Thanksgiving!

We have so much to be thankful for! This Thanksgiving Day was especially nice because Bill's mom was able to be with us for dinner. We borrowed a wheelchair accessible van from a friend and brought Mom to our house for the first time in a year! She has been anticipating this day for over a week when we first mentioned it to her. December 1 is the one-year anniversary of her stroke and other than several trips to the hospital and two rides across the street for football games, she has been confined to the nursing home. So this post is in reverse, starting with today and working back to last Saturday.

In the slideshow you will see Ty and Deven with their first pop since July when I made a bet with them. They won by not having any pop until I poured them a glassful today. They proved they can do whatever they set their minds to!

Laura, Ben, and Amelia - we missed you!

Tori did not have school yesterday, so I was able to spend the day with her. We made pies together and ran some errands to several stores and the post office. She also wrapped several Christmas gifts and dusted for me - what a great help she was!

Deven had a basketball game on Tuesday. Here are a couple of pics from that game....

Deven shooting

Beckie and I had coffee on Tuesday morning. Love her license plate and love her!


This picture was taken after lunch with friends Cal and Ann.


Bill and I spent a wonderful evening with John and Jo last Saturday. Holland was festive and beautiful, the crowds were huge, and the friendship was (is) cherished. As usual, our conversation was largely about the family we share :)

The guys waiting for us s-l-o-w shoppers....

Jo looks as good as the 'models' in the window :)

Carolers in Holland

"Sing praise to God
for good is He!"

It's been ten days since this blog has been updated. Whew! The days have been packed with lots of meetings but also lots of fun moments. The pictures will give you an idea of some of the fun.....

Last Tuesday Abby, Sophie, and I went for lunch after school and then made a stop at the Peanut Store and to see their favorite pug, Lucy, at the local travel bureau.

Abby loves the ice cream :)

Yummy lunch for the kids

Deven has had three basketball games in the last ten days. He's a scrappy, aggressive player on the 8th grade team.

The kids in the crowd were allowed to play on the court during half-time. Here's Noah shooting buckets....

...and Sophie showing her skill to Uncle Steve.

On Thursday I had lunch out with Rick and Beckie, a common - and favorite - event :)

My friend Ruth carried on her tradition of hosting a nice lunch for several of us who have fall birthdays. Besides the delicious meal, the conversation and friendship was priceless!

Me, Ruth, Jacque, Diane, Tena
Lyda in front with Ruth's favorite giraffe :)

Last night we enjoyed supper out with our long-time friends, Gerrit and Ali. We have been friends since we were neighbors 38 years ago and it's always great to get up-to-date news about their activities and busy family.

This morning I went to a great Thanksgiving celebration at the school of Abby, Sophie, and Noah. The kindergarten kids sang lots of cute songs and then had a 'feast' of popcorn, M&Ms, and raisins.

Anna and Tom w/ their niece, Adalee

Martha and her son Gordy

After the program, Anna and I went to a wonderful luncheon for the Holland Junior Welfare League. Some of Bill's good luck rubbed off and I won two items I bid on :)

The delicious lunch Ruth provided:

May your circle of family and friends
fill your life with sweet variety and special moments.

Family in Pasadena !

I'm back from a wonderful visit with Laura, Ben, and Amelia! It was great to see their home in Pasadena, the Fuller campus where Ben is working on his PhD., their community, and their church. Best of all, of course, was simply spending time with the three of them :) Amelia is one of the sweetest, happiest babies ever born and she was a delight no matter where we went or what we did. It was a perfect weekend in every way!

We also spent some time with Ben's brother's family who live nearby. We enjoyed having lunch together on Sunday and celebrating Elissa's birthday. It was great to see their home, a section of the UCLA campus, and their beautiful boys.

This entire post is comprised of pictures of my trip...enjoy!

Precious Amelia - what a joy!

Laura and Ben

New home - perfect!

Love this sign near the Fuller campus...

May you always find your way
to a place
of warm welcome,
joy, relaxation,
and love.

With the risk of embarrassing our son-in-law, I'm posting a picture of Ben with his Master of Arts in Theology Degree from Fuller Seminary. We're so proud of him! Ben is now working on his PhD. at Fuller in Pasadena.


The pictures in this short slide show were taken at a Fall Festival where Abby, Sophie, and Noah go to school. It was a fun night with lots of activities for the kids. Abby was a unicorn, Sophie was a princess, and Noah was a Lego :)

These pictures of Amelia were taken off Laura's website. You can tell Amelia loved helping to carve a pumpkin.....
....and eating it :)

Amelia's smile is as big as the pumpkin's :)

Laura and Ben took her trick-or-treating in Old Town Pasadena - she has to be the cutest little piggy ever!

And Tori was the cutest pirate in town!


Saturday night we went out for dinner with Dick and Jacque, celebrating mine and Jacque's birthdays - ALWAYS wonderful spending time with them!


Met this fellow, Doug, on Monday and enjoyed a nice meal with him. He's got quite a life's story and it was great to get to know a bit about him.


On Tuesday I went to lunch with Abby, Sophie, and Noah before walking downtown Holland, stopping at the Peanut Store, and stopping to see Lucy - the great little pug that hangs around the local travel office.

Sophie passed time by drawing while waiting for lunch to arrive.

Abby's artwork

Noah - everything is fun for him!

Grandma Nancy provided 'new' computers for the kids and they love playing lots of games on them. Amazing what they're learning!


Wednesday's trip to church for Joy Club was interrupted when a guy pulled out right in front of me. I saw him coming and swerved a bit, but all the morning traffic didn't give me much wiggle room. So now the insurance adjuster will decide tomorrow if my car will be fixed or considered totaled.....
It doesn't look so bad, but it couldn't be driven because of questions about the suspension. Needless to say, I was REALLY late for Bible study, but the secretary put on the coffee, Beckie got everything set up, and my beloved 'old folks' waited patiently for me.

Wednesday ended MUCH better than it started! We had dinner out with friends Gary & Shirley, celebrating Gary's birthday, planning a dream vacation, and simply enjoying their company. We agreed together that friendship is a priceless gift! Happy Birthday, Gary!

May you be blessed with the gift of friendship -
life-long and new
young, elderly, and in-between!