So This is What It's Like to be Married to a Gold Medalist

John apparently running into the cops, Holland Rotary 5K, 2008

Yesterday morning, John and I hit the road at 7am to go to Holland, MI so he could run in a 5K there. It was kind of a local yokel affair where you all are standing around and out of the blue, someone says, without any passion, "On your mark, get set, go" like you did on the playground when you were a kid. John ran a good race, not his best time, but definitely respectable. Much to our surprise, he was presented with the 1st place medal for his age group!

Do I have to say the part about how he was the only one in his age group?

I'm still proud to be married to a gold medalist!

The Big Four Four

Sisters Andrea and Marianna skipping down the path... 2008

Happy Birthday Mar - sending lots of sister love your way!

Flashback Friday 84

The Queen Mother, AKA Judy, Jr.

Another Angle

Maria, August 2008

Practice Good-Bye

Edward in the woods during the recent camp-out

Next week, on John's birthday, we'll be taking Edward to Calvin College to move into the dorms. Yesterday, he left for a cross country resort/camp in Canada with the Calvin team and he won't be back till Sunday, so we're getting a taste of how life without Ed will be. I'm going to miss his sense of humor and his unique view of life, but the big pots of laundry? Not so much. :)

Netherlands Nuesday 41

Dutch Lily Pads, 2007

The Last First Day at the Bus Stop

Bridget is convinced she is the only 8th grader with a camera-toting-mom at the bus stop, but she loves every minute of it.


Leo joins in for the fun and excitement of waiting for the bus.


Suddenly, the bus is here.


See her little foot? The last step and I got it!


Edward, leaving for one of his last days of work before he starts at Calvin, is also very excited for Bridget's last first bus stop.


And Maria is excited too, as she poses for the traditional back to school pose on her first day of her Junior year.

He's a Winner, as Aunt Mar would say

Today,,, I'm the mother of the winner in the 15-19 age group of the Hastings Summerfest 10K race.

Roller Coaster Loving Cousins

Yara, Maria, Bridget & Annelise, August 2008, Michigan Adventure

Yesterday, John & I had the opportunity to take our 2 nieces from Venzuela to Michigan Adventure with our girls. We soon noticed that these 4 girl cousins with the same last name are fearless when it comes to roller coasters. We did them over and over again. When John, Maria & I rode the Thunder Hawk, their newest ride where your legs dangle and you see them several times up against the blue sky during the ride, I couldn't help but think how much trust we put in the roller coaster people and the mechanical devices that hold us in against the forces of gravity which are always there. When we rode the corkscrew, John & I were in the car ahead of them, so we could run ahead and get some photos of them during the ride.




After several hours on the roller coasters, we hit the water parks. I found my happy spot, as Sharon would say, on the Lazy River. But then I went and ruined it when we rode a couple of stomach churners - the Tilt-a-Whirl and something I only remember as the Barf Boat.

Flash Back Friday 83

Happiness is a pink cast and a big sister, Petoskey, 2000

Blooms in August

I didn't mean for anyone to think yesterday that my peonies were still blooming. I just said that reading the poem made me think of them. In real time, our garden is for the most part past its prime. That's why I was thrilled yesterday when Maria asked me if I could take some photos of her for her "school pictures", our record of her as a Junior in High School. I was a little tired to go out on location, so we stayed in our own yard, and Maria, with her bright outfit from Spain, was blooming enough.

Wild and Perfect for a Moment

Yesterday, I read this poem and thought of how we had to leave town just as our peonies started to bloom, I think they were late this year. So I picked them and brought them to someone.



This morning the green fists of the peonies are getting ready
to break my heart
as the sun rises,
as the sun strokes them with his old, buttery fingers

and they open ---
pools of lace,
white and pink ---
and all day the black ants climb over them,

boring their deep and mysterious holes
into the curls,
craving the sweet sap,
taking it away

to their dark, underground cities ---
and all day
under the shifty wind,
as in a dance to the great wedding,

the flowers bend their bright bodies,
and tip their fragrance to the air,
and rise,
their red stems holding

all that dampness and recklessness
gladly and lightly,
and there it is again ---
beauty the brave, the exemplary,

blazing open.
Do you love this world?
Do you cherish your humble and silky life?
Do you adore the green grass, with its terror beneath?

Do you also hurry, half-dressed and barefoot, into the garden,
and softly,
and exclaiming of their dearness,
fill your arms with the white and pink flowers,

with their honeyed heaviness, their lush trembling,
their eagerness
to be wild and perfect for a moment, before they are
nothing, forever?

Mary Oliver

Netherlands Nuesday 40

Flower boxes in Amsterdam, 2007

The Day When I Didn't Shower or Brush My Teeth or Wash My Hair

Lake Michigan, Sunday Morning


John walking throught the forest

Saturday, we went on a short camping trip with friends from church and experienced being one with nature for awhile. It was beautiful. I didn't even mind the pit pots this time. Under clear blue skies, we enjoyed music, nature, fellowship - all the good things. John and I even woke up early Sunday morning and saw a bald eagle. As my friend Gracie would say, it was fantastic. Around the campfire, we prayed for Cathy whose back problems were becoming almost unbearable. A recent MRI had revealed a bulging disc.

On the way home Sunday morning, things started to get interesting. Some of us had decided to stop for brunch at the Steak and Egger because the name of it cracked us up. Cathy told us she couldn't drive anymore because her legs were not responding appropriately. I took over her van, and with doctors instructions, drove her straight to the ER in GR which was about 2 hours away. To make a long story short, she was quickly brought in to surgery where they performed a laminectomy. Afterwards, the surgeon told me that he was able to remove what was definitely causing her problems and felt they had done it just in time. Thankfully, now she is on the road to recovery. I saw her up in her room after surgery and we still kept talking about how we were going to wake up from a dream at any minute with the sound of rain on our tents. But today, I can see how God answered that campfire prayer for real.