FALL BACK A LITTLE

Well I see I am a little late on the fall blog. Fall is definitely my favorite season. I love the smell of dried or burning leaves. I love being outdoors in the mid 60 degree weather! There are so many memories I can remember as a kid in the fall time - playing in the leaves and of course Halloween. I wish I had a scanner so I could show you some costumes of some Halloween pasts. Instead here is my update on us this fall.

It starts with our new house - Isn't it so awesome in the fall! I LOVE IT!

I had to throw this picture in - Alex fishing in the pond with his new fishing pole - I think he is confused if he is to be a fisherman or a cowboy!

CARVING PUMPKINS WITH AUNTIE SARA

Alex's mean pumpkin

Surprise!

LIGHTS OUT

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HALLOWEEN at Church

Alex, Chase and Maddie - Chase's mask kinda scared me

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THE LEAVES

Maddie in her own world - she raked her own leaves and did not know I was taking pictures

Alex, Maddie and Zach

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MAKING APPLESAUCE

I decided to do some canning of applesauce and apples for apple crisp. I went up north to my moms house - FUN

SUSIE HOMEMAKER - :)

My mom working hard

Oh and then there is Alex - my mom gave him a huge - and I mean huge sucker - here he is when he was finished - A STICKY MESS - not sure if he is mad that it is gone or that I am taking his picture - Either way - he makes me laugh!

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Give thanks to the Lord for HE is good - His love endures forever!

STILL HERE - MORE TO COME

Just a note to say hi to all my fellow bloggers. I am happy to say we have internet now and I will be updating my blog after the weekend. I have the BIG GIRLS SHOPPING TRIP tomorrow - so excited!!

Here is a new picture to look at for the next few days. Doesn't my sister do a great job?!?

Happy Birthday Alex!

ALEX IS FIVE!!
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I can not believe how big he is getting! And Oh Man - Turning the big 5 was so exciting! For weeks - or should I say months he has been asking - "when is it my birthday?" and on his birthday yesterday - he made sure to tell everyone!
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He has been a busy birthday boy - We had a party last Sunday with other family members who had birthdays.

Alex, Aiden, Jessica and Scott's Dad
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The pinata was the hit of the party!!

Alex's turn

All the cousins waiting to get a turn
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Then Yesterday - He had his birthday celebration at School with all of his friends and teacher. I had so much fun watching him and all his excitement!

The Chimp sang Happy Birthday - I will post a video soon!

The Birthday Star

He has been into the Star Wars and I know how much he loves books - SO Scott and I got him - A DK book of all of the Star Wars - It will take him months to page through it


This book goes everywhere now!

Even got Maddie to look at it with him!
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Alex then of course could not wait for his Chuck E Cheese Birthday party with the rest of his cousins and grand parents!
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The party was for the small and BIG alike!


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This is Alex at the end of the night - 2 seconds after getting in the car on the way home from Chuck E Cheese:

Overall - I think He Had A Great Birthday!
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We all love you Alex!
You are a precious GIFT FROM GOD!!!
God BLESS you with MANY MORE BIRTHDAYS!!

Love

HAPPY 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY!

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September 19, 1998

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September 19, 2008

Then...

Now...

What a beautiful day!!

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Scott and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary. As my mom and sisters would say - I was like a girl going on her first date! I was so excited to spend some time with Scott out in South Haven. Since we have been back from South Africa we have hardly seen each other (which is completely different than seeing him 24 hours a day in Africa). And then I was thinking - DO I STILL GOT IT! 11 years later am I the women he fell in love with?!

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We stayed at a Bed and Breakfast in South Haven. It was so nice. This is the hors doeuvres that they served to us while we looked at menus of restaurants near by.

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South Haven

SUNSET on the beach

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Scott once asked me What is love? (He was not sure what to say when I confessed my true feelings for him one day in 1997 - I never wanted to be the first one to say I love you to a boyfriend). I think you can define love by what we are - our lives together. We have been greatly blessed! 2 lovely children - Maddie 7 and Alex 5 - an awesome adventure of living in Africa - and the list can go on and on..
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A gift for a 10 year anniversary is to be aluminum, tin, or diamonds. I got all three!


