a book and eggs

we were all looking forward to easter this year, diana and i were excited to get to spend this special holiday at our new church!  she and i got to go to the service and celebrate with the rest of the congregation.  it was especially fun for me because of the pastor's sermon.  a few weeks earlier i had met with him to chat and for us to get to know each other.  as a new member of the church it is something that the pastor likes to do, and for me, as a former bible teacher, i was really excited to talk with him a bit and see if there is anything i can help with at church to put my knowledge and skills to good use.  as a gift, i brought pastor dirk a copy of one of my favorite books: a scandalous beauty, by thomas schmidt.  its a collection of essays about christ and christianity.  i got the chance to talk with him about it and told him about some of the great essays that he should read.  well, turns out he did!  and then he based a series of sermons on the book too!  it was really cool to hear him reference the book during the sermon, 'as schmidt talks about in his book...'  i was thrilled that dirk not only enjoyed the book but was also inspired by it!  much of his lent series and easter sunday sermons were based on different essays in that book- so cool!
after the service we went and got ledger, who also had a blast in his sunday school- even making a neat craft for us to put as a centerpiece on the table during easter dinner.  he was very proud!
later that day he even got to have an easter egg hunt, finding himself candy and little toys too.  he was about as pleased as could be!  the next day he woke up wanting it to be easter again.  don't worry, son,  now that christ has risen every day is easter!
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the big oh three

its a very special day for our little guy- ledger turned three!  he had been eagerly anticipating his birthday all week!  he kept talking about how he wanted cake and balloons for his birthday- that way its a real birthday, he told us.  we certainly did not want to disappoint on his special day so i went and got balloons and other decorations and my mom got him a special cake.  the whole family came over for the special day.
this was an extra special birthday for ledger.  for the past several months we have been telling him that when he turns three there are a lot of changes in store for him.  we told him that when he turns three he becomes a big boy and has to stop using a binky when he goes to sleep, and we told him that when he turns three he is going to start using the potty.  both of these ideas were very exciting to him.  he wasn't quite as certain about the binky thing, but he was pretty excited about using the potty.
after he gave up his binkys, he was feeling like a real big boy- then we bowled him over with tons of gifts!  he didn't complain too much about that part, that's for sure!
we had a great time celebrating his birthday and that night he went to bed exhausted!  when he was put to bed, right before falling asleep, he asked 'can i have a birthday again tomorrow?'  nice try buddy...
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six years in

wow, how time flies!  its already our anniversary again- we have been married for six whole years already!  i remember when i was single i would hear of people who had been married for five or six years and it would seem like they had been together forever.  now, standing on the other side of it, six years is just the blink of an eye!  it feels like just yesterday i had that butterflies in my stomach and goosebumps on my neck feeling when i would see diana.  oh, wait, that was yesterday!  even though its been six years, i still get excited to see her and thrilled that she is going to be by my side forever!
to celebrate, i took her out somewhere a little bit fancy.  my mom was kind enough to watch ledger for us for the evening and the two of us headed downtown grand rapids to san chez.  a really cool little tapas restaurant.  i had never been there before, but diana had gone once before a few years back and had always wanted to go again.
unfortunately they didn't take reservations, so we got there and put our name in but had to wait about an hour to be seated.  fortunately there is a nice little bar attached to the place, so we had a seat in there while we waited.  when we were finally called in and seated, we had a really lovely dinner.  we got three or four plates of different foods and had a great time trying the various tapas.  it was a really cool place, but the best part of the night was just getting the chance to spend some time with my favorite girl in the entire world!  we got to talk and eat and laugh together.  we talked about life and how much it had changed in the past six years, we talked about important things and trivial things, and everything in between- we just talked, really, and it was wonderful!
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ledger's birthday in south bend

we headed down for our monthly visit to south bend, and since it was so close to ledger's birthday, we decided to celebrate with friends and family down there.  we invited a whole bunch of people over: sarah and vince with their kids, miranda and levi, and of course grandpa allen!  ledger was so thrilled about celebrating his birthday.  he's old enough now where he actually understands whats going on and knows that he's turning three!
in preparation for the party, we told him that he was going to have friends over to play and there would be presents for him.  he was really excited about all of it, but he made sure to ask if he was getting cake and if there would be balloons!  well, of course we will have them- its not a party if you don't have cake and balloons, right?
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liam's 3rd birthday

katie, liam, and garrett came to south bend to visit david and diana's mom for a week- sounds like the perfect time for us to go down and visit them too! its always a blast to get liam and ledger together- they have so much fun together!  we hadn't gotten to meet their newest baby yet, so we also got to spend some time with garrett too. since it was liam's birthday that week, we all took the opportunity to celebrate together!  we had a great time and they boys loved the chance to play together again.  ledger sure does love his cousins!
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ledger's art

ever since he was really little, ledger has loved to balance things on top of each other.  its kind of his own personal artistic expression- we call it balance art!  he's actually really good at it and so proud of himself when he gets a good one!  diana and i started taking pictures of the more impressive ones and now when he gets one he's especially pleased with, he asks us to take a picture!  i've been collecting them over on the image gallery page.  go and check them out here!

