Spring Camping in Iowa

First camping trip in Iowa! Only 20 minutes from home

Lake Red Rock was a short hike from our campsite and provided hours of activity for us - without even going in the water

This was Addie's first camping trip with out a pack-and-play to sleep in! (We need more practice - she ended up in Mommy's sleeping bag for most of the night)

Even Zeke came along for his first camping trip and did really well. 

August 2014

In August we arrived in Pella, IA, our new home. First order of business: explore! We lived in a temporary house for a few weeks and still only had our suitcases, so there was no unpacking and "settling in" to be done.  

Local attraction: the Cordova tower. A water tower turned observation tower. 

At the top, the observation deck overlooks Lake Red Rock and the surrounding area.

Someone with a lower perspective of the world got a hold of the camera. I hope that little person sees us as more than a couple pairs of legs and feet!

This girl is a purse girl. Give her a bag to dig through and zippers to play with and she will be content for a while. (Note - remove creamy, slimy substances first -she is super attracted to lip balm, lip stick, sun screen, hand sanitizer, etc...)

Another attempt at a family self-portrait - after the welcoming service at our new church, Calvary CRC. 

Another local attraction is Big Rock Park. Walking trails over creeks, through woods and small prairies and this large, lone boulder in middle of it all.

Sibling hug on the "Big Rock"

For perspective. I know you Coloradans and the rest of you in the Western US are laughing at this "big rock". But in farming country, it's quite remarkable.

August also brought us the start of a new school year. Here is Cora on the morning of her first day of 2nd grade at Pella Christian Grade school. (Standing in front of our temporary home). It was also my (Kristin's) first day subbing in the kindergarten Spanish class but I guess I didn't need a picture!

July 2014

If June was Crazy, I don't even know how to describe July. It was wonderful, horrible, amazing, exhausting...all at the same time. We were not homeless: as the saying goes, "Home is where the heart is" and we were blessed to have the entire month together as a family of 5 but also with many of our close and extended relatives. We enjoyed lots of visits with cousins and aunts and uncles on both sides of our families. We especially savored a week when Mike and Rach, Gideon and Anneke visited from Oregon and another two weeks that we got to spend with Mom and Dad Bierma in Colorado. So while our hearts always had a home, our heads slept on many different pillows over the course of July. We also said more good-byes and made our final departure from Michigan. The roller coaster of emotions during those weeks left me feeling whip-lashed by the time August rolled around.

An informal snapshot of the Schippers tribe together in Holland

Great Gram and Herb with 8 of their great grand-kids

We loved swimming in a neigbor's pool and also at the beach in Holland as much as we could!

Peter really found is comfort level in the water this year

Cousins are the best! A special bond happens with young cousins and I miss seeing these guys playing together!

A fun day a Michigan's Adventure - first rollercoaster ride for Cora. She did them all! What a brave girl! Peter even tried the ones he was big enough to ride and loved it, too.

On a wilderness hike by the cabin in Colorado. How fun that all 3 could do a lot more walking than last year!

Our attempt at a family-self-portrait in the woods

Picnic lunch in Ouray. We love Ouray! The views, the pool, the climate. It's just lovely.

Grandma Bierma and Addie on "Grandpa's" boat at Ridgeway. No bears this year! But fun times fishing and boating and being together.

We hiked to the "Hole in the Rock" with Grandma and Grandpa Bierma and snapped this fun picture together while we rested.

I'm thankful for all the wonderful memories we made during the month of July! And glad we have some pictures to help us remember the special moments!

Fun February

January proved to be deep, deep winter. I think Cora had 5 days of school cancelled (in addition to the first week off for Christmas break, and a day off for records day). I'm the kind of mom that feels as excited as the kids when school gets cancelled!  I love the thrill of a snow storm and seeing the beautiful white blanket covering  the ground and piles of snow balancing on tree branches. Plus, I love that Cora gets to be home with us and we just have a lot of fun together!

February, as we know now in March, didn't let up and fought to compete with the extreme conditions that January provided. It has been a major source of complaint for many people,   I have to admit that it seems strange to me that the long, cold, dark (as in short) days of December and January didn't bother me in the least, and for the most part I've been secretly loving it!   I just take it as a blessing; one of the ways God has answered prayers for sustaining us through this last year of seminary. 

