Family Christmas Continued

We have now completed all of our family Christmas parties! We celebrated on Christmas Day with Scott's mom and Hank at their house. We had a wonderful meal and hung out with the Zeeland and Denver aunts and uncles and cousins. We ended the day with a rousing game of Apples to Apples which is becoming a family tradition.

Grandma and the gang.

Katie and cousin Kiley.

Troy and cousin Grant with their matching Calvin jerseys.

Playing Apples to Apples.

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We then headed out to Canada to see Scott's dad and his wife, Judi. The kids were quite excited as they had not been to Canada in awhile. We got to stay in a hotel with a nice pool and waterslide. On Saturday evening Uncle George and Aunt Marg hosted 49 Elgersma relatives for another party. Can you say CRAZY?!

Dad passing out his chocolate letters to all the cousins.

Kamryn and Uncle Fred hit it off just great. Here he is singing to her.
Heidi leading the gift exchange.

Checking out Uncle George's cows.

Dad and Judi at the hotel.

After we crossed the border (finally) we took a much needed stop at my cousin Kathy's house. Jim and Kathy have a beautiful home right near the Canadian border and were wonderful hosts for our brief visit. Thanks again!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to everyone! We had a great Christmas Eve. After church we headed over to Boppa and Grandma R.'s house. It was nice to celebrate with them without having to travel very far.

Some group shots before opening gifts.

I think this means he likes his new indoor (basement) hockey set!

This is the crew on Christmas morning. We waited until the morning this year, since we don't have church on Christmas morning here.

We will spend the day today at mom and Hank's along with the Zeeland cousins and the Denver cousins. (We're very thankful they made it safely driving over the icy highways from Colorado!!) Tomorrow we will head out to Canada for a couple of days.

More Birthdays and Tidbits

Last night we celebrated Boppa and Kamryn's birthdays. We had dinner and then attempted to go to Meijer Gardens to see the Christmas lights. Unfortunately it was closed, so we headed out to Fifth Third Ballpark to drive through the lights display. We came back for dessert and presents.

Despite the dazed look on her face, Kamryn loves this new snow hat. She has been wearing it all day today-inside and out.

We had another rough day weatherwise. For those of you keeping track at home, we have recieved 50 inches of snow already in December! The average is 13!! Gotta love this state!

We were all kind of going stir crazy at dinner tonight. After we ate, the girls were fighting over who would read the devotions. Of course, Troy had to join in and was asking to read too. Kamryn pointed out to him that he didn't even know how to read. Troy's reply was, "Yes I do... I know mom and gum." There you go!

Kamryn's Birthday-Part 2

So, we woke to more blizzrd-like conditions this morning. Scott was supposed to preach at a church near the lakeshore, but could not travel in this weather. Almost all the churches in the area cancelled this morning. So, we braced ourselves for a long day inside. Kam got to open her presents first thing. She was delighted to open her much anticipated Ripstick. She could not ride it outside, but did find a good spot in the basement to ride it on the cement floor. The rest of the day included a nice meal at lunch, rest time, making clay ornaments, a bit of time outside removing snow from the driveway and sidewalks, and a game with dad. Hopefully the snow will clear and we will again be able to go out tomorrow!

Kamryn and her Oreo cake.

Kam and the Ripstick.

An afternoon activity-making clay ornaments.

Troy concentrating.

Our family in clay.

Kamryn ripping it up in the basement.


An evening game with dad.

Kamryn's Birthday Weekend

Today we began Kamryn's birthday celebration. (Her birthday is actually tomorrow.) This morning we had breakfast at Wolfgang's. The surprise for Kam was that Sharon, Emily and Sharon's parents were going to meet us there. Sharon and Kevin are special friends of our family from Visalia and Kamryn was the flower girl in their wedding a couple of years ago. We were so excited to see them and had a great breakfast together! Emily is such an easy going baby and didn't mind being passed around to all of us. She had lots of smiles for everyone. Of course we did miss Kevin, but Sharon called him during breakfast so he wouldn't feel left out!

Kamryn and Emily

Katie and Emily

Kamryn talking to Kevin on the phone.This afternoon Scott took Troy, Kamryn and her friend, J.P. to see the movie, "Bolt." Then we met for dinner at Applebee's.

Happy 9th Birthday, Kamryn!

Snow Day!

Today was forecast to be a nasty snowstorm and the forecast came true. When we woke this morning there was a pile of snow on the ground and more falling by the second. I think every school was cancelled (except for Calvin Seminary!). This was supposed to be the last day of school before Christmas vacation, but many teachers planned on it being a snow day already yesterday. So Scott trudged off to school for his one class this morning. When I looked outside again late morning, I noticed many cars stuck on our street. Scott decided he would still try to get home from Calvin in his little blue car and made it all the way to the bottom of our street. He got stuck and had to snowblow his way out. He got the car out and safely in the garage and then proceeded to snowblow his way through the neighborhood. Neighbors were so happy to see him they were offering him water and hot chocolate! He cleared several driveways and sidewalks and then finally made his way back home. He walked in the door after stripping off his snow encrusted clothing in the garage and proclaimed, "That was fun!"

A Night of Concerts

Tonight we found ourselves attending two concerts on the same evening. We started out at Troy's preschool and then ended the evening at the highschool for Katie's band concert. Here they are posed before the festivities.

Kamryn was not to be left out!

This is the whole adorable group of 3-5 year olds on stage. (Troy is on the far left back row little blond head sticking out behind boy with red vest.)Troy hid himself behind this boy the whole program. (You see his smiling face peeking out at me!)Here is Troy and his best bud Brandon after the show.

More of the group.

I have no idea who this little boy is, but Scott and I laughed at him the whole time because he got mad and pouted the whole program.

Then we move from Preschool to the band concert-the VERY LONG band concert! Katie plays the oboe and is actually first chair. Holding that position involves tuning the band before performances. She tuned very well and even remembered to take a breath this time!


Her highschool has a beautiful auditorium. Here is the stage area as they are setting up.

Fun times!