Doyle's work day at the zoo!

Doyle went to the zoo today.  ING encourages their employees to "volunteer."  They were supposed to paint, but the weather was cold so he ended up raking Emu and Wallabee poop.  Can you see those project managers cleaning the Australia exhibit?  

We had a nice supper discussing how our day went.   Doyle's  work day at the zoo was a lot more exciting to talk about for him than one of his current projects.  After he cleaned out the pen, he said the team  had connections with the "fish aquarium" guy that took them behind the scenes.   Doyle got a chance to hold a jelly fish which someone told him felt like a breast implant.  (He didn't tell the kids that piece of information.)  He also found out that the clown fish is very interesting fish.    The clown fish has a partner and stay together to raise their family.  The male takes care of their babies and if the female dies, the male turns into a female.  You might have to read the last sentence over, but that is what Doyle found out at his "work".   

Silent Messengers coming to Iowa...with Veenstra's in tow

We are all pumped about heading down to Iowa this weekend. I think most of you have heard us talk about this ministry before but in case you haven't a clue....it's a group that tells the story of Jesus through song/mime.....they have a web site SilentMessengers.org ...I think, other wise google it and you'll be able to see some pictures and read more about it. We leave on Saturday afternoon and spend the night at Crossroads in West Des Moines. We will be there Sunday morning (9:30)and at Heartland Reformed Church in Pella Sunday evening (6:00PM). Please come see us if you are able to, we'd love to see you!! Both Anson and I are driving, the girls are all a part of the ministry and Justin is coming along for the ride. Our trip will finish with a chapel service Monday morning at Pella Christian High School. Hope to see you soon!!!!
The Veenstra's in WI

You are Invited!

Sunday, April 5, 2009, Luke will be making public profession of faith!   Caroline called and wanted me to post this on the blog that you are all invited to witness this profession.  She will have dinner at her house after the church service to celebrate.  Please call her and let her know if this will work so she knows how much food to plan.  Peace Reformed Church starts at 10:30 a.m.  If you would like to see him answer some questions from the Catechism, you can show up at 9:30 a.m. during Sunday School.

P.S.   This is the only recent picture that I have of Luke from this past Christmas and he was eating when I took the picture.   If they lived closer, I would take a better picture because I'm sure none of us would choose this picture.  I just like adding photos with the blogs. :-)

Wes & I headed south- our main goals to visit cousins, Earl & Ramona Campbell in Rockport & also the Riverwalk in San Antonio- both of these things were accomplished in a very fun, relaxing way.We enjoyed the water - mostly viewing and listening. The first picture is of the USS Lexington near Corpus Christi, Texas. We took a lot of pictures inside and out. If you have facebook you can get on there and see most of them.

On this one- Wes was carry my purse so I could rest my shoulder. It had some bottled water & granola bars in if we needed a snack so was getting heavy. Nice to be married to a man not afraid to carry my purse! A woman came up to him and told him the purse didn't match his shoes- they had a good laugh on that one!
Wes trying out a bunk on the ship... my nephew, Keaton stayed on the ship as part of a school trip once- and had to sleep in them. He stated they found a few cochroaches- yuck!!!!

Wes doing some stretching to hopefully get the kink out of his back- but what a view of the gulf- this picture was on Mustang Island.
The sunset by my cousin's place was beautiful each night- I almost missed it this night. We saw 4 dophins this night in this area - just off the dock a few yards from Earl's place.

We enjoyed a wonderful time in Rockport area, as well as in San Antonio- the Riverwalk, the Market Plaza, the missions & Mexican food. Then we went to Okalahoma City to tour the National Memorial dedicate to all who lost their lives in the bombing.- Spent 3 hours there- very emotional time.. Can't imagine what it would have been & still is like for those who survived & their families & friends. Trusting the God is with us through it all is so comforting.

We stopped at both kids on the way home to catch up with them, before heading back to the reality of work(which we are blessed to have). Loving all the posts of family- loving all of you! Keep it up! -Arlys

March Madness!

Doyle's favorite time of the year!  The time when he can watch one basketball game after another.   A time when he justifies sitting 3 hours plus in front of T.V. mindlessly.  This is March Madness!  We have a tradition of  filling in the brackets with our family. This year Anson and Sylvia's family and Beppe joined us.  Do I dare say that most of us really have no idea of the strength or weakness of the team since this season in our life.   We do not watch basketball games outside of our children's tournaments every Saturday.  In fact, the only information that I use is how they are seeded.  

Then there is our mother......I'm not sure she really understood what seeded means.  Doyle encouraged her to fill out the bracket with us.   He gave her teams to choose from and she would pick her team with confidence.  He realized after about the third one he read, she would always pick the second one he said.  Doyle tried switching which one he said first.  He then realized that she was picking  states that she liked or places she heard of before.  After the first games, she wondered how many more she had to choose from.  This is where it becomes funny.  After the first round, Beppe is way ahead!!!  She correctly picked the underdogs-- Siena, Wisconsin, Arizona, Cleveland State, Dayton etc.  There are eight of us within 30 points of each other, but Beppe is 30 points ahead of us all.  This is Madness!  

P.S. Next, Doyle's going to give her the Wall Street Journal and have her pick stocks!  

While We Were Gone

Mom had a nice surprise when she came back from California.  John finished the trim on the doorways,  kitchen, and entryway.  (Thank you for all your work, John!)  I bet you all wish that John would come and finish a project while you were  on vacation.  

Vacation Over...Spring Cleaning Beginning!

Mall of America .....

A great end to a perfect vacation in California with Anne. We got to  spend time with Anson, Sylvia, Katelyn and Justin.  The kids enjoyed the Mall of America!  My heart is satisfied and I smile inside when I know the cousins really enjoy each others company and we are building good memories together. (I will plan another trip to go shopping with Sylvia..that makes me smile inside too!)  You can about guess that since the majority of us were kids, we headed to the roller coasters and  focused most of our time on deciding what three rides they would go on or they could choose to use the money for spending money.  This was a big decision for some of the kids.  We then all ate at the food court and played at Lego Land before heading back to Sully, Iowa.  

Back in Sully......

We arrived home around 6:45 p.m. on Thursday night and it was still light out.  Love daylight savings time!   Doyle and I went for a walk with Al (the dog).  This is where the vacation officially ended.  

Spring is in the air and you just can't wait to start working out in the yard.  I noticed that a neighbor was doing a controlled burn to clean up the long grass in the ditches.  I felt like spring cleaning and couldn't resist getting the lighter out myself and start a fire.  Doyle told me that he was going inside to watch the NCAA tournament.  It didn't take long before the boys (Justin, Jonathan, & Joshua) came over and suggested roasting some marshmellows.  They  ran to Beppe in the house to see if she had any .  It didn't take long for Doyle to come back and start watching and poking at the fire.  I thought Doyle  wanted to go inside to watch some b-ball, but there is something irrestiable about playing "fire fighter" on the controlled fire.  I ended up being the photographer, the boys roasted miniture marshmellows (the only size in the house) while Doyle felt manly controlling the fire!   Spring clean up has started!  I love this time of year when spring is in the air.  Pretty soon we will see the black ditch with blades of green grass start popping through.