Camp Tamarack 2009

Just a few photos from this Camp Tamarack 2009. I'm sure there will be more to come!

Friends! Sarah K, Sarah L, Lydia, Kara, Esther, myself, and Naomi

Hope and Nobleton Young Peoples

Hope Reformed Young People's Board 2008-2009 - Ben, Brad, Andrew, myself, and Tim

Hope Reformed Young People's Front - Katie, Sarah, Elizabeth, myself, Louise, Sarah, Michele. Middle - Zi Jin, Ben, Matt, Richard, Josh, Jon. Back - Andrew, Brad, Tim

Jess and I

Katelynn and I

Michele and I

Caitlin (with her newly drawn on glasses with permanent marker), Sarah and I

Brittany and I

Camp Tamarack 2009 Speakers - Rev. Greg Bylsma, Mrs. Charity Bylsma, Rev. Al Bezuyen, Mrs. Mary VanOlst, Rev. Henry VanOlst

Team 3!!!

YPS board again

and again.

Brandon Alexander

These are some photos of the newest addition to the family! Brandon Alexander, was born on May 25, 2009. As always, no particular order :)

Looking Back

Here's a few photos from my trip with Desiree, to Mexico from April 17-24. They aren't in any particular order, but enjoy!!

Ok. So, like I promised, it hasn't been a whole year this time! Only a few months. ;)
So, since I last posted my niece, Alisa celebrated her first birthday on April 8, Mike celebrated his birthday on March 7, Mike and Theresa celebrated their 2nd anniversary on March 10, Robin and Jackie celebrated their 5th anniversary (how time flies) on May 1 and Brad celebrated his birthday on May 12! Melissa will be celebrating her birthday on June 18, and Doug and Melissa will be celebrating their 5th anniversary (again, how time flies!) on July 1. Also my sister Jackie and her husband, Robin had their second child! A boy named Brandon Alexander Singh born on May 25, 2009 at 5:00pm! What a little cutie! He looks so much like Anjali when she was born! Anjali likes her brother and enjoys being a big sister!
I tore a ligament a little while back (Almost a month ago now) and the doctor said it would take 6-8 weeks to heal, and 3-4 months before I'm completely back to normal (as if I ever was! heh!). It's definitely still a little sore, especially since I haven't been wearing my tensor bandage, and I've been walking on it a lot more. Stairs can also be difficult because of the bending motion that takes place going up and down. I'm on the mend, but I feel it's still going to take a little while! I shall remain patient, and not put too much strain on it!
Registration for Camp Tamarack opened last night at 8pm, and was full by today around 6:42:09 (according to Brad anyways). How quick that is! That's the fastest camp has ever filled. We were so worried that perhaps people wouldn't want to commit to camp because of the huge cost increase, and like my brother has said, "God answered our prayers overwhelmingly!" What a blessing it is to be a part of such a fantastic and truly awesome thing! Even though it takes a lot of work, and we make plans and arrangements all year round, we truly enjoy every minute of it. Once we get to camp and see all the plans we've made put into place, and everyone benefiting from it, we couldn't be happier! I will be heading up Registration and Hospitality this year, which is no big deal, I've done it enough in the past that I should be fine! I'm also on the Opening Games committee, and Sarah and I are leading a workshop together! I can't wait! And we must not forget those people who first organized Tamarack, who laid down alot of the ground work and all the people who have contributed so much to the many years we have been running camp! What a blessing it is!
We just had elections a few days ago, for the upcoming young people's year starting in September with the results President: Brad, V.P.: Andrew, Sec.: Louise, A.C.: myself and Aaron. I think it's going to be an interesting year!
I'm also really excited to be going back to school this fall! I'm so pumped that I've actually figured out what I want to go for! It's taken me a long time, and even though people told me I'ld never go back, I am, and I'm going to enjoy it to the fullest, and do my best at it for God's glory!
This Saturday, my friend, Dorothy Koerssen and her fiance Dan Schuit are getting married! Yay! I'm sure she's ready for the big day, and I pray they will be blessed in their marriage for many years to come!
Hymnsings have started up again and I made it out to the second one that was held last Friday. They will be held every Friday or Saturday for the summer. Anyone who wants to come is welcome to, old or young ;) I'm so happy to see some of my friends that I don't get to see too often! Even though some of them can be quite hyper and um, shall I say loud at times! :D
And now it's time to gear up for summer, and camp! I pray that the summer will go smoothly and that it may be a time of fun, fellowship and growth in my walk with the Lord!

