December 2019

Christmas Light Parade- downtown Holland

Church Christmas program- cute shepherd and angel

Jongsma Christmas

New toy 

3D pen for Isaac

Professional soccer player jersey

She still loves puzzles

Julia loves to color

Nate gave me Hamilton tickets!!

His new compact, collapsible chair for camping

Christmas Eve- wear pj's, drink hot chocolate/eat popcorn, and look at Christmas lights

This random Santa was sitting in the park and Lexi was desperate to see Santa- and then didn't say a word to him

Christmas morning in Dayton, OH

Gifts from Aunt Steph and Uncle Ben

Ice skating fun- Stephen and Lexi were skating alone by the end

Steph and Ben are having a baby!

Merry Christmas from our crazy crew!

 -Isaac and Caleb both had Christmas band concerts this month- always enjoy listening to their concerts.
-Caleb played on an indoor soccer team.
-Julia performed with the sacred dance group at church and participated in her last Sunday School Christmas program.
-Caleb had allergy testing done because of continuous post-nasal drip, throat clearing symptoms. Found out he is allergic to nothing! We were surprised. Dr gave us some possible remedies to try.
-Lexi has been breaking out in hives for a couple months. She is having bloodwork to monitor her thyroid levels and she has allergy testing in January to help determine why she is having hives.
-We celebrated Grandma Jongsma's 90th birthday with the extended Jongsma family. It was a lovely afternoon of sharing stories, memories and laughter. We love Grandma (Great-Grandma) so much and she has touched our lives in many ways.
-The Jongsma's were gathered for Grandma's party so we did our gift exchange in the hotel lobby that afternoon. It doesn't matter where the location is, it is always good to be together.
-Caleb and Stacy played their instruments in the church instrument ensemble one Sunday morning. It was fun to play in a group together.
-We stayed at Steph/Ben's house over Christmas. The weather was in the 60's- amazing. We spent time playing outside, playing games, ice skating, eating good food, watching Elf, and trying to scare each other with Buddy the Elf. It was a fun, relaxing time for our family.
-For New Year's Eve we went to the Gabrielse house along with some other friends- a fun way to bring in a new year!

November 2019

Power Rangers

Happy 1st Birthday Ruth!

Snow day with Andre

Stephen is 7- with his igloo cake

And he got a fish

Sukkot Sukkah made by Stephen and friends

MI State University football game

Halftime

Hotel pool with DeMaster/DeJong cousins

Games with cousins

And more game fun 

Ga-ga ball was played ALOT

Stacy, Colleen, Tessa

The cousins

Isaac played 10,000 Reasons in church

-Nate and I were invited to a costume party and we wore (borrowed) costumes! This was a first for us and way outside Nate's comfort zone. I don't know that we will do it again, but it was a fun party!
-Nate, Caleb and Andre went to a MSU football game with the Halmas. They all enjoyed the experience.
-We finally had professional family pictures taken, it had been 3 years since our last photos. It was a 10 minute outdoor session and it was freezing. We told the kids smile or we will sit out here longer- ha!
-We had a snow day this month and it was fun to introduce the joy of a snow day to Andre. He had never seen snow before and had a great time sledding.
-Stephen celebrated his 7th birthday! He requested an igloo cake- lots of marshmallows. Stephen has been asking for a fish for a year now- and he got one! He picked out a betta fish, which sadly died after 24 hours. He now has a new betta fish- Tie Dye. Stephen is still a snuggler with Mom.  He loves sharing a bedroom with Isaac and he has fun with his brothers. Stephen can go easily between Julia and Lexi and play with either of them. He is happy in Forest 1st Grade and brings much joy and love to our family. Happy Birthday Stephen!
-Stephen's class celebrated Sukkot- the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles/ Festival of Shelters. Stephen's class invited parents and taught us about sukkot and showed us the sukkahs- huts set up for sukkot-that the class made in their forest. We also ate some traditional Jewish food for lunch- a very informative afternoon.
-For Thanksgiving we travelled to Washington, PA. We stayed in a hotel with Reuben's family and spent time at Colleen's house/church. There were 24 of us and we couldn't all crash Colleen's house. We were able to use her church's basement and it was a great set-up. We ate meals together and played games.  It was a short, but fun visit for everyone.
-Isaac played the piano in church for the first time and he played beautifully. Quite a few people commented on his musicality- not pounding the notes, but having a good sense of flow and touch. It was a moving experience to listen to him play.

October 2019

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

Celebrating Kyle's wedding with Grandma

Celebrating Nolbi's 6th birthday. Ruth and Enedina looking on

Baby Naomi

Holland Recreation cheerleading

Holland Rec soccer players 

Andre arrived

Professional band pictures

Some of the Korean Connect group

She was SO proud of this frog she caught

Fearless

Julia, Leila, Jill, Victoria and Eliana (almost all of the girls in Julia's class have names ending in 'a.')

Freshman Soccer Team

Hiking near the Betsie River

Beautiful backyard of our house rental with the Betsie River

Hiking the dunes

Levi and Isaac

Jacob, Caleb and Andre

Group Ride on Frankfort Trail

Pirate, Batgirl, man in black, leopard

Pumpkin time

-Aunt Steph came out for a couple days- love having them living closer in Ohio!
-Our Guatemalan exchange student, Andre, arrived on Oct 15 and stayed for 8 weeks. Andre is 15 and a freshman. Julia gave up her bedroom and moved in with Lexi so Andre could have his own room. Andre attends a Christian school in Guatemala City and has travelled quite a bit, so he was familiar with many of our typical American customs/holidays. And his English was fantastic. Andre was very laid back and didn't complain about anything. It was challenging at times for our family to host, but it was also an interesting experience. 
-Over fall break we rented a house near Crystal Mountain, MI with the Gabrielse family. The weather was sunny and cool with beautiful leaves. We hiked, biked, played games, had campfires, played ghost in the graveyard (even the adults) and just had a wonderful vacation.
-Had teacher conferences and the kids are all doing fantastic in school
-Caleb got his braces off!