This Could Be Christmas Dessert

Depending on directives this may be one of the desserts at this year's Christmas party. Stay tuned for the outcome!

Van Drunen Christmas at Keith & Cher

Please contact Grandma Van Drunen as to what to bring for our Christmas Dinner at Keith & Cher's home on Saturday, December 20, at 3:00 p.m. We are having ham and beef sandwiches, with salads and desserts. Looking forward to seeing you there.

Baby Room Pictures

If you'll check the baby countdown to d-day, we're a mere 36 days and counting away from meeting our child.

In full nesting mode, the room is finally complete- we've been working on this particular room for over a year (though origianlly it was going to be a guest bedroom). Now we have a guest for the next 18 years minimum.

My interior decorator tells me that despite the fact that there is blue in the room, that the blue is an aqua-ish tint, and therefore acceptable for either gender... so don't read into that, people. My guess is still boy on Jan. 16. Mom, could you post the official guesses?

Classic Santa Photo

I couldn't resist posting this classic photo.  It was just taken yesterday, but it appears Keelan has finally reached the stage where he is terrified of Santa.  Can't wait for the Van Drunen party!

Christmas Tree Challenge

Family- as Stephanie and I decorated our tree, I thought that one way that we could share our Christmas expereince from distances is to share our Christmas trees with each other.

I'll be posting a picture of our tree shortly- anyone else want to snap a pic and share?

For: Karyl

Hi, Karyl!
Sorry I didn't get a list of books to you yet. Hope it's not too late. I don't have your e-mail, so I hope you check this... These are some of my top board books...
-Good Night Gorilla
-We're Going on a Bear Hunt
-Good Night Moon
-Pajama Time
-Freight Train
-The Napping House
-Brown Bear, Brown Bear
-Dear Zoo
-Any by the author Barton - Boats, Dinasours, Dinasours...

Thanksgiving Weekend

Sharing a Link: Stuff White Christians Like

One of my favorite blogs is stuffwhitepeoplelike.com. If you're not familiar, it is the definitive guide to stuff white (liberal) people like. Stuff white people like includes: awareness, gifted children, knowing what's best for poor people, hating corporations, comparing people to Hitler... you get the idea. It's hilarious- the guy also has a book of the posts on his blog.

Today, a friend of mine gave me a link to a parody site: Stuff White Christians Like at www.stuffwhitechristianslike.com. So far, they've posted two things that White Christians Like: Greeters and Casual Church Attire. This seems to be a gentle knock on the "progressive church movement"- one that is done playfully. Take a look at the link, and check it out for yourself.

Looking forward to seeing some of the Thanksgiving/baby shower pictures up on Yous Kids...

Just wanted to let you all know

My chinese friend, Hao, will be coming to Thanksgiving with us. She excited to meet you and to taste the American food!

Hey everyone...as Juniors at Illiana we have to do an annual fruit and nuts sale to raise money for the school...so here's the info if you want to buy anything (my mom said to tell you guys that the oranges are the best you'll ever eat :)

*Sunkist Navel Oranges
88 large oranges per case- $33.00 per case

*Florida Indian River Red Grapefruit
40 Grapefruit per case- $26.00 per case

*Unshelled Mixed Nuts
2 lb. bag- $6.00 per bag

I cannot put in half orders, but you can get a half order if you find someone to split it with. I have to have my order in on December 2. Let me know if you have any questions! Thanks!

Children's Letters to God

I have no idea how I get on these types of e-mail lists, but here are two pretty funny (cute?) letters that children wrote to God. Please do enjoy.

Christmas Gift Exchange

Since it looks like all of us will be together on Thanksgiving.....was wondering if we are
going to pull names for the cousins (and second cousins) to exchange gifts at our Christmas celebration? I asked my kids (VanDyke) if they still wanted to do that, and they said "of course!" If everyone is in favor of exchanging names again this year, how about we come to Thanksgiving with some ideas, and then we can write down the ideas with the name you draw. Give me some feedback.

Animated Aurora Borealis, from Orbit

O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.

