Homan Happenings

Martha Group Christmas!

2010-12-21T07:45:00.001-08:00

I think I have the best bible study group of friends in the world! We call ourselves the Martha Girls because we started off 4 years ago with a couple Mary/Martha studies and we could all relate to Martha! We've done on-going studies since and cherish each other immensely! We're soo much more than a bible study group....we have carried each others burdens and prayed one another through some really hard stuff!! I always look forward to our gatherings including our annual Christmas parties with our girls. At one point all our girls went to school together but since a couple of them have switched schools but they LOVE to get together anytime too! Tonight we missed having Jodie, Macy and Miley due to illness. Here is our group:

Christmas JOY!

2010-12-19T13:27:00.000-08:00

busy making PBJ sandwiches

decorating the bags with "merry Christmas" and bible verses

I love the Christmas season for many reasons but a big part of it is the JOY that overhwelmingly surrounds me. Joy to me is an inner happiness. It's a perfect word for the feeling of when my heart smiles. One of my theme bible verses for my life is from Thessalonians. It says, "Be JOYFUL always, pray continuously, in ALL things be thankful for this is God's will for those who belong to Christ Jesus." I sometimes wonder if I've had to live up to my name or I was named because God knew I would strive to be joyful. Anyway, there have been 2 specific events this weekend to bring me JOY!
First of all the girls and I were at Desert Ridge mall. It's an outside mall, but we were in As You Wish, painting pottery. It was a typical busy shopping day a week before Christmas. The girls were enjoying themselves painting and I was having fun people watching too. We sat at a table in the front window. All of a sudden the music outside grew louder and Erin says "what are they doing?" We look outside and right in the middle of the courtyard, several people had started dancing. Soon people from all over had joined them until there was a group about 20-30 people doing a very choreographed dance to Christmas music. When they were done, all the dancers very casually went their own way as if nothing happened. Come to find out this happens all over...it's called "flash mob". I gotta tell you had this blessed us! It put a smile on everyone's face and it made my heart smile too!
Then on Saturday our family made about 50 lunches and brought them down along with blankets for the homeless. Now living in Scottsdale and being on the north side of the "pass", we just don't get downtown Phoenix very often so our kids just have not had much exposure to homeless people. The older 2 have more memories of going downtown Seattle and seeing more. Erin especially has such heart to help, serve and love on people. It was an eye opening experience and it was priceless hearing Erin's observations. She was surprised that many of the recipients said "God Bless You" before we could say it to them. Also she mentioned she expected to hear people's voice all scratchy because they've been homeless for awhile and don't have water to drink. She was also suprised to see "so many dark skinned people be homeless." Yes, we did bless those on the streets with our gifts, BUT we got to experience the joy of giving and they blessed us with their smiles, acceptance and appreciation. Just 2 hours downtown serving and we all feel more appreciative of what we have. We hope to do it again and bring some of our friends to join us!
It sure feels good when my heart smiles!
Merry Christmas Friends!!

Oh and this "flash mob" incident was shared at church today...another sweet heart smile and even tears in my eyes! Enjoy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXh7JR9oKVE

Sedona in the Fall!!

2010-11-08T16:43:00.001-08:00

Kyle - 8th Grade FUN Night

2010-11-08T16:39:00.000-08:00

Games, Small group discussion, Fireworks, Food and LOTS of laughter!!

Halloween Pics

2010-11-08T16:35:00.000-08:00

It's about time!!!

2010-11-08T16:17:00.000-08:00

Seriously..... It's definitely time I update this blog! Life is busy as usual! I left off at our trip to Michigan......we ended our summer with a wonderful trip to Washington! We loved seeing friends, family and breathing in the great fresh air of the PNW! School started with a bang in August and it's been non-stop! Part of the crazyness of starting school had to do with my school commitments that I have this year. Along with my usual "jobs" of coordinating Home Room Moms, being a HRM, and coordinating our school restaurant night -fund raisers (we do 6-8 a year).....I also am co-chairing hot lunch this year. Why, you ask?? Because I was chosen to chaperone Andi's 7th grade trip to Catalina Island (off the coast of Cali) and my "payment" is to run hotlunch this year! Now with a couple months under my belt, it is going smoothly! (thank God!) Also in September and October I was sick!! :( It started out with bronchitis and turned into pneumonia and pleurisy and 7 weeks later, after 2 rounds of antibiotics, I FINALLY felt better! Just in time for Jeff's parents to come. We enjoyed time with them and time up in Sedona!! Oh, my is Sedona extra pretty in the Fall! Also come and gone...Halloween! Once again, Kyle hung out with friends and we had family friends over to trick or treat. Andi was the most beautiful "Miss America" and Erin was a cute fiesty pirate! Tooo much candy in the house!! :(
Also, this fall, Grandma Rinsema entered the gates of Heaven! It was a wonderful opportunity to fly to Chicago to be with family to celebrate her life! I'm so thankful for the time the kids and I got to spend with her this past summer. Our last hugs and memories for the kids. Another thing that's been taking up our time/energy this fall is fundraising. Kyle and his 8th grade class are going to WA D.C this spring! So our goal is to raise all $900 to go! He's worked hard painting, babysitting, carwashing, selling things in the n'hood and tomorrow I am hosting a jewelry party to raise funds for him. He's made a huge dent! I'll be happy to make our goal! So, activity wise....Kyle played fall soccer at school (tied for 1st in league -but 3rd in last tourney)...Andi continues year round swim team (at the verge of making state times) and Erin does gymnastics and dance. Busy, Busy, Busy! 4 nights a week we are home at 7pm. I'm soo thankful for my crockpot and hubby so we can be eating dinner at 7:05!! So, that's a realistic update. I will try not to let this many months go by!!

Vacation to Lake Michigan

2010-07-19T14:53:00.000-07:00

We are just wrapping up our wonderful vacation in Michigan. It ranks pretty high for being the best trip we've taken out here. First of all the weather was perfect. Mostly sunny days and the water was warm the whole time! We were all in the water every day..sometimes several times a day! Some days we had perfect waves for body surfing and boogie-boarding. Other days were perfect wind for sailing. And we had some really calm days perfect for long boat rides and relaxing on the beach. Kyle and Andi both got their share of skiing in. Both got up on ski's the first attempt of the summer. Kyle even got brave and dropped a ski and skied slolum for a bit. Maybe next year we'll get Andi to go out side of the wake? Erin and cousin Ali giggled while tubing and entertained us all. While here we got to visit my grandma in Illinios, Jeff's Grandpa in Grand Rapids as well as college friends in GR. We also went to a rodeo with the whole clan and had a great pulled pork BBQ! The kids also played in the "forest" quite a bit with their cousins, riding bike and building forts and enjoying frequent visits from the deer. With the age they are at, they have so much freedom to do as they want which gives me (us) some more relaxing time! We were here for 18 days and they have flown by! We made some great memories, that is for sure. Until next year, Lake Michigan.....

Visiting Grandma Rinsema in Illinois.

Visiting Grandpa Maring....almost 101 years old!

Visiting our college friends in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Warm, warm Lake Michigan!

Luging in Muskegon, Michigan.

Playing on the beach at sunset!

Erin's adoring Fans! :)

"Take that!"

My beauties!

Erin's AG Molly Mystery Party!

2010-05-24T21:33:00.000-07:00

Erin had just a couple close friend over to celebrate her birthday with an American Girl Molly Mystery Party. Each girl was assigned a character and asked to dress up and come in character. They then follow a script and solve a mystery....who took the candy?? The girls then watched the AG Molly movie. Lots of fun, energy and giggles!

Our Oasis!

2010-05-18T09:21:00.001-07:00

We've been hard at work in the backyard, getting it all pruned and cleaned up before it gets to hot! Now we can enjoy our nice oasis! We have so much in bloom....hibiscus and various colors of Lantana! The tree with purple flowers is a Jacaranda and it's just at the end of it's blooms. I missed getting the bright yellow blooms on the Palo Verde. Ready for visitors.....anyone??

We've got a TEENAGER in our house!

2010-05-18T09:11:00.000-07:00

Kyle turned 13 on May 16! It's hard to believe! He had a fun rock climbing party with just a couple goody buddy's. He also chose Cheesecake Factory for his dinner....so we combined the celebration! His big gift was a cell phone and unlimited texts. The girls got him a clip for his airsoft gun and some aeropostale shirts to be fashionable :)

Happy 8th Birthday Erin!

2010-05-18T09:01:00.000-07:00

Erin turned 8 on May 14th! She had a great day! It happened to be the school talent show that day, so her special day was full and fun! She chose Cheesecake Factory for her birthday dinner. She will be having an American Girl Molly Mystery party on the 22nd. Jeff and I have been redoing her room as her main present...more pictures to come when it's complete! She enjoyed a shopping spree thanks to Grandma and Oma knew the perfect PJ's and shoes for her! Kyle and Andi gave her some stuff too! Happy birthday to our sweet girl!

Erin's Gymnastics

2010-05-06T14:07:00.000-07:00

This is Erin's 2nd year in gymnastics. It's really her love! She has such beautiful form for cartwheels and such and has mastered the "round-off 2 back hand-springs"! She takes the class from Ms. Bonnie through a local public elementary afterschool program. It's pretty low key and very affordable! I did sign her up for a month at a "real gym" and they were soo ready to nab her and have her come 3 days a week. We're liking the casual and fun atmosphere where she's at, thank you! I don't need her to have a worn out body at 20! Erin enjoys getting to spend some time with her cousin in class too. (Rachel is the in pictures and video with Erin. She almost as tiny as Erin but she's in 5th grade!) I think Erin really likes to be the littlest and youngest in class where she gets a lot of attention from the 4-6 graders! This year she was in the advanced class and this week they performed a show routine at all 6 classes performances! Now it's over until fall......

