Dozer --- Coyote Dinner

Callista has turned One Years Old today

2008-08-04T12:22:00.002-04:00

Time really flies sometimes doesn't it? Our daughter, Callista turned one years old today. This past weekend we had a fun little party with family members and she was spoiled rotten. The weather was so nice that we had to have the party outside. We sat in the shade, under our very large oak tree, and enjoyed the afternoon together. Callie had just woken up from a nap, so she was not really awake yet when everyone arrived. But, once the presents started coming out, she became very excited. She sorta tore at the wrapping paper, and hugged her new stuffed (pink) elephant. She also found time to walk back over to her $0.50 skooter we found at a garage sale. Proves that newer pricier gifts aren't always the coolest gifts.

By the way, Callie has been walking since 10.5 months, but is now walking quite well. She loves to point at the stuff she wants, but is only saying about 10-15 words so far. (grandparents always "hear" more words) All in all, she seems to be developing extremely well. It is beginning to be difficult to remember what life was like without her.

Monthly Update-What's New

2008-05-29T15:38:00.002-04:00

Hi there,
A couple of new cool stuff happened since the last post. First is with our family. Our daughter, Callista, took her first step last week. She was 9.5 months old! It was really cool to watch. It was interesting too, because she really didn't realize what she had done. She had been balancing for a few weeks, with no hand-holds, for short time periods. She could also take steps with someone holding her hands, but it wasn't until last week that she actually put one step forward. Callie has since taken a few more steps-one at a time-and I am sure she will be walking soon. It is always very exciting to watch all of her developments, but first-steps are one of the big developments are extra special.
Another new item in our lives is that I, Dean, have been appointed a deacon at our church. I have already been assigned the duties of Assistant Treasurer for my first year of three. The progression goes: 1st yr Assist Treas., 2nd yr Treas., 3rd yr Head of Finance Committee. This does make me a little nervous since this is my first time, but I am sure it will be fine also.
Lastly, I have completed two full classes for my MBA degree. I officially received A's in both. This is way better than I ever accomplished in my undergrad. Needless to say, I am very excited about this. I think I received better grades partially because of taking one class at a time, and partially because I can relate work experiences to class and vice versa.
All in all, life has been great lately, and our family praises and thanks God for His blessings

April Update

2008-04-28T16:57:00.002-04:00

Well, almost two months have passed; it seems like time flies. I am very busy at work on the pig farm. For those who have not heard yet, I am working as an accountant on a large pig farm, so I am not getting to smelly or dirty. It is a tough business right now with corn-based ethanol fuel driving up the prices of corn. We feed mostly corn to our pigs, and since corn as doubled in just over a year, it is really difficult to feed our pigs and stay in business. There is hope on the horizon, which is great, it just takes awhile for our economy to adjust in our free enterprise market.

I had to fix my old car this weekend. I have a Mercury Sable 1997, with 164,000 miles. It has been a very good car for the most part, probably due to it being a family/grandparent car and that they made so many of them also in Ford Taurus form. I was driving along and my speedometer quit, then power steering, and then the transmission wouldn't shift smoothly. After talking with my brother, who happens to be an auto-technician, he said it was a speed sensor. The good part was that it was a $35 part, and my brother would fix it for me. The bad part was that it had rusted in place and we couldn't even pound it out with a hammer. We limped it to my brother's workplace where he used an air-hammer to knock it loose. Then he simply pulled it out and slid the new one in. It is a good thing I have a nice brother like that, because otherwise the labor bill would've been skyrocket high. Plus, I can trust him.

Over and out for now.

Back to School

2008-03-04T12:12:00.003-05:00

Well, I thought I would never say this, but I am back to school. I decided that if I was to grow in my accounting degree, and get a better paying job, then I had better get my masters in business administration. Therefore, I am now heading down a not-too-long road of 18 months to do just that. I must say that I didn't ever hate school, but I found that I enjoy the work environment much more than the study/acedemia environment. This could be because I learn so much faster and remember so much more in a hand's on experience. My previous job was great. I learned tons in a very short amount of time and gave it my all. However, after 6+ years, my manager and I weren't seeing eye to eye, I was starting a family(picture attached of our little daughter) and I didn't feel that I was being paid well for the type of work I was accomplishing.

My new place of work is almost like being home again. I grew up on a chicken and egg farm of 10,000 chickens and approximately that many eggs per day. I now am working for a pig farm, which has over 23,000 sows. These sows produce piglets which are then sent across five states for raising them and selling them. Some of you are probably immediatly thinking this is a large farm and doesn't care for the animals. On the CONTRARY, we are a christian organization, whose philosophy is that if we care for the animals, they will be more productive. We are also very progressive in our nutrient management of the soil in which we spread manure. I have learned that this farm is very much in favor of a good environment. I wish some of the college professors at Calvin College and staff at the Humane Society of the U.S. would recognize that not all large farms are mean to animals and the invironment. Actually most big farms are probably better for the environment than small farmers just because of the huge amounts of federal/state regulations have upon them.

