13 years ago
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Monkey See...
Jake is at the wonderful age where we daily see his mind grow and develop as he strives to figure new things out. He's talking more and more, getting more and more coordinated, and showing evidence of problem solving. He also loves to imitate! While this can be embarrassing at times, say, like when his sisters starting to talk about butts in a restaurant and he yells at the top of his lungs, "butt!" for everyone to hear, it can also be great fun. On Saturday he delighted Mike and I, who were deep in conversation, by trying to get Mike's attention by tickle bombing him! Mike has done tickle bombs with Jake since he was little but this was the first time we've seen him give one. It was hilarious! He put his little arm in the air, made a humming noise, and then nailed Mike in the chest. What a riot! Beyond being incredibly cute and monstrously funny (at least to us) it also gave me great joy to see my little guy problem solving. He knew he wanted Daddy's attention and he figured out a way to get it 100%! The whole episode makes me marvel once again at how amazing childhood is and what a miracle it is when development occurs the way God origionally designed it to be.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Jake's First 3-Word Sentence
Well, in case anyone was wondering, Jake is most definitely a 3rd born child. While in the tub with Abby the two began to have a tug-of-war contest over a rubber Pooh bear toy. After pulling with all his might and getting mighty angry he rattled off his very first three word sentence to Abby, "Dis is mine!" Case closed - a definite third born child!
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
God Works in Mysterious Ways...
These past few days have been an emotional roller coaster for me as I was pulled into memories that had sat idle for many years. I have been continually awed by the events of the last few days.
Last week Saturday my mom mentioned she had seen a notice that an Edward (Bud) Barr, aged 61 had passed away. She saw the announcement at the beginning of the week but had not seen an obituary during the week. As we ate dinner together Saturday night we wondered if this Bud Barr could be the same man who was married to my Aunt Dawn. My Aunt died died 16 years ago and we lost contact with her former husband shortly after that at his request. On Sunday we found the obituary for Bud Barr in the newspaper and discovered that he was indeed her husband.
My aunt died a very sudden and unexpected death. At the time of her passing there was a lot of pain, sorrow, and mistrust among family members. Aunt Dawn never had any children and she treated me and my sisters as if we were her own. When she died there were several things she had told everyone she wanted us to have. Her husband was unwilling to part with any of her things. He refused our requests for old family photos, family heirlooms, or things from her past. This was a particularly difficult thing for our family to accept since my Grandma had also recently passed away and my aunt was in possession of her old photo albums, diaries, and many other belongs from my grandparents and great grandparents. Unfortunately, there really was nothing we could do about it so eventually we gave up thinking about these things and assumed we would never see them again.
After reading the obituary in the paper on Sunday I decided to contact Bud's two daughters to send them my condolences. I also mentioned that if they happened to come across any old family photos while they were sorting through their father's things that I would be delighted to have them rather than them throwing them out. I was overjoyed when one of his daughter's emailed me back and said that she thought she had some things I might be interested in seeing.
This afternoon I talked with his daughter on the phone for over half an hour. It turns out that Bud basically quit living life after my aunt died. He stopped opening his mail, paying bills, cleaning his house, and caring for his own basic needs. His family intervened several times to try to help him but eventually he lost possession of his home and his job. He eventually ended up in a nursing home sick with cancer and very much alone. Over the years he refused to let anyone touch my aunt's things and never moved any of them himself. When he lost possession of his house his daughter saved several of my aunt's things including photographs, wall hangings, jewelry, heirloom teacups, and a ledger from the Ladies Aid Society that my great grandmother was the secretary for with entry dates beginning in 1919. It turns out that several things including my grandmother's diaries and my aunt's doll collection were ruined during flooding. His daughter remembered seeing several items I asked about but had needed to dispose of them due to the water damage.
This evening I picked up 3 boxes full of her things and delivered them to my parents' house. We pored over old pictures, and marveled at the fact that we again had these things in our possession. My mother excitedly looked at all of Aunt Dawn's old recipe cards, Dad laughed at pictures which dated WAY back, and I once again tried on all of her old rings just as I used to do as a child. Those boxes contain so many memories. I cannot thank Michelle (Bud's daughter) enough for what she has done for our family. I can only attribute the fact that she choose to save those things over 6 years ago when Bud lost his house, to God. She did not know us and she did not know how to find us, but in her heart she felt that those things were important. I am so thankful to God that she did.
