Christmas 2008

Despite the massive amounts of snow (meaning loss of sleep for Tim and a missed Dock family Christmas party), last minute shopping (never fails. My New Years resolution is to be a better planner!),the traditional craziness of traveling to get togethers and throwing a one year old out of routine, we had a wonderful Christmas 2008 and hope you all did as well!

Starting new family traditions, going to Engedi on Christmas Eve and being home on Christmas morning, eating a lot of (unhealthy) food, listening to Amy Grant's "Tender, Tennessee Christmas" (an Oosting favorite), :) sitting by our warm fire, spending time with friends and family, watching our beautiful lil' girl run around in her pj's on her first Christmas morning, and most of all, celebrating our Savior's birth....our everything...made this Christmas season one of the best!

Here are some highlights:


Getting our Christmas tree....a cold, interesting, but fun and traditional experience! :) We cut a slice of the trunk off at the bottom and made it into Teagan's 1st Christmas ornament...something we think would be a fun tradition to keep with our future children as well!


Teagan waiting for Daddy to put the tree on the car so we could go home. Did I mention it was REALLY cold that day?!! I think the 4 wheel drive golf cart ride through the tree farm in the blistering snow traumatized her. Poor baby!


Our lil' helper!



Riding the carousel at the mall (she was too scared to ride the actual ponies) after a failed attempt to meet Santa (he was on a break and the line was too long to wait in).


Having fun with Daddy on Christmas morning!


Me and Mommy in our pj's.


Opening (with Bailey's help) one of my presents from Mommy and Daddy...


... a new car! :)


One of my other gifts from Daddy and Mommy....my "Alphabet Pal," Edison. Because his leash was too short for me to pull him around, Daddy made it longer by attaching one of Bailey's collars to it. At one point, Daddy attached the collar to my waist so I could learn how to pull Edison better. I liked that! :)


Reading the Christmas story out of my 1st Bible.


I love to give my "big brother" hugs!

HAVE A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

It's Her Time!

My twin sister, Jessica, is ENGAGED!!! Mike did a great job of planning a surprise proposal on Friday night (although Jess claims she had a strong inclining it was going to happen that night), including dinner at Till Midnight followed by a walk in the deep, snowy paths to the gazebo in beautiful, Christmas-lit Centennial Park. This was followed by a TRUE surprise...family and friends waiting to celebrate with them at Via Maria!

I can't begin to explain how happy I am for my "wm" (aka "wombmate"). We have walked through many good but also difficult paths together, wondering what God had planned for her life and in finding her soul mate. I praise God for his faithfulness and for giving Mike and Jess to one another. My heart was full when I watched her enter that room, be tearfully overwhelmed with joy, soak in the moment, and after many years of her being on the other end, have us say to her "it's YOUR time!"

** FOR MORE DETAILS ON THIS STORY, CLICK HERE!**

Entering the room at Via Maria restaurant.







Mike's friend from work sings in this tenor group and serenaded us with some great songs!


I love my wm! ...and her ring is gorgeous!!


Teagan rubbing Mike's head. :) We couldn't find a babysitter so we took Teagan with us despite it being WAY past her bedtime. She was a trooper and was happy to celebrate with her Auntie Jess and soon-to-be Uncle Mike!


I thought this picture was funny. Can you tell Teagan was partying too?! :)


The sisters (minus Tara - we missed you!).


We love you, Jess and Mike! Blessings on the journeys ahead!

Teagan Alise ...

... is growing up too fast! Teagan has been so much fun lately! She is such a little explorer, climbing on everything and gaining more confidence in her walking skills (she's made it across most of the living room but will usually just take a few steps at a time). We're teaching her how to sit down as she likes to stand up on everything that she's climbed on and often times has no fear. She's definitely had a few more bruises than ever before.
She has been into mimicking us lately, moving her mouth when we are chewing gum, sniffing if we sniff, shaking her head if we do. It's quite funny to play games like this with her.
She has a total of three teeth now....one on the bottom and two on top (big ones)! Our lil' independent one will rarely let us feed her "baby food" anymore (although I am still nursing a few times a day) as the challenge of picking up food pieces off her tray and mashing them into her mouth with her fist is way more fun. She loves cheese. :)
She's been very expressionistic and vocal lately, shrieking in joy (especially if Bailey is near her or if her puppets come out to play - thanks Uncle Matt and Aunt Kelly!), saying "baba" while trying to dribble a ball, "mama," and "dada" (daddy has been her favorite lately...looks like I'm getting replaced!). ;) One of her favorite books is the Touch and Feel Farm Animal book and she's been learning all of the sounds that the animals make. She says (not all times of course...especially when you ask her to do it in front of other people) "oof oof" when we ask her what Bailey says. It's really cute, especially when she says it really quietly, almost like she's just making little grunting noises. I just love that she is starting to sit still on my lap long enough to read a book as before she's been such a lil' squirmer! In addition to making these consonant noises, she's also been picking up on the baby sign language that we are teaching her! She knows "more" and "all done" and is learning "eat," "water," "help," "please," and "thank you." She loves to point her little finger at things and has been especially passionate about waving lately, waving "bye bye" to people, Bailey, WalMart....it doesn't matter. Depending on what mood she's in, you could either get the whole floppy hand wave or just some slight movement from the fingertips. Either way, we're smitten!