Jeff Gets Platinum Time!

2010-04-27T12:38:00.000-07:00

So, this was it...his last change to qualify for platinum status before riding in the Tour to Tucson in the fall again with Peter. If you've stayed up on his journey.....last fall, his goal along with friend/riding partner Peter was to make Platinum time in the Tucson race. Platinum status means you ride at the front of the whole group and can stay with the front peloton group a bit easier. More importantly it means that they don't have to wake up at 3am to get in the front of the gold group! So their goals was doing the 109 miles in under 5hours, but Jeff crashed just 3 miles for the finish line. Peter finished in 4:51 which got himPlatinum time! Jeff ended up with a broken collar bone but within 6 weeks was back on his bike training for the next race! Together they rode in the Tour to Phoenix to try to get the qualifying time, but a near accident caused some mechanical problems and he rode the 70 miles as if his brakes were on and missed the Platinum time by less than 2 minutes! So this the last qualifying race and because Peter was riding in another race, he did it alone. We surprised him at the finish line to watch him come in with 8 minutes to spare! We then learned that he was inches away from being in the middle of a horrible accident just 300 yards from the finish line.... couple guys ended up in the irrigation ditch on their back, while another guy was taken by ambulance (broken collar bone I'm sure!) and yet another carried his unridable bike to the finish line! YIKES! We are soo thankful to God for protection and success! Now he keeps the Platinum status for 3 years (and it'll refresh for each race he makes plat. time for)

Pinewood Derby!

2010-04-27T12:29:00.001-07:00

The past few months the kids have really enjoyed going to GEMS and CADETS at our new church - Palm Lane CRC. Both groups have spent much of that time making pinewood derby cars and they've all had fun designing and making them! The competition with Phoenix CRC was this past Saturday and Kyle came home with 2 trophy's....2nd place in performance and 1st place in Design! Andi's went faster backwards than it did forwards (she got 4th in girls) and Erin didn't put graphite on the wheels like everyone else did so she was at a disadvantage. All in all, a fun morning!

Kyle - The English Hedgehog in "Animals"

2010-04-19T14:29:00.000-07:00

Kyle took drama class again this year at PVCP. The drama teacher writes and directs the JrHigh play and this year it was entitled "Animals". Basically it was a story of the animals perspective as they gathered to board Noah's Ark. It was funny and touching. Mr Nadolny did a great job giving each animal such character and the students did a marvelous job carrying it all through! Kyle really enjoyed it. This year he was also appointed as Stage Manager which was quite an honor. Even more so was the fact that Mr. N told the cast that Kyle was his BEST stage manager he's had since writing and directing plays! He's already been recruited for next year's play which was revealed by Kyle on the last night of the performance.... it'll be about pirates! This weekend Kyle was asking if Calvin had a drama/theater major..... :)

Andi's Birthday Sleepover!

2010-04-19T14:01:00.001-07:00

This was probably Andi's most fun party to date! The best part was it was simple and planned by her!! She invited 6 close friends for a sleepover. She wanted to extend the beach theme from her bedroom makeover and so we served "Lava punch", made individual cream pies, had a seashell/flip flop race, coconut balloon game and gave flipflops, sunscreen and lip balm for the goody bags. It was non-stop fun from the minute they got home from school until the next morning at pick up. They put together a "tween idol" which hopefully I can post after Kyle puts all the video clips together. Lots of giggles, some prank calling, secrets shared and lot of junk food to eat! Andi is blessed with a great group of friends!

Happy 11th Birthday Andi!

2010-04-19T13:44:00.000-07:00

It's birthday season in the Homan household! Andi turned 11 on April 9th. She spent her actual birthday at Knotts Berry Farm with PVCP kids and me! (see earlier blog) For her main birthday present this year, she wanted her room re-done. So together we picked some colors and a beach theme but and the final outcome would be a surprise for Andi! Opa painted her room and slowly but surely I purchased decor and Jeff worked on trim work and we had the reveal a week after her birthday (she was soo patient!). It's still not 100% done. I have to find some window treatment and Jeff is making a surfboard for above her bed. She was thrilled with how it turned out!

Jeff's El Tour de Phoenix

2010-04-12T20:48:00.000-07:00

He did it! After his fall back in November in the el Tour de Tucson, he got back on his bike and trained for the Phoenix race! Andi and I had gotten home from California after 2am, so as I crawled in bed at 2:30, Jeff crawled out of bed at 3:30 to head down to the start line to get in good position. The kids and I then woke up at 6am and drove out to the 1/2 way point to watch the peloton go by. We picked a place up on a crest, so they would be going somewhat slow, so we could pick Jeff out. Gorgeous morning! Jeff had given us an estimated time of when they'd come through and sure enough almost to the minute and right on target time, he and Peter peddled by. So, off to the finish line the kids and I went. Since they were riding in the peleton (front group) at the 1/2 mark we expected them to finish with the group, but we waited and waited and dreaded the familiar phone calls both Peter's wife Dena and I have both gotten in the past after an accident. BUT, just 2 min after their goal time, they came riding in, with disappointed faces :( When we met them after they crossed the finish line, we learned that Jeff had several mechanical problems from a flat tire 5 min before the race (could have been someone tampering with his bike!?) as well as a biker that clipped him and bent some "parts" making his back tire rub as if the breaks were on! Yes, Jeff rode nearly 70 miles as if his breaks were on! He found this out when he spun his tire at the end of the race and it completely stopped turning and had a ton of resistance! His poor legs! He wondered why he was cramping up so much during the race and how the gauge to measure their wattage/power showed much lower numbers than expected (can you tell I don't totally have all this biking lingo?!) All in all, they were disappointed because they really wanted to get Jeff to qualify for Platinum time so they could ride again the Tucson race in November as Platinum riders. BUT all in all, they finished in 1 peice!! Praise God for that!

This was our view as we waited for the guys!

Trip to SoCal and Knotts with Andi

2010-04-12T20:21:00.000-07:00

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Last month our kids' school had a serve-a-thon and in the weeks leading up to it, the kids were challenged to go into the neighborhoods to collect donations/pledges. They of course had incentives to work toward and Andi was so motivated to earn the trip to Knotts Berry Farm because it was on her birthday! Well, I couldn't let her go the 6 hour trip and spend her birthday w/o me! So, I volunteered to chaperone - much to my surprise Andi was actually VERY excited to have me join her! We had a great time! We had about 55 people in our group - students and chaperones. I was in charge of the 5th grade girls (5 total) which are a great group! To make my job easier, another mom came in a separate car, so really I only had to watch Andi and her friend Tara! We drove out on Thursday morning and spent late afternoon til evening at Huntington beach. Gorgeous day! The kids enjoyed getting feet wet and running on the beach and playing volleyball. Groups each went their own way for dinner and so Andi, Tara and I enjoyed dinner at Ruby's out on the pier. We watched the gorgeous sunset! We then went to a church in the area where we slept - or tried to! Friday we woke up early, enjoyed breakfast at Denny's and went to Knotts! We had a blast! It was kinda funny because before we got there, the girls were sure they would ride all the big 5 star roller coaster rides, but when walking into the park, they were not soo sure! So, while the lines were really long at the well known rides, we eased into it and enjoyed a bunch of rides before hitting Ghost Rider (which I begged the girls to go on and did NOT like!) Unfortunately it was spring break for many Cal schools, so the park was pretty busy! But what a fun trip! The ride home was LONG...didn't get home til 2am after few extra stops due to sick kids! (hotdogs, corndogs, not enough water and crazy rides don't make a good mix! - lucky for me and the girls we ate healthier and stayed on the easier rides!) Great memories! We took a disposible camara into the theme park, so those pictures may never make it onto here!

Easter Day!

2010-04-06T22:09:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful Easter day! It started off with a nice service at Palm Lane CRC, with perfect sunny weather and the smell of spring in the air. We had Joel and Dana and the kids over for a brunch after church and just hung out an relaxed. The kids have been working on filming a movie for the past few months and they finished up the taping of that....now to complete the editing and it will be ready to post. (Kyle has even collected orders at school to sell this movie!) The kids even jumped in the 72 degree pool to cool off. Overall, a very nice day and celebration of Jesus' resurrection. Happy Easter!

I loved the look on both Andi and Erin's face on this picture! Priceless. I'm not sure why Erin looks disgusted with the bunny top??!

Meeting Evabelle!

2010-04-06T09:45:00.000-07:00

At the end of March I flew to Pittsburgh to meet Evabelle and to play with Noah for a long weekend. I had such a great time! It was fun to leave the season of life I am now (crazy busy schedule) to the life of sitting, holding, playing with babes! Now it helped I wasn't in my own house, so the need to clean, do laundry, organize etc wasn't there. I did help, don't get me wrong. I cooked dinners and relieved mom/dad to sleep, work, run errands whatever. Noah is fun! He's got a lot of energy and charisma which I remember of Kyle at that age too! He's curious, playful, funny and loveable! Evabelle is a sweet beautiful baby! She is soo easy! Sleep, eat, poop and do it again. I tried soo hard to get a smile out of her. There were 1/2 smiles and open mouth almost smiles, so I was happy with that. She's just on the verge of cooing. While there I even got to see some sights of Pittsburgh! Although I had been there when Noah was born, for 24 hours, I didn't get a chance to see the city, see where Aaron works etc. Noah, Aaron and I took a incline up Washington hill and had great views of the city! There were even 2 proposals while we were up there! Anyway, I was really glad to be able to go, visit them and enjoy some time with my neice and nephew that live so far away!

Horseback Riding Date with Daddy!

