What a Weekend

This weekend we spent taking care of Natalie & Ruby (Jordan & Lindsey Barkel's little girls). We stayed over at there house since Friday. They are just adorable and it was lots of fun "practing" parenthood. We give credit to all you parents out there because it truly is a full time job. They kept us on our toes all day long. We even had an intersting experience this morning when we were trying to get ready for church. Natalie was playing in her parents room and decided to shut the door, somehow she also ended up locking it......So trying to get a 2 year old to unlock a door is not the easiest. So we tried to take the door knob off from the outside but that did not work. So next step we looked to see if we could climb through the bedroom window and sure enough, there Aaron went climbing into the room through the window, he unlocked the door but for some reason it still didn't open.....so we disassembled the knob but STILL could not get opened.....So finally we gave up and hooisted Natalie out of the window and Aaron jumped out too. God must have stopped time or something because we made it to church on time too.

Then after church we headed to the airport to meet my family as we welcomed home Al, Lisa & their new baby Gideon Kiful Alan Gemmen. He is just adorable and we are so thankful to have him be part of our family. We are thankful that the adoption process went smoothly and he was able to meet our family and his new big brother,Josiah. He was so happy and full of smiles when they came off the plane. Here are some pics of our adorable new nephew, Gideon!

Summer is over...

Hey guys, Aaron here. We're sorry that we're so bad at updating our life, but here we go again: After weeks and weeks, I finally log in and I hear the following song start to play on OUR BLOG: "Your Pitiful" By Wierd Al. So apparently Heidi was trying to add the song "Your Beautiful" and instead added this one without even knowing it until we heard it playing tonight. So if anyone was reading our blog over the summer and heard the song, please don't judge us - it was definitely a mistake!

Like the title if this post says, summer has come to an end. Heidi started fall semester this week, and I'm ready to start bus driving again, and busy getting fall programs put together at church. As we sit and reflect on our summer, it's crazy to think about all the stuff we did and the things that we experienced...but we're not saying this in a bragging way. Instead, we're talking about some major life lessons that we've learned. And basically that life lesson is that life itself is precious.

First of all, we've mourned with quite a few close friends this summer. Our friend from Ottawa - Pastor Marv said good bye to his wife after a tough fight with a brain tumor. A friend who I work with lost her daughter-in-law and infant granddaughter in a horrible car accident. Heidi's Uncle Wally also died after struggling with cancer. Also, my cousin who is a missionary in Africa lost her husband in a tragic plane accident. And most recently, my friend from the Bridge (Karen) said good-bye to her husband after a year long struggle with cancer.

On the flip side, our summer was filled with many new beginnings too. We were blessed with opportunities to witness the joining of many new couples: our friends Michelle and Bret, my college roommate Matt Lubbers, Heidi's old roommate Becky, our friends Tim and Emily, and the most recent, my cousin Angela. In addition to weddings, we welcomed some new babies into our family! Heidi's brother and sister-in-law gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, Caleb Matthew, born on May 31. Currently, we are praying and looking forward to the return of Heidi's sister Lisa and brother-in-law Al. They are in Ethiopia and will return with baby Gideon on Sunday, September 13.

So, where am I going with this crazy post (I don't quite know myself yet...)? Well, I think I'm trying to say that beginnings and endings in life are inevitable. Some are joyful occasions, while others are sad. Bottom line is that life is precious, and the things that we're working on as a couple is enjoying every minute of life. No matter what each day brings, we are enjoying it, and thanking God for it. Did we get everything done in our house and yard that we wanted to this summer? NO. Did we get all our bills paid off, or save up money for a new car to replace ours with 200,000 miles on it? NO! But every chance we got, we chose to spend with friends and family (not as much as we would have liked, but still...every chance we got!) and equally important with each other. Yesterday was our 5 month anniversary already, and we realize that life is not showing any signs of slowing down. So we make the most of each day - Thank God for blessing us with another day together, and hopefully find ways to be blessings to others.

Sorry about such a boring post...we don't even have any pictures to show, but maybe next time! HAPPY LABOR DAY EVERYONE!

Mission Trip

If anyone wants to keep up with the youth ministy happenings at Bentheim check out our blog at www.bentheimyouth.blogspot.com.

Summer Update

Well, it's been awhile since we posted anything, so I thought we'd update a little on what the Nienhuis' have been up to.

We just got back from my grandpa Walters 80th Birthday Party. It's amazing to think of all that he has been through in the 80 years. He received a card of things that happened in 1929 - the year he was born. 1929 was when the great depression started, houses where sold for $7,000 and a yearly income was $1800. Oh how the time has changed! My Grandpa is a great man, full of faith, wisdom and generosity; and I respect him greatly.