Until later (again, I promise it won't be too long!)

A WHOLE YEAR?!?!

So, I shall see it yet again... it has been absolutely ages since my last post! Over a year in fact! I can hardly believe a year has gone by so fast! So, what have I been doing in the last year? Well, alot actually.
Family - My niece, Alisa Faith was born on April 8 of last year (She's almost a year old already!). She is absolutely adorable and she changes every time I see her! I think she looks a bit like her older brother Jesse, who turns 3 today! Jesse always keeps us laughing! Doug and Melissa moved down to Grimsby and their whole family is doing really well! They will also be celebrating their 5th wedding anniversary this coming July.
- Theresa finished off her 2nd(I think?) year at Heritage and decided to take the year off from teaching! Mike is still working for Timbr-Mart and does some other jobs on the side. They are both doing well and will be celebrating their 2nd wedding anniversary in just a few days!
- My niece Anjali, just celebrated her 2nd birthday on Feb. 13, 2009 (along with Dad whose birthday is on Feb. 10) She's quite the character and as we like to say she has very "shifty eyes". She is soon to be an older sister, as Robin and Jackie await the arrival of baby #2 in late May. They are also doing well and will be celebrating their 5th wedding anniversary in early May.
- Brad... well, what can I say about Brad! lol He's my older brother, and we spend tons of time driving to and from young peoples and conferences and other events that keep both of our lives jam packed with things to do. He is currently working at CEVA Freight Canada Corp. doing Network Support, but mostly doing programming. He is also in part-time school at the University of Toronto at the Mississauga Campus finishing off his last two years there. He is the president of our young peoples and what a great leader he is! It was his first time being "The Boss" at Tamarack last year and he did a stupendous job! Plans are well underway for this years Camp. We have our speakers lined up (Bylsma, Bezuyen and VanOlst) and have been working on theme and chaps. We will soon be meeting to split up into our committee groups!!! I'm already looking forward to the upcoming year!
- Mom is currently working for CEVA Freight Canada Corp as well, doing the auditing and data entry of Broker Payroll. (She enters all the pickups and deliveries that the truck drivers do, which is how they get paid) She has also been doing some A/P stuff as well. Dad is still working for Timbr-Mart as a Buyer.. (I'm not sure of his official title, I think it changes alot) They recently moved buildings and are trying to settle in at their new one. He keeps busy and does work from home, or is in meetings, or away on business. Not saying he's never home! All I'm saying is he works hard :D (Thanks Dad!)
- And finally me. I was voted on as Secretary for Young People's at the beginning of last summer, and I officially took over the position mid-summer. It keeps me busy, but I really do enjoy it! (even though it can be quite interesting being the only girl on the board. eek! :) Of course, there was another year of Tamarack which was amazing as always! I met lots of new people, and I took on more responsibilty this past year. Up until a few weeks ago, I was working at CEVA Freight Canada Corp, with my mom and brother Brad. in the mailroom and as a receptionist.My contract expired on Feb. 20, 2009 and they did not have the ability to renew it as there is a hire freeze on for all of 2009! Some good news is, I had just applied to go back to school a few weeks before my contract ended! Hopefully I'll get in and can find a summer job somewhere. I haven't really looked a whole ton yet, as it's been nice to catch up on some things. I recently (last night) just joined a Concert Band where I play French Horn and I am planning on joining a Choir on Monday! I absolutely LOVE music, and although I'm not the best at it, it's something I really enjoy! I also recently took a cake decorating class and I enjoy making yummy cakes for birthdays or young peoples or other occasions. I also just booked a vacation to MEXICO! I'm planning on going with my best friend Desiree, who I miss so dearly, and I'm truly grateful that we've remained friends all these years! And a big part of that was our parents who used to drive us back and forth to each others houses for sleepovers and visits! Now, we can drive ourselves (well she can, I'm working on it, getting there :) and she recently took a trip up here and spent a weekend here. We went downtown Toronto, took the subway down, took a trip up the CN Tower, went to the Eaton Centre for some shopping, and we went to see the Sound of Music! We were both amazed at the sets and how beautiful and intricate they were, and they so flawlessly moved then and integrated them into the show! The singing was also really well done! A wonderful trip I will never forget! I'm sure our trip to Mexico will also be memorable and I'm looking forward to it can't wait to go with you, as we've been trying to plan a trip for a verryyy looonnnggg time! I think we've been talking about it since before we were done highschool! Perhaps not with the idea of Mexico in mind, but we knew we wanted to do something! Me and Jackie also took a day trip to Stratford (as my birthday present) and we went to the Music Man! It was also soooo awesome! It was my first real theatre experience and again, one I will never forget! The singing was awesome, the sets were awesome, everything was awesome! And Jackie, no worries about the indecisiveness about dinner! We walked around looking for somewhere to eat, and as she says there wasn't as much choice like she was hoping there would be. We passed a few places and said no. Well, we passed many places and after looking around we decided to try an Indian place however they would only take reservations. We ended up going back to one of the ones we said no to, but the pasta still tasted great! Pasta, after all, is one of my favourite things to eat! Recently, I've been at home, catching up on a few things, and I'm beginning to get everything straightened out! Some things still need some work, but alas, I must find a new job soon!