2010-04-05T14:33:00.000-07:00

Jeff and our friend Steve took the girls, Andi, Erin, Anna and Olivia horseback riding in Tonto National Forest. It was daily deal on groupon.com and the girls screamed at the opportunity. They pitched in for 1/2 the cost and waited with anticipation for the day to come! It was a gorgeous Spring day and the desert was incredibly green with wonderful wild flowers everywhere! They thoroughly enjoyed their 2 hour ride. They all said it went way too fast! My girls have a genuine love for horses and riding. As their mom I wish I could nurture that more but first of all it's all very costly and secondly, I have a fear of horses! I'm not sure exactly why, but I stem much of the fear to when Kyle fell of a horse and got stepped on when he was 4 yr old. I'll try to scan a picture later of how he looked after the accident, but it just makes me soo nervous and worried watching my babies get on such big animals! Last year our whole family went riding in Banff and I thought that would have cured my fears, but it didn't. I was completely doing the ride for the kids and couldn't wait for it to be finished. So, it's unfair for my girls that I have this fear, but I know there's a lot of fun things I do let them do! :) And besides, occasionally I can just send Jeff out with them to satisfy their desires! What a good daddy!

Spring Break 2010 !

2010-03-20T20:36:00.000-07:00

We are just ending a wonderful Spring Break being at home. I didn't originally want to be home the whole week. I was looking into going to California for 2-3 nights, but when Jeff and Kyle got rained out of their planned backpacking trip last month (yes it rained a lot in AZ in February!), they planned to do it over Spring Break. Now that we've been home all week, I am soo glad we just stayed home! It's been really nice weather all week, so we've enjoyed a day at Spring Training cheering on the Mariners. Yes, the weather has been great, but I tell you the absolute best part has been sleeping in and not having to rush out of the house! I've been waking up 8/8:30, girls arose around 8:30 and Kyle rolls out of bed 9:30/10!! Other days we ran errands, went shopping, saw a movie, Andi went to the wild life park and aquarium with a friend, and Kyle hung out with buddies and played laser tag. This past few nights the boys joined another dad/son and went backpacking in the Superstition Mountains. The girls and I enjoyed some time together doing girly things...move, dinner out, shopping and of course Saturday chores. They also enjoyed a tea party out side today with their American girl dolls. (Jeff has our camera, so sorry no pictures included) Ok, now the boys got home and I have some pictures to post of their trip. They had a great time but the hike was pretty hard on their bodies! Probably didn't help that Jeff's boot fell apart within the first mile and so he had to run back to the van and then wear his Teva sandals the rest of the way! They enjoyed nice weather and beautiful scenery! They also experienced God's protection when Kyle came face to face with a hissing rattlesnake!! He said that as he was hiking with his hiking stick, he had just put planted the stick just a few inches from the snake when he heard it hissing and started coiling up!! From then on the dad's split up and one went at the front and one at the back of them! They hiked about 18 miles (Jeff did 20 b/c of his boot incident) Wonderful memories.

Finally...an update!!

2010-03-20T19:53:00.000-07:00

Ok friends who follow my blog....my sincere apologies for practically falling off the face of the earth! I can't believe it's been this long since I've posted anything! I guess I haven't been taking too many pictures so I don't think about posting anything. Well, I'll try to be brief and let you know what's been happening in our lives!
I'll start off with my "kid bragging" b/c we have lots of it!! :)
January- Kyle and Andi were in the district spelling bee but neither made it to regionals this year. Report cards for 1st Semester showed Andi with all "A's" (Principals list) and Kyle made the honor roll (A's and B's) and Erin too got all A's and B's. (same for 3rd quarter!) February- Kyle joined golf team at school and Erin continues to enjoy gymnastics 1/week. March- Both Kyle and Andi made it to regional Math Olympics and Andi placed 4th in her grade and Kyle placed 5th in his (each had about 30 to compete with) Andi qualified for a State time and swam in the state finals in freestyle. Their relay placed 4th overall and she took even more time off her best time for her individual event and did great! She continues to really enjoy swimming. It's definitely a time commitment now making it to 4 practices a week. March also meant spring break (I'll do a separate blog about that)
So, we had a lot of ups the past few months but we also had a very bad low....Jeff's big boss (owner of the company) and his wife, daughter and 2 others went down in the company helicopter on February 14th. What an incredible sad day that was and to experience the aftermath of the horrific tradgedy was heart breaking! Tom had a great vision for the company, so Jeff has not doubt that it will continue on as strong as Tom has built it. Other recent news is that our family is switching churchs'. We've gone to Covenant Community (Presbyterian Church of America) for the past 3 1/2 years and we've all decided there are parts we miss about the CRC, so we tried out both CRC and have been attending Palm Lane CRC and have really enjoyed the familiarity that it brings. (we initially visited Palm Lane when we first moved here, but felt the 25 min drive was too much) We haven't made any final decision but the kids have enjoyed being apart of GEMS and Cadets. So, that about covers it the past few month. Looking head..... I'll try to keep up! :) Next week I'll be flying to Pittsburgh to meet my new neice, Evabelle Lynn (born to Aaron and Amy) so I"m sure I'll have pictures to post! Besides, it's getting to be birthday season in the Homan household, so I will promise to have more updates coming!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T12:37:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas to all who we love! It's such a fun time of year...filled with wonder and excitement! As we give and receive gifts we are reminded how much our Lord loved us to send his own son as a GIFT! Definitely the best gift of all! Last night we talked as a family about all the details of Jesus' birth that we are soo in awe about....from how God picked Mary and what she really musta thought or wondering how much she really knew, to God picking the place Jesus was born...in a dirty, lowly manger...to how the shephards reacted to the angel... to the sound of the multitude of angels....etc etc! What an amazing time!

We stayed in Arizona this year for the holidays and had a quiet Christmas eve and morning. We went to church, had a little "happy hour" and opened gifts from Gpa and Gma. Then they woke up at 8am to Santa's gifts in their stockings. After breakfast, we enjoyed giving to one another. Some of the favorite gifts included: ipod/touch docking alarm clocks, american girl clothes, lego's, littlest petshop, movies, Xbox 360, and big screen tv. Joel, Dana and the kids are coming over anytime for a traditional ham dinner. How blessed we feel! Merry Christmas to you all!

Christmas Activities!

2009-12-21T21:08:00.000-08:00

Erin and Andi enjoyed a little tea party up in the play room on Sunday. Sweet sisters...I had to capture these pictures because they haven't been soo sweet to each other recently! :)

This is always a busy time of year between parties and programs! Sunday the kids were involved in the traditional Christmas pageant at church. Erin played the part of Mary and Kyle and Andi were both narrators. They all did a great job!

Tonight we enjoyed a Christmas party with our Martha girls group and daughters. What a precious group!

Andi's Sacred Dance Recital

2009-12-18T17:08:00.000-08:00

Andi is in Sacred Dance as an elective this year. She absolutely LOVES it! She has a wonderful teacher with a sweet South African accent! The girls are all her "angels" and she encourages them to dance for Jesus!

We say goodbye to Calvin!

2009-12-10T16:29:00.000-08:00

For the past few months Calvin has really gotten weaker and weaker to the point of not being able to stand up too well as his back legs would slide apart until he would fall and get stuck. He often would fall into the pool trying to get a drink and not be able to get out. Finally the last week he stopped eating his dog food. So, we knew it was time, but that didn't make it easy! We put Calvin down on Saturday, December 5th. He was 13 1/2 years old...about 95 dog years old. The "night before", the kids had a sleepover with him, laying out sleeping bags in the family room and having Calvin sleep right next to them. The next morning we all loved on him and couldn't stop the tears when Jeff drove him away and had the hard part of petting him while he went to sleep.
What a great dog he was for our family! We got him as a puppy in 1996. What an adorable lil puppy with huge paws he was! We got him from the pound. He was part lab part pitbull (although we weren't told about the pit part when we got him) We knew he was "ours" at the pound after we kept trying to make up "Seattle" names like mocha, cappachino etc and he wouldn't respond so we looked at the clip board and he already had a name....CALVIN! We knew he was ours! We had a lot of fun years with Calvin as our buddy! He was very energetic...
sometimes too much so when he would run out our front door and think we were playing a game trying to call him in. He LOVED to go camping and to run on the beach. The kids never complained about feeding him or picking up his poop. They had fun nick names for him like schmoopy, buddy, puppers, cutie, sweetie, honey bunches of oats etc... He will be greatly missed!

Andi and Joy Sleep with the Lions at the Zoo!

2009-11-24T17:16:00.000-08:00

This has GOT to be the best field trip ever! PVCP 5th graders get to go to camp at the zoo! I was quick to volunteer to chaperone this one. We arrived at the zoo at 6pm. We settled in our camp area and then split into groups to tour the zoo. Zoo lights was going on which made this experience even better! Besides the tour, we saw and learned about nocternal animals and got to pet the bat rays. We then slept in tents made of cement floor and canvas walls/ceiling. It was cold! Ok, not like midwest cold but for AZ, it gets down in to the 40's this time of year! We didn't get great sleep, but the coolest thing was hearing the lions roaring right beside us! The next day after our continental breakfast, we got to have more "insider" experiences and then spent the day at the zoo. We had a great mom/daughter time!

El Tour de Tucson

2009-11-23T17:37:00.000-08:00

Last year when Jeff and Peter rode the 109 miles in the el tour de Tucson race, they swore they wouldn't do it again....well.... after recovering from Jeff's ruptured Achilles, he was back on his bike in July and training for the race! They signed up and were ready to go. Our families went down to cheer them on. Dena, the kids and I met them for their water station at mile 60 and they were going strong...well ahead of their goal. We then drove to the finishing line and waited only to get a call that Jeff had crashed at mile 106 and was being taken by ambulance! They ride so close together drafting off of each and when one goes down....several go with, so he crashed with a group of 8 or so. Within minutes, Peter finished the race with a platinum time (under 5 hours) which was ahead of their goal. Kyle and I then met Jeff at the ER where we found out he broke his collar bone! How disappointing! 3 miles from the finish line and soo close from crushing his goal! Broken collar bones are probably the most common injury for bikers. So, off the bike again for awhile but I think he'll be back on a trainer soon because now they are talking about getting Jeff qualified for platinum time in the Tour de Scottsdale race in March (easier race) so they can ride again together with the platinum group in Tucson. Just can't slow this guy down!

