Josh & Vicki

I know it has been quite some time since any of us Bainsville Vanderveens have posted anything but given that it’s a new year I’ll start it off right and post something.  To be fair, we have been busy with all kinds of things and although I’m trying not to be critical, Ethan, Ryan and James aren’t really ‘pulling their weight’ when it comes to blogging.

2007 was great year full of blessings too numerous to count (aren’t they always?).  We already have made lots of good memories at Mom & Dad’s new place and we look forward to making many more.  It’s a beautiful location with a perfect sized house for our ever growing family.  It really has made the transition from the farm, from a sentimental standpoint, much easier.

Just before Christmas, Vicki, myself and the boys went and visited Beppe.  It was a short visit and it certainly felt like it had been too long since we were there last.  Beppe, as always, responds really well to the kids - she talks to them and loves to hug and kiss them.  It is truly a wonderful blessing to know that when so much of Beppe has been lost, the tenderness and love remains - not just for the cute kids but with us as well!  It is something that Vicki and I are very thankful for.

That’s it for this edition.  I don’t have any pictures or funny stories.  I’ll save that for another time.

Josh

Well hello again folks.  I know it’s been several weeks since we’ve posted anything so I suppose we should give some updates.

Really not that much has happened since our last post: I went to Europe, Vicki had a birthday, our basement was flooded, my favourite NHL team went from bad to good to bad again, Ethan was part of his first Christmas concert.  See! Not a lot has happened.

My trip to Athens, Greece (for business) was pretty cool.  The weather was absolutely awesome although this was back in Novemeber.  Got to see some cool sites with some really old stuff like the acropolis where the parthenon is.  There is smaller hill beside the acropolis where the apostle Paul met with the Athens leaders (see Acts) and I took a picture of that just because I thought it was cool to be near a spot referenced in the Bible.

Vicki turned 27 on December 2nd which to me seems a lot closer to 30 than 26 was.  Sometimes I’m tempted to refer to her as my ‘old lady’ but then again I’ll actually turn 30 in few short months so there’s no point in teasing her about her age.

Incidently on Vicki’s birthday we were without power and were battling against a flooded basement and a cold house so we didn’t exactly have the chance to sip champagne and eat freshly baked cake.  The basement is dry again with no permanent damage but it certainly made for a lot of work over the last couple of weeks.

As some of you may know Christmas is coming soon.  Ethan was part of the Kindergarten class’s songs in the school concert.  The gym was packed but it was really worth it!  Ethan can be a bit of a shy kid (or so we’ve been told) but he was up there singing with the rest of them with a big grin on his face.  I was quite proud.  He didn’t do the actions like most of the others but I was impressed and proud anyway.

I have some pictures to post as well.  We’ve had some get togethers with Vicki’s family the past couple of weeks so there are a couple pictures of the boys with Eve, their adorable cousin.

Well it has been a while since our last update and there is lots to post about.  Where to begin?

As most of you know, my cousin Aaron had some sort of mystery virus that had the whole Vedder family worried.  Many prayers were said and the Lord answered. Last we’ve heard Aaron is home recovereing and the prognosis is good.  Thanks to everyone who prayed for him.

On a lighter note, Halloween was this past week and Ethan and Ryan got dressed up and went ‘trick-or-treating’ for the first time.  I must say it was quite cute and Ethan especially was very excited about the candy. After every house we left I overheard him saying: “I LOVE trick-or-treating!”. The next morning at breakfast Ethan asked if we were going trick-or-treating again tonight.  Here is a picture of the boys in there costumes.  Ethan is Bob the builder and Ryan is a spider.

This past weekend we helped Mom and Dad move to their new house.  Although there are a few last things to get from the farm, the job is mostly done (except some of the unpacking).  I am very excited about the new place however I will admit that I had a touch of nostalgia when I saw the old house was empty.  It is certainly going to take some getting used to that the home farm is no longer ‘ours’.

Well I have to go do some packing now as I am leaving this evening for a week long business trip.  As you can see from our updated Family Pics’ page, James is smiling now.  I will certainly be missing this as well as the rest of our little fam.

Hello everyone!  I thought I would post some of my favorite pictures of our boys (and their cousins!)  check it out under our ‘family pics’ page.  I’ll do my best to keep updating this page as the boys seem to grow and change so quickly!

Our little family is doing well out here.  Ethan is now in Kindergarten, he is really enjoying it - he seems to really love the sand centre.  Ryan is talking more and continues to keep us busy with his climbing and jumping and his ‘cuddling’ with James.  James is really growing quick - some of us claim that he has smiled at us (right mom?) - some claim it’s gas!  We are enjoying all the different stages!

We look forward to hearing updates from the rest of you.

Take care. Vicki

Yes, I admit that I’ve left the ‘Just Testing’ Blog up as our only one for too long.  I didn’t realize that this would take off so quick.

First of all, I’d like to compliment the other family members who have posted updates, photos, etc.  It’s really cool to see news and such from family members that we don’t see so often.  As an example, I always wondered what it was that Jay did for a living.  Now I know why he always seems to have so much time for golf in the summer.

As Deb has already posted, we had a new addition to our little family on September 8th.  James is now our third boy so we haven’t had to change the colour of the baby room yet.  I don’t have any photos to post but visit Brian and Deb’s page if you want to see some of James, Ethan and Ryan.

We’ll try to spruce up our page a bit and we’ll do our best keep updating our blog with new information as it happens.