Copies of Photo Albums!

Hello!!!! I'm sure all of you remember the Heritage Album mom and I made for Pake and Beppe that was out for their anniversary a couple of years ago and also at Pake's funeral. There was interest expressed that people wanted copies of it. So I scanned in the pages, uploaded them to Shutterfly and made books out of them! Woot! A couple of pages the bottoms of the pages got cut off from the scanner, so they are not PERFECT I know but they are close. I did the same thing with a book Aunt Anne created of the last couple weeks, the farm, and funeral. I made a 12x12 version and an 8x8 version of both. You should be able to click the links below and view the albums. If you want to order them you can do that, you just have to create a shutterfly account, which is FREE and super easy. Let me know if you have any questions also let me know what you think. Someone will have to let Aunt Caroline know about this since she does not have a computer at home. Thank you! --Alyssa


Pake and Beppe 12.x12 http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8EZNmTdy4aMOC&emid=sharpbshar&linkid=link5

Pake and Beppe 8x8http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8EZNmTdy4aMOg&emid=sharpbshar&linkid=link5

Album Anne Made 12x12http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8EZNmTdy4aMPG&emid=sharpbshar&linkid=link5

Album Anne Made 8x8http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8EZNmTdy4aMPk&emid=sharpbshar&linkid=link5

(I'm not sure how long the links are good for so let me know if you can't view them)

Beppe- The Epitome of A Lot of Things

I always said that Beppe is the epitome of contentment, but I will have to now add patience. She is trying to figure out how this new pattern in knitting goes and she gets about 6 to 12 inches into the knitting and takes it out because she sees a mistake. She doesn't throw the ball of yarn across the room or get up and stomp all around. There is no yelling out in frustration! She just sweetly says in her dutch accent that "Dis is SO frrrustrating!" That is it! Then she takes out what she has done and starts all over. Maybe it is also the epitome of PERSERVERENCE!

New School for the Kids

Jonathan, Hannah and Joshua already have a few days under their belt by the time I got to posting this. So far it seems like a non event for the kids. For mom, it was a little teary eyed watching the kids go off so independently and Beppe cried too because it brought back memories of eight kids getting on the bus with their lunch buckets.

The bus driver is the same lady who let me off the hook in 6th grade when I hit a kid from behind with a science book on top his head. She talked to me when we pulled up to our house and said, "He probably deserved it." To which I agreed by shaking my head and quickly got off the bus. What a nice bus driver I thought! I wouldn't suggest the kids do this because they are on the bus with all the high school kids from Sully. The kids walk up the lane in the morning and get picked up around 7:20 a.m. and get dropped off at the house by 4:20 p.m.

The twins will be doing band this year so I will have to make a trip to Reiman's (before this store was practically in our back yard now we will have to drive a little ways). We also had to buy tennis shoes for Jonathan since we realized he didn't have ones this summer since sandals were the shoe of choice. Hannah with her long legs is having trouble meeting the dress code and now isn't the time of year to go shopping for that. Capri's will have to due until next year. Joshua is thinking that his teacher talks a lot and it is hard for him to get any words in. He said, " I have to raise my hand and wait, and wait and wait." I would love to be a mouse on both the bus and in their classroom to observe how things are going, but I'm very thankful with the no complaints when they come home. by Susie

Drew overnight at G-ma'& g-pa's

Wes & I enjoyed a wonderful time getting to know Drew a bit more! He is growing up so fast- we laugh all his sounds- expressions-he is one awesome little man! Drew enjoyed the stroller ride- the bath tub, reading, & lots of playing with us. I took a few pics so these are just a taste of our weekend

weekend fun

We had a busy weekend. I hosted a Flip Flop Crop at the lakehouse this weekend and got a lot done with Drew's book. woot!! Also Mom and Dad came up Sunday night to see Drew with Beppe and then they took him for an overnight visit. They will bring him back Monday by the time I get off work...which is good because I miss him already! Enjoy a couple pictures --Alyssa

Tante Grietje - Mem/Beppe's Sister

Thought I would let you know that Mem got a call from Ome Louw that Tante Grietje was in the hospital.  She suffered in the Friesian language a "beroerte".  Mem traslated that as a light stroke.  She will come home from the  hospital this Friday, Aug. 15.  Tante Grietje is Mem's only living sister and is 8 years older than mem.  Their address is:

Louw and Grietje Zwaagstra

Spoorbuurt 1

9298 VE  Kollumerzwaag

Netherlands

Fair fun

Our family had a fun day at the fair. Don't be surprised if this picture shows up on your Christmas card again. It is so much easier than trying to get everyone together in matching clothes and posing.

I get Jessa for the first part of this week at our house because her babysitter needed time off. I will do it free, which works out well, because her babysitter gets paid time off. Where were those perks when I was doing daycare....?

Sweet Corn Fun!

SWEET CORN!

Only 1 of the piles before it is rid of the silk!

How many worms did Jonathan really find?

In July we were offered some sweet corn for free- we shared with some of you - the joys of working together & sharing a harvest to enjoy for the winter! It made for some great fun- seeing how many worms Jonathan, Hannah & Joshua could find while husking, Wes using Bernie's turkey boiler helped speed up the cooking process- Arlys' electric knife wearing out after all that corn- 80 + cups the first night & 160 cups the second night. Cathy, Susie & Arlys' famlies are enjoying the bounty. Don't worry the rest of you won't totally miss out- Susie offered to provide corn for the next big Veenstra gathering! Are you tasting it already?

-posted by Arlys

House for Sale

I have a clean little dutch house for sale!  You can check out the house at www.infotube.net   Ad number 202402.  We will have an open house again next week, but need to somehow get more people to go through it.  We are open to any crazy ideas you might have to get people through.  

It would be a nice 20th Anniversary Present if we would sell the house on August 13.  We are not superstitious at all!  

Have a great week everyone!

Starting out the Blog.....an amazing vacuum

Picture will be explained...keep reading. I am setting a good example and posting the first 'official' post and hope my family follows lead. We have been very busy remodeling in our house..and by we I mean by hiring a contractor. We had 2 bathrooms redone, 2 new doors and made 2 tiny rooms in the basement into one big room. After the contractor left, our house was of course a mess. Last weekend Brad and I worked hard on cleaning the house and I started vacuuming....my vacuum kept breaking down and I had to clean Emma's hair (our dog) out of the hose about every minute. I said...that is ENOUGH! the next day I went out and bought a Dyson vacuum...yep you heard me. Those of you who know me know that this is not something that I would normally do....but boy am I sure glad I did!!!! I re-vacuumed a small section with my new animal Dyson and I was SOLD! I could not believe all the 'crud' it sucked it! I've attached a picture for your viewing pleasure. I can now sleep and night knowing my soon to be crawling son will be crawling on clean floors. Well worth the money. ---Alyssa---

This is only the beginning

Veenstra family...you asked for it here it is. I am creating a blog/site for the Veenstra family to post about what is going on in their family's life. I will be getting you details on how to do this via email. Hope to see some posts from you soon!