you want to read more about why I observe it, I just wrote about it on my blog...just click HERE.

Well hopefully everyone else got to bed sooner than I did. Have a wonderful Thursday!-Stacey

HAPPY BIRTHDAY STACEY! WE LOVE YOU!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RYAN!

News!

Hi family! I have a hard, but necessary blog to write! So please bear with me as I fumble through this :). About two weeks ago I got engaged! SURPRISE :)! But I also found out I am about 9wks pregnant. Needless to say these last few weeks have been a whirlwind of emotions...and still is, to be honest. My fiancee's (isn't he good looking ;)) name is Carlos Valladares. We love each other and do want to get married...as of now we are working through the surprise of a baby and when and how we will get married. And, unfortunately I don't have very many answers for you, because WE don't have answers yet. We work at a Christian school and we have sinned...and will have to face those consequences from the school. I know that we are forgiven in God's eyes...and that is what is MORE important than anything else! But...there still comes other situations to deal with...we have a meeting on Fri to tell our boss a date for when we will get married- which they want to be sooner than later. I am not comfortable rushing into a marriage at this point...I know I want to be with him, I know that it will be hard...on all levels, and these are choices that I made and consequences that I will have to handle. Carlos has been such a support to me from food, to defending me, to just hugging me as I cry. And I know these last few weeks would have been so hard to deal with if Carlos hadn't been here with me. I have wonderful support from church, my family, Carlos's family, and the friends I have told down here. I know this baby is not a mistake...and that God is in control...there's just so much to deal with right now. I don't know when Carlos and I will get married...we both want things to stabilize between us as a couple, but I know we will do what we have to to be a family. This is really hard to write...but I do want you all to know and to pray. Health-wise I have THANKFULLY had no morning sickness...I've just been exhausted all the time. We have a great doctor here who actually delivered Carlos years ago! SO...please be praying for this new life, Carlos and I as a couple, and job situations! Thank-you for your love and support, I'll try to keep you updated as things become clearer down here. I love you all.

Tashina

Ashton's surgery

Dear Ones, Thanks for your prayers. Aston's surgery went beautifully, with no problems. He is such a tough little guy.. he is smiling and running around already. Heart surgery still scheduled for the 9th of March. Toodles. Auntie D

Ashton Lowell

Dearest Ones, Tomorrow @ 10:00am Ashton will have tubes inserted and Adenoids removed at De Vos Children's Hospital thanks to your faithful prayers. It is absolutely a miracle that he has been able to get in this soon . Because of this speed he will be able to keep his appointment for heart surgery on the 9th of March in Ann Arbor Yeah.... Thanks Abba & Family Hugs Donna

A really, really, really long post.......

Greetings Family :)

I hope you all are enjoying your snow and staying warm up in Michigan. We finally got some of your weather down here and as I'm writing it is snowing :) My roommate and I are praying for a snow day tomorrow. (her name is Candace and she's great! She moved here from CA and works for Congressman Doolittle) I think DC is the only place where you still get snow days even though your not in school!! People see snow flakes and they freak out. I actually prefer they don't drive, because they have NO IDEA how to drive in snow!!! Anway, about my living situation, I moved (for the 3rd time since I've been out here!) at the begining of January. I flew home from Christmas break, packed up, and moved on January 7th. And as of this week, I have FINALLY offically lived here for over 1 week :) My Janaury was a blurr!!! I got home from Christmas on Dec. 31st, and as you all are aware, President Ford had passed away so they had all the funeral events starting on Jan. 2nd, after New Years Day. Needless to say we had a few busy days in the office. The cool thing was some of us staff got to go to the funeral at the Washington Cathedral. We got an official escort up to the Cathedral with the other Members of Congress, which I have to say, was probably the hi-lite. There were even black suburans and guys with guns following us, just like on tv :) Anyway, it was pretty humbling to be able to experience part of history in the making. It still amazes me how God works and the places he puts us in life!!! After the funeral events, we had full staff training Tuesday evening - Thursday. Friday I finished packing, Saturday I moved, and Sunday I unpacked. Oh yeah, I went to the Dr. in there and found out I had a viral infection along with a fever....was fabulous :( Monday-Wednesday I worked and then packed Wednesday evening and flew out Thursday morning (6:00am) for Honduras. Which leads me to my trip - I had a BLAST!! There were definitlely some hi-lites, but before I get to those, be forwarned, if you ever fly in to see Tash, the flight in is something else!! You know is going to be fun when the Pilot comes on and tells you that your going to be making a "series of turns"!! You basically go up over a moutain range and drop down into the valley. Only to find that the runway your supposed to land on looks like its a strip of pavement!! I was like, man, where in the world are we going to land (as we're pretty much skimming the tops of houses at this point). Then I see this little strip of tar and I thought, "huh", that CAN'T be it, but sure enough, it was. And the lady sitting next to me, who didn't speak a lot of English, was saying, and I quote, " this pilot is not very good"!!! Needless to say, I was VERY happy to finally be on the ground :) Okay, on to the hi-lites.

