A Little Under the Weather

Matt started not feeling well on Sunday night. By Monday, he had a cough and sore throat and basically just felt lousy. Last night and today, he's had a fever, so he stayed home from school. Tomorrow is his big day. He's got chapel (that's he's supposed to participate in) and a greek quiz, but Anna confirmed that he's still got a pretty good fever going on, so he's home tomorrow, too. We're praying the fever goes down tomorrow and that Matt's feeling better soon!

A Little Homesick

Tonight, we went over to the Bulthuis's (Jacoba and Calvin) house. They, along with their friends, put together a video of their experiences at last summer's Ripon SERVE. I started feeling a little homesick seeing the pictures: the Ripon water tower, AVCRC, all the kids working in Stockton and playing in Santa Cruz, Ryan Schoonover and some of our other Ripon friends. They did a fantastic job on the video! It was a lot of fun to get together with them and do a little reminiscing.

Popcorn and Acorns

Anna and Matt were enjoying a popcorn snack the other day. They looked so cute, I had to take a picture.
When Anna was looking at this picture on the computer a couple of days later, I asked her what she and Papi were doing in the picture. She replied, "Eating corns" I thought that was kind of funny because she knows the word popcorn. When I asked her what kind of corns, she hesitated a moment, then answered, "Acorns" . What a funny kid!

Another Snowy Day

You'll probably get sick of seeing our outdoor pictures, but we have so much fun and Anna loves being bundled up and playing in the snow! (I know, I know, I'll be singing a different tune in about a month or so.)
You get a pretty good idea of how much snow we got last night and this morning by looking at the table on the deck in our backyard. (We just finished shoveling the driveway and now it's snowing pretty good again. Looks like we'll have to shovel again later this afternoon.)

Lately, Anna has been getting into wearing my scarves when we go out.


She loves to eat snow and feed snow to her mommy and papi.
Sometimes, after Papi eats snow, he needs the snow brushed off his beard. Anna is happy to help.
Thought you might like to hear a little of Anna's favorite winter song. Enjoy!

Single Digits

Ok, now it's really cold. It's only 3:15 pm (Anna's napping) and it's 9 degrees outside! At least we did get some snow with this cold front. I actually don't mind the cold and snow right now, but I am starting to get a little worried because every time I mention that I'm really looking forward to March when spring comes, everyone here looks at me like I'm crazy!

Matt gets all bundled up to go out and shovel. I think he's loving the snow!

Anna decided that once the driveway had been shoveled, it was time to get her car out. It's a bit rough to get in and out of with princess boots on, but she does it.

A New Hobby

Anna has been enjoying a new hobby. Take a look!

One Cent Pony

Anna and I regularly shop at Meijer. She's not so into the groceries, but does love to look at the live lobster tank, the goldfish, and getting a ride on the pony in the store. I like it because the pony ride only costs 1 penny!

"Cheese"

Anna handed me the camera yesterday and said, "Say cheese". I thought for sure she'd be on to something else long before I had the camera ready, but she stayed there and smiled for me. (Maybe in a few months, she'll actually sit still for her 2 year old portraits.)
Matt's back at it. He actually started classes again last Friday. This week will be tough. He had a huge paper due today and has another one due tomorrow. Wednesday, he's got a smaller assignment, and maybe a Greek quiz on Friday. He'll be ready for the weekend. Anna and I start up with Coffee Break tomorrow. We had some really great family time during vacation and now it's nice to get back into our routine. We're planning another visit to the Children's Museum on Thursday ($1 night).

Crazy weather!

(it's Matt again) So we made Anna's first snowman, then the weather warmed a bit, then cooled a bunch, and now we realize that our snowman is actually a snowwoman. Her name, obviously, is Eileen. I'm afraid that she's going to melt completely this weekend as the temps hit the 50's. Sad? We're not sure yet...

Happy New Year!

Our niece, Abbey, got a cup stacking game for Christmas and brought it along to a family gathering on Sunday afternoon. Everyone got a chance to try it out. These are the highlights (Amanda and Abbey) that I caught on tape. It was a lot of fun!

Last night we spent some fun with old and new friends to ring in the new year. Even Anna stayed up until past midnight. She slept until around 11:00 this morning. After one stop at the bookstore, we went to Matt's mom's house. Anna loves going to Grandma's house by the "yake". We had a great lunch, then played a round of farkel while Anna took a 2 hour nap. Anna was in an incredibly good mood after her nap, so we had an enjoyable supper (with some olie bollen for dessert) before we headed home. Here are some pictures of the day.

Just one more...

Gail said I could post just one more...
Anna got some squeaky shoes from my cousin Deb's family in Minnesota. You would think they might get annoying, but they are just too hilarious!
-Matt

Dancing Queen

Gail said I could do a little blogging today. Of course Gail and I have unique ring tones for each other, and I always do a little dance inside when I hear a call from Gail. Nothing, however, beats Anna's joy. Sometimes I call her just for fun when I see she's holding Gail's phone.
-Matt