Here are some pictures of our little joy!

Waving "bye bye" at the cars passing our house. :)


Her favorite chair to climb up on. It rocks which makes this even more of an adventure to be in!


In action...



Having fun dribbling the big ball with Daddy!


Reading her favorite book to Bailey!


With her favorite puppet...Mr. Seal. :)

Hunger

This article touches on the devastation that is occurring in Haiti right now, much of the devastation due to the storms that have wiped away 60% of the crop that families rely on to survive. I had the honor of visiting Haiti 8 years ago and can picture much of what this article describes although I know it has only gotten worse since then. My heart is heavy with grief for this country and wrestles with understanding why people suffer like this when just a few thousand miles away, other people obsess about diet plans and say (including me at times)"I'm starving" if they happen to miss lunch that day.

AID WORKERS: HUNGRY KIDS DYING IN HAITI
At least 26 malnourished children have perished; scores others treated
The Associated Press; msnbc.com

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - The 5-year-old teetered on broomstick legs — he weighed less than 20 pounds, even after days of drinking enriched milk. Nearby, a 4-year-old girl hung from a strap attached to a scale, her wide eyes lifeless, her emaciated arms dangling weakly.

In pockets of Haiti accessible only by donkey or foot, children are dying of malnutrition — their already meager food supply cut by a series of devastating storms that destroyed crops, wiped out livestock and sent food prices spiraling.

At least 26 severely malnourished children have died in the past four weeks in the remote region of Baie d'Orange in Haiti's southeast, aid workers said Thursday, and there are fears the toll will rise much higher if help does not come quickly to the impoverished Caribbean nation.

Another 65 severely malnourished children are being treated in makeshift tent clinics in the mountainous area, or at hospitals where they were evacuated in Port-au-Prince and elsewhere, said Max Cosci, who heads the Belgian contingent of Doctors Without Borders in Haiti.

One evacuee, a 7-year-old girl, died while being treated, Cosci said, adding: "The situation is extremely, extremely fragile and dangerous."

Toll on bodies
At a makeshift malnutrition ward at a Doctors Without Borders hospital in the capital, 10 emaciated children were under emergency care Thursday, their stomachs swollen and hair faded by pigmentation loss caused by malnutrition. Several had the puffy faces typical of kwashiorkor, a protein-deficiency disorder.

Five-year-old Mackenson Duclair, his ribs protruding and his legs little more than skin stretched over bones, weighed in at 19.8 pounds, even after days of drinking milk enriched with potassium and salt. Doctors said he needed to gain another five pounds before he could go home.

Dangling from a scale mounted from the ceiling, 4-year-old Venecia Lonis looked as limp as a rag doll as doctors weighed her, her huge brown eyes expressionless, her hair tied with bright yellow bows.

Mackenson's grandmother, who has raised him since his mother died, said she barely has a can of corn grits to feed herself, the boy and her 8-year-old granddaughter each day.

"These things did not happen when I was growing up," 72-year-old Ticouloute Fortune said.

Rural families already struggling with soaring food prices in Haiti, the Western Hemisphere's poorest country, lost their safety nets when fields were destroyed and livestock wiped out by the storms, which killed nearly 800 people and caused $1 billion worth of damage in August and September.

U.N. World Food Program country director Myrta Kaulard said she fears more deaths from malnutrition in other isolated parts of Haiti, and search and medical teams were fanning out in the northwest and along the southwestern peninsula to check.

'Always a bottleneck'
The World Food Program has sent more than 30 tons of food aid — enough to feed 5,800 people for two weeks — into the remote southeastern region since September, and other groups funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development have sent food as well, she said.

But the steep, narrow paths and poor visibility make it difficult to deliver the food to the mountain communities where hunger is worsening. In one case, a WFP truck flipped over while struggling up a hill and slid into a ravine, killing an aid worker.

"There is always a bottleneck. The same situation that the people are facing is the same situation we're also facing," Kaulard told The Associated Press Thursday.

Aid shortages may soon compound the problem. Donor countries have funded only a third of the U.N.'s $105 million aid appeal for Haiti following the storms, and resources could run out in January, Kaulard said.