1.) Seeing Tash teach. We got to go and sit in on her classes (which we pretty much taught one afternoon because we were "special guests"), and meet her kids. There's not doubt they love Ms. Scott :) Not so great of a hi-lite = she made us come up to school one afternoon and help her correct exams. I told her I was on vacation, but you can only guess how well that went over.....

2.) Getting to see where Tash lives, meet her roommates, and see "her" city.

3.) "Our" smiley dog :) He was soo cute! Paula and I walked by him every time we went up to school.

4.) Laying out in 80 degree weather, swinging in the hammocks at the hotel in Ceiba and falling asleep listening to the oceans crash on the shore every night.

5.) Seeing Tash use her Spanish! This old guy tried to rip us off when we were trying to get a taxi and Tash laughed at him and let him have it in Spanish. After he walked away, a couple of other guys who were standing by us and had heard the whole conversation basically said the same thing, yeah, he was trying to rip you off. Once we had found a taxi at a normal rate and we were walking over to his car, the old guy came back over to us and opened the car doors for us. I think he might have felt a little guilty :)

6.) Going snorkeling for the first time. I kept thinking of the Little Mermaid song, "Its a whole new World" :)

7.) The driver of our boat all of a sudden stopping in the middle of the ocean, jumping out (I'm hoping he's coming back at this point) and then came back to the boat with 6 absolutley beautiful starfish....

8.) The biggest hi-lite of all, being able to hang out with my sisters.

Okay, I know, when I post, its long, but, I have a lot to say (I know some of you are laughing right now!!) I hope you enjoyed the pictures.

Much love to you all,

Leah

Upside Down

"The baby arrives and the world is turned upside down. How utterly irrelevant are things that yesterday seemed vitally important"

Hi Everyone! This is Robin Polavin (Ben's wife). I've so enjoyed this blog and learning more about each of you, so this afternoon Ben taught me how to do this (he is a patient man) so that I could share a little part of me on here as well. The quote above kind of outlines what our life has been like for the past 6 weeks - and we'd never go back. I am not sure if all of you know our situation, but we had been trying to have little Avary for about 3 years. After finally determining that in-vitro gave us the best chance at having a child of our own, we were blessed to have been able to have her on the third (and what we had determined would be the final) attempt. What a miracle she is! I just stare at her and can still hardly believe that she's here, and that she's a part of both of us. What a journey it was to get to this happy ending. I am thankful for the lessons we learned both in patience and in learning that we are not in control. And a part of me is thankful for the "suffering" because it makes you stop and appreciate every single second of the "good".

So for those of you who so faithfully kept us in your prayers throughout this pregnancy - we are so thankful. There is no doubt in my mind that it was because of those prayers that my pregnancy went so smoothly.

On a less "serious" note, I have posted our latest family portrait - taken when Avary was about a week and a half old. Since the only picture posted on this blog of me was "post-birth" (thanks Ben!) I thought it'd be nice if you could take a peak at the 3 of us when I wasn't in my hospital gown. :)

Hope you all have a fabulous week!

Much Love,

Robin

Portland News

Hello Everyone! Kim here posting the Thelen news! It's been a while so Brenda thought maybe she should update everyone on what's happening in their neck a the woods! I'll just run down the line with each one starting with Brent. He had some exciting news today and that's that he found out he has an Associates Degree in Arts and Business! You're wondering, as were we, how in the world he didn't know he had this degree and now 10 years later it appears right?!? Well....he was digging through his transcripts and discovered his GVSU papers. After looking through them he started thinking that after 18 credits/semester for 4 years he should've had SOME degree. So he called an Advisor and met with him today. It seems that he's had the degree all along but never knew there was an application to be filled out so they would send it to him. He just figured the college would send him the degree once he finished. Kinda bittersweet in that he's had it all along but is just now able to use that on his job applications! They're all excited about the news and he's even thinking of getting his Bachelors since its only 24 credits away! He's still in the job search so prayer that the right one comes along and BAM! hits him square in the face would be fab!! =)
Brenda is doing swell....no pun intended since she is 28 weeks along now! =) She's feeling "big and pregnant" were her exact words but all in all is feeling great. She's still doing daycare and is busy with that along with the boys obviously!
Onto the adorable boys pictured above! (that was taken New Years Eve by the way!) Gavin is SUCH a smartie pants in school and is doing wonderful. He has such a thirst for knowledge and loves to learn new things. More importantly he remembers them and hauls 'em out when ya least expect it! His 7th birthday is coming up in a couple weeks and he's having his first slumber/birthday party and is extremely excited. He's got 4 friends (along with his Titi!!) that are spending the night. (now honestly folks....it's such a heart melter to hear from Brenda that when he was deciding who was coming he goes "well MOM titi's coming isn't she?") I wouldn't miss it for anything...what a special time together! A little rowdy and loud but treasured time in my book for sure! =)
Caden is....well Caden! He's such a funny kid with a smile that lights up any room! He's gotten really comical and is fun to chase around and play with. He LOVES to read books and ride his new quad he got for Christmas! He also been potty training (he's not even 2 until July 24!!) and sortof initiated that on his own. She told me today that last night he just climbed up on the toilet and went without anyone even telling him! HELLO.....what kid does that?!?! =) He's a hoot to say the least and him and Gav certainly have a very close bond.
I guess that about does it for the Thelen news....they send everyone all their love. And thanks Aunt Renee for so faithfully sending the blog so they can keep in touch even without a computer! Ta ta for now....