Its been over a month since my last post, so I thought I had better get up to date again.

Detroit International Auto Show

2008-01-22T12:24:00.001-05:00

We attended the Detroit Auto show and this Mazda was probably one of the coolest concept cars there. 2008's Show was pretty good this year with many concept cars and many cars with alternative fuels. There were also 5 Chinese auto makers present, which made the show a little different and new again.

A couple of my other favorites from the show include the Ford Explorer America Concept and the Mitsubishi Concept X(think new Eclipse).

Overall, it was a great show and worth the money and the snowy cold drive to arrive there.

Amazing Police "Chase"

2008-01-07T12:19:00.000-05:00

"Alive Again"

2007-12-27T12:05:00.001-05:00

Hey All,
I have been so busy lately, I even forgot my password to get in here to blog. So, to sum up almost the full year it seems: First, we have a baby girl named Callista. She is super cute and fun, and makes life pretty easy for us. She was born on 8/4/07 and was 19.5 inches, 6lb 11oz, and had lots of dark hair. She loves to stand up(with help) and often won't even bend at the waist because she doesn't want to sit. She has two front-bottom teeth poking through already. Callista is a joy, and we thank God every day for her.

On another note, I just started a new job at Dykhuis Farms in Overisel, MI. I am an accountant with them and my first day was 12/24/07(x-mas eve). So far I am learning a great deal really fast. I will be doing payroll, accounts payable, acccounts receivable, and analyzing the financial statements. I am a little nervous, but am also very excited for this new opportunity.

I hope to blog a little more often now, so stay posted.

Hydrogen + Gasoline = Good Environment

2007-08-01T14:27:00.000-04:00

Ford Motor company has been pushing Hydrogen powered cars the most and have tested the most. However getting Hydrogen at the "gas" station is proving to be difficult. Here we have the perfect solution(especially since FoMoCo owns Mazda).

"Mazda will be leasing a dual-fueled RX-8 Hydrogen Rotary Engine vehicle to Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI) this August for use in its daily operations...The RX-8 Hydrogen features a dual-mode fuel system, enabling the driver to switch to gasoline or hydrogen power at the flip of a switch. When engaged in hydrogen mode, the engine produces extremely low levels of carbon dioxide, a primary cause of global warming."

With this new hybrid of Hydrogen and gasoline, it would be easy enough to drive on gas until there was time to drive to a Hydrogen gas pump-which might not always be nearby. I hope that Japan's officials enjoy the Mazda RX-8 and that the news of this hybrid spreads.

Mission Trip: Jamaica, Queens, NewYorkCity

2007-07-05T14:32:00.000-04:00

We just got back from a week long trip to Queens, New York City. We traveled with our church high school youth group. There were 8 students and four leaders. We flew this year, which was a relief; it would've been a very long drive otherwise. We spent the week working in different locations helping the poor, elderly, and the environment. Some groups spent time at soup kitchens preparing and serving food. Other groups worked at picking up trash at a park, and still others worked at senior centers and/or assisted living centers. Each morning we had devotional time, and every night we all got together(all 4 churches, totalling 60 people) and had a worship time together.
We finished on friday morning, then we did some tourist stuff. Our church group visited Battery Park and we saw the Statue of Liberty from the park. We walked around Ground Zero. We visited Times Square, Chinatown, Rockefeller Center, Grand Central Station, and Central Park. It was a really good week. We had a lot of fun and grew spiritually.

Back to Camp

2007-06-15T13:54:00.000-04:00

Yesterday evening I went back to Son-Life Camp, where I worked 5 summers as both Counselor and Waterfront Director. It is really cool that one of the young adults in our church youth group chose to work at the same camp I worked at. The camp is Christian based and is a place that I grew spiritually, grew my own self confidence, helped campers grow, and had a ton of fun. I was invited because my friend Paul(the young person I mentioned) asked me to be his prayer partner for the summer and they invited all the prayer partners to camp. We had a nice dinner, had a short praise/singing time, and then we could find a spot around camp to pray together. I guess we rebelled a little bit, because we walked the whole time and talked about camp, the counselors, what to expect this year, and so on. I learned that lots of prayer will be needed this summer for the counselors to get along. There are a few counselors who seem to irritate others and/or disrupt others. From my experience, I greatly encouraged to keep the focus on the kids who come rather than the issues between staff. When I think back to when I was at camp, there was at least one counselor each year who provided enough annoyance to start gossip which led to dissention. Every time this happened, the campers suffered slightly. So if you are reading this, please pray for Paul. Please pray for him to have wisdom from God. Please pray that the Holy Spirit will come upon all the counselors and campers this summer.

Ford does it again

2007-06-07T07:30:00.000-04:00

Ford has overtaken Toyota as the leader of the pack in initial quality rankings.

The nation's number-two auto maker won the top spot in 5 of 19 segments in the JD Power and Associates 2007 survey. (Ford is now down a spot to the number 4 automaker in the world)

Once again, Porsche dominated the overall ranking of brands, averaging 91 problems per 100 vehicles -- the same as last year.

