the Overway family

February fun

2011-03-01T17:17:00.001-06:00

Benjamin has taken a liking to classical -
- which he calls "dance music."

January Birthdays

2011-03-01T15:43:00.015-06:00

Happy 8th Birthday, Elena!
January 5

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Happy 11th Birthday, Joseph!
January 25

Christmas vacation highlights

2011-03-01T15:02:00.004-06:00

It's 'snow' fun.

Epic battle.

Ben's new 'puppy' helping him open his next gift.

What fun to open gifts with a 3 year old!

Grandpa's birthday.

Surprises .... and .... Thank-Yous!

Christmas family photo

2011-02-19T15:51:00.000-06:00

I'm 3!

2010-10-25T11:50:00.000-05:00

On October 11, we celebrated Benjamin's 3rd birthday. How thankful we are for him and for the place he has been given in our family! Happy Birthday, Benny!

Lo, children are a great reward! Indeed!

Visiting

2010-10-25T11:25:00.000-05:00

This is how we normally "visit" with family - via Skype. But this weekend was a special treat!

The Teachers' Convention was held locally this year, which meant that Grandpa and Grandma Vermeer, Aunt Susan and Grandma Overway all came to Iowa for a visit.

Here are a few snapshots of our time together.

Playing beanbag toss with Grandpa.

After mending a few things, "the moms" and I spent Thursday afternoon ripping apart a couple of Lena's old jeans and recreating them into skirts. What fun!

Lena loves her Aunt Sue. ;-)

That's what (little) boys are made of...

2010-10-25T11:23:00.000-05:00

Sweetness... giving Daddy's shoulder a squeeze

Seriousness... "I'm a worker man."

Studiousness... working on a report.

And silliness...

What comes around...

... goes around.

Back to School

2010-09-10T23:21:00.000-05:00

August 23 ~ 1st day of a new school year!

Elena: 2nd grade Joseph: 5th Grade.

Consider the Lilies

2010-09-10T23:08:00.001-05:00

"...they toil not, neither do they spin:

and yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory

was not arrayed like one of these."

Summer Sunset

Summer Highlights

2010-09-07T09:17:00.007-05:00

June

A week after school let out we took a family trip to the Black Hills/Badlands. Our explorations included Bear Country, Reptile Gardens, Custer State Park, Mt. Rushmore, some "off-the-beaten-trails", and a really good pizzeria! We thoroughly enjoyed the beauty of that area and hope we're able to make another visit.

Entering the Badlands

Gentle giant at Reptile Gardens.

A walk through the woods in Custer State Park.

After seeing so many "buffaflo" in Custer State Park, Benjamin was determined to feed this one!

Visiting the Badlands one last time on our way home.

At the end of June most of the Vermeer family gathered at the lodge at Newton Hills State Park in South Dakota for a few days. It was wonderful to spend time together talking and watching the kids play.

Supper-time at the "kids table". :-)

The guys had a lot of fun playing fooseball.

Stinkers... Sharing!

This picture was taken right before we left for home.

Tired, but still having fun.... right?!?!

July

Daddy's little helper fell asleep.

Pool time - this year even Ben can get in on the fun!

Church Picnic 2010

Games for the kids......

..... and the adults!

Grandma Overway and Aunt Jenn drove out with Brooke, Conner and Tressa this month.

We had so much fun we forgot to take pictures! Well, there were a few...

Riding the horses in Doon's City park.

Friends or cousins? Both!

August

August began with a trip to the Chicago area. After spending the weekend at Grandpa and Grandma Vermeer's house, we headed to Michigan for a few days with the Overways. Then back to Illinois/Indiana on Thursday for a trip into the city and more visiting.

Muskegon State Park

Elena and Gwen.

Look! I can swim too!

Downtown Chicago

Playing in the splash fountain in Millenium Park.

We took the train into Chicago. A new experience for the kids!

Playtime

Caleb and Benjamin taking a ride to the moon.

Ben and Nicole - busy building sandcastles.

"Are you sure we can touch that?"

Uh-oh! That looks like trouble!

We're all here!!!

We managed to get all the kids on a picture again!

Last days of school

2010-06-09T09:02:00.002-05:00

Mothers' Tea in the Lower Room

"Welcome" from the 1st grade girls

Each of the children drew a picture of their mom and answered a list of questions about her (weight, favorite thing to do, why she's special).

