Reunion at Lake Doniphan

Our annual Vander Werf reunion was held at Lake Doniphan in Excelsior Springs, MO which is just East of Kansas City. It's always a fast weekend but one that we've tried to make a priority. We've been to 7 out of the last 9 reunions. This is Tony's mom's family... her mother and her 6 children and all their families. Not everyone can make it but those that do have a great time. No one lives in this area but it's a great place to get together!

We are about 11 hours away but the Colorado family is about 16 hours away! Some of the grandchildren had been to school only for 1-2 days before taking a few days off to come to the reunion.

Here are just a few of the snapshots taken. We enjoyed fishing, swimming, the usual talent show that gives the kids the spot light to be goofy. We enjoyed the Dutch version of "Who wants to be a guild-anaire"... (I know I didn't spell that right!). We also enjoyed watching slide shows of photos that family submitted to let us see a glimpse into their last year.

Tony's Beppe (the Dutch word for grandma) is 95 years old so every time we see her it is extra special. She is such a sweet lady with a heavy Dutch accent. The kids enjoy the wisdom that comes from her. She's always filled with compliments and kisses. So SWEET!

Quinn, Great Beppe and Madison

The bread in the picture collage is significant because this is Tony's Pakka's (grandpa's) recipe. It is for Koeke (koo-ka) which is a Frisian honey cake that he developed. This is a staple at all the Vander Werf get-togethers. Our kids really like it. Quinn even counted out all of these pieces... I guess to see if there would be enough to go around for him to have seconds! Great Beppe lives in Kansas, in her own home still. Each Wednesday evening she hosts "Coffee" at 5:30 for the Kansas families (2 daughters, their families and grandchildren). She has done this for over 30 years now! As Allison (Tony's cousin) put it... "We just know not to plan anything on Wednesday nights until after 7pm." I think that is such a neat tradition.

Well, I have LOTS to get done today so I really need to get off the computer. I got smart several years ago and starting taking the Monday off after the reunion. The kids have dentist appointments today as well as soccer practices this evening. I need to start unpacking and get the laundry started.

Love to all, Leah

PS... I added a few pictures onto previous posts so scroll down if you want to see them. Our kids saw both of their great-grandmothers this last week. I think that is an awesome treat!

Silver Beach

Today was our last summer Friday to spend together at home before school starts. Next Friday we'll be on the road to the Vander Werf reunion. We decided to go to Silver Beach today. It's in St. Joseph, MI and is such a beautiful beach with a long pier and lighthouse. We didn't get there until 2:30 because I HAD to get some things done at home first... like bake 2 loaves of banana bread, do 5 loads of laundry, the kids had to clean/vacuum the van, start packing for a week long trip... you get the idea. We stayed for 3 fast hours and then came home again. We invited Beppe & Pakka to go with us so that was fun. It was a beautiful summer day in the mid 80's and little humidity.

The kids and I leave tomorrow afternoon for Iowa and we have a busy day before that... 2 soccer games and the Rollpak summer picnic. Poor Tony has to stay behind and work until next Friday. I feel bad for him but am thankful that he encourages us to at least have some fun without him and doesn't has a problem with us running off... like to Iowa or somewhere! : ) He is a hard working guy who gives up a lot for his family... and yet is always there when it really counts. I'm very thankful for a husband with perseverance like him.

I'm not done packing yet so I need to get off the computer and get something else done. Here are a few pictures for you from today.


Madison is bringing water up to her trench to fill it up... only to have it quickly disappear.


I buried Madison in the sand. Quinn tempted the seagulls with laying bread on her stomach. They were sooo curious but not brave enough to come that close. Look at all of them watching.


Quinn dives into Lake Michigan like a fish. : )


Quinn spent 1/2 his time trying to catch a seagull with this net. It was amusing to watch his different tactics.