snowmans

it finally happened!  its been so cold out that ledger hasn't been able to go play in the snow for a week or two.  and when he has, the snow was too crunchy or powdery to do anything with.  well, after weeks of his constant asking about going out to make a snowman, the weather finally cooperated!  it didn't just get warm, it got really warm- i knew we only had an hour or two before most of the snow would actually melt!  which is, of course, the perfect conditions for packing snow!
so ledger asked, as he does every day, if he could go outside and make a snowman, fully expecting us to say the same thing we have said every day: 'no, its too cold', but i was able to totally surprise him and say 'yes!  lets go!'  that little boy's face light up as bright as the sun itself!  we got him dressed up in his snowsuit and and headed out.  i asked him if he wanted to make a big snowman and he got really excited.  so far this winter we have only been able to get snow packed enough for little snowmans (the plural of 'snowman' according to ledger is 'snowmans'...), but now we could get one as big as daddy!  he was absolutely thrilled!  after we built the three balls and stuck them together, he and i went on a hunt through the backyard to find a proper nose, mouth, eyes, and buttons.  for some reason, he never wants his snowmans to have arms though...  after we made the snowman we just played around in the snow.  we made snow angels, and he got to have his first snowball fight!  he didn't quite understand it at first- 'daddy, why are you throwing snow at me?'  but when i told him to throw some at me and i pretended to fall over when it hit me- then it all clicked into place for him.  his new favorite thing, by the way is now snowball fights...
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check out the library

since ledger doesn't have any brothers or sisters, and we don't have any friends in grand rapids with kids for ledger to play with, diana and i really want to make sure he gets some opportunities to be social with kids his own age.  one of the ways to do that, we soon discovered, is to get involved at the local library!  the kent county library has some amazing programs for kids of all ages, but especially for kids 2-5.  every tuesday they have a kids story time, and every wednesday they have some sort of event or craft time.  well, with diana going to watch penny a couple times a week, that works perfectly for me to take ledger to the library and give diana a little quite time with penny.
and let me tell you, ledger totally loves going to story time!  the first couple times we went he had a hard time adjusting to all the different kids that were there, he would get in their faces and just want to touch them and hug them!  he's not so good at understanding 'personal space' just yet...  when the librarian would read the books and show the pictures ledger would walk right up to her and start asking her about the story, standing in the way for all the rest of the kids!  it took a few times of me going up there and bringing him back to my seat for him to understand that he's not allowed to do that, but eventually he got better at it and now sits and listens while the stories are being read.  sure, he still gets a little too close to other kids when he talks to them, always reaching out to touch them, but i'm sure- well, i hope- that will get better soon too!
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bouncy birthday

sarah, one of diana's childhood friends, has a little boy who's about a year older than ledger.  from time to time we have had the opportunity to spend some time with them and let the two boys play- and they both love it!  well, when sarah and vince through a party for shawn, we got invited so of course we went!  especially considering the location of the birthday party: a place filled with bouncy houses!  we trekked down to south bend for the party, to see sarah and vince, and have a great time with the boys.  we got there just as things were revving up into high gear and all the kids headed into the bouncy house room.  let me tell ya, this place was super cool!  it had birthday party rooms for kids, which all lead to the gigantic room in the back which was filled with half a dozen bouncys to have a blast on!  ledger was completely overwhelmed- there was just too much awesome in one place!  he proceeded to spend the next two hours running around from bouncy to bouncy, going down slides, throwing foam balls, we ran back to the room to get some cake and cookies, then back to the slides!  it was so much fun and so exhausting all at once!
we had such a great time- and what a fun party to celebrate shawn's birthday!
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day out with daddy

diana is such a great mom and a hard worker.  she spends every waking moment with ledger, taking care of him, teaching him, feeding him, and everything else that a stay-at-home mom has to deal with!  this can be especially challenging considering the fact that we only have one car so when i'm at work she is stuck at the house with him!  she cant even go out with him to try and get that energy out!  poor girl...
well, from time to time i am able to give her some relief, i take him out for a couple house, just us guys, so she can relax and put her feet up- maybe even take a well deserved nap!
well, today was just such a day.  i scooped up ledger and told him we were going out.  i didn't tell him where, i just told him its going to be a special 'daddy and little boy' day.  he was very excited and wanted to know where we were going.  i, of course, didn't tell him- that would ruin the surprise!  we headed out in the car, leaving diana to somehow manage without us (which i'm sure was a real struggle...).  for our special time together, i took him to every child's favorite place: toys'r'us!  oh man, if you could have seen his eyes light up when we first walked through those doors!  it was amazing!  i didn't even make him sit in the cart- he could just run free- and did he ever! he went up and down the aisles telling me how he wanted this and that (i'm pretty sure he wanted everything), slowing down only to wait for me to catch up!  i told him he could get one thing- and only one thing.  after excitedly exploring for a good half hour, pointing at everything on each shelf saying 'look at that daddy!', he finally settled on one toy to get.  he picked a stuffed eve robot from the movie wall-e (remember, he is currently obsessed with robots...).   we bought it and left the store.  he was absolutely glowing from the fun of toys'r'us!  the fun wasn't over though, we still had more!  we stopped at krispy kreme and had a donut, and then even went and got a haircut.  he was absolutely thrilled by the whole day together!  we sure did have a great time!  and when we got home diana was pleased to have us both back and refreshed and recharged after a little time to herself!
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balentimes

its valentines day, so i wanted to make diana feel extra special (i try to make her feel special every day, not just on the manufactured holiday), so ledger and i worked together to do it right!  i picked up flowers and some chocolates the night before after work so she would see them first thing when she woke up.  she was thrilled, but we had a little more planned for her...  i got up with ledger and we let her sleep in a little bit.  while she slept, ledge and i got busy making a mess in the kitchen!  together we made her some special valentines brownies so she would wake up to a delicious smell through out the house.  ledger was so pleased to be able to make the brownies with me and exclaimed when diana woke up 'mama! mama!  happy balentimes day- i made you a treat!'  he then proceeded to maul her with hugs and kisses!  she was very excited and pleased with her special day.  mission accomplished!
ledger also got some special valentines gifts too, he got a card in the mail from mema and papa with a robot on it (which was perfect- he's obsessed with robots right now!)  it even talked!  when he would open the card it would give a message- in a robot voice, of course- about how he is loved.  he opened and closed it to hear that message about a thousand times throughout the day!  it was actually to the point there he could recite the whole message in a robot voice without even opening the card...  he also got a card in the mail from his grandpa allen!  it folded out into a big card with stickers and everything!  he loved all of it so much that at the end of the day he asked 'can it be balentimes day tomorrow again?'
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pennysitting