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You say what is that? - 10 aluminum roses handcrafted by Scott (coke cans, jolt cans, a mountain dew can, and barbed wire).
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This is the card that was with it (+/- a few stuff)(hope you don't mind Scott):
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I couldn't decide what to get you for our anniversary and apparently they say you are suppose to give either tin, aluminum, or diamonds. So I did all 3. The aluminum coke cans are red so that you know I will always love you and to remind you of our adventures in South Africa. Tin is a metal which is strong but sometimes can be weak and fragile. The tin vase represents the strength of our marriage with the realization that there are things that could easily weaken it. Finally, the "diamonds" that the flowers are planted in represents the value of you and our marriage to me. Our marriage and you are a huge part of what defines me and they both mean the world to me. You and the kids keep me humble, make me feel loved and needed daily and give me a great purpose for living.

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I knew I loved this man for a reason!!! He used to write these lovely sentimental notes when we were dating and it is nice to see him still writing them! I love you Scott!!
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Here's to another 60 years or so!

A giraffes tongue!

fun times 025
Originally uploaded by lialeenstra

This was a giraffe we saw in South Africa. He seriously could not stop messing with his tongue. It was like he had peanut butter stuck on the top of his mouth! We stood there for about 20 min and he was still doing it when we left.

I miss all the animals. But I will get to see a few familiar animals by going to an animal Farm with Alex's preschool class! He is so excited! He will probably think that we usually have zebras here in Michigan! I'll post the pics tomorrow of our field trip!

STARTING OVER AGAIN

We have had to start all over again here in Michigan. "New" cars, "New" house and adjusting back to the "real world"

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We just purchased a "new" home and we couldn't be more excited!

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Check it out! (You can click on the picture on the link to view more pictures)

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We are waiting for inspections to be done and hopefully we will close on the house soon and be moved in by October 1!! This is such a perfect location for us. It is 3 min from Maddie and Alex's school and much closer for Scott to get to work. Inspections are hopefully going to happen this week! I will keep you updated.
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To add to the excitement - Maddie and Alex have started school and are back into the swing of things. Maddie is in 2nd grade at Dutton Christian and Alex has started Noah's Ark Preschool at the same school

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I am just so happy that they have not pulled the "My teacher is better than you" card. After homeschooling them for about 7 months - I wonder how I did. Maddie has been coming home with school papers on things she is working on and it makes me cry to see her getting it. I must have done something right!!

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Maddie was nervous and a little frightened by all the people on the first day. She even complained of a stomach ache in the morning. She was greatly welcomed and felt right at home. One of her classmates was so excited to see her after Maddie's year away and she was excited to show Maddie her desk which was right next to hers!

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Here is Maddie's 2nd Grade first day of school photo

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Hanging up her backpack next to her name

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Maddie was happy that her friend Zoe was in her class!

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Alex had his first Day - He had just a short day of visiting. This helped him get acquainted with the teacher and other classmates. He really enjoyed it. He goes to school in the afternoon and so all morning he was ready to go - shoes on and backpack packed. I am looking forward to all his stories and excitement for preschool. What is really cool is the first two weeks of school they are learning about AFRICA! How neat is that. Alex brought in a picture today of him walking an elephant and his teacher was so excited that Alex will be able to share his stories too!

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Checking out the playground - VERY IMPORTANT

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Alex's First Day of PreSchool Picture

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Making friends

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Listening so good to the story of the Kissing Hand! (A story of going to school and leaving your mom and dad)

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We definitely have been busy and I HOPE to slow down a bit. We are starting over and beginning a new chapter in our lives. We are happy to be home! - Yet, I am also sad to be away from all my friends in SA! I miss them so much!

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Pray that things continue to go well and that we can adjust well to all this busyness!!