Saturday, January 24, 2009
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Aunt Nancy's Christmas Party
We were so glad that Nancy could come and spend Christmas with our family this year! Nancy does a wonderful job of refunding and making money for the Lynden Christian schools. Often she sends us gifts or gift cards in the mail, especially when the kids were in college! Our family loves pizza, especially pizza from the Clover Bar in Grand Haven (this was on the "agenda" to go to Grand Haven for pizza and then come back to our house and have a special time of fun and games (which Aunt Nancy was going to provide). Well, since everyone had had their share of driving and getting cold in the snow, we ordered pizza in and then proceded for fun and games. She had a basket of gifts wrapped that ranged in price from 2 cents to $35. She asked us trivia questions, and if we got it right, we were able to pick a present from the basket......well, we had alot of fun laughing, getting to know interesting bits of trivia, and getting a gift that was unique in some way. The last trivia question to get any of the prizes that were offered that night was, "Name 10 body parts that have 3 letters, no slang, if you get what I mean?" Well, I am not going to give you the answer, unless I am forced to, let's just say, that Nick won, and picked a great fleece shirt for his wife, Jenni! Thanks Nancy -- we all had a wonderful time!!
Nancy reading the trivia questions.................
Emily trying to get someone to take the shorts that were a little big for her....
Hudson opening his present from Aunt Nancy.....a Elmo barn - he loves Elmo everything!!
Nick and Ben posing with the earrings that Ben won! Even tho Nick hasn't worn an earring in years, he was still able to model it!
As Hudson would say, "Thanks Aunt Nancy, even though you put me to bed before the real action started, it was nice to spend time with you!"
Christmas Adventures 2008
Okay, the Christmas adventure begins with a lot of white stuff - which we in Michigan call
S N O W! Walking out to my car after work on Friday, December 20, there was plenty of snow - which made for many adventures of the Holtvluwer family in the upcoming days!!
S N O W! Walking out to my car after work on Friday, December 20, there was plenty of snow - which made for many adventures of the Holtvluwer family in the upcoming days!!
Car before I cleaned off all the snow..........
and after it was all cleaned off....luckily there was a gentlemen there in the parking lot ready to help me in case I got stuck - but I didn't so I was off for Christmas adventures!!
Jack's sister, Nancy came from Lynden to spend Christmas time with us and our kids this year. Nancy was suppose to arrive on Thursday evening, but with delays in Seattle and Minneapolis, and Grand Rapids, she arrived in Lansing on Saturday morning 2:00am! Jack braved the roads and weather and picked her up.....and I was glad that she was here safely, better late than never......Christmas is a time of remembering, making new memories, giving to others, receiving from others, enjoying conversations, but above all to reflect on the perfect gift given to us by our Heavenly Father in the birth of His precious son, Jesus.
As I was anticipating spending time with Nancy (Jack's sister), Nick and Jenni; Nate, Brooke and Hudson; Ben and Emily, my brother, Tim; Aunt Wilma; Pam, Tim, Allie and Sarah and Andy (we were missing Bob and Megan who moved to Portland in Nov) I was intent on making the most of our time together! I wanted everyone to be aware when everyone would be arriving at our house, and what to plan on while everyone was here for a few days. I made an "agenda" of sorts......anyway, everyone knows what happens when you make an "agenda". Even though, I know that God is in charge, sometimes I think He needs a little help.......I have heard the saying, "if you want to hear God laugh, make an agenda" well, let's just say I am so happy that He is in control of our lives, because I would make a total mess of everything!
While waiting for Nate and Brooke and Hudson so arrive, the kids played a lot of Guitar Hero and Wii.....it was nice to hear the sounds of the kids back in the house, while praying hard for the others to make it here safely!
All the kids were expected to arrive on Sunday, Dec. 21! Also. planning to attend the party on that days was one of the worst snow storms that Michigan hadn't seen in awhile.....! Ben and Emily were driving from Texas and were to arrive in GR Saturday afternoon.....but since Ben's parents had recently moved to Ohio, they wanted to stop by and see them first. They would be staying there on Saturday night and driving to GR Sunday afternoon instead. They kept in touch with me about the weather (cell phones are wonderful!) and I encouraged them to please get here yet on Saturday. They called and said they were planning on getting to our house yet Saturday night!!
Nick and Jenni realized that their tickets said they were to arrive in South Bend on Saturday......so they called me late Saturday night and said they were coming in late Saturday night. Nick and Jenni and Em and Ben arrived at our house just as the snow was beginning to come in with a vengence.
Nate and Brooke were scheduled to fly into Chicago on Sunday around noon, and catch a plane to GR by 2pm. Well, everything was canceled into GR, and the soonest they could get here by plane would be 4:oopm Tuesday. The weather was great in Chicago! After renting them a car in Chicago, they were on their way! The weather was horrible.....at one point Nate called me and said he couldn't go any farther, there were cars, semis, etc in the ditches, flashers all over, he couldn't see the road. We texted him some hotels where he was and he finally made it to an exit......putting PJ's on Hudson at a McDonalds, looking for a place to stay......when the weather cleared up a little. Everyone here was so worried but were so thankful when they arrived around 8pm!
