New Dog

How do you like our new dog ? Carol , I know its not a greyhound but it has the brindle color like Sheba ! It is a male, he is so cute and very friendly. Jim gave him the name "Butch" .

We found out too late that he is a pitbull and he attacked Jim as you see in this picture, went right for the throat. Jim thought he would go for another part of the anatomy so he was protecting that part. Little does he know that chimpanzees go for that part when they are attacking. Pitbulls go for the throat !

Actually, the real story is, Jim is fine. This is not a new addition to the family , and as of today he is out of our lives and was only in it about 2 days. The adventure started tues. evening. I was at consistory and Jim was home putting Bandit out. That is when he saw "Butch" . Knowing he was an unknown dog, he went into panic mode, quickly got Bandit in the house so she would not get killed by this menacing dog. Later when I came home he told me about this dog. Then we went out to the hottub. As I was walking on the bottom deck, I ran right into something furry, it was Butch. I warned Jim that the killer dog was still here. He was not sure he wanted to go into the hot tub as he was in panic mode again. I reassured him the dog was still a puppy and I stepped on him and all he did was lick me and wag his tail. So Jim did waringly come out to the hot tub, I reassured him I would protect him. Butch would not leave, I felt bad because it got cold that night so we let him spend the night. He really was quite playful and made himself right at home. The picture of Jim on the floor with Butch is of them playing. At least Jim now knows not every stray dog is a danger. Butch was picked up by animal control today. I could never own a breed of dog like that just because I would rather have may neices and nephews and their children around, and I would never trust that breed around children because they can be unpredictable.

Easter

Bandit , tired from all that begging !


The grandpa's relaxing on Easter evening


Brianna singing in front of the t.v while Dan and Jeff were trying to watch a movie. They were so sweet thanking their mother for putting the toy bag in the living room. ( My form of birth control)

Bella also belting out a tune.

The girls in their Easter dresses. So cute !

Avery, looking smart in his Easter vest ! I missed his singing the hippopatamus song !

Elise looking darling on dads lap


For those of you who don't know, I had to exercise my authority as a mother to get the boys to go to church on Easter. I basically told them if they did not go, they did not have to show up at the dinner table to eat. I made some of their favorites to entice them with the smells. I made a turkey, a spiral ham, mashed and baked potatoes, corn and beans, hot rolls, jello, and cheescake. Guess what ? They all made it to church ! Then they filled their tummies and took a nap just like Bandit. These were the action shots of the day : Chad pulling the covers over his face so I could not snap his picture, Ben half waking up during the picture, and Jeff and Dan out like lights. What an exciting crew. And Jim was outside trying to move a barn. I did enjoy the Easter service. And I loved seeing all the Nykerks at church, and Macey and Kelsey had the cutest dresses on ! They are so sweet ! And Dan thanks Macey, I guess she did not find one of her candies in the Easter egg hunt , Dan did, and he ate it. I guess some kids never grow up !

Ben

Chad

Jeff

Dan

Then for supper I had Tracy and Terry and family, Malissa , Duane and Brianna, Esther, my dad and Jims dad ( Oh yeh! and Tansy) As you can see , I put my crown from my 50th birthday party to good use in the toy bag !


I had Ron and his father, Al and Marcia, my nephew Phil , and my family for Easter dinner. It was a hard holiday for me as Marti has been gone just one year. I remember bringing her purple tulips when she was at Spectrum last year for chemo. Whenever I asked what she would like she said she did not need anything. I felt at least she could enjoy some of the outdoors inside , those hospital walls are so gloomy ! I have a hard time when I hear about people who don't get along with their siblings. I just wish I still had all of mine around. Hope everyone had a good Easter . What a blessing to know our loved ones who have passed are in heaven !


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Too Many Cars, Too many Problems

Some of you may know my father started as a mechanic and my brother too. So growing up , I was pretty spoiled when it came to getting my cars fixed. I also realize I should have had more interest and paid more attention to what they did.