From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.

When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?

You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet: all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas. O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

In Utero Baby Gesch

Thought I'd share a picture of "In Utero Baby Gesch." The kid is laying on his/her side with a big eye looking directly into the camera.

He/She has his/her dad's propensity to take a creepy picture! :)

Steph's had two different due dates: January 14 and 21... still not sure which is the "right one."

I encourage the family to make some predictions on the gender and date... we'll see who wins.

Caleb's Vid.

I had some trouble finding this- props to Korie for the post, and mega props to Caleb for the mad-memorization skills. Caleb- do you remember memorizing the doubling of numbers on a car ride once?

Caleb-famous

Go to teachertube.com
Click on Memorization of PI
Caleb-our math genius!

Hi Family!

So I am in a technology class for education majors. We are doing group projects on different web applications. We were assigned Blogger-how magnificant! So I figured I should learn how to do some things on here. So here it goes...my first picture posting!

This is Sarah, Dana, and I dressed up for Halloween. I was attempting to be Sarah Palin with the hair, glasses, and wink:) Thanks Aunt Karyl for the reading glasses-it topped the look!

My Team's Soccer Season Ends- 2-0 Loss in Championship Game

My team lost 2-0 in the championship game to a really great team. A few bounces (literally bounces off of posts) could have gone our way, but didn't... but no regrets. The team played great, and 2nd place in the state is a great finish.

Thanks to all of you who came to see the game in person- very kind of you. It's a good thing that I'm on pretty good terms with the crowd... they like to chant my name.

Timothy Men's Soccer Defeats Morgan Park to Win Sectional Championship

____________________________________________

Other Press On The Game:

Chicago Sun-Times Daily Herald

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The Timothy Christian High School men's varsity soccer team has won their second ever sectional championship. With a 2-1 victory, the Trojans defeated the Warriors of Morgan Park Academy and advanced to the IHSA's class 1A state semi-finals for the first time in school history.

With an outstanding full-team effort, Timothy beat a Morgan Park team that featured two premier players- Junior Eppokrates Litos and Senior Milan Tica- both of whom played at an extremely high level, but in the end, the Warrior efforts could not top teamwork of the Trojans.

Timothy opened the scoring 9 minutes into the game with an amazing individual effort by senior forward Justin Groenewold. Groenewold dribbled through three Morgan Park defenders, set himself up with a shot in the middle of the goal-box, and ripped a right footed blast past the keeper and into the back of the net for an unassisted goal. Not bad for a natural lefty.

Morgan Park came back with a goal of their own, just 12 minutes later. The goal featured the work of both Litos and Milan, with Litos dishing a through-ball to Milan who sliced through the defense and finished off his chance. The score would remain 1-1 at half-time.

About midway through the second half, senior Justin Groenewold again found some space in the Morgan Park defense, worked to gain a cross that sophomore forward Corey Philip shot. The initial shot was saved, but a rebound found Phillip right back,and the sophomore forward would not miss on what proved to be the game-winning goal.

Despite generating several more scoring opportunities, Timothy could not finish off "an insurance goal." So, for the rest of the second half, it was "hang-on" time for Timothy- and the team did not disappoint- playing an outstanding defensive effort- particularly the work of senior defender Jonathan Voss and sophomore sweeper Mike Pizello for their work shutting down Litos.

With the blow of the final whistle, the Timothy Trojans had advanced to the final four teams in class 1A. The team faces and exciting opportunity in the state semi-finals, taking on the three-time defending state champion Waterloo Gibault Catholic. The game will be played at North Central College in Naperville, IL on Friday, October 31st at 5:30 PM. The winner of this game will advance to the state finals (7:00 PM Saturday) and the loser will play for the 3rd place game (5:30 PM Saturday).

Van Drunen Christmas December 20, 2008

For those of you that I have not spoken to the Van Drunen family Christmas get together will be December 20 at the home of Keith & Cher. More details to follow as the day grows nearer. Cher

Dates to Remember

On Saturday, November 22, we will again have our family bunco party. This year it will be at the home of Deb & Chuck Paarlberg. Deb volunteered to have it. You will be receiving invitations in the mail shortly.

