Life Always Seems to Throw a Curveball......

Without going into a lot of detail, sorry I haven't posted in a long time. We unexpectedly went to Chicago the weekend before last, and ended up bringing Bella home with us. (Sorry we missed the family breakfast!) Katie has decided to move into a bigger apartment, and will have a roommate - a guy this time. His name is Justin, and he works in the suburbs (I think he's an engineer?). After meeting him and his current roommate (a girl) who has known and lived with him a long time, she feels very comfortable that he is a laid back, nice guy. The only reason this girl is leaving is she lost her job and feels she needs to move back to Georgia. Katie will enjoy not having to pay full rent by herself, as it's so terribly expensive to live in Chicago. The apartment is actually pretty much in the same neighborhood where Rachel and Katie first lived together - a couple of blocks south of that. It is further from Dave and Rachel than her current one, but still within a 15 minute walk. All this moving wears me out just thinking of it, but Katie will be packing over the next couple of weeks and having a moving company actually move things for her. In the meantime, we will have Bella with us, and we are enjoying her company!

Then, last weekend we had an art show in Traverse City, and our friends, Dave and Lynne Hall met us up there. We were going to spend a couple of days in a B&B and enjoy each other's company. Let's just say things did not turn out as planned. As you know, Dave had a kidney transplant 3 years ago, and although his health has improved overall since before the transplant, he is always very vulnerable to disease and illnesses of any kind. Unfortunately he developed pneumonia while we were up there, and had to be hospitalized. Scott and I still managed to do the show on Saturday (which wasn't very successful anyway, but whatever....), but the rest of the time was spent getting Dave to the hospital (on Friday nite) and comforting Lynne, who was very concerned about the whole thing. He is still at Munson Hospital in Traverse City. One bright spot was that the owner of the B&B, a wonderful lady named Judy, is letting Lynne stay there for free (other than the nights we had originally booked), so that is great. I'm sure we'll hear within a day or two when he'll be released and returning home. As you can imagine, it's always so much harder to be sick when you are away from home.

I'm also worn out from all these art shows. Suffice to say, next summer will be very different. We have not had the chance to be home and just enjoy the summer. Just thought I'd better send a quick update; I've been reading all of your posts and enjoying the pictures, too. Didn't want you to think that we had fallen off the face of the earth......

Summer Flying By....

It's been a busy and fun summer so far; last week was the best because Haworth closed down for the week, Scott took a few days off and we were home just enjoying life. Scott finished his shed, now he just has to move things from the garage into it. It will be nice to have more room. My friend Lynne and I were just discussing last night how the older we get, the more we enjoy downsizing our lives, getting rid of clutter and making less work for ourselves!

Speaking of Lynne, Scott and I are delighted that she and her husband Dave will be joining us in Traverse City July 24-26 while we're at Northwestern College for an art show. We're going up a day early and staying until Sunday to enjoy some time with them. They also have a love of that part of the state, since their family has gone to the same resort - "Chimney Corners" in Beulah, for like 20 years or more. Reminds me of when Bill and Renee and their kids used to go to Northaire Resort every year. Ahhhh, that's what family memories are made of. We'll be staying at a nice B&B called Yorkburg Manor - http://www.yorkburgmanor.com/. The more we go up to the Traverse City area, and especially Glen Arbor, Suttons Bay and the Old Mission Peninsula, the more we love it up there. If you ever have the time, check out a couple of these places when you visit:

The Old Mission Tavern: http://www.oldmissiontavern.com/the_tavern.html

Great restaurant, with an art gallery attached. Try to go in the spring, when the cherry blossoms are in bloom....drive the whole Old Mission Peninsula up to the lighthouse for some beautiful sightseeing. Remember to stop at the Old Mission General Store, complete with pickle barrel. More info: http://www.oldmission.com/.

Black Star Farms: http://www.blackstarfarms.com/

Wine tasting and cheese making; large working farm with beautiful grounds; horses. Only downside is you have to pay for their wine glasses (then free to refill whenever you come back, like remembering to bring your wine glasses along is ever going to happen); but I digress. Still fun to visit. But for free wine tasting and excellent prices try Leelaneau Cellars, just north of Suttons Bay in Omena.

The Cherry Republic: http://www.cherryrepublic.com/

In Glen Arbor. I think most of us have been here; if not, a trip up north is not complete without it! I love their cherry chicken salad sandwiches and cherryade for lunch.

I could go on and on, but you get the idea.

This weekend we'll be in Pentwater on Saturday (I think maybe we overdid the art show scheduling a bit for this summer! - we're doing 8 in all; this will be our 4th one). All of the kids are attending a wedding in Manistee, and so thanks to Brenda & Keith for watching little Bella on Saturday. (Ally will be at our house, but she's fine by herself for the day.) Then, on Sunday, dad and Scott's parents will join us for lunch at our house, where they'll have a chance to see the kids and meet their new great-grandpuppy! Katie is really enjoying little Bella, who sleeps with her every night. They are becoming fast friends...

Looking forward to our family breakfast at DeBoer's next Saturday, 8:30am. Be there or be square!

Baby Bella!

Just a quick post for those of you who aren't on Facebook (where more pictures are posted): Baby Bella has arrived and is as cute as a button! Proud Mama Katie is over the moon with excitement - looks like this one is a definite keeper!

This and That...

Just a few random thoughts from happenings around here during the last couple of weeks....

