THE EISEN UPDATE

Hello my fellow family,

i thought i would write a little something. Eli is in school and loves it although he says it's so short so he calles it his short school. so cute. He is getting so big always helping and such a tender heart. Lily going on 14 months now and doesn't stop talking, always curious and always learning she is so precious. Jason and I are plugging away on the house HOPING to get is done soon. God has giving us LOTS of grace and patients through this season in our lives. sometimes I don't like it but in the end I see his plan. Jason has been very forgiving in the middle of my tornado's, Yes terbeek family I am still working my self control of the tongue. Well other than that not much else has been going on and everything else that has happend I'm sure you have all heard about it AND in the case if you haven't oh just drop a line and i'll be happy to talk, us girl's you know have to get our 2500 words in a day some how. Well my soon so be bundled family from the winters of michigan i shall bid you all farwell. much love the EISENS.

Correction to email address

Hello all. Jen meant to list her email as jenv@urassociation.com. :)

Mark

Soldier Christmas Project

I wanted to extend this to anyone who is interested in doing a Christmas project this year. Our family loves to find something special like this to do with our girls. Some friends and I are organizing a 'Soldier Christmas Project' to bless the soldiers in Iraq. It is similar to the shoe boxes for the kids we done in the past. We will be filling boxes and sending them to soldiers to brighten up their holiday season. I have heard so many stories of how care packages have made such a tremendous difference in soldier's lives. This project is very simple because of the strict regulations with customs and the military. All you have to do is send money and a hand written encouraging card. We will be filling the boxes. We want them all to be exactly the same to "bless" the soldiers equally. The cost is $25 / box and $9 for shipping (total of $34 for each box). So if anyone is interested, let me know. I have to have total number of boxes by November 1st and the money & card by the 10th of November. This will ensure us enough time to get the boxes to the soldiers in time for Christmas. If you are interested, either email me at jen.vanderveen@urassociation.com or call me on my cell at 616 502-1229. Thanks!!!

~ Love, Jen V

Hello Family!

The Middle Vander Veens have not fallen off the face of the earth. For months I have lost the sign in info to post a blog. I have been reading everyone's info and love it but thought it was past time to update everyone on us. Hmmmmm... where to start?

First, school is in full swing. We are LOVING it. I was very nervous about this school year. I knew that with Tori starting first grade, we now had to be serious. No more "playing school at home". I was nervous that I would go stir crazy being stuck in the "schoolroom" for hours on end. (I kind of don't like being in once place for too long-a challenge with my personality type.) But it has been amazing. We have had so much fun painting science projects, acting out history lessons, reading signs while shopping, and much more. Tori is a sponge and I love this age. I am sure it will not always be this easy but for now it is so much fun. It only takes us about 2 hours to finish school. Elli has been joining us for some of it. The first "acting" session we had was for History. We are reading through the old testament for History and read the story about Abram and Sarai when Abram lied and said Sarai was his sister. Tori & Elli ran into get their leotards and tutus on for their "play". After discussing the story, Tori stayed "beautiful dressed" for Sarai and Elli got dressed in all black to be "boyish" for Abram. Boy did they get into it! A couple of hours later, Tori was reciting the play we did word for word. It was amazing how effective it was!

Mark is great and so am I. We are going to Niagara Falls this weekend to celebrate our 10th anniversary. Amazing how time flies! We are very excited to get away and enjoy some R & R. My coaching at the Y has been going great. It is growing so much we are very short on staff. So if you know anyone who is looking to get a free membership and can coach gymnastics, let me know. :) Tori just got her hair cut super short. It is so cute on her. She loves it. She told me that she is never growing it out again! I will post some pictures soon. We are getting professional family pictures done tonight actually. YEAH! (Mom says yeah, too... we are kind of well known for our lack of family pictures.) Kind of weird because I love pictures but the sit down, get your kids to sit still aren't so much fun. But it will be great tonight! :)

Anyways, gotta run! Love you all!

detour to the Veldermans-from Stacey

On my way back to the UP on Sunday I was able to take a little detour to Kim and Dan's to see them and Makayla and the new little one Cameron. Kim and Dan it was so great to spend a couple of hours with you and meet Cameron before the rest of your fam! (Sorry Lisa!)
Thanks for a great time.

Velderman Pictures!

Cameron Daniel Velderman

He arrived October 8 at 7:15 p.m. weighing in at 6 lbs. 15 oz, 20 3/4 inches long! Quite a little peanut considering mommy was 42 weeks along!!! He's such a joy and we're all enjoying having him around. Makayla has taken a liking to her "big sister" role and is such a big help with him. Thanks for all who were thinking and praying for us - we love you!

The Veldermans

CONGRATULATIONS TIM AND ANDREA!!!!!!

Valladares' :)!

Hi family! Carlos and I wanted to give you an update about our status and where and what we will be doing...

First of all, Andres is so precious!!! What a miracle he is...and such a good baby! He sleeps well, only gets up about once a night to eat, and he's so content MOST of the time :)! It's amazing how you feel, there really aren't any words to describe it...:)! I LOVE being a mom!

Carlos and I have decided to stay here in MI indefinitely...I just got a job teaching English at GVSU through the English Language Services (ELS) centers...what a blessing and answer to prayer this job is! I only teach 20hrs/wk, but that is considered full time with the program...yay for benefits :)! We are waiting on Carlos' paperwork and then he'll be able to start working as well! It has definitely been a bit stressful with all the changes in our lives, but God is faithful and we're learning a lot in the process :)!

Just a few prayer requests: we need the papework to go as fast as possible so Carlos can work as soon as possible, and we need a reliable car at a good price :)!

As you can see, we love to take pictures of Andres...enjoy!

Con mucho amor...the Valladares' :)!

Thanks for your prayers!

Hello Yall,

This is the Tina Stickney... updating you on the pre-term labor with the current pregnancy. I saw my Dr. today and I haven't dialated or progressed in any other way in two weeks. The contractions have very significantly subsided... so my leash has been loosened a little!! :)

A big thanks to Andy, Matt, Mom, Courtney, Lisa, Vince and Cory for moving our partial home "update" project forward so quickly!!! It's just what a preggo needs... her nest in order! :)

Here are some summer pictures. Ava & Ashton..aka - the A-Team, a classic Lake Michigan sunset, Tina, Cory & Ava at Grand Haven in June, and Ava helping mom clean! :)

Thank you for your prayers... and be at ease. We love you all... The Stickneys!

Pictures to Enjoy

Okay so here's our contribution to the pictures taken at the anniversary party. My personal favorite is, of course, Aunt Renee enjoying her afternoon nap in the sunshine!!! (catch any flies?!?) =) It sure was a great time and we really enjoyed seeing everyone again! Love to all!

The Veldermans