This was suppose to be a "Navajo Taco" night, which we were all looking forward to Aunt Nancy making for us.....
As I was anticipating spending time with Nancy (Jack's sister), Nick and Jenni; Nate, Brooke and Hudson; Ben and Emily, my brother, Tim; Aunt Wilma; Pam, Tim, Allie and Sarah and Andy (we were missing Bob and Megan who moved to Portland in Nov) I was intent on making the most of our time together! I wanted everyone to be aware when everyone would be arriving at our house, and what to plan on while everyone was here for a few days. I made an "agenda" of sorts......anyway, everyone knows what happens when you make an "agenda". Even though, I know that God is in charge, sometimes I think He needs a little help.......I have heard the saying, "if you want to hear God laugh, make an agenda" well, let's just say I am so happy that He is in control of our lives, because I would make a total mess of everything!
While waiting for Nate and Brooke and Hudson so arrive, the kids played a lot of Guitar Hero and Wii.....it was nice to hear the sounds of the kids back in the house, while praying hard for the others to make it here safely!
All the kids were expected to arrive on Sunday, Dec. 21! Also. planning to attend the party on that days was one of the worst snow storms that Michigan hadn't seen in awhile.....! Ben and Emily were driving from Texas and were to arrive in GR Saturday afternoon.....but since Ben's parents had recently moved to Ohio, they wanted to stop by and see them first. They would be staying there on Saturday night and driving to GR Sunday afternoon instead. They kept in touch with me about the weather (cell phones are wonderful!) and I encouraged them to please get here yet on Saturday. They called and said they were planning on getting to our house yet Saturday night!!
Nick and Jenni realized that their tickets said they were to arrive in South Bend on Saturday......so they called me late Saturday night and said they were coming in late Saturday night. Nick and Jenni and Em and Ben arrived at our house just as the snow was beginning to come in with a vengence.
Nate and Brooke were scheduled to fly into Chicago on Sunday around noon, and catch a plane to GR by 2pm. Well, everything was canceled into GR, and the soonest they could get here by plane would be 4:oopm Tuesday. The weather was great in Chicago! After renting them a car in Chicago, they were on their way! The weather was horrible.....at one point Nate called me and said he couldn't go any farther, there were cars, semis, etc in the ditches, flashers all over, he couldn't see the road. We texted him some hotels where he was and he finally made it to an exit......putting PJ's on Hudson at a McDonalds, looking for a place to stay......when the weather cleared up a little. Everyone here was so worried but were so thankful when they arrived around 8pm!
This was suppose to be a "Navajo Taco" night, which we were all looking forward to Aunt Nancy making for us.....
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Friends at Christmas Time
Julie and Irene and I went out to see the original "White Christmas" at Celebration Cinema......they were showing old movies on the big screen. While we were there we had ALOT of popcorn and pop.....so we were not very hungry to go out for dinner afterwards. We went to Chilis for a bowl of soup! It was definitely a wintry night, but we shared a wonderful night together................it is truly wonderful to have such great friends!!
The ladies I am in Bible Study with.......we missed Mar and Rhonda!
Julie and I in front of Jan's Christmas Tree in our office.Christmas CelebrationTea at Covenant
After hearing Carlee speak about her life experiences and her testimony, our table of ten had dessert and punch with great conversation. It was an evening of sharing conversation with new friends and old friends and friends we hadn't seen in a while..........we were very excited to have the guest of honor at our table.
Renee, Julie, Carlee, Bree, June, and Kelly
Fran, Mar, Renee, and Julie
Bree, June, Kelly and Julia
Renee and I were in charge of decorating the table...I think it turned out great, we had a lot of different pieces.....and we fit it all together to make our table look very festive.Chicago Fun!!
Are you ready?? We are ready to head to Chicago for the day...roads were slippery on the way..but our bus driver was steady and a very good driver!!
After a quick stop at Starbucks...we were ready for a COLD walk in downtown Chicago!
The windows told many Christmas stories!!
We stopped to eat at the Weber Grill before we headed to meet the bus to go home.......
Pam and I waiting for dinner.............
Our waiter stirring up some great Sangria!!
Yum, yum it warmed the tum tum!!
Chicago all lit up for Christmas!!We had a great time, it was what was expected in Chicago - many people walking fast, beautiful lights, great food, great bargains, and a special time to spend with family!!
Department Christmas Party
Ila and Connie
Melissa, Chris, and Julie
Carole, Me and Julie
Melissa and Chris
Julie and Nancy
Sonia and Annie
Nancy and LisaWe had our department staff Christmas party at the Red Ball Jet restaurant! It was an interesting place with a lot of character. Chris, our supervisor gave us all a Christmas ornament! It was a great time to take some time and get to know each other better!
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