the grate update

Spring 2007

2008-06-17T10:32:00.001-04:00

Here are some pictures from this spring...ENJOY!!!!!!

Long-awaited update....

2008-06-02T08:27:00.007-04:00

How to begin... The last six months have been a roller-coaster ride of emotions. Good and bad, happy and sad...etc. As most of you know, my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer this January. This was not the news we were hoping for (obviously), but praise God she is now cancer free. She had a double mastectomy and was spared the horror of chemo and radiation...we all found this a huge blessing and relief. Josh and Shelly continue along on their difficult journey with amazing faith and honesty. I won't be redundant and write more about this as I'm sure all of you keep up with their blog. In the midst of all this God has given me a new joy in the day to day. I find myself thanking Him for all the little things...Ezekiel's snotty kisses, the sound of Emmy's tap-dancing, Elijah's way of telling a joke just like his Grandpa Syswerda. I sometimes feel guilty when my day is uneventful and enjoyable and find myself keeping my joy to myself. I don't know if that makes any sense, but it's just where I'm at. For instance, yesterday... The 5 of us took an afternoon trip to a beautiful park and let the kids ride their bikes and scooters all over the place. It was sunny, the kids were happy and healthy, Jason and I were quietly enjoying eachother's company...you get the picture, and I found myself weighed down with guilt for my happiness and peace. But I digress. I have truly come to realize that my life is not my own...God is in complete control of each moment and I thank Him for each tiny blessing...because I know how quickly they could all be gone. Perspective really is an intersting thing.
OK...enough rambling. What have we been doing the past 6 months?? Elijah turned 9, Emmy turned 7, and Ezekiel turned 4. Emmy lost her 2 front teeth and looks absolutely adorable! Zeke is riding his bike like a pro (no training wheels I might add). Elijah continues to love playing baseball and riding his ripstick...basically just growing up much too quickly!
We took a great vacation over Spring Break. We drove to Myrtle Beach and stayed in a condo for a week. We had such a great time we're hoping to do it every year.
The church continues to be a constant source of blessing...we had our first baby dedication and had 11 kids dedicated! Emmy sang a solo and had everyone in tears.
My job is still great fun. The new honors choir has experienced great success and will be a stepping stone to making the schools choir program one of exellence. The honors choir and I have also had a lot of fun making up a challenging summer reading list. We picked 30 classics and I offered $100 to the student who could read all of them and pass a simple test when we return for the fall. A friend of mine from church loved the idea so much she offered another $100! Really, this kind of thing really fires me up!!
We have continued to spruce up our house...my favorite thing to do! The kichen now has recessed lighting, a new beadboard ceiling and molding, new colors and new appliances...whew! We put in a stackable washer and dryer on the second floor last summer and finnally got is hooked up this week...my rheumatoid arthritis makes trucking the laundry up 2 flights of stairs a bit difficult. Lot of little projects we finish when we have any extra $50 dollars here and there. I am truly thankful for our little place and couldn't love it more (well...maybe if it had just one more toilet...HA!)
Well, that's about all for this 6 months! I will be posting pictures in the next couple days so check back soon. Love to you all!

2007-12-10T12:12:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas to all! True to form, we've been crazy busy...too busy for blogging! We had a groundbreaking ceremony for Josh Shelly's new land this weekend which was amazing. It was great to see them both so amped up. It was my birthday today and my husband treated me to a new refigerator and stove (on a payment plan of course!!!!) Our old ones were on their last leg (and have been since 1980!!!). A bunch of girlfriends took me out for dinner which was just so refreshing- ya know, adult conversation. All of my students sang Happy Birthday to me which was so sweet. Then one of the boys asked me how old I was....when I answered his reply was an astonished, "That's how old MY mom is!" I could've died. Anywho...

There are many pictures here for your enjoyment. Some are from our trip to Amanda and Brendon's, some are of our Halloween celebration, some are of Emmy with Piper (who we sold to someone who wanted to deal with his potty training issues!), and the last are of the Grand Rapids Santa Claus parade which Elijah participated in with his karate class. My favorite picture is of Elijah holding his favorite person- Ephram. He has really taken to his as of late and it just makes me proud!
As a side note- to those of you who typically receive our Christmas picture, sorry! Time got away from us this year and it just didn't happen- oh well! Hopefully next year!

Hello again!

2007-10-18T20:31:00.000-04:00

Yup- it's been 2 months and I know it! I even spoke the words "think I'm done bloggin'' to my sis. Obviously, I changed my mind. (One of my more annoying character traits....) Since my last post, things have been busy, busy, busy. I contracted a lovely case of mononucleosis that's been mysteriously passing around our church- ha ha. Let me just tell you, you DO NOT want this virus. It has seriously kicked my butt. I still don't feel like myself and it's been almost 3 months- ugh.(Needless to say most of the time I'm too tired at night to blog!) I also went back to work and the kids went back to school. I've really enjoyed my job this year and LOVE the new teacher I'm working with. I think we may actually have a choir we can take to state in the near future!!! Elijah is in 3rd grade, Emmy is in 1st, and Zeke started 3 yr. old preschool. Just writing "3rd grade" makes me feel old! How quickly my little boy is turning into a little man - I noticed how often he's absent in my most recent set of pictures; he's been hanging with Dad all fall at the local bar and grill watching OSU and the Indians and generally just being Jason's mini-me. He just wrote an article for school called "Why I Want to be a Pastor"... Gosh is he cute!!! Emmy learned how to ride a two-wheeler and FLYING through piano lessons. She is quite the little musical whiz and is already sightreading, playing with two hands, singing along when she plays.... They both make us so proud. Zeke is LOVING school and having fun hanging with JUST mom in the afternoons. He also has a new little mandolin he plays all the time- he even dances while he plays it- KILLER cute.
We also continue to do our best to help out Josh and Shelly as often as possible. I spend a couple days a week helping Shelly with the kids and whatever else she needs. I think it goes without saying that this is by far the biggest part of our life and we are all still trying to figure out what our roles need to be and how we can best help eachother. I won't reiterate all that's going on with them since I'm sure most of you read their blog religiously!!!
I've posted some pics of our last couple months - the first are from my good friend Carrie's wedding. She married Alex Lopez in a beautiful ceremony this August. The next are Zeke's first day of school and Emmy on her bike without training wheels. The rest are of our day on Saturday at the local pumpkin patch. Hope you all enjoy the pics of Ephram- he is REALLY getting chunky and full of spunk- what a little blessing he is!!!

Pray for Bryson

2007-08-18T16:27:00.001-04:00

Hello blogger friends. I am writing you all with an urgent prayer request. Some of you know the Hummel and Osbourne families. Jason's parents are best friends with Charlie and Sue Osbourne and Jay grew up like a brother to all the Osbourne kids. Last night Jay's mom called crying asking us to pray for Bryson. Bryson is Nicole(Osbourne) and Beau Hummel's oldest child. He was badly injured last night in an accident with a lawn mower. Without going into too many details, he lost his leg above the knee. He is just a little 4 year old boy and he desperately needs our prayers, as do his parents, grandparents and younger siblings. He is currently at Columbus Children's Hospital in Ohio and I'm sure will be there for some time to come. JoEllen Hummel (Bryson's aunt) has current updates on her blog- hummelnest.blogspot.com. Please check them and encourage all you know to PRAY!!!!!! Thank you all.

Daddy Update

2007-08-14T08:56:00.000-04:00

Thanks so much for your prayers! My dad is home and feeling good. He had a stress test yesterday and there wasn't anymore damage to his heart; it just showed the damage from the heart attack in January. They gave him the option of having a heart cath to see if he needed a stint and decided not to. The doctor said there was more risk in the surgery than not. So he is at home with strict instructions to figure out some good stress management! We all feel blessed to have him with us and pray for MANY more healthy years! Thanks again!

Prayer for Dad

2007-08-13T08:51:00.000-04:00

Hey y'all. Just a quick post to ask for prayer. While Jason and I were in Chicago yesterday for Carrie Lindberg's wedding, I called my parent's house to check on my kiddos. My dad answered the phone and said he was having chest pains. He was home alone with my 3 kids while my mom was at Daybreak Church with Josh and Shelly. Of course, Mom's cell phone was broken and Shelly was running some errands during the second service. I finally got a hold of Shelly who did some quick thinking and sent a girlfriend of our over to Mom and Dad's. Dad drove himself to the hospital (after MUCH stubborn argument!!!) and my Mom met him there. Right now it looks like he's had another minor heart attack. (The first being when we were in Miami with Josh.) He is having a stress test right now which will tell the doctors what kinds of surgery he will need, if any. Please pray the doctors will know what to do and the solution will keep him healthy for many years to come!!!

Trip to April's

2007-08-07T14:34:00.000-04:00

I count myself privileged to have two best friends. My mom always has fun teasing me when I say "my best friend...."; like I'm still in junior high! But it really is true. Amanda Aspenson and April Abbonizio have been my closest friends since I was 11. I met them both at Hastings camp- I met April when I was 11 and Amanda when I was 12. Here I am 32 years old and they are as close today as they were 20 years ago. I thank God everyday (well....almost!) for blessing me with such women as these.
So....this trip was to April's. She is married to a great man (Mike) and they have two girls, Audrey and Avery. Audrey and Emmy were born only days apart and even have the same haircut. They live in St. Louis, so Emmy and I took a road trip and spent the week at their house. We spent lots of time in their pool and even took the girls to Six Flags where Emmy had her first roller coaster ride. What an experience! April and I took an evening for just the mom's and went to the Cheesecake Factory and by 9:30 were out of things to do (I know, pathetic!!). We came home to find Mike and the girls STILL splashing in the pool so we decided to get in with them! It was so great to watch our girls bond and become friends just like their moms. They played horse and owner for longer than we thought humanly possible. Too cute. I realized there aren't any pictures of baby Avery, but trust me, she's a beauty! P.S THERE ARE MULTIPLE POSTS!!!! I couldn't get them to load backwards- so today starts from the post "Back in action" and ends with "trip to April's". Hope that makes sense!!!

