summer is fun

Yes I find myself loking out of my window at green grass and green trees after this beautiful day. I ate burgers and dogs off the grill took a walk with my family...summer is fun. Last night we were out on the deck until almost midnight with Robin's sister and her new boyfriend getting to know him and sharing stories and laughing... I like to laugh. I had a laugh yesterday as Avary had her first experience with icecream yesterday she loved it. (picture) The mess didn't last long b/c her mommy was there with napkin in hand to clean it up but we had fun!! I have noticed that not many people are blogging and I am glad we are all out making memories in these beautiful summer monthes. Avary has also begun to sit up it makes her seem so much older just that little thing.(Picture) I will talk to you when ever I can drag myself in to sit in front of the computer again.
Ben

Tash & Carlos Update

Hi All,

Leah here - I'm giving you a quick update on the goings on of Tash and Carlos. They do not have internet access at their new home yet so Tash asked me to drop you all a note. On June 15th Tashina and Carlos got married. They had a civil ceremony and then went back to his mom's house, exchanged vows and rings and had lunch. On Saturday they had a reception with friends and family which they said was a great time! Tash wore some really fun orange polka dot shoes and Carlos had a polka dot lime green tie - they looked great :) If you haven't already heard (and with our family I'd be SUPRISED if you hadn't!) they found out they are having a baby boy - Carlos Jr. Everything is going fine with mom and baby. Can't wait to meet the little guy :) I'm obviously taking over the role of favortie aunt ;) Which I have to say seems to be working quite well because when I called the other day, I asked her to put the phone to her belly so I could chat with him for a minute. She did and said he started moving - I think he's on board with whole favorite aunt thing!!! On another note - I'm sure you all remember Tasha asking for your prayers regarding Carlos getting a visa. Well he had an appointment today and THANK YOU JESUS he got one - not just any visa, but a 10-year visa!!!! Thank you so much to all of you who prayed - we know it makes a difference!! So that means you'll all get to meet him - we're excited :) Anyway, thats all the news for the momment. Blessing to you all!

Tash & Carlos, via Leah :)

Catching up with the Veldermans....

Hello fam!
WHEW....can anyone say crazy busy around here?!? It seems as if we've been extremely busy with lots of different things. I'll try to update you without taking up TOO much time seeing as I have a tendancy to do that! First & foremost I'm happy to report that our basement is officially finished!!! Dan, bless his heart, has put so much time and effort into it and should be very proud. You can see for yourself how beautiful it turned out. It's pretty much going to be a play room for the kids so Makayla is loving that. We're going to be moving her downstairs into her 'new' room in the next couple weeks, she says she's excited but I'm not sure if she completely understands that 'binkie' is bye-bye once she's moved down there! We've been preparing her and it's defintely time so no matter what - Dan & I are gonna take it away cold turkey and stand our ground! =)
We had a great Mothers Day & Fathers Day - got to spend time fishing on both occassions which is always a treat for each of us. Thank heavens I got my fishing license now...the DNR busted me on Mothers Day for fishing without one! OOPS! That was quite embarassing but luckily they gave me a break and didn't fine me!
My tummy is growing more rapidly now but all looks good so we're happy about that. We didn't find out what the sex is....we wanna be surprised like we were with Makayla. I don't have a hunch but other people have said they're sure it's a boy...we'll see!!! Sept. is fast approaching and the baby just can't get here fast enough! While I feel the need to spend lots of quality time with my first baby, I'm just so anxious about having a newborn around again. It doesn't help that Bren was here for 3 days and Evan gave me baby fever all over again! What a good baby they were blessed with! The pictures of him (and the rest of the kids) are from this week.
Well I promised to TRY and keep it short so adios for now! Hopefully we'll see most of you at the Stellema's in Sept. It'll be fun to have a huge gathering with everyone there like we did in the good 'ole days! =) Enjoy your summer - we love you!
Dan, Kim, Makayla & Baby