i was talking with jon the other day about life as a father, penny is a month or two old now, so he's right in the thick of that whole no sleep thing!  he was telling me that his wife is going to have to go back to work soon and they are struggling to find someone to watch penny.  well, i brought it up to diana and she got really excited- she said that she would love to help them out and watch penny for them on the days she works!  jon and his wife were thrilled with the offer and took us up on it- so now we have the opportunity to see penny a couple times a week!  diana is excited to spend some time with a baby again (we aren't planning on having another child of our own, so she can get the baby times out of her system!) and we get to help out a friend- win/win!
in preparation for watching penny regularly, we stopped over for a couple hours one saturday.  jon and his wife were instructed to have a couple hours together- just the two of them!- and we would spend some time with penny and give ledger the chance to get used to the situation.  it went really well, the two of them came home refreshed, and we had a great time with penny.  i'm pretty sure this is going to work great!

background to the fore

i have had the same phone background and lock screen since i first got a smart phone that could have those things.  most people have fun designs or family photos.  me?  mine is a picture of a stargate.  figures, huh?  well, recently my wife got a hold of my phone and thought it would be fun to change the background when i wasn't paying attention.  she found one of the pictures in my photo album and cropped it to fit.  then she put my phone back and played it cool like nothing ever happened...
next time i pick up my phone and unlock it i was welcomed by this photo- wow!  when i saw it it took me a moment to get my bearings!  looking at the picture in a different context helped to remind me just how arrestingly beautiful my wife is.  it took my breath away for a minute!  and this is who i get to spend the rest of my wife with!
a running joke with us is that whenever she go anywhere and she accidentally forgets to put her wedding ring on i tell her that i'm worried she will get hit on by all the guys wherever we go.  after looking at her with new eyes after this picture- maybe its not so much of a joke... i better keep her close!  hands off, guys- she's mine!  all mine...

cabin: hangin'

to say we have fun up at the cabin is an understatement- there's a reason we have been doing this for so many years!  of course we did all the usual things we do up there: we went to sporty's for dinner, we came back to the cabin and took a walk, played games, had our fantastic candle light talks; but the best part of the whole thing is having the opportunity to get together again as friends and just catch up.  we had some great conversations, some really fun adventures, and we had a blast just being together.  as long as we can use this cabin, i'm sure we will keep this tradition going for many many years to come!
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cabin: inventin'

the cabin that we stay in is far enough off the beaten path that it actually is too far away from civilization to be on the power grid.  that means that if we want electricity we have to use a generator.  thought the cabin has all the modern amenities that one would expect from a 21st century dwelling, its only available when the generator is turned on.  all of this 'off the grid' stuff adds up to the fact that even though the cabin has indoor plumbing and bathroom facilities, we don't actually bother to turn them on when we go up there.  it would involve turning on the water pump and clearing out the pipes before we leave so they don't freeze.  well, that's clearly too much work.  so we have never, in all our years going up there, actually used the water or water heater.  as one could imagine, this makes the bathroom unusable.  well, when jon and jeffry lee came back from the dollar store, they declared that they had figured out a solution to our problem- jon bought a chair that he then modified to take care of the bathroom problem.  he's a regular thomas edison, that one!  we were all so impressed with his genius idea, not yet understanding how tragic things would soon turn.
i'm sure you are wondering if it worked.  well, the answer is a bit more complicated than that...
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cabin: shootin'

one of the traditions at the cabin is bringing up some guns to shoot stuff.  we don't go hunting or anything, we just like to shoot cans and any other random items we can find!  it really is a lot of fun!  in years past i have brought my dad's gun, but i didn't this year.  usually rex brings one, or keith when he would come with us, but neither of them were here this year.  that meant that it fell to jeffry lee and jon to bring the firearms (which, by the way, jon bought because he had so much fun shooting the first year he came!) well, after lunch it was decided that we should go out and use the guns.  as you can see, jon is all geared up for shootin' time.  we went out a couple times during the day to shoot some stuff.  at one point in the day jeffry lee and jon drove in to town and stopped at the dollar store so that jon could buy a few items to use as targets- and boy did we have fun destroying his stuff!
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off to the cabin!

gather the troops- its cabin time once again!  my bestest friends in the whole world and i have an annual tradition: head up to baldwin, michigan for a night together at the cabin!  we've been doing this for so long that i honestly can't remember the first time we did it.  this is either or 12th or 13th trip up there...
it was a bit later this year than usual (now that i have a different job i dont get two weeks off for the holidays, so we had to wait for a time that i could get off), but its always better late than never, huh?  most of the usual suspects were able to attend.  rex had work stuff so he couldn't go, adam was back in california so he was out.  but there were still five of us who were ready to party- cabin style.  in order to get the most of our one night away, we met up bright and early.  we gathered at aaron's around 9:00am and were on the road soon after.  jon drove his truck and dusty took his car, the rest of us split up and found seats where ever we could.  since we were so early we decided not to do our usual trip to the bk in big rapids, instead jon brought some sloppy joes for us to have for lunch when we got up there.
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puzzling