Hilton Head July 2007

2007-08-07T13:51:00.000-04:00

Our biggest trip this summer was to Hilton Head, SC with Jason's whole family. It really couldn't have gone any better. The kids were angelic the whole trip there and back (even WITHOUT Benadryl!) The house Marsha rented for the week was a mansion-really, no exaggeration. We spent many hours on the beach and in the pool. We took a day trip to Savannah, GA that was unforgettable. We took a trolley ride all around Savannah and then ate at Paula Dean's restaurant Lady and Sons. On July 4th we took the kids to the Hilton Head fireworks and Zeke entertained us with his adorable dancing-he can be such a little clown. We also took a day to explore the island and even saw a baby alligator. My favorite memory of the trip was of Jay and Elijah. We woke up one morning to something akin to a monsoon. Jason got it in his head to take a run with Elijah in the middle of it. They had a blast! There are a couple pictures of them coming back to the house totally soaked!!! It was an all around fun, relaxing, and memorable trip. Thanks Mom and Dad!!

Emmy graduates!

2007-08-07T13:43:00.000-04:00

I know I'm seriously behind the 8 ball with this one, but I wanted to add some pictures of Emmy's kindergarten graduation. She looked absolutely beautiful this day and I was so proud to be her mom. The ceremony was awesome and I felt privileged have my kids at the Potter's House-it's our little utopia. So Emmy will be a big 1st grader next year and gone all day every day. It'll be just Zeke and me... WEIRD!!

Back in action!

2007-08-07T13:31:00.000-04:00

Hello bloggers! Where have I been you ask? Well, for the better part of July I was traveling around the good ol' US of A. It's great to be back home and settled into our normal routine...well, as normal as it gets here in the Grate house. I'll be posting a few separate posts about our summer so don't forget to scroll down to see it all! More importantly, though, for those of you don't check my sister's blog (I know you're few and far between!), I have a good friend you needs prayer. Jason, Tiffany, and Hannah are a family who've been with us since the start of Greenhouse and have close friends through it all. They recently adopted a little boy named Isaac who was born at 24 weeks. Strangely enough, he is in the same NICU as our friends Burke and JoEllen's triplets! They will be staying in Canton, OH until Isaac is stable enough to transport back here to GR. JoEllen also has a link to their blog on her site (thanks Jo!) Their blog address is tiffanyandjason.blogspot.com and I have a link on my sidebar since I'm too computer illiterate to add it here! Don't forget to see the posts below!

Check out Kelley's blog!

2007-07-11T23:02:00.000-04:00

Just a note to let you all know my sis-in-law is not a slacker! She has tons of great pics of our family on vacation that I thought you'd all like to see. We spent last week in Hilton Head, SC with Jason's whole family. I will post soon with more pictures, but until then, click on Kelley Grate on my sidebar to see my cute kids!

Spring 2007

2007-06-01T22:29:00.000-04:00

I'd love to post about all the millions of pictures posted in the new slide show....but honestly, I'm just too darned tired from uploading them all! Hope you enjoy them and I'll post a new blog with actual words as soon as possible! Love to all our blogging friends and family. Don't forget to comment all my stalking friends..(you know who you are!!! :)))

2007-04-18T21:29:00.000-04:00

Just a quick note to let y'all know I've not yet abandoned Bloggerland. I was talking to my sis-in-law Kelley and I think she was a bit concerned :-). Truly, I've not had the energy to summon for posting. I know, horribly lame excuse. But it's just true. Also- I continue to read everyone's posts, but am unable to comment. Why you ask? I've been using my mom's old laptop which she dumped an entire cup of coffee on. Need I say more? The letter L is permanently non-functioning and as this letter is required for all of my sign-ins, no comments from me! I know, so sad.... I'll continue to read and hopefully post again some day soon with LOADS of pictures of our insane life. Love you all and keep praying for our little family, I know you are.

Six Years Old!!!

2007-03-04T10:37:00.000-05:00

My precious baby girl is an astounding six years old today! How things have changed since that day. She was born on a warm March day in Mishawaka IN. She had a pretty rough start. Her due date was March 23rd so she was a bit early. When she was born they did a bit of testing and said my due date was probably wrong and she was at the very most 36 wks. She struggled to breathe the first 24 hours and wasn't allowed in our room. She rebounded pretty quickly though and came home with us on time and healthy. Then at 4 weeks she caught RSV. This was our family's first foray into tragedy. When a baby is premature and contracts this infection it can be deadly. It started innocently enough at first- a slight cough, runny nose, cold symptoms. I had known what to look for though and immediately took her to the ER, thank God. I thought they would send us home, but her blood oxygen level was so low they admitted her right away. By the next morning, she was barely clinging to life. The hospital we were in could NOT help her and she continued to get sicker by the minute. Finally they decided to air lift her to Riley's in Indy. What a nightmare. We couldn't fly with her so we drove to Indy. Torture! Seeing your precious baby that sick was something I WASN"T prepared for. Funny to think back now, though on my optimism. I never felt even for a moment that she might actually die. Sadly, if something like that were to happen to us now, I'm sure I'd be expecting the worst. Praise God, she eventually got better. It took a good week for her to turn the corner, but she did!!! Funny thing- she's by far our healthiest child now! And what a treasure she is to us. A blessing beyond compare. I mean, just look at that sweet face. Every birthday means so much more to me now since losing Ava. I also admit to feeling a bit guilty celebrating them when my sister has lost so very much. I'm sure she'd call me crazy- but the feeling is there just the same.
Well...my husband is about to steal the computer for work, so I must wrap up. Love to you all.

What to write...???

2007-02-18T11:20:00.000-05:00

The title of this post is the obvious reason for my long blogging absence. If my mom is reading this, she's probably a bit confused. I've stated with my typical fervor many times in the past month that I was "DONE BLOGGING!!" So, why the change of heart? Well, the answer is the same to most of my questions recently, "I don't know."
If I'm being 100% honest, though, I do know. This group of friends has become something of a prayer anchor for many of us, me included. Seeing the response from people who just saw the requests from JoEllen and many others has been overwhelming. So, for this reason, and hopefully as time goes by, many other reasons, I will continue to post my thoughts.
To say our life has changed since Jan. 18 would be the grossest of understatements. How does one even begin to understand the implications of what has happened to our family? Simply, you don't. Each hour is taken as a new step, and moving anywhere past the next hour is impossible. Seeing my sister and husband's emotions during this time has been nothing short of heartwrenching. Yesterday Shelly was having a stressful morning and I said,"What can I do to help?" Without taking a breath she answered, "Make everthing like it was before January 18th. Oh, you can't. So...I guess nothing." I don't say this to make any of you think my sister isn't coping...she is- in the most admirable of fashions...but there are some very overwhelming times.
Over the past weeks I've felt confused, angry, beat up, tired, stressed, overwhelmed, happy, thankful, confused (oh...I said that already) and so on. I've found myself negative and cynical and unable to get away from myself. So on Friday on adive from my wise mother, I went out and bought Avalon's recording of hymns. They redid "Total Praise", and song based on Ps. 121. To say this opened my eyes would once again be a gross understatement. At the foundation of life is THIS- "YOUR peace you give me, in time of the storm...". Without the wisdom to look upward to Jesus, I will continue to feel cynical, negative and confused. Please pray that I am able to let Him chip away the hardness of my heart and let Him soften me.
I KNOW that you are continuing to hold up Josh, Shelly, Noah, Zoe and Ephram in your prayers. Please continue to do so through the next days, months and years as life will continue to be complicated and somewhat uncertain. We are daily seeing the power of your prayers and are overwhelmed by the love of SO MANY people!! I've attached a few pictures, since I'm incapable of posting without something visual. The photos are of the kids sledding before Josh's accident; our house during a snow storm after returning from Miami, and Zeke hiding in the fort he made in the living room today. Enjoy!! P.S.- Little man Zeke is FINALLY potty trained!!! (We think.....:-)

Our Christmas Vacation!