Martha Girls

2009-10-19T10:13:00.000-07:00

Several years ago, a few of my new friends decided to start having bible study together. I can't tell you what a blessing this group has been! We have done several books of the bible studies and we've done a few Mary/Martha books together. We call ourselves the Martha girls because we all struggle with being "Martha's"....being too busy serving ourselves and family to sit at the feet of our Jesus to nurture our relationship with Him. But with these books written by Joanna Weaver (Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World and Having a Mary Spirit) and with the support and encouragement of these wonderful friends, we realize it's a daily surrender to make having a coffee date with our Lord and Saviour a priority! Tonight we'll finish our discussions from "Having a Mary Spirit" book. She starts and finishes this book with a prayer I hold in my heart today....

Lord Jesus, I give you my life. I invite You to have Your way in me. Take me and break me. Shake me and make me. Fill me and spill me. Change me and rearrnage me. But whatever you do Lord....don't leave me the same. Spirit of wisdom and revelation, I welcome your work. Open my eyes so I can see... my ears so I can hear... I choose truth over comfort, challange over complacency. Lord, make me forever Yours. And most of all, make me like You. AMEN

The Grades are In!

2009-10-19T10:07:00.000-07:00

Way to go kiddos! Report cards came home from 1st quarter and we have good news in our household! Andi made the principals list...all A's!! She'll get to go for breakfast with others students with this honor and our headmaster Mrs. Temple! Way to go Andi! Kyle made the honor roll...all A's and B's. (he missed the principals list by getting 1 B in History!) So proud of you Bud! Erin did great too (they don't do honors at her level) and she get all A's and B's and E and S marks! A great start! We give all glory and honor to God for their wonderful gifts!

Fall Beauty in the White Mountains in Arizona

2009-10-13T08:51:00.001-07:00

We spent a wonderful weekend in Greer Arizona with our great friends -the Rondeau's. The place we stayed is called Greer Lodge Resort. We discovered the place last year when we took a fun RV trip, so we decided we had to make the trip again (minus the RV). We took a couple extra kids with us. There is plenty room in the luxury log cabin. It has 2 master bedrooms with King beds and then upstairs it has a huge bedroom that has 3 queen beds and a loft with a pull out sofa for the boys. Greer is just over 4 hours away in the White Mountains of Arizona. What a beautiful drive we had! Once we got there, we enjoyed the cool, crisp air and the wonderful fall colors! We took hikes, went geo-caching, went fly fishing, saw wild life, played bocce ball, played games, ate, hung out and relaxed! We left Greer with wonderful memories, and feeling overhwelmingly blessed with sweet friends and a great God who has gifted us with such amazing creation to enjoy!

Cruise to Cabo!

2009-10-06T17:38:00.000-07:00

Jeff and I celebrated our 16th anniversary and surprised our friend Tim for his 40th birthday with a cruise to Cabo, Mexico! This was our first cruise! We were in awe of how big the boat was! We left San Diego on Thursday on Carnival Elation and sailed down the Baja. As we set sail, we toasted with Champagne off the back of the boat. For 5 days we thoroughly enjoyed the experience of the cruise....the food, the shows, the activities, the company! We did however have some stormy weather which made for some unexpected sea sickness! :( (reminder to self...take sea sick pills MUCH earlier next time!) While in Cabo, we took a catamaran excursion. It was a blast even though the water/currents were too rough to kayak or snorkel. We enjoyed being on the sail boat anyway! Experiencing pouring rain in Cabo was pretty cool for us Arizona sun people! It was beautiful in the rain and sun! Our sail back was much better (or at least I kept taking the pills!) and we enjoyed time in the sun on the deck, relaxing! Thanks for a great time Tim and Jodie.....many great memories made!! I would definitely cruise again!

Friendship Reunion!

2009-09-16T20:18:00.000-07:00

Last weekend 6 of the girls that I met 20 years ago on the campus of Calvin College came to Scottsdale to enjoy a fabulous weekend together. We stayed at the Intercontinental Montelucia Resort in Scottsdale. As dutch girls, we of course got a great deal....$95/night + $25 resort credit at a 5 star resort! We enjoyed dinners out, some shopping, happy hours, relaxing by the pool and lots of shared stories and memories! We laughed alot! One of the nights we were out at the pool at midnight having intertube races! Needless to say, we all slept well that night! It was so nice to get the time together to make some incredible memories! Thanks to our families who supported our "retreat"! We're already planning for the next one!

Back to School!

2009-08-19T10:07:00.000-07:00

It was back to school for the Homan kids this week! Monday we had orientation to meet their teachers and get their schedules (older kids). Both Kyle and Andi also had the responsibility as ambassador students to welcome their assigned new students (a GREAT program!). It was fun to see friends after the summer break! Tuesday then was a full day! All 3 of them are excited to start! Kyle is looking forward to the big 7th grade Catalina Island trip, bug collection and of course the spring drama production! His challanging classes this year will be Algebra I and Latin. As a 5th grader Andi got to choose her electives this year: Sacred Dance and Latin. She's also in the accelerated Math track which should keep her on her toes! They also get to change classes/teacher for a few subjects. It's the last year in the lower elemetary building for Erin. She's excited to be in 2nd grade!
My home is quiet!! These first few weeks are hard...believe it or not, I do miss them and am axious to hear about their day when they come home! But I also enjoy getting some time for "me"....back on track with visits to the gym, spending time in God's word and taking care of the house/family stuff! (hardly a spare moment!) After school activities will start up in the next few weeks......here we go.....!!

Oh My! Lynden Christian 20 Year HS reunion!

2009-08-06T12:11:00.001-07:00

I can hardly believe it's already been 20 years since we graduated from High School! We had a great time at our well-planned reunion (thanks Kath, Karla Trac and the rest!) It was fun to see friends I hadn't seen in 10 years. I must say everyone looked great! The changes I observed: the girls looked FABULOUS and the guys showed aging (hee hee!) ..... a few balds and bellies! It was really a fun time! I dragged Jeff with me but I know he had a great time meeting my friends/spouses! What a trooper! Can't wait to see how we've changed (or not) at our 30 year!

Forever Friends!!

2009-08-06T11:57:00.001-07:00

One great thing about going back to Washington is that we pick up right where we left off with so many of our friends!

We spent a lot of time back in the 'hood. The kids had a riot running wild, playing ghost in the graveyard and having sleepovers (sorry no pics!) One day we spent a wonderful day on Steve and Laurie's boat for SeaFair Saturday. We went for breakfast at Leshi Cafe and then spent the entire day hanging out on the water. It was a hot day so we all enjoyed jumping overboard to cool off. The Blue Angels show was amazing, flying directly over us!

Our church group was our family when we lived in WA, so it was great to have gatherings with them, catching up and having the kids non-stop play! Kyle was always in the minority with this group...but I think he managed ok!

We had a few other gatherings with school friends (sorry no pics!) and we are thankful to all those willing to make some time to get together with us! We love and miss you all!! XOXO

Visiting Washington's Beauty!

2009-08-06T11:33:00.001-07:00

We just got back from 2 wonderful weeks in Washington! It was sunny and warm almost every day, so our efforts in escaping the desert sun was met by record 102 temps in Seattle! But the nights were cool and there was ample supply of fresh air to fill up on! We of course had to visit some of our favorite spots while we were there.

One Sunday afternoon we headed to West Seattle Alki beach to enjoy great fish-n-chips and a sunset walk.

We took a wonderful ferry ride with Oma and Opa from Anacortes to Friday Harbor/San Juan island. It was on the record heat day so we enjoyed the ocean breeze. We hoped to see Orca whales from LimeKiln park but just saw a pod of dolphins. We also enjoyed strolling around Roche Harbor remembering the handful of weekends we spent there. What beauty!

We enjoyed a few nights staying out at Birch Bay. Gotta love low tide to explore!

Escaping the Arizona heat to the midwest!

2009-07-09T07:22:00.000-07:00

View from a

Lake Michigan Lighthouse

Silver Lake Dune Rides!

The kids and I flew into Chicago on June 29th and enjoyed riding the train downtown to see the sights and of course visit the American Girl Store. We stayed a couple nights at my mom and dads although they were already in WA, so we had to our own tour guide (with a few phone calls to them!) Then we drove up to Michigan, on the way stopping to see relatives. (and gravestones) We've been having a great time at the Lake House! It's been cool weather but sunny and we are loving it! At Bear Lake, Kyle and Andi are really enjoying skiing and Erin loves the tube. Much time is also spend hanging out at the beach and the kids have really been into playing in the forest behind the house. A few mosquito bites, but they have made some cool forts! We hope Lake Michigan will warm up a bit so we can spend more time surfing the waves and sailing. Jeff flies home on Sunday and the kids and I are here until July 15th yet. Certainly in no hurry to get home to the 100's! I'll probably add a few more pictures before Jeff takes my computer away! ......

Friends start turning 40!!!

2009-06-27T18:17:00.000-07:00

Jenn, Jodie, Joy, Anne, Mel and Kristee!

Last night a few of us went out to celebrate our dear friend Anne's 40th birthday! She choose good ole' Harolds Corral up in Cave Creek to celebrate with dinner, drinks and dancing. We had a blast! But funny thing...the 3 gals that were either 40 or almost were "done" by 10:30pm and so Jenn, Jodie and I stayed out and then sat by my pool til 1am! An evening full of great fun, laughter and great memories!

Happy Fathers Day!