walking on the beach

Hello all~

Just an update for you all. I talked to my mother (this is katie by the way)yesterday and her and aunt ruthie made it safe to Florida to have a week vacation walking on the beaches and enjoying the sunshine. They said that grandma and grandpa are very happy down there. So don't feel too bad for them because as I was talking to my mom she was walking on the beach picking up sea shells. Rough life huh? Just thought all of you would like the update.

Here is a pic to boot. I had too much time on my hands. Love you all. Have a great day!

BarbaraGrace

Hi Everyone, Just thought I'd update you all. I will be starting my new job on Monday. I will be working out of Holland employed by LSS: Parent Center. It's a really cool place that has families, parents and Kids at the heart of all they do. So you know I'm gonna be loving it! There are actually three organizations under the LSS roof, Parent Information and Resource Center, a Federal program, Parents As Teachers, we are the state headquarters, and Communities and Schools, which is a state organization as well. So you can see what we do is quite diverse, but it all has to do with kids. I will be working mostly in the area of early childhood education. I will be educating and raising money at the local and state level. I will only need to in my office once a week for my new boss Deanna Depree' and I to connect. She is allowing my GREAT flexibility which means that I can have Fri. off with my hubby, go to the cottage, I can combine my Lansing trips for LSS with other meetings I need to have for a group I am working with on Prayer for the government of Mi., I can go help take care of my two new grandchildren, I can take time to go on a trip with Gramma and Grampa TB to TN. to see Bradley and gang in March, etc. Sounds like a job made JUST for me? WEll it was Deanna created the position for me. As we prayed for the leading of The Lord, and we just weren't sure about this job (only because of the pay), I heard this voice ask, "since you've been praying for me to guide your decisions, do you think the fact that you only have one job offer just might BE direction?" Duh!! So my first week will be spent in Orlando at a conference with Deanna, not too shabby of a first week hey?
I am also starting a new 501c4 with another ex-rep called International Travel Organization (ITO). We are working with The National Foundation Of Women Legislators to organize travel trips for state Reps and senators across the nation. Our mission is to increase knowledge and exchange in Commerce, Culture, and government. I was in DC for two days with her (we stayed with Leah) we made initial visits to the embassy of France, Australia, Japan, and China. It was a really interesting trip!! You can pray it all works out. This is one of those opportunities that came knocking on my door and I'm not so sure about exactly where it's going but I am trying not to figure it all out and let God be God. God idea huh?


Other "jobs" that I am moving into are the Vice-chair of the Ottawa county GOP, I was also appointed to the Ottawa County Mental Health Board which meets once a month. I am helping to organize a group which will focus on increasing the numbers of women involved in the Republican party state wide.

I have said NO to many more "opportunities" I
am TRYING not to get too busy.

Stacey, THANK YOU for organizing this way for our fam to hang more tightly!!! It has been such a blessing to me!!

Love and Prayers to all, Barbara

Ashton Lowell update

Dearest Ones, Ashton did not have any surgery( adenoids, tubes and etc.) on the 2nd of February. The Dr.s have decided to do the surgery at DeVos Children's Hospital instead of North Ottawa because of possible complications. We have no new dates & do not know if the heart surgery scheduled for the 9th of March will be a go now or not. Emotional whiplash to say the least, but we know THE ONE who orders our days and steps so we chose to rejoice, thanks for listening and continuing to pray. O.G.I.G. Much Love Aunt Donna

Grandpa & Grandma Update

Grandpa & Grandma called and have made it safely to Venice, Florida! They love their location and all is well.