2007-01-07T09:44:00.000-05:00

Finally! I know, I know, what took ya so long??? Trying to find a less time consuming way to post 50 some odd pictures took some time. I officially took too many pictures, and so many turned out cute I just had to post them! A quick synopsis of our Christmas- The weeked before break we went down to Indiana for our annual Christmas party with Brendon and Amanda Aspenson. Micah and Lisa Kephart, Josh and Shelly, Aspenson's, and us.....yup- pretty fun. Micah and Lisa were absent this year because little Caedmon still needs his mommy! They were missed! That Sat. we drove down to Marion to celebrate Elijah's birthday with Jay's family. His Pirates of the Caribbean party was a smash hit, thanks Kel!
The week of Christmas break we took of on Thurs. to head to Marion OH for Chrismas with Jason's fam. Sorry- no pics from this event, Kelly took them all and they're posted on her blog! On Christmas Eve, we loaded up in the car and headed down to FL! It really was a great trip. The kids were angels and it was fun being with my whole family. Christmas morning we were in a hotel and had breakfast at the Waffle House- UNFORGETTABLE! It may sound Scrooge-like, but we had a blast! We got down to Orlando that afternoon and had Christmas with my family the next morning. On Wed. it was off to Disney!!! What an experience. It was the busiest day of the year....need I say more? 12 hours and 5 rides later, we were pooped! The kids thought it was heaven. Seeing the kids faces light up in It's a Small World was priceless. When Zeke saw Mickey Mouse on the stage in front of the castle his jaw dropped and his little eyes were like saucers! The wait for Pirates of the Caribbean was like something out of a Holocaust movie, but the ride was AWESOME! Elijah and Emmy were hysterical. When Jack Sparrow popped out the barrel, I about lost it! On Thursday night we went to Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede. I know it sounds totally hokey, but we LOVE it! It was our second time and just as fun. Emmy couldn't get enough of all the horses. The rest of our vacation was spent relaxing and swimming in the pool. The weather at the end of the week was heavenly, 83 and partly cloudy....why do we live in MI again???? Well, enjoy all the pictures and hope all of you had a great Christmas!!

Look who's 3!!!!!!!

2007-01-06T22:18:00.000-05:00

Well, my little baby boy is officially no longer a baby. I've been feeling a bit blue today realizing a stage of our life is fading into the past and a new one is taking it's place. But more than anything, my little man brings more smiles, joy and laughter to my day than I could ever have imagined. We went to Target for some groceries tonight and I kept telling him that 3 yrs. ago we were in the hospital meeting for the first time. He just looked at me like, huh? On the way home I told him I loved him so much and he says, "love you,too, Mom..." Melt my heart!
BTW- I will be posting late tonight or tomorrow a slide show a synopsis of our Christmas vacation and trip to Disney-check it out when you can!

Christmas at the Grate's

2006-12-10T20:23:00.000-05:00

The dining room (I LOVE the window sill!)

Pictures of the living room.

The Charlie Brown Christmas tree (hey, it was free AND it's real!!)
The snowmen in our room.
Emmy's tree (Barbie, of course!)
The tree in the boys room
The Christmas village
The stairway
P.S.- Sorry for all the haphazard posting, but I can't get it all in the right spot! Any suggestions?? The only way I can view it to make any sense is by clicking on each post separtely in the left hand column...

Elijah's 8th Birthday

2006-12-10T19:57:00.000-05:00

Last weekend we celebrated Elijah's 8th birthday at a hotel here in GR with an indoor waterpark. After being presented with many different options for his birthday and party, he opted for no presents from Mom and Dad and a trip to the waterpark! We had an absolute blast. We went swimming and then all joined up for pizza ,cake, and presents. Mom and Dad-Josh, Shelly and Noah and Zoe- and Brad, Sara and Ethan and Lily Emerson were all there. His birthday isn't really until the 14th, but it was the only free weekend we had, so we did it a couple weeks early! Here are some pictures from the event!

Look who we visited!!!

2006-12-01T00:05:00.000-05:00

We had an extra special Thanksgiving this year. We we privileged to visit Burke and JoEllen Hummel and meet their precious babies Maylee and Jakobi. I was looking forward to this day more than you can imagine. Seeing their journey through blogland just wasn't quite enough - so while we were in OH for the weekend we took a jog over to Canton. What a blessing it was. I was overcome with such emotion seeing those little miracles. I stood outside of little Maylee's isolette and bawled my little head off. Funny how things affect you. After spending some good cuddle time with Jakobi, we went out to lunch. Let me just say, the four of us should never be allowed in a public place at one time. What a zoo! I think our waitress though we were totally nuts. Oh well!! We had a blast! A special thank you to Burke and JoEllen for taking the time to see us and sharing the babies for a little while!
Note the OSU Buckeye in the crib- this was an endless top for Burke and Jay... endless.....

Vote for Christmas picture!

2006-11-30T23:59:00.000-05:00

These are just a couple examples of our vain attempt to get a good picture for Christmas cards. Thought I'd post them and see which y'all thought we should use! We took these at Jason's parents house on Thanksgiving day - let me tell ya- it was a 3 ring circus trying to get everyone to smile. Kelley even had to stand in the middle of Marsha's new dining room table to get a decent shot! P.S.- you can also vote for a new picture... HA!!! Happy voting!

Annie!!!

2006-11-27T23:14:00.000-05:00

Last Tuesday night we (well....Grandma...) took all of us girls to the Broadway Theatre Guild's production of "Annie". Zoe and Emmy are pretty obsessive about the movie and can often be heard singing rousing rendition's of "Tomorrow" with way too much vibrato. (I'm not kidding...) We thought they'd love the live version and decided to make a night out of it. We got the girls dressed up in matching dresses and went out to a really nice dinner beforehand. Really, it was just too much fun! Here are some pictures of our evening. P.S.- I have a couple more entries of our Thanksgiving weekend and our visit with the Hummel's that I can't wait to for you all to see, but Blogger is just being a pain in the B-U-T-T!!! Hopefully tomorrow.....

Halloween night

2006-11-04T10:52:00.000-05:00

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Random pics from Halloween night. We had an absolute ball. We all gathered at Josh and Shelly's for pizza at 5. Unfortunately the pizza didn't show until about 6 so we thought we'd try to get some pictures taken. Try getting 7 hungry, excited, dressed up kids under the age of 7 to smile nicely at the same time. Yup, pretty much impossible. Seriously, it was a complete circus! Most of our core team came along for the ride and really were a big help. It always amazes me what a blessing it is living life together. Just for reference the kids you might not recognize are Brad and Sara Emerson's- Ethan is Darth Vader and Lily is a princess. It was pretty funny when Ethan and Elijah showed up dressed up as the same thing. Emmy was dressed as Dora (to Zoe's jealous dismay), Ezekiel was the cutest pumpkin ever, Noah was a cowboy and Zoe was an angry pink unicorn(see picture above...). Just another memorable night with the Syswerda/Greenhouse clan!

Annual Syswerda Pumpkin Carving

2006-10-27T23:49:00.000-04:00

Pics from our annual Syswerda pumpking carving (hence...the title of post...). This has become one of our favorite holiday traditions. We have a hot dog roast outside (even if it is a bit cold). Then it's off to carve the pumpkins. You wouldn't think this would take long, but it gets pretty competitive and complicated! (See Josh's carving of Dora for Zoe!!!) After the carving, its pie time! This year- Mom's homemade pumpkin....delicious. The kids (and adults) had a rip-roarin' good time. (See picture of Zeke riding the tractor like a crazy person.) Bottom line, I feel TRULY blessed to have been born into such a loving, interesting, loyal, AMAZING (if somewhat crazy...) family. I was just going to write "it's such a joy watching our kids growing up together" but stopped myself short. Whoa- funny how it can turn that quickly... We went out to Ava's grave today to clean up the leaves; we also brought some flowers and a little pumpkin. I told Zoe we were going to see Ava and she looked at me REALLY weird and said, "Auntie Holly, Ava's up in the sky- how're WE gonna get there??????" Kids say the darndest things!!!
Well...I would apologize for lack of blogging, but that would require me being truly sorry. I think every 2 weeks is gonna be the norm from now on!!!

Happy Halloween from the Ladybug and Axl Rose!!

2006-10-27T23:45:00.000-04:00

Pics from the costume party we went to tonight. Pretty scary, huh?

Cold Camping Crazy People...

2006-10-15T21:22:00.000-04:00

A few months ago we scheduled a Halloween camping trip up in Big Rapids at my parents fave camping resort. The kids love it there and they have a fall festival that we thought would be great. What we didn't plan on was the Arctic Circle traveling a few thousand miles south and planting itself in Michigan! Don't get me wrong, we had a blast. It was just a cold one. I took about a gazillion pictures and I'm sure it'll be a weekend the kids never forget. I'm still trying to recover...taking long hot baths and chillin' on the couch. Some of the highlights...so cold my camera kept fogging up (in the trailer!!!), Zeke taking a long ride on the circle swing and then puking 3 times ("Mommy....Zekey get off now.. "), wathcing the pumpkins explode during the pumpkin smash, trying to eat dinner outside with the crew (my parents best friends and their kids were also there), seeing the kids Halloween outfits disappear under loads of winter gear.... Really, we are a crazy bunch. What can I say, I wouldn't like it any other way! P.S.- Apologies for the haphazard pic posting...can someone tell me how I can post lots of pictures easier???

Dancing Queen!

2006-09-30T21:58:00.000-04:00

Pictures of my precious little Emmy at her first ballet class this past Monday. Not much to say except it was the cutest thing I've ever seen. She was just SO into it. The pictures of her by the ballet bar and mirror are in her bedroom - she LOVES it. Zoe has the same teacher at a different time and they were having a high old time talking about dancing, tu-tus and the like. Really...they are the definition of GIRLY!!!
Had a great time last night with my little brother in town. We were all together at my mom and dad's for a cozy fall dinner. Gotta say I felt very blessed all night long. Jason's sister Kelley and surrogate sister Sue came in last last night. We had a great day today at the Eastown Street Fair, napping, going to McD's, and watching the BUCKEYES!!! Elijah sprayed his hair bright red in anticipation for the game. His dad has SERIOUSLY brainwashed him. Hope to post some pics of our weekend soon. Love to you all...

Not much happening??? Huh?

