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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