Thanksgiving will be at our home for those who are able to attend. Let us know if this will work for you.

We attended Anna's soccer game yesterday at Trinity. The Trolls won 1-0. It was an exciting, muddy, game.

We understand Rudi's soccer team won their game - 6-0. I'm sure we will receive info from him.

A Good Piece of News From My Neck of the Woods

The Timothy Christian men's varsity soccer team has won the Elmhurst regional championship. With a 2-1 victory, the Trojans beat the #1 seeded and highly touted Lions of Lisle high.

Prior to the game, the Trojans were placed in a difficult scenario- starting defender Kent Dixon was ineligible to play as a result of a "soft-red card" in the regional semi-final. A defensive-minded line-up change resulted in senior captain Jake Schemper man-marking the Lions key-player, Senior Jon Voss moving to outside defender, and quintessential"gamer" Nate Middel entering the starting line-up. The three position changes worked to near perfection, as all three played very well outside of their normal game roles and held the Lions without a goal for the majority of the game.

Timothy senior Taylor Slager headed home a cross off of a senior Jeb Nash corner-kick to open the scoring early in the first half. Junior midfielder Nate Middel took an advantageous bounce off of his body and rammed home the crucial second goal. Timothy dominated most of the first half possession, but couldn't find the net a third time despite many close calls.

Credit the talented Lions with a great game, particularly in the second half when they scored off of a flubbed Timothy goal-kick, bringing the ball through the defense and beating goal keeper Peter Tameling who finished the night with 13 saves. But in the end, it was too much Timothy, and the Trojans advanced through regionals and into the Lisle Sectional. Timothy will play a yet to be determined opponent at Benedictine University in Lisle at 12:00 noon on Saturday, October 25.

John McCain Brings Down The House - Al Smith Dinner Part 1

Politicians should do more of these types of speeches.

Catching Up

Now that the Depot is closed for the season, I have some time to catch up on the blog. I finally figured out my password that was forgotten due to non-usage. Dyke, Craig, Cole, and myself just returned from a quick weekend trip to Colorado for the wedding of Luanne Wories (Dyke's niece). The weather was lousy, but enjoyed it anyway. Craig forced us to hike in the mountains (I think they were really just foot hills) and we had to have hiked at least 10 miles.
Craig is back at Camp Atterbury for three weeks of training and then will be home until he is deployed in early January. We aren't told too many details as that is for security, and also there are always changes possible with the military. I'm thinking of having an open-house, going away party for him sometime at the end of December or very early January. If there are any dates that fit your schedule, let me know.
Speaking of dates, any plans for Thanksgiving or Christmas? I have another side of the family that likes to plan way far in advance and keeps asking about our plans.

Surprise visit

Anneke, Kate, and I were in Palos today for a doctor's appointment, so we stopped by Trinity to see the cousins. I had no idea where they lived, so luckily Scott was walking down the sidewalk from lunch when we got there. Emily wasn't in her room =( but we got to see Karley and Anna's room. We loved seeing you guys and where you live!

Johnny's going down!

As of tonight, two more Karate Kids have begun training, or should I say one future Danielson and one overweight middle-aged guy who had a totally weird experience. Justin and I signed-up for the 7 yr. old - adult Karate through our park district. Since we've always viewed it as a cool father/son thing it wasn't until yesterday we began to think more 7 year olds, less 35 year olds. I'd put the average age of tonights beginners generously at 9.75, but the one 35 year old skews the number higher.

We did have a lot of fun and there is one other dad from the returning group so he and I got to practice kneeing in the junk. (There's an ice breaker for your next church function!) As we progress through the ranks I'll keep you informed.

More Keith!

I don't know how everyone else is feeling, but I need more Keith! Where have the poetic descriptions of athletic competitions been? Questions raised we all need to ponder? A perspective only a man growing up in a house with 5 sisters and 2 bathrooms can answer? I am begging, pleading, just like Walken needs more cowbell, I need more Keith.