The 2007 industry average is 125 problems per 100 vehicles.
Last year it was 124.

Ford earned segment awards for the Mustang, Lincoln Mark LT, Lincoln MKZ, Mercury Milan and Mazda MX-5 Miata. **We own a Mazda6, which Ford based the above Lincoln MKZ, Mercury Milan, and also Ford Fusion cars. That makes me feel good about our car choice.

Toyota only four top spots this year after taking eleven segments last year. And this after Toyota has to recall many of their "wonderful, new" Full-size Trucks. The TUndra's quality is not good for 2007, and that will hurt Toyo's foray into the large truck market that Ford dominates and Chevy/GMC is a close second.

It is nice -for me- to see our own nation's auto industry doing well for once. They still might be struggling financially, but quality is huge and should help the financial turn-around.

Go Green-hybrid taxis coming

2007-05-23T15:40:00.000-04:00

New York city is adding 1,000 Hybrid type autos to their line-up by this october. Some cab drivers say this would save them $10, 000.00 per year! Amazing.

3-D Ultrasound

2007-05-23T15:11:00.000-04:00

Last monday we had a 3-D Ultrasound of our little baby. We did get 2 good pics of the baby's face, but then the baby rolled over and "hid" from being able to take any more 3-D pics. We are thankful for the two pics we got, but wished for more. Other than that, both Jes and the little baby are healthly and everything is coming along just fine and on schedule. We continue to pray that it stays this way. ALso, they measured the baby and estimate the weight to be 3lbs 2ounces. I think that the technology is so amazing that we can both see the baby in such detail and can know the precise weight. So Cool!

Chrysler Corp-What's gonna happen?

2007-05-22T14:44:00.000-04:00

So Chrysler/Dodge/JEEP was sold by Daimler for only 6.5 Billion. Daimler, who makes Mercedes-Benz autos and Smart autos, purchased Chrysler a few years ago for 38 billion. They really took a big hit with the Chrysler investment. Now Chrysler is the first of the big three automakers to become a privately owned business since 1957 when Ford became incorporated. Some critics say being privately owned could save Chrysler, others say Chrysler will become extinct. I personally feel that if these new owners want Chrysler and Dodge to stay alive, that they will find a way. RIght now the new owners have a company that is building nice semi-luxury chryslers and are also building some pretty cool dodges. What could help Chrysler also is that they are planning on bringing back their pre-Daimler symbol of the Pentastar. This symbol could help people recognize new Chryslers easier than the plain boring symbol they have right now. I am rooting for Chrysler to have a come-back in the auto industry. THe next couple years could be interesting and possibly historic because of this change automotive business.

Update

2007-05-16T14:36:00.000-04:00

Hi ya'll,
As you can probably tell from my poor blogging habits, I am a little busy lately. I usually take an afternoon break at work and float around on the internet. THis is also the time when I post blogs, but work is busy. I guess this is partly due to summer vacations starting and also one fellow co-worker is taking care of her husband right now because he had hip-replacement surgery. Enough about work; what is new and cool that is happening?

Jes and I will be having a 3-D ultrasound next monday of our little growing baby. We are still planning on the baby's gender being a surprise, so hopefully there will be no "accidents" while watching the ultrasound. So far both mom and baby are doing well. For me, my broken leg is considered healed and I am now playing in our church softball league. Last thursday night we lost our first game, but I did have one hit-a single- and one good catch in the outfield during the game. Also, my little nephew-who was born 2months early-is doing very good. He is home and is growing like crazy. He is no longer skinny, but has chubby cheeks and is a healthly little guy.

FordMoCo has top quality!

2007-04-18T14:41:00.000-04:00

There really is some good news about our domestic automakers. Hopefully this will help the bottom line.

Ford: Quality equal to Toyota
In survey of 31,000 new vehicle owners, Ford beats industry average for problems.
Bryce G. Hoffman / The Detroit News

Ford / Mercury
The 2007 Mercury Milan was one of the most problem-free vehicles from any manufacturer, with just 910 issues reported per 1,000 vehicles.