2009-06-21T13:22:00.000-07:00

We had a great fathers Day celebrating Jeff!! We slept in until after 8am and the kids brought him breakfast in bed. After church, we watched US Open for awhile, went to PF Chang's for late lunch, swam in the pool, opened gifts and relaxed! What a great dad we've been blessed with! Jeff will enjoy the new grill, dig pic frame, new shirt, bag of "love" and trophy he received!

Erin's BIG day - Let's CELEBRATE!

2009-06-16T18:48:00.000-07:00

Erin was a pretty easy baby. "They" always say that thumb suckers are easy babies. For the first few years I was grateful she was a thumb sucker, but enough was enough after she turned 3! Then about 3 years ago I bought a special edition Barbie in hopes of bribing Erin to stop sucking her thumb. It sat on the shelf, waiting for the big day.... Finally, just over a week ago, (she's now 7!!) I realized that she has never been a real big Barbie fan and maybe that's why she has never been motivated to stop sucking her thumb! So when the discussion came up and I asked her if she could have anything, what would it be to stop sucking her thumb. It didn't take her long and her answer shouldn't have surprised me. Many of you who know Erin (or if you read her story in an earlier blog) know she is obsessed with whipped cream... so she said she would stop sucking her thumb for a can of whipped cream!! She was especially excited when I told her she could have a can all to herself and have it whenever she wanted or with whatever she wanted until it is gone. So that day SHE DECIDED she would stop sucking her thumb. We did say that she had to go a week before we knew she was really done. Well, today was the big day! She has not sucked her thumb (even during the night from what we could tell) for a week! So the big kids helped hang streamers and Erin picked our dinner (pancakes/strawberries) and we had her whipped cream party! It was a very fun celebration and oh, so fun watching Erin with her own can of whipped cream! Surprisingly it's not gone...I think she decided to pace herself a bit. Here are some pictures....

Summer Fun!

2009-06-16T13:01:00.001-07:00

We are into our 4th week of summer! So far, the weather has been great.....haven't had many days over 100 and it cools down in the 70's at night! (Jeff said he was "cold" the other night sleeping with the window open!) Our weeks have been full of activity. We've gone to movies, GNO dinner/painting, go-cart & bumper boat park, had VBS, had playdates, sleepovers, gone skating, shopping, Kyle has evening basketball camp, Andi continues piano, Erin goes to gymnastics weekly, picnics in the park, gone for walks, swam in the pool and just hung out. Whew! We've got just under 2 weeks before we head to Chicago/Michigan. Looking forward to more summer fun.....

Bathroom Remodels!

2009-06-16T12:54:00.001-07:00

Well, with Jeff out of commission for biking since his achilles injury, he's been busy at work remodeling our bathrooms! The first bathroom he had some help from some great friends (thanks Steve and Mark!) They both turned out great! I'm soo glad I have a great hubby that enjoys making things beautiful for me! (thanks Honey!!) The first 2 pictures are of our little powder room off our family room. The last picture is our mother-in-law suite bathroom. Now, 2 more bathrooms to go :)

Almost a teen ......Happy Birthday Kyle!!!

2009-05-16T20:32:00.000-07:00

2006 (Jeff and Kyle climbed to camp Muir on Mt Rainier)

2007

2008

2009

It's hard to believe that Kyle turned 12 today! Time has flown by and we have enjoyed watching him grown into a young man! He is soo full of personality and creativity that I know our life would be soo dull without him in it! He's got excess energy which helps keep us young! He sure is a blessing to us! I will definately hold on to this last year before the teens hit! I would do anything to keep him young and innocent. God has blessed him with some amazing gifts and an incredible mind! It's exciting to see what his future holds. We pray (as we do all 3) that not a day would go by that Jesus is not Lord of his life! Bud, we are proud of you and love you! Happy Birthday!!
(he's gotta help me scan and load some baby pics since we don't have digital!...check back)

My Baby is 7!!

2009-05-14T09:27:00.000-07:00

May 14th- We celebrate Erin today! Our baby, our sweet adorable, full of personality baby is 7!! We adore her! She is full of a joyful spirit and makes us laugh every single day! She has a sweet smile and a very mischievous look in her eyes. She loves Jesus and is very much a prayer warrior! She loves to giggle with friends, do gymnastics, swim in the pool, put on plays and dance programs and cuddle in bed. We are soo thankful that she is in our family! God is good to loan us such a wonderful, adorable and beautiful girl! Happy 7th birthday sunshine. We are proud of you in every way!

2009 (Erin's Love: Gymnastics!)

2008

2008 (Kindergarten graduation!)

2007

2006

2005

2004

2003

2002

A Perfect Girls Weekend!

2009-05-11T12:49:00.000-07:00

What a great weekend! My sweet high school friends from Lynden, WA (Traci, Karla and Kathy) decided to come visit me and have a fun girly weekend, to celebrate Mothers Day and take in all the sunshine possible! Mission accomplished! We had fabulous time and it was over 100 degrees each day! They flew in on Thursday. We stayed overnight at my house, sitting by the pool, sippn margarita's, catchn up. Then Friday I surprised them with a 2 night stay at the Hilton in Scottsdale! This way I could get a mini vacation too! What a beautiful place! We stayed on the 1st floor - pool side and sitting out by the pool was delightful! (I spent some time in the shade!) We literally spent from morning till late afternoon out there keeping cool in the pool! Friday night I took them to one of my favorite cowboy type hangouts...Greasewood Flats. It's a fun casual place with outdoor eating, great burgers and brew, live country music, dancing and bon-fires. They enjoyed the beautiful ride out to Pinnacle Peak and they got to see a pack of javelina's! Afterwards we headed to old town Scottsdale to the Rusty Spur and Saddle Ranch. Lots of fun, laughter and good people watching! Saturday night we went to a Scott McIntyre "concert" (he was recently voted off American Idol and resides in Scottsdale....I've met him & fam before....sweet Christian and very talented!) It was a great "concert" and fun to hear his AI experiences. We then enjoyed dinner at one of my fav restaurant's: Chelsea's Kitchen afterwards. Sunday after our day in the sun we ordered in chinese food and vegged by the TV.
Thanks to our hubby's for letting us spend Mothers day away from our families! This was a perfect gift! For M-day, I also was surprised with a bouquet of flowers at the hotel from Jeff and the kids and showered with cards, gifts and a dance program once we got home! I feel soo blessed!

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T12:37:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter!

"Jesus has overcome
And the grave is overwhelmed
The victory is won
He is risen from the dead "

"Christ the Lord is Risen today....Hallelujah!"

"You ask me how I know he lives, He lives within my heart!"

Praise God, He is victorious and we are on the winning side!

Andi's Kit Mystery Party

2009-04-11T18:30:00.000-07:00

We had a fun night with Andi's friends tonight! We hosted a American Girl Kit Mystery Party. Much like a murder mystery party, we all came in character and had a script to follow to find the mystery to the missing pearl necklace. Andi played Kit, I was Mrs Kittridge, Rachel was Ruthie, Macy was Maud, Anna was Miss Finney, Tayler was Miss Hart, Faith was Mrs Howard, Sarah was "Sterlina", Kyle was Will and Erin was Grace, the dog. Also during the evening they had pizza, lots of candy, icecream cake and watched "Kit" the movie! What a fun night with wonderful friends celebrating Andi's 10th!

Celebrating Andi -she turns 10!

2009-04-09T12:31:00.000-07:00

Today we celebrate Andria Joy! She turns 10. We look back and think about how she has grown up and see who she is becoming! With a sparkle in her eye since the day she was born, she has brought pure joy and happiness to our family. She is sincere, tender-hearted, kind, loving, considerate, honest and beautiful from the inside out! We are blessed to call her our daughter! She loves Jesus and we pray that not a day will go by that He is not LORD of her life! We look forward to each year, watching her grow into the person God intends her to be!
Happy Birthday Andi!

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

2003

2002

2001

2000

1999

Spring Break 2009 !

2009-03-26T12:49:00.001-07:00

This is right when Jeff ruptured his achilles!

So finally I am getting my act together to post some pics (total random order!) from our unforgettable spring break trip! Not like I have nothing else to do right now! (actually my patient is content right now) Yes, it was unforgettable in many ways! At first thought spending 9 days with my dear friends sounded exciting yet..... nervousing (Jeff says that's not a word)....with 7 girls all around the same age, who know each other like sister.... we expected enough girl drama to burn us all out. BUT praise God everyone got along amazingly well for the week and even when our families decided to spend one day apart with our respective families, the kids complained and even us adults couldn't wait to get back together as a group! So this all came about at our school auction. We hadn't intended to bid on the trip at all. We all sat together at a table and when it came up in the live auction a couple people threw out the idea for us all to go and the next thing we had won the bid for a mere $1500! (coulda been even less if Jenn and Ann didn't whoop it up before the bidding closed!) It was a 8 bedroom, 7 bathroom, 3 level house. The kitchen had 2 refridgerators, 2 dishwashers, 9 bar stools (we had 9 kids!!) and dining for 8 (we had 7!) So in all accounts the house was perfect. It was just a short walk from the N Carolina coast in Ocean Isle beach, just north of Myrtle Beach. Now if we wanted sun, we woulda stayed in Arizona. We were there to see the ocean and that we did...rain wind and shine! We had some fieldtrip days to the aquarium, Myrtle Beach, House of Blues for Gospel brunch, exploring towns, fishing, our own firework show, Krispy Kreme run, etc, but much of the time was spent hanging out on the beach, kids surfing waves or at the house playing Poker (shh! don't tell Kristee's family) and other games. Lots of laughter and an overwhelming feeling of being blessed with great friends! We made some incredible memories! Not the least of these was the last night we had all together on the beach and while I ran back to put baked potatoes in the oven, my hubby joined the other guys and ran (not even a sprint) into the ocean and stepped in a sand hole and ruptured his achilles tendon! You've probably been keeping up with my facebook accounts as to how all things worked out, but despite this bump in the road....God is good and we will learn more about his goodness even through this challange! Everything happens for a reason! So there you have it. Just a glimpse into our incredible vacation. We are certainly blessed by incredible friends we love dearly!

