Shepherd Group

Jeff and I had the privilege of hosting a Bible Study through our church every other Friday this past school year. Our church has many of these shepherd groups (in some ways they are similar to a parish group, only smaller) and we had such a wonderful group of people coming to our home. This is a picture of most of them--a few were unable to make it last night and the kids were playing peacefully in the basement, so we weren't about to disturb that to include them in the picture. We thank God for these people and that we were able to know them better this past year and study the Bible with them.

All in one place

Jeff's grandparents from California have been visiting Pennsylvania for the past few weeks. Their stay, of course, is in Doylestown with everyone else. But we were glad to have them come our way over the weekend. We had fun showing them the area and our house for the first time. They also wanted to see my parents while in Harrisburg, so Mom had us all over for lunch. It was really special because Joost and Grace had all their grandparents and great-grandparents in one room for a few hours--what a large amount of love in one place!

(I told Joost and Grace they had to really smile nicely for this picture because you know it will be used in some graduation or rehearsal dinner slide presentation some day!)

The last day of preschool

Today we walked to Paxton Presbyterian Preschool for the last time to drop Joost off for his final day of school for the year. It actually made me a little teary-eyed considering the Joost that I had sent to preschool for the first time in September compared to the Joost that finished preschool today. He's grown up and matured so much. He barely seems like the same boy.



But a mom is allowed to be a little sniffley on days like these. Teachers were given their gifts, friends were said goodbye to, and we walked home together--the three of us--one last time.

Michael John van Bastelaar

We met the newest member of the van Bastelaar clan yesterday. As soon as we were finished with church, we drove to Doylestown Hospital to see him. He is so tiny. Not really, as far as newborns go, but I always forget how small they seem when they start out.

And, for the record, his name is Michael John. When Sean called us an hour after delivery, they were still undecided about his middle name--John or Jonathan. Also, Jonelle is doing well and was hoping to be discharged early.

We are thankful for this new life and pray for God's salvation and blessings on him.

A new van Bastelaar

This morning, at 6 o'clock, we were awakened by a telephone call with the happy news of the birth of another van Bastelaar. It was Sean calling to announce the birth of his and Jonelle's third child--a son, born at 5 o'clock in the morning. Now, I was pretty groggy when I took the call, but I could swear that he told me the baby's name is Michael Jonathan. But, just recently I recieved an email from Beth saying that his name is Michael John. We'll find out tomorrow for sure when we go to visit. We are very excited to meet the new little vB!

"No more monkeys jumping on the bed!"

I have been trying to rearrange and manage the toy and book chaos that is presently in our house. Too many rooms have too many small stashes of toys in them and so I feel like there's always a room that needs straightened up. So, in my effort to consolidate, things have been uprooted that were forgotten. The monkey mask that Grace is wearing is one of them. She wore it all day long yesterday and enjoyed telling me that she was a "minky monkey".