In terms of initial vehicle quality, Ford Motor Co. is in a statistical dead-heat for second place with Japan's Toyota Motor Corp. and Nissan Motor Co., according to a new study the Dearborn automaker plans to release today. Honda Motor Co. is the quality leader.
The report is based on an annual survey of 31,000 new vehicle owners that was conducted for Ford by the RDA Group, a market research firm based in Bloomfield Hills. The study evaluated 2007 model cars and trucks from all full-line manufacturers and asked drivers to list any problems they had encountered during their first 90 days of ownership.
The Detroit News reviewed the findings with sources familiar with the report. These sources said four Ford vehicles -- the Mercury Milan, Ford Shelby GT-500, Ford Expedition EL and Lincoln Navigator -- led their segments in initial quality.
Improving quality is a major goal for Ford, which is struggling to hold on to what remains of its U.S. market share after years of losses to foreign competitors.
The RDA study found Ford cars and trucks had 1,458 problems per 1,000 vehicles -- 32 fewer problems than the industry average of 1,490 and 128 fewer than Ford customers reported last year.
The results were even better for Ford's North American brands -- Ford, Lincoln and Mercury -- which combined had 1,456 problems per 1,000 vehicles. Sources said the overall number was slightly hurt by the automaker's European brands.
The Milan was one of the most problem-free vehicles from any manufacturer, with just 910 issues reported per 1,000 vehicles.
Ford spokeswoman Anne Marie Gattari confirmed the existence of the report, but would not discuss the findings. She said the company will release the details today, but wanted to tell employees first. She said improving quality is a central aim of the company's Way Forward turnaround plan.
"We are pleased with the direction of our quality, but we're not satisfied," Gattari said. "This is something we have to continue to be diligent with. Quality, along with safety, innovation and design, are our top priorities in delivering more vehicles that customers want."

I just hope Ford can make some money for once. I have always been a Ford fan and hope their quality stays high.

Dangerous Hybrids

2007-04-16T13:51:00.000-04:00

This blog on motortrend.com was very interesting. Presidents present: President Bush, CEO of Ford-Mulally, CEO's for GM and Chrysler-Wagoner and LaSorda.

Anecdote by CEO Mulally, CEO of Ford.
"It was really fun to show the president, and the secretaries, the cabinet secretaries, the (Ford Edge) hydrogen hybrid," he began. "It's a really neat vehicle. It has a hydrogen fuel tank, a hydrogen fuel cell, and a lithium ion battery. And so when the battery has gone down to about 40 percent of its capacity, the hydrogen fuel cell takes over, the hydrogen goes in ... out comes water of the exhaust pipe ... you can tell I'm a designer. I'm a car guy now. And so, the important thing was, you can also fuel it by plugging it into the wall, either your electricity or your neighbor's. [Laughter.] Or you can ... run it on hydrogen. And so, we wanted to make sure it was real, and not a photo op. And so we had it plugged into an electrical outlet at the White House. And we had a long yellow cord. And so I asked [an aide] to plug in the cord next to the front wheel, next to the electrical socket, instead of the hydrogen socket. And so when I walked out, I noticed the cord was lying there, closer to the rear wheel, the hydrogen ... and I thought, 'oh, my goodness...' so I started walking faster, the president walked faster. He got to the cord before I did, and I violated all the protocol, and I touched the president. I grabbed his arm and moved him up to the front, and ... I got a break."
So former jet aircraft designer Alan Mulally saved President Bush from blowing himself up, along with Mulally and maybe Wagoner and LaSorda and a few secret service agents.
Oh, the humanity!

Cars-Is Small Worth it?

2007-04-11T14:27:00.000-04:00

Hi,

Cars are a huge research hobby of mine. I love reading about them; I currently subscribe to Motor Trend and also Road & Track. Unfortunately, most of these cars I will never be able to afford, but it is fun to see what they are capable of. Recently, however, many of the new cars are small, gas mizers, and affordable. There is the Honda Fit, Nissan Versa, Toyota Yaris, and Smart ForTwo. But, are these small cars worth buying? My first thought was yes, but now I am not so sure. What I have noticed is that the biggest reason for buying small cars-economy-is not such a virtue anymore. Actually, one can buy the next size up car and still get the same gas MPG, and have more space for people and stuff, and possibly have a trunk. Me personally, I do not like cars that look like station wagons, so most of these small cars and hatch-backs are out. If they achieved some amazingly cool gas MPG, then maybe I would choose different? Of note, the Smart ForTwo can be parallel parked facing straight-out facing the street because it is so extremely short. I think that is the only redeeming factor besides resembling a cute factor of a roller skate.

What's Up

2007-03-21T14:19:00.000-04:00

Well, not much to say this week. Things are going pretty good for me, Jes, the baby, my nephew Clayton. We are still working on getting the wallpaper off of the baby's room. It is a pain. My broken leg is still improving a little each day. I am trying to teach myself to walk normal again. It is strange because I never had to think about walking before; I just walked. On another note, I have been playing a new playstation game. It seems a little childish at first because it is called Lego Star Wars, but it actually is really fun to play. All the characters are lego-looking. The game follows the first three episodes of Star Wars very closely. There is even some pod-racing involved. So far, my favorite lego character is yoda. Yoda is amazing with his lightsaber, and when he doesn't need his lightsaber he rides on a little hover craft. The game is also pretty cool because to complete the each level one has to switch between different characters at different times. Sometimes R2-D2 is needed, sometimes a jedi character is needed, and sometimes people like Padme with pistols are needed, etc. It is also somewhat like the old Mario Brothers nintendo games were like; instead of collecting coins, one collects lego stud pieces.

