Yippeeeeee! We had a family reunion again! All the Jewkes kids and their families came to Georgia, Banning Mills. All families had a little cabin to stay at, food was fabulously fresh and very yummy, there was a swimming pool where we gatherd for many hours, and Banning Mills has one of the largest ziplines! Most adults went for a 4 hour or 6 hour tour, with the older kids, which was a blast. Sofia and Lilian got to go most of the tour, and LOVED it, those monkeys have no fear at all.
The very best part was that the Taskers made it there all safely with only a few bumps and bruises, after having been in a very severe accident. They had truly been guided and protected from above! The other best part was to see everyone, to have all the kids reconnect, and to play games and games. Jewkes love games, adn I am sure happy to be part of it all!
The girls played some mini golf with Gabe and Caleb, and swimming included games of sharks and minnows, relay races with and without inner tubes to move on, lots of jumping for the little guys, and what not. I just love how all of the kids interact as if they have been raised together, to be able to catch up with Josh' brothers and sisters, and to see the pride and joy in mom and dad's eyes as they see their whole clan together as a close knit family; quite the accomplishments, adn I am pretty sure they feel it is their most important and cherished accomplishment. It was a wonderful 3 days, way too short!
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Monday, August 8, 2011
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Opa and Oma are Here
My parents arrived in the middle of June and stayed for just over a month, partly to be able to be included in the girls' special 8th Birthday party and their baptism. They are always very helpful with the children, and with household tasks, and so they were again this time. Normally, they go on a trip halfway their stay, but this time we were going to be gone ourselves for a conference trip to Washington DC, and for a week of Josh's family reunion and cousins' camp. The most special of opa and oma's stay is that they get to see our family, our beautiful 4 miracles, how much we love and enjoy eachother, how much fun and work time we have together, and just to simply be part of all that. It always feels a little depressing when they leave again, as a part of me departs with them back to Holland. The girls loved the many ijsjes (icecream cones), the 'sommetjes' (a game involving math), story time with opa, going with mama and oma to horseback riding and cooking class.
We played lots of games over the summer, with lots of swimming. The girks and boefje all love to play games on the Ipad, mini-boefje just loves to sit and play while we all do work in the yard or inside. Every Saturday Josh does yard work, and we all like to help in some way or fashion. It is fun and hopefully it teaches the kids about work and helping others. We do the same with washing cars: the kids have to help, but in return they get to pspray me all over, such that we end up having fun while doing 'work'. Ofcourse I also make them do many more things which I am not funny about, so I am not sure if the picture of work and fun is coming across as well as I'd like. Oh well :).
My mom took all the pictures, as she is much better at this than I am I just copy her many colorful pictures!
During their stay, we thus took the girls to their swimming class every day, Jasper to 'playball' camp one week, the girls to a horseback riding class (thanks to groupon), and to a cooking class (where they learned to fold napkins in a pretty way, and they cooked pancakes and crunchy french toast (dipped in eggs/milk, then frosted flakes) and other things. Thank you opa and oma, for the special time and for all the help and all the pictures!
We played lots of games over the summer, with lots of swimming. The girks and boefje all love to play games on the Ipad, mini-boefje just loves to sit and play while we all do work in the yard or inside. Every Saturday Josh does yard work, and we all like to help in some way or fashion. It is fun and hopefully it teaches the kids about work and helping others. We do the same with washing cars: the kids have to help, but in return they get to pspray me all over, such that we end up having fun while doing 'work'. Ofcourse I also make them do many more things which I am not funny about, so I am not sure if the picture of work and fun is coming across as well as I'd like. Oh well :).
My mom took all the pictures, as she is much better at this than I am I just copy her many colorful pictures!
Boefje got stung by a bee in his ear, poor Boefje, so sweet
Mini-Boefje- loves to smile at any time
Trying to find out what is going on
Wow, time for a haircut for Espen
Espen playing outside
While the other kids are 'working'
....hard :)
Teamwork!!!
Wat een dikke wangetjes!
Sofia looks excited, and Lilian ....???
Ready to go!
Oh good, Lilian is excited too
Here she goes
Loving it!
