Reflecting on God's Promises in the New Year

We ended our 2007 in a very meaningful way today. It featured time to reflect on our lives, God's grace and those we love. It held some of the best worship we've had all year. It was also filled with generous and hospitable friends.

My good friend, Jetta, lost her dad on Christmas Eve to a sudden heart attack and yesterday we drove South to attend the funeral. Though there were tears, the goodbye was really more of a celebration of God's faithfulness. The funeral's 1000 some attendees singing their hearts out and sharing stories were testimony to the number of lives one man touched.

And since Jetta's hometown is now our other good friends Phil and Teri's home, we spent the night with them. They treated us to a great dinner, a late night conversation, a new game and some babysitting while we went to the church this morning. As you can see, Ella loved every minute she spent playing with Beth, Allie and Nathan.

So, nothing too fancy in this blog to close out the year. Just a reminder, like we had today, that God's grace is the greatest gift and to live a disciplined life of faith is not just our call, it's our way to leave a legacy.

Happy Birthday, Dave!

Today we celebrated my awesome husband and his 31 years of life. We worked to make his day special, since he makes our lives so special. I've always admired how Dave seems to be naturally great at everything he attempts. However, I've recently figured out that this is not so much by chance, as it is by hard work. He is so dedicated to his job and his family. I love that he knows everything about the girls-- from Ella's favorite lunch (which he often fixes) to the best-loved stories to how to hold Delia the right way to make her stop fussing. He has a perfect relationship with his girls. And the time he gives to them often comes in place of time he could be spending on himself and his own relaxation. It makes me love him so much as a husband. (He treats me pretty nice too, but I don't have time to get into all that...)

Today we appreciated some of the simpler things in our celebrating: Ella singing "Happy Birthday" to Dave 100 times, the enthusiasm with which she delivered his pile of presents to him in bed this morning, homemade and decorated snowflake cupcakes, the sign and song our nephews shared through the webcam, a fun dinner out and a long roam around the Target to pick out a present with Mom and Dad's gift card (Dave decided on the first season of Heroes on DVD and an air popper for popcorn). It's beginning to sound redundant, and I apologize, but my favorite thing in the world is good family time together and today we got plenty of it!

Two Wonderful Things-- Friends and Cookies

Last night we had dinner with Jeff, Amy and Jonathan. The kids loved making cookies together...

Posing for a picture before the baking begins...

Sharing the roller and getting ready to press out the the little Christmas shapes...

5 minutes is so long to wait when there are delicious cookies to eat!

Decorating cookies is exhausting, time for rest.

To see more of the fun, click here and here.

Biker Chick

"I'm Pushing the Bell. Yay!"

We took Ella to the church this afternoon to try out her new bike. She loves it! We were again impressed with how quickly she picked it up with no instruction. She was easily able to handle going backward and forward, turning, etc.

P.S. - While it still doesn't really feel like Christmas without any snow, it is neat that we are able to go outdoors on Christmas day and try out all our new toys.

Merry Christmas!

"I bring you GOOD NEWS of GREAT JOY that will be for all the people. TODAY in the town of David a Savior has been born to you. HE IS CHRIST THE LORD!"

Wishing you great joy as you celebrate the good news of Christ the Lord's birth,

Dave, Jen, Ella and Delia

Old and New: VMs Mix up Tradition on Christmas Eve

Tonight we had a fantastic Christmas Eve. Following in the tradition of Dave's childhood, we opened the presents tonight. This was the first Christmas that Ella kinda "got it" and seeing her wonder and excitement over each new gift was magical. We opened presents for over 2 hours because, one, there were so many (thanks family!) and, two, after unwrapping each one, Ella would say "Can we open this? Can we play with this?" If it was a book, we read it. If it was a game, we played it. If it was train tracks, we built them. If was a puzzle we put it together. It was like the best play time ever!

This year's hot gift: a bike from Grandpa and Grandma

Other faves were the Little People sets and a magnetic dress up doll toy. Delia's fave was the green bow on one gift. Dave liked his swanky new watch and I was happy to get a set of 3 cordless phones and caller ID.

Delia needed a little mid-present opening nap (hey, it's a lot of work!).

Ella also got the movie "Jungle Book." Here they are watching it and enjoying some much needed quiet time after the wild gift-unwrapping frenzy!




Part of Dave's Christmas Eve tradition is to go out for a nice dinner with his family. Nice dinners in restaurants are not so nice with 2 little ones, though, so we started our own tradition: fun dinner at home. Tonight we made fondue and homemade waffle cones/bowls with peppermint ice cream (getting some use out of the new waffle iron until I get my stroopwafel making lesson!)