1st Baby Ultrasound

2007-03-13T14:52:00.000-04:00

We had our first baby ultrasound yesterday at the doctor's office. It was so cool to actually "see" the baby. We are chooseing to not know the sex of the baby; we want it to be a surprise. We have some pictures and a VHS tape too. There are hand and feet, fingers and toes. There are head and body, legs and arms. Seeing the heart pump was very interesting. It reminded me of a butterfly with its wings flapping up and down. The baby's heart rate was 149 beats/min. which is normal. The doctor said that the baby weighs about 9 ounces right now and everything looked normal. Soon the baby will be kicking and moving enough that we will be able to feel the movements.

We also were able to see my little nephew last weekend. He is doing very well considering being born so early. He is still in an incubator most the time, but my brother and sister-in-law were able to hold him. He is breathing well and should be able to come home in a few weeks. The hardest part for my brother and sister-in-law is leaving the little guy; it is hard for them to say goodbye and see ya later. I think this would be extremely tough too.

As for me, my broken leg is healing pretty good. I am still limping a little bit, especially in the morning. I see the doc in 4 weeks for more x-rays; hopefully all will healed.

My First Nephew

2007-03-05T14:12:00.000-05:00

We had an interesting weekend. My brother and sister-in-law had a very early birth of their son Clayton. My sister in law wasn't feeling well, so she went to see her doctor. THe doctor said to drive to the hospital right away. Turns out she was toximic and her liver wasn't functioning properly. She had a c-section, and now both her and the baby are recovering. Clayton is in an incubator. He is 3lbs 7ounces and 41 cm long. He is still pretty long considering being 2months early. I am thinking he is going to be a basketball star someday. We were able to see little Clayton which was really cool. So now I am an uncle and my parents are grandparents! We are all really excited and relieved to know both mom and baby are doing well. Since we are expecting our first child also, my parents gave us strict instructions to have a normal pregnancy. They said they have enough gray hairs already. :)

We are Expecting!

2007-03-02T14:39:00.000-05:00

In case you couldn't guess, what we are expecting is a child! Jes is 18 weeks along already and is feeling just fine. What is cute is that she is barely showing still. The doctor said she will probably just "pop out" some time around the 25th week. We already have names picked, but that will be our secret. We also do not want to find out the sex of the baby. We want that to be a surprise also. Our first ultrasound is a week from monday and we will get a videotape from it too. That is cool because we can watch the baby move whenever we want. I'll keep you updated on that too.

New Injury-except me this time.

2007-03-02T14:31:00.000-05:00

During a recent hockey game, I broke my fibula, which is the little bone next to the shin bone (tibia bone). They said about 6 weeks to heal and twelve weeks for the pain to go away from my stretched ligaments/tendons/muscles. I was lucky I didn't hurt my ankle or knee, since I twisted my leg. The good news is that I didn't need a cast and I am allowed to put weight on it, as long as I am careful. I used crutches Monday-Tuesday, used only 1 crutch yesterday, and I am already walking-slowly-today. I had a lucky break it turns out. However, I probably won't be skating for closer to 12 weeks, so count me out for the season.

Sorry to all those who keep checking this post and not seeing anything new. I will try to keep up my old method of once a week posting.

The long Fall and Long Recovery

2006-10-19T14:32:00.000-04:00

For those who do not know yet, my wife, Jes, Fell off of our 2-story home a couple weeks ago. It was approx. 25 feet. She suffered some injuries, but should recover just fine for the most part. Thankfully there was no brain damage or paralysis, but there was a large gash on her head, a broken right ankle and leg, a broken left elbow, and a broken left wrist.

Jes is doing well. She just had her casts taken off, her staples pulled, her stitches pulled, more exrays taken, and received new casts. All in all, it was a long afternoon-4 hours-but it is one more step taken towards getting better. Jes is moving around great, which does make me nervous, but it is also healthy for gaining good mobility. SHe is allowed certain motions with her ankle and elbow, but she is not allowed to move her wrist yet, nor rotate her ankle side to side. She may move her ankle and toes straight up and down. Last week she got her stitches out of her face, and I was amazed at how good it looks. Eventually there should not even be a scar! Yesterday when the casts came off, we saw her ankle for the first time. It kinda looks like a zipper, one on each side of her leg near the ankle. SHe had 20 staples. Her elbow and wrist looked a little nicer where the stitches were. She now has new casts that she can take off and on. THey did say that she needs about 10 more weeks before getting rid of the cast on her ankle and the same for her wrist. SO, she will most likely be in a wheelchair the entire time.

Jes is in great spirits, and is so determined to get better. She can actually do most anything on her own, which is both amazing and scary (to me). She does have a Hemi-Walker, which I call a "Hopper", because she holds the 4-legged walker with her right hand for balance, and then hops with her left leg. Her balance is amazingly good, and she gets right where she wants to go. Overall, Jes is doing GREAT considering her fall of approx 25 feet off of our 2 story home.
I have heard from most of you; your prayers and cards are greatly appreciated. Thanks to you all for caring so much!