puzzles had never been ledger's thing.  he never quite understood them.  he would play with the pieces a little bit but not really figure out that they were supposed to go together to make a picture.  well, one morning i was playing downstairs in the toy room with him and he was getting a bit bored with the rest of his toys.  i figured i'd give it another shot, so i grabbed one of the puzzles he has and asked him if he wanted to put it together. he said sure, and we were off!  i pulled up a chair next to the toy box, dumped out all the pieces, and he started to put some of them together.  maybe he is finally dexterous enough, or maybe he just now understands what they are all about, but what ever it was, he was all about that puzzle!  i would hand him a piece and he would pretty quickly figure out where it went.  before we knew it the puzzle was solved and all put together.  he immediately wanted to put it away and start another one!  i think we solved all of them at least once, and a couple of them we even put together a second time!
oh, my little boy is growin' up!

birthday drink

every sunday jill, tim, and the kids come over for dinner with the family.  well, this sunday was a special one- we got together to celebrate ave's birthday!  we wanted to make it a little something special, so ledger and i headed out to the dollar store and picked up some fun decorations for the special event.  we got a fun birthday sign, some fancy plates and napkins, a table centerpiece, and a special birthday cup just for the special girl!  the night before i even whipped up some birthday brownies to have with ice cream for the festivities.
when they got here she was so pleased that we made  the extra effort to celebrate her!  her favorite part was definitely the special cup.  she got to take it home and jill says she uses it every chance she can!
happy birthday, little one!
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playin' in the snow

with all the snow that had been falling, ledger always asks to go out and play in it!  since the temperature has been in the teens or lower, we have to keep telling him 'no'.  but with a break in the cold, we finally relented and i took him outside to do some exploring in the winter wonderland!
the thing that he has been wanting to do ever since the snow fell was make a snowman.  he is absolutely obsessed with snowmen (thanks, 'frozen'!)  he kept talking about how he wants to go out and make an olaf!  well, even though the snow was not very good for packing, we were able to make ourselves a little snowman.  mema and mama found a little carrot for the nose and something to use for the eyes, so ledge was pleased as ever to have his very own 'olaf' in the back yard (no matter how small he might be...).
after we made the snowman we trekked out into the front yard and then across the street to the park to have some fun in the snow!  it was a fantastic time, and it was fantastically cold by the end of it!
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one last gift

diana's dad came to the christmas party, but he left ledger's gift at home!  oops!  well, we couldnt exactly leave town with a gift ungiven could we?  after all the fun at her mom's, we headed over to spend a little time with just ledger's grandpa!  its always a good time stopping by his place because we get to spend some time with our dear ol' dog- poco!  he is doing very well, he totally loves it there (and i know for a fact that her dad loves having him just as much!).  after spending a little time with our old stinky dog, ledger got curious about the package on the table- 'is that for me?'  yup, it sure is.  having now gotten the hang of the whole unwrapping thing, he was digging into the gift in no time!  when he got it all unwrapped he was greeted by some fantastic dinosaurs!  he was so thrilled by the gift that he played with them for days and days afterward!  he loves to try and say the names of the dinos, but usually ends up getting them adorably wrong...

south bend christmas

ledger was having so much fun with the whole christmas thing that he didn't want it to be over just yet!  well, it just so happens that its not!  we packed our bags and headed down to south bend for a christmas celebration with her family!  you know what that means- more presents for ledger to open!
there was quite a large group of family and friends to get together and celebrate: diana's mom and david, barbara and james, diana's dad, grandma, alanna and tavish, and even miranda and levi stopped by to join us.  one thing that i always love about her family is that its sort of a free for all- all are welcome and there's no fuss to be made.  its so cozy and comfortable!
all morning ledger and tavish kept asking about when we would get to open the gifts.  as each visitor arrived the question was desperately asked again 'can we open them now?!?'  'not yet boys!'.  they actually did really well with being patient and keeping their hands off the gifts until it was time.  they each got to open one right away, and then they had to wait for the rest until after we had lunch.  finally it was gift giving time and everyone had a blast!  ledger made out pretty well for himself!  i'm sure he will have fun with all these toys for months to come!
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after dinner

chad and miyuki brought her family back to the hotel, but werent exactly wanting to call it a night just yet.  tim, jill, diana, and i all made plans with them to head downtown and hang out for a while longer before they left town.  we planned to meet up at hopcats, but there was a big event doing on at the van andel arena that had just let out, so the place was swamped- over an hour to get a table!  we put our name in anyway and wandered around to find a different place that might not be as crowded.  after three attempts at other places, which were just as crowded, we went back to hopcats- and our name was just being called to be seated!  what luck!  we spend the rest of the night talking, catching up, and laughing together- three siblings, three spouses, and a lot of fun!

a sort of reception

after the photos were taken we headed back home to change into some more comfortable clothes.  then we all met up for a really nice dinner together to celebrate.  we went to firerock grille, and it was fantastic!  i had never been there before and was really impressed with the great food.  we spend an hour or so just hanging out and having a great time with miyuki's family as we got to feast on the delicious cuisine.  it was all chad and miyuki's treat- a sort of wedding reception that they never got to have!
it was the last time all of us were going to be together, so it was also a little bittersweet as well.  the next day chad, miyuki, and her family were all going back to chad's.  her family stuck around visiting with them for another week, but it was our last chance to spend time with them.  the whole visit was a lot of fun and it was awesome to get the chance to meet my new sister-in-law's family!

say cheese!