Shriveling frames
At the hospital Thursday, Enock Augustin sat beside the bed where his 5-year-old daughter Bertha was sleeping. The fragile-looking child was evacuated by helicopter Nov. 8 with vomiting and diarrhea. When she arrived, nearly a quarter of her body weight was due to fluid retention, a sign of severe protein deficiency.

The swelling gradually receded as she was fed nutrient-enriched milk and treated with antibiotics and anti-worm medicine; she shrank to just 21 pounds.

She has since gained about two pounds but can't go home until she reaches 26 pounds, doctors said.

For months, the Augustin family had gotten by despite the soaring prices of corn grits and imported rice because they grew potatoes, which they could eat or barter for plantains, yams and breadfruit that did not fluctuate with the world market.

But then, in August, Tropical Storm Fay hit, followed by Hurricane Gustav, Tropical Storm Hanna and Hurricane Ike.

"Every time a hurricane came through, it killed our animals and plants," said Augustin, a father of six. The road was washed out, markets became unreachable and "the price of everything went sky high."

The entire family subsisted on two cups of corn grits, and Bertha began shrinking — and then swelling — before his eyes.

"She was really bad. We put her in the helicopter and they brought her here," Augustin said. "I hope the government will hear about us and bring more support."

I'M NOT OKAY WITH THIS, ARE YOU? WHAT IS OUR ROLE IN ALL OF THIS? WHAT CAN WE DO BESIDES FEEL SAD? ANY THOUGHTS?

It's That Time Of Year!

When big coats and boots get pulled out of storage and big white, cold cottonballs are falling from the sky and the smell of a wood buring fire fills the home and 105.7 is already playing Christmas music and some days are just better curled up on the couch in sweats with a cup of freshly "brewed" hot cocoa. :)

It also means runny noses, projects waiting to be done around the house, a chill that sometimes never leaves and PLOWING season. Yup...Tim just left for his first plow of the season! Please keep him in your prayers this winter as he goes out in the stormy snow and slippery roads when the rest of us stay in! I am so grateful for how hard he works for his family!

My Hero

This post is being written to give props to my hero, my husband! As most of you know, Tim is a part time, volunteer firefighter for Park Township here in Holland. Most of their calls involve more minor things like CO2 alarms going off for no reason, pulled fire alarms, small electrical fires etc. so when they get called for a residential fire, like they did today, it's a big deal and an opportunity the firefighters do not want to miss.

Tim got paged out around 1:30pm for a residential fire not too far from our house and he returned around 6:30pm (yes - my "planned" day was altered and I ended up spending most of it sitting anxiously at home with no clue when he would be back or what was happening). Proudly, Tim and his "teammate" were the first two on scene and the first to enter the house and fight the fire. Listening to his stories now, I'm so thankful that God has equipped Tim with the kind of strength and intelligence needed to be "in the moment" and do intense physical work amidst such stress! Thankfully, the family was not home at the time but sadly, the house is being considered a total loss. You can check out the news story here:

Please keep the family in your prayers as they face the depth of this devastating loss.

November is National Adoption Month

As most of you know, I have the privilege of working part time as an Intercountry Adoption Social Worker at Bethany Christian Services. Over the years, while working in the child welfare system, my heart has been affected by the need for children to be raised in safe, loving families. Since Teagan has been born, this passion has only grown to the point where it hurts sometimes! I have understood not only the importance, but the necessity for a child to be loved in the permanancy of a family. The importance does not just mean stability, commitment, and opportunities for physical, spiritual and emotional growth of a child, but in some cases, it means life or death (my sister-in-law's blog gives you a snip bit of what I'm talking about). My heart will never forget the 13 year old boy I worked with in Grand Rapids for over a year who's death due to neglect still pains me. Or the face of a precious little angel who's picture came across my computer screen as a child available for adoption until HIV stole her life a few months later (did you know that HIV is no longer a death sentence? With proper medication and nutrition, children with HIV can live a long and healthy life...much like those with diabetes or high blood pressure). Please watch this video of her. It is likely that her death could have been prevented if she had a family to help her access proper medication. I'm not okay with the fact that she didn't...are you?

Did you know that there are 143 MILLION orphans in this world? I know that this number is so big, it's really unfathomable....and because it's unfathomable, it's often easy to ignore. Strange how that happens.

That's 143 million children who don't have a mom and a dad to hug them when they are feeling lonely, to hold them when they have a bad dream at night, to play tickle monster with them, to go "home to" on the holidays, to smile at them, letting them know that they matter more than anything in the world to them. That's 143 million children who's development will most likely never reach full potential because no one is there to give them the kind of attachment, bond, and attention that is necessary for their physical, mental and emotional growth.

Did you know that over 6,000 of these children live right here in Michigan?

