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| View from our hotel in Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica |
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| Not sure why he looks so angry- he just ate our lunch |
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| Vacation with Carl and Karin Gabrielse |
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| Somehow Grandpa ended up at a table alone with boys |
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| Most of the extended Jongsma family |
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| Rebounderz fun |
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| Visiting Aunt Steph |
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| Caberfae skiing |
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| Lexi and Stephen are going down the hill |
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| Julia at the top of the mountain! |
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| Caleb made this awesome sports card in art class |
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| Caleb's 8th grade Holland Rec team |
-Nate and Stacy went to Costa Rica for 5 days with the Gabrielse- kind of a 40th birthday trip for all of us. Grandpa and Grandma watched the kids and survived a puking kid, a snow delay and the typical craziness of 5 kids. After the trip Dad asked if I mostly drive kids around every day- basically, yes. Costa Rica was beautiful. We did some ziplining/rappeling in the jungle, had our lunch eaten by monkeys, relaxed on the beaches and just enjoyed time away.
- Grandpa Jongsma (Great-Grandpa) died in January at the age of 90. His internment and memorial was in February. Our family was able to attend his internment at the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery. It was very moving to observe the military honors as he had been in the Air Force. The memorial service was beautiful- a chance to grieve, but also a sharing of our memories of Grandpa. We will miss him.
-The kids had a long weekend off, so Stacy, Julia and Lexi drove to Dayton, OH to visit Uncle Ben and Aunt Steph in their new house. Stacy and Steph saw the musical The King and I while the girls spent the evening with Uncle Ben. We are excited to have Steph/Ben only a 5 hour drive away right now.
-Our family went skiing at Caberfae- yep, all of us. This was the first time for the younger 3 kids. At the beginning of the day, Nate and I were questioning our decision. It was stressful having 3 needy kids and only 2 of us. The older boys went off with friends and had a great day. The younger 3 picked up some skills and mastered the bunny hill. Julia is terrified of heights and was not about to go on the chairlift to try a bigger hill. However, our friend Carl Gabrielse was along and he spent time building up her confidence, got her on the chairlift and she skied down the hill! We were so proud of Julia! And Julia said, I did it once, not doing it again- ha! And she was happy skiing on the bunny hill with some friends. Stephen/Lexi were anxious to try the big hill. Let me tell you, it is tricky getting tiny Lexi onto the chairlift- but we did it. Nate helped Stephen and Stacy helped Lexi down the hill. We may not have looked very graceful, but the littles loved it. Overall, everyone had a great day and Lexi still says a month later in her bedtime prayers- thank you God that we went skiing.
-Stacy had allergy testing done and found out she is allergic to basically everything- dust, mold, ragweed, trees, grass, dogs and cats. Which explains the need for allergy medicine year round since her childhood. Boys, you are welcome for the amazing genes passed on to you. Stacy has begun allergy shots in the hope for an allergy medicine free life in a couple years- we will see.