Camping Pictures from Sat/Sun

OK, OK, OK... my friends gave me a hard time about taking this picture instead of stopping it from happening! Now, if I really thought there was going to be a problem don't you think Miss Safety would have intervened?? This is how the story went... Matt poured on the lighter fluid which looked like a rather generous amount to me. A few moments later Chad reached down to light the wood with a flame-thrower. Now, I thought that he was going to light a piece of paper or something and throw it on the wood... thus the reason I, Snap Happy, had my camera ready, just in case there was a picture worth taking. I didn't realize he was going to reach his handsome face over into the soon to be fiery inferno! Not to worry... after a few checks of the eyebrows and hair, we all decided that he had come out on the other side just fine.

Here are the blueberry pancakes I made for breakfast Sunday morning. Our $5 camp stove works pretty good!


Quinn charged me 25 cents to take this picture of him performing this death-defying feat again... so I could get a picture. Aren't you all impressed? (He's saving for a Nintendo DS).

Here's a classic camping picture... Madison playing her new Nintendo-DS while trying to look like she's camping. Actually we told her she had to find something "camp-y" to do so she did put it away.

(Keep scrolling down to see some rodeo pictures)

Baby Birds

Madison is pet sitting for Heather's family this week, until Sunday. They live 2 doors down from us. She is going over 3 times a day to let their dog out and is feeding/watering the ferret and turtle. She is also watering flowers. She is a busy girl! I think she is enjoying it and tonight our neighbor across the street (Nater's mom) called and asked if she would dog and cat sit from Wed - Sunday this week. Looks like she'll be making the rounds... just like a nurse, checking in on her patients, going from house to house. Tonight she asked me to come over to Heather's because when she was watering some flowers she noticed this bird's nest filled with baby birds. They are so little! ... They even look a little damp yet. You'll probably have to double click on the picture. Of course may be they were sweating their feather's off because it's 95 degrees outside! I'm glad she didn't accidentally water their nest.

Madison spent her morning at a Dutch Soccer Camp, from 9-noon. She has been looking forward to it all summer. It's Mon-Thursday of this week. She had a good time but said it was just soooo hot! The coaches are either from Holland or have played in Holland or somehow have a Dutch connection. They are here just to hold this soccer camp. Don & Isy are actually hosting one of the coaches... hoping that he would be a Dutchman. It turns out that he is very American, from Michigan and went to Olivet with me!!! He graduated the same year. I pulled out my yearbook but couldn't place him. He was a PE major and played soccer so I don't think our paths crossed much. John & Evelyn also were interested in keeping a "Dutch" coach and I'm so relieved that their coach is actually from the Netherlands. They wanted to talk about the "old country" with them. Ha!

Tonight Madison had her last all-star practice. They only practiced for 1 hour. I'm glad because it is too HOT! Tomorrow starts the first game of the run of 5 games between Tuesday and Sunday. It will be busy! She enjoys softball and she chose to play but soccer is certainly her first love. I told her to expect a fair amount of time on the bench during the all-star games. She is and she's fine with that. She loves to be busy all the time!... it's too busy for me.

Well, I best be moving along. Hope you had a good Monday.

Love, Leah

(Sorry, blogger has decided not to allow any lines between the paragraphs tonight!)

Potawatomi Zoo

Today Michelle, Jade, Madison, Quinn and I went to the Potawatami Zoo. It was a beautiful day in the low 80's and surprisingly the zoo was not very busy. It was fun to show Jade all the animals. I always enjoy zoos a lot myself. : )

This afternoon/evening Madison had softball practice and then we went to B & P's for supper. Tony met us there and then he went to Victory Construction to work for a few hours. He is still there now.

Speaking of Victory...Ed V. (Tony's cousin's (Eileen) husband)had a bad accident on a wave runner on the 4th of July. He and Jacob took a bad fall while on their first trip out on the lake. He had some pretty severe left sided abdominal and rib pain. To make a long story short, he lacerated his spleen and spent the last 2 nights in the hospital. The latest treatment for spleen injuries is not to do surgery if they can get the internal bleeding to stop. His bleeding stablized and he was discharged this evening. He has strict NO ACTIVITY orders...to allow the spleen to heal. So, for those of you that know Ed... those orders will be quite Difficult to follow! SO, please pray for him; for healing and patience and the ability to hold still for a few weeks.