The 2 very best parts of the night surprised me. They weren't the presents or the delicious dinner. It was the chorus of "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" that all 10 of our family members in Chicago serenaded us with via speakerphone. It was also the hour of impromptu cuddling that occurred in front of the fire in our jammies (we traditionally burn our previous year's Christmas tree on this night). We let the girls stay up late as we sang Christmas songs together and concluded our great Christmas Eve with some love.

Christmas Then and Now

Delia 2007

Ella 2005

We Cheated

It must be in our genes. Heather and I share a similar weakness: inpatience when it comes to opening presents. I remember sneakily unwrapping then re-wrapping presents with her when we were little. There is just something about a present that we cannot resist! Now that we are adults and have control over when we celebrate things like birthdays and Christmases, we find ourselves always doing them early. Tonight, Heather had a good reason to do Christmas. Her present to Dan was Lion's tickets and the game is tomorrow.

We, on the other hand, just gave into present temptation! I used this excuse on Dave, "Every day another package arrives in the mail. We don't even have room under our tree anymore. I am concerned that Ella is going to be overwhelmed with presents and not appreciate them as much." It worked. So tonight, we did a little Christmas preview (with just Dan and Heather's gifts) and it was fun! Ella got a play dish/tea set, a Little People minivan with mom and baby and a Calvin shirt. Delia got a very cute green dress and a bear that says prayers. Dave got a cool sound system to dock his IPod in and I got the #1 thing I was most excited to get this year-- a stoopwafel iron!

Thanks Dan and Heather! And don't worry, there are still plenty of presents to unwrap in a few days!

Delia models her dress and I model my new favorite Dutch cookie maker.

Go Calvin!

Ella feeds Delia some tea with a spoon. She played tea party all night!

Happy Birthday, Jesus!

Today my friend, Jamie, planned a very creative party. It was a birthday party for Jesus! Since all us parents are working so hard to get our kids to understand this most-important part of Christmas, a birthday party was a wonderfully concrete way for the little ones to experience it. She made and decorated a cake for Jesus and we all sang "Happy Birthday to You!" She had all the kids sit story-hour style while she read the Christmas story and we even made a craft. Ella also came home with a goody bag-- a tiny nativity with all the characters to play with. I appreciate Jamie's thoughtful plans and smile at Ella's constant questioning "Where's Jesus?"

Ha! Where Did She Get this From?

"I am typing. I am looking at email on the computer."

Another First for Delia!

The soundtrack to this post is Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus" (sing it in your head as you read...) Last night for THE FIRST TIME IN FIVE MONTHS!! Delia slept all the way through the night. But of course, I was too paranoid and uncomfortable to actually enjoy this 10 hour stretch of sleep! :)

From Hay Bales to High Style!

Last weekend we rode around the neighborhood looking at lights and caroling on a trailer stacked with hay. Tonight we did the same thing, only we cruised in a white stretch limo! A very nice lady from our church throws an annual Christmas party at her house. Besides providing great food, festive decorations and a couple bonfires, she also rents a limo to drive her guests around viewing her town's lights. And she lives in one of those areas where EVERYONE goes crazy decorating. There is even one block called "Christmas Tree Lane." It was so fun to ride with our friends Sara and Arend and laugh about how much business some people give PG&E. Our favorite was the house whose flashing lights coordinated with loud, rockin' Christmas music they pumped through outdoor speakers!

Delia's had a lot of firsts in the past few weeks (first trip on an airplane, first time meeting Aunties, first bowl of rice cereal...) but this was her first limo ride.

It took Ella no time to get into "Rock Star" mode. She was hanging out the open window waving to all the pedestrians and exclaiming over each new light display we saw.

Though we aren't enjoying the beauty of the fresh snow all our family members just got in the Midwest, it is kind of fun to attend all these outdoor Christmas parties and not freeze our booties off. On Wednesday night, Dave held his annual for the youth group (another bonfire and Capture the Flag...). At that one, and tonight's, Ella made a new discovery: the trampoline! In Ella's world jumping is the new swinging. She even thanked God for it tonight! (Here she jumps with a church friend, Nikki.)

Happy Birthday, Jonathan!

Today we celebrated Ella's buddy Jonathan's 3rd birthday. We had a playgroup at their house with all Ella's favorite friends: Jared, Helia, Annelies and the twins. It was a laid back time of visiting for the moms and playing for the kids.

Delia and Cora are adorable little buddies too! It's so fun to lay them down together to play. They look at and reach out to touch each other. Cora is a great smiler for the camera, Delia is doing one of her "crunches."

Amy made these super cool car cupcakes that the kids could decorate with frosting and sprinkles. As us adults were upstairs talking, the kids decided on their own it was cupcake time downstairs!

As you can see, Ella really liked the "mud" (brown frosting) that her car was decorated with.

