Time for a well needed update....

So as you can tell Aaron and I are not the best at keeping up with this blog thing, but we try :) Well LOTS has gone on since the last time we posted. Gideon who was posted about in our last blog is now 1 and walking everywhere!!!

Aaron and I are expecting a baby as most of you knew. We found out the exciting news on October 24 and could barely keep it seceret till a few days before Thanksgiving. We are trilled to have a little one join our family. Even though it puts a minor speed bump in our "life" plans it will all work out and apparently this is how God wanted our life to go. Not even married for a year and I'm 5 months pregnant...haha that is something I never thought would happen. I am due on July 5 which is also another way God works because it's the day my dad went to be in his heavenly home. I never though 4 years after he passed away I would be having a baby possibly on that exact day. Crazy how God works things out and plans our lives before we even know the next step we are going to take.

As most of you know I'm going to grad school for my MSW I will be finishing up this semester then I plan on taking a year off to care for my little one. I'll start class back up in May 2011 and graduate the following spring. School will always be around but I only have one time with my 1st baby :)

Aaron is doing well also. I think this whole baby thing is going to be quite the eye opener for both of us but we are excited to take on the challenge together. I love my husband and am so excited to start a family with him!

Here is a little preview of our addition:





We'll try and post another update before the baby is born :)

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