Tagged with " kids"

Getting ready to leave to the USA for 2 weeks…

Jan 21, 2009 by     4 Comments    Posted under: Blogroll

Yep, America the beautiful. Our kids have purchased tickets for us to fly to Chicago and we’ll leave at the end of the month. Our main goal in going is to pick-up and bring back to Spain with us, our 8 year old granddaughter, Abigail. What fun we’ll have together! This is a special opportunity and one that I count as a very special gift from the Lord. In my prayers for contentment while away from our children and “grands”, the Lord has seen fit to bless in this way.

Another wonderful gift will be a weekend with our daughters. The only one who is unable to fly to Chicago will be Cheri who is awaiting their 8th child the same month we are going. I can’t wait to be with them.

John and I will also have various doctor appointments… this is the part I am NOT looking forward to, but we have learned that we have to cram as much stuff in these trips as possible.

On February 1st, we will celebrate John’s birthday and our grandson Prestons’ 6th birthday. They share this day of celebration. I was thinking about it and I don’t remember ever being in the USA for Preston’s birthday. Jesseka and I will plan a day to go shopping for their gifts which will be a fun activity too.

We will also have the opportunity to be in our girls homes too. Both Jesseka and Jerusha live in the Chicago area.

The other thing on the list will be the shopping for things to bring back to Spain. This is always time consuming but it behooves us to do for these reasons:

  1. to get food and spices that are unavailable or very expensive in Spain. For example:
  • chili powder for enchiladas
  • vanilla for baking
  • PAM for baking
  • pie crusts in a box… or bring back vegetable shortening…one or the other. I was so thankful when our daughter Jesseka sent me some in Dec for pie baking!
  • peanut butter
  • pickling spices for making pickles
  • corn syrup
  • waxed paper
  • canned pumpkin (for next year)
  • canned cranberry sauce (for next year)

2.) to buy any needed  shoes or clothes for these reasons:

  • because the EURO is more than the dollar. We will get “more bang for our buck” on anything that we buy with the cheap dollars. What I spend one dollar on in the USA, will cost me $1.50 here. Plus, inflation is higher in Europe than in the USA at this time.
  • There are no petite sizes in Spain, so pants are longer, sleeves are longer, etc.
  • the euro styles are less modest than I prefer.
  • the Spanish wear their jeans too tight and too low for my taste. The styles are just not ‘where I’m at’.
  • the clothes and especially shoes are too expensive in Spain. By law, they have only 2 sales a year: In January and in August. We are always in the village working in August and never shop.

3.) Bring things back for the church

  • I have made an order that will be delivered to our daughter for the Ladies ministry.

We haven’t been to the USA since Jerusha and Nathanial’s wedding and we sure miss the family! Bobbie will fly in from Virginia, Jesseka lives in Chicago, Rebekah will fly in from North Carolina, Anita will fly from France, and Jerusha  also lives in Chicago.

Family Times

May 19, 2008 by     2 Comments    Posted under: Blogroll, Family

We were sent some photos of some of our kids and grands and we wanted to share them with you. They were sent to us by Rebekah and Dave and we are thankful that these 3 couples had time together as a family. It really blesses us. Click on the photo for a larger view.

Dave and Audrey Joel and Jesse the 7 DeVos kids Dave and Rebekah Bettenahusens and DeVos\' Bobbie and Jess

Kids Celebrate 1st Anniversary in Spain!

Apr 7, 2008 by     No Comments    Posted under: Family

pdrm2247.JPGYep, Rebekah and Dave celebrated their 1st anniversary as a married couple in Spain. It’s always a blessing to have our kids come to our house and it seems “right” to have them here.

They had a good time seeing the sights of Spain and were able to take in a flamenco show, try some Spanish tapas, go to the Prado Museum, the Royal Place and even  visited a day with Anita (Rebekah’s sister), Neil + the kiddies: Elijah and Ana. We were there too of course and we loved every minute with the kids and “grands”. We hadn’t seen Neil and Anita + fam since Christmas and they live just 9 hours away by car! John and I are hoping for at least quarterly visits with them.

Rebekah and Dave were kind enough to bring us goodies from the States and to take back mail for us. The difference for us is:

U.S Mail- .41 cents

Spanish Mail- $1.27

and that is for each letter! We are always thankful when folks can help us in this way.

Welcome and thank you!

Mar 20, 2008 by     No Comments    Posted under: Spain

PDRM2148 This is a day we have been anticipating for a couple of months now. Our new blog is up and running. Yippeee! There may be a few little “bugs” to work out, so I thank you in advance for your patience. That was the “welcome” part of this 1st post; now for the “thank you” part. This goes to the genius of our son-in-law Neil. He is a professional web designer among other things. On this site you can read their news as well as ours by clicking on the link called:

Neil & Anita on the home page. 44 Please visit our site often and we would love to hear from you!