the Shrontz's

Hi all! I just thought I would write an update about the Shrontz's.
Jason and I are both in the last 2 weeks of our first summer class. Jason is taking a Literature class and I am taking a black and white photo class. I love my class, but I am so ready for it to be over. It's normally over 16 weeks and we are fitting everything into 6 weeks. Talk about intense.
Jason is working at the Red Fox Inn as the midnight desk clerk. He is also on a softball team, which he is the captain of. They practice twice a week even if only 2 people show up and have a game once a week. He loves playing! Plus it gives him a chance to be outdoors with his crazy sleep schedule.
I am working at a retail greenhouse. Our hoop house is set up in the parking lot of our "really great" mall. We sell almost everything from annuals to perennials, shrubs and trees. I really like working there, but will have to look for a new job again once the selling season is over, which will be July 12th.
In the mean time we are really looking forward to having family come visit. We can't wait to show everyone around the city we have fallen in love with.
Speaking of having family come to visit. On Sunday, I was working at the greenhouse and I turned around and then did a double take. Sure enough it was Joel and Travis. They were passing through on their way to Isle Royal, and needed a place to take a nap. So they called Jason and slept in my living room for a couple of hours. They came to visit me before they left though, because they knew they would have one mad cousin on their hands if they didn't. It was so great just seeing them for a couple minutes!
I hope everyone is taking time to enjoy their summer, I know we are.
Lots of love, stacey

ENGAGEMENT PICS!

Hello~
Andrea has given the OK to post a link to her engagement pictures. I don't know how they are going to decide on one, they are all so great. Click on the title 'ENGAGEMENT PICS' and it will take you to the online gallery.

Andrea Shower

Hi there wonderful family. Just thought I would put the word out there that we will be giving Andrea and her Love a shower 0n Aug 20. My house 7pm. I will get beck with you as to where they will be registered later. Now you can all pout the date on the calendar.

Uncle Nick,Dan, and Brent are heading to the cottage today to pour a sidewalk in place of the little round cement pads. YES, no more stubbed toes on the little rounds.It will be blue-gray stampcrete so it will look like a stone path.What a great gift the kids gave Uncle Nick for his birthday.We are venturing into the world of renting starting this week hope it goes well. Kinda scary sharing this family treasure with others.We are praying they will have as blessed a family time as we have had over the years.

HAPPY FATHERS DAY, a little early to all you awesome Dads out there.You may not realize it but, in the"cement" of those little hearts The Father has given you to shepherd, YOU yes YOU are the one that establishes their understanding of TRUST.Be there for them, choose them, love their mommy, and keep your word to them.Being a Daddy is THE most important "job" you will have in life.Well enough of the preaching.

Love you
Barbara Grace

Andrea shower

Hi all you wonderful Family members
Thought I would put the word out that there will be a shower for Andrea and her love at my house 7pm on Aug 20.Now you can all put that on your calendars. Will get back to you later as to where they are registered.

Uncle Nick, Dan, and Brent are heading to the cottage today to pour a sidewalk in place of the little round cement pads. No more stubbed toes on the edges of those cute rounds. The kids gave this to Nick for his birthday last year. It's going to be done with stampcrete, so it will look like a stone path.

A little early,but HAPPY FATHERS DAY to all you Dads out there. You may not realize this but,in the "cement" of their little hearts the Father has given you to shepherd, YOU set the foundation for trust, for how they will relate to others as well as their heavenly Father. BE THERE, follow through on your word, and be merciful. Well enough of the preaching.

Love to you all,
Barbara Grace

Gramps and my most precious

Hey Stacy where did you go? we miss you are you still breathing?



let us know. while I have the Blog open I will tell you all about our

trip to Norfolk Va. to spend a day with Levi and the Scotts on the ship

Harry S. Trueman or HST a nucular powered Aircraft carrier .(BIG)

WOW BIG!!!!!! it is just about the size of all our property here on

Jackson 1096 feet long and 271 feet wide, thats about 10 acres with a

crew of 5000 and we had more than 4000 guests aboard for the day

we went out in the ocean at 7:30 A.M. and returned at about 9:ooP.M.