CUBS

UNBELIEVABLE.

make sure your spouse knows how to spell...

... your life could depend on it!

My First Date with David Beckham

A group from Trinity went to the Chicago Fire vs. LA Galaxy tonight and had a great time watching the Fire win 3-1! Scott and I both went (along with around 20 others) and had lots of fun with those inflatable noise things they give you. It was a star-studded event featuring Landon Donovan, Brian McBride, and of course, the one and only David Beckham. :)

Marriage Proposal Rejected at BasketBall Game

This is tragically awesome!

Helmet

For all of you who are asking about the helmet...

'Tis the Stage...

...for bumps and bruises!  This one is the result of a header into the baseboard in his bedroom.  Apparently, the more confident he is in walking and running, the more likely he is to get hurt.  This is only one of many, and thank goodness none have been serious!

Dear Mr. Obama

Karen wanted this on the blog. As one of her sons, I've obliged.

Campus Pastor

Sorry about the lack of posts. This is to give you information about my new responsibility at work. I am going to serve as the Campus Pastor for Faith Church - Valpo, our next campus. We were approached by a church in Valparaiso that was struggling and they asked to become a campus of Faith Church.

I am currently giving over the details of conferences and events to a former intern who inquired about possibilities here just as this was happening. (Total God thing!)

I will develop a launch team of Faith members who live near Valpo (about 45 minutes east of Dyer), and current members of WayPoint church. We will find a site, create a volunteer matrix and recruit volunteers, do promotion and everything else needed to launch next Easter, if not before. My job will then be to pastor and lead this congregation.

The Lord's hand has appeared in every detail so far. I am excited for the transformation that will need to happen in me in order for this to happen, the equipping of people who have been on the sidelines and seeing the Lord change lives. Please pray for our family during this time as we have not felt called for Kristin, Anneke, Justin and Kate to make this their church home. (We are planning on worshipping together as a family in Dyer on Saturday nights and me going to "work" on Sunday.)

Did you know Valpo is really close to Kouts....hmmm...Van Drunen's could be involved in the launch of Faith's fourth campus as they were in the first, South Holland location.

(The pic above is where WayPoint currently meets, a former commercial bakery that is 24" concrete at the bottom and 12" at the top. Echoes are unbelievable inside.)

Stephanie Through The Years

I thought that the fam would appreciate these lost photos of Stephanie's yearbook photos. Thanks to the folks at yearbookyourself.com . It's a great place to spend an hour online.

By the way, I DID get her permission to post these pictures, and, in case you think that it's unfair to post pictures like this of Steph without pictures of me...

Sports/Activity Schedules

Nieces & Nephews, we would love to come to your games (soccer, volleyball, etc.) or other spectator activities to cheer you on. Please let us know your schedules.

Rodgers-Palin 2008

If I had to vote for the two most important people on earth right now, they would be Aaron Rodgers (#12 on the field for the Green Bay Packers and #1 in our hearts) and for my political crush, Sarah Palin. You might call Palin the Aaron Rodgers of politics: no one expected her to be in the position that she's in, she's a relative unknown, she's been ready to go for like 3 years and just needed to be given a chance. I also understand that she runs a 4.2 40 split, and can look away the safety in a cover-2 scheme, get single coverage with a simple pump-fake and hit the fly route for an easy 6.

Is it too late to reorganize the Republican ticket? Rodgers-Palin would play very well in Wisconsin. Perhaps they could run against Briggs-Obama. Winner gets the White House, and the NFC North division title.

Clarence Thomas

I thought I would pass along one of the cool things that happened on campus. Yesterday, Associate Justice Clarence Thomas of the Supreme Court came to Pepperdine and spoke to about 700 people about his personal history, legal philosophy, and all kinds of other things including his favorite movies.

A few of the better quotes from the evening:

Speaking of growing up in the segregated south, Justice Thomas said that he didn't really live with the burden of racism ever day. He said of course he couldn't go to the public library or some parks, but "the works I have ever been treated is in Washington D.C., not in Savannah."