Lower Room girls (1st & 2nd grades)

Ellie, Jenna, Crystal, Elena, Erica, Sierra, Sarah

Dordt Track Meet

In mid-May, Joseph participated in a local track meet at Dordt College. The meet is for area kids in grades 5-8, but since we didn't have enough kids for all the events, the 4th graders were allowed to participate as well. The day was beautiful, and the kids had fun and performed well.

Talking things over with Dad.

Good form!

Giving high jump a shot.

Joe was 2nd in his heat in the 100m dash.

Family

2010-06-08T22:43:00.007-05:00

On May 1, Heritage Christian School (Hudsonville) celebrated their 25th anniversary. As a member of the 1st graduating class, David was asked to speak at the celebration. So on April 30, we took the kids out of school and headed to Michigan! We had a good time seeing old friends and were thrilled to spend the weekend with family there. On the way home we stopped and surprised Grandma (Mom) Vermeer while she worked in her garden. The look on her face was priceless.... wish we had a picture!

Cousins...

Joe, Ben, Lena, Brooke & Conner are headed to Heritage for pony rides, games and cotton candy!

After the party at Heritage the kids played "dog" on Grandpa & Grandma's deck.

(Lena, Joe, Brooke, Levi & Conner)

Brook & Lena making up a secret code.

This was the first time we got to see and hold baby Gwen!

Nicole: "See?! This is how you do it!"

And little Tressa, just taking it all in.

...and Brothers

...talking around the (old) kitchen table.

"Huuuuuuuggggs to Joey."

Man's best friend

2010-06-08T22:17:00.001-05:00

Name: Logan

Breed: English Laborador Retreiver

Date of Birth: March 1, 2010

Date of Adoption: April 20, 2010

Owner: Joseph (& Dad)

What he's learned so far: Come, Sit, Shake, No Bite, In the Kennel, Fetch, Drop it

Favorite past-times: Cuddling, Eating, Chasing Kiera

1st day home.

Playing with "Loge" while the kids are in school.

Hanging out at the lake.

Wii're Having Fun!

2010-06-08T21:02:00.002-05:00

We've been playing sports, going on safari and hunting exotic game this spring... all in our basement! Our new Wii has given us lots of fun time together when the weather outside was frightful!

Lena's concentrating hard.

Dad's turn. This is serious business!

Joe loves to practice and is having fun trying to beat his highest scores. Even Ben likes to play! He found a stick from the boys' dismantled horse-shed and pressed it into service as a shotgun. Watch out "aminals"!

And in-between we line up cars, cuddle on the couch and cheer eachother on.

Happy Birthday, Joseph!

2010-01-30T19:55:00.023-06:00

Joseph and his Wolf cake.

Ben was so excited to "eat ceek" that he got out the "dishes" for us!

Happy 10th birthday, to our "Number One Son"!

Happy Birthday, Elena!

2010-01-07T21:31:00.004-06:00

Elena and her Fancy Nancy cake.

Elena got her ears pierced for her 7th birthday.

Apprehensive before...

...happy after.

We're so thankful for our Lena. She's beautiful - inside and out.

Christmas, New Years and Birthdays

2010-01-07T15:56:00.004-06:00

We enjoyed a visit from Grandpa and Grandma Overway between Christmas and New Years Day. It's become something of a tradition to celebrate Christmas, New Years, Grandpa's birthday (12/30), Elena's birthday (1/5) and Joseph's birthday (1/25) while they are here. It makes for a busy few days, but we so enjoy it!

Ben getting comfortable with Grandpa again.

The kids sat down at the piano to sing with Grandma for a little while.

Hot chocolate and a game of "Golf".

Snuggling with Grandma.

Ben's reading a book to Grandma... He's probably pointing out all the 'porkee-pines'. "Ouch! Owee-hurt!"

Snowed In

2010-01-07T15:10:00.002-06:00

This gives a bit of an idea of how much snow fell here on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. David is shovelling the front patio. The drift next to him is not shovelled show... it's a drift that formed the night before. Add to it the snow that got piled on top and the snow that fell after the picture was taken.... it's much bigger now! A member of Calvary came by with his skid-loader and dug us out, for which were were very thankful! It would have taken us all afternoon, since we had to first dig our way into the shed to get the snowblower.