Last week Saturday my mom mentioned she had seen a notice that an Edward (Bud) Barr, aged 61 had passed away. She saw the announcement at the beginning of the week but had not seen an obituary during the week. As we ate dinner together Saturday night we wondered if this Bud Barr could be the same man who was married to my Aunt Dawn. My Aunt died died 16 years ago and we lost contact with her former husband shortly after that at his request. On Sunday we found the obituary for Bud Barr in the newspaper and discovered that he was indeed her husband.
My aunt died a very sudden and unexpected death. At the time of her passing there was a lot of pain, sorrow, and mistrust among family members. Aunt Dawn never had any children and she treated me and my sisters as if we were her own. When she died there were several things she had told everyone she wanted us to have. Her husband was unwilling to part with any of her things. He refused our requests for old family photos, family heirlooms, or things from her past. This was a particularly difficult thing for our family to accept since my Grandma had also recently passed away and my aunt was in possession of her old photo albums, diaries, and many other belongs from my grandparents and great grandparents. Unfortunately, there really was nothing we could do about it so eventually we gave up thinking about these things and assumed we would never see them again.
After reading the obituary in the paper on Sunday I decided to contact Bud's two daughters to send them my condolences. I also mentioned that if they happened to come across any old family photos while they were sorting through their father's things that I would be delighted to have them rather than them throwing them out. I was overjoyed when one of his daughter's emailed me back and said that she thought she had some things I might be interested in seeing.
This afternoon I talked with his daughter on the phone for over half an hour. It turns out that Bud basically quit living life after my aunt died. He stopped opening his mail, paying bills, cleaning his house, and caring for his own basic needs. His family intervened several times to try to help him but eventually he lost possession of his home and his job. He eventually ended up in a nursing home sick with cancer and very much alone. Over the years he refused to let anyone touch my aunt's things and never moved any of them himself. When he lost possession of his house his daughter saved several of my aunt's things including photographs, wall hangings, jewelry, heirloom teacups, and a ledger from the Ladies Aid Society that my great grandmother was the secretary for with entry dates beginning in 1919. It turns out that several things including my grandmother's diaries and my aunt's doll collection were ruined during flooding. His daughter remembered seeing several items I asked about but had needed to dispose of them due to the water damage.
This evening I picked up 3 boxes full of her things and delivered them to my parents' house. We pored over old pictures, and marveled at the fact that we again had these things in our possession. My mother excitedly looked at all of Aunt Dawn's old recipe cards, Dad laughed at pictures which dated WAY back, and I once again tried on all of her old rings just as I used to do as a child. Those boxes contain so many memories. I cannot thank Michelle (Bud's daughter) enough for what she has done for our family. I can only attribute the fact that she choose to save those things over 6 years ago when Bud lost his house, to God. She did not know us and she did not know how to find us, but in her heart she felt that those things were important. I am so thankful to God that she did.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Photo Request
As seems to be the case recently, we are once again falling behind on our posts so, per Jen's request, below are some fun pictures from our Christmas break... Enjoy! (Above: Mike and Annika goofing off. Below: Abby and Lisa goofing off)
Mom and Dad Dekker with ALL the grandchildren finally in once place! Abby, Clara, Will, Jake, and Annika. Note to Mom and Dad Eriks - we need to take these pictures too, even if the kids are all from the same family!
Those goofy Dekker boys (in one of their non-goofy poses). Greg, Mike, Dan, and Nick. Note to Eriks sisters -- we need to make a point of taking more of these types of pictures too!
Annika is very pleased with her gift from Abby and lets her know by nearly suffocating her with a hug!
Our attempt at a picture of all three kids in front of the tree before we opened presents. At least in this one Jake isn't crying! He didn't think this was such a great idea.
Jake tries out my large drink bucket -- looks like it will work just fine for swimming or for cooling drinks!
Mike celebrates getting beer for Christmas. By the end of all the parties he had received 39 bottles of beer in all. That should hold him for a least a little bit!
Abby tries out her new gloves from Grandma and Grandpa Eriks. They look like keepers to me!
We were so blessed this holiday season to be surrounded by those we love. Although it was busy and wore us all out we are thankful to be in a situation where we get worn out -- it is evidence of the many blessings in our lives! We are preparing now to start school and routines again tomorrow. We are looking forward to what 2009 will bring and hope that it is filled with family, friends, love, smiles, and laughter!
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