Another update in our life is I (Heidi) started a new job this week. I started working for The Cancer & Hematology Centers of Western Michigan. It's very exciting and a great place to work. I survived my first week so that is always good. There is sooooo much I have to learn though about cancer and treatment. Aaron says I have to stay here for awhile, he hasn't liked my job hopping :) Let's see, I'm almost done with my 1st semester of Grad school too:) I remember in May when I was just dreading going back to school. But it has gone fairly quick, unfortunately that means so has the summer. I'm looking forward to being done and having the month of August to catch on some things around the house that I have sort of neglected.

Also we were able to go on a family vacation at the end of June, it was a great time for family and relaxation. Fishing wasn't great and the end of the week was cold and rainy but we survived. Seeing 7 little kids running around and waking up at 6am every day definitely tainted me and Aaron for having kids any time soon. That will NOT be happening for a long time:)

Aaron has been an amazing support for me this summer as I have put him through many changes with school and my job. Aaron does do well with change but this summer has been quite a challenge not only with my school and job, but with our house, church, and figuring out what married life is all about.

Here are some pictures of our family vacation this summer

Watery weekend!

Our weekend started by us heading out to Son Life Camp in Wayland for our churches annual church camp out. We had a nice lot with full water/electric hook-up...which was perfect for our humble tent...haha. A few hours after we got there, we began to hear thunder and soon the storm came in. We spent the evening in our good friend Tom and Cindy's camper, and at around midnight, went back to our tent to sleep - which stayed completely dry! The next day was beautiful and we enjoyed the lake and sunshine with our church friends. It was really nice to have a lazy day with nothing to do...and then it happened...the phone call.

Aaron's parents went to our house to feed our cat and discovered that our basement had flooded. We got the call and within 10 minutes were on our way home to check the damages. We found that our carpet (only 3 months old!) was completely saturated. After talking with a few neighbors we realized the storm hit our neighborhood hard. Almost half of the neighborhood had some flooding in their house...our neighbor across the street even had it coming in through the ceiling and walls. Our electric had been out for most of the night, causing our sump pump to not work. But our neighbor had a generator and even he couldn't keep up with the water coming in, that's just how fast it was coming in.

So we got to work hauling furniture and belongings to higher ground. Then we ripped out the carpet, and borrowed some fans and dehumidifiers which are still running today! We also tried to save some of the carpeting and drapped it over our deck. Hopefully we can re-install it later this week. We're pretty sure no major damage was done. The baseboards were a little wet, but we got the fans going right away, so I think they'll be okay.

Our spirits were down a little because of our ruined weekend, and so we called it a night shortly after midnight. Before going to bed, we checked our email and noticed that our friends Marv and Sue (pastor from Ottawa) had updated their carepage. Sue has been suffering from brain cancer for a few months now, and things are looking pretty grim. But despite everything going on in their lives, they continue to have the most positive attitude. They look heavenward for their refuge and strength, and their faith hasn't wavered even a hint - they end all their posts with, "Sue may have cancer, but God is good - all the time." Marv and Sue have been close to our hearts ever since the beginning of our relationship, and so we continue to think and pray for them daily. Anyways, as we went to bed that night, we talked about how silly and selfish we must look complaining about a little water in our basement. In the big scheme of things, it's a pretty minor problem to have.

We woke up this morning with a new perspective on things. We drove back to Wayland to take down our camp, and enjoy church with our church family. We shared lunch with our parents, and then spent the afternoon/evening working on the basement some more - but we're certainly not complaining about it! We're also thankful for our parents, Uncle Paul, brother Chad, and friend Terry for giving up their Saturday night to help us! We love you guys. Oh yeah, and we can't forget about our amazing church family! We're so blessed to be a part of such a loving and caring congregation.

Here are a few pictures of our weekend

Pictures - part two - the climb

I did a 4-5 hour hike today up to a place called Canon's Creek and also a spot called the punch bowls. Here are some pictures, but they don't do this place justice - it's pretty amazing.





This is the Glen Eyrie Castle. An amazing place...





These are the "punch bowls". I guess people slide down the rocks, but I didn't try it, since I was all alone!

Another waterfall...

My corny attempt at a video...haha

Pictures - part one

Custer State Park, South Dakota...


This is me on top of the rock that was in the first picture.



