Chicago/ Fort Custer

We started our vacation out by going to Chicago ! We were able to stay at Dave and Rachel's. They fixed us a fabulous supper with hamburgers, brats and grilled asparagus, Dave's famous red mashed potatoes, fresh fruit , and cake ( in honor of Scotts birthday )We also were able to go see Katie's new apt. and as you can see her cute new addition Bella.

Ally still liking being top dog.

We also saw where Katie works in Evanston. Jean and Scott were also there for one of their art shows , the art show and area was a great place to shop. Sunday while Jean and Scott were at the art show, we went with Dave and Rachel to brunch at a local restaurant Moonshine Cafe. Thanks for letting us stay with you in Chicago , we had a great time !

We then went camping in Augusta with Gret and Randy. Here Gret and I are at the restaurant Clare's on the River. It is an old railroad station with beautiful stain glass windows, huge fireplace, lots of beautiful wood and cute decor.

Gret and Randy at supper

Since it was a cold , somewhat rainy week we did not spend much time at the beach at Fort Custer. Fort Custer is where the military trained during the world war . It has over 200 campsites, lots of shade from huge trees. It is known for its mountain biking trails which is a new sport I have taken up thanks to Gret and Randy. It has some easy courses and some very difficult ones. As you can see from my injury above ( on the back of my R calf) I had one mishap . On one of the more difficult courses I had just taken a ramp, it had lots of twists and turns and tight squeezes through the trees, my left pedal got caught on a tree trunk and my R foot slid off and my leg came down on the spikes on the pedal. The good news is I did not fly over the handle bars . ( Randy did that on his first run). If you ever camp there be wary of the racoons, they are military trained. I had my food in a rubbermaid container, I had it bungee corded tight. I woke up and the cord was still on it but my bread wrapper was empty on the ground. Sure enough, they workin teams, covert operation, one raccoon pulling, the other pushing, the evidence was the claw marks on the rubbermaid container. They eat so well they have super human strength.

Jim talked me into golfing with him on thursday at Custer greens, $ 8 per person, I did my usual 10 stokes on the first couple of holes. Jim bet me on the third hole, a par 3 , that he would give me 200 dollars if I could get it in 5 . Guess what, never motivate a competitive woman ! I did it in 5 . Pay up Jimmy !

Prayer

I just wanted everyone to know that my sister-in-law Marcias daughter Lyndsey had her baby . Lyndsey actually went to the hospital because she was having symptoms of stoke : weakness, inhability to talk. They started running alot of tests, also did an MRI and it did not show anything. The baby started to show signs of distress so they ended up taking him by c-section. The baby, Tyler is doing well but Lyndsey still needs prayers. She is getting heparin as they think she may have had a clot somewhere and the heparin helps to dissolve clots. Please pray that she recovers and is able to go home soon with her new baby boy.

River City Rap

After a 50 hour work week , Jim and I decided to go unwind at River City Slims. Now many of you have heard him talk about this favorite place of his. Since I said no the last 5 times he asked , and because my softball game was cancelled due to the weather ( that should have been a clue ) I said I would go. Well , the picture is not real good but it shows that noone else was there ( except for 3 people at the bar )


But you know Jim, he was just happy to be in his favorite place, waiting for the blues to start at 9 pm. Mind you, we paid a $5.oo cover charge each just to get in to hear the blues.

Well to my horror, they did not even have a band, but a DJ. To make matters worse ! He was a rapper ! What in Sam City is a rapper doing in a blues bar ? Sounds slim shady to me !

So we decided to go to the piano bar downtown GR. Another not great picture , but what a difference ! The place was packed, even on a stormy night.

They had 2 piano players, a drummer, and guitar player. They were interactive with the audience, you could request songs , and the place was rocking. They play all the music by ear.
We had just ordered a drink when I recieved a call from Dan " To get home now, because it was like Hurricane Katrina at our house !" Some people are just not supposed to have fun !

It took an hour or more to get home as we had to reroute several times to avoid flooded roads and downed power lines. The boys had hooked up the extra pump in our pond we get in the back when it rains alot. They were vaccuming up the water , then bringing it up the stairs to dump out. We wondered why my whole kitchen floor was flooded too !

Ben keeping a sense of humor through it all.

Dan did not have to go to the gym the next day.

Ben thankful the clown costume from his halloween days was spared .

Noone told the boys using all my towels I own would be enough to mop up 5000 gallons of water.

Junk !

More Junk !

We were able to make it to Lyndi (Kuyers) and Jeremy's wedding on saturday. Then it was back to clean-up.

Everyone is welcome to come see our new basement , it will be very different the next time you see it.

Whats up

Dan graduated from MSU in May with a BA in Advertising. He is the first of the Nykerk boys to graduate. We were able to see him walk but did not go out to celebrate until a week later. He needed a little more bonding time with his friends after graduation.


Dapper Dan



And Barbra Rubio graduated from Hope with a bachelors degree in Communications and Spanish. Jim attended the graduation and took lots of pictures.

This is Jeff putting a new roof on Uncle Bills barn.

This is Dans graduation party at Pereddies with the whole family , plus grandpa Arie, Aunt Esther, and cousin Joe. We had a great meal ! Oh yea, and Dan your graduation gift is that we paid your tuition for 4 years !

