"My Next Thirty Years"

Its official, Tim McGraw's words have come true in our small household! We celebrated Chris' birthday all weekend long. Saturday he got to watch football all day and then we headed to Hoboken for more football and dinner at Bonefish with our friends Jeff & Cindy. After dinner there was a little more football - big surprise! Then we spent the night in Jeff & Cindy's guest room with a spectacular view of Manhattan. Sunday morning we had breakfast all together and then we headed back to Hawthorne for church. After church we had lunch at Dave & Rebecca Schuits and then came home to our community group to celebrate yet again. There was plenty of cake and candles to last the NEXT THIRTY YEARS!

I think Ill take a moment, celebrate my age
The ending of an era and the turning of a page
Now its time to focus in on where I go from here
Lord have mercy on my next thirty years

Hey my next thirty years I'm gonna have some fun
Try to forget about all the crazy things Ive done
Maybe now Ive conquered all my adolescent fears
And Ill do it better in my next thirty years

My next thirty years I'm gonna settle all the scores
Cry a little less, laugh a little more
Find a world of happiness without the hate and fear
Figure out just what I'm doing here
In my next thirty years

Oh my next thirty years, I'm gonna watch my weight
Eat a few more salads and not stay up so late
Drink a little lemonade and not so many beers
Maybe Ill remember my next thirty years

My next thirty years will be the best years of my life
Raise a little family and hang out with my wife
Spend precious moments with the ones that I hold dear
Make up for lost time here, in my next thirty years
In my next thirty years









HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

JAMAICA - Sandals Negril

Hard to believe last week we were basking in the Jamaican sun & tonight we are in NJ and the temperature is expected to be in the 30's. At least I still have a TAN - well sort of :)

In just a few days Chris will officially be thirty! So to celebrate this milestone we spent last week in Negril Jamaica at the Sandals Resort with our friends Matt & Nicole.

SIDENOTE: Chris and Matt actually met as infants in the hospital, they share the same birthday. Matt's mom Dee & Chris' mom Diana met in their birthing class and developed a friendship. Not long after they met again at the hospital - this time both were in labor! Matt was a week late & Chris a week early - both arrived on October 12, 1978.

It was such a wonderful VACATION! We slept late, we ate fancy meals, we toured the jungle on a river and on a rope! We took way to many pictures, but there was so much to see. We even made a few friends along the way. It was really fun to just play for a week! I think all of us wish we were still there :) Take a peek into our Jamaican vacation....

Video 1 - Chris' jamaican TOOTSIE ROLL!



Video 2 - Canopy Tour. Riding a zip line at 250 feet high through the Jamaican jungle.



PICTURE TIME....

Promised Land?

Have you ever been to the Promised Land? Who knew it was in Pennsylvania!

This weekend we spent some quality time with our young marrieds group at church camping. We drove out to none other than PROMISED LAND STATE PARK in PA. It was a short drive to paradise (or a form of paradise). We borrowed a tent, because we are not regular campers. However we actually ended up sharing a tent with our friends Bob & Sara because the ground was so rocky we could not put both tents up. Thank goodness Bob & Sara have a large tent - we actually had our own private room :) Friday night was REALLY cold and we basically didn't sleep at all, fun times! So Saturday night we took things into our own hands & took some Tylenol PM prior to hitting the sleeping bag. Let's just say we won't go camping again without it :) There was lots of smores eating & volleyball playing - I enjoyed a restful afternoon reading. It was wonderful! Perhaps we have started a new tradition.

Bill & DeeDee

The best part of living near NYC is that we have had the opportunity to see many friends while they were here on vacation. Yesterday was the perfect example. It has been forever since I saw Bill and DeeDee last. We were so thrilled that they could make time in their schedule to meet us at Virgil's for dinner! It was wonderful for them to actually meet Chris and to just catch up on everything. We can't wait to plan our trip to Brussels to see them in the next few years. We love you both very much!

Labor Day

We have officially survived our first year in NJ! This time last year we first experienced the Jersey Shore - I guess you could say that is now a Labor Day tradition for us because we did it again this year and it was wonderful! We also did several other fun things this past weekend. Chris' Aunt Debbie and Uncle John arrived last Thursday and stayed until Tuesday. On Friday we had breakfast in Ridgewood (or some of us did, I actually was at the salon getting all my hair cut off!), then we headed to the Natural History Museum in NYC to see Cosmis Collisions. It was a great museum. Saturday we had lunch in Ramsey at Brady's, then we ran by Abma's farm. Chris preached at church that evening and then we went to Nellie's for dinner with some more friends. Sunday we had tickets to the Yankee game, they lost but we enjoyed the festivities. It is the last year at the old stadium so we are glad we got to be apart of a game there. Monday morning we headed for the shore. We spent the day relaxing and watching others play around the rip current. Chris braved it for a short bit - mostly we just relaxed. I love the beach! The weather was beautiful all weekend.

Legacy of Love - Fletcher Quay Hodge

A few weeks ago my grandfather passed away. He was an amazing husband, father, grandfather,& great-grandfather. We had a wonderful celebration of his life and were able to share with friends and family just how loved he was by all. My cousin put together a video that really captures his life and his Legacy of Love.

To watch the video copy and paste this link into your browser:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YojENHf0P4k








Just a few memories....

We lived just a few blocks from he and my Granny growing up so we were able to spend many hours and many nights at their house. He had a blue pick up that I thought was so cool - we would walk to their house and he would drive us home in the back of the pick up. Grandad loved orange slices! He and Granny had the most beautiful backyard and garden. It seemed that their roses were always in bloom. They always had a special cabinet full of snacks. I remember many Christmas Eve's in their living room & decorating the tree a few weeks before. Grandad was a hard worker. When we were young he would come and help my mom around the house - he also would mow the lawn and do yard work. He could not get enough of his kids and grandkids. He always wanted us to sit in his lap or to ride the horse on his leg. I was thrilled a few years ago when he was able to meet Chris and to really get to know him. He could never be replaced. Most importantly he loved the Lord and all who knew him knew that. He was a special man of God.

We know that he is celebrating today in Jesus' arms!

ROME

We are back to reality after a wonderful vacation in Rome, Italy! It was an amazing trip. We saw all the major sights and all the little stuff in between. The pictures really tell the best story....so enjoy the show!