-Until later (I promise it won't be any entire year before I write again....I hope!)

Update

So, as always, it's been ages since my last post. I've been really busy this year, with work and young people's. So just to update, I've been keeping busy with work, as I'm not in school right, I'm working full time these days, at Ceva Logisitics. My mom and my brother work there as well. All it consists of is, opening mail, and sending out the outgoing mail, and reception. (to sum it up briefly). Since my last post, alot has happened, as I'm sure you could imagine, since it's been a number of months. I went to another week of Tamarack, young people's started up again, this year with me as a member of the board, on the activity committee. I've been busy planning things all year, actually, probably the biggest thing I've planned was this past Friday night. It was a church spaghetti dinner, hosted by the young peoples. And even though the weather was bad and I was stressed out at the beginning of the night, everything went extremely well. And of course, once the night was over, I crashed and slept in really late the next day, and enjoyed a fun time of toboganning at the DeVisser's the next night.

As for my family, Anjali just turned one, and Jesse will be turning two in just a few days. Doug and Melissa are also expecting again, due in mid-April. Mike will be celebrating another birthday soon as well, which means Mike and Theresa's 1st wedding anniversary is coming up as well. Some of my family and I recently took a trip to the Dominican Republic. It was an awesome trip, and despite a little queasiness on the plane ride, we made it there safely for a nice vacation. It was my first time on a plane, and my first trip anywhere out side of Canada or the U.S. The weather was great, despite one night of rain. The waves were incredible!!! You could be standing a foot away from a wave that looked like it was going to be at your knees or higher, and by the time it got to you, it would be barely touching your toes! The water was soo warm! We spent some time walking by the ocean, and relaxing by the pool, enjoying some family time, and entertainment. And of course, the food. There was sooo much food. But what I really enjoyed was the nights we went to the a la carte restaurants in the resort. They had 5 restaurants, which you had a preselected reservation at 4 of them. We went to El Conuco (the Dominican one), El Tokio (Japanese) Paris (French) and La Roma (Rome). I really enjoyed Tokyo and Roma. It was by far my best food experience there. The rest of the meals were spent in the all inclusive buffet. Robin, Jackie and I also went out on a day trip, we went snorkeling, and swimming with sharks and stingrays. They were in an enclosed area, and of course the sharks had no teeth and the stingrays had no stinger. Dad and Mom stayed back and babysat Anjali while we were gone. The resort also had nightly entertainment. Circus acts, and magic acts, and a night of watching different cultural dances. After this we would go back to our rooms, (I had my own room which was nice), and relax, go to bed, and get ready for the next day. I would definitely do it again.

That's pretty much everything exciting that's been going on recently. And I will try to keep my blog more up to date these days.

