January 2009

It was January and we finally got home and found that Santa had visited our house while we were gone. Sadie sneaks up on her haul of "Littlest Pet Shops" toys.

Another way to play twister.....what will they think of next.
Another navy sport coat to last for 6 months then hand down to Daniel. Thomas is growing so fast.
Daniel was pretty pleased with dinosaurs and "Diego" stuff.Our big soccer chic got some authentic jerseys, to go with her new jewelry and fake Luis Vuitton from China.

Ashley (#13) doing warm-up drills with her team mates.

Notice the golden slippers.

I believe this one actually got thru.

Photos of Friends

We didn't get photos of everybody we saw on our Christmas vacation, but I thought I'd make a quick post to show the ones we did get.

The Bush family in Kansas City

L-R: Dave holding shy Tanner, Josh, Danny, and Braedon seated on the floor. Anne was not shown 'cuz she ran off to a hair appointment. It was amazing to see how big their boys are. We totally want to go back and see them again as well as the sites around Independence.
The Yskes Family

The kids from L-R: Meghan, Elisabeth, Madeleine, Ian, Zachary with
Janet and Joe in the back. Janet was such a trooper since just having surgery on he neck vertibrae. I was amazed at how well Zach played the keyboard at church! Keep on practicing Zach.

The Zach MacPherson Family

Zach is standing behind the twins, Jacob and Makayla , and Lori holding Abigail. It's been rumored that Lori is finally completely and totally in love with Michigan....right Zach?

The Ryan MacPherson Family

L-R: Joshua, Emily holding Rachel, Jaxen, Ryan holding Morgan, Gracie. Morgan is the oldest and she had her 4th birthday on December 26, 2008. WOW!! It's like somebody threw water on Emily and poof they were suddenly buried in kids! When we had Daniel (our 5th) the MacPhersons didn't even HAVE kids.....and now they have 5!!! Emily, you're hair looks great. You've had a lot of styles and I like this one the best. Another shot of John and Tammie Wiersema this time doing their "SNL Spartan Cheerleader" imitation. It was hard to look out their windows and see how run-down our old house looks. It was really quite a nice little oasis when we lived next to them. Hey John, if I move back to Michigan I'll get you a respectable snow blower!We had a little dinner party at the Var's house. Another good (rare) picture of Amy. Sadie, Daniel and Rachel all got matching sweaters and hats. It was cool to visit Holland and eat some of Sister Var's spring rolls with Thai sauce. What a treat!The Robinson Family

L-R: Brent, Tyler, Ryan, Kaylie, Suzanne

Hey Brent, your hair really does look okay.....sans gel! Thomas sure had a blast with your boys and Kaylie's got you wrapped around her finger. Good job with the choir Suzanne :-)Brother and Sister Mao look just like how we left them in 2006....smiling and content with the world. We watched Brother Mao baptize his grandson on Sunday. What a great event for them. Beautiful Vicky Var seated with mom and dad. Wow Vicky! we never knew you had so many musical talents. Thanks for sharing :-)

January 2009 - Nauvoo and Carthage Illinois

On New Year's Day as we traveled back to San Antonio, Texas, we thought we'd make a loop thru the LDS Church historical towns of Carthage and Nauvoo Illinois. It was very cold and there weren't many people visiting. We only stayed a few hours as we still had a long drive ahead of us.

This is a new statue that stands across the street in front of the temple. When we were here in 2004, there were several large buildings and dormitories on this spot housing the BYU study abroad students and some of the elderly missionaries. At the request of President Hinckley the buildings were razed to provide a clear view from the temple to the Mississippi river shown in the background. From this point on the river the people crossed to begin the journey West thus avoiding further persecution. Amy did some family research and found a homesite located on this street corner that belonged to some distant relatives.
Quickly we got out of the van and huddled together for a picture in front of the reconstructed Nauvoo temple.
A statue of Joseph and Hyrum Smith at Carthage Jail
The Carthage Jail

Inside the jail in one of the rooms where Joseph Smith was killed.

January 2009 - New Years with Rodenbergs

After having a blast during Christmas in Ohio and West Michigan we traveled to Quincy, Illinois, and spent a rockin' New Year's time partying with the Rodenbergs. We stayed up late, played "Rock Band," ate chips and dip, shrimp, all manner of junk food and washed it down with a few toasts of sparkling cider. The next day Gloria helped everybody perk up and overcome the hang over with some delicious homemade cinnamon buns.

Mike and Gloria on New Year's eve. It was fun but also a bit melancholy as Gloria accompanied their oldest son Austin to BYU Idaho the next day.

All the kids faired pretty well with the mid-night hour. It was hard for me to make it to mid-night when I was a kid.

Dalin loading up on chips and 7 layer dip. His tall black hat coupled with the perfectly placed chip he is holding makes him look like Abe Lincoln.The Parker kids eating the traditional shrimp and dip. Yummy! Feels good to be back in the States....in China I gotta peel my own shrimp."Father Time" Daniel just turned 5 on December 29th and qualified for staying up late.

Sadie is into any hair gear that is shimmery

Daniel found the toy box and took a shine to Mike's childhood army gear. Look out Al Qaeda.

Ashley and Brady have grown up a lot since hanging out together in the 8 year old church primary class.
Sadie on drums, Ashley on guitar and Aaron (with star power) on vocals.
Brady actually sings in a real band and if you ask him he can show you his HUGE "Mick Jagger" mouth. He can nearly stick his whole fist inside. It's freakishly cool.

Sadie was pretty good on the drums.

