Go Eddie, Go!

This past weekend, Edward ran in his first Dutch 10K race... the Jagerspalsloop! It was quite fun to find these photos of him running in the Netherlands and to know he's doing what he loves. "Go Eddie, Go" is the phrase used by the Aunties when they see him run by and also is like his favorite childhood book, "Go Dog, Go."

I found these photos of Edward on a Dutch race website that he sent us the link to. He finished 3rd in the race.

Flash Back Friday 151

Edward, 1993

When Edward was little he loved maps and globes. When he was in Kindergarten, his teacher told me about one day when they were branstorming M words. His hand shot up and he said, "Madagascar." So the teacher asked Ed to come up front and show everyone where that was on the globe... he was happy to do that!

75% Dutch

I found the above photo of Edward on his Facebook wall walking through the town of Delft with 3 of his classmates. He's on the left of the 4 which is in the middle of the picture. Each time I look at it I think how he looks right at home there. The joke always goes, in our family, that our kids are 75% Dutch because John is all Dutch and I'm only half Dutch. Well, I do think I walked in that exact spot about 7 years ago.

Made It!

On the right hand side bar of this blog in the blue box, I added the link to 2 new blogs, "Semester in the Netherlands" which is a group effort of Edward's class in the Amsterdam and "Sarah's blog" which is the blog of one of his classmates I met in the airport.

I talked to Ed a few times over the weekend on Skype. I discovered I could take video snapshots of him while we talked, so that made me happy. I *heart* technology. This is one of the first times and I thought he was looking so European:

The next time, I took a series of them when he was looking even more European:

Ok, I promise I'm done now for awhile. I do need to get out more!

Getting Ready for 4+ Months in Europe

Happiness that the day has finally arrived

I made sure I took a few photos of Edward before he left Thursday to record the excitement of the day. The photo above was taken after his one hour morning run (he's training for a marathon) and he looks very happy/relieved/excited. I didn't take a picture of his luggage, and I'm not sure why because it was a sight to behold.

Anticipation on the way to the airport. We were at the intersection right before you go into the Gerald R. Ford International Airport waiting for a red light. I took this because I wanted to remember how he was sitting there with his backpack looking ahead.

Relief after successfully checking his luggage in at just under 50 lbs. and getting his boarding pass after we had met up with the group of about 18 students (and many of their parents) headed to Amsterdam from Calvin College.

Patience while having a last photo taken with the parents.

Contemplation, expectation, and high hopes while waiting at the security gate.

Good humor as Mom takes one last photo before getting to the gate.

Friday morning, we did talk on Skype and it was actually like he was right inside my computer. They had all only slept about an hour on the plane and I could tell he was tired, but still very excited to have arrived safely in his dorm room with all his things.

Love Thursday

Edward leaves on a run through the neighborhood yesterday.

I can't believe this day has arrived! Today is the day I will be bringing Ed to the airport as he begins his epic journey to the fatherland. He will be studying in Amsterdam at the Vrij University and will return home June 11. We are very excited for him!!! (and of course we will miss him.) Maybe I will have to take a million pix of him on the way to the airport so they will last for awhile. Don't worry, I'm not that insane.

Faith

Yesterday was a big day - all of our kids made profession of faith in church!! Indeed, it was so exciting, I struggled with the photography. They started out by telling about their faith and what it means to them. Bridget talked about her favorite song, "In Christ Alone", which she had asked the band to play. Edward talked about going away to Amsterdam and taking this step before he goes. Maria showed a video which she had made of her photography & painting and talked about how she sees God in the world:

Along with our church and family and grandparents from out of state, many friends showed up to offer their support. Here is Bridget with some of her friends:

Such an incredibly awesome day!

Wonder Years

Edward, November 2009

We usually only see Edward on Sunday downtown at church and sometimes afterwards when he comes home for a quick lunch, and you know, he only lives on the Calvin campus about 25 minutes away. Yet, whenever I see him, I feel the need to get my camera out. Pictures for me are a way of holding on to memories and I feel if I have one, I will never forget. What I've had on my mind lately is that Ed will be taking off in about 5 days for Amsterdam and I won't be able to shoot these simple photos. I'm going to miss that. I expect we'll keep in pretty good touch through Facebook, Skype, e-mail, etc. but it will be the longest time in over 20 years I have ever had to go without taking his photograph. Will I make it?

Memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose. ~The Wonder Years

Wondering

Edward acts as a prop as I experiment with flash photography

It has been very enjoyable to have Edward home - sense of humor and all. He even gladly went to the mall with me one evening to get things in preparation for his trip to Europe (Amsterdam) at the end of January and it was fun!

I have often told Edward how I would sit and wonder about things when I was growing up because we didn't have encyclopedias, let alone Google which has been a wonder to me! So whenever I do wonder aloud about something in his life, he tells me to google it. When we were talking about where he would be staying at the VU University, we found a picture of his dorm:

Click here.