Speaking of his tendency to be one of the quieter Justices on occasion - "It's hard for everybody to talk at the same time - someone should listen."

Where do you get your interpretive framework for the Constitution? "...umm... The New York Times?..."

Speaking of race relations: "I've never understood that we need to be race conscious in order to get over our race consciousness... I know I'm black... but I knew that a long time ago."

Anyways, all of you should know that Justice Thomas is a great guy. I even got the chance to meet him briefly after the event. The man has a great handshake.

On Sunday night, I'll be going over to Dean Ken Starr's house for dinner along with 70 other students.



P.S. - If any of you are jealous, you should know that there is some adversity here. I already had to kill a scorpion in my kitchen.

A long overdue post

I just got back from a Christian Legal Society retreat so I decided to check in and give a little show and tell.

After 3 or so days of grueling travel, my Mom and I arrived at Pepperdine. We didn't take many photographs along the way, but I do have these lovely shots from a canyon in Utah.





Once I arrived I quickly got to work . After 3 days of orientation, I was ready for class to begin. This past week was the first week, and so far everything has gone well. I really haven't accomplished anything yet, but it feels good in any event. My first semester classes are Torts, Contracts, Property, Civil Procedure, and a Legal Research and Writing class. My professors are all really great, and I am starting to meet some really nice people. I'm liking the California life, and I am accepting applications for visitors effective immediately.

Crean & Crimson

Well since I've been doing a horrible job on contributing to the blog, I decided to give a little idea of whats going on recently in my life. I currently moved down to Bloomington which is home of thee greatest college. INDIANA UNIVERSITY How can you deny a school who has produced alumni such as: John Mellencamp, Mick Foley, Kevin Kline, Mark Cuban, Jared Fogle and many more. Although we are also embarrassed to admit Rex Grossman came from IU, but we figured his excellent education would have led him to a better team. The opportunities here are endless. I recently signed up for some Judo, bass fishing and flag football clubs. I won't be attending classes due to military but IU also has an outdoor adventure club which offers a survivalist class. So hopefully I will have an opportunity to take it this semester and start my own Craig Vs Wild. The campus is gorgeous and this year is the largest freshman class the school has ever seen. I just went to a soccer game vs Duke and a football game today. We won both. Here is a few pictures of what its like.

Auntie Lee and Jean are in!

This is Rudi reporting live from Dyer, IN. Auntie Lee and Jean are now online and ready to blog.

More to come later. Be sure to give a nice "Yous Kids" welcome to them!

West 203

I moved in to West Hall on Friday. My roommate is Kinny Madori. He lives in Oakbrook, IL and is originally from the Bahamas. My suitemates are from Lansing, MI and Reno, NV. My roommate/suitemates and I are enjoying getting to know each other. As you can see from the picture, my dorm is not decorated nearly as much as Karley and Anna's but I have the essentials (Mainly the Cubs flag). College life is going well. The cafeteria food is good so far, and classes start on Wednesday morning. We have freshman orientation events going on until Wednesday. Kinny is a very clean roommate. Our room is actually this clean (I didn't just clean it for the picture). One of the first days we were here Kinny said we should make a schedule to clean the bathroom once a week. I'd much rather live with someone like Kinny than have a sloppy roommate.

First Week at TCC

Hi from South 215! Karley and I are having a blast at college. She's on volleyball, and I'm on the soccer team, so we've been here since Sunday. Being here a week early to get situated and meet people was a huge plus. We eat at the caf for every meal and have been busy with 2 or 3-a-days in practice all week. Scott joined us on Friday which was really cool too. We live in South Hall which is nice, but definitely does not have air conditioning, so we find ways to always be in West or in the basement of South. The picture is just a quick one I took of my desk to give you an idea of our room...we will probably post more later. If you ever want to visit us just let us know!

Let's hear about college...

Alright all you Freshman!  It's time to let everyone know how school's going...

