Dad & Isaac go to Florida

I feel honored to be the first guest blogger on 'DeMaster Stories.' Hopefully I won't disappoint.

I had a meeting in Florida this past week not too far from my parents' new home in Ft. Myers, FL. Isaac seemed like the perfect age to come along and we extended the trip to six days. We had a GREAT time traveling and spending time with Grandpa and Grandma.

Isaac was enthralled with watching the airplanes at the airport, playing with all the gadgets in the airplane (lights, tray table, window, seat belt, etc.), and especially the moving sidewalks in the Detroit airport. I was the most impressed with his great attitude and childhood enthusiasm for everything. He never complained even when we were sitting on the tarmac in Ft. Myers for an hour and half waiting to take off. Or when we got to Detroit and had no flights to Grand Rapids the rest of the day. (We rented a car and drove to GR.)

Isaac had a lot of fun with G-pa and G-ma going the beach, bird-watching, and swimming at the pool. Unfortunately I didn't get any good shots of Isaac with G-pa and G-ma since they were the ones taking all the pictures. He loved the fact that he could wear shorts outside in the winter.

We collected lots of seashells


Unfortunately I didn't get any good shots of Isaac with G-pa and G-ma since they were the ones taking all the pictures.

Since it's my post, I can't resist mentioning the Bears/Packers game on Sunday. Unfortunately, I was at work and had to miss it. But my family came through for me and the Packers were well represented at my In-laws' house during the game. They are all Bears fans, so it was a tough game to watch. I recorded the game and managed to make it all day without hearing the score. At least until I was saying goodnight to Caleb and he couldn't conceal his laughter. Secrets are so hard to keep at that age.

Where to next?

Dress up time with our friend, Zoe
Julia is supposed to be Buzz Lightyear, in case you couldn't figure it out :)
Playing with hotpads, so fun!

We are now back in the normal routine of school, work, etc. I feel like we are in a really good place right now. A big part of that is because we have been healthy for the past month. :) Also, Julia and Isaac are starting to play together. Granted there is still alot of arguing, but it is getting better. Julia is also playing better by herself, an answered prayer! So, of course this leads me to start wondering if God wants us to take another leap of faith. Bethany has been calling us again about foster kids needing a home. We have said no to both cases (which is physically painful for me at the time), but it leads us to start asking the tough questions about what does God want for our family? Do we try an older foster child or another young child? Do we wait awhile before taking in another child? I am often praying, "Lord, please give us abundantly clear direction!" It is always hard to be realistic about what one can handle, but also realizing that God doesn't call us to lead a "complacent" life.

So, now you all have a small glimpse into our thoughts these days. :) We would appreciate your prayers too as we discern God's will for our family, thanks!

Christmas Recap- Lots of pictures!

The best Christmas present- An Aaron Rogers action figure!
Isn't she adorable??
Buzz Lightyear opening his favorite present- his own scooter!
Uncle Mike reading to Britta (6) and Isaac
Grandma and Grandpa
Colleen and Jack (2)
Tessa and Gwen (1)
Grandma and Isa (1)
Blaise (4)
Annika (10!)
Simeon (almost 9)
Caleb and Julia playing with Abby (6 months)- Abby let Caleb rub her hair :)
Look, stockings!
Tim and Jenny
Aunt Steph and the boys
Grandpa and Grandma J
Showing off his Packers shirt in front of the Bears fans
The boys really liked Julia's Christmas present
Great-Grandpa J opening a present
Great-Grandma J getting some cuddle time with Isaac

We had a great Christmas vacation. We spent 3 nights in Pittsburgh, PA with Nate's whole family! We stayed in a hotel which worked out great. Everyone was able to swim at the hotel one morning. The kids had fun playing non-stop with their cousins for 2 days, we enjoyed catching up with the adults.

We then drove to my parents' house for two nights and celebrated Christmas. My sister was able to come home again, yay! We had a really nice time with my family as well.

We were home for a couple days and then we spent New Year's Eve weekend in Wheaton with my extended family. We had a laid-back visit and lots of fun catching up with family.

Now we are back into our normal routine and life is good. I feel like there is more to post, but I'm really tired. :)

Caleb and Mom's Excellent Adventure

Nothing like a self-portrait
The main Christmas tree at the Museum of Science and Industry
Very cool locomotive
The toy train set-up was really neat
For Grandpa J: Tree in honor of the Stanley Cup winners- The Chicago Blackhawks!
Chick just after hatching- probably one of Caleb's favorite exhibits
The South Korean tree
In front of the German submarine from WWII
Look out for the tornado! There was also a lightning display- a little too real and loud for Caleb's liking.
The Netherlands tree
Field Museum- Tyrannosaurus Rex bones!
Creepy little robotic dinosaur
T-rex is going to eat you!
The triceratops wasn't as scary
You can see Caleb in the background- he did not want to get too close to the T-Rex!
One example of the huge display of real/stuffed animals at the Field Museum
Elephant near our table at the Rainforest Cafe

On Monday, our family was supposed to go to the Museum of Science and Industry. Isaac came down with a terrible fever on Sunday and was not better on Monday. Julia also had a cold and was rather crabby. So, Nate made a huge sacrifice and stayed home with Isaac and Julia. Caleb and I made the trip together. We spent about 4 hours at the Museum of Science and Industry and we had a great time! I hadn't been there since I was a child. I also wasn't sure if the younger kids would enjoy this museum. I think Isaac would appreciate most of the museum and Julia would have fun just walking around. Caleb and I didn't do the coal mine tour or the submarine tour. I think both would be too dark/loud/scary. We'll take the kids when they are older.