Philly Part II -- Mission Work

2006-08-29T14:22:00.000-04:00

In Part II of our Mission Trip I thought I would mention some of the other non-mission oriented activities we were able to do in Philidelphia.
- Food: As a part of our Philly experience, we were taken to a different ethnic restaurant every night. Usually we had a choice of 3 meals at each restuarant. The first option was most often the most americanized and the second and third options were much more ethnic. We went to a Thailand, Indian, Greek, Middle Eastern, and of course Philly CheeseSteak American.
- Sights: We had a "day away" to visit the sights of Philidelphia. To make it more fun and organized, we had a scavenger hunt to follow. We saw the Liberty Bell, Elbreth's Alley, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier(s), and others that I can't think of off the top of my head right now. We were also shown to a cool little shirt-making shop that charged only $5/shirt and we could design them ourselves! We went to Love Park, we played in the fountain in another park near Love Park, and we even went to Cedar Point in Ohio on our way home! This was a wonderful way to add to our Philly Experience.

Philly Part I -- Mission Work Pics

2006-08-18T16:36:00.000-04:00

Here is my attempt to get these pics uploaded. For some reason they just weren't working. Argh!
There was also another volunteer group of 7 people staying at CSM while we were there so they were part of our big group picture. If you know the Rocky boxing movies, this is at the top of the stairs where Rocky jogged up and down to get in shape. There actually was a guy running up and down while we were there too. You can see some of the kids we spent time with, some of the clothing supplies we handed out, and some of the cleanup and setup for the different organizations that we helped.

Philly Part I -- Mission Work

2006-08-18T08:25:00.000-04:00

THe Lord said that when we help the needy that we are helping the Lord. Or in other words we are doing the Lord's work and the Lord's will when we help those in need. People in need can mean many different things. It can mean helping a neighbor or friend or family member. In this instance it meant driving 14 hrs to Philly, Pensylvania to work with a company called CSM (Center for Student Missions). CSM organizes mission trips, so that all we had to do was show up and let them tell us where to help. CSM meets with Food Banks, Mens/Womens/kids shelters, and other non-profit businesses in cities all around the United States. We took many of our high schoolers from our church youth group to Philly and we learned a lot. First we learned that Philly is in a great amount of need. There are so many people who need food, shelter, and jobs. Did you know that the average age of a homeless person in Philly is AGE 9?!? Craziness! Each day we spent the morning working at a different food bank or shelter or mission or thrift shop mission. Many afternoons were spent working at a kids "day care" where there were about 50 kids age 4-15 or so. We mostly just played games and got to know them. Each day they were more excited to see us, which made it fun to go back too.
A different afternoon we spent cleaning up a block long sidewalk which was across from a park. A person named Hubie moved in from the countryside outside of Philly(a white guy no less) and decided that if a drug lord can move into a community and ruin it, then a Christian can move into a community and uplift it! What a great theory! Of the block long sidewalk we filled 8 huge black tarp-like garbage bags full of trash. We found about anything you can think of, sadly including syringes. Hubie and his family and volunteers have been slowly cleaning up the park and are expanding now past the park for the past 10 years or so. Philly gave them a 3rd place award recently for most improved block! Also, the main drug lord on the block is now a Christian and is working for Hubie!
On a different evening we went to a very nice park in the city of Philly-I think Love Park-and we handed out water and handed out packed lunches. We had packed lunches earlier that day for these people. We didn't just hand out the food and water, but we sat in the grass and talked with each person for a little bit. Most of them we asked if we could pray with them and most said YES!
What I also thought was interesting was that as the week went on we noticed less of the trash and the dirtiness of Philly and focused more on the people of philly. It was as much of a shock coming back to Zeeland noticing how beautiful our town is, as when we first arrived in Philly and noticed how dirty and ugly that big city is.
Now I must mention that Philly has some very nice areas also. Philly is very well known for their murals all around the city. You can see them all over the place. Our host told us that there are over 500 murals, and what amazed us is that there is not grafity over them! The murals were often as big as one whole side of a building and even had a yellow brick road on the sidewalk for like 3 blocks long.
Overall we felt very enriched by our week in Philly. We helped people and we learned about our world and how good we have it. Plus we survived a week of weather consisting of 105 degrees fehrenheit or more each day! God gave us great strength all week long!

Couch Burning Party/IT's Been Awhile

2006-08-15T14:04:00.000-04:00

Hi all, sorry that it has been so long since I last posted. I have much to update you all on, but first I will start with the couch burning party. This couch started with Hoekema-or Hooch- who I believe got the couch from a grandparent or relative. It spent time in his dorm room with Vos-or Yoshi-then the following year with Miller and Pruitt, then the next year with myself, Hoort, and Miller. Then it stayed with HOekema leaving the Calvin COllege years to different apartment complexes over the last 4 years or so until Hoort decided it was time for a couch funeral. Hoort's dad said it would be alright to burn it at the famous Hoort campfire pit. (Hoort's dad was a fireman for awhile if that helps explain the joy of big fires in the Hoort family). So we had a few people over to Hoort's parents' home and started a fire. We also had some throwing knives and tried that and a frisbee golf contest, which Guamo won. Hoort cooked up the brats on the grill(not the fire) and we had a fun time with friends. However, when the couch was put on the fire we had to momentarily leave our comfortable seats because of the intense heat! Hope you enjoy the pics!