Best +6 Team Ever

The Van Drunen Family Golf Outing is measured on more places than simply the scoreboard. As I stated strongly during my acceptance of the longest putt award, you drive for show, you putt for dough, but our team played with love.

Well done, Cheryl, Kathy, Stephanie, and Taylor!

I just got back from a mission trip to Philadelphia. It was a great trip! We spent every morning running a day camp. (The middle picture is from day camp...Jayden was my buddy all week!) In the afternoons we did different things like cooking for and serving at a soup kitchen, helping out at a retirement home, taking homeless people out for lunch and getting to know them, etc. It was an awesome experience! We also did different things at night. (including going out for ethnic food every night) On the way home we stopped at a surprise location which ended up being Cedar Point! The bottom picture is of me, Allie Mender, and Emily Ratliff (two of my best friends who also went on the trip.) (You can click on the pictures to make them bigger.)

Chicago Trinity Adventure (CTA

Greetings to everyone from Chicago! The Picture is the view out of my apartment for CTA. I'll be living downtown until August 20. On Friday I moved in and went to an orientation meeting at the Chicago Semester location (11 E. Adams). My apartment is at State and Division, only a few blocks from the lake. I'm really close to North Avenue Beach and Oak Street Beach.

So far I've gone on an architecture tour from one of the directors at the Chicago Semester, went to the Cheesecake Factory, Oak St. Beach, and Miller's Pub (for dinner, not beer of course). This morning we're going to 4th Presbyterian Church on State Street for the 11:00 service. Then we're going back to the church at 2:00 to serve in their soup kitchen until 6:00. Tomorrow, I start the History 103 class. I'll be in class every morning for 6 days a week from 9-12. It'll be a lot of work, but it will also be very fun. Hope the VanDrunen Open went well. I'm looking forward to some pictures.

Honduras Slideshow

Here are some pictures from my trip. Enjoy!

Cross-Country bikers visit Kouts

On July 19, we had some unexpected visitors come to the Depot and then camp in our yard. A father and daughter were biking across the country from California to Maine. We enjoyed getting to know them.

Check out day #32 of their blog.

thesummerride.blogspot.com

Elizabeth Profession of faith

Dear family, Elizabeth is making profession of faith on Sunday August 3. If you are interested in coming for lunch, we will eat at the usual time 1:00PM. Please let me know by Friday if you are coming as you know we will be in intense competition on Saturday. Eric and I are meetin Jack Nickholas tomorrow at Glenwoodie for a few last minute golf tips. Do not feel obligated as we will be spending a LOT of time together on Saturday, but if you do we will have enough food. See you Saturday. Cher

Back from Honduras

So I just flew in from Honduras (and boy are my arms tired!). Sorry- couldn't resist.

This was my first ever missions trip, and is likely one of the most important events of my life. The Honduran orphans (I'm a sucker for the adorable little ninos) are the most trusting, helpful, grateful people on planet earth.

Best case scenario, these kids have been abandoned at birth. Worst case scenario, you hear horror stories about abuse, rape, children witnessing family members murder each other... basically a smorgasbord of Total Depravity incarnate. And YET, when our bus pulls into the orphanage for the first time, the two girls in the picture above (Francis and Paola) were waiting to grab me by my hand and show me their humble abode and play with me.

The 180+ orphans look out for each other like nothing I've seen- helping handicapped (not handy-capped, mom!) brothers and sisters with clothes or caring those who can't walk, burping babies that are 2 years younger then they are, etc.

And, despite all their terrible backgrounds, meager third-world surroundings, and lonely lives, these kids are grateful for life and protection, and for even the smallest gestures like hugs, or candy, or just spending some time with them.

The take-home lessons for me are very numerous, but the overwhelming theme that will stick with me is the sense of actually encountering unconditional love in a tangible way. We talk a lot about God's unconditional love for us, but this can quickly become cliche in our minds. Actually witnessing a child that loves you unconditionally despite just meeting you, and likely assuming that they will never see you again after this week hits you like a rock. At the end of the trip, a girl named Linda (who was AWESOME at soccer) said to the guys in our group (we played soccer with them everyday), "The next time that we play soccer will be in heaven." There's about a million one-liners like that from this trip that just smack you upside the soul.