This is the bus, she's a beaut. A 1989 Eagle with only 765,000 miles on it (767, 000 now)

3,800 miles in 7 days - day 49...

ok, not really day 49, only day 4. It has been an interesting couple of days, and even though I would much rather be home, I'm sure trying to work on the attitude thing and trying to make the best of it...and actually there are some cool things that I'm experiencing - there are just people who I would rather experience them with, maybe that's whats so boring about this!

Here's where I've been: Sunday was spent in Rapid City, South Dakota and surrounding areas - some of the group did a cave tour and Wind Cave National Park, and the rest went hiking at Custer State Park - both very cool places. Driving a bus through the mountains was interesting, had to stop at one point to let the brakes cool down - but at least no more break-downs. Sunday night we headed to our next destination - an Indian reservation - in the middle of absolutely nowheres. Even Jill (my GPS friend) couldn't help me. It was close to midnight before we finally made it, but we drove for miles on roads with no signs, street lights, or houses - kinda weird. At one point I even ended up on a gravel road. Monday the group did a service project at the reservation and then we headed towards Colorado. The group spent the night at a church in Castle Rock.

Today the group went to Glen Eyrie in Colorado Springs. The views here are amazing. The castle on the website looks even more amazing in person, however, apparently we are the surfs because we're staying in what would resemble servants quarters. My room doesn't even have a TV, but that only makes it easier for me to get outside and enjoy this place. Tomorrow I don't have any driving to do, so I'm going to hike up this mountain. Should be cool - but hopefully I don't fall and kill myself! Oh yeah, and when I was parking the bus, I scraped the side of the bus. These roads are not meant for buses and the corner was impossible to make. I am still down on myself though - I was trying to do a good job this week and now my bus needs body work...grrr. I guess that's all for now. I'm sure nobody cares about what I'm doing each day (it feels like I'm doing one of those school assignments: "what I did this summer" but at least I'm entertaining myself...haha. -aaron

3,800 miles in 7 days - day 2

Today was one of those faith building days. One of those days where I have to keep saying that God has a plan for me and maybe he's using this experience to teach me something. One of those days where I say whatever doesn't kill me only makes me stronger!!!

For starters, this job is stressful. And I don't sleep well when I'm stressed, so I have that going against me. I don't drink coffee or caffeine because that makes me have to pee and we're on the road for up to 4 hours at a time without stopping today. Although today we had an unexpected stop. We were driving down the I-90 just minutes away from South Dakota when somebody on the bus yelled, "Aaron, you need to pull over". I look in my mirror to see a billow of smoke coming from the back of the bus. With a few choice words and some mad bus driver skills, the bus is pulled along side the interstate and the group is evacuating to the shoulder of the road. I grabbed the fire extinguiser and head to the back where we discover the problem. An amp (or energy converter??...something that runs off the battery that you can plug AC power cords into) had fried. Wires melted, sparks flying, the whole works. I guess we were lucky that we killed the power in time and the sparks didn't spread to anything else. After some phone calls and investigating the situation further, the situation was resolved, and we re-loaded the bus and headed to the next city, where there was a mechanic waiting for us. He capped off the wires and said we were good to go as long as we didn't use the amp anymore - I said no problem! Oh did I mention that while the group was evacuated it was raining outside? We were about 1/2 mile past a rest area so they all took off for that. This kind of stuff stresses me out, so it was a long day. But there's a saying that goes "eat that frog" (or something like that). It means that if you woke up every morning and ate a frog, it would be the worst thing that happened to you all day. (If that doesn't make sense, it's because I'm tired!) Anyways, what I'm getting at is that today's problem was our "frog" for the week, so it's clear sailing from here on out...only 6 more days of this! Pray for me!

3,800 miles in 7 days - part 1

Hey - Aaron here. I thought I would update on my random life. Currently, I'm sitting at Damon's in Wisconsin Dells at a resort called Kalahari. I'm on my first charter bus driving trip of the summer and I'm already ready to be back home! Heidi dropped me off at my bus this morning at 4:00 a.m. and by 11:00 a.m. the group was getting ready to go to what is supposed to be the countries biggest waterpark. They're here until 6:00 p.m. and then it's back on the road for a few more hours...and this is day one...I'm doing this until next week Friday...yikes! But I'll make the most of it and have some fun. The group I'm with is pretty cool. Ok, I really don't have anything else to say...maybe I'll post some pictures of my daily adventures. :) Have a great day!