they fed us breakfast, lunch ,and supper. food available all day on the

hanger deck. also port-a-potties. they had bleachers set up on the

flight deck for the air show. we had a fly over of four fighters, two

AWACKS planes, a helicopter landed they tried the catapults a few

times . then the four fighters landed at 180 miles per hour and stopped

right in front of us AGAIN WOW. then the four fighters were catapulted

off right in front of us. they had a cruiser , and a destroyer , and another

boat that launched hovercraft boats three of them.and came right up to

us. then they had asupersonic fighter fly by and break the sound

barrier and when that happens (suprise to me , you can see the shock

waves) it looks like a flash of lightning all around the plane for a

second or a split second then BOOOOM it had four booms along the length

of the ship then , right straight up till out of sight that happened

three times and was to me worth the trip out there just to experience that.



Well then Levi was our guide and did a fine job of showing us his home

in the Navy he is now out to sea for about 10 days they are getting ready

to go out for a prolonged time, maybe 8 months. He met us at the airport

showed gramma and me around norfolk, took us into the base,showed

us all around the ship, arranged for our Motel , stayed with us for Sat.

nite and took us to the airport on Sunday morning, what a guy!!!!



It was a fast trip but lots of new experiences, O Yeah almost forgot

Sally arranged our Flights thru " Cheap seats " and they had'nt gotten

seat arrangements for us , so when we got to Detroit they sais we will

assign seats at check in so I went up to the counter she said I'm just

getting started I'll call you. So I said will you call us by name yep

so when she did I got our boarding passes and did'nt pay attention to

where we were seated, then will all who are in FIRST CLASS and those

needing extra time or assistance board now., we went over near the

gate and stood there , she motioned for me to come up to the desk,

and I said ARE WE IN FIRST CLASS? she shook her head yes, I blew

her a KISS and we went aboard she said ENJOY! we did. First time

we ever flew in FIRST CLASS ------ IT's NICE.



Gramps and my beautiful traveling partner

Baby Evan Thelen!

Im just a blogging machine tonight!! I know these are a little old as well but i just thought they were too cute not to share! Im sure he is just changing and growing so much already! These are from our visit to Brent and Brenda's when Evan is only 3 days old! You can tell what a proud big brother Gavin is! And I just love the picture of Uncle Kurt and Gav playing video games...those 2 will always have such a special bond and I know Kurt just treasures that!! So I guess that's all from the proud Auntie!! Love you all-Lis

WE DID IT!!

I am so proud of you Jen!!!
I know that I am a little late in posting this but I just now finally downloaded all my pictures onto my computer and I found a couple from the big race.
This picture was taken after Jen and I ran the 53rd River Bank Run this year! It was 15.5 miles and we never walked!! Notice I didn't post any picutres of us during the race...let's just say we didn't have such huge grins on our faces!
This was my 3rd time running this race but it was Jen's 1st and I just had to post this so everyone could know how proud I am of her...she did awsome!
Now onto our next big feat...were training for a Marathon (and for those of you that don't know how far that is...its 26.2 Miles)...yeah...I know what your thinking...and sometimes we think were crazy too! Notice the key word was TRAINING though, we haven't quite committed to actually running the race yet. So you can keep us in your prayers about that! I hope everyone is doing great and having a fun-filled Spring!
Love, Lisa Vander Veen

The Eisen Family

So Hello family this is Audrey here, thought I would update everyone with some things that are going on in this part the neighbor hood. So Elijah and Lily are growing so fast Eli just turned 4 and Lily is 9 months now. The house.................. yeah the house is going good not as fast as I would like it but.......... it happens. we're just waiting for our loan to go threw to finish the house if it weren't for the money waiting we WOULD have it done cause it's really not that big. :) But I feel bad for Jason he's doing a hundred miles a min. doing work, working on the house then trying to get his concrete Bus. going, so I try to help as much as I can. Well enough with the house, other than that things are good. I love being able to read about every one and what's going on with people, life what a great adventure. Well I must go cause my Lily is crying and she needs to be fed and put to bed. So i shall bid you all a happy farwell and much happiness.