with chad and miyuki visiting, its the first time since they got married that the whole family has been together.  mom wanted to take advantage of this by getting some professional family photos done.  it worked out perfectly too because miyuki wanted to have some wedding style photos of her, chad, and both families!  with her family in town for christmas, my mom scheduled a sitting to get a whole bunch of photos of everyone and everything.  miyuki even had a wedding dress and chad had a nice suit so they could get some really great shots.  the whole thing was a lot of fun, the cousins had a lot of fun playing around and striking poses!  each of the families got the chance to get a portrait, and we had some great pictures of all the guys, of all the girls, and a whole bunch of different combinations of kids/grandkids/grandparents.  we all look forward to seeing the final product and getting some prints to display of our happy- now bigger- family.
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gifts galore!

after dinner the real fun began!  it was time to open prizes!  ledger was really excited to open gifts (as were the rest of the kids), so he was on his best behavior!  my parents always go overboard on the gift giving, and this year was no exception- they had tons of great prizes for ledger!  we could have stopped half way through and it still would have been more than enough toys for our boy!
fortunately he wasn't the only one being spoiled- there were tons of gifts for everyone!  the rest of the kids got some great gifts that they had been hoping for, and even miyuki's family got some fun gifts to remind them of this great trip over here in michigan!  finally, after about three hours of gift opening, all the prizes were given and everyone was exhausted.  it was a great time and some great memories were made!
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christmas dinner

usually we have our christmas celebration at my mom and papa's house, but this year was a little different.  with chad, miyuki, and her family visiting us, there just wasn't enough room in the house for everyone to be in the same room.  so instead we had our celebration in jill's basement!  its a huge room, so it worked perfectly!  since we were staying there we got the opportunity to help out a little bit.  jill put in so much work getting the place ready for the festivities (tim too- he actually repainted the room in preparation for the event!),  we were just glad we could help out a little bit.
with the table set (which looked amazing, by the way), we were excited to have everyone come and enjoy the meal.  it went really well.  initially mom and jill thought that maybe they could make something japanese for miyuki's family to enjoy, but they had told us that they really wanted to experience an american christmas and even the food that went with it.  so mom and jill made ham, potatoes, and all the fixin's!  it was so delicious- and miyuki's family agreed!  after dinner we made our way over to the couches and had a great time hanging out and opening gifts.  it was really an amazing day, and we were so glad to share it with chad's extended family!
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stayin' with my sis

with chad, miyuki, and her family visiting and staying with my parents, we got to stay with jill's family for a few days.  diana went down to visit her parents for part of the week, but i had to stay because i needed to work.  when diana and ledger headed back up it was a lot of fun spending time with the kids and getting the opportunity to play with them all day long.  ledger was thrilled beyond belief to get to stay with them and play with all their 'big kid' toys!
we were so thankful to have a chance to stay with them, and hopefully we didn't put them out too much!
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candy crafts

while i was staying with jill's family she  decided to do a little cleaning.  she wanted to clear out the pantry and get rid of the stuff that had been lurking in the back for who knows how long!  well, it turned out that a lot of the stuff that had been pushed to the back over time was actually candy!  instead of throwing it out we decided use them and make some crafts.  we grabbed the bag of old crunchy marshmallows, toothpicks, and any cast off treats that we could find to make ourselves some snowmen!
(don't worry, none of the candy was actually thrown away- i brought it to work and put it in the break room... where it lasted about 15 minutes before the whole gigantic bag was empty!)
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goodbye, craig

ah, the end of an era.  i've always loved late night talk shows.  i remember when i was in high school i would set the vcr every night to record letterman so i could watch it the next day (it was on way too late for me to actually stay up, so this was what i devised so i could still watch it!).  i had one tape specifically set aside so i could keep up on the fun.  after high school i got out of the habit of watching late night, but when craig ferguson took over the late late show, i decided to give it another try- and i was hooked!  that crazy scott was so funny that i wanted to watch every episode he made!  thankfully i didn't have to set the vcr and set up a tape every night anymore because i now had this wonderful invention called tivo!  i never missed an episode!  i became obsessed, to be honest.  i even went so far as to create a whole new blog where i would summarize every episode and highlight some of his best jokes from each monologue.  i did this every day for almost six years!  (by the way, you can check it out here!)  i had such a great time seeing what he though of the days events and enjoying his amazing interviews with different celebrities.  he had some great bits and jokes that i just loved!  i even got one of those great rattlesnake mugs that he would always use!
unfortunately, like all things, his time comes to an end.  since we moved from griffith we haven't had a dvr, so i hadn't been able to see every episode for the last year or so of his run, but i made sure to make time to watch his last week.  it was great to spend just a little more time with him and his crazy show- he will be greatly missed!

introducing: penny!

it finally happened!  one of my friends had a baby!  all the guys here in grand rapids that i hang out with regularly are still either single or newly married.  we were the only ones with a kid.  but now jon and allison have joined the ranks of parents!  when they sent news that she was born, jeffry lee and i made plans to go up to the hospital and visit them.  we stopped by to pick up shane, jon's brother, as well.  the three of us stopped in on the beaming father and exhausted mother to celebrate with them the birth of their first child Penny.  and wow is she a cutie!  we all got a chance to hold her for a little while (she was fast asleep almost the whole time), and hear about the whirlwind of events that happened leading up to her birth.  having gone through the process myself, i love to hear about other people's experiences and stories.
welcome to the world, penny.  i look forward to spending more time with you and watching your parents grow!  don't worry, you are in goods hands!
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building a house

oh but wait, we weren't done with craft time just yet!  i had gotten a gingerbread house kit from the store and thought that it would be the perfect activity to do with the girls.  i was right!  we cracked it open and had a grand time decorating the different pieces and trying to get the whole thing to stick together.  it was a messy ordeal, but so much fun!  we will have to do this again next year, that's for sure!
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afternoon crafts