First Ice-Hockey Goal

2006-06-20T14:42:00.000-04:00

Well, last night I had my first goal of the season. Not only was it my first goal, but it was during the intermediate league game-which I am a substitute player-not the beginner league. I was playing right forward(wing) and the our left wing had the puck and was bring it forward. I was slightly behind and to the right of our center forward and all three of us were moving quickly towards the goal. Our left wing passed the puck to our center-a good friend of mine,Jeff-but Jeff couldn't quite get control of the puck. It was inbetween his feet and a defender from the opposing team was right on him trying to slap the puck far away. Somehow, almost accidentally, the puck slowly bounced away to the right of the goal, just in front of me. I took two quick steps forward and flipped the puck right into the goal. The goalie was caught because he was watching his defender and our center forward and must have not seen the puck move. All of this happened within only 5 seconds. I was so excited and I raised my right arm up with might because I had my first goal. I really was in the right place at the right time.

Check out our stats at www.goble.org/hahl/hahl.htm. Our Begginer team is the REGulators and the intermediate team is VANwieren. They are usually a week behind on posting to the website and my one goal probably will not be enough to get on the website either. Oh well. My teammates and I were excited and that is all that matters.

Jason and Julie Bakker in Indiana

2006-05-31T14:31:00.000-04:00

This past weekend was a real treat from a few different perspectives. First we went and visited Jason and Julie Bakker over in Indiana at Jason's folks' house. It was so nice to see them again and catch up, have theological discussions, ping pong contests, games of Croquet and Frisbee Golf, a campfire, and just a great time. Jason is now finished with seminary and they will be moving to Julie's dad's house where Jason will train in ministry and try to find a pastoral position. Julie is hoping to continue with college admissions, I think. The Bakkers hosted us overnight friday night. We had great food and a great place to stay. They recently built a new house on the same property where Jason's dad grew up. We had a wonderful time!

Sunday and monday we went to Gun Lake and relaxed with R.J. and Lori and their family. We took boat rides and See-Doo rides, went swimming, and played Apples-To-Apples. All weekend long we had the best weather anyone could ask for. It was hot and sunny, which doesn't happen all that often on Memorial Day weekend. Most all of us got too much sun and are now slightly sun-burnt despite the fact that we put on Sun-Screen. I have to say that I was actually very refreshed from the long weekend. What a great feeling!

Ice Hockey Can Be Painful

2006-05-22T15:15:00.000-04:00

Well, I have now started playing Ice-Hockey in a league. I have played roller-blade hockey for many years, but it was just for fun. Some of my friends have continued playing and now are quite good and have switched over to ice-hockey. Recently I also started ice-hockey by playing some pickup games, where there is no ref and it is safe and fun. I thought I was maybe up to the level of playing with my friends, so now I am trying my best to play. Our first league game together was last wednesday night. I did ok, but I am probably the worst player on the team. The interesting incident happened while I was standing behind the wall not even playing. It was a close game, so all of us who weren't playing at the moment were standing over the wall watching closely. Then our own player decided to hit the puck very hard, and instead of the puck bouncing off the wall where we were standing, it flew too high and nailed my shoulder. Just so you know, about the only pads I have not purchased yet were shoulder pads and most of the other guys were wearing them. So my unpadded shoulder is now a greenish/yellow bruise. I am planning on getting shoulder pads before my next game! We did win 6-4 I believe, so that part is good news.

Jared & Maria in Town

2006-05-04T14:42:00.000-04:00

Last night we were invited over to Jared's Parents' house to hang out/catch up with 'old' friends. Jared and Maria are visiting this week-back from China-and gathered some of the Calvin group together to talk and play games and laugh. If you like you can link to their web page(see side-bar) also to see what they are up too these days. But the lowdown is that Jared did not win the game last night. THis is especially important because Jared is very very competitive and because it is usually more fun to watch Jared lose than to even play the game. We played a game called "Chicken-Foot" which is a variation of dominoes. It is fun to play because it easy to talk and chat while playing. Jared and Maria are doing very well, working hard, and living in SHanghai [sic]. So we played, talked, tried to set Guamo up on a date, and didn't let Jared win. What an amazing evening!

A-Team-Who are you?

2006-04-19T15:11:00.000-04:00

I took this quick quiz to find out who I would be on the A-Team since Jared did it on his website. It turned out that I would be the "Faceman" also known just as "Face". I can sort of see myself as Face I guess. I think I fit him better than the rest anyway. So who are you? CHeck out the site to find out.
I am Face

The Faceman is the man to talk to to get things done. He's got a fast tongue and the connections to get the A-Team out of some of their most difficult moments. Has many disguises, this smooth talker is very persuasive, and doesn't hesitate to use this in working it with members of the opposite sex.