2006-09-18T20:37:00.000-04:00

Just because I hate it when others don't update, I will quickly post and tell you all that there's not much happening here. I'm not sure how this happened, but it did. Thank God! I sometimes feel as if our life is a constant tornado of tragedy, chaos, upheaval, blah, blah, blah... This last week has been one of the calmest of our married life and I couldn't be more thankful. I spent the weekend in Ft. Wayne with Amanda. Yup, that was fun! We were completely unhurried and did basically everything we wanted (well... you know what I mean.). We even resurrected an old Plymouth tradition of going to the bookstore and sitting forever reading and drinking coffee. You know you're best friends when you can sit like that. Thanks to our sweet husbands for being willing to watch our kids for the weekend.
I also wanted to post a prayer request. I'm sure most of you heard about the tragedy in the W. Michigan district this past weekend. One of the youth pastors here lost his only baby boy in a tragic car accident. His wife and he were also seriously burned and she is still in critical condition. Not much else to say except, these people need EVERYONE'S prayers...
Well, we're gearing up for our fall kick-off at church with an all day event culminating with movies in the park on Sat. night. Should be a blast. I'll post pictures soon as I get a chance!

What a week!!!!!!

2006-09-09T14:01:00.000-04:00

Great week...crazy week! Amanda, Brendon and Morgan (Gavin was at G-ma's) came over last Fri.and Sat. This was much needed time for us girls. I thank God EVERYDAY for blessing me with my best friend. There is truly nothing like it. We've been friends since Aug. of 1987-ALMOST 20 years. How crazy is that? Now our daughters are learning a bit about female bonding and we took a couple of pics. Didn't turn out great, but they're just such cuties!!!

Elijah's first day of school. (Anyone notice the very large Ohio State flag in the front? Yeah, not my decorating choice, but oh well.... ) He is loving 2nd grade and adjusting well to VERY early mornings. He doesn't seem to like his teacher as well as last year, but Miss VK will be a hard act to follow!

Pics of Emmy's first day of school. Well, sort of. On her real first day (Wed.) my alarm went off at 7:25. AAAHH!! It was set for 5:25. Yeah, serious panic. Needless to say I threw on some clothes and jumped in the car to go to work. Jason and I two-wayed the whole way there about what to do with her hair, the skirt that was too big, where were her new tennis shoes???? It was crazy and not picture worthy. I was feeling pretty awful about the whole thing, but a couple days later it just seems so US! These pictures are from Friday morning. As you can tell we leave at 7:15 and it's still pretty dark. I also took some of just her outside her new school. She is loving kindergarten and has more self-confidence than I know what to do with. Once again she was upset that I was bringing her into school...."Drop me off, Mom!"

What is this pitiful picture you ask? Our precious little puppy has a broken leg. Last night we had a great night out at Mom and Dad's with Josh and Shelly and the kids. They were all (yes all 5 of them..) riding bikes and Elijah swerved to miss Piper. Didn't work. The yelping and crying was more than my little heart could handle and I started bawling. Later my mom and sister said, "Gosh, I guess she wasn't kidding. She really does love that dog!" We waited it out last night to make sure it was really broken; LONG NIGHT!! I finally took him to Vet ER at 7:30 this morning to see 2 clean breaks on the X-Ray. My poor puppy... Really, he's just too cute.
All in all, we're loving the new schedule and finding it's a real positive for our marriage and family. Surprise, surprise, we love routine! (Really, this is a new adventure for us spontaneous Grates...) Have a great week all you bloggers!

White Caps Game

2006-09-03T11:43:00.000-04:00

Well, it's official. Blogger has succeeded at ROYALLY ticking me off. I actually feel like cursing a bit, but I won't. I have tried in vain many a time to get this to post with absolutely no success. We actually went to the game on Wed. night- it is now Sunday morning. Anyone sensing my frustration. That aside, we had a great time. There is really nothing quite like walking into the stadium and smelling fresh cut grass, singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame", and eating too much fried food and cotton candy. We had great lawn seats right next to the kids playland which was convenient to say the least. Jason, Elijah and my dad REALLY got into the game while the rest of us just had fun taking pictures, eating, and playing with the free basketballs they gave the kids as we walked through the front gate. It was an evening of unforgettable memories and something I hope we continue as an annual summer tradition!
Onto a quick update of my first week as a working mom. What a trip. I loved every minute of it, truly. The school is pretty rough (hence the 10 min. speech on gang policies in the first assembly) and the junior high class is really something-and that's being complimentary. It's amazing how fun it is though to be back into a routine and making music again. I'm having the time of my life! The kids didn't even know I'd been gone the first day... I said to Emmy, "Did you miss Mommy?", and she says,"You were gone???". I guess that's good? Pray for us though as they start school this week and getting out of the house is gonna get much more hairy!
We also had an AMAZING weekend, which I will have to save for a later post.... if Blogger cooperates!!

2006-08-31T23:34:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the posting delay... I've been trying aimlessly to post pictures of our night out at the Whitecaps game and Blogger absolutely REFUSES to cooperate. Suffice it to say, we took tons of amazing pictures and had ourselves a whale of a time. I'll post the pictures as soon as I can and also give an update on my first week of work. Too tired tonight! (Sorry JoEllen!)

2006-08-27T22:15:00.000-04:00

Well, just a quick post before I head off into the wide blue yonder of working womandom. I officially start my job tomorrow morning. This is the first job I've had in MANY years and surprisingly, I'm not yet nervous, just really excited. Thank you God! I'm not naive enough to think this job won't provide some bumps in the road; despite that, I think this job was tailor made for me by the man upstairs. Not only will it be nice to have a few hours to myself each day, I will be doing something I love. Already been practicing Seasons of Love (any Rent fans out there??? Gosh I love musicals.) I am a bit unsure of how I will get myself and two children showered, breakfasted(huh?), and out the door by 7:15.... Any suggestions from those of you experienced in this area? I love my morning cup of joe, but being gone 'til 10:30 means I must couple it with breakfast...YUCK! Any suggestions for a quick, cheap, healthy breakfast? Gee, I'm not asking much am I.
Well, as I leave my precious kids for the first time in 7 1/2 years (well, not really.... you know what I mean...) I thought I'd share a little story about leaving babiedom behind. Jason and I decided a while back that 3 was a great number and we were done having kids. Most of the time I'm thrilled we made this decision and glad we don't have the option of changing our minds (I'll spare you the details.). But last night as I rocked Zeke to sleep I felt my heartbreaking for a stage never to revisited until I become a grandma. He came down the stairs at 11:15 (don't ask!) and my initial reaction was
be frustrated and put him back in bed for the 7th time. But he says with a totally fake sad face, "I'm crying... Mommy...I'm crying!" Oh it was just too much. I sat with him for 20 minutes and rocked and sang and cried. The realization that this was probably the last time I would be able to hold my children like this was just about more than I could bear. The thought also occurred to me as I sat there, that without the grief of losing a precious niece I probably wouldn't cherish these moments as deeply as I do. More than anything I was just deeply thankful to God for finding me a worthy mother to my 3 darling ones.

New Bathroom!

2006-08-21T21:57:00.000-04:00

Tried to post these last night with no success. We are LOVING our bathroom and must say my sweet husband is an EXCELLENT ceramic tiler. Thanks so much to my mom and dad for all of the work they did! Sorry I haven't gotten around to putting everyone's links back yet... I'll do it soon I promise!

Unblogworthy...

2006-08-17T23:15:00.000-04:00

Just a quick post to say I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. Just not much blogworthy things happening here at the Grate's. Went camping with the church this past weekend. Kids had a blast- Mom, hmmm, not so much... Spent all week redoing our bathroom. It looks AMAZING! Where are the pictures you say?? Yup, too lazy to take one right now as I just finished it about an hour ago. Jason's family will be here tomorrow night until Sun. afternoon. Should be a grate time (wow, can't believe I actually wrote that...). Also wanted to send you all to the church website as it's receiving some really fun changes thanks to ol' Josh Buck. It's not all done yet but you can listen to some sermons, look at pics of our camping trip and watch a really hilarious video of Brad Emerson. Trust me, you're not ready. The address is www.greenhouseministries.org or just click on the address in my sidebar. Have fun!
P.S.- Oops!!! BIG oops. I decided to have a little fun and change the background of our blog. Not so fun. It deleted all my links and I guess I'm not smart enough to know how to put them all back in less than 3 hours. Sorry- they'll be back soon. Any suggestions for a shorter way of doing this without all the annoying computer code???

Veggie stands....and good news!

2006-08-08T21:48:00.000-04:00

Thought I'd post some pictures of Elijah and Emmy at their vegetable stand. My dad has been itching to help him sell some produce from his MASSIVE garden and we finally got it together yesterday. Truly, there is nothing more heartwarming than watching your kids sit outside and wait for people to show up... Elijah has been pretty hard core about it, even taking everything from our house to Shelly's this afternoon so as not to miss ONE customer (a.k.a. MONEY!!!). He's made about $11 since yesterday and is already quite the little business man.
Now for the good news... I GOT A JOB!!!!!!!!!!! What, you say? Yes, yes, yes! I'm officially calling it the Miracle of 2006. I know, maybe a slight exaggeration, but really, it's pretty amazing. I've said for years if I could create the perfect job, it would be playing the piano for a church or school with no other responsibilities than to show up and play. (And also make good money doing it.) So today, the pastor's wife from the church we rent our building from called me up. She just took a JH choir job and was in dire need of an accompanist. It's everyday from 7:50 to 10:15 and the kicker is, it's $60 a day- or $300 a week. This is the EXACT amount we said we needed. WOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! For me this will be a bit of a break and Jay will be able to be at work by 10:30. Not only that, I can hardly wait for it to start. Yup, I'm a choir nerd, I can say it. It's true...
Also, a HUGE thank you to all for your many prayers throughout these past weeks. I won't say it's been easy, but I've felt constantly uplifted by the prayers of friends and loved ones. You ALL mean a lot to us!