We spent Christmas afternoon with friends from church. The kids (and dads) had a great time sledding down the big piles from our driveway and the church parking lot.

2010-01-06T20:18:00.001-06:00

Christmas Eve 2009

Joseph, Elena and Benjamin are excited to open their presents.

Christmas Tree

2009-12-23T23:12:00.005-06:00

We put up a Christmas tree for the fist time this year. Dave & I went out to a nearby tree farm, chose & cut it and brought it home to surprise the kids. We all had fun picking out ornaments and decorating it.

Reading 'Bookas' with Ben

2009-12-23T23:02:00.003-06:00

November miscellaneous

2009-12-23T22:26:00.007-06:00

The big excitement in November was having Uncle Daniel, Aunt MaryJo and cousins Samantha and Cameron stay with us for a week. We had such a good time playing and visiting that we seem to have forgotten to take any pictures! This is the only one on my camera.

"Hoping" (helping) Daddy

Dad's lap is the best place for a little girl to snuggle.

I drove the boys in Joseph's class for a recent class trip. One of the boys took this picture of Joseph.

No, this picture is not posed. Ben was sitting on the potty (sans clothing), and decided to get comfortable.

More October pix

2009-12-23T21:40:00.004-06:00

October saw the end of Soccer season for Joseph. This was his first year of play and he really enjoyed it. He had his final tournament about an hour away, so the kids and I packed up chairs, blankets, and hot chocolate and spent much of the day cheering on the team. That's him in the red shirt, running to kick the ball.

And what would Fall be without leaf-piles to jump in?!?! Joseph was a huge help with the raking this year.

Here are some semi-formal pictures of the kids taken by our house.

Christmas Pictures in October

2009-12-23T21:13:00.007-06:00

Most of you have seen our Christmas card by now. But for those who haven't, here's our family picture. Mom Overway usually gets roped into taking it for us when they visit us during Teacher's Convention, and this year was no different. Thanks, Mom!

Happy Birthday, Benjamin!

2009-12-23T20:47:00.006-06:00

Ben turned 2 in October! Of course, he tells everyone that he's 3 ("chree"), but that's another story...

Ben & his "Guck keek" (duck cake).

I'm not sure how many times we relit the candles on the cake for him. He kept asking, "'Gin!?! 'Gin!?!" (again, again)

Joe & Lena, helping Ben celebrate.

September

2009-12-23T19:45:00.015-06:00

Well, the rest of September came and went without any of you hearing from us. We kept busy getting into the swing of school every day, growing up and growing older.

Grandma Vermeer's visit in early September was spent playing games, taking walks, playing ball outside and cooling off in the pool afterwards. The kids enjoyed it... and I think Grandma did too! :-)

Summer Sunday picture of the kids. Joe is 9 1/2; Lena is 6 1/2 and Ben is almost 2.

Dave & the kids worked hard to decorate a cake for Mom's birthday! Their hard work tasted great!

Peek... Peek...... Boo!

1st Day of School !

2009-09-01T23:07:00.005-05:00

The 2009-2010 school year began on Tuesday, August 25. The kids were up bright and early and excited to begin. Joseph is in 4th grade this year and is in the Middle Room (grades 3-5) with Mrs. Brenda Regnerus as his teacher. Elena is beginning 1st grade and is in the Lower Room (grades 1,2). Her teacher is Mrs. Marlene VanDenTop. They've been in school for a week now, and both of them love their teachers and are really enjoying being back in school.

1st-day-of-school pictures: they know the ritual ;-)

Benjamin had to get in on the fun, too.
"What's a picture without me in it, right?"

Visit from Grandpa & Grandma Overway

2009-09-01T15:09:00.013-05:00

Grandpa and Grandma Overway came to visit us in mid-July. On Thursday, we drove through a down-pour to meet them at the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha. We weren't sure that it was ideal zoo weather, but the storm passed just as we were arriving and we enjoyed a beautiful day together exploring the zoo.

One of the kids gave Ben their "zoo cup" after lunch. Judging from the smile, I'd say that was a good move!