Then I married Jim. Now Jim has been a good husband . But, he is no mechanic ! And in his defense, with 4 boys in christian school and needing to be clothed and fed, we did not always have money to fix the cars, so Jim would say " Oh it works if you do it this way"
I want to write a list of car problems I have had to put up with during my married life ;

1) Most of you have heard about the window washer pump which failed so I could not spray my windows when they were dirty. Jims fix was to put a spray bottle on my front seat.
2) My windsheild wipers were wore out, so Jim put on new ones . I went to turn the wipers on , the next rainy day. One of them flew off my car and the metal then proceeded to scrape my windsheild like nails on a chalkboard. ( this happened 2 times before it was right )
3) My driver side door of my Capri started to sag so when closing it, it would not latch. Jims fix was " Roll the window down, put your hand at the top ,half in and half out of the car, lift with all your might, then pull the door closed , then roll up the window " Be sure to wear gloves for this one in the winter.
4) Driver door will not open on the monarch ( mustard yellow car which we aquired very cheap when my 92 yo grandfather quit driving) Just don't worry about it, get in from the passenger side .
5) Trunk of the capri will not stay open on its own. Not a problem, just hold it open with your back, head and shoulder while you get the 15 bags of groceries out. Then take an advil for the headache.
6) Driver seat will not latch on the firebird so it cannot be adjusted. No problem, just shove a box between the front and back seats or drive in the reclining position.
7) Front bumper and light of cougar is loose after being hit by Esthers car when she did not see it behind her car. Duct tape it so it does not fall off . ( currently still a problem)
8) Windsheild wiper controls on the Jimmy just keep spinning around since the plastic part broke. The wipers go on and off randomly like a phantom and if you spin the control long enough , they may go off or on even when you need them.
9) The sky is falling ! The material on the roof of the Jimmy starting falling off. Jim tried glue, duct tape, both temporary fixes. Then he tore it all off. Now when driving it looks like you have yellow dandruff from the dust which falls off the roof of the car.
10) The ignition of the cougar makes a loud grinding noise at times when you start it. Jim says you have to shake the key and turn the steering wheel and keep trying until it starts.
11) The shifter in the cougar( and the Jimmy) are not as they appear. They have both been rammed so roughly that reverse is neutral, neutral is drive, and drive 1 is really drive 2.
12) Lets not forget the sable : Driver side mirror was torn off by an 87 yo driver going down 32 nd st. when I was taking care of Zak. Jim duct taped it but finally took it to the tech center ( cheaper) to get it fixed. When my car was returned ( middle of winter) When I turned on the defrost, the driver side window went down and would not go back up. ( back to the tech center, Jim had alot of faith) And it only took 3 months to fix both times.
13) Passenger seat in the cougar broke in the short person position. No problem, just squish in the front, it gives people in the back seat more room. We are all 6 ft tall or >.
14) 2 cars with broken gas gages. You better know how many gallons of gas you just got and how many miles to the gallon the car gets, or your screwed.
15) Stearing and brake problem on the cougar. Now this is the most current. Mind you Jim has now decided after all these years to fix it himself. He has had no formal training, and you see how the previous problems were fixed. He said its ready to drive. Soo I took out the cougar-and guess what ? It stears like a truck, it took all my strength to turn corners. And the brakes do work , however in a jerking gradual way. Luckily I did not need to go out of town.

Since I value my life, I am taking this cougar to a certified mechanic. And when my guys are all out of college, I am getting a new car !

Embody Christ Fellowship

This is the name of our new church plant. For those of you who don't know. First Reformed Church is starting a church plant. They hope to meet in the Laketown and Fillmore Townships. They have very few churches in this area. Nearly 35 % of the residents are unchurched and they have many young families who are looking for parenting and marriage relationships. For now they are going to meet at the Lamar Construction building until they can get the church to grow. We had a potluck at church last night ( yes, during the MSU and UConn game , we taped it and watched it later when we came home, thank-you Chad ) and they did a service which represented what the new plant will be like. They have Lee Heerspink for the music , he and 2 others played guitar, and they had a drummer. It was more of the contemporary music, with words to the song on the screen. As my dad would say, it was the music where you just repeat the same thing 50 times. But it was very nice and I must say I had fun. And you know Big Jim loves a good potluck. Jim and Dana Daniels are the pastor and wife, they have 2 young children, Madalyn and Alex. Jim had a sermon about how we need to be the hands and feet of Christ. The verse form Ephesians 2:10 "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do " You can find out more about it at churchplantprayers@gmail.com