Monthly Archives: April 2009

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More of My Sister

April 29, 2009 – 3:34 pm

Since having my sister around for the first time in a long time is such a big deal to me, I decided to dedicate another post and show some more pictures. Yesterday I decided to drive to Grand Rapids and back in one day just to have lunch with Kari one more time. We met at Grandma Doorn’s so that they could visit with each other also. I could tell Grandma was very happy to see Kari. We had a wonderful visit and spent about 4 hours together before saying goodbye (and crying) again.

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My Dear Sister

April 27, 2009 – 5:19 pm

I will write about Utah and post pics on both of my blogs in the next couple of days. We got home at 1am last night and I have lots of pics to go through. But I wanted to post about my little sister, Kari, because I know many of you will be very happy to hear this. I haven’t seen or talked to my sister in a few years. I’ve missed her dearly. We all have. She came to visit. She spent the weekend with Mom and with her three boys. She came to see me early this morning and spent the day with me before heading back to Grand Rapids. She flies out on Wednesday. She was looking for forgiveness, acceptance and love. Which is what is in all of our hearts. We shared hugs, tears and important words.

Kari, if you happen to check out this blog now that you have the website, please know that I’m thinking of you not only today as I write this, but also at the moment you are reading this. You are on my mind always. I love you and miss you. I meant everything I told you today. Your best friend and sister, ME!

Brady is showing off his new photography skills by taking pics of Kari & I. Also, I was also able to meet my nephew, nicknamed Junior, for the first time. Junior is 10 months younger than Brady & Tyler. They called him “baby”. They took a nap when Kari & Junior left and Tyler asked me to say prayers with him. He prayed for “Krady” & “Baby”. So sweet.

Since I took so many pics I think I’ll post some of Junior over on my photography blog also. Click here to check those out. Photo Blog

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Out of Town Again

April 22, 2009 – 10:19 am

It seems like we’re spending more nights away from home than at home during the month of April. I’ve had a constant suitcase on my bedroom floor. I’ve constantly unpacked and repacked it. We’re leaving today for Utah to visit the family. Aaron & Jenn both graduate from BYU so we’re excited to attend the graduation and celebrate with them. Congratulations to both of them!! Remember, they will be moving to Michigan in August since Aaron got the job from his internship here last summer. They will be living in Ann Arbor, just a short 20-30 minute drive from us. Yeah!!

Also, Aubrey & Lance and the grandkids Annika, Landon & Luke moved from Las Vegas back to Salt Lake City this past weekend. Hip hip hooray!!! I haven’t posted about that, have I? This is super exciting for us because we will get to see them more often now. Landon is just 4 months older than Brady and Tyler and I suspect they will become good friends this weekend, and in the future. They share a passion for anything related to the movie Cars, so they already have something in common. LOL

Off to the airport we go. Get ready for picture overload when I return!

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Fun Family Visit

April 20, 2009 – 4:38 pm

This past weekend Dave was out of town so I decided to take a trip to my Grandma Doorn’s house (the boys’ Great-Grandma). I was a bit worried about how the boys would sleep in a new place, but they did great and I am so thrilled that we did that trip. The boys loved staying with “Graddie Great” (Grandma Great) and “Papa Water” (Grandpa Walter). We will definitely do that again!

We spent Friday with my cousins, Heather & Shelly. Heather has two boys, Ethan & Blake and Shelly has two girls, Gwen & Addie. We also took my cousin Elle out of school to join us. All of us, along with Grandma, went to the Fredrick Meijer Gardens. It was such a neat place! Here are some pictures.

I didn’t realize it was going to be so hot that day! It was the first day we’ve even worn short sleeves and I didn’t bring sunscreen and the boys got a good sunburn. Also, after playing in the water area for kids the boys’ jeans got soaked, so they ended up walking around the rest of the day with no pants! Too funny! I was slightly embarrassed.

These pictures really crack me up!!! We walked through the gate to leave and Tyler stayed there, holding the gate open for everyone else that came through. We had actually walked quite a ways before I realized he was way behind us. He stood there while the whole line of people came through. My little sweetie! He’s such a thoughtful boy all the time! Even funnier is that he has no pants on!

My Uncle John & Aunt Shayne and their kids spent some time visiting with us also. Don’t ask me what they are doing around the sewer hole, but my boys are easily entertained by anything. LOL

After leaving my Grandma’s house I ended up spending the day with my nephews, Brett, Nathan & Braydon. I also met up with my sister Jennifer and my niece Hailey & nephew Brian. And then we made a surprise visit to my parents who were thrilled to see us “stop by”, since we live out of town we never get to just “stop by” like that.

Phew, what a full 3 days!!! We did so many activities and saw so many different family members! Looking back I really missed a lot of photo opportunities. Even when I feel like my camera is attached to me I still realize I miss things. And that includes getting any pictures with me in it too! Next time, I promise!

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Easter Fun

April 16, 2009 – 10:25 am

Boy, as I’m looking at these Easter pictures, they aren’t very exciting. It was pretty cold and we actually got out the boys’ winter coats and hats. Easter pictures are supposed to be sunshine, bright colors, summer clothes, etc. Instead we’re wearing dreary winter clothes. Anyway, when we got back from vacation on Friday night we went to my mom’s to pick up the boys and we stayed over night so we could celebrate Easter on Saturday. We went to the church Easter egg hunt and the boys loved that. By the time we had the Easter egg hunt at my mom’s that afternoon they were pros at it. They knew how to look for the eggs, open the eggs to find their surprises and also say the words “easter egg hunt”. My sister Jennifer and her family came over as well and Grandma & Grandpa Terpstra stopped by for a short visit also. Oh, and my nephews came over on Friday night to visit us too. So it was a great 24 hours spent with family celebrating the holiday.

I promise next year I will decorate easter eggs with the boys and give them easter baskets. This year just sort of passed by with the vacation. Not to mention they got a ton of goodies (toys, candy, etc) from Grandma and we brought them several gifts from our trip. So they had their fill for sure!

Oh, I should also mention a big thanks to Mom & Mark for watching the boys for a week. As usual the boys were good as can be for them, although they wore them out for sure! They took them to all kinds of special places, including a livestock auction (hence the John Deere hat you’ll see on Tyler). The boys are getting old enough to “tattle” on Grandma. We were walking through the grocery store the other day and the boys saw the cereal and went right for the Apple Jacks box and said “Appa Jacks”. Now I know what they ate for breakfast! So I bought them a box of it. LOL

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