Truth be told, the Rodenbergs had a house full of couples. Mike and Gloria, Aaron and Amy, Austin and his 2 week old girlfriend, Ashley and Brady, Kennedy and Thomas, Rachel and Dalin, Sadie and Landon. If they would've had another little girl there would've have been a partner for Daniel. Eek!

December 2008 - Christmas with Wiersemas and G&G Ohio

We packed up the mini-van and left San Antonio on December 20th for a 12 state multi destination tour. We traveled 3500 miles and spent time with Grandma and Grandpa Ohio, our fantastic ex-Michigan neighbors the Wiersemas (pictured below), and saw so many wonderful friends along the way. With 7 people in the car for such a long time we only had a few squabbles while discovering that two weeks of fast food fermenting in our bellies really gives the power windows a workout. Our five year old Daniel discovered that he too was just as adept at stinking up the cabin of the car. Of course he was the only one that would laughingly admit it. Amy made it fun by wrapping up tons of new DVD's and Gameboy games which the kids took turns opening.
A list of the major cities we traveled thru: Austin, Dallas, Little Rock, Memphis, Nashville, Bowling Green, Louisville, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, South Bend, Holland, Gary, Chicago, Springfield, Quincy, Carthage, Nauvoo, Kansas City, Wichita, Oklahoma City

In the Wiersema's home in the same pose that we used last year in front of Seaworld when they came to our house in San Antonio. (see the December 2007 blog post) This is one of the few photos with Amy (far left) as she was usually the one taking them. 'Shark Boy and Lava Girl' showing some Christmas presents. John, Tammie and little Brooke posing with new blankies. It's hard to tell, but Tammie is due in May with child#4. Wahoo! Sadie and I posing for mommy while waiting for food at "Hofbrauhaus" in downtown Cincinnati. After spending the day at the Newport Aquarium in Cincinnati we thought waiting for an hour with 8 starving kids for our food to be served at "Hofbrauhaus" would be fun. See how big my smile is? It was a loud environment where the kids could color on the table top and Bavarian accordian players in lederhosen could dazzle us with a polka. John looks like he's about ready for a Heineken...or a nap.Rachel is being mugged for food by an opportunistic parrot. Thomas (5' 6") pushes on the shark jaws with all his might and registers a 173lb-force rating. "Strongman" John (6'5") easily registers at 618lb-force rating with his eyes shut. Watching several men taking a "manly" shot at this, most could only hit a 350-400 which reminds me not to mess with John.With sharks and sharp teeth everywhere, Daniel was in heaven with all the fish and critters at the aquarium. Pictured with underwater Santa L-R: Ashley, Sadie, Rachel, Anna, Daniel, Jacob and Brooke, Thomas We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with Grandma and Grandpa Ohio and the Wiersema's at the Great Wolf Lodge in Mason, Ohio.John Wiersema cruising around the lazy river.....or maybe he's stuck in the tube! Looks like "Dutchboy" has a trucker tan....the left arm always hanging out on the window sill.Anna Wiersema smiling with her squeaky clean face while mastering the tube in 2 feet of waterAmy caught me again with my smile on. I think I just woofed down some nachos with liquid cheese and jalapenos with an orange slurpee chaser. Lighting the fireplace in room that night was not allowed. Also, notice my eyebrows aren't turning grey yet. Sly John who appears to be up to something.Ashley loved the "guy" attention she got at the Great Wolf Lodge. Rachel pauses to eat some food and pose for her momma. Sadie looking tired but with a happy water-logged face. Nirvana! Slushees in hand and hanging out at the Great Wolf Lodge in Mason, Ohio. Yeah, what a ride! I think John and I rocked the boat so hard we almost flipped it. Maybe some of the bolts are now loose on the tube sections. Notice Ashley's wandering gaze....oh, to be 15 again :-) It was 17 deg. outside while we had a blast inside riding all the tube slides and playing in the many pools. Posing in front of the "storytime" cabin that would come to life each night at 8:00pm and entertain tons of kids in their pajamas.
Santa came to our lodge room and stuffed our stockings that were hung on the fireplace. He always knows how to find our kids. Rachel and Sadie are big fans of "Littlest Pet Shop" toys.
Daniel....the only 5 year old I know that likes getting clothes for Christmas.

Every year a new sportcoat! Thomas keeps growing out of these.Daniel is enjoying his chocolate "D" for breakfast. This is a dutch tradition which was shared with us by John and Tammie. Amy made a polar fleece blanket for Ashley so she could show her team spirit for East Central High School. "Dude, you gotta Dell!" Thomas and Ashley were totally SURPRISED for Christmas by Grandpa Ohio. Let the 'parental controls' begin!

YES!...and it comes in pink....how cool is that?If he's happy with a stuffed one then there is no need for the real thing. Wahoo! new doll's! Life is grand for Sadie and Rachel.

Just replacing a couple of damaged shingles from the last wind storm to blow thru Cincinnati. It wouldn't be right if we didn't help Grandpa with a few projects around the house. It's good for Thomas to learn so we can pass the "handy man" torch on to the next generation.

Thomas also had fun working the chain saw as the rest of us picked up all the fallen limbs in Grandpa's forest behind his house.Thomas is playing the percussion/timpanies/xylophones/ for his 8th grade Christmas concert. Unlce Norm and Aunt Kathy (Elder and Sister Storrer) finished their mission in San Antonio and this is a picture of their last Sunday with our family. It was such a joy to spend 18 months with them and we hope to see them again in the not too distant future. We love them dearly. Thomas goes full bore with any sport he plays. He's fast, strong, smart and his coaches love him.