More Pictures

I decided to post some more pictures of the hotel.
Heather

Hotel Pictures

I know it is a little late but I decided to post some pictures from the hotel. It was a really fun weekend and nice to see a lot of family there. Thanks a lot for taking us Grandpa and Grandma.
Heather

Playing Volleyball in the Pool

Zoe Having Fun Swimming

Playing Volleyball in the Pool

Deacon in his 'Crib' (he looks pretty comfortable)

Zoe with Goggle

When Grandma posted she mentioned that Zoe kept us entertained during the gift exchange. Here is a video of Zoe during the gift exchange. Almost everytime after someone opened their present, sometimes before they were done opening it, Zoe would ask "Who's next." Then she would chose a present for them or they would tell her what one to bring them and she would usually help them unwrap it. Then after unwraping it she would ask "Who's next" again and do the same thing.

Many many thanks

Thanks to our kids, grandkids and great grandkids for coming to Sioux Center and making our Christmas gathering such a fun time.I know it takes some planing and some effort on your part to get it all worked out but thankful so many could make it.It was nice to see first timers John and Julie there too.Thanks for coming. It was so fun to see everyone having a blast in the pool together and also playing lots of fun games.I know Dad appreciated the guys playing rook with him as well. Zoe -----thanks for entertaining us while doing the gift exchange. You are such a sweet heart!!!!! Thanks to all of you for the cards, pictures and gifts given to us--they are very much appreciated but above all we want to thank each and every one of you for your LOVE and KINDNESS shown to us in this past year.May GOD grant all of you a Merry Christmas and a blessed and healthy New Year. Love Dad and Mom , grandpa and grandma and great grandpa and grandma Vander Woude.

testing no.1

V W CHRISTMAS

I am really excited for tonight. I am sure this weekend will be a lot of fun. I don't have any pictures today but I am sure I will have a lot of pictures to post after the hotel. I can't wait to see everyone. Shane, Jody, and Erin, wish you were coming.
Heather

ONLY 1 DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

Heather

ONLY 2 DAYS

2005

Heather

ONLY 3 DAYS

Heather
P.S. I added another picture and the year to my previous post and I do not know what year this video is from

Erin's Baptism Weekend

What a wonderful weekend we had with Erin being baptized! What a blessing! The dress Erin wore is the same one Jody was baptized in!

Erin's Baptism Pictures

ONLY 4 DAYS

2006

Heather

ONLY 5 DAYS

Heather

Thanksgiving weekend pics!

Soooo thankful that Grandpa and Grandma made the drive to meet Erin! It was really fun to see them! Erin loved them :)

LOVE this pic of Grandpa and Erin :) They both actually looked kinda comfortable and Erin fell fast asleep!

Thanksgiving!!!

Hi everyone,

We had a GREAT Thanksgiving! Jody, Shane, Erin, Scott, Jana and John were all able to be here for Thanksgiving Day so that was AWESOME! Den's parents and Loren, Darlene and Colton also joined us for Thanksgiving Day Dinner here. Then on Sunday the folks came, so that was nice too! Jody and Erin stayed an extra week and boy was that ever fun!!! My arms feel so empty without little Erin and it's way to quiet around here after everyone left. We miss them all.

We had our family "Christmas" at Thanksgiving since Jody will be working Christmas Day. We are looking forward to the Vander Woude Christmas at the hotel in just a couple of weeks!!! I think we might actually be coming back to Chandler the weekend of Christmas as well.

This weekend we are off to Milwaukee for Erin's baptism. Praying for good weather. I can't believe how nice the weather was for everyone's travels here and back over Thanksgiving! We had 11 days of beautiful weather. The day we brought Jody and Erin half way back to meet Shane we drove in rain the whole time, but the temperature was in the 40's so it worked out fine. Actually we need the moisture, so it was great. They said if it had been colder and snowed instead of rained we would have had over 10 inches.....so very thankful it was warm!

Take care,
Arla

That Time of Year Again

I am getting really excited for Christmas and the hotel. I can't wait to see many of the relatives and hopefully play some volleyball in the pool. I decided to post some pictures from the hotel last year.