Creative Writing

2009-03-25T20:52:00.001-07:00

I thought I should post this cute story that our lil Erin (6yr old) wrote: (I'll even include some of her spelling and punctuation!

"Once upon a time, thare was a town calld Wip Cream Town!! One day it raind and raind and raind and raind and raind and raind! Oh, it haild and haild and haild and haild and haild and haild! But after it haild and raind, it was snowing. No, it was wip cream! Ah, help help help the monkeys are atacking me! Sory, like I was saying wip cream was falling out of the sky!! But the problem was, everybutty in the woll wid world counting the animols were wip cream! But the only thing that could do is lick themself, so thay did! And thay were normel agen. And they lived happely ever after! P.S. Aspeshaly (especially) the man whose name was Bobykenopy, he got atact by 100 and all the numbers monkeys. He probley livd happley ever after. Oh and did I tell you about the pizza man and the hot dog man and dog? The dog bit the pizza man! And the pizza man didnt live hapley ever after but the hot dog man and dog did! I'm don!"

Springtime in the Desert!

2009-03-08T08:24:00.001-07:00

We took a drive out to Bartlet Lake yesterday. Gorgeous green desert and flowers! Springtime is here! The smell of orange blossoms around and my mockingbird returned! What a sweet sweet sound. Such incredible blessings from God to enjoy this season!

Road Trip to Denver for Kyle's Spelling Bee!

2009-03-02T07:37:00.000-08:00

We had a great, very busy, tiring, filled weekend! Thursday afterwork we headed out on our way to Denver because Kyle qualified for regional spelling bee! We decided we'd take the whole family and make a weekend out of it! Lots of miles....but much to see on the way! We stayed overnight a couple hours north of Flagstaff, just before Monument Valley. Friday we drove off road to see the beautiful area of Monument Valley. Spectacular! We all felt soo blessed to enjoy God's amazing creation! Then off to Denver. It was a long 8+ drive and unfortuanately had to drive through the mountain pass in dark! Saturday was the spelling bee. Kyle was very nervous! He did great! He placed in the top 1/2 but didn't make the final 4 to go to Nationals. We are soo very proud of him...quite an honor to make it this far! So, done by noon, we decided to head to the mountains to see what we missed and play in the snow. We had an absolutely beautiful day to do so and the kids had a riot playing in the snow! At night we met up with Heidi (a great friend from Calvin days) and her family for dinner and hung out at their house till late. What a fabulous time to catch up! Sunday we drove...and drove....and drove back home!! It was a VERY long 13 hour day!! Happy to be home in our own beds!

My new Wheels!

2009-02-14T14:12:00.001-08:00

Since we've moved to AZ, the kids and I have begged Jeff for a new van/vehicle with air-conditioning in the back!! We're all "happy valentines" today because we got one yesterday! It's an '09 Saturn Outlook with just over 10K miles. Shiny and beautiful, but "just a car"...with air-conditioning! :) It was kinda an adventure b/c in our search we met a guy who has his dealers license and buys cars at the dealer auction and then resells them or shops for customers (for $300 fee) Also, for himself he buys a nearly new car every year and sells it within the year so he always driving a car under warranty and not spending more $ (driving it around for a year for free).....we'll, he may have talked us into this "flipping car" thing....we did buy it from the dealers auction at a great price, so we'll see.....I sure like it, but who knows how long/short we'll keep it. Here's few pics.....

What girls like to do....

2009-01-25T20:58:00.000-08:00

It was a nice weekend. Saturday I hosted a baby shower for my good friend Jodie and her baby Miley! We had moms and girls, so it was a sweet time! Meanwhile my boys went golfing. We had purchased a Father/Son golf outing at our school auction. They had a great time too. Today, Sunday was pretty laid back. The girls decided on their own to have a tea party after church. They did it all on their own! They had bagels with strawberry cream-cheese, fruit, cheese cubes and left over cupcakes from the shower. It was precious! In the afternoon we went on a long walk/bike ride. Erin is doing really well on her bike...she rode about 4 miles! I gotta tell you...her personality really came through with learning to ride her bike! She learned to ride with training wheels early when we lived in Kirkland. All the kids in the 'hood rode bikes! But coming here, they don't. They ride scooter. So, in 2 1/2 years she hasn't ridden her bike and she has NOT wanted to try riding w/o training wheels. She said EVER. Well, while I was in Chicago earlier this month, she was spending special time with Daddy while Andi went to Lion King with a friend (which by the way was fabulous!) and Erin decided she wanted to ride w/o training wheels. So SHE decided to do it and right away she was off on her own. She now says she "always" knew how to ride w/o training wheels. (she knew when she could perfect it the first try!) I have a few in my family with that personality....Andi and I survive them :)

A winning weekend!

2009-01-18T18:23:00.001-08:00

Friday Kyle and Andi were in the district spelling bee. Both earned their way there as the top 2 spellers of their grade at PVCP. We are proud of them! So at district, Andi ended up getting 5th in her grade and Kyle got 2nd in his grade. Then Kyle went on to the overall 5-8th grade and placed 3rd! So, his next step will take him to Denver Colorado next month! So it looks like the Homan's are taking a road trip :) ! We'll keep ya all posted!

Although we still consider ourselves Seahawk fans, we do cheer on the Cardinals when they don't play the Hawks! We had a great time with friends today watching the game and are excited for the outcome of the NFC Championship game! The Cards are Superbowl bound!!

Livn' Today for Tomorrow

2009-01-12T11:16:00.000-08:00

I can't imagine anyone wishing to start the new year off with a death in the family and going through the grieving that is inevitable. But it sure has made me think about life and death and about my journey here on earth. Every January I am challenged with the question, "How am I going to live my life differently this year?" "How/What am I going to change?" "What will my resolutions be?" This year it has a deeper meaning. I know the choices I make today, have an impact on tomorrow or my future. It’s the choices not only that affect my physical being but my spiritual. We all have obstacles in our life that get in the way of living healthy. These obstacles can affect both our physical health as well as our spiritual health. Obstacles such as: addictions (to food, alcohol, tobacco, drugs, pornography), time management problems, unbalanced priorities, selfishness, greed, anger, impatience, ….. the list goes on! So I will pick out my personal obstacles and focus on the truth: “How will God change me this year”. I want to live a healthy life (physically) to enjoy as much time that God grants me on earth with my family and friends! More importantly, I want to be spiritually healthy. At grandma's service I was more emotional than I expected b/c I was overwhelmed with the assurance that I will see her again when I will join her in her "grand new home" as the pastor talked about. That assurance is blessing! Because of that assurance, by God's Grace, how DO I respond and live my life differently in 2009? I am excited to see what God has in store for me. I am willing to be changed and used.
I challenge you to think about what your obstacles to healthy (physically and spiritually) living are b/c I want to live a long life with you here on earth and then share in God's ultimate inheritance! :)

Grandma Hillegonds is dancing with angels!

2009-01-06T05:20:00.000-08:00

Grandma Hillegonds (mom's mom) went to be with the Lord last night. Her health had quickly deteriorated. My parents flew back early from their Christmas visit to be with her for her last 2 weeks.

God gave me a gift the other night. He gave me a dream about how Grandma died. He allowed me to say my goodbye. It was 2:41am as I was awake to write this.

"We all surrounded her. Waiting and watching for her to take her final breath. She’d been still and quiet for days. We waited and watched. She, sat up, opened her eyes, asked for a writing board, wrote some words and turning right toward Cindi revealed what she had written…, “Are you tired?” At that point I began to quietly say, “good bye grandma” over and over again. I knew it was her last question before she could let go. When we all urged Cindi to say, “YES!”. She proceeded to slowly look around the room at each person that surrounded her, all the while I repeated, “Good bye Grandma”. I’m sure she made eye contact with everyone. When her eyes reached me where I sat at the kitty corner bottom left side of her bed, she craned her neck to see me (I was sitting a little behind another family member). As I kept saying “goodbye Grandma, goodbye Grandma” she had a sweet smile that squinted up her eyes and she kissed the tips of her 2 fingers, blew me the kiss and gave me a wave with them. I woke myself up saying, “Goodbye Grandma” over and over again, out loud with my pillow case soaking from my tears. I knew she said goodbye to go to see Jesus!"

I am flying to Chicago today to be with my family. Please keep us in your prayers.

Happy New Year! 2009 *

2009-01-02T15:34:00.000-08:00

Seems like it was yesterday that we hit the year 2000 and here it is 9 years later..wow!
Our family had a fun celebration ringing in the new year. We invited some good friends over and celebrated with food, drink and games. Most everyone made it to midnight! Many of you know that up until last year, we would set the clocks ahead a couple hours and the kids always thought they were staying up till midnight! They never knew!! Well, we figured they could make it now, no problem! :) Fortunately we all slept in...the last of us waking up at 10am! (KYLE!) New Years day we spent in our PJ's watching football and then headed to my brother's house to share party leftovers. More football all weekend!
So, now comes the new years resolutions. #1 on my list is to get the junk food out of my house now that holidays are over and start eating healthy!And without having to focus on planning and shopping for the holidays, I'll have time to take care of my body and walk!! (besides I got a new ipod shuffle to use now) Seems like that's the resolution every year!
Who knows what 2009 will bring us...it's always fun this time of the year to sit with wonder and dream. But our prayer is for a healthy, happy year with family and friends and with Christ at the center! Happy New Year to you All!

Merry Christmas!!