Which A-Team member are you???

Chicago Mission Trip

2006-04-06T15:09:00.000-04:00

SInce the high schoolers are out on Spring Break this week we planned a quick one day mission trip to the Roseland Ministries Center. Basically we delivered needed items, had a tour of their ministry, and then went downtown Chicago. Eleven of us drove to Roseland and brought books and personal hygiene items. The tour was really cool. The ministry center lets women and children stay overnight and encourages the mothers to look for jobs during the day. The kids have to be in school and their is day care for the little ones. Boys/Men ages 13 and older have to be out of the building at night, but meals are available during the day. They also hand out food on a monthly basis to families. The center has a play room, a lounge, sleeping quarters for women, children, and boys(age 5-12).

New Dog

2006-03-23T14:28:00.000-05:00

Well, this is our new dog. (The brown one) His name is Lucky and he is 4 years old. Lucky is a German SHorthaired Pointer. He is mostly calm, quiet, and friendly. He loves being outside and watching/listening to birds and squirrels.
Oscar, we have had since she was 8 weeks old. Oscar is now 3.5 years old. Yes we picked OScar for a girl dog. We are just strange that way. :) Oscar's personality is so different. Oscar barks and growls at people who come over and she is way more hyper, fast, and agile. They are the same breed, but Oscar is part Black Lab we were told. These are most of our entertainment and frustration at home. Hope you enjoy the pics.

Skiing Again

2006-02-22T14:59:00.000-05:00

I went skiing again-2nd time this winter-with the youth group kids from church. I ended up doing some teaching more than skiing, which I didn' t really mind because it was just fun to be with the kids. I actually taught/helped them learn to snowboard. This was slightly difficult because I have never snowboarded before, however, I have watched many people snowboard so I tried my best. Mostly I was moral support and sometimes physical support as they tried to get up after they fell or when they tried to get their feet attached to the snowboard. IN the end, they all improved their skills greatly from when they started out, even though they often were frustrated from falling.

This coming weekend our youth group is doing a 30 hour famine in which we will be fasting for 30 hrs. We will be playing games and doing Bible lessons and doing an all-nighter. We will even be playing some broomball, which will probably just make us more hungry yet. WE are doing this as a youth group to raise money for people who are less fortunate than us and may even be starving. I hope I can make it through the day; I am sure it will be tough but also rewarding.

What's Happening

2006-02-07T14:43:00.000-05:00

Today is just another day during the work week. I've got accounting work to do and some new procedures on posting pmts to update and use to train fellow employees. This will also help us when we move to our new facility. We have been building a new hospital for about a year now and our office will be moving on March 31. Everyone here should be completely moved by April 26, so we are actually some of the first to move. Not much will change for me though. The new hospital will still be approx. 1 mile from my house, so my drive to work(or walk/bike) will stay the same. My view will change slightly from a third story window cubicle to a second floor with no window. Kinda a bummer there, but what can I do? It doesn't bother me too much. Half the time I have my window blinds covering the window because the sun is so bright that I can't even see what is on my computer screen.

We watched the Super Bowl this past sunday. It was pretty fun. Right after evening church we went with our church youth group to one of the high schooler's homes and watched the game until half-time. By then the kids wanted to go home, so we went to our friends house and ate more food and watched the second half. At least us guys did. Our wives talked througout the second half and kept on talking afterwards. This wasn't surprising so we pulled out the Playstation 2 and played some Simpsons Road Rage. Fun times.

Comments

2006-01-26T15:06:00.000-05:00

I just got the comments up and running on this new site. Sorry if you had previously tried to write-not sure that anyone has yet-but now it is available.

Our church just received a worship grant and my wife and I and friend Paul-youth group member-went along and are working with a number of others to create some fresh ideas for our church worship. It is actually very exciting and a great number a great ideas have already come out from our meetings. Our series has been named UPWORDS and will include words such as "Why", "Here I stand", "help", "what can I do", and many more. Each sunday we will study the Bible along with one of these words, but we will also have daily devotionals for the week to go along with this new series. Also, there are new banners and even a 15 foot sculpture being created. It will be exciting to see all of the process come to life in a few weeks when we begin. I will try to keep you posted on the progress.

New Site

2006-01-24T15:28:00.000-05:00

Hi Ya'll,
I will be using this site from now on, just because it is slightly easier for me to use than my old one.

Not much is new. We went skiing to Crystal mountain this past weekend. I feel four times. Twice I fell because I was skiing down Black diamonds, which are the hardest. And twice I fell at the beginning because I just plain lost my balance. We had a blast and I am still a little bit sore from it all. Otherwise, I am keeping busy with my wife, church, our puppy, and playstation. That's about it for now. Have a great week!

My regular Blogging site

2006-01-03T15:08:00.000-05:00

See the Link to Dozer on the sidebar.