The VanDuinens come to Fredericton

We were blessed to have lots of visitors this summer. Jabin, Tianna and Asher couldn't wait to have their cousins Claire, David and Jacob visit them from Holland, Michigan. We had a great week doing all sorts of things together... visiting the science center, the aquarium, doing a hike, building sand castles, biking and lots more. Thanks so much for making the long trek Van Duinens!

Our first triathalon

We decided to try a triathalon thi summer in Northern New Brunswick. It was fun training for this new sport and trying to get better at swimming. We brought Kieran, our babysitter with us and camped at a nearby campground. Unfortunately we had white caps in the ocean and lots of wind and rain but we had a great time doing the whole race together and look forward to another one next summer.

From Jasper to Banff

From mountain sheep to Asher taking his first steps, to snow in the morning to baths in the dish tub or cooler... it was a vacation to remember. The memories get even better now that we are at home and in clean clothes (We ran out of pants, pajamas and underwear for the kids. Oopps!)

Heaven has begun

Heaven is not the end of the world. It has already begun today. Our God is a majestic God and all of us were humbled, awed and inspired by the mountains, the rivers, the glaciers and the bears. We left Banff and Jasper so thankful for this beautiful country we get to live in.

The Oompa Loompa

Everyday we biked about 50-60 km everyday. The weather was fantastic and we didn't have any rain. The kids named the motorhome "the Oompa Loompa" (after the creatures in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory). Some of the time the kids would come in the bike trailer and enjoy the fresh mountain air. For the most part they loved the attention of the two rotating drivers of the Oompa Loompa. It was amazing how we crowded 14 people's stuff into that house on wheels.

Zuidhof Bike Fest

What an amazing trip we were blessed to do as a family. We loved hanging out with the whole Zuidhof gang and spent many good quality hours together biking through the mountains. Looking back at the photos, it seems like a dream. We have such great memories.

Getting ready for the bike trip

We're getting ready for our Zuidhof family bike trip from Jasper to Banff. We're enjoying having a swim every day in preparation of not having showers for a week.

A weekend at Applepoint

We organized a surprise cottage weekend for our friend Lori for her birthday. Despite three days of rain, it was great fun to be together. We went to the aquarium in St Andrews to check out the ocean life.

The Empty Nest

It was just one of those moments in life where you stop and think. A sacred moment that lets you glimpse into a larger perspective than daily living. Jabin and I had one of these moments together. For three weeks now we've all grown very attached to our five little birds. They greet us with their morning songs at 5am each morning. We say good morning and good night to them. We've constructed a contraption to protect them from the cats in the neighbourhood and even got up at 2am to sprinkle cajun pepper around their nest to ward off any enemies. We've loved watching them grow.

Jabin and I saw the first bird (I think it was Cutie) fly out of the nest for the first time. Just like that. He felt the need and went. And he did well... he flew to the burning bush and then to the tall maple behind it. We clapped and cheered him on. Within a few days all of the birds were gone. Now we just see the empty nest. We miss those birds.

I wonder what it is like to see your kids fly for the first time, to have an empty nest? I can only imagine the joy of seeing all your hard work in the confidence of their flight yet also the feeling in your heart when you miss them.

Our Purple finch nest - a beautiful drama of hatching to the empty nest - thankfully it doesn't go this fast with kids.

Asher

Happy Birthday big guy!

Birthday buds

Gord and Sue and Megan came over for a birthday barbeque. Our friend Gord shares a birthday with Asher. Easy planning... same time, same place next year.

Asher Cracker turns one!

A year ago God gave us a beautiful boy named Asher. We can't imagine our lives without this blond haired, blue eyed, double dimpled beauty. We had Grammie and Grandpy over for cake and they gave Asher "Dobbin"... a rocky horse that they restored from their kids.

We went canoeing for the afternoon and had a picnic supper on an island. Thank you God for Asher.

Soccer time

For the past three weeks Jabin and Tianna have been talking about their soccer careers... what colour shirt they are going to wear, what their team name will be and what the snacks might at half time. Their dream came true on Monday night as they joined the Catfish team. Jabin was thrilled to teach Tianna how to put on shin pads and Dad's dress socks over top to keep them tight. Asher wants to be right in there too... chasing down the balls as he scoots along.

Happenings around the house

Never a dull moment around here. One day, in a total of 15 minutes, Asher got into a container of diaper cream, then smashed a light bulb on the tile floor and then knocked over a vase of tulips. He continues to bring a trail of destruction behind him where ever he goes.

We also have a beautiful Purple Finch nest on our deck. We got to watch the five little birds hatch out of their eggs and everyday we take a photo of them. Their names are: tweet, sweet, cutie, fruitie and betuitie. God is an incredible God.

Aron has been putting in many hours fixing up the backyard. Last week he put in over 30 enormous rocks to encircle our gardens. It looks beautiful.

Cape Breton Relay Team

With 16 other women from Fredericton, Sarah ran the Cabot trail relay on the Fredericton Female Fatales team... a 26 hour relay race through the rugged mountains of Cape Breton. It was an amazing experience, especially running up Mt Smokey...22 km of incredible ups and downs and cheering on the night legs from 11pm-6am. The stars were magnificient.

Danish family to visit

We had a family from Denmark stay with us for three days through the Servas program. Jabin, Tianna and Asher loved having 2 more kids around. They have been travelling for more than 11 months in a motorhome across Canada and the US. Truly inspiring!