Ava Nicole Buck 05/05/05-08/01/05

2006-08-03T07:56:00.000-04:00

Well, it's a little before 8 o'clock in the morning here. I've already formed this post in my head and been to the gas station for coffee (no creamer in the house). The rest of my family is peacefully sleeping, but once again, I'm wide awake. So the story has gone much of this week. As most of you know, Tuesday was a year since the death of our precious niece, Ava Nicole. As I was thinking about what I would say in this post I battled with how to say what I was feeling without sounding too morose. Well, I lost the battle. I FEEL morose. For those of you who know me to be the girl to post happy pictures of my 3 kids, beware, today is not that post. My hope is truly not to offend anyone, but in the light of honesty, share what it really feels like to be in this place. Let me begin by sharing what we did this week.
Monday night Jay and I got a babysitter and went to Josh and Shelly's with my mom and dad. It was just a time where we as adults could have some uninterrupted time to talk. The three of us girls spent a long time in the hottub sharing the things that've been the most difficult for us through the past year. My mom and sister have had to deal with the pain of what they saw and heard that day. Without going into much detail, it was very much like something out of a horrible nightmare. But worse - there is never that relief of waking up and saying, "Whew, glad that was just a dream." You DON'T wake up. For me, the hardest thing has been dealing with the days after her death. I can vividly remember laying in bed with my best friend Amanda and crying like I didn't know was humanly possible. There was such a panic in my that our little girl way all by herself in some room in the basement of a hospital. Probably the hardest thing for me has been the remembering the day of her funeral. Just thing about walking into the funeral home makes my heart start to pound. Why should anyone have to see their 3 month old little girl inside a coffin? I can remember kissing her little head over and over and making sure I said "I love you" enough times that she would hear me in heaven. Seeing Josh and my sister at the gravesite that day is something that instantly makes my throat close up. How does a mother ever go on without knowing what her little girl would've looked like, acted like, loved? As the year has progressed the memory that haunts me more than any is putting her in the ground. They took her little coffin out of the van and ask Jason to help put her in the ground. I'll just be honest and say I went stark raving mad. There was just no spot in my heart and mind to deal with it. I cried and screamed until my mom and Jason finally held me and calmed me down. WHY, HOW can this be happening? Is this even real? Sorry, I know this must be hard to read, but people, this IS our reality. These kinds of things happen to the best of people every day.
Ok... on to Tuesday. We all had some breakfast and then met up at Mom and Dad's at noon. Mom had a craft for the kids to do. (Like I've said before, it seems to help the kids to have some real way to express their grief.) We all loaded up then to go to the cemetery. Once again, the wind was blowing. God KNOWS we need a real reminder that he hasn't forgotten us and it seems EVERY time we go to her grave, the wind is blowing. The kids all put their little crafts around her grave and then let some balloons go. Noah and Zoe especially love to let the balloons "Go up to Ava." We took a long walk all around the cemetery and found all the headstones of children. I know, it sounds pretty morbid, but it's cathartic to know you are not the only people (even in little Allendale) to have experienced such tragedy. I think the most astounding thing was seeing the stones of children who'd died up to 70 years ago and someone was still bring fresh flowers to the grave. It's just proof that you NEVER forget, no matter how much time passes.
After this we all went to the beach. This was the best part of the day. We all seem to feel a bit of peace when we're there. The kids had a blast diving into the huge waves (and so did the adults...) At about dinner time we packed up Josh and Shelly and sent them to a B &B in Grand Haven for a night alone. My mom and dad took Noah and Zoe and our little family went back home to Grand Rapids. As we were driving home, I felt just awful. Like, now what? It's been a year, where do we go from here? As we were pulling out of Allendale, I just felt like we were leaving a little more of her behind. It's hard to explain the feeling... I KNOW she's in heaven and is very MUCH not alone, but I still feel as though when we leave that cemetery, we're abandoning her... Irrational, I know, but this is still how I feel.
Well, as the days continue on, I'll admit to not feeling much better. And if I'm feeling like this, how much MORE must my little sister and Josh be feeling? I'm not sure I'll ever know.
In closing, I hope this encourages all who read to continue to pray for our family and not to forget our precious little girl. She is so much a part of us and ALWAYS will be....

Our trip to Dearborn -Day 1

2006-07-20T22:28:00.000-04:00

Sorry it's taken so long to post this, but I've put it off for a myriad of reasons. Writing a serious blog being the main reason. I know most of my posts have been a day in the life of our family with a few laughs and tears thrown in here and there. But as we approach August 1st, I find myself feeling generally somber and not always sure how to express what I'm feeling, much less write it down for all the blogging world to see... Let me begin by giving a quick rundown of why we went to Dearborn.
Compassionate Friends is an organization that exists to help families as they grieve the loss of a child. Every year they have two national events. The first is their candle light service, which we participated in this December. The second is the national conference and Walk to Remember. Each year it's held in a different city and just so happened to be in Dearborn this year. Anyone who has lost a child can participate in the conference or take part in the walk.
On Saturday afternoon, the whole family (Bucks, Grates, G&G Syswerda, G&G Buck and Geoffrey) met up at the hotel. We started the afternoon by letting the kids swim for a while. Of course I neglected to take one picture of Emmy swimming for the first time without the help of her swimmies... Then it was out for pizza in downtown Dearborn- can't remember the name of the restaurant but it was fabulous. After dinner it was back to the hotel to celebrate Zoe Marie's 3rd!! birthday. There was boundless noise, chaos and general pandemonium as 14 of us were packed like sardines in my parents hotel room. But, celebrating her birthday was a glimmer of true joy in the midst of much sadness. After cake and ice cream, my mom brought out the t-shirts. The organization provided Walk to Remember t-shirts for the adults, but not for the kids. Not wanting them to be left out, my mom bought each child a plain t-shirt and things they could put on them. It's funny how something so small can mean so much to them. It gave them each a chance to really focus their grief in a good way and they were also able to spend some time talking about Ava and some of their memories of her. After finishing up the t-shirts it was off to bed so we could all be up at the crack of dawn to walk 2.2 miles!
I will post all the pictures of our walk tomorrow as once again it's almost midnight (why do I do this to myself???)

Grand Haven Vacation

2006-07-16T23:16:00.000-04:00

What a great vacation! We spent Monday and Tuesday here in Grand Rapids with my oldest friend April (Holloway) Abbonizio and her husband Mike and daughter Audrey. We had a WONDERFUL time with them and did lots of talking late into the night. I mean, isn't that what best friends are for? (April is also pregnant with their second and is due in December!)
Then it was off to the beach! We spent Wed. thru Sat. at my parents trailer on the beach in Grand Haven. We found it quite amusing that we were taking our vacation back in our old hometown. The weather couldn't have been better. My cousin Ryan and his wife Stephanie and their 4 kids were also there for the week and Elijah and their oldest, Braden, really hit it off. It was great to see him having such a great time. We didn't do much but swim and watch the kids ride their bikes and play with the puppy. (Who, incidentally, turned us into some sort of celebrities at the park..."Aww... can we hold him??") We did all the Grand Haven things; Snug Harbor, Pronto Pups, Pier Peddler Ice Cream, walking the boardwalk and the pier.... We also took our annual trip up to Montague to Dog-n-Suds. (A bittersweet trip as Ava was with us last year on our trip there.) Other than a small mishap while trying to dump the poop (sorry, that's what it is!), it was a successful vacation! PS- I will be posting a detailed blog later in the week about our trip to Dearborn for the Walk to Remember. There were so many pictures and things I wanted to share I thought I would save it for a later post (and and earlier time as it's already almost midnight!)
Ezekiel after being attacked by a Superman ice cream cone!
The kids with cousin Braden Stevens.

Audrey being a horse, her favorite thing to do!

April and I on the beach

We have a new puppy!

2006-07-08T21:30:00.000-04:00

The title to this blog is proof that God works in mysterious ways. As I stated in my last post, Josh and Shelly got a new Puggle puppy named Tico last week. Well, because of Jay and I's financial situation we told the kids we'd have to hold off getting a dog until Christmas. (They were actually taking it quite well.) A core team member from our church also bought one of the other pups from the same litter as Shelly's. He took Jason out for breakfast yesterday and said he was going to have to pay an astronomical sum of money to keep the puppy in his apartment complex and would we like it? What?? Huh?? You heard me right! 20 minutes later we had an adorable Puggle puppy named Piper (after John Piper.....). He is absolutely the cutest thing. The kids love him and he is great with them. God is good!
I have also posted some pictures of our new deck and sliders that I promised like a month ago! So many people have helped us and I thank you all. It is truly an oasis of peace! Jason and I are spending countless hours in our Adirondack chairs and the kids love eating at the table. Also note the chiminea (sp?). My dad found it at a campsite with a free sign and spruced it up for us. (Don't ya just love Dutch people? I sure do...) Lastly, we will be out of town much of next week camping in my parents trailer at Grand Haven State Park (another surprise blessing!). We will also be in Dearborn next weekend at A Walk to Remember for our little Ava. Please keep our entire family in your prayers next Saturday!