And here is Ella helping Jonathan open the "Things that GO!" book we found for him. Jonathan is a vehicle lover and we knew this book would be perfect.

A fun morning...Happy Birthday, Jonathan!

2007: A VERY Good Year In Review

Hello Family and Friends,

In February we ventured into the new world of blogging and have found the regular writing and posting of pictures to be a huge blessing. Blogging is not only a great way to stay connected to our family and allow them to watch our girls grow up, it helps me reflect on and review the events of our lives and my joys of motherhood. We appreciate all our readers and the comments you write, email and tell us about how you enjoy reading the blog. Since we gave you the abridged version of a Christmas letter, I thought I'd do a blog post recapping some of the highlights of our year. I'll link previous posts to the descriptions, just click on the colored letters to be brought back to that page (or skip that for a quicker read!) It's not quite the end of the year yet, but I'll post this early...it may take you the rest of the year to read it! :)

Obviously, the most significant change in our lives this year was the arrival of our second daughter, Delia Kristen. She came only a week late, but it felt like (and was written like) it was much longer. We were blessed with a quick and healthy labor and delivery and have loved becoming a family of 4 every day since her birth.

Delia brought not only joy into our lives, but also many visitors! Dave's parents were out for a few weeks, my sister, Heather and her husband Dan were out for a while and my friend/cousin Anna even came for a long weekend. While I was still pregnant, we loved having both my college roommates visit with their little ones.

And we did much traveling ourselves. We took trips down south to see good friends and college roommates again. One of the best parts of our year was a trip back to the Midwest to spend time with Dan and Heather and Thanksgiving with Dave's whole family. This was the first time many of them got to meet Delia.

Our jobs kept both Dave and I busy this year, also-- too busy for me, in fact. In the spring I decided to switch jobs-- from part-time teacher to full-time mom. This has been a good decision and I love every part of my new job almost every day. Dave's ministry at church has held many of the same responsibilities: fundraisers, leading youth group, retreats, lock-ins, meetings, Evangelism/Activities events, teaching, preaching, committee leading, etc. His job really consumes all our lives, but in a good way. Once again, we received overwhelming encouragement and generosity from the members of our congregation, from meals, visits and gifts when Delia was born, to hand-me-down toys to 100+ pounds of beef to huge loads of firewood.

If we are not careful, we could let our whole lives be filled with church service and activities. Dave's job is never truly done and he could just work forever. We've also loved spending time together, just our immediate family this year. We took an awesome vacation to the coast over spring break. We've been intentional about doing lots of day trips to get away and enjoy each other and creation. Our family activities included things like hiking, apple picking, food festivals, pumpkin farms, mini golf and ball games. These fun times have bonded and recharged us.

We've had some amazing opportunities to celebrate, also. Ella turned two and our marriage turned 8. Our holidays (Valentine's Day, Easter, Mother's Day, Fourth of July, Halloween...) were packed thoughtful gestures, friends, family and festive ways to party.

So, as you can read it's been an incredible year. Once again God has been so good. These are just the events of our 2007, I could write another whole letter on the love I have for my family and the little every day wonders: Ella's unique understanding of things and sense of humor or the way Delia can't just smile at you, she has to wiggle her whole body in happy shudders or the way my husband sees when I need a break and jumps in with some wonderfully creative way to make me happy.

"Go...to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you." If you are new to our blog, check back regularly for updates on our adventures. If you've been a loyal visitor, read on. We hope to continue to inspire you with stories, pictures and descriptions of how much the Lord has done for us!

Love, Dave, Jen, Ella and Delia

"It's Party Time!"

On Monday night our GEMS girls club came to our house carolling, much to Ella's delight. When members of our church go carolling, they do not just wander around the neighborhood on foot, they are driven around by one our dairymen on a long truck bed stacked with hay bales. Since witnessing this magnificent feat of open-air riding and singing, Ella has been running to the window every day looking for the carolers and asking when she gets to do it. So, tonight at our all-church Christmas party, it was finally her turn. She has been counting down and made me laugh when she woke up from her nap yelling, "I'm awake, it's party time!" While the attendance was low this year, the good times were still in abundance. We enjoyed the pot-luck of appetizers and sweets. We all had a good time fellowshipping with our friends-- especially Ella. And the hay ride was absolutely the highlight (though the stocking stitching craft, scavenger hunt game and bonfire were pretty fun too)!

A Family of Trolls

...Well, except for me, of course. I proudly attended Calvin. However, I must admit that when it comes to PR, Dave's Alma Mater, Trinity Christian College, does win. When we place our kids' birth announcements in the alumni magazine, they mail us these adorable and personalized bibs. The recent arrival of Delia's Troll Tot bib inspired a little walk down Troll memory lane. Do you remember how Dave was the very first Troll? When Trinity bought the Troll uniform, Dave was appointed the college's first mascot!