Sadly, one of the biggest things that people associate with adoption is money. This is true on some levels (domestic adoptions range from FREE to approx. $20,000 while intercountry adoptions range from $20,000 - $30,000), however, there are so many resources out there to assist in these costs. While still a lot of money, I will remind you that people in America often spend more than this on a car. I'll leave it at that. :)

While the reality for some of us is that we aren't going to adopt tomorrow, there are still so many things you can do to care for orphans in this world TODAY...something that for those of us who are Christians, know is close to God's heart (to say it lightly). Things like prayer (for orphans, for foster families, for the child welfare systems, for adoptive families....), sponsorship and orphan care ministries can all make significant differences in this tragedy of children without forever families.

I know that some of you who read this blog have expressed interest in the idea of adoption at one time or another. If you want more info, I'll be thrilled to pass it along! In the meantime, here's a list of some upcoming events that Bethany (in Holland) is holding (most of which I am helping lead so let me know if you would like more details) that you may be interested in!

November 11th at 5:30 p.m. "A Cry for the Orphan" - This event will advocate for orphans overseas who have special placement needs and are waiting for their forever families (we have pictures and profiles of over 200 of these children!). It will take place at the Prince Conference Center at Calvin College in Grand Rapids. A light dinner will be provided and local medical professionals will present. Adoptive families will also be available to share their personal stories and answer questions.

November 13th at 6:30 p.m. "Discover Adoption" - A general adoption information meeting which is excellent for families who are trying to discern which adoption program is right for them. All of Bethany's adoption programs (Domestic Infant, Intercountry, Embryo, and Older Child) will be presented and a panel of adoptive families will share their stories. This event will take place at the Herrick District Library in Holland (300 S. River Ave).

December 1st at 6:00 p.m. Foster Care and Older Child Adoption Orientation - An opportunity to learn about the children available in the State of Michigan and the process involved in becoming a licensed foster parent or adoptive parent. This orientation will take place in the East building of the Holland Bethany Christian Services office (12048 James Street).

December 11th at 6:30 p.m. Intercountry Adoption Information Meeting - Come learn about the different country programs, the adoption process, fees, and resources available to you before and after the adoption is finalized. This information meeting will be held in the East building of the Holland Bethany Christian Services office (12048 James Street).

"SPEAK UP FOR THOSE WHO CANNOT SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES..." Proverbs 31:8

"I WILL NOT LEAVE YOU AS ORPHANS; I WILL COME TO YOU..." John 14:18

"Somebunny" ...

HAD A FUN HALLOWEEN!


We've had a lot of bunnies in our backyard over the years but the one we found today is by far the cutest! :)


Unlike past years, the weather outside was actually nice, however, we opted to meet up with some friends to go trick-or-treating at a local rest home that some of our friends work at. Although Teagan didn't partake in the actual taking of candy, we were able to say "Happy Halloween" to the residents who look forward to this day for a long time! We had a great night!



One of the residents who was trying to convince me that Teagan should eat the Nestle Crunch bar. :)


Teagan's friends: MSU cheerleaders (sisters), a cowboy, Teagie bunny, Bob The Builder, and Raggedy Ann and Andy (twins)!

Fall Happenings

Fall is one of our favorite times of the year and although it's going by too fast, we've had the opportunity to do some fun things. Here's a recap of a few of them:

CRANE'S U-PICK
It's our tradition each year to go to Cranes Orchards in Fennville and pick apples and we loved watching Teagan experience her first time doing this! After trying to fit it into our schedules over the last month, we finally had some time today to go. It was a beautiful Fall day and we had a great time!









HOPE COLLEGE 5 YEAR REUNION!
It's been five years since I (Brooke) said farewell to college life at Hope (and six years for Tim!). We had the opportunity to re-live some of the good 'ole days by meeting up with friends at the reunion party at New Holland Brewery and then hanging out at the Dieleman's home. Tim also played in the alumni soccer game that morning. It always amazes me how he can just jump right back into the game like he never left. I wonder what it would look like to have an alumni track meet...actually, I don't want to know how long it would take me to get around that track right now. :)

After the game (Teagan is sporting her Hope College onesie - thanks "Aunt" Stacey!)


Teagan finally got to meet her future college roomie, Clare (Phil and Corrie's beautiful baby girl)! :)


Our tradition "girls picture."


The guys finally agreeing to do a "guys picture" (in mockery of us, I'm sure)

NEW LIFE

I had the unique privilege to support a young woman I've been mentoring over the past 5 years as she gave birth via C-section to a beautiful baby boy, Jayceon, on Friday. I enjoyed the "new" perspective of this procedure, sitting in the chair next to the operating table rather than on it! It was truly an honor to be able to witness this incredible miracle of new life and makes me even more in awe of the awesome God we serve!