Beautiful Fia
Lilian loved it more than expected
Having a great time with opa Pizza!
Mijn lieve kaboutertje
Sofia learning more about horses
Playing one of their favorite games: uno
How sweet, can't get enough of his sweetness. Note the blue/brown eyes
Ipad and ice cream, what more does a household need?
Boefje is fine with just that
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Pirates Meet
Nope, there are actually no real pirates meeting in peachtree city. The girls are 'pirates' this summer though, as they joined the summer swimteam with that name. They swim every morning for 1 hour from Monday-Thursday for 8 weeks, with a swim meet every week for 4 weeks.
This past week, Sofia and Lilian also did a basketball camp, which was a lot of fun. It was a spontaneous action after they accidentally got to watch some part of it (after chasing Boefje around the Kedron Aquatics Center), and got really excited. Well, on thursday they had their swim meet, and after 1 hr of hard swimming, 3.5 hrs of basketball, it would be an understatement to say they were tired. They were exhausted, but still their enthusiastic selves. I sure admire that in them.
Anyway, the very forst event was the 100 IM (medley, 25 yards of butterfly, backstroke, breast stroke, freestyle), which is very hard!!! (just try 1 lap of butterfly, when I do, I feel like I need to go to bed!) They were soooooo ired, Sofia even had ahard time doing the back stroke, which I personally think is her strongest stroke. But both of them kept going, they did not give up, and we were super proud of them for that! Way to go ladies!
Tehy both also did the 25 yards breast, free and free relay, which went really well. My strong, enthused, excited ladies.
This past week, Sofia and Lilian also did a basketball camp, which was a lot of fun. It was a spontaneous action after they accidentally got to watch some part of it (after chasing Boefje around the Kedron Aquatics Center), and got really excited. Well, on thursday they had their swim meet, and after 1 hr of hard swimming, 3.5 hrs of basketball, it would be an understatement to say they were tired. They were exhausted, but still their enthusiastic selves. I sure admire that in them.
Anyway, the very forst event was the 100 IM (medley, 25 yards of butterfly, backstroke, breast stroke, freestyle), which is very hard!!! (just try 1 lap of butterfly, when I do, I feel like I need to go to bed!) They were soooooo ired, Sofia even had ahard time doing the back stroke, which I personally think is her strongest stroke. But both of them kept going, they did not give up, and we were super proud of them for that! Way to go ladies!
Tehy both also did the 25 yards breast, free and free relay, which went really well. My strong, enthused, excited ladies.
Pirates Meet
No, there are actually no real Pirates meeting in Peachtree City. The girls are part of the swimteam during the summer, which is called Pirates. They have a 1 hr lesson every Monday-Thursday for 8 weeks, and then a swim meet every week for the first 4 weeks. They also did a basketball camp this week, as a spontaneous action. They watched it for a minute after so on Thursday, after 1 hr of hard swimming, 3.5 hrs of basketball, it was an understatement to say they were tired when they started the swim meet.
There first event was the 100 IM (medley, they swim 25 yards of each: butterfly, back, breast, free)
There first event was the 100 IM (medley, they swim 25 yards of each: butterfly, back, breast, free)
Sunday, June 5, 2011
First Week out of School
Wow, the first week of summer is already over, scary! We started with a wonderful Memorial Day, with part of the time at Josh' parents house, with hotdogs, and swimming. Jasper had no fear and went down the slide many many times, even when no one was there to catch him. Ofcourse, I am like a hawk kepping my eye on him at all times, and if I don't see that bright orange swimsuit of his for a second, I get a heart attack (many), so he was fine. Definitely time to get him to learn to swim!