2008-12-25T13:03:00.001-08:00

Christmas Eve (above)
Christmas Day (below)

Merry Christmas to all our friends and family! I hope you all had a blessed celebration of Jesus' birth surrounded by family and friends! Our Christmas celebrations were changed a bit when my mom got word that her mom (Gma Hillegonds) was ill and went into the hospital. Although she wanted to stay to join in our celebrations, she wanted even more to fly back to help her sister care for Grandma, so she flew back to Chicago on morning of 24th. So we moved our Rinsema family celebration to 23rd for a dinner and gift exchange. The kids didn't mind that change a bit! Christmas Eve we headed to a wonderful church service and then came home for fondue dinner and opened our own family gifts. Opa joined us. Then Christmas am came a bit too early as Jeff and I were up till nearly 3am putting together the basketball hoop (gifted by Gpa and Gma's money). The kids rushed in and said "Santa came!" and I replied "OK, got back to bed and wake us up at 8!".....Kyle excitedly said, "It's AFTER 8!" So we got up, opened stockings, enjoyed a bruch style breakfast, opened Gma and Gpa's gifts and are still in PJ's now....it's 2:15pm! A very enjoyable, relaxing day. Kids only wished they could experience the snow that almost ALL our family and friends are experiencing outside of Arizona! We look forward to more relaxing, slower paced days ahead! Again, MERRY CHRISTMAS!

The Martha Girls Christmas Party

2008-12-22T21:37:00.000-08:00

This is a very sweet group of friends! We are all mom's of 4th grade girls. We started up doing social activities a couple years ago and decided to study the Word together. One of our first studies was a Mary/Martha study and we've all in some levels identified with Martha and have called ourselves the "Martha girls". This has been an amazing group of friends! We've grown closer together and have encouraged one another to mature in God! It's been fun to see how God picked each one of us for the group based on our needs and for what we have to offer to bless one-another. What a blessing the group has been! Our families all get along great too! Tonight we gathered just as girls (some were missing) to celebrate the birth of Jesus!, the birth of Miley and to celebrate our friendship!

Getting ready for Christmas!

2008-12-07T15:38:00.001-08:00

Just a couple pictures of the family as we prepare our hearts and home for the upcoming celebration of Jesus Birth! This is always such a busy time...lots of hustle and bustle adding to our already busy schedule. Andi and Erin just had their school Christmas program on Friday, so that should free up some time! Andi was in the play and also did a dance routine with a group of girls. Erin sang with her class. Kyle is playing basketball on the school Jr High team. He's loving it! He's also finishing up his flag football season- 1 more game! The girls continue gymnastics weekly.

This weekend Jeff and I enjoyed a church progressive dinner and a holiday party with a group from work. Next weekend is his nice company party at Westin Kierland! We booked a room, so we'll enjoy a little overnight escape in the middle of this busyness!

Lovn' the Long Weekend!

2008-11-28T19:36:00.001-08:00

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends! It was a relaxing, fun day with of course too much food! For the first time in a LONG time, I didn't crawl out of bed for Black Friday. Instead I relied on my 8 1/2 month pregnant friend to get me what I wanted! (thanks Jodie!) It's gotten so easy to order online-even door busters, that I got some shopping done. We are trying this year to give gifts of experience for the kids rather than more "stuff", so I don't have a long list. So instead of shopping, I spent my day getting out the Christmas stuff! It's 95% done and everyone did their part. We just finished up singing Christmas carols around the tree, so it's officially Christmas season!

Jeff races in El Tour de Tucson

2008-11-24T20:35:00.001-08:00

We had a fun weekend in Tucson! Jeff had the el tour de Tucson race that he's been training for! So, we headed down Friday afternoon and met some friends at the JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort. We enjoyed dinner out on Friday. Saturday Jeff, Peter, Kyle and I were up at 4:45 am to head to the start of the race. (Dena stayed at the hotel and let all the girls sleep in!) Although it didn't start until 7am, we had gotten word that bikers would be lining up at 3am! Sure enough, it was pitch black but yet 2000 bikers had already arrived! By 6:55 the sun was rising, the remaining 2000 bikers had arrived and the race was off to a great start at 7am. After seeing the guys cross the start line, Kyle headed to get some breakfast and then to meet up with the guys at Aid Station #10 to offer fresh water bottles and food. They were right on schedule for their goal at that point. They looked good! Kyle and I ran back to the hotel to hang out and pick up the girls and then headed to the finish line. We were there just 10 min and we saw the guys cross the line....5 min ahead of their goal! They rode 109 miles in 5 hr 25 min! A couple cold Corona's were waiting for them! :) We are very proud of them!! It's hard to imagine that just 5 weeks ago Jeff had his bike accident and yet he was able to heal, gain strength, and have the courage with such determination to make his goal. We were thankful to God for protecting them during the race!

The rest of the weekend we enjoyed time at the pool, great meals out and an incredible drive up Mt Lemmon!

Desert Botanical Gardens

2008-11-07T15:10:00.000-08:00

We enjoyed a couple hours today strolling through the botanical gardens with Opa and Oma. What a beautiful fall morning!

Politics and Religion - oh my!

2008-11-05T12:58:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to Barack Obama for his new title of president-elect. Did I vote for him? No. Would I pick someone with his values and extreme liberal ideas to lead, teach or raise my children? Absolutely not. But because I know God is in control, I am OK with it.

I know there are Christians who voted for him, listening to his appealing promises, setting their religious beliefs aside…voting as American citizens. I can relate at some level. As an American, I don’t necessarily believe the government has a right to say how we live our lives and the choices we make as individuals. And Obama does give promises of hope to a hurting economy. But, as a Christian I read the truths in the bible and these truths are what guide my life. I personally, can’t make that separation. I want to live in a moral country and have my kids impacted by the morals that are taught in the bible. It's my prayer that during these hard economic times and political dissension, people look to Jesus for the real hope they need.

Although you would expect the “world” to get further and further away from truths of the Bible, it is becoming widespread that the church is moving with the “world” at a rapid pace.

This morning, I read a footnote in my study bible in Revelation 2 that says, “It is popular to be open-minded toward many types of sin, calling them personal choices or alternative life-styles. But when the body of believers begins to tolerate sin in the church, it is lowering the standards and compromising the church’s witness. Remember that God’s approval is infinitely more important than the world’s.”
I pray for a Spiritual revival!

I know that God is Sovereign. He is greater than any power in the universe. God is not to be compared with any leader, government or religion. God is in control and Christ’s victory is assured! This is where my hope lays!

"Be Still and Now that I AM GOD." Psalm 46:10
I am dedicated to pray for Barack Obama and his leadership for our country.

Go Firebirds!

2008-11-01T17:58:00.000-07:00

This afternoon Kyle had his first flag football of the season. (He missed the first 2 games) Their team lost but they played hard! Kyle made a couple good catches....one for a touchdown! It's more fun to watch this year b/c the boys are 11-13 year old and they can really make plays! We're all ready for it too cool down though...playing/watching when it's 90 is not fun!

Trick or Treat !!

2008-10-31T23:54:00.000-07:00

We had a fun night at Steve and Jenn's house with Tim and Jodie too! The kids made a haul on candy and we all had a great time and lots of laughs! Kyle dressed as Zorro, Andi as an angel and Erin has a spider girl. Jeff enjoyed shocking the gang with his nice nerd get-up! (I'll post a better one later when I get one from Jenn)

Kyle Visits Chicago!

2008-10-28T08:37:00.000-07:00

It was a big day...putting Kyle on an airplane all by himself! Opa and Oma have decided they want to fly each of the grandkids out to spend a weekend with them. One a year and Kyle, being the oldest, got to be the first traveler. With cell phone in hand, Kyle boarded the plane and the direct flights all went very smoothly.... it probably helped that it was not peak travel season or bad weather! (a huge answer to my prayer!) I tracked his flight all the way there until he was in the hands of Oma and Opa. Kyle enjoyed a fun filled weekend! He saw a lot of Chicago....Navy Pier, Hancock Building, Shedd Aquarium, China Town, The Bean, and more. He got to see 2 shows: The Mark of Zorro and A Jazz dance. He even got on TV and experienced how the meteorologist works! Some great memories were made! Thanks Opa and Oma!

Weekend at Greer Cabin with Rondeau's

2008-10-19T20:15:00.000-07:00

What a FANTASTIC weekend!! We ventured out with 12 people in an RV on a roadtrip to Greer, AZ. Normally it would just be a 4 hour (max) drive, but we decided to take a scenic trip by way of a apple/pear orchard and pumpkin patch past Tucson. What an adventure! It was so nice to really feel and see fall...finally! Apart from the fun in riding in the RV, the highlights of the first day were the corn maze and scavenger hunt at the orchard...first finding clues then Jeff's lost glasses! oh boy! The kids especially loved the few geocache's along the way. (a geocache is a treausre hunt using a GPS....see www.geocaching.com) Once we got to Greer, we rented a big cabin at www.greerlodgeaz.com. Saturday and Sunday were filled with more geocache's, hiking, flyfishing, mountain bike riding, exploring, carving pumpkin, playing games, and lots of eating and drinking. It's a gorgeous place and the cabin was perfect! We took the short way home and enjoyed seeing the fall colors along the Mogollon rim...though Showlow, Pinetop and Payson. It was such a fun time with great friends! Steve and Jennifer Rondeau have 3 girls. We added another girl and boy so everyone had a playmate. We'll plan to do it again next year!

24 hour visit from Grandpa and Grandma!

2008-10-14T16:07:00.000-07:00

Grandma and Grandpa were in Arizona this weekend visiting Sedona with 3 other couples so they extended their visit to stay with us a night. We had a great time. Sunday we went up to do a couple geocaches (if you don't know what that is visit www.geocaching.com) which took us on a couple nature walks. It was a beautiful day to do it! We enjoyed dinner out at the Horny Toad up in Cave Creek afterwards.

A Busy Saturday!