Update

Well, of course, it's been ages since my last post. So I've been keeping busy this summer, working mostly. And with hymnsings, and Tamarack planning, and young people's, and driving school. Boy, it doesn't sound like a whole lot but when you're actually doing all these things it can get pretty crazy.

So not a whole lot's happened since my last post. Probably why I haven't posted in awhile. I'm sure I said this already but Mike and Theresa got married on March 10, Jesse turned 1 on March 5, Anjali is now just over 6 months old, we went family camping as usual on the first weekend in August, my birthday (July 12), my profession (June 17), Melissa's birthday, Brad's birthday, Theresa's birthday, mother's day, father's day. We're actually thinking of taking a trip to the states for a weekend. Not sure if that's gonna happen yet, but it's definitely in the works. Tamarack is only about 10 days away.... AHH! It's crazy, I can't believe it! But it's definitely going to be a good year. Our three speakers are Rev. Anema, Rev. Greg Bylsma, and Dr. Pipa. Our chaps this year are the DeVissers, Stewarts, Vandyks, Schouwstras and the DOUMAS! lol My parents are chaperoning this year! Things are coming along, at a slow pace, but they're still coming along. Which reminds me, I need to email my co-cabin leader... *Mental note* (well I guess it's not just a mental note now is it?) So I'm going to try and post some more pictures. either on here or on Facebook. Most likely the latter! So anyways, I've gotta get going to another Tamarack planning meeting! I'll try and update the next time much sooner!

New post

So, I haven't really been keeping up with my blog. The problem is... I don't take enough pictures... I should change that. Anyways, this past weekend was the Wellandport conference and it was great, as usual! Even though it took us 3 hours to get there!!! If it wasn't for the snow and then 4 snowplows blocking the entire skyway, it would have taken less then an hour and a half. But oh well, it was worth it in the end! Rev. VanOlst spoke, and unfortunately we only really got to hear his speech the on Saturday morning, called "Are you ready?" It was great! Afterwards, of course was the annual ball hockey tournament which I was so excited for! Our team ended up losing our first two games and winning our last one, but my brother Brad's team won their first two games, and were winning their last game, but then it ended up going to shootouts, then sudden death! They ended up going through all the players on both teams and then had to call the players out again! Even though Brad's team ending up losing in shootouts they still played a great game! Tonight we had coffeehouse at Rev. and Mrs Anjema's house and we had a blast! My sister and her husband and of course little Anjali who I got to hold for a long long time, were there, but we also played this hilarious game! Basically, you were given someone's name and then you had to draw a picture of them, and then underneath, write a verse, or something encouraging or a character trait that you admire about them. Then we showed them around and you had to try and guess who the picture of the person was, and then the person who drew the picture would make a comment about the encouragement that they wrote. Some of the pictures were hilarious!!! They were sooo funny!!! Everyone almost died laughing at a couple of the pictures! It was some great good ol' fashioned fun!





So here's actually a few more pictures of my niece, she'll be five weeks on Tuesday, and has grown quite so much!

Family Picture







































Sleeping

New bundle of joy!

So I haven't posted in a while and now's a good time to post since Jackie and Robin just had their baby! She was named Anjali Jalyn, (the an is pronounced like un as in undo, unjalee, ) born on Feb. 13, 2007, at 9:16 pm, weighing 7 lbs and 3 oz! So here's a few pictures of the newest addition to our family!

The new family!

Proud Grandma

Proud Grandpa

Cousins (Jesse and Anjali)

Aunt Sheryl

Just some pictures

So, I haven't posted in awhile. I really should post pictures... hmm..



Ok so this one is of me and my sister Jackie at my brother Doug's wedding July 3, 2004


This one is of me and Joyce at a young people's formal that was held in the summer.





The next two are of our own young people's Christmas banquet held on Dec. 14, 2006

The guys: Dan, Matt, Zi Jin, Ben, Steve, Andrew.

Ben, Dave, Brad, Jon.

The girls: Sarah, Charlene, Amy

Me, Dorothy, Louise

Joyce, Michele

Me and Bethany, Dec. 31, 2006 at the Dikschei's

just some random pictures