sometimes when jill has to work she drops the girls off at mema's house.  well, now that we live at mema's house, that means that we get to spend time with them too!  jaidey and aves are a ton of fun- ledger just totally loves spending time with them.  the three of them spend the whole afternoon drawing, doing crafts, and just being generally very silly!
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big jackson 12

now that we live in grand rapids, there are some perks to being so close to my family.  one of the benefits is that we can spend more time with my nieces and nephew!  with jackson's birthday at the beginning of december, i was able for the first time, to spend some time with him and treat him to a fun birthday event!  we decided to go and see big hero 6 together.  since i work second shift, we were able to go to the first showing of the day (and jack got to skip out on school for a while to do it- i don't think he minded too much...).  we met up at the theater in the mall, his mom and sisters went shopping with diana for a couple hours while we got to have a little guy time!  we had a blast too, what was really awesome was that there was no one else at the screening- you would almost think that i had bought out the place just so we could have it to ourselves or something!  with no one else there, it allowed us to have even more fun- we could talk and be totally silly together and not have to worry about bothering anyone else!
its really cool to be able to finally do some of the 'uncle' stuff i've always wanted to!

the new job

all right, well here it is- the day i start my new job!  they asked me to come in nice and early for orientation.  i got there, ready to go at 8am.  the day was filled with welcomes, introductions, a tour, and all kinds of paperwork!  it was really cool to see what the place is all about and check out the factory floor.  i'm not entirely sure what i've gotten myself into, but it will certainly be an adventure!

thanksgiving move

our last weekend in south bend was thanksgiving.  fitting, considering how thankful we were for all that diana's mom and david had done for us the past year, and thankful for the big changes that were in store!  we actually spend thanksgiving driving back and fourth to grand rapids moving our stuff and sunday we had our big feast with her family.  it was a great time and a nice send off to our new home and our new life.  we have a ton of great memories of our time in south bend- most of them involve the people at the table.  we truly have so much to be thankful for!

key change

with so much changing there is one other thing that is changing too: we are getting rid of our car.  now, this one isnt exactly by choice though...  with all the miles ive been putting on it over the past year and a half (about 180 per day), its no wonder that it started to show some wear.  unfortunately its showing a lot of wear!  it had been struggling for the past couple weeks, and finally the poor thing just gave out.  i brought it in to the shop and the guy told me that i aught to just throw in the towel, it would cost much more to fix it than the thing was actually worth.  he said something about it being warped (sorry, i'm not a car guy at all...), and he told me that the whole frame was rusted out really bad- he actually asked if it had ever been in a flood!  not that i know of, but it makes me think that maybe this car had a pretty sorted history that the car lot i bought it from never told me about...  we sold it to a junkyard and they were going to pick it up the same day as my last day of school.
anyway, the sign that made all of these changes very real to me was, of all things, my key chain!  in one day my key chain went from being very full and a heavy weight in my pocket, to being almost empty.  that will take some getting used to!

goodbye teaching

after the decision had been made to leave my job, i let my boss and my coworkers know.  they were disappointed but understood.  now, for most people thats all they have to worry about, but its a little different for teaching- i had to break it to all of my students that i was leaving!  to put it mildly, they were a bit unhappy with the news...
as their bible teacher, i was able to explain it using a bible story: abraham, the first patriarch of the faith, had been called by God to leave his home and go (this was a story that all the kids had been familiar with because i taught it to them at the beginning of sixth grade).  God didn't tell him where he was going, just that he needed to pack up and begin his journey.  abraham did it, he didn't know where God was leading him, but he took it on faith and headed out.  i let the kids know that God had called my family to do the same.  we don't know where this journey will end up, we just know that it's time to pack up and go.  though there were a lot of questions, confusion, and some anger from the students, i think they understood that this is what God is calling me to do.  (and you know what?  this is the first time in years that i actually do feel God calling me to do something.  i guess thats a pretty good sign that i'm on the right path, huh?)
i will miss many of them, but i'm looking forward to what happens next!
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change

so, we've made a few big decisions recently...  that's actually a bit of an understatement.  we've made some huge life altering decisions lately.  there, that sounds more accurate.
we have been living in south bend with diana's mom and david for almost a year and a half now.  it has been really great, they have been so welcoming and generous, changing their life to include us.  it has been a lifesaver for diana, getting some much needed help with ledger and getting the chance to be close to friends and family again.  it has been great.  except that it hasn't.  though there has been some fantastic benefits to living here, there have also been some major challenges.  the biggest being that even though we live in south bend, i still work in highland.  this means that i drive an hour and a half each way to work everyday.  that commute has been very draining- draining on me, on the car, and on our bank account!  there were other things as well, but i'm not going to go into too much detail about everything.  i'll just say that we found ourselves in a situation where we both felt that we needed a change.  diana doubled her efforts in trying to figure out what God's will was for us, and with the help and council of friends and family, we saw some different options that were being presented to us.  God was opening some very different doors for us.  we made some options, talked them over, and decided to make some big changes.  the biggest one for me was the decision to leave my job.  to leave teaching.  it was a tough choice, but to be honest, it was the part of my life i was the least happy with.  i loved my family life, my marriage was as strong as ever, but i was restless and unhappy at work.  i would arrive in the morning exhausted and i would leave each day even more exhausted.  i was drained physically, emotionally, and spiritually.  i was frustrated and unfulfilled.  it was time to be done.  it was a hard choice, but i feel it was the right one.
the other big change for us was the decision to move to grand rapids.  we loved our time in south bend, but it just felt like it wasn't where we were supposed to be.  it felt like our time there was filled with challenges, with God closing door after door for us.  it really felt like God was telling us that we were not supposed to stay there!  this decision was especially hard because diana's mom and david had been so welcoming and supportive of us living with them and making our life there.  but i know it's not where God wanted us to end up.
so, with a new job and a new city to call home, we start over once again.  we're not entirely sure what will happen, but we do know that there's a plan for us and we are following where God is taking us!

