Everyone's Gone

Since almost all of the potential bloggers are out of town or country, I guess I'll share why Dad and I are celebrating tonight. This afternoon, we signed the papers that finalized the sale of Grandma's condo, so....after years of travelling back and forth, we feel a sense of freedom and are glad another family is moving in this weekend. I finished cleaning there last night, and I wish our house was as clean as the condo is right now. We were going to go out to eat at the Schnitzelbank, a German restaurant that has been in downtown Grand Rapids for 72 years. We have fond memories of going there when we were dating, and we read in the paper that they are closing for good on Tuesday (to become a parking lot for Mary Free Bed Rehab Center). We could hardly get in the door because of all the people (at about 5:10) and were told we would have a three to four-hour wait. Needless to say, we did not stay and "celebrated" at Fazoli's (using one of our two-for-ones :)

We hope Brian and Amy are having a relaxing time at the B & B in Grand Haven; we hope Kevin, Jen, and Elinore have arrived safely in Bangkok, and we hope Eric, Ang, and Gabe have also arrived by train from Chiang Mai and are right now meeting Kevin and Jen and seeing Elinore for the first time. Our prayers are with all of you--and with Sam and Lydia as they spend time with their Grandma and Grandpa Van.

Welcome to Motherhood.

Just thought I would let you all know how fast Elinore is growing. At her appointment yesterday she weighed 11#4.5 and she is 23.5" long. I can't keep up with her! She also got her first round of immunizations. Poor kid, she's had a bit of a reaction. She's slept almost non-stop since we got home around noon yesterday. Everytime I move her, even the slightest bit, she starts crying. Most of you know how uncharacteristic that is of her. She hasn't had a fever, but we decided to give her some baby tylenol this morning. I squeezed the dropperful into her mouth. Within 10 seconds our sweet little girl turned into a hose. Literally vomiting all over herself and me. I was torn with three emotions: sympathy for my sick little girl, humor at the situation, and disgust that I was now soaked with vomit. We contemplated taking a photo of me in my gross clothing for the blog, but decided it would make you all sick to your stomaches. At least she's not eating real food yet!!

I told Kevin, "Now you know why I get annoyed when you worry about getting a little spot of drool on your pants." "Welcome to Motherhood," he replied.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BRIAN!

While I am writing this, Brian will turn 31 (8:17 AM). In honor of this occasion, I want to share a poem I discovered yesterday in one of the books at Grandma's condo. I found a wonderful book of poems published in 1888 by Ella Wheeler Wilcox. Please bear with the 19th-century language and realities (a nurse for the baby?!?).
INEVITABLE

Today I was so weary and I lay
In that delicious state of semi-awaking,
When baby, sitting with his nurse at play,
Cried loud for "mama," all his toys forsaking.

I was so weary and I needed rest,
And signed to nurse to bear him from the room.
Then, sudden, rose and caught him to my breast,
And kissed the grieving mouth and cheeks of bloom.

For swift as lightning came the thought to me,
With pulsing heart-throes and a mist of tears,
Of days inevitable, that are to be,
If my fair darling grows to manhood's years;

Days when he will not call for "mama," when
The world with many a pleasure and bright joy,
Shall tempt him forth into the haunts of men
And I shall lose the first place with my boy;

When other homes and loves shall give delight,
When younger smiles and voices will seem best.
And so I held him to my heart tonight,
Forgetting all my need of peace and rest.


In doing a bit of research, I found that shortly before this poem was published, her only child, a son, had died as an infant. Since my "fair darling" has lived well for 31 years, I share this poem--not because I have any need to return to those early years of being "first place," but as an encouragement to all of you as parents of such fair darlings.

More Birthday Pics

I guess this is the thing to do when it is someone's Birthday. So here you go Birthday Boy...straight from the archives.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AMY!

As an official member of the Birthday Police, I want everyone to know that Amy is celebrating a very special birthday today. Whether you think she's young or old depends on which side of her birthday year you are. I happen to think she is young--but with enough life experiences to make her wise, reflective, and fun to know. I hope she has a great day and that the coming decade will bring her many joys

I'm not sure...

...but I think I remember Brian looking kind of old in college too.

You Know You're Getting Older When...

We had the guys who live in the basement up for lunch on Sunday. Lydia was looking through some old photo albums I let her play with and came across this picture. I laughed at how young we looked and showed the picture to everyone. Jon said, "Wow, Brian, it looks like you've gotten so old and your wife looks the same!" I have had people tell me this before, but FOR THE FIRST TIME, I was actually flattered. FOR THE FIRST TIME, I took it as a real compliment that I cared to hear. FOR THE FIRST TIME, I didn't just brush it off...it made me happy and I basked in this opinion. This must be a true sign of getting older. 

Cute Kid

I had to post this because she is just so dang cute...and she slept until 9:45 this morning.

Life Revisited

As you know, Dad and I are finally dealing with all of Grandma's things (including Grandpa's and their parents'). Earlier this week, we discovered the high school yearbooks of both Grandma and Grandpa. As I looked through the pictures and messages written to them, I thought it sad that we never knew them then. Our memories of them are of old, ill, sometimes unpleasant people. I wish I had known them when they were young, vibrant, and interesting. Grandma's friends all wrote that she was a "swell" girl (apparently a common word in the '30's). As we've discovered so many of Grandpa's sketches and art work, we realize how talented he was. Had he lived, he would have had so many ideas about your remodeling projects. If he had his health, he would be the first to volunteer to help in any way he could.

I've often thought it would be nice if we (parents and children) could be the same age at the same time. We might understand one another better. I know it's not possible, but I wish I could have entered Grandpa and Grandma's world (even for a brief time) when they were young.

New Years Celebrations

We did some cool things for the New Year this year. On New Year's Eve we went to a reservoir a little north of Chiangmai and rented a house boat with about 20 other teachers from Grace. The reservoir is huge and much more like a lake than anything else. The scenery was beautiful. The word house boat is somewhat modest for the barge that we stayed on. The "house boat" included at least 10 rooms, each with a bathroom, 3 large common areas, a restaurant and a small fish farm. This complex was anchored but small boats were available for rental. We had a really lovely time. We played games nearly the whole time we were there. Gabe had some friends to play with as well. After we arrived home the next day, we prepared for a trip up to a village populated by the "B" tribal group. The "B" people had New Year celebrations going all day. We were invited to participate by a couple who has been translating the scriptures into "B" language for many years. The "B"people tend to have a harder time assimilating into Thai society, but are actually able to be self-sufficient for the most part. They make just about anything you can think of out of bamboo and they showed us all the different types and what they were good for. For the occasion, they killed a pig. That was probably the worst part of the trip. They bludgeoned it's head till it died. Still, we ate the pork and it was delicious. Eric also was able to pick up some of their dances and danced with them. I can't begin to describe everything we saw, but perhaps sometime we can show you the videos we took of the day. I'm posting a couple of pics here, but I'll put more on our weblog.