On the "bring the mission trip home with you" front, Steph and I are going to partially sponsor Paola (the girl on the right... her full name (these kids all have like 6 or 7 names) is STEPHANIE Paola... an amazing sign, I thought). A partial sponsorship is $25/month. I mention this not to pressure, but to present an opportunity to the family- if anyone wanted to join us to help fully sponsor her or any of the other orphans from this amazing ministry, it would be a really cool.

A full sponsorship is $100/month. I actually think that this could be a really cool family project- sponsoring a kid or a couple kids as an entire Van Drunen clan. To my knowledge, we've never done anything like that as an ENTIRE family...

Birchwood Happenings

Much thanks to Grandpa and Grandma for letting us stay in the cabin for a recent trip to Birchwood. Myself, my dad, and my Uncle Jeff came up last week Thursday while Mike and Kim were winding down their trip. After showing us how it was done, we began to explore new waters on our own.

The catch of the week was probably my 30 inch Northern, but my dad's trophy dogfish was certainly in the running. Besides fishing, Kim and Mike even gave me a chance to try waterskiing. This being my second time ever, I did not get up, but I did at least become sore for the next five days. Again, much thanks to Grandpa and Grandma - a good time was had by all.

A Day at the Lake

What a great day at Magician Lake!  Thanks so much to the Paarlbergs for having all of us out for the day.  Thanks to Chuck for driving the boats and hauling kids and adults around!  The weather was perfect, the water was warm, and the food was great!  Overall, it was a great day!

Van Drunen Family Open

Attention Golfers - We are making plans for the cookout at our house after the family golf outing on August 2 and looking for volunteers to bring various food items. Items needed include: salads, fruit, desserts, pop (soda), chips etc. If you post what yous would like to bring on the blog, everyone will know and we can avoid duplicate dishes. (Vanderzee golfers include Mark, Kim and Mike.)

Looking forward to some family fun!

Pictured are Scott and Mark practicing at Tagalong last week (between fishing trips).

First 5k!

While I have worked running races for 14 years, I have never participated, until this morning. I finished my first 5k at a little neighborhood run/walk near where I am for school. Pictured along with me is Danielle, who works for Bethel and helps us all get through the program, Brent a Lutheran pastor from Des Moines who is in my co-hort.

Great feeling to finish and not be sore. The time is not really important.

Honduras Mission Project (and prayer requests)

Beginning at 3:30 AM on Saturday, I'll be in Honduras with about 200 orphans. The Elmhurst CRC Youth Group is heading down for a week of projects, and spending time with these kids.

I believe that some of you know about this place- Al Heerema is the head leader...

Anyway, please pray for a safe and successful trip.

For those of you who like to stay on top of things, here is a website that will keep you up to date on the trip: click here

For those of you who might be interested in the story of this orphanage and/or sponsoring a child, here's a link: click here

This will be the first ever mission trip/project that I go on- I'm really excited. Steph was originally going to go, but as a pregnant mother, she decided to visit her grandma in Florida instead.

Happy B-day, Emily!

A day late is better than never- Happy Birthday, Emily!

Hats for Paris

This goes along with the request for knitted hats for the third graders in Colorado... They are also accepting any hats as donations, as long as they are in good condition and acceptable for third graders. They do not have to be knitted. If you're willing to donate a hat (a winter hat), you can bring it to the Van Drunen family golf outing on August 2, and I'll make sure they get out to Colorado. Thanks so much for your help!

Calling All Bug Catchers!!!

We just got home from camping at Turkey Run State Park...a weekend full of fun things like kayaking, hiking, campfires, star gazing, swimming...and BUG CATCHING!!! Mark has to do a bug collection for Honors Biology...so if you see any cool bugs be sure to catch them, put them in a bag or container, and freeze them. (We could especially use some cool butterflies!!!) If you catch any, you can bring them to the Van Drunen Open on August 2!