( this Pic. is a little old we have the joices on and r ready for the second story floor. )

Toodles Jason & Audrey w/ eli & lily

The Eisen Family

Jessie and Gilbert's Wedding

Hi wonderful family,

Sally here to say a BIG , HUGE Thank You to all you fabulous people who came to my rescue and made this event come off so great. !!!

I am overwhelmed with the support, both prayer and all the other. Everyone pitched in and we are Sooo grateful!! We couldn't have pulled it off without all of you. Nothing went unnoticed and my heart is blessed!
You guys are AWESOME!

The newlyweds are packing their cars and we begin the treck down south this weekend. We are driving Jessie's car and stay a few days to help them get settled and then fly back :) Whoa! Crazy!

I'll post more when we get back. Once again, Thank You All So Much!!! love Sally and Michael :)

Save The Date!!

Friday October 12, 2007
Yes i know i have 4 months and 2 weeks and counting i cant wait!! Love Andrea Joy (Speyer) :) hehe

gramps and the fellow traveler

Hi there we are back from Norfolk , and what a DAY IT WAS , on

the GOOD SH .IP LOLLYPOP. cancel out the last word of the last sentance. It was the good ship HST HARRY S T RUEMAN Aircraft

carrier of the U.S. Navy and for which the honorable Levi Scott are

responsible to get going. He is in charge of getting all the stuff aboard

for such a monster ship as that is. 1096 feet long and 271 feet wide. It

takes quite a canoe paddle to get that thing going , I'll tell ya. We

saw everything that was'nt locked off, saw where levi,s office is, his

bunk room, his kitchen , exersize room flight deck , rode up and down

on the elevators they bring the planes up and down to the flight deck'

they served food all day, breakfast, lunch and supper. Good food.they

even had ice cream, cake ,and other deserts.

The Captain of the ship walked the Flight deck talked with people

had his picture taken with some, we had a VERY NICE AIR SHOW

they had a fly over by four fighters which later landed and were launched

by catapult, back into the wild blue, then these boys did several landings

withthe hook NOT down so they would come in at 180 miles per hr.

just touch the deck and kick in the afterburners and roar ROOAAR

off again . they had awacks planes fly over too, and one supersonic

fighter fly by and of great suprise to me you can see the shock wave

when

they hit the sonic barrier . it looks like a halo of lightning,AMAZING!!!!

they also had ship accompanying us that they can flood part of the

stern and launch hovercraft they sent four of them out the back and

later retrieved them.also there was a large helicopter accompanyin us

all day. and they had other ships along too, destroyer, cruiser, a sub

is normally too but I did'nt see any that Day. so you can see it was

QUITE A DAY for a little dutch boy from the Dutch Getto. Levi seems

to be enjoying himself. now if we could only get him to behave(joke)

We also had one more First--- We got to fly From Detroit to norfolk

First Class how bout that?

That is our report for now Gramps and Gramma T.B..O.G.I.G.

Thankyou!

Hey family! I just wanted to say 'thankyou' for all your love and support and gifts these past few months! I leave tomorrow morning (June 3) EARLY to fly home to Honduras...it has been wonderful to be home, and it will be wonderful to go back!

To all my 'favorite aunts' ;)...thankyou for the shower! Cousins who couldn't make it, but contributed...thankyou! And to all of you who were there...it was so great to see you!

I'll be sure to post pictures of the house and what we have purchased with your help when things are settled in Honduras.

Important dates coming up for Carlos and I:

June 16: Legal wedding- subject to change due to paperwork

June 22: (7:30a/9:30a MI time) Carlos' Visa appointment at the US embassy! PLEASE pray!

Aug. 31 (give or take ;)): Baby Valladares! pronounced Vy-ya-dar-res ;)

I'll continue to keep you updated on what happens in the Latin end of the TerBeek family :)!

Again...THANKYOU, from both Carlos and I...we love you!

Tasha

CONGRATS LUKE!

The youngest of the grandchildren graduated from high school on Thurs! We're so proud of you and we love you Luke!