The FAM!

2006-07-01T20:54:00.000-04:00

For those of you who don't know, my maiden name is Syswerda. So what, big deal, you say? Well, it is a pretty big deal, at least to me. I come from a heritage that few can boast. Grandpa and Grandma Syswerda (Herm and Lucille) bore 13 children. In this day and age there are very few families like this left. Not only are they all healthy, successful adults, they are all following Christ. There are even FEWER families who can say this! So, last night we had a little (this is a relative term) family get together. When everyone is present (only OUR family) there are right around 90 people. HOLY COW!!! Every time someone gets married and comes to the first few get togethers it's always funny to see them try to remember everyone's name. Yeah, pretty much impossible! Anywho...my Uncle Rog and Aunt Joan's 4 kids and their kids were all in town this weekend. This is quite a fete considering they live in Chicago, NY city, South Carolina, and Upland, IN. Good reason to throw a party! It was a wonderful time with people we love and let me tell you, never a dull moment. Imagine at least 50 people as loud (or louder) than me in one space. I remember the first time Jay walked into our Christmas party...He opened the doors and the sound practically blew him over. He looked at me like "Wow, you weren't kidding...". It truly is an amazing thing to be a part of and such an original family who are also close friends, prayer warriors, and just a great support network! I took some pictures throughout the night, none of which turned out very great, but oh well! Try getting 12 kids under 7 to sit for a picture! All 12 kids (13 counting our little Ava Nicole) are grandchildren of my parents and Uncle Rog and Joan. Wow!
Attached are some pics from our evening with some pretty lengthy descriptions!

From left to right: My uncle Rog, my mom in the background, my cousin Eric(Rog's youngest son), my aunt Karel (the youngest of the 13), and my cousin Mark's (Rog and Joan's middle son) wife Kelley.
Shannon (Eric's wife) is on the left with Ethan, Micah, Zeke and Thane eating at the picnic table.
What a bunch of cuties!
A crazy picture of all 12 kids!
From left to right: Owen, Madison, Micah, Zeke, Thane, Zoe, Emmy, Ethan, Brooke, Paige, Elijah, and Noah. WHEW!!
The girls holding Josh and Shelly's new puppy Tico (anyone watch Dora??).

2006-06-26T01:04:00.000-04:00

The four of us at my cousing Niecia's wedding last weekend.

Thought I'd post some pictures of the adults for a change. Shocker! These were taken last weekend at the wedding reception of my cousing Niecia. It was a beautiful wedding and a great night out with the four of us. We've spent the majority of this week doing more finishing work on the new sliding door which should be 100% finished by this week. I'll be sure to post some pictures when it is. Let me just take this moment to say that my husband completely embodies the description "jack of all trades". Not only does he sing like an angel (i.e. this morning at SLWC singing "There is none like you" I told him afterwards that when he sings that like that I'm not thinking about Jesus.. TMI?); play the guitar, piano and drums like nobody's business; preach the paint off the walls every Sun. night; he can also drywall, tile, roof and just generally be our very own handyman. What can I say? I married the man of my dreams. Yes, 'tis true!
This last picture is just too funny NOT to post. What is it you say? Jay's best friend Micah came over a couple of nights ago. Let me tell ya, when these boys get together, get out of the way. Micah decided it would be a great adventure to take Zeke's Little Tikes car for a ride in the lawn at 1 in the morning. Problem, he got stuck. I'm not kidding. TRULY, stuck. I'm not sure I've ever laughed so hard.
On a bit more serious note, please keep our family in your prayers this week. Jason will be scouring all of Grand Rapids for a full time job, seeing that we CANNOT find a part time one that will bring in enough money. This will be a pretty big step for us, and we NEED to find a job soon as our paycheck from the church will be much smaller in 2 weeks!!! Love to you all!

It's a miracle!

2006-06-15T20:37:00.000-04:00

WOW! This definately takes the cake for longest blog dry spell. A heartfelt "sorry" to all the faithful readers. Truth be told, the only real reason for my lack of posting - laziness! The digital camera batteries died and I was just to lazy to charge them. Pretty sorry, I know. Not that we've had a lack of activity here in the Grate household. Since my last entry, we've managed to build a new deck, landscaped the backyard, and put in a new sliding door in place of the old window off of our dining room. Whew! We've had an AMAZING amount of help. Thank you Dad, Jordan, Jonathan, and Jon! When it's all totally finished, I'll be sure to post some pictures. It really is quite amazing! We love our deck and backyard more than any place we've lived, hands down.
Well, onto less exhausting subjects.... It's officially summer break here. It really is a relief not to be living in my car taking kids to and from school. They've even blessed me with a couple of very late mornings; not getting up 'til 9:30! Ahh..... We've already spent one day at the beach, been down to Marion, OH to see the fam, and been spending LOTS of time in Josh and Shelly's hot tub. Today we spent the day at my mom and dad's to stay out of Jay's way as he was putting in the slider. Emmy, Zoe and my Mom had a girls day out today and attached is a picture of them with their Build-a-Bears. My mom is holding the one they made for Ava, since she would've been a big part of their girls day. They also each brought home a pink balloon and let them go "to her". Emmy's got stuck in a tree (of course!) and she said, "It's OK, she can see it. She's knows it for her." Funny how big a part of every moment she really TRULY is. All the kids have such an uncanny ability to recognize the things she's missing from.
Well, I've attached a bunch of pictures from our day today- hope you enjoy them!

Ezekiel tramped around in "Fwapa's" boots for like and hour. HILARIOUS!

Fun in the sprinkler!

My tattoo- Ps. 34:18- "The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit."

A mommy and her boy.

Grandma and her girls.

My take on American Idol...

2006-05-25T22:13:00.000-04:00

Well, after commenting on everyone and their brothers blogs about my varied opinions, I thought it only appropriate I should post my thoughts on my own blog. Beware!! I am PASSIONATE (to a fault!) about this,so take it all with a grain of salt. (Or don't...)
First- Taylor. I understand his appeal, but personally, he just grates on my nerves. I don't think his voice was ANYTHING to write home about, especially when compared to talents like Katherine, Mandisa, Paris, etc. etc. I think Kat had BY FAR the best voice, but her camera schmoozing was more than I could stand. Just annoying! I will definately buy her music, though, not Taylor's. Dan and Angie, I'm totally with you on this one!!!
Now my take on the two finale shows. The two new songs were just regrettable. Too awful to believe an actual SONGWRITER attached his/her name to it. I really think it was a true injustice for Kat to have to sing that- it was definately the nail in her coffin! The results show last night was just inexcusable!!! AWFUL, HORRIBLE, I HATED IT! Ok, there, I said it, whew, I feel much better! The whole Clay Aiken schtick had me hiding under my blanket, I mean, REALLY uncomfortable. I truly can't believe he agreed to do it. And what was with Toni Braxton? She is one of my favorite voices, but last night was just plain weird. Was her mic not working? What was she singing? WAS she singing? She was using Taylor for her pole dance and his parents looked about to puke at the end of it. Truly embarassing. If she was trying to revive her career, she just lost my money.
The true highlights were Carrie U., Mary J., and Prince. Carrie was FLAWLESS. She has improved markably since last season; I just loved it! Mary J. has become one of my favorites since I heard some of her latest album- genius! And what can I say... Prince just blows me away! I was entertained from the moment he stepped on to the moment he stepped off. %2

A trip to Frederick Meijer Gardens

2006-05-21T21:57:00.000-04:00

SO sorry for the lapse in posting! The week after Ava's birthday was just hard, so hence, no posting. The week after that our modem was on the fritz, alas, no new posts... And recently, well, what can I say... I'm just totally lazy. So, like I said, sorry!
This afternoon we took a trip to the local Botanical Gardens and Sculpture Park. Some good friends of ours from church were generous enough to buy our family a year's pass for our whole family. What a treat! We had a few hours to kill, so we grabbed the camera and some sweatshirts (MAN was it cold!), and off we went.
They have a pretty amazing children's garden that the kids get a real kick out of (and the adults too). The sculpture park is awe inspiring and it's always fun walking through the inside desert. Really, it was just like a mini vacation and a great time of bonding for our little family. Jason had WAY too much fun (see pictures..) I've also attached a pic of Elijah's two front teeth that are no more. He has this little lisp that just breaks my heart. What a doll.
I'll also mention a bit of news that sis-in-law Kelley was asking me to post. As of July 1st we will be going part time (66%- who comes up with these weird numbers??). So obviously, we will be needing more cash flow. What do do? We haven't found anything for the summer/fall/winter. Please pray we find something viable that won't be a detriment to our family time which is already time challenged. The good news is Jay has some pretty amazing opportunities for the long range. He had a meeting last week with the acquisitions director of Zondervan about writing a book. What you say? Yes, tis true. My little man is a closet genius. The whole thing is pretty crazy and we're not yet sure of all the details but no matter what, he has a pretty big foot in the door and some amazing ideas for the book. He has also been spending quite a bit of time with the Vermilya's (John and Darcy) up in Buckley (Bucktucky!) Michigan. This has lead to an opportunity to join Kingdom Buildings line-up of itinerant speakers. He will take quite a bit of time and training, but it looks like something that could be a dream come true for him. Continue to pray that we would know God's will and continue to seek Him for our decisions in all that lies ahead. We'll keep you posted (or at least I'll try....)Sculpture fountain.
Inside the gardens.
The log cabin.
Jay and Holly
Emmy inside the children's door.

A SERIOUSLY ornery husband....