We then went to the Field Museum. Again, I hadn't been there in years so I was curious as to how family friendly it is. Caleb has been saying for a long time that he wanted to see dinosaur bones and we finally saw some! There is a T-rex display and it is very impressive. However, that is only dinosaur bones display. One of the special exhibits was the robotic dinosaurs. Caleb was a little nervous, but he probably could have spent much longer just sitting and watching the dinosaurs move, grunt, roar, etc. We had the option to see a 3-D movie about T-rex, but it looked scary even to me! So we passed on that. The only other part of the Field Museum that kids would like is the animals exhibits. There is a large area of real, stuffed animals from around the world. I'm glad we visited this museum, but we'll wait to take the kids when they are older and can appreciate more of the museum.

We then went to the Rainforest Cafe in downtown Chicago for supper. I had never been to this restaurant so I was curious if it was as good as all of the hype. :) It is a fun restaurant and Caleb enjoyed seeing all of the robotic animals on the walls. Later in the evening my cousin informed me that there is a Rainforest Cafe at the Grandville mall. What?? You mean I don't have to drive to Chicago just to try the restaurant?! Oh well. :)

After supper we drove to my grandparents' house and spent the night. One of the main reasons for this trip was that my cousin and her husband were in from Atlanta. We only see each other once a year and it was great to catch up with them again. This was a memorable and fun experience with Caleb and I am so thankful we could do it!

Getting Ready for Christmas

Decorating the real tree with our family ornaments
Adorable in pigtails
I like this picture b/c of the cute face she is making
Isaac enjoys "washing dishes" otherwise known as making a big watery mess
I took this picture and then Caleb threw that snowball at me when I turned around. Little punk.
It's marshmallow girl- I can't put my arms down!
Chilling in the fort Daddy made

Going for a sled ride
Opening presents from his teacher at the Kindergarten Christmas party


First of all, the Bulls game Nate and I went to was awesome! We had good seats and the game was alot of fun. At the end of the game, the Bulls hit a 3 pointer at the buzzer and sent the game into overtime. The Bulls then won the game- it was all very exciting! Scottie Pippen was at the game too! He was sitting directly across the arena from us and they showed him on the big screen. The night would have been perfect if Michael Jordan had been there too. Nate laughs at me b/c I cover my ears whenever someone tells me what Michael Jordan is really like. I prefer the hero I followed as a kid to the real person. :)

On the 11th we celebrated Julia's Family Day! She has been home for one year now. She has adjusted so well and we can't imagine life without her.

About that same time we had the stomach flu hit our house. Julia had it for the first time and it wasn't pretty. I wasn't prepared for how stuff gets stuck in girls' hair- gross. I then got the flu and had to call Nate home from work. Isaac had a mild version and we thought we were done. However, Caleb then got it and once again we thought we were done. About 3 days later, Nate got it. This is the most drawn out flu bug ever. Thankfully it was just the 24 hour bug and we recovered fairly quickly. I hope all of this sickness means that we will be healthy over Christmas. :)

The kids are enjoying this snowy time of year. Julia loves being outside, which is good because it takes about a half hour to get her snow stuff on. I am always proud of myself for going outside with the kids. I really don't enjoy it, but I know it makes them happy if I do it once and a while.

We have all of our Christmas decorations up and have been celebrating Advent every evening. I am slightly embarrassed to say we have two Christmas trees this year. A couple years ago we bought a pre-decorated tree for a charity event. The tree is pretty, but we can't put our family ornaments on it. And Nate really likes real trees, so we bought a 5 foot tree for the toy room. The other day we stopped at a friend's house and Isaac said, "Look Mom, snow poo!" I looked and realized he was pointing at a Winnie-the-Pooh Christmas decoration. Too cute.

Caleb had his church Christmas program last week. It was a fun program and he enjoyed singing the songs. His age group dressed up for the manger scene and originally Caleb was going to be a rooster. And he was excited about being a rooster. You all know Caleb doesn't do dress-up, but he was looking forward to this. The day before the program he found out he couldn't be the rooster because he was too big for the costume. He had to dress up as a sheep instead, he was not excited about that. :) But, I give him credit because he wore that sheep costume with a good attitude and looked pretty cute. But don't tell him I said that!

Christmas vacation has now started and we'll be off and running. On Monday we're taking the kids to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. I hope they aren't too young for it. We'll also spend the night with my grandparents and see some extended family. We celebrate our family Christmas on the 22nd and then leave for Pittsburgh on the 23rd. Nate's whole family will be there for Christmas! That means we'll have two family get-togethers with them in one year- that doesn't happen very often. We'll then drive to my parent's house on the 26th and have Christmas with my family on the 27th. (My sister will be home for that too- yay!) We'll have a couple days at home and then we'll head to my grandparents on New Years weekend for the Jongsma Christmas. And then school starts again! Can you see why I'm praying that we all stay healthy? :)

If I don't update before Christmas, I pray that you all have a wonderful Christmas celebrating Jesus' birth!