rockstar

a few of diana's friends had made plans to go out for a shared birthday celebration and invited us to join them.  we asked, and james and barbara was more than willing- eager even- to take ledger for the night so we could go out.  we brought him over to their house to drop him off, and ledge was thrilled about the opportunity to spend the night with his auntie!  we got there and the first thing ledger wanted to do was play with james' drums (can't blame him there, its fun to hit stuff!).  james had it all set up from the last band practice, so ledger ran over and started rockin' out!  james turned on the microphone for him too, which ledger was thrilled with!  he hopped on the chair and say into the mic '1, 2, 3, 4!' and then proceeded to bang around on the drums like a true rockstar!
after a rousing concert from our little one man band, we headed back up stairs, got him a bite to eat, and got him ready for bed.  we got to hang out with barbara and james for a little bit, then we said our goodbyes, and were off!  unfortunately the friends actually cancelled earlier in the day, but that just meant diana and i got to go out for a night on the town just the two of us!  thanks barbara and james- it was much needed!
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ledger's first snowman

as we finally get our first major snowfall of the season, so begins ledger's all consuming obsession with snowmen...
every time there was even a little snow falling he has been wanting to get out there and make a snowman.  the reality of going out and making one was always going to be pretty bleak for poor ol' ledge:  his mama hates the cold and would flatly refuse to go out in the snow with him, and his daddy was always at work during peek outside time (also known as 'daylight'...).
well, finally the weekend arrived, so saturday morning as he was eating his banana for breakfast i whispered in his ear those words immortalized by the 'frozen' soundtrack: 'do you want to build a snowman?'  his eyes lit up and he was giddy with excitement!  he jumped off the couch, leaving behind his favorite cartoon, and ran for the coat closet.  after the twenty minute process of bundling him up, he waddled to the back door and we went outside to play and explore in the snow!  he wasn't exactly sure how to build a snowman, but that didn't stop him!  after a couple detours of snow angels and running around like 'a fast little gingerbread boy', we got to work crafting his very first snowman.  the snow was good for packing, so i showed him how to make the three big snowballs to put together to make a snowman.  after we got the body, he wanted to go exploring to find some eyes, nose, and arms for his new snowy friend. after we rooted around in the bushes for just the right arms, we picked up some rocks for eyes and another little twig for a makeshift nose (he wanted a carrot, but we were fresh out...), we assembled the snowman, which we decided should be named 'stan'.  he was so proud of that little snowman!  even after we went back inside, for the rest of the day he kept wanting to look out the window and point and wave to his new buddy stan!
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steely james

barbara has been dating james for a while now and he is a really cool guy.  so cool, in fact, he is actually in a band!  diana and i had never seen him perform though, so when he invited us to a gig recently, we were all for it!  in fact, diana's mom and david were even up for going!  miranda was nice enough to stop by and watch our boy for us so all four of us could go to see the show.
i had never been to the bar that they performed at, but it was a pretty cool place.  it was in a basement, but was actually pretty large and nice.  we got there a bit before the show so we could pester james for a while, you know, try and get him nervous and riled up.  it didn't work.  once they started playing it was great to hear james in action.  he is the lead singer and keyboardist for the band.  the band is called 'babylon sneakers', they are actually a cover band dedicated to the music of steely dan, which is james' favorite band.  i was at a disadvantage with this though, you see, i don't actually know any steely dan music.  so as far as i knew, they could have written all the songs themselves and i would have been quite impressed!  as the night went on there were actually a couple songs that sounded familiar, so it wasn't all unknown  i guess.  it was a lot of fun, at one point the girls even got up and did some dancing and rocking out!  barbara was loving the whole thing, being a great groupie girlfriend.
i hope we will get to see them perform again soon!
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pirate adventures

it had been a long week and the weather wasn't the best, we had all been cooped up for way too long and ledger was getting antsy.  diana was exhausted from a full morning with his running around, so i wanted to give her a break.  i bundled him up and the two of us went outside for a little while.  we had gotten him a pumpkin for halloween (blue, of course?), so he grabbed that and brought it outside with us.  well, i put him to work right away picking up all the pine cones and gathering them all into his pumpkin.  he loved having a chore to do, something he was responsible for.  i helped him spot all of them and by the end his pumpkin was overflowing with pine cones!  we wandered around the whole house a time or two exploring and playing around.  his game of choice was pirates- i would be 'captain daddy' and he was 'first mate ledger'.  we were on a search for treasure!  my favorite part was that we came across the pile of brush that i had cleared out over the summer and he pulled out a stick from the pile and decided it was it was mr. stick- he was going to join us on our adventure.  the rest of the time he would consult with mr. stick and ask him where we should go next!  mr stick, by the way, was really impressed with our collection of pine cones.
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my beauty

