Hi Fam,
I wanted to fill you all in and ask that you add your prayers to ours. Dan is in Missippi right now,Kim is at our house. Dan's Mom collapsed last week (Tues I think), anyway her breast cancer had moved to her spine and brain. She changed residences last night at 9:30. Heaven is now where she lives, and in Makayla's words, "Jesus is taking good care of MeMaw". It's really difficult for Dan and Kim to be apart during this sad time, but it just wasn't practical for them to go together, so please keep them in prayer.
Thanks so much!!
Barbara Grace
Hello Precious Family,
I wanted to update you on the latest with our family for those of you who heard the news....and catch everyone else up on those that hadn't heard. Dan's precious Mom went to go see Jesus last night at 10:35 p.m. after a rather sudden bout with spine/brain cancer. She was only diagnosed 8 days before she passed away. Needless to say we're sad to see her leave because she was such a great Me-Maw (that's Makayla talk for Grandma), a loving mom and the best mom-in-law a girl could ask for!!! BUT Dan was able to fly down there (they live in Mississippi) and be with her before she died....he had lots of time to pray with her, cry with her, laugh with her and just "be" with her. He was alone with her when she peacefully just drifted off to see our precious Savior.
Dan is scheduled to fly back this coming Sat (the 8th) and I'm staying at mom & dad's with the kids until then. I didn't think being alone at home was such a great idea! Thank heaven for a family that just says "whatever you need, we're there" - - you guys are priceless!!!!
All your prayers are welcomed with open arms.....we love each and every one of you.
The Velderman Family
hi there family, just wanted to brag alittle for brent.To all you hunters out there, he got a 10 point, its a wall mounter!!!!!!!!! hes soooooo excited. we are to. i told him there is a good spot for the head out in our garage!! it would look great there. he really doesnt like the look in our house anyway so its not a big deal, which im greatful for..caden broke his arm in 2 places, he broke it over a week ago, but we never really noticed. he really wasnt acting any different until a couple days aago, so we thought we should bring him in. the doc said hes a tough kid to not say anything for so long. anyway, he has a blue cast on for 3 weeks maybe 4. thats all for now. love brenda
hello family,
Lindy here. Just wanted to peep in and wish everyone a blessed Thanksgiving. I know I have MUCH to be thankful for. Our little family is doing great. Adam and Andy are wrapping things up for the season. This was an AWESOME summer for their company and they were truly blessed. Little Izzy is growing like a weed. She will be a year already on Dec.29. We had her dedicated on Nov.4. That afternoon she just decided since it was such a special day anyways that she was just going to make it more special and she took off walking (at 10 months), so she's tooling all over the house and now with the additional height she is into EVERYTHING! She is such a joy, always giggling and being silly. Adam and I are really enjoying the parent thing. Izzy is definately a "daddy's girl"! She can't wait to se him when he gets home from work. We just had family pictures done a few weeks ago so I'll post some of them when I figure out how to do it because they are SO cute!
Anyways, I am thankful for my family (which includes all of you) and I am thankful for my toasty little house, and mostly I am thankful to God for blessing me so graciously. Much love and blessings to you all...Lindy
hi everyone, this is the thelens! yes, we finally have the internet. our email address is brendathelen@yahoo.com or gavins is gavinthelen@yahoo.com he is always very excited to get email. lets see, not much going on here. brents been working lots of hours so im kinda single parenting. i cant complain because umemployment is just around the corner for the winter, butttt sometimes moms get tired too! yes men we are supermoms MOST of the time! evan is almost sitting up although he is fat he has a hard time. caden is busy getting potty trained. he was definateley ready. he was actually putting himself on the potty, just like big brother! so that was a clear sign he was ready! we have seen a big buck behind our house, hopefully he will give brent a good shot so we can have some jerky. brent makes the best jerky!! thats all for now. love, brenda
Hello all. Jen meant to list her email as jenv@urassociation.com. :)
Mark
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
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!
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