Ava's 1st Birthday in Heaven

2006-05-05T22:44:00.000-04:00

What to write on a day like today? I can say with all certainty that contrasts have never been sharper than they were tonight. A year ago we were all together at the hospital in Kalamazoo holding a sweet new baby girl. Today we were all together again, but without her. We decided to make her birthday as celebratory as possible; something the kids would always look forward to; a day to remember her life and the joy she brought even if for a short time. As hard as it was to put a smile on my face (I did my crying alone in the car), I think we did the right thing as each moment seemed special and symbolic.
The first thing we did was plant a magnolia tree in my parents front yard that was quickly dubbed "the Ava tree". It was so sweet to see the kids wanting so much to take part in planting her tree. In contrast, I had a quick flash of anger wondering why we were all standing around a tree and not a growing little girl...

We then took a 5 car caravan to the cemetery that was eerily similar to the one we took on Aug. 4th (the day of her memorial service). We all got out of the car and once again commented on how the wind was blowing. It seems that every time we visit her grave, there is a strong wind. I truly believe this is God showing his mercy to Shelly as she always says she feels closer to her when the wind is blowing. We each took a balloon and let them "fly up to Ava". It was just beautiful watching all those balloons rise higher and higher. But as Zeke waved bye-bye to his balloon I just kept feeling like I didn't want to say goodbye to her, even yet. In the pictures below you can also see some of the presents we left for her; a birthday balloon, some flowers from Cindy's garden, a pinwheel from Noah and Zoe...

It was getting pretty chilly with the wind blowing so hard, so we took the cake and ice cream back to my parents house. Shelly had made a sweet little pink cake and each kid took a turn blowing out her one candle. Once again, a sweet symbolic moment tinged with heartbreak that she couldn't blow it out herself. We also sang a rousing rendition of "Happy Birthday" with little Noah singing so loud the veins in his neck looked about ready to burst!
Then it was on to Chuck E. Cheese for dinner. Shelly wanted to do something that would be fun for the kids and she thought it was something Ava probably would've have really enjoyed. When we were walking in to get our hands stamped the worker said, "Anyone here for a birthday?" I just stood there and stammered. "Well, yeah, I mean, no; nevermind." Ugh... These are the moments I really hate. What should've been said, "Yes, we're here celebrating a birthday, but she's not here with us, she's celebrating in heaven...."???? Yeah, that would've gone over well..
All in all, it was as special a night as it possibly could've been. There were so many wonderful special moments....just being all together as a family the best of all. A couple of days ago Shelly and I and a girlfriend of ours sat around and talked about all the sweet things that were Ava Nicole. A sweet contented spirit, a hearty belly laugh already at 2 months, her mesmerizing effect on any and everyone.... These are the things that as time passes, I pray we NEVER forget...
Ps. 34:18 - "The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit."

Just a little quiz

2006-05-01T00:12:00.000-04:00

How well do you know me??

For instance, did you know...

Four jobs I have had in my life:
1. Green pepper farm worker
2. Busgirl at the Goalpost restaurant
3. Tuxedo salesperson
4. Jr. High/High School choir director

Four movies I could watch over and over:

1. How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (love Kate Hudson)
2. Pearl Harbor (Ben Affleck and history rolled into one)
3. The Day After Tomorrow (satisfies my sick fascination with weather).
4. Sister Act 2. (Can anybody say Lauryn Hill?)

Four places I have lived:

1. Grand Rapids MI
2. Allendale, Mi
3. Marion IN
4. Kalamazoo, MI
Four TV shows I love to watch: (not that i havetime to watch them)

1. ALIAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
2. American Idol
3. House
4. Grey's Anatomy
Four books I would recommend:

1. The Bible
2. A Grace Disguised
3. Gone With the Wind
4. Anything James Patterson

Four places I have been on vacation:

1. London, England
2. Edinburgh, Scotland
3. Paris, France
4. Nassau, Bahamas

Four websites I visit daily:

1. Yahoo
2. My blog
3. The Weather Channel
4. Sometimes ebay

Four of my favorite foods: not in any particular order!

1. Starbucks Ice Cream
2. Alaskan King crab
3. Asparagus
4. Pizza!

Four places I would rather be right now:

1.Paris, France
2.San Diego, CA
3. Haworth, England
4. Mackinaw Island

Four things I dislike very much:

1. A mess
2. Being fake
3. Big bangs
4. Being too busy

Jon and Andrea's Big Day

2006-04-24T00:05:00.000-04:00

Well, the weekend was here and gone. What an amazing weekend. It's always so special to see two lives becoming one. It was also just a precious time with all of our family. There were so many memories... Elijah leading little Zeke down the aisle looking so grown up, Emmy dancing like a fool at the reception (no, SERIOUSLY, you've never seen anything like it- she was a dancing QUEEN!), Jason referring to Andrea as "a little brat"-albeit affectionately- during the giving of the rings, Andrea crying like there was no tomorrow during the father-daughter dance, Kelley getting asking to dance by an EXTREMELY handsome man and totally playing it cool.... and the list could go on and on. More than anything it was just a beautiful time for all of us who call ourselves Grates!! Hope you enjoy all the pictures!

Finally a warm day!

2006-03-30T21:31:00.000-05:00

Just some random pics from our afternoon at the park. These were taken at Wilcox Park, one of our favorite Eastown locales. It's right behind Emmy's preschool and is a breeding ground for interesting people and conversation. Jason took an early lunch and met Emmy, Zeke and I for an hour of fun before walking Emmy to school. I know I've said it before, but I'll say it again... I love city life. Maybe someday it's excitement will wear thin, but at the moment I'm finding it endlessly fascinating. So are the kids, thank God!
P.S. To all my American Idol peeps...just wondering if America is totally DEAF!!! Let's see, Katherine, or BUCKY COVINGTON!!! Ohmigosh...does that even make rational sense? I told Amanda (Aspenson) if she was voted off I was officially withdrawing my viewership. Thankfully, America voted off Lisa!!! Any comments?

Beach Bunnies!

2006-03-22T22:58:00.000-05:00

Just a few pictures to share of Shelly and I on our trip to Florida. We had a great time (I guess that's pretty obvious)! Sorry about the size, but I couldn't get them any bigger despite my extensive technology experience...HA!
Had a great night tonight, too. Shelly and I traveled to K-zoo to visit a good friend of ours who had a baby girl yesterday. It was a very special time, but bittersweet, too. It was a bit of a shock when we found out the room they were in was the same Shelly was in with Ava. Despite that, Shelly did great. Their baby is beautiful and we pray for her health and safety each day of her precious little life. After the hospital visit I took Shelly to the Olive Garden for her 29th birthday. We know, a bit unoriginal restaurant choice, but yummy just the same!
I still haven't had a response to that Grey's Anatomy song, yet... My brother Derek is pretty sure it was a Foy Vance song? Any takers???

The Belated Blog

2006-03-19T23:42:00.001-05:00

Stairway and entry
The living room
Another view of the living room
The kitchen(note unfinished cupboards next to new dishwasher)
View of the kitchen from the dinette
The dining room
Windows in dining room - love'em!
The antique curio in dining room
Kids book nook in upstairs hallway

I know, I know, I know... What the heck took so long you ask? Well, just for starters - 3 kids, a busy church plant, a messy house, exhaustion, a 5 day trip to Florida, and a camera with dead batteries. Excuses, excuses...
Things have been good here. Things have taken on a new life at the church. We recently started small groups and it's really bonded everyone in different ways. We also hosted a St. Patrick's Day bowling event at which 60 people showed up. We didn't even have enough lanes rented! Jason did a video sermon tonight that included a tearjerking segment involving Elijah(our oldest). All to say, it is a good season for us crazy church planters.
My sister and I recently returned from a 5 day Florida trip sans children and husbands. My mom and dad bought us tickets to Bradenton where they're staying for the month of March...that's right the WHOLE month. For all of you mothers out there, if you ever get the chance to do something like this, take it and run! Really, it was a great re-charge for my day to day life. All we did is go to the beach and the pool, read books, shop and eat out. (Oh, I forgot to mention the countless hours spent toiling away at a 1000 piece puzzle. I know, I'm 31, not 60. But I can't help it, I love puzzles!!) The craziest moment was in the Cincinatti airport. As I was walking out of the bathroom, Shelly and I were deep in conversation and if not for a quick look in front of me, I would've run smack into Martin Sheen. What you say? Yup, MARTIN SHEEN!!!!! I made a complete fool of myself and started smacking Shelly and saying, "DID YOU SEE THAT?? IT WAS MARTIN SHEEN! HOLY COW!" And so on and so forth. My first celebrity sighting and I didn't even get an autograph. Oh well...
BTW, did anyone see Grey's Anatomy tonight? If so, who was singing the song at the end? It was AMAZING!
Ok, I'll quit rambling and just try and post more often!

SOLD!!!!!SOLD!!!!!!!SOLD!!!!!!!!

2006-02-25T23:15:00.000-05:00

Well, thanks to the prayers of countless thousands, our home in Grand Haven is no longer ours! Thank you Lord! Sorry it took so long to post the good news, but the sale took some bartering and we just signed the offer tonight. We will close sometime before March 31st and be official ONE home owners. Truly, this is a HUGE answer to prayer. Having the two houses has been a weight we were struggling to carry and asking God what he was trying to teach us. Haven't quite figured it out yet, unless all he was trying to teach us was patience! Well, we've learned our lesson! To all of you who've prayed long and hard for us (Spring Lake Wesleyan small groups), thank you and we love you all!!! I still plan on posting some pictures of our new house in the next couple of days, so stay tuned.