2008-10-11T21:58:00.000-07:00

So our morning started out bright and early. At 5:45 Jeff headed out the door to go road biking as he usually does on Saturday mornings. He's training for the Tour to Tucson race and today was suppose to be a long ride - 90 miles! The rest of us slept in at least. As I was running out the door to get Kyle to football at 8:45, I got a call from Jeff letting me know he wiped out! They always ride super close to each other to draft, but he's thinking a wind gust pushed him into the guy in front of him, causing their tires to hit. After dropping Kyle off, I drove up to get Jeff. He was pretty beat up.... sore, scraped but walking! He's a bit stubborn and thinks he can wait till Monday to get his shoulder x-rayed. We're hopeful the outcome will be a quick healing.
So after the morning excitement, we had a n'bor girl come play from 11-2 while her mom went to a shower, Kyle had a 1pm birthday party and the girls had a 3pm tea-party birthday party. It was suppose to be a divide and conquer day, but guess what.... it was just a conquer day for me! Jeff layed pretty low icing up, napping and watching football. We had to cancel plans this eve with friends to go to the Greek Festival! :(
The best part of the day was that it was in the 70's!! What a relief to feel cold!

15 years together.....and counting!

2008-10-02T13:24:00.000-07:00

15 years ago today Jeff and I made a covenant before each other, God and all those present at our wedding that we would love, support, encourage and be together through good and through bad.

I can hardly believe it's been 15 years that have flown by!
We explained to the kids that it's as many years as all of Andi's life and all of Erin's life put together!

Oh, to think about our lives 15 years ago....first of all we were young! Jeff was only 21 and I was 22. We thought we had it all together, that is for sure. Just graduated and just secured our first jobs in the Northwest. We lived in a cute little condo on a tiny lake in Kirkland, WA. Picture perfect! Walking along, holding hands, dodging the swans and geese. Looking back and it all seemed so simple then. The things we enjoyed doing together before kids were kayaking, biking, hiking, camping, playing cards, getting together with friends and hanging out. We had no family living by, so we really relied on eachother. We bought our first house just 3 years later. I let the pressure of co-workers around me having babies get the best of me and we had Kyle just 3 1/2 years after our wedding! Two years later came Andi and then Erin followed 3 years after that. Then as you all know, life changed! Now life is filled with more activity, more laughs, more craziness, more stress, more blessings. It's rare to get time for just the 2 of us...that's why our Vegas trip was soo rare and refreshing! (thanks again Oma!) 5 dates with each other in a row!

No one ever said marriage was easy. It's work. At times it tests the fruits of the spirit in us. But, the joy we get from being together and knowing it is God's plan for us makes us look toward our future in anticipation of celebrating many more years together! We take our covenant very seriously. Through the ups and downs of our relationship we have learned more about each other and about our individual relationships to God. It's a lifetime journey and I am happy to be traveling alongside Jeff, my partner for life!

Relax'n in Vegas!

2008-09-27T18:31:00.000-07:00

Jeff and I just got back from 6 days in Vegas. Jeff had a conference there and I decided to join him. We stayed at the Mandalay Bay Resort's THEhotel. Very chic! It was a beautiful place! The pool area was the best! There's a sandy beach with a wave pool and a lazy river. So, my days were spent by the pool, in the sun, reading and relaxing. Actually I would last till about 2 or so and then come back up to our room, watch some TV and take a nap :) Oh, what a life! Although Jeff was busy during the days at his conference, he would visit me at the pool at his breaks and then we'd have nights out together. One night, we went to a Cirque du Soleil show - Mystere. Other evenings we watched football, were entertained by people in the casino, had a Beach Party with his conference, had nice dinners out, and had drinks at Mix (a very nice club/lounge at the 64th floor of our hotel).

We're not big gamblers but we can say we went to Vegas and came home with $800-1200 b/c we took bumps going out AND coming home on US Airways!

A great weekend...very rare in this season of our life but thanks to Oma who stayed with the kids and played MOM all week! I think she's exhausted!!

Erin and Olivia -- Sweet Friends!

2008-09-16T18:34:00.000-07:00

Olivia asked Erin to celebrate her birthday with her Grandma Rondeau today after school. They had a great girly time! They went to the mall to AristaCurlz, Limited Too, the Candy shop and for dinner. A fantastic time with a sweet friend!

On a separate note, the kids got their mid-term progress reports today and everyone is in the ALL A-club!! YEAH!

WhataWeekend!

2008-09-15T09:19:00.000-07:00

We had a great weekend! It started on Friday with a 1/2 day of school! Jeff met us at home for lunch and it was nice just hanging out for the afternoon. At night we had our All-School Picnic. It was a lot of fun!The weather was perfect....cooled down to like 85 I think! The BBQ dinner was yum! The kids ran from activity to activity.... there was rock climbing, jousting, volleyball, cake-walk, bouncy houses, face painting, snow cones, cotton candy.....

Saturday my friend Ann took me golfing at Stonecreek! I didn't golf the best, broke a club, but still had a great time hanging out with a great friend! While I was on the course, the kids and Jeff were at Castles and Coasters celebrating my nephew Derek's birthday. Oh, what fun they had....roller coasters, mini golf and lots of dizzy rides! We met up at night for a BBQ and our cousins from Tucson (Mark, Jane and Evan) joined us. Watched some football and just hung out.

Sunday afterchurch, my parents, Joel and I golfed at Kierland! What a beautiful course! It was a hot afternoon, but I golfed well and was happy! I parred 4 holes, I had great tee and fairway shots but my putting sucked! But we all struggled with reading the greens, so I didn't feel too bad about that. Mom got a birdie on Hole 14 ! A GREAT day of golf!

Needless to say, I crashed last night! Watched some football and fell asleep quickly at 10pm. Sorry for the Seahawks :( but yeh for Cardinals! We all still are #1 Hawk fans and #2 Cardinals...no matter who has a more winning record!

1 birthday + 4 great friends = FUN TIMES!

2008-09-07T14:44:00.000-07:00

Turning 37 isn't bad at all! Actually I am glad that I am now 37 because all year I could not remember if I was 36 or 37..... currently or going to be. Well, 38 sounds old, so I now KNOW I am 37 and will be ALL year! :) Thanks to some of my great friends, I had a fun girls night out celebration! We had a night of Sushi and then fondue at the Melting Pot. Great food, interesting topics of conversation :) and lots of laughs! Thanks girls!!

Saturday night I spent my bday night celebrating Jeff's coworkers' bday at a surprise party. We went with our friends, Jim and Dana. Jeff's work group may be a bunch of number crunchers, but they do know how to have a good time! :)

Tonight we're heading out to dinnner to celebrate with Joel and Dana and my parents.

This weekend was sure nice and relaxing. Mom and Dad are here visiting for a couple weeks. Saturday we spent hours by the pool. It's still over 100 degrees and the water is still 90! Sunday...it's FOOTBALL season YEH! Sorry for the rough start for the Seahawks though :(

All in all a great birthday weekend!

Not in Uniform!

2008-08-28T13:28:00.000-07:00

Today was picture day for the kids! It was amazing how excited they were to go to school in regular clothes! It made me realize how simple life is with uniforms though! (not having arguments about what to wear!) Thought I'd capture some pretty faces (even with "sassy" attitude) before they left home!

Homan Happenings

Martha Group Christmas!

Christmas JOY!

Sedona in the Fall!!

Kyle - 8th Grade FUN Night

Halloween Pics

It's about time!!!

Vacation to Lake Michigan

Erin's AG Molly Mystery Party!

Our Oasis!

We've got a TEENAGER in our house!

Happy 8th Birthday Erin!

Erin's Gymnastics

Jeff Gets Platinum Time!

Pinewood Derby!

Kyle - The English Hedgehog in "Animals"

Andi's Birthday Sleepover!

Happy 11th Birthday Andi!

Jeff's El Tour de Phoenix

Trip to SoCal and Knotts with Andi

Easter Day!

Meeting Evabelle!

Horseback Riding Date with Daddy!

Spring Break 2010 !

Finally...an update!!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Activities!

Andi's Sacred Dance Recital

We say goodbye to Calvin!

Andi and Joy Sleep with the Lions at the Zoo!

El Tour de Tucson

Martha Girls

The Grades are In!

Fall Beauty in the White Mountains in Arizona

Cruise to Cabo!

Friendship Reunion!

Back to School!

Oh My! Lynden Christian 20 Year HS reunion!

Forever Friends!!

Visiting Washington's Beauty!

Escaping the Arizona heat to the midwest!

Friends start turning 40!!!

Happy Fathers Day!

Erin's BIG day - Let's CELEBRATE!

Summer Fun!

Bathroom Remodels!

Almost a teen ......Happy Birthday Kyle!!!

My Baby is 7!!

A Perfect Girls Weekend!

Happy Easter!

Andi's Kit Mystery Party

Celebrating Andi -she turns 10!

Spring Break 2009 !

Creative Writing

Springtime in the Desert!

Road Trip to Denver for Kyle's Spelling Bee!

My new Wheels!

What girls like to do....

A winning weekend!

Livn' Today for Tomorrow

Grandma Hillegonds is dancing with angels!

Happy New Year! **** 2009 *****

Merry Christmas!!

The Martha Girls Christmas Party

Getting ready for Christmas!

Lovn' the Long Weekend!

Jeff races in El Tour de Tucson

Desert Botanical Gardens

Politics and Religion - oh my!

Go Firebirds!

Trick or Treat !!

Kyle Visits Chicago!

Weekend at Greer Cabin with Rondeau's

24 hour visit from Grandpa and Grandma!

A Busy Saturday!

15 years together.....and counting!

Relax'n in Vegas!

Erin and Olivia -- Sweet Friends!

WhataWeekend!

1 birthday + 4 great friends = FUN TIMES!

Happy New Year! 2009 *