On Tuesday, the girls started Pirates again, the summer swimteam. They swim for 1 hour every day, Monday-Thursday, and have a weekly swim meet. They started right where they had left off last year, and love it again. The swim meets last about 4 hours, during which they do 2 individual events, and 2 relays (medley and free style). Lilian chose breast and fly for her individual stroke, and Sofia chose breast and free. They both had a good time, and did their best. I am so proud of them that they both are competetive enough to do their best and to ask how they placed, but have enough sportsmanship that they can handle it when they don't win. Lilian weas last in several occasions, and I could see that she was disappointed, which made me feel so sorry for her. However, she told me she was fine and was not upset. So, I gave up on being sad for her if she wasn't sad for herself! Lilian was her sweet self, though it was not the best choice at the time: on her leg of the freestyle relay, she saw a pair of goggles on the bottom of the pool floor, and she decided to dive them up off the bottom during her leg! It was sweet, but ofcourse very unexpected. Her team was in last place, so it didn't make a difference inn the end. It was actually really funny, and made me realize how sweet and concerned she always is about others, so I was actually very proud of her sweet Spirit.
Jasper and Espen got to watch all of it in the heat, and Josh was there as well, so the girls felt very supported. It is so wonderful to be able to do all theese things as a family, and I am still celebrating every day that Josh chose this special family time over his 'career' and income.
On Friday, I finally got my roadbike off the wall, after it had been hanging there for a total of 10 years (Chicahgo and here), cleaned it off, bought some new tires and tubes (mine came apart when I tried to patch the tubes), and got it ready to go for a ride with a bike group on Saturday morning. Josh took care of the kids while I went for a 30+ mile ride with this group. It was so much fun to ride on the roadbike again, it is so much faster than a mountain bike, and my legs were still working it. Yeah! We are going to try to continue doing this, trading off every week, such that Josh got himself a roadbike too. We used to do this a lot together when we lived in utah (on mountainbikes) and we loved biking together, especially on slick rock in Moab. I am looking forward to some rides together agian someday.
The girls are going to sign up for a mini triathlon next Saturday, 6/11. so that will be exciting to see. We will all be there again cheering! GOooooo girls! :)
On Tuesday, the girls started Pirates again, the summer swimteam. They swim for 1 hour every day, Monday-Thursday, and have a weekly swim meet. They started right where they had left off last year, and love it again. The swim meets last about 4 hours, during which they do 2 individual events, and 2 relays (medley and free style). Lilian chose breast and fly for her individual stroke, and Sofia chose breast and free. They both had a good time, and did their best. I am so proud of them that they both are competetive enough to do their best and to ask how they placed, but have enough sportsmanship that they can handle it when they don't win. Lilian weas last in several occasions, and I could see that she was disappointed, which made me feel so sorry for her. However, she told me she was fine and was not upset. So, I gave up on being sad for her if she wasn't sad for herself! Lilian was her sweet self, though it was not the best choice at the time: on her leg of the freestyle relay, she saw a pair of goggles on the bottom of the pool floor, and she decided to dive them up off the bottom during her leg! It was sweet, but ofcourse very unexpected. Her team was in last place, so it didn't make a difference inn the end. It was actually really funny, and made me realize how sweet and concerned she always is about others, so I was actually very proud of her sweet Spirit.
Jasper and Espen got to watch all of it in the heat, and Josh was there as well, so the girls felt very supported. It is so wonderful to be able to do all theese things as a family, and I am still celebrating every day that Josh chose this special family time over his 'career' and income.
My beautiful family!
My sweeeeeeeet Knorretje (Espen)
Silly Lily
Funny Fietje!
Sofia ready to go!
Lilian ready to go!
On Friday, I finally got my roadbike off the wall, after it had been hanging there for a total of 10 years (Chicahgo and here), cleaned it off, bought some new tires and tubes (mine came apart when I tried to patch the tubes), and got it ready to go for a ride with a bike group on Saturday morning. Josh took care of the kids while I went for a 30+ mile ride with this group. It was so much fun to ride on the roadbike again, it is so much faster than a mountain bike, and my legs were still working it. Yeah! We are going to try to continue doing this, trading off every week, such that Josh got himself a roadbike too. We used to do this a lot together when we lived in utah (on mountainbikes) and we loved biking together, especially on slick rock in Moab. I am looking forward to some rides together agian someday.
The girls are going to sign up for a mini triathlon next Saturday, 6/11. so that will be exciting to see. We will all be there again cheering! GOooooo girls! :)
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