The big cat house is our favorite; we are especially fascinated by the tigers. This picture was taken in between roars. She didn't like it when we made eye-contact.

It's been a long day, the kids are getting tired, so I decide it's time to take pictures! Yea, Mom!

Grandpa caught the first and only fish of the day (a bass) on his first cast!

While Grandpa, Dad and Joseph were fishing, we took Elena and Benjamin to the play area.

Priceless.

Playing "golf" with Grandma.

Trip to Michigan/Illinois

2009-09-01T13:23:00.011-05:00

On July 1 we left for Michigan to attend Grandpa Haveman's funeral. We spent most of the week with our Michigan family, but we were able to spend a little time in Illinois too.

On the 4th of July we went to a parade in Grandville. The kids thorougly enjoyed the candy, the planes that started the parade, the candy, watching the bands, the candy... But they really loved spending time with their cousins.

Driving home from church. Grandma got to sit between Joe & Lena... There sure was a lot of giggling coming from the back seat!

Elena, Hanna and Samantha had so much fun playing with dolls together on Monday morning. Even though they seldom get a chance to see each other, they got along great!

This photo is now out-of-date, but at the time it was taken, this was a picture of all of the Vermeer grandkids.

The first picture was taken on the way to Michigan, the second on the way home. I've included them because they clearly show the change in energy level from the beginning to the end of the trip.

Summer Time Fun - Fishing, Swimming, and Playing in the Sand

2009-08-31T23:20:00.004-05:00

These are photos of the kids at a local campground.

Minneapolis / St. Paul

2009-08-31T21:45:00.019-05:00

We took a mini-vacation to Minneapolis/St. Paul in mid-June. After arriving at our hotel Tuesday evening we took the hotel shuttle bus to the Mall of America. Wednesday morning we headed out to Como Zoo, a free zoo in St. Paul. The kids decided that the rides in the mall looked better than the ones at the amusement park adjacent to the zoo. So, indulgent parents that we are, we headed back to the hotel to catch another shuttle. (It had nothing to do with the fact that we had not even begun to exhaust the possibilities at the mall the evening before!) Anyways, Joseph and Elena thoroughly enjoyed the rides. Joseph insisted on riding the biggest rollercoaster in the place. (We may have unleashed a monster, because a month later, he heard about a much bigger amusement park near Minneapolis that he really, really wants to go to.) Elena was content with much tamer rides and liked to have her brother go with her. Thursday we again drove into St. Paul to spend the day at the Minnesota Science Museum. The dinosaur exhibit was a big hit and there were some fascinating displays of the human body. The kids' favorite, though, was The Big Backyard, where they explored the wonders of water, sand and rock (especially water!). Here are a few snapshots.

The rides at Nickelodeon Universe

(in the Mall of America)

The Science Museum of Minnesota

This climbing area in the dinosaur exhibit captured Benjamin's attention. He went from one end to the other and didn't want to leave!

Joseph studied,
Elena poured,
and Benjamin tried to catch the water.

Pool time!

2009-08-31T20:52:00.009-05:00

We had been thinking about getting the kids a bigger pool this summer, and a friend had one they needed to get rid of. So we took the plunge... ;-) (That was a David pun if I ever heard one!) The kids were thrilled, to say the least.

June 1... "helping" Mom set up. Not that complicated... that is, after dragging it around the yard trying to find a flat spot!

Joseph & Elena finally were still long enough for me to snap a picture! They spent many, many hours here this summer.

And we couldn't leave Ben out of the fun. He really didn't spend as much time in the pool as this shot suggests. His water time was mostly spent emptying the pool into my flower pots, one scoop at a time. But he sure had fun!

Kindergarten graduate!

2009-06-12T10:46:00.008-05:00

Graduation was held Friday, May 22 at Doon PR church. Besides the two 8th grade graduates, six kindergarteners graduated and are excited to move on to 1st grade!

It's official! Elena is in 1st grade!

Elena and her teacher, Mrs. Westra

Kindergarten class of 2009

Jenna, Erica, Rosalyn, Sierra, Darren, Elena

Elena got right to work writing thank-yous. She loves to send letters.