I will say this makes me feel a bit better about him being gone for sooo long.

Happy New Year!!! 2010!

Edward starts the year off right by getting a 2nd place medal in the Resolution Run (actually took place on Dec. 31)

John & I had a fairly quiet New Year's Eve because the kids were all with friends. We went downtown for awhile to check out the scene and John took my picture with his Blackberry in front of the GR version of the ball up high on a crane. I was very bundled up for the cold and had a silly hat on if you can't tell. There were zillions of people down there (someone thought 30,000 throughout the night, but I don't know about that). We went home to watch a movie and ring in the New Year by the fire.

A View of Edward's Birthday from the Chandeleir

Two Decades Old

Edward's 20th Birthday Party

Yesterday, we celebrated Christmas and Edward's birthday. Since this was the 20th year of doing this, we have become pros at gathering round the red velvet cake and singing happy birthday for a photo while I run in from my camera set on the tripod. Some things are just tradition! This year however, my sister Andrea's family joined us -usually it is Paula's family. He is always well celebrated on this day.

Happy Birthday Jesus...

... and Edward. 20 years ago today.

Merry Christmas to All

Raising a Mathlete

Edward came home this past Sunday for lunch and shared news of his math exploits at Calvin. Ok, it's not like he talks non-stop, but he does tell me about it. I think back to 7th grade when I would drive him across town to a local university for an advanced class and how we would try to think of as many phrases with a short "a" sound in a row and say them in a nasal tone... like did you pAck a snAck in my bAck pAck for mAth clAss? He still likes to say silly things like when I want to know something, he says, did you "glooble" it?


I love how he patiently waits for me to take his picture before he goes back.

Anyway, he had just spent 6 hours on Saturday taking the Putnam, a nationwide Mathematics competition. Last month, he was on Calvin College's 1st place 3-person team in the MATH challenge against other colleges in the midwest (I think they typically have over 60 teams but I don't know for sure about this year). I am happy that he's continuing since his high school days!

Flash Back Friday 143

Panama City, 2002

Winter is coming and I just have my mind on beach and sun lately. I need to get out and do some Christmas photos soon!

Deck the Halls '09

A friendly Christmas ghost came to set up our tree this weekend!

We had such a fun weekend with Edward home from Calvin and time spent with John's family. The kids and I actually put up the tree and John did the outdoor lights.

And then I got such a kick out of Bridget when she got the Christmas angels out. These angels, one made by Maria and the other made by Bridget, sit on top of the posts on the railing by the stairs.

She said to Maria, "Let the games begin!" When I asked her about that comment, she told me that she and Maria switch the posts that their angels sit on when the other isn't looking since one of the posts is kind of behind the Christmas tree and doesn't get the best view from all angles. I had no idea of their angelic competition.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Edward finally made it home so now we can go to Thanksgiving dinner! He ran in the Turkey Trot 5K first this morning and got a new PR of 17:06.


This is what Ed always says :)

Flash Back Friday 141

Edward, 3 years old

Flash Back Friday 140

June 2006, OBX

Flash Back Friday 139

Edward & "Bunny", 1994

Birthday Week Kick-off

There's something special about the week starting with November 1. The ugly holiday is over, Thanksgiving is coming, All Saint's day. Yesterday, it was so great to see our friends at church, and then we met Edward at Wolfgang's in Eastown for a pre-birthday brunch. And later, our friends Cathy & Ben came over for a rousing game of Trivial Pursuit.

The waitress was kind enough to take our pre-birthday brunch photo


The kids enjoyed big sweet plates of Belgian waffles and French toast


I was trying to capture some of the left-over glitter from Edward's "Edward Cullen vampire costume" but you can't see it


I had Spinach Eggs Benedict


What fun kids! I love how they know how to do this part.

Flash Back Friday 136

Edward, Maria & Bridget, Fall 1999

Something to Blog About

Yep, this past Sunday, Edward came home from college for the first time this year. He ate Sunday dinner with us (hot dogs) and hung out a bit, then went back to school. It was so fun and I needed to take a few photos on his way out to the car because I thought he looked so cute in that hat.

Flash Back Friday 134

Kelleys Island 5K, 2005

Edward & John ran in this race. The funny thing is, last year Edward met a friend at Calvin who is in this picture. They are near each other at the front of the line befroe they even knew each other. At Calvin, they noticed each other's matching race t-shirts.

Flash Back Friday 132

Edward, Maria & Bridget, September 2006

Back At It

I didn't realize I would feel such deja-vu today when we moved Edward back to the dorms at Calvin. He moved into Vander Werp hall which is the guys half of the dorm where I was an RA. If any of you were RAs in college, you know how you can always recognize another RA later in life. It's true. This year, when we met his RA, I held it in... it was so hard! Edward & Maria both thought it was strange that I was holding it in, they could tell, but I didn't want to embarrass Ed like I thought I did last year. He told me it would have been okay.