Grampa & Gramma Terbeeks 59th Anniversary Bash/ Family Party

--Dear Precious Family, We want to invite ya'll to our farm on September 15th for a combination Cell Anniversary /family party celebrating the 59 years of marriage that Gramma & Grampa TerBeek have survived? NO enjoyed and modeled to us all that yes, it can be done. Matthew Stellema has volunteered to roast a pig / or chicken on his big Barbeque's spit. We would need to know how much of a pig to order if we decide to go that route. We have plenty of land for quads, bikes, motorcycles, golf carts.... we also have land to camp or plant your RV on for the weekend. We are just wanting to have a time of celebrating & connecting with each other. We love you all and miss seeing everybody. The official party time is Saturday from noon - til whenever... we can roast marshmallows... sausage... play spoons ( now I know that is going to be the big drawing point. ) Well, enough rambling... Sept 15th.... BIG FAMILY PARTY ...... Stellema's ....Please put it on your calendars. Please all RSVP by August 31st...... or else it's Mac N Cheese . (:-)
Aunt Donna Home - 616-895-7148 /Cell 616-299-8188 E-mail mom6996@aol.com LOVE

canoe trip

hi everyone,
this is lindy. hey i have to be quick, i'm at the library any isabelle is blowing mouth bubbles really loudly but i wanted to plan a cousins canoe trip this summer, perhaps thefirst weekend in Aug, but i wanted to see if peopple were interested. either the muskegon or the white river, sat or sun. let me know if your interested and when it would work best.
lindy 862-5334

Gramps and you know

well we got back yesterday from PA. Landcaster that is we went on
one of those OLD PEOPLE Tours on a COACH (not a BUS) for
four days, don't think I'll set down now for a few days , because of
F.B. ( thats flat butt) disease . We saw the Flight 93 memorial,
the musical Joseph,s coat of many colors, Creation, a production of
that,Psalms of David And had a tour of The amish country around
the Town of intercourse (yep thats no mistake) very interesting.

WE had lots of good food, good company, . wewill be home for a few
days then off to see our naval hero Levi , and the aircraft carrier he is on
we will be gone for the next weekend then back home till the next
adventure comes along.

while we were gone we got notice of an upcomming marriage Jessie
and Gilbert are going to tie the Knot next Sat. WE wont be able to
be there , so------ HAVE A HAPPY LIFE KIDS. I'll comunicate my
normal advice to newly weds somehow. Well thats all for now

LOVE & PRAYERS Gramps O.G.I.G.

Tasha & Carlos' Shower

Hello Everyone!

This is Tina Stickney blogging here... I had taken quite a few images of Tasha & Carlos' shower and was asked to post some on the blog! Thank you to everyone who pitched in for the evening, the house, food and company was wonderful! So for those of you who were not able to attend, here is a snap-shot of the night!

Hello Everybody!

Hello Everyone,

This here is Lindy. Its been a while. I just wanted to join in the blogg fun and update you on the happenings in our new little family. Lifes been busy but great. Adam and I have enjoyed watching our little peanut grow up. This is Isabelles three month picture. She is going to be five months old next week already, my how time flies. Adam has been VERY busy with work. God has blessed them with lots of landscaping businees despite our economy. We are enjoying the beautiful weather. Mommyhood is awesome! I definately know why God put me on this earth, to look at Izzys precious face every morning and be the best mommy I can be. Well, I have to cut this short, I hope you are all well. Until later... Lindy

Happy Valentines Day!

Check out Andy & Adams website

I just visited Andy and Adams website and couldn't believe the awesome pictures of work that they've done. Moms have a obvious right to brag. Anyway, I thought that some of you family members might enjoy the link to look at them also since they'd never post it themselves.
It's: www.Bouldercreeklandscaping.com
Have a great weekend, Rachel

Life in the US :)