Even with all the dance routines he did with the cheerleaders, public appearances and goofball skits, this is, unfortunately, the best picture we have of Dave as the Troll! At least it's appropriately festive, with Santa and all...

Check out this link to learn more about the Troll Mascot: http://sports.espn.go.com/travel/news/story?id=3224604

Christmas Lumberjacks

It's officially Christmas here in the VM household. Today we picked out, cut down and decorated this year's perfect pine. It was a gorgeous "winter" California day-- sunglasses a must with our sweaters and hats! Besides the rule about not touching any part of the tree or its decorations nor the tempting presents underneath it, Ella had a good time participating in this tradition...from the tree-wrap tarp that also makes a great fort to the cheerleader pose while positioning the angel.

Our Little 16 Pounder

After spending the past 10 days in her family's adoring and snugly arms, Delia was welcomed back home with 3 shots in the legs, a bunch of poking and prodding and many questions about her development. Today she had her 4 month doctor visit. She weighed in at 16 lbs, 2 ounces (lighter than I thought!) and is almost 26 inches long. Both these measurements keep her in the 90th percentile. She is developing perfectly (the above pictures even show her demonstrating one of her milestones-- flipping from front to back, and acting quite pleased about it!). She is also recovering well from her shots.

"Bef Frens"

I'll leave you with one last image of our incredible trip home this Thanksgiving. When our airport ride asked what the best part was, both Dave and I immediately answered, "Family time!" (Ella said, "Grandma!") It was so good to soak in all that quality time with those we love most. We adored seeing Ella get to know her cousins. We had a blast with siblings and parents on all our little outings. We have been blessed with family members who are truly our best friends and the time we get to spend together is valuable beyond just words...and worth a bumpy flight. :)

Ground!

I've been on some bad flights. There was the time we got caught in the wake of the plane in front of us waiting to land, I thought we were going to fall into Lake Michigan. Then there was the infamous time we had flames shoot out the engine right outside my window (this is the flight that scared Kristen off planes for good!). There was the flight where medical personal was paged while we were in the air-- thought an emergency landing was next. And there was the time the pilot called for all the flight attendants to take their seats and buckle up immediately. It is no wonder I am a nervous flier.

But, I have never had a flight so bumpy that applause broke out when we landed-- like we had this morning. Today we flew through turbulence so bad it inspired these type of comments from Ella: "The plane is going to spill us!" or "The plane is going to fly on its belly!" or "I am going to be SO brave." I white-knuckled my infant, praying for an hour straight, while a woman behind me had a panic attack.

Of course, we landed shaken, but safe. This flight's bumps were not the only thing that made it miserable, though. We waited on the plane forever before taking off and then flew against a strong head wind (a full 5 hours of plane we got to enjoy today). Ella was cranky and antsy and testing every boundary. None of our tricks worked to keep her from crying. After sleeping just a few hours the night before, she only slept for the last 20 minutes of the ride. I would recommend the red-eye to anyone since that flight was a piece of cake compared to this one!

All Aboard for a Last Night of Fun

Before leaving bright and early this morning (5:15 am!) we spent one last night with our family. We went to the ultimate kid's restaurant: a choo-choo themed hamburger diner called the All Aboard Cafe. To Ella's amazement her grilled cheese was served to her on a train! While we waited for our order to come chugging out of the kitchen, we enjoyed watching the many model train displays, riding the little train and listening to the restaurant's soundtrack-- one train song after the next. And we even got little train whistles to take home as souvenirs. It was a very fun thing to do before the inevitably sad goodbyes.

Lions and Tigers and Bears (Oh My!)

...and penguins and dolphins and rhinos and gorillas and giraffes and elephants and hippos and alligators...

Today we took our kids to the best zoo in the world, the one Dave and I grew up going to on a regular basis, the one that formed and ruined our view of zoos since we've never been able to find another one that is nearly as awesome. And because we chose to go on a cold, overcast, school day we had the entire place to ourselves!

This tiger was so cool. He paced back and forth growling.

The dolphin show was the best we've ever seen. We were practically the only ones in the audience so they invited us down to view the dolphins in the pool up close and showed us special "husbandry" tricks that they do with them. We laughed about how our insane enthusiasm and clapping and cheering was equivalent to a 500 person audience! (Click on this picture to make it big and check out the dolphin jumping in the background!)

In a special children's interactive exhibit, we could dress up like animals as we viewed the animals!

The VM family and a bear.

PU! The pachyderm house is stinky, as our hilarious nephews demonstrate. (This is how they walked through all the houses!)

My favorite, the giraffes

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This was a very lovable penguin, he kept swimming right up the glass and giving Ella kisses.