Preacher Jason

Jason preached his 1st sermon at Thorncreek church this morning, "Jesus arose, now what?" He did a great job sharing Matt.9:9-13, teaching us how to continue to live a ressurected life - Follow (continue to learn from Christ), Love the unlovable, and Mercy (minister to the physical & emotional needs of others)...CDs available??



Getting ready this morning, Nick reminded me of Dr. Jerome DeJong calling Jason "the little theologian" and that he would be a preacher. So, we are thankful for God's faithfulness!

Meet Toby

Well, here's the new addition to our family! We had a great opportunity through someone at church to get this pure bred lab for free. She'll come home with us in a few weeks, since we're going to Nick and Karen's at the end of this week for vacation. She's the smallest and calmest of the bunch, so I'm hoping that will continue... Look at that face! Remind me how cute she is when I'm pulling my hair out. =)

Two Toots... Depot idea?

http://www.2toots.com/index.html

Karyl,

I ran across this restaurant in our area where the food is delivered to tables via train (video of this on the website- linked above). It's called "Two Toots," and the kids LOVE this place. I don't know if this is doable for the depot, but I thought it was a pretty cool idea.

Save the Date

Korie's graduation party will be on Sunday, June 8, 2008 at our house. The graduation ceremony will be on Saturday the 7th. More details to follow : )

Argentinian Gnome

So I ran across this clip, and it's too weird NOT to share with the family. It's of a group of Argentinian boys on a fishing (or maybe camping?) trip. The clip is 45 seconds long- the first 35 or so are just the kids talking... then the clip gets weird.

Any thoughts on this one? Real or fake?

(Caution... little kids might find this scary... maybe).

Question for Rudi

Kelly (aunt) has been following the blog, but can't post because she doesn't know her password. She's wondering if she can be reinvited or what she can do so she can start blogging. Thank you, sir!

Pepperdine Visit

This past weekend, I was whisked away from the frigid and mundane and transported to Malibu, where the air is so dewy sweet you don't even have to lick the stamps. The reason for my travels was to visit Pepperdine's law school as part of a scholarship weekend. I paste in a picture of the campus below.

It's not Wisconsin, but nothing is perfect

I was extremely impressed by their law school, and I now know that they are a solid option to consider. Yesterday, Pepperdine sweetened the deal by offering me the scholarship for which I flew out. In the next few weeks I have to decide where to go to school next year, and I don't know how easy that will be. During spring break I am flying out to Virginia to visit the University of Virginia and the College of William & Mary. My ultimate decision might just come down to whether I would prefer to learn how to surf or engage in Civil War reenacting. In any event, I would appreciate your prayers so that I am able to make the right decision.

Happy Birthday, Rudi

Wanted to wish my birthday buddy a great day!!! Since I can never seem to get a card out, this blog works out great for the preoccupied, slacker in me.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RUDI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

the de vries house in chi-town

Well, you asked. Here's a photo of our house. We are the three windows second from the top on the right in the photo. The two stories we've heard about this building are 1) it's an old manufacturing building of some sort (but nobody knows what was manufactured) or 2) it's an old residential building that burned out and was rehabbed. Perhaps I should do a little research to find out the real story.

Family Map/Contact Information: Round 1

View Larger Interactive Map

Well, I'm home sick today, so I thought I'd at least be a little productive.

Here's the first draft of the interactive family map and contact information. A few thoughts:

1) Every push-pin represents the location of someone's house. Click on a pushpin to see that family's location. This map is interactive, so, for instance, if you wanted to know how to get to my house to come and visit, you could click "View Larger Interactive map," find "Rudi and Stephanie Gesch" on the left hand side, and the map will find our push-pin. Then, you could click "Get directions to here," type in a starting address, and viola! Google would give you customized directions to our humble abode.

2) Each family's contact information is also on their push-pin location. Say you (along with every lady this side of the Mississippi) wanted to know Craig's cell. You can follow the same steps mentioned in number one (but for the Van Dyke family) and discover this information.

3) Eventually, I'd like to include pictures of everyone's house (if, for nothing else, to make the push-pins look cooler). Whenever you're ready, feel free to take a picture of your house, and post it to the blog. If you want to know how to post a picture, click on the "How to post a picture" link in the "helpful hints" section on the right hand side of the blog.

4) This map is not final. I'm still missing the Jim and Kelly family contact information, and I'd like everyone to check their location and information and make sure that it's all accurate. Once we have the final version ready, the permanent home for this map will be by the calendar on the right hand side of the blog.

Any suggestions for improvement are welcome.

Scott Is The Man

Since I know Scott won't brag about himself, I wanted everyone to know that he was awarded the top accounting scholarship at Trinity. Dr. White, chair of the department, called the Vanderzees yesterday to congratulate him. I don't know if he'll choose to attend Trinity, but it is a great accomplishment. Way to hoede de naam op, Scott!

Arctic Foxes

Thought some of you Ski-heads would appreciate this... if nothing else, it's a chance to listen to Frank.

Speaking of skiing- is there interest in a family ski-outing?

Tiger Tamer

On Friday Mark and my Dad played in Calvin's annual Tiger Tamer Game....the dads played the 8th graders. The dads won...but it was still a pretty intense game. Mark and my dad both scored a few points too! (sorry about the white haired head in the picture....I couldn't crop it out)

Keelan's visit to Florida