Christmas Day in Zeeland

Later in the day on Christmas, we made our way to the Zeeland Elgersma's for more celebrating...

Katie and cousin, Kiley.

Troy thrilled with his Lego Star Wars game from Aunt Sarah.

The Elgersma "boys" presenting mom with her gift. They are laughing so hard because this is actually a yard sculpture that you stick corn cobs on to attract squirrels. Mom and Hank enjoy bird watching in their yard, so we thought this would be right up their alley. Then we found out Hank hates the squirrels and tries to shoot them! Hilarious. We'll have to hear the stories that come from this one.

Feeling quite proud of themselves.

Posing with their new yard sculpture.

Trying on Troy's new safety glasses that came with his new Nerf gun set. Lovely!

Christmas Morning

Christmas morning we relaxed, ate breakfast and opened presents as a family. (This is probably the last year of a leisurely Christmas morning!) Highlights were a Star Wars book for Troy (only problem is now WE have to read it to him!), Wii Resort for everyone, new slippers, jammies, etc. It was lots of fun just being together.

Group shot

Checking out the new photo books mom made.

The coveted Star Wars anthology

Snuggling in new down blankets from Grandpa and Judi.

Christmas Eve

We felt fortunate to be near family again this Christmas season. We divided our time between the two sides. On Christmas Eve we spent the evening at my parent's house. It was a nice time of listening to the Christmas story, eating a meal and opening presents. We weren't sure about attending an 11:00 pm service at a downtown church because of the icy weather. We ended up heading home about 9:30 and then after arriving home the girls and I decided we would make our way downtown for the service. It was a beautiful traditional candlelight service, which was worth our effort of getting there.

A successful timer shot.

us

Katie excited about her shirt from Aunt Nesha and Uncle Dan.

Kamryn loving her new boots.

Troy with new Calvin basketball gear.

Mom and Dad checking out their new photo book.

Studying the Star Wars legoes. Unfortunately this was one he already had!

Deciding which one to get as a replacement.

Sledding Time

We took advantage of the unusually sunny skies the other day to do some sledding. There is a great hill near us which we had tried out a couple of years ago. The kids and Scott had a great time flying down the hill. I, not wanting to impart any bodily harm on myself, decided I would be the event photographer. We lasted about one hour as it was still extremely cold and a bit windy. By noon these blue skies were again cloudy. Gotta love West Michigan!

Boppa's Birthday

On Tuesday we celebrated Boppa's birthday. He chose to go to the museum downtown and out for dinner. We had a fun time checking out the DeVinci exhibit and taking a ride on the carousel. We enjoyed dinner at their favorite Italian place and then went home for dessert.

Fikkerts Come to Visit

We were blessed to have Sharon and Emily, Visalia friends, come for a visit yesterday. We have been able to see them each year since we moved to MI around Kamryn's birthday when they come to visit family in Holland. Sharon moved out to CA to come teach for me after Kamryn was born so I could be home with her for awhile. Sharon and I taught together for several years and Kamryn was the flower girl in her wedding. Now we get to enjoy watching the Fikkert family grow with Emily and a new little one on the way.

Emily remembered where the toys were from her last visit.

Sharon challenged Troy to a Mario Kart match.

Kamryn Celebrates the Big 1-0!

We had a great time celebrating Kamryn's 10th birthday on Dec. 21st. She is good at making her wishes known and this year we gave in and let her have a slumber party. She got to open a couple of presents from us in the morning and we spent the rest of the day preparing for 6 of her friends to come over later that evening. We went to a local pizza place for dinner, opened presents, had cake, played the wii, made a craft, did nails, watched a movie, had popcorn, and finally got ready for bed! It was a great party and fun to get to know Kamryn's friends better. They are a sweet bunch! Here are the highlights...

Kam on the morning of her birthday.

She got a Jack Johnson CD!

Out for pizza.

The whole group.

Opening presents.

More presents.

Blowing out 10 candles.

Enjoying chocolate cake.

Katie's friend, Rachel, helping "do" nails.

Katie doing nails.

Preparing for bed!

Special Visitors

I've had a great birthday week. Two of my best friends from California flew out (through a blizzard no less!) to come wish me a happy birthday and experience life in Michigan for a few days. We've had great fun with Lori and Lisa and will be sad to see them leave Sunday. We have been hit by quite a big storm this week and so there has been lots of snow. They are adapting well to putting on all the heavy clothing, boots, etc. We did have some nice sunshine today and they were commenting on how much warmer it seemed. (I don't think it got out out of the low thirties all day!) We have enjoyed eating out, showing them around the city, attending the kids' basketball games, having dinner with some Michigan friends and going to Katie's band concert tonight. I continue to thank God for his blessing of wonderful friends and am thankful that even though many miles separate some of us, our friendship continues!

Dinner at Ada Grill with Michigan and California friends.

Birthday cake

Another dinner shot.

Troy had his last basketball game today.

Lori and Lisa cheered him on.

Kam goes up for a shot.

The three amigas outside the school.

Freezing for a photo op.

Lisa and Lori challenged the kids to a snowball fight.

I'm not sure who won. No one was badly injured, thankfully!

After pulling off wet coats and boots Lisa called in to the house, "Kristin, what do we do now?!"

We have missed three days of school due to all the snow. Hopefully we will be back on track next week!