A new Nephew

My new nephew finally arrived on May 31 at 4:30pm. My sister in law was 2 weeks overdue with her 5th baby!!! It ened up being a rough delivery because the baby was twisted and his shoulder wanted to come out first. Yes, it is another boy! That makes 5 boys for my brother Chad: Ethan 9, Lucas 7, Wesley 5, Jackson 3, and now Caleb. I love them so much and love being their aunt. Aaron seems to like being married into the whole uncle thing too :).

Please continue to pray for my sister who is adopting from Etheopia (sp?). They are running into some problems and their adoption has been postponed and they don't know how long to be. They had a benefit garage sale though last weekend and raised closed to $3000! God is good!! Hopefully we can bring this other little boy from half way around the world.

Memorial Day Weekend!

Heidi and I had a great weekend. It was our first holiday weekend as a married couple and also our first camping experience. It was also probably our first weekend since our honeymoon where one of us didn't have something work related going on. So we celebrated by heading up north to Silver Lake to go camping with some great friends. We had a full weekend at the state park which included sleeping in, golfing, fishing, hanging out in the dunes, naps, relaxing around the campfire, and laughing...alot! Now, while this was Heidi's first Silver Lake experience; I've been coming here since I was little and it's probably one of my favorite places. The memories we have could probably fill a book! But, even though it was Heidi's first time up at Silver Lake, she was totally okay with my life goal of someday buying a cottage and moving up there! The way I figure, I could get a job in either field I currently work at: I could work at Grace Youth Camp as a director or something, or I could be a Mac Woods dune ride driver or tour guide or whatever they are called. And while I haven't researched it a whole lot yet, I'm sure she could find some sort of social work job! Ok, so maybe my life goal isn't terribly realistic, but it was fun to dream. We're still in this "got our whole life ahead of us" phase of marriage! We are excited for what God might have in store for us, and while sometimes we'd like to know what that plan is, we've decided that we'll make an effort to enjoy each moment and stage of our life and give thanks for the many blessings we have. And this weekend, we were thankful first of all for some great friends and second of all for time that we could spend together away from everyday life. This summer is going to be busy for us - between Heidi's job and summer classes, and church stuff, and my new venture of driving charter buses - it seems like we might spend more time apart from each other than together this summer! But that will just make the time we spend together that much more enjoyable, right!? Well, I guess that's all with us for now...sorry we're not so good at keeping this page updated yet! Hope you all had a great holiday weekend and have a great week!

Here are a few pics from the weekend:

This is our friend Ruby...she is Jordan and Lindsay's baby - very cute! Although, I hope it was okay that I fed her licorice..haha!

While I played with the baby, Heidi went fishing with the guys (that's embarrassing!). But the boat only held 3 and Heidi wanted to go - so it was really a selfless act on my part by letting her go...haha. She is also a way better fisher than I am.

Not to bad for only being out there for a couple hours. They cleaned these and we fried them up for dinner...

The Nienhuis Family Expands :)

No not a baby...to soon for that. We have to work our way up to a baby. So tonight we brought home a cat, yes a cat. Now Aaron and I are not the biggest cat lovers, but an older friend of mine from one of my jobs needed to get rid of the cat because they want to move into a condo and downsize. So we decided to give this cat a good home. Her name was Chloe but we weren't to fond of that so with the help of Aaron's sister, Heather, We named her Lola. :) She is 3 years old, yellowish/orange, all declawed, litter trained, and fixed, and we got everything we could need for a cat too from the previous family. She is a little nervous coming into a new home and we will post some pictures once we get her to come out from behind the dryer.....:)

As far at this blogging thing goes. It's driving me (Heidi) nuts! I can't figure a thing out. I tried to add our friends Kristin & Jason as followers but accidently added myself to be a follower of our own site and now I can't figure out how to delete that. Oh well, I'll figure it out in due time. Any blogging pointers though would be helpful. Thanks! -Aaron, Heidi, & Lola!

April 29, she's out from behind our dyer, here are some pics :)

First Post

Aaron here. What's up everybody!? So we (Heidi and I) have been married for 3 weeks and 1 day now...man, where does the time go...haha! On our honeymoon one thing we said we wanted to do when we got back was start up a blog, because we both have lots of friends who do this blogging stuff and it sounded like a cool way to stay in touch with our friends lives and share what's been going on in our life. Once we started, it seemed to hard, but thanks to our good friend Lindsey, we are not started. (Oh Jen tried to help last week to, but we went to the Embo instead! haha).

Anyways, married life is pretty cool. I seriously lay awake at night and wonder what I did to deserve somebody as sweet as Heidi. She is my best friend and I'm so excited for what the future holds. She's working all weekend, can you tell I miss her!?

That's all I have for now - I think I'll let Heidi take care of this from now on!