Other than the weather, February started with a bummer of a Super Bowl for us Denver Bronco fans! We had a great little party with extended family. Deb and I had fun coordinating as much blue and orange food as we could!

 Despite the super disappointment, we remain Bronco fans!

 February means Valentine's Day to lots of people. Admittedly, Brad and I have not traditionally made a big deal about celebrating it. But when a babysitting offer came from my parents we decided to enjoy a date, our style. Dinner and a movie? No thanks! We strapped on our snow shoes and got off the beaten trail to experience the deep snow where no one has tread before. We explored the snow covered sand dunes and over to the frozen shore of Lake Michigan.

 I just had to throw in this picture of Addie. She is obsessed with babies, lately. If I mention anyone in my sister's family she chimes in with "Bee-bee?" asking if we are going to see her cousin, baby Lucas. It's sweet but I really have to  keep an eye on her when a baby is around, even if it's a stranger when we're out an about. She tries to give them pacifiers and blankets and point to their eyes...things that moms of newborns would rather a toddler not help with. Her fascination has translated to playing with the baby doll that Cora got when she turned 2 and never really played with very much. In the picture below Addie had asked me to wrap up the baby in Addie's favorite blankie which she calls "Ee-hee". It's amazing how fast little one go from being a baby to recognizing anyone smaller than themselves as a baby!

A Post-Christmas Holiday

One thing about being a family in school is that we get to enjoy the school year calendar. Two weeks Christmas vacation is a wonderful thing! By early in January, the Christmas decorations were put away, the stores and malls had moved on to either the Super Bowl and Valentine's Day merchandise, and the new year had been rung in. But we still had a few more days to celebrate, before going back to school. 

So we took a "holiday" and went to Frankenmuth, MI, for a family day trip. It was a warm (read 34 degrees) but gloomy day. Drizzling cold rain and a tight budget really limits your options when site-seeing with young children. But we enjoyed the famous chicken dinner from Zehnders, delighted in the Bavarian looking main street, and meandered around the World's Largest Christmas Store, Bronners CHRISTmas Wonderland. All in all, it was a fun and simple day together as a family. Plus, it satisfied my and Brad's curiosity about the hype we've heard about Frankenmuth! 

 Below: Can you tell which "snowBierma" is which?

If you guessed Peter (top left), Addie (top right), Cora (bottom), you're right! :) 

 January proved to be a fabulously cold and snowy month. Some people would replace "fabulously" with such words as miserably, viciously, terribly, etc. I actually thought it was fabulous. We had to work a little harder to really take advantage of days that were nice enough to get outside. Here's a picture of Addie (left) with friends Jedryk and Moriah taking a sled ride. Addie refuses (still) to keep mittens on, so she doesn't last very long outside!

 Addie and Peter have a typical sibling relationship. Sometimes they play like best friends, sometimes they fight like worst enemies. Here's a picture of a nicer moment of peaceful companionship. (Peter teaching Addie all about trucks.)

Happy Holidays in a Winter Wonderland

A bunch of pictures from December:

Adorning the Christmas tree, child-led. Mostly our ornaments are mementos and reminders of the blessings of our journey so it's very fun to take each one out and remember together.

Our small home solution: put the small tree up on the end table in the corner of the room. We don't have give up any floor space this way and it gets the tempting ornaments up a little higher from toddler fingers!

 Big girl wearing big sister's rain boots. Fun toddler stage: wearing very big shoes is fun and cute! 

 As the kids grow we can do more together: one on snow shoes, one on skis! They don't make it far yet, but they made it with smiles = success!

 We totally used a gingerbread house kit and it was so worth it! It was very fun (read: somewhat stressful and messy and only worked if Addie was otherwise occupied but worth every minute) to let the kids decorate it as they desired. I did the frosting and they did the rest. They took turns designing and applying the decorations on different parts of the house. Yeah for cooperation!

The long awaited Christmas gift opening time! Everyone was happy!

 Christmas with the Gritter cousins and Grandma and Grandpa Schippers

 Not every picture can turn out "picture perfect". This is so classic...and common. Hilarious!

 Snow, snow and more snow! We've been able to get out and play a lot this winter.

 And then some serious ice: beautiful but it causes so many problems! We did not lose power but so many did for many days. To just step outside and look around felt like living in a world made of crystal.

 What better way to end than with this sweet face?