Daddy's new toy(s)

2009-06-09T14:00:00.008-05:00

We all went out to a friend's farm recently to test out the new shotgun and clay pigeon thrower. We went through our shells too quickly! Dave was putting them away pretty regularly and I even started to get the hang of it (even "dusted" one, according to Joseph). Joe manned the thrower and took his job very seriously. And Elena and Ben watched, with Ben saying "Uh-Oh, Boom" every time the gun went off. Fun day... we hope to do it again soon.

Ben's 1st haircut

2009-05-15T22:52:00.011-05:00

On May 2 we decided it was time our baby looked like a boy! As you can see from the pictures, he was less than convinced. But a few tears later, here is the result!

Before

... and After

Another cake

2009-04-25T23:52:00.000-05:00

Elena had to take the letter "Z" snack last week Tuesday. This is what she wanted me to make!

Michigan trip

2009-04-25T20:36:00.000-05:00

We took a quick trip to Michigan earlier this month. We enjoyed spending time with the family and were glad we were able to visit with Grandpa & Grandma Haveman again. Here are some pictures from our time there.

On the way to Michigan we stopped in Iowa City so Dad could visit a church member whose baby is in the hospital there. While we were waiting we passed the time watching Planet Earth, reading books, and eating grapes and animal crackers!

Saturday afternoon Joseph took a walk in the woods with his dad and grandpa and had a great time. Elena spent the afternoon playing and coloring with Brooke, and playing Uno with Aunt Jenn, Brooke, Conner and Grandma.

It's becoming quite the fiasco to get a picture of all the cousins together! The guys all think it's pretty funny that us women insist on it whenever we're together. But just think how happy we'll be 15 years from now! :-)

Joseph is being a goof, Elena is a little lady, and Ben just wants to get away!

Snapshots

Sunday evening we went to Grandpa & Grandma Haveman's house for lunch with Dad & Mom, Uncle John and Jessica. Since we forgot our camera (again!), we were glad Jessica was able to take pictures for us on hers. Thanks, Jess!

Four generations.

A very belated update

2009-04-14T13:11:00.000-05:00

OK, so I said I'd try to keep it relatively current... It's only been 6 months... ;-)
Since then Joseph turned 9, Elena turned 6, David turned 38, we celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary and our 4th anniversary of being in Doon, Elena lost another tooth (the right way this time), Benjamin started walking, and all three kids grew while we weren't looking! Here are some pictures to get you up-to-date...

Joseph
Benjamin

Elena

Elena has been begging me to teach her piano lessons and has been practicing everything I've been able to find for her on the internet. Time to get her some real piano books... We're planning to start lessons this summer. Anyways, since she's been enjoying it so much I made her a piano cake for her 6th birthday.

Joseph loves to read... no, he LOVES to read. Any book he finds about animals is great, but the horse books!... don't even get me started! He has also been building his collection of "Bomgaars horses", which he and Elena spend hours playing with. So a horse cake was definitely appropriate for his 9th birthday!

This is the chair that Benjamin has taken over for his own. If he sees anyone else sitting on it, he pulls on them and makes loud disgruntled noises until they get the point and choose another seat. He loves to pile on it with a stack of books and "sing".

Here is Elena with her American Girl doll, Mary. Mary came as a 5th birthday present from Grandpa and Grandma Overway. This past winter Grandpa Vermeer stayed with us while he attended Classis and brought along a whole bag of outfits for Mary that Grandma Vermeer had made to surprise Elena. Mary had to try on every single one, and this is the one that Elena decided on for the day. Thank you Grandpas and Grandmas!

Benjamin's 1st Birthday!

2008-10-14T13:59:00.000-05:00

Here comes the birthday boy!

Yummm! Ben's 1st birthday cake! We turned him loose with a plate of cake... which he loved. The ice cream was another story, though... He loves it by the spoonful, but a fist full of ice cream tends to be a bit cold!

Opening and enjoying his new presents. Thank you!

Weekend fun

2008-10-09T00:11:00.000-05:00

Saturday afternoon in "the house that mom built". Joseph & Elena had a great afternoon playing house in their clothes-line tent this past Saturday. That is, until Benjamin invaded! He never sits still for long!

Our family's blog

2008-10-08T22:31:00.000-05:00

Welcome to our 'blog'! Thought we'd set up a place online to make it easier to keep everyone up-to-date on our family. We'll try to keep it relatively current... :-)