On a happier note... here are some zoo pictures for you!

Madison, Jade & Quinn on board a huge statue of a turtle.

A painting done by "Sammy"... one of Potawatomi's chimps.


This sleepy lion is what I feel like every afternoon at 2pm... like clock work! ... Look at that cute tongue sticking out!


Have a good weekend!
Love, Leah

Air Show

Tonight was the "long-awaited" air show. Quinn was literally counting down the hours! I'll spare you the other 100 photos we have that look similar to these. It was a beautiful afternoon and evening...a great day just to hang out. He was thrilled with every single plane and acrobatic stunt person. We got there around 3:30 and he was really bummed to be leaving "already" at 10:30 that night!!!

(left) Jade checks to make sure Madison is alright. She's actually looking through a paper fan on a stick that has tinted plastic in the middle... kind of like sunglasses... to help you look at the sky easier.

Jade was so happy and pleased at the air show. She was just a happy little girl... spending most of her birthday at the air show! : )

Quinn saluted lots of planes as they taxied past us.

This picture (below) gives you a little glimpse of how many 1000's of people there were at the air show! A sea of people....!

Gifts from Camp

We picked up Quinn from camp tonight. He was sitting at a dining room table wildly motioning for us to come and join him when we walked in. He was happy to present us each with these crosses that he purchased for us at the camp store. Isn't that so sweet? That's my Quinn. He said they are Christmas ornaments but they are about 5 inches long and I think will probably do better to hang in a window. The red one is Tony's and the green one is mine.

Quinn had a good time at camp... he is really tired though. His lazy eyelid was obvious from 10 feet away! That's the dead giveaway to how tired he is. He declares he is not tired though! He met some new friends, went swimming in the lake, enjoyed the campfires, new songs etc... He says he doesn't want to go back for a long time though... he was ready to come home. I think the farther away from camp he gets... the more he will realize how fun it was. It was just a bit overwhelming I think. I'm glad they only do 2 nights for the younger kids.

We also got to see Madison and Jenna among her other friends. She said she was doing well but also looked very tired. She looked like she could lay down and go to sleep! They get to bed between 10:30-11pm and I'm sure are up much too early. Overall they seemed happy and content and didn't have a hard time saying goodbye to us. That was good.

So, tonight we are enjoying our Quinner again. He livens our house up a lot. I'm leaving tomorrow for New York City for a pain conference and won't be back until Sunday night. It's never a good time to go away... it's been several years since I've been to a conference and I just really need to go... to learn new information but also to recharge my batteries to continue working in a challenging field such as chronic pain management.

In other news, we finally were able to get a new dishwasher! Tony got it in last night. Hopefully this Whirlpool will last 20 years like our Kenmore did!

Love to all, Leah

Off to church camp

Madison, Jenna, Quinn and Nate were dropped off to church camp this afternoon. Madison has been looking soooo forward to this week. She was very hesitant last year but after getting one full week under her belt last summer, she couldn't wait to go back this year. The girls will be there until next Saturday.

This is Quinn and Nate's first year to go. Their age group goes from Monday-Wednesday evening. I think this is just right for Quinn. He was worried about camp last night, wanting to change his mind etc... but today he did real well. I could tell he had a lump in his throat when it was time for me to go but he perked up quickly and he and Nate went to find the game room. Madison was so hesitant to go last year that I decided not even to take her up!! I had Tonya and Lisa take her. It was better that way...for her!

I'm anxious to hear how it goes. I so hope it will be a good experience for them... so they'll all want to go back again. They are all anxious to receive mail so if you would like their address, send me an email and I'll get it to you!

1 Corinthians 12:4-7 is the theme for the week. At church we have been talking about our own spiritual gifts for some time now. The camp theme fits perfectly.

I've read this passage in several different Bible translations. I like the way the New Living Translation states it. Click here to read this short passage.

Please pray for all of the campers... and all of the little details that mothers worry about... but also that they will embrace the truth that God has already given them spiritual gifts and that it is important to use them... even as children!

(Keep reading below for my Father's Day post)