Pics of me and Jonny for the Classiest Clockster of All

That title is an order from someone I know -- not exactly MY word choice. :)

Intermission

Hi folks. Here is a picture of Stephen. I'm posting the picture for two reasons:
1. Because he's so darn cute and I love him to death.
2. Because I feel stupid that my next batch of pictures are of me and Jon.....again. It's been two freaking months and I haven't taken any other pictures, but now that he came to visit again, I have more to show. That's kinda lame.
So, thankyou Yella for standing in as an intermission to all this mushy love stuff.

Back to Michigan

After our 5 days in Edmonton and the drive back home, I flew out to Michigan again to see Jon. We met his family in downtown Chicago over the weekend, and spent the rest of the week up in Ann Arbor where he goes to school. We had a great week, even though Jon was busy with work and school. Unfortunately, we didn't take too many pictures this time. This is the best one and it's not very good. Obviously. Oh well. And here is Wendy, my friend from Calvin who lives in Grand Rapids. I went to see her for a day, too.

Edmonton

My sister, Heidi and her husband live in Edmonton. To tell you the truth, we didn't do all that much. A LOT of our time was spent watching the whole first season of Arrested Development. For those of you who have never seen it, you're missing out.

We went to West Edmonton Mall, to U of A hospital, and to Heidi's aqua fit classes (Amanda and I were pros). Brady's grade nine girls basketball team was in the finals so we went to two of his games which actually were some of the most nerve-wracking basketball games I've ever watched. We got totally into it. And also had fun with the pompoms.









Another highlight was when we made marshmallow treats -- marshmallows dipped in caramel and condensed milk then covered with rice krispies. Of course we ate tons of them while watching A.D. and then all felt sick.

Jasper National Park

For the first part of Spring Break, my friend Amanda and I drove to Edmonton. It's about a 12 hour drive from Abbotsford, and we get to drive through Jasper. We had amazing weather for the trip, so the view was gorgeous. Here are a bunch of pictures from the drive. (pardon me, I love mountains...I couldn't choose just a couple to post cause they're all so pretty).

Beauty and the Burn

Just last week Jon came out to visit me here in Abbotsford, BC. So here are pictures of us...and more of us... as we explore around the Fraser Valley. Good times. Soon I'm headed out to Edmonton with my friend Amanda to visit my sister. Then, in a couple weeks I'll be back out in Michigan to spend more time Jon. Sometimes I call Jon "Burn" because he has a wicked bad burn scar on his hand. No, really...you should ask him about it. Maybe he'll let you see it sometime. Anyhow, if before you got sick of the baby pictures...you can now expect the excitement of seeing photos of Burn and I over and over again.

Seattle

One Saturday I drove down to Seattle to meet some friends for the afternoon. This is Mt. Baker -- I climbed this sucker last summer. Hope to do it again in June.



My friends are Sara and Jenn...two of the midwives I met while in the Philippines. It was so great to see them for the day. Even though time was short, it was well worth it to get caught up and to talk about the stuff I have become so passionate about!

Falling into place

From St. Louis, my friend Jonathan and I took the train to Chicago, and then to AnnArbor, where he lives. I stayed there for a week with him....and by the end of the trip our "status" had changed. Surprise, surprise. Things took off pretty quickly since we've been friends for over six years. We met in college, and he came to teach in Korea at the same school I worked at. So there are a lot of stories to tell. But I'll save my ammo for later.

Erika's Wedding

Okay, okay...I didn't know so many of you were still checking this thing. So here are some updates.

First, in January I went to St. Louis for my best friend Erika's wedding. She married Zach, who is fabulous. It was great to meet him for the first time after hearing so much about him.

And, as always, it was great to hang out with Erika and be there to see her so happy.

Congratulations guys! I love you!!!

Christmas

For the second Christmas in a row our whole family is together, which is a blessing. Here we are all gathered around a pot of chocolate fondue...cause that's one of the things we do best -- pig out. And if we're not eating together, most likely we're playing cards or dominoes. How dorky. Stelpstra family fun time!

Here I am with Stephen Barnhoorn - he spent Christmas day with us while his dad had an emergency appendectomy and his mom stayed at the hospital. It sucked for them, but we had a great day with the little guy. Below is my brother helping Stephen figure out his new train.

The Wedding Party

The Wedding

Arizona

I just got back from a week in Arizona for one of my best friends' weddings. She is Jihae, and she married another friend, Chris. I met them both in Korea. It was so great to be there, spend time with friends and witness this awesome union. I'm so excited for them cause they are two of the coolest people ever. Love em both.

Back home

My dear Erika (and anyone else who is completely frustrated that I haven't updated my blog in a while),
I'm terribly sorry but I just can't figure out how to upload pictures from my photo program onto this blog. I am not very good at this sort of stuff. However, I will keep trying. But I am tired of it tonight. Please be patient.

But just a note...I am back at home in Abbotsford BC. It has been snowing since Monday. It's quite pretty, actually. I don't even mind it. I started work on Thursday, and that went okay. I will keep updating this blog with random pictures I take of friends and family and stuff around home. Wouldn't want to disappoint my fan and give her one less thing to do when she gets to work in the morning. ;)

Goodbye Eljoy and JB

Today I went back to Eljoy's house to see my little godson one last time before I leave. We had a great time again, and I got to meet more of their friends and family. We ate lots and baby James was awake the whole time so I played with him almost the entire afternoon. I was very sad to go and to say goodbye, but I love knowing that they'll be so special to me forever. We exchanged postal addresses, so I hope to hear from them in the future, and perhaps even see pictures of James as he grows up. We all agreed that we'd pray for God to bring me back to the Philippines at some time so I can visit them again.