Bathtub beauties

Bathin' Buds

Time in the bath always turns into tons of water on the floor, splashing and squishing each other. Asher knows how to use his elbow to make sure he has enough room to bathe.

splash n boots come over!

We were so honoured to have Splash n Boots stay with us again and perform at the fredkid FAIR. Jabin and Tianna were in their glory and have memorized three of their CDs. As soon as they left, Jabin and Tianna started playing "Nick and Taes" instead of "Aron and Sarah." This week they have been acting out concerts at least once a day, with moves that they learned from watching three of their concerts in four days. After their third concert Tianna said, "Just one more concert Mom."

We all did the Fredericton Half Marathon together... a huge accomplishment for Aron, Nick and Taes as they all did very poor training. amazing work blue team! Next time... a full marathon, right Splash?!

fredkid FAIR

Our home life was crazy during the week of the FAIR. But the crowds came and the 3rd Annual fredkid FAIR raised enough to keep the non profit organization running for the entire year. Yipee! What an answer to prayer.

Highlights of the FAIR included: NB's largest indoor sandbox, the mighty machine area, the Main Stage performances and the Rock Band Station. What a learning curve it has been to organize events for over 5,000 people!

Two days after the FAIR Jabin asked, "Can we have the fredkid FAIR again today?" I simply smiled.

sjkid FAIR a huge success

The 1st Annual sjkid FAIR happened on May 2 in Saint John, NB (www.sjkid.com/fair) It went really well with over 4,000 people attending. We spent the weekend in Saint John and our friends Lori and Tony and kids joined us. It felt so good to have one fair down and only one more to go!

Asher the Cruiser

Asher, our very laid back baby has become a mountain of work overnight. Now that he is cruising.... he gets into everything. Today it was the compost, the leaf pile, the can cupboard and the craft drawer. Yesterday in one minute he had smashed a can of capers and was eating them one by one until I knew it was too quiet to be good. Jabin and Tianna are vigorously trying to protect their lego and play money. But he is such a snuggly package of 23lbs that all we want to do is hug him.

Boston

Being part of the Boston Marathon was another tremendous gift. I never expected the experience to be so emotional. I didn't have my best race and experienced very bad leg cramps at km 30. But it was an experience that changed me. I cried two times during the race..... once when I passed 30 wheelchairs lined up alongside the road and realized just how much each of them would love to be able to run and walk and also when I saw my family and my parents (who surprised me) among the thousands and thousands of spectators cheering so proudly. There wasn't one stretch of the road that didn't have spectators along it. On some spots you could hear the roar of cheering ahead before running up the hill.

Thank you Mom and Dad for doing that long, long drive in the middle of a busy school year and to Aron... my incredible team mate and support who gave me a piggy back ride around Boston afterwards when I could hardly walk!

Tianna's 3rd birthday

Tianna had a flower power birthday with 6 friends. We made flower crafts, everyone decorated a flower petal of the cake and we pinned the flower on a life size Tianna. She loved her special day.

Tianna continues to bring us much joy. She is her own person and a beautiful one at that.

Super NANA!!

What a gift Mom Zuidhof gave us. She spent 8 days with our kids while we were away. An amazing woman indeed and the kids loved going to the Playhouse with her and to all the outings to Chapters.

Thank you Mom for everything you did for Jabin, Tianna and Asher. They certainly had Nana withdrawl for many days afterwards.

Baby Noah... the cutest newest cousin!

God's timing is amazing.... while at a layover in Toronto, coming home from Costa Rica, we heard the news that Noah Jacob Vriend had arrived three weeks early to my brother Joel and his wife Carolyn. I was able to delay my flight and come and see this beautiful new baby. It was a highlight of the trip. Carolyn is a trooper... having an unexpected home birth and looking amazing the next day. They are both wonderful parents.

In keeping with our tradition, we all went out for a gourmet breakfast the next morning in Noah's honour. We can't wait to get to know this little man.

Time with the sibs

How cool it was (actually scorching hot!) to hang out in Costa Rica with Deb and Jon (from Michigan), Pete (from Czech Republic) and Dan and Paul (from BC). We surfed, snorkelled, kayaked and ate great food. 3 short but packed days... what a gift...let's do it again!

This world is so amazing

It's so good to get out of North America to realize the most of the world does not live like we do. Life is so simple for so many in Costa Rica... we loved meeting the locals and learning about this culture. We return refreshed and with a new perspective on life, wealth, family, marriage and our global responsibility.

Costa Rica!!

What a gift... a week in Costa Rica without any kids. We spent four days just the two of us driving to as many remote villages as we could find. What a gorgeous part of the world... diverse, eco-friendly, hospitable. We loved it all... the coast, the mountains and the cloud forests.

Tea party with 2 special birthday girls

Shiela White, our adopted Grammie has a birthday a day before Tianna. We celebrated with a fancy tea party at the chocolaterie outside Fredericton. Grammie brought another Red Hat friend and Tianna brought Jabin. When I asked Jabin how he would dress up for this fancy party. He stated, "I want to be a zebra!" I tried to explain that a shirt and tie might be a better fit and then he remarked, "Okay.... I could be a tiger maybe." Grammie is a very special person in our life and we're very thankful God crossed our paths.