There will be a baby boom this summer. This is at Heather's baby shower, she is due I think in August. And we have another baby coming, Al and Marcia's daughter Lindsey is also due in july and we are giving her a baby shower this saturday. And I am going to be in baby holding heaven very soon ! By the way, I asked Jim if we could start having foster children, and I received an immediate no. So unfair to not even think about it first.

Looking great, feeling great and PG.

Softball has begun. The boys play on Monday nights at Matt Urbin. I play tues nights in the church league in South Olive and East Saugatuck. I also sub for a co-ed team in Grand Haven on Friday nights. We made lots of pig in the blankets last saturday. We are planning a family trip to see the Tigers. A camping trip at the end of the month to go mountain biking, and am looking forward to kayaking as soon as it warms up a bit. Anyone want to join me kayaking ? Oh yea, and I am trying to keep my father in line. He has another leg ulcer and he told his brother in Illinois he was going to need his leg cut off. Of course he was joking but my uncle did not know that , so Gary called their sister Jackie in california who was ready to fly home, and his brother in Florida came home to give him some treatments to heal his leg. He is doing just fine and soon to celebrate his 87th birthday.

Tulip Time 2009

I was able to get a little taste of Tulip Time this year. I was able to go watch Brenda and Lisa dance tonight. They did a great Job. It looks like so much fun. I never did dutch dance myself. Afterwards for Jims birthday we went down to get an elephant ear. Maybe we will get to the saturday parade this year. Hoping for no rain.

Kentucky Fried Chicken

Jeff, Dan and Chad all heard that Oprah and Kentucky fried chicken had a special free coupon available on line for 2 peices of free chicken and 2 free sides. Everyone is allowed to get one free coupon. Well that was before they found out that the web site had a malfunction and they recieved several coupons. Jeff went to use one tonight and found out they had to give him 2 peices of the regular chicken as they were out of the baked, they felt bad so they threw in a coleslaw as well as the 2 sides of mashed potatoes. Jeff also felt bad so he ordered $1.50 appetizer, he's all heart. Well they can get back on their diets next week !

Oregon 2009

This is Jayden, grandson of Lana who I went to Portland with. Jayden exhausted Lana this trip but he did provide quite a bit of entertainment and excitement. He got his head caught in the rungs of a chair at Changs restaurant, it needed to have the screws removed and taken apart to get his head out. Another incident, he went golfing with his uncle Trevor and threw a golf club in a pond, this cost Trevor an extra 25 bucks. Such an innocent looking child in the picture. He really is adorable !


Sunset at the condo in Lincoln City.


Sheba and I going for our daily walks on the beach. I had to hit the good will shop for my lovely hat, its cold on those 6 am walks.

Carol and I seeing the local coastal sights.

This is Earl, he's a big boy. We took Earl to Lincoln City with us to deliver to an adoptive family. Sheba was being a diva and sat in the middle so he could not lay down, she soon had second thoughts and eventually moved over. Lets just say Earl did not earn any brownie points when he took a huge dump in Carol's bedroom (she just had the carpet cleaned.)

Carol and I eating at the Doug Fir restaurant before going to the play ZOO ZOO. Very nice restaurant, beautiful wood.

Took me awhile to down this huge bottle of wine ! Actually , didn't have wine, that was what they put their water in.

These are Carol's friends Doug and Val. They came for dinner at Carols house sunday night, we had a really nice time, very nice couple.

Carol and I eating at a restaurant in Newport, watching the sea lions. This was right by our fishing charter we took our last trip to Oregon.

Sweet isn't he . Kind of reminded me of Bandit, lazing around all day in the sun.

Carol sitting in the front row beach chairs waiting for ZooZOO to start.

This picture is dark, but we were in Portland, eating at the Rockport. This was the day of the Kentucky Derby. We decided to make a $5.oo bet on the race. We decided to avoid the work of checking all the stats and just doing a random pick. She picked Dunkirk to win just because it sounded like Nykerk. I picked Chocolate Candy for obvious reasons. Best show won. Thanks for the 5 bucks Carol.

Carol looking good ! Notice the rain coat. Next time dont jinx us by telling us the weather is 80 degrees and sunny .

Walking around Portland on the day of the farmers market and shopping market. I had to put this picture in because I had some really nice shots of what we thought was a Cinco De mayo parade but as it came closer we found out it was a march to try to legalize marijuana. I never deleted pictures so fast before on my camera. You boys know how I hate drugs, and quit laughing.

Lana and one of the local artists at the market. I felt sorry for this guy so I bought a picture from him , I have to admit the art was really weird.



These were just a few of the things I got pictures of. We also went to the Candlelight where they have live music every night. I heard a band Keegan Smith, I have to ask Dan if this is Dr. Smiths son Keegan, that was really fun. We also were taken out to lunch at a really nice restaurant by Carols friend Deanna, she was also very nice. Carol you are lucky to have such good friends. We also did alot of shopping. We did not get to see Lana as much as we had hoped so we will have to plan another trip with just the girls. Thanks so much for you hospitality Carol, I had a wonderful, relaxing and fun vacation. It is really beautiful in Oregon , even when it rains.