Garage Sale = Good weather Friday, bad weather Saturday, but overall sold around $300 worth, and also gave lots to Goodwill after all was said and done. Best part? Dave, Rachel and Ally were home for the weekend! So good to see all of them. Rachel was a big help during the sale, and Dave was nice enough to help Scott start building his shed in the backyard on Friday. As is usually the case with those kinds of projects, what Scott thought would take about 4 hours is still a work in progress. Of course the weather on Saturday made it impossible to continue working on it, and so he has been fiddling with it over the last couple of days. Getting close to being done - way to go, dear. It will be nice to have some extra space for all that clutter that accumulates in the garage... We also enjoyed seeing Brenda at the sale both days - thanks, honey, for all your help, too!

We also enjoyed going to the movie "Angels and Demons" with the kids (it was excellent, even though Scott fell asleep in the beginning), and then out to Pereddie's for a nice meal. We hadn't been to that restaurant in a long time, but then took Rachel there for her birthday; she thought Dave would enjoy it, so we all went Saturday (and he did). Grandpa enjoyed seeing the kids on Sunday, when we had him over for dinner after church. It was a perfect day for a barbecue!

Prior to Katie starting her new job, she was in town for a few days, and we met up for supper at 84 East with my friend Lynne and her daughters Katie and Chelsea. Had a night full of laughs and literally shut the place down. The waitress was nice enough to take a picture of all of us (see above).

Speaking of Katie's new job, she has now been there for almost 2 weeks, and so far is really enjoying it! She loves her new boss (night and day difference from her old job with "The Senator") and she is loving the casual work environment. She is meeting lots of new people, who she says are all very friendly, and her boss flew in from Seattle for two days this week to spend some time with her. Her other big news is that little Bella, her puppy, will be flying in from Iowa this coming Saturday morning. She can't wait, Dave & Rachel can't wait, and even we can't wait - we're all very anxious to see her. For those of you who went on the website to see the pups, hers is the light brown female (there were also two darker brown ones). Those pictures have now been taken off the site, though, with only pictures of the 3 remaining male puppies that are left.

Scott and I will be at the Reed's Lake Art Festival in East Grand Rapids this Saturday. Come on over if you're looking for something to do!

Cousin Dave Nykerk is in town for the month of June. He called to let me know that he's hoping to put together a party for the Nykerk cousins out at his cottage - probably during a week night evening, so will let you know...

Enjoyed seeing First Reformed whup up on the other team at the Monday night game. Of course, the Nykerk boys did a fab job! Great idea of Jim/Rachel to bring dad in his wheelchair - that's quite a walk for him to make, otherwise.

That's about it for now - keep those great family blogs coming - the pictures and tidbits that everyone posts are SO much fun to read!

Enjoy the weekend - love you all!

Check It Out! Our Garage Sale Info on Craig's List

I'll also publish something in the Holland Sentinel to run later this week, but here's the Craig's List Posting:

Huge 8-Family Garage Sale - 4641 Pine Drive in Holland (southside, w. of 64th b/w 146th & 147th)
Reply to: sale-ccxbq-1211184463@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?]Date: 2009-06-08, 11:57AM EDT
Huge 8-Family Garage Sale! Items accumulated from last 15 years. 4641 Pine Drive (south side of Holland – Laketown, just west of 64th St., between 146th & 147th Ave.). Friday, June 12 from 8am-6pm; Saturday, June 13 from 8:00am-2pm. Vera Wang wedding gown – size 10; assorted bridesmaid dresses, duck decoys, painting tools, many baby and child items – including high chair, toys & clothes, beautiful (some designer) clothes for adults & children, furniture, camping equipment, tent canopy, weed whacker, wet vac, books, CDs/DVDs, jewelry, home accessories, dishes/silverware, miscellaneous way too numerous to mention… We’re cleaning house - everything must go – great prices!
Location: southside, w. of 64th b/w 146th & 147th
it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests
PostingID: 1211184463

Great News! + Could One of These Cuties Be Bella?

We are SO happy and relieved to announce that Katie has received a job offer from Thomson Reuters (http://www.thomsonreuters.com/) in Evanston (10 miles outside of Chicago), and will start her job next Monday! Her job will be very similar to her old one at AON - as a sales analyst - and she'll be working in their HealthCare division. Whew! In this economy, we feel very fortunate that she was able to get something so quickly after leaving AON, but the last month has been difficult, as you can imagine. Katie is JUST as excited about her other big news - she's getting a puppy! Yes, a chesapeake bay retriever. She will be getting one of three little girls that are left from a litter in Iowa. Here's the link to the kennel: http://goldeneyeschesapeakes.com/Puppies_TRPX.php

If you scroll down the page, you'll see puppy pictures listed under "Puppies of Jenny & Tator." Two other people have dibs on the puppies, and Katie will be third to choose, but she can't go wrong, because all of them are adorable. She hopes to have the puppy home within the next week or two.

Also, a reminder that next weekend is our garage sale! If you have anything that you'd like to sell, just drop your things off at our house during the week. Dave, Rachel and Ally will be coming home on Thursday evening to stay for the weekend, so they'll be available to help (thanks, kids!) and Brenda and I think maybe Rachel N. will be helping out, too!

It's been a busy week. One more thing that happened is that we bought a new car, and are trying to sell our red Grand Prix. So, if you happen to know anyone......

We should try and have a family breakfast again within the next couple of weeks. What do you think?

"On the Corner of Michigan and Trumbull"....

I remember when Ernie Harwell used to say that phrase when he broadcast the Tigers games on the radio. This is a short post, but thought you might enjoy seeing Scott's latest picture - Tiger Stadium. I think it turned out well. We're hoping it will be popular with all the Tiger fans out there! Enjoy the rest of your weekend.....