WELL...I've been home for almost 6wks and have about 2.5wks to go until I leave on a jet plane again :). My time home (although that word is a bit blurry now for me :)) has been wonderful....very relaxing and FULL of reading! I love to read and finally have the time to...I think I might go through withdrawals when I'm back in Honduras :). Other than reading, my time here has been spent nannying for a little boy, Marcel- a connection Megan hooked me up with. He's 8yrs old and lots of fun, although a bit spoiled...its been great to practice my "mommy" skills. I was able to spend a week with Joel and Megs over on the East side and got to see Joel's classroom and meet his students....they LOVE him (and its easy to see why!). Megs and I did lots of running around and hanging out, and she made lots of yummy food :) (its amazing how my world has begun to revolve around food these days :)) I went up to TC for a weekend while the boys went fishing...its so beautiful there and the company couldn't have been better! AND Trav, Luke, Levi and I just got back from visiting Leah in DC. 5 out of the 7 Scott kids in the same place at the same time...minor miracle :)! I love her city, the weather was perfect, and she has a precious roommate Candace(finally!) :)...although I personally think her best roommates ever have been her sisters ;). We went to an aquarium in Baltimore for a day and it was cool to see all the aquatic life...sharks, snakes, frogs...and we even found Nemo! :). We were able to see Leah play in her softball league from church...she plays a stellar first base! (like her Pa :) The only down side to this trip was gas prices....which, unfortunately were going nowhere down :). Aaahh well, what do you do?!

I fly out for Honduras on June 3....and I'm so excited to go back to my other home and see my honey again! I miss him! We've been able to keep in great contact via Skype and webcams...so he's been able to see my tummy grow and we can talk and see each other almost every day. Its not quite the same as a real life hug, but my mom has been filling in :)! My suitcases are already filling up with random things...a few diapers, baby clothes, and house stuff...I might be paying extra for the 'over 50lb' limit airlines give you :D...oops!

My mom and I did go to the doctor for a check-up on Baby Valladares (I'll practice with you on how to say my new last name when I see you...its a mouth full! ;)) and all is healthy and growing with mom and baby! He/she moves all the time, especially when I'm hungry...which makes me think Baby V might be a boy ;)...who knows though...as long as he/she's healthy, I'm happy! We heard the heartbeat and chatted with the doctor about the possibilities of having the baby here or in Honduras...and we'll see how everything pans out. Mom and Leah have felt the baby kick already...Leah had to work for her kicks (she poked my belly until the baby got annoyed I think ;))...but its all worth it! I love feeling him/her and pray for the baby and my new family every day...

Anyway, thats the long update here from Tasha :)....love you all!

I thought I would be nice and show you my pretty face since it has been awhile since I am sure some of you have seen it. So there you do I gave you a present today of seeing ME!!! The first one is of avary (ben and robin's little girl) and the next one is of me and my friend rachel.

Have a great day!!

ANNOUNCING. . . . .

Tim & Andrea are engaged!

Big Star Lake

Thanks to Nick & Barb for hosting all the siblings up at the cottage. We had a great time, although we missed you after your early emergency departure!

Happy Mother's Day!

Update From Family Headquarters

Well this is Gramps.
We have been without our computor since last Tuesday, our phone
line went dead, so I called A T&T , they cheerfully told me by a voice
that wasn't , we will have your problem fixed by 8:00 P.M. tomorrow
however, tomorrow went by and no one from there showed up. So
I called again and got the same answer. So on Thursday a nice man
came and fixed what was their part of the problem, and told me we
had a short on the wiring in the house.--- so while he was still here
I started to pull telephones off the line, when I got to the computor
he says "thats it " . We now had telephone but no blog (sob-sob)
I talked to Dave he recommended I talk to Ross, who begged off the
help Gramps pick out a new one duty. then Travis just happened to
stop by and said you can buy a new modum for about 15.00 so ,the
light came back into my eyes, he took it with him and installed a
used one I think. So now we can live our life on the blog again.

One week without the Blog makes one WEAK , seriously we do look
forward to what we can learn about our PRECIOUS FAMILY
we have had a new member added, reports from several members
GOOD NEWS from Aaron, and a Great Grandson Named
EVAN MAX-----WELL , . well thats the way I say it. how great
to have another healthy baby in our group . how do we get all the
family to join in the fun and BLOG? No fair peaking if you are not
going to blog. We appreciate the renewed ability to get with it.

Love and Prayers Gramps O.G.I.G.