Heather

FYI: Dordt JV BB Games
For anyone who is interested, the home Dordt JV BB games are on the webcast. Just log on to their website like you do for any of their other sports and you can watch the JV BB as well. Travis has played in both games so far, not a lot but has played. He plays at home Monday night and in Worthington Tuesday night (that's home for us:) and in Sioux City Thursday night. So he has a busy week of basketball this week. Take care everone!
Sharla & family

new pics of Erin :)

Hi everyone! I sometimes put pics on facebook but I know that not everyone has facebook so I thought i'd put some pics on the blog too :)Scott came to visit this weekend! So fun! Erin loved meeting her uncle :)

Loving bathtime :) This isn't always the case....

Erin's 1st outing to a restaurant. We went to breakfast on a pancake house on Saturday morning. She did great- slept the whole time.

test

I'm back and ready to blog......

I have been away from the family blog for awhile but I AM BACK! My computer bit the dust and I had to get a new one, plus my camera broke so I had to get it sent away to get fixed. Luckily the camera was still under warranty :)

I have been able to take some pictures of Deidra, Jana and Heather but didn't have a computer to post them at that time. So now it is time to play catch up.

However, I am going to start with the soccer pictures I took at the grade school tournament in Worthington on Saturday. They played 3 games and WON the CHAMPIONSHIP. Heather and Jeremy both played excellent and had numerous goals. The team played very well together and consisted of approximately 5 boys and 7 girls. I am not sure of the exact number maybe Heather can comment exactly what is right with that number. Obviously, they really didn't have the luxory to sub in and out much :) , they played schools with more kids and who fielded teams with more boys then girls and they still won. It was fun to watch, I went right away in the morning but Scott had to work but he was able to make it to the championship game and watch his cousins play ball.

Tough defensive pictures of Jeremy and Heather

THE SHOOT OUT FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME WIN ------

well at the end of the game it was tied 0-0, so they played an extra 3 or 5 minutes and it was still 0-0 so it went to a shoot out. Jeremy was playing on the field for the 3 games that day but when it came to the shoot out he was put in as goalie. He gave it all he had but the first two shots went in and we fell behind 2-0 as the opposing team als0 blocked our kicks.

However, then the excitement hit a fever pitch as he blocked the next shot, and we made out kick so it was now 2-1. The next shot he again blocked and our kicker made their goal so it was tied 2-2. Then Worthington had their last kick to try and put them back in the lead and Jeremy blocked it yet again so we were sitll tied 2-2 with one Chandler person to kick. So if you haven't figured it out by now, Jeremy was the final kicker. If he missed, we were still tied and would go into a double shoot out but if he made it we won the championship game - and he made the game winning goal.

GETTING READY FOR THE FINAL KICK

HIS REACTION

GOLD MEDAL WINNERS...

Nice job Heather and Jeremy

So that is the pictures from yesterday - I will update the other ones throught out the week. Deidra plays in Sioux Falls on Tuesday so looking forward to be able to watch her play again.

Jody and Danielle - thanks for keeping us posted with the pictures of Zoe and Erin it is much appreciated from all of us who don't get to see them very often. I know you are all extremely busy so I wanted to say thanks.

Vonda

Wonderful 12 days!

Hello everyone.

Wow...have I had a wonderful last 12 days! I got to spend ten days with Jody, Shane and Erin in Milwaukee. Those will be 10 days I will always cherish. It was a special time for me with Jody as she began her special journey of being a mom and also so fun to be able to hold Erin and help Jody with food and house work. The older I get the more amazed I am at the miracle of childbirth and of a new born baby.

It was hard leaving Jody, Shane and Erin Friday morning, so it was really nice to leave from there and head right to Sioux Falls to see Scott. I met Den in Sioux Falls and we spent Friday night with Scott ordering out for pizza and also playing Flash Uno with Vonda and Jeremy. It was a fun night. Drove to Sioux Center Friday night arriving there at about 10:30.

Saturday morning we went out for a late breakfast with Jana and John and then Saturday late afternoon us and John met Scott in Rock Rapids for Pizza while Jana had her volleyball team meal. Saw Jana win their volleyball game Saturday night and then had fun going out for ice cream with Jana, John, Leon, Sharla, Jeremy, Johns family and a few of Jana's friends.

Sunday morning to church and out for lunch with Jana, John and5 of her friends.

So a wonderful 12 days for me. Thankful to God for so many answered prayers on behalf of our children and grand child, Erin.

Hope all is well for everyone who reads this entry.

Arla