2015 Christmas Card

Merry Christmas 2015

Here we are reflecting on another year and we are excited to say we survived it!!! We have had a very calm, low key, year and for that we are very grateful. Life has been good to us and we hope it has been good to all of you.

To update those we don’t get to see nearly enough we are still in Washington and starting to feel more and more settled. We have enjoyed our last two years being back in the state and it has been a blessing to live so much closer to family and friends.

Paul continues to work at Audi Bellevue as a technician. He has worked very hard to maintain his ever growing training schedule and is always learning new ways to better maintain his cars. We are still learning to adjust to his work schedule and often get to enjoy him home during the week on his days off. We find that with his schedule we can sneak away for fun family activities and have been able to spend more time hiking and driving through our beautiful state than we have been able to in years past. We are excited for all the places we get to explore together next year.  

Cheris has kept busy juggling the many schedules the kids keep. She also worked hard to complete her long term goal of reading 50 books this year and has a lot of fun reaching outside of her normal scope, looking into new authors and subject topics.

Riann is a busy 2^nd grader and also enjoys reading. She has a great time playing with friends and is an amazing big sister. She loves to dance and perform. She is constantly planning “shows” and recruits her siblings and cousins almost every family dinner, or lazy evening, to entertain us with original songs and performances she has made up just for that evening.

Colby is enjoying FINALLY being a preschooler. He has had a lot of fun in his new class and enjoys going to school every day. The only thing he’s missing right now is being able to ride the bus to school and cannot wait for next year when he can finally do that with Riann. Colby is our tech savvy little guy and loves showing mom and dad all of the new apps he has somehow managed to download onto the family tablet. He is our kind heart and loves to cuddle and make sure everyone is taken care of.

Roslyn is enjoying life as the baby of the family and is as sassy as ever. She loves attending her “school” at the gym and loves playing with all of her friends every week. She keeps her mom in check and make sure she makes it for her work out every morning possible. Roslyn’s favorite activities are to read, talk and play outside. There is not a day that goes by where she doesn’t long to be outside riding bikes or coloring with sidewalk chalk. She’s probably had the hardest time adjusting to our new winter weather as it keeps her inside MUCH more than she would like. She is also our little fashion diva and puts a lot of thoughtful effort into every single layer she dresses herself in each day. She’s a joy to walk with in public (no sarcasm intended there, it’s honestly the highlight of her mother’s day). 

We are so grateful for the blessings we have seen administered to us this last year and we are so grateful to have all of you in our lives. May you also experience many blessings from the Lord and feel His presence in your life. We are grateful once again to focus on the Savior and remember what His birth has given us. Thank you, each and every one of you, for being our family and friends and for loving us.

 With all our love this holiday season,   

           

 
                                  The Vreeken Family - Paul, Cheris, Riann, Colby and Roslyn Vreeken

I want to talk about this kid for a minute...

For a long while now I have been sad because when people talk to me about my sweet Colby I often only hear "negative" things about him. Most of it was being said in what others thought was a "positive" or "helpful" tone but often it left me feeling like I have been failing him as a parent. Knowing full well what kind of energy he has and that he has a harder time expressing himself, I was getting feed back about his traits and it was hard to constantly hear others point this out to me as if it was a bad thing. However, even on his worst days this kid is one of the brightest lights in my life. He is strong both mentally and physically. He is sweet and kind. He is helpful, even if it sometimes takes some extra motivation. He is funny. And his laugh, OH his laugh!!! It changes the world!!! Today he went in for testing to see if he qualified for the Child Find program through our local school district and it was a wonderful experience to watch. This was our second time having him tested and this time all of the other families seeking testing too canceled before our test time so it was just us in the room. It gave the teachers the chance to focus 100% on him and he did a fantastic job. He had fun, he was happy, he asked questions, he was polite, all without any promoting from me. He was allowed to be 100% himself and he was brilliant. As the teachers talked to me after each test rotation they genuinely complimented him over and over and over again saying things I know about him but don't often hear from others. The comment that almost brought me to tears today was when one of the teachers told me "he is smart, SO smart!" I think that is one of the first times someone has said that to me out loud. I've known it forever because I see first hand how he processes and thinks things through and I have been proud of every single accomplishment he has ever made. However when people talk to me about my children I usually only hear that phrase in conjunction to his sisters. And even though he is quirky and stubborn and sometimes speaks as if he's trying to talk to you at a rock concert, he is my boy. My son. I love him with all my heart and I am so proud of him and how strong and bright and SMART he is. I love you Colby man. I LOVE YOU!!

IX-XI: Never Forget

This is from a trip I was able to take in middle school. I think we're sitting at the Statue of Liberty "looking back" at New York. This was my one and only experience with the Twin Towers. As it is with many of you, 9/11 is a day that that will always stay with me, however my initial experience with that day is probably a little different. I was blocked from almost all media and it wasn't until I came home from school late that afternoon that I saw what was really going on. I was in the dark at the beginning and a lot was lost on me at first because of that. I got bits and pieces of what had happened throughout the day but never really understood the magnitude of what our nation was dealing with. I never saw the events in real time, just edited reports of what had occurred. It wasn't until later that I grasped the reality of what had happened and what it really meant. It seemed unreal as I finally saw the images and listened to the reports which were no longer questions about what was going on but were the first pieces of the puzzle already coming together. It wasn't as much a question of who and why but a matter of what do we do now? It was a turning point in my life because I saw what our nation was capable of. I saw millions of people come together, those in the middle of it and those who could only help from afar, in ways that impressed me deep down to my soul. I finally saw a flag on every door step and I saw those around me finally understand what it means to be a part of this country. I watched my teachers explain with raw emotion their feelings, their anger, for what had happened and their hope for what we could all become. It was a reminder to me that we are blessed and that this nation is truly a land given to us by God. It was the first time I realized there are people who will fight to the ends of the earth to take away what we have been given. It blossomed a deep sense of pride and really made me understand what it means to be an American. I love my home. I love my country. I am proud to be apart of this nation. I am proud to be an American. 

I will never forget. 

Granny and Papa's 60th Anniversary Book

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Still trying to work out the kinks

Well we ordered a new keyboard for our laptop and it worked for about a month and then we lost access to a bunch of keys and it's not working now. I've now downloaded the app on my phone and hope I can write from here and then add pictures from the computer. It's a lot of steps but hopefully that'll work better than not updating at all. We'll see how it goes. Just hope that doing it this way doesn't equal a ton of typos/autocorrects along the way. 

PS. I got my books and they turned out great!! Our last one is going to be given out tomorrow and I can't wait to see my dad's reaction. Now I just need to start prepping for next years book and get the early years of our blog switched over!!! Gotta get working!!

Excited, scared and super anxious!!

I just ordered by first book from Shutterfly and I'm SOOOO nervous. They gave me a link to the book and I thought I would try to link it here so others can see. This is our 2013 book, it was supposed to be a Christmas present but I under estimated how long it would take me to complete it. I hope they all still like it, even though it's so late. I hope the book turns out. I've loved so many that I've seen from other people and have wanted to do one of my own for a long time. I'm just too picky and have been really concerned it wouldn't turn out. If I like it I hope I'll get motivated and get my blog books set up!! I really want to get those printed soon. EEK!!! I'm excited!!

If you can view the link, let me know what you think!!

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Update!!

Soooo we sent out our Christmas cards and asked everyone to come look at our blog because we were excited to get it updated and then we have had issues with our computer keyboard and haven't been able to update at all. I think we're slowly working out the kinks, as I'm able to do a post now, so hopefully I'll get some time today to get some new posts up and get some computer work done. Thank you for being patient with us everyone!!!

Cheris