A prayer request..

2006-02-23T00:22:00.000-05:00

No, for all those waiting with bated breath for pictures of our new house, this is not one. This is a picture of the living room in our old house in Grand Haven. A house we still own... We're ALSO still official renters of a house in Grand Rapids until March 7. For those of you who can count, that's 3 houses that I am the housekeeper/maid/decorator for. I digress...
For all of you who are time prayers, at 12:30 tomorrow we have a very serious showing at our house in Grand Haven. PLEASE PRAY that it sells. The stress of still owning 2 homes is really getting old, to put it mildly. My mom and dad and my friend Joanna stayed with me until 11:30 in Grand Haven trying to make it look as nice a possible. Thanks guys!
Well, hopefully tomorrow I will post a very happy blog that's title will be HOUSE SOLD!

And what a crazy 2 weeks it's been....

2006-02-20T22:11:00.000-05:00

To all of you who've been pestering me to get with the program, here you go!! To say the VERY least, since my last post, our lives have been a whirlwind. We finally moved into our beautiful new home 2 weeks ago today. Doesn't sound too bad, right? Unfortunately an ill-timed flu virus decided to strike our family at just the right time. As we were moving out, the germs were moving in. Two weeks later and some of us are STILL sick. Has anyone ever tried moving 3 sick children from one house to the other and kept their sanity? YES! Because I did it! (My husband would probably disagree...)
All to say, we LOVE!!!!! our new house. Thanks to my handy dandy dad, most of our projects are done and we feel pretty well moved in. I even felt well enough to throw Emmy a small 5th birthday party. At which she proceeded to kill us all with cuteness, seriously... it was off the charts. Both Jason and I have said we've never felt quite so at home in a house so quickly and loved a house quite so much. It isn't a mansion, but it sure seems to fit our little family perfectly. I will do my best to post some pictures as soon as I can. Knowing my track record with this sort of thing, though, it may be later than sooner...
Thanks to all of you who've been praying for us all to get healthy; we've needed it!
If you're even in town, give us a call and stop in!! We'd love to see you.
Here are a few pictures from the last 2 weeks.....

Our first meal at our new table. This is in our dinette off of the kitchen. It's great!

A sick, tuckered out little Zeke sleeping with Daddy.

Emmy opening presents...

Emmy modeling her new tutu from Mommy...

Can't believe she's turning 5!!

As requested...ADULTS!!

2006-01-27T01:36:00.000-05:00

My good friend Angie Leverence had a valid comment....no pictures of us! (That is..the parents..) As I was scrolling through my ENORMOUS iphoto library, I made an astonishing discovery! Out of roughly 650 pictures, there wasn't ONE to be found of Jason and I!!! So...as we got ready to leave on a rare but much needed date (thank you Rachel, Stephanie and Dave), I grabbed the camera. Not only were we both in the house at the same time, we had both showered and done our hair on the same day!!!! SHOCKER! (Parents of children under 2, are ya feelin' me??) What results is not the best picture ever, but hey, it's a picture! Now that I've been made aware of the egregious lack of any pictures of Jason or I, I will be making the effort to prove to our descendants through photo history that yes, we actually did exist!! (Maybe we can enroll Elijah in a photo taking class?? Ha!)
Also...for those of you who didn't catch the memo, we will be moving; SOON! We are planning to load up the truck next Sat., so needless to say, I AM STRESSED! I have currently packed a whopping 4 boxes, can anyone say,"procrastination??" I am also suffering from a pretty serious spray paint high. This is a new experience for me, a novice furniture renovator. No, seriously, if this whole message seems disjointed, you know why... All this to say, pray for our little family as we journey through yet ANOTHER transition. (Is anyone sick of the caps yet? I am.) Ok, that's all for tonight, need to sleep of the spray paint... Will post again next week after we get settled in our new place!

It's a party!! (duh...)

2006-01-18T02:55:00.000-05:00

We celebrated Ezekiel's 2nd birthday this past weekend here at the house. Just a small affair with mine and Jason's families. (Is 15 people technically considered small? Hmm..) Grandma Grate went a little Thomas the train crazy; Zeke loved every minute of it. I think he might actually be turning into a train.... But really, his "chug-a-chug-a-CHOO CHOO"-ing is just about the cutest thing EVER!
Here are some cute pics from the party.....

Grandma and her little man

Snappy little cake, huh? Nope, I didn't make it (thanks Mom!)

Auntie Andrea

Brothers...

Has the ice cream gone to his head???

THE train.

The new place!

2006-01-12T20:59:00.000-05:00

Yup, after a year of looking, the Grate's have finally found the perfect house!!!! Well....maybe not perfect, but you know what I mean, right? It was a total God thing that we even stumbled upon it. We had been through the house across the street about 5 times(literally) and still weren't sure about it. Our realtor suggested we kill two birds with one stone and check out the house across the street. I was a bit hesitant as there were no pictures on the internet. This always makes me nervous and suggests embarrassing 70's wallpaper and turqoise bathtubs. Well, I was wrong on this one. One step through the front door and I swear I could hear someone singing the "Hallelujah Chorus". Gorgeous hardwood floors, grand oak staircase, adorable kitchen, great backyard, and hey- it's on a cul-de-sac!! What more could a girl want? Four bedrooms would've been the kicker, but beggars can't be choosers...
Just a sidenote, is anyone watching "My Name is Earl?" Major shift in gears, I know, but man is it funny!
Well, hopefully I'll be posting some additional pictures when we move in. Pray that our kids will adjust well to yet ANOTHER transition!

The terrible two's have OFFICIALLY arrived!!

2006-01-06T15:20:00.000-05:00

Well, it's official!! Our precious little Ezekiel (a.k.a. Zeke, Zekey, Zekey boy) has turned 2! As you can tell by the above picture, HE KNOWS IT!! Mommy tried diligently all day to capture the sweetness that is my baby boy, but nope, he would have none of it. Oh well, I guess it's a much more accurate picture of day to day life than a perfectly coiffed, clean, smiling baby. 'Cuz let's be honest, anyone who has spent more than 5 minutes with him knows he's has a horrible case of CND (constant nasal drip!)

This picture is my vain attempt to have him show the world he was 2 (and very, very smart). Didn't quite get it, but you get the idea, right??
On a bit more serious note, (I can't seem to avoid them these days..), it became quite obvious today that I would never see another birthday through the same eyes again. One, I will always wonder at each birthday celebrated what Ava would've been like at that age. Second, I will forever cherish each birthday as more treasured that the last and determine to make every moment count.
Well, at this very late hour, my brain function is not at its utmost and i will sign off now.
P.S. We bought a new house!! Details and pictures to follow on a later blog..

Ava Nicole....

2006-01-02T23:09:00.000-05:00

Just got back from my parent's house. We had a little Ohio State vs. Notre Dame party. Thank God OSU won (Jason would've been pouty 'til next week). As we were all (Josh, Shelly, Noah, Zoe, Mom, Dad, and the Grate clan) standing in the living room popping confetti to celebrate, a sad realization hit. We were making new memories. Memories with 5 kids, not 6. Memories without Ava. Where there should've been the sound of a sweet 7 month old giggle, there was silence.

But, it also occurred to me that we were ALL laughing. I'm sure our laughs will never EVER sound the same, but we were laughing all the same. In our little world that is often full of tears and heartbreak, God sent some welcome laughter. For anyone reading this who has been praying, know that in these moments, some your prayers are being answered.

Just for reference, the above pictures are two of my faves. These were taken at Josh and Shelly's when she was just a few days old. Such proud cousins! Such a beautiful baby.....

The FIRST Grate Update!

2006-01-02T01:53:00.000-05:00

Well.... I've decided to finally join the ranks and start a blog. For those of you who know me really well, you know that the mere thought of writing gives me the hives, breaks me out in a cold sweat, etc., etc... Being the daughter of a quasi-famous author (who really needs to start one of these), I've always felt if I actually wrote something, it should at least seem profound. Well, needless to say, my blog won't be one of those...it will just be a catch me up for all of our friends and family scattered around the globe.
For those of you who don't know, we've recently moved into the Eastown neighborhood in downtown Grand Rapids and are renting a home. (Thanks Moms and Dads). Our home in Grand Haven is currently still for sale at a drop bottom price for those of you who'd like to live by Lake Michigan! My husband and brother-in-law Josh are the pastors at our new church-plant here in GR. You can check out the web-link for more info about it. It has been quite a journey... I know you all know about the heartbreaking loss of our 3 month old niece Ava Nicole, who went home with Jesus this past August 1st. This is no doubt the main reason for this blog. Experiencing such earth shattering tragedy will wake you up and make you look at your life in a completely different way. Because of this I feel the constant need to make every moment special and not to miss a moment with our 3 precious children...
Elijah is 7, Emmy is almost 4 (going on 25), and Ezekiel will be 2 on the sixth of this month. They are all thriving in their new environment; loving their new church and new schools. I'll do my best to post pictures of them here depending how internet savvy I am... Jason is crazy busy with the church plant and having a blast. It's been great to see his dream of an urban church plant finally come to fruition, it has really lit his fire!! He's enjoying preaching every week, getting to know new people, and just generally being an Eastown junkie!
Well, hope this finds all of you well, and hope to seen comments soon!
Holly (Jason is crashed out on the couch next to me underneath his treasured OSU blanket - thanks Derek!)