so, every once in a while it just hit me. its like my eyes are opened up a bit bigger for just a moment and i get a glimpse of the bigger picture, of the whole thing.  a realization of the special in the mundane.  it happened recently.  i was just hanging out and enjoying the company of my wife and friends, and then it just hit me like a ton of bricks:  my wife is beautiful.  not just pretty, but gorgeous!  she is a stunning woman who i somehow conned into marrying me.  how did this happen?!?  i'm just a poor overweight shlub who watches movies, how did i win the favor of such an angelic beauty?  when she gives me that look and flashes me her secret smile that's just for me- my heart skips and my mind stammers.  i feel like i stole something valuable and i'm still waiting to be caught.  how did i get away with this?
now, don't get me wrong, my wife isn't just beautiful on the outside, she is an amazing woman with strong convictions, a vast intellect, a deep heart, and an abiding faith.  she is not so much my equal, but my better in so many ways.  this i know.  this i an able to appreciate and understand every day.  but i sometimes forget that she is also the most beautiful thing in all of creation!  i get used to it because i see her everyday, so it takes those special flashes, those momentary revelations, for me to remember 'oh yeah, she is a stunningly perfect beauty!'
i could continue to ask 'how did i get this lucky?'  but instead i will just say 'thank you'.

wake up!

that little boy of ours sure is cute!  recently i was getting him up from his nap and i open the door to this!  that little alfalfa hair, big brown(ish) eyes, a cute smile on his face under his binky, and a little wave 'hi daddy, i waking up now.'  yes you are son, yes you are.
let me take this opportunity to remind you that there are dozens more great photos of this little munchkin that you can enjoy over in the image gallery.  there are some special gems to check out in the 'random ledge' posts as well- check them out here:
random ledge.
enjoy!

have her cake and eat it too

its moms birthday in a couple days, so we planned to get together on sunday to celebrate it while ledger and i would be in town to join in on the festivities.  jill invited everyone over for dinner for the special event- she even made her a cake!  diana was sorry that she missed it, but we were all glad that ledger and i got to be there for it.  jill made a tasty meal for us, and then we got to sing 'happy birthday' and play around for a while at their house.  we had a lot of fun, but soon afterward the boy and i had to head back home once again.
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wormy balloon!

mom had to do some shopping including a visit to the dollar store for a balloon.  she has a friend at work with a birthday and wanted to bring in a gift and stuff for her.  ledger and i tagged along, but as soon as he saw the balloons he was obsessed!  the whole time we were there he kept running around asking if he could touch the balloons.  finally his mema relented and actually bought an extra balloon for him to bring home and play with.  spoiled rotten, i tell ya!  he picked the one that had little figures that looked like smiling worms?  i have no idea what they were supposed to be... he got it home and was playing with it in the living room but got quickly annoyed with the fact that it would float all the way up to the ceiling.  the string was long enough for him to reach, but he would still get mad at it.  'daddy, make it come down.  i don't want my wormy balloon all the way up there!'  he would tug on it, it would come down then float back up.  'no!'  poor guy, those wormies are never going to listen to you...
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back again

i know it seems like we were just up visiting but that's only because we just were.  no, its been a couple weeks since our last visit, its just that not much has happened since last time!  this time, though, its just the guys.  diana had the opportunity to go and visit lissa and help her out for a little while, so i told her to go and ledge and i will head north just the two of us.  she felt bad about not coming along, but i insisted.  she gets to visit my family so much more often than she gets to visit lissa.  i took friday off, so we headed up a bit earlier in the day so we could enjoy the whole afternoon up in grand rapids.  ledger was a-ok with that!  after taking a nap in the car, he was thrilled to see his mema... and her toys!  he pulled out a constructor set and wanted to play with them.  jackson had build a car out of them and so ledger had fun playing with that for a bit, but then he found the instruction booklet and it showed a picture of how to make a robot- oh, he was all about that!  'daddy, can i make a robot?' he asked excitedly.  well, they are a bit complicated for him, so i had him help me build it instead.  the hardest part of building it was finding all the scattered pieces it needed!  eventually we got it all put together and he loved it!  he played with that thing for hours, showing it to mema, then showing it to me, then even showing it off to the dog!
we had a very nice rest of the weekend, including a great much-needed discussion with time and jill about the future.  i think there may be some big changes coming soon...
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see the game, eh

every once in a while we get a random call from miranda and levi to do something.  its usually pretty standard stuff like 'hey, lets meet for dinner', or levi will ask 'can i come over and hang out for a while before work?' (his work is only about two miles from us and his house is about 15, so if he's in the area and has to kill an hour before work, its the easier alternative).  but this time when they called it was a bit more interesting: 'hey, do you want to go see a hockey game?'  um, ok!  i haven't seen a hockey game in forever and it sounded like something fun and different, so we said 'sure!'.  it was a notre dame game in town, so we met up with them there.  we got in and the seats were actually really good.  we were only about two rows up and right near the goal.  we had a great view, close enough to see their faces as they played and everything!  i know i'm not a big sports fan or anything, but its different watching it in person than on tv, its actually fun and interesting when you're there.  the game was great and we had a good time even just walking around the arena and checking everything out.  we were probably a bit under dressed though, not that we needed to dress up more, we just should have put on more layers- that place was cold!  who would have thought a building with an ice rink would be cold?  i know, it blew our minds too.  the game did go on a little bit longer than it needed to, after about the second period our interest had waned...  but still, it was a really evening and a great way to spend some time with friends!
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family time

after church on sunday tim, jill, and the kids came over for the last grill out of the season.  the weather was so unexpectedly warm that we had to take advantage!  as tim took care of the grill, the rest of us were outside playing in the driveway and yard.  we know there won't be too many more of these nice days, so we made sure to enjoy it while we could.  when the kids left ledger took a little nap... and so did we!  when all of us were back up and going we brought ledger over to jill and tims.  he had been asking all day if he could go over to their house- they had such great toys, after all!  eventually though, it was time to go, not just to leave jills, but to head back home to indiana.
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