Huizenga Grandchildren!!!

The four little munchkins!!!
Notice the fun dutch shoes for the wee ones!!! Unfortunately Hannah's did not fit so well, but Evan's fit and he walked around in them!
We got Lydia laughing and she could not stop! It was so funny....

This is Evan, the son of Aaron and Alysa....He is so much fun...he just putz around and plays all day without fail. I wish I would have had more time to spend with him, but as A and A stayed at Joel's we did not get to see him too much...I tried to make him sit on my lap, but he was not always willing.
My brother Joel's two girls, Lydia in pink and Allison in blue. Well, my brother Joel is a VB coach and I am trying to get his girls to do XC instead of VB....so I am staring early with the brainwashing...

This is Hannah, my sister's Sarah littel girl...the last night we were in Kankakee, Leah, Sarah, my parents, and a few others where just crowded around this bed and she just entertained us all! It was great...She is sometimes quite serious when she is not familar, but this night she was all smiles...what a cutie! Below, Allie is so sweet...she can be a bit challenging, but when she is sweet, especially after nap time, she is the cutest!!!

The Huizenga Family

What a cute group we are!!!! This is my whole family...there are now 16 on the outside and 2 more on the inside!!! In red, my parents, Dale and Judy. In white, Joel and Carmen and Lydia is standing with Allie on Carmen's knee (Carmen is pregnant due in January). In orange, Aaron and Alysa and their little one Evan (Alysa is also prego!!!). In pink is my sister Saraha and her man, Pat with little Hannah. Leah and John are in Green and guess who is in blue??? ME and PETER!!!

Fall in Scotland

I must say, the autumn here is so beautiful. All the trees are turning colors and as long as the rain holds off, we have a beautiful view. However, already the rain is stripping the trees... The temperature is droping and we were just above freezing last night...maybe it will be a white Christmas after all....
This is my friend Lindsey, who I work with in the office. Someone recently suggested I give a tour of where I work so you could see what I do everyday. I must say, I don't do dishes any more, but we helped out one night after a staff party. The above pictures is us in the dish pit...not the funnest job, but neccessary. At the beginning of our time here, I was doing dishes 2-3 times a week. What a blessing to move to the office!!!
This is my desk!!! complete with pictures of my neices and nephew! I have the funniest computer. It randomly shuts down programs, so I have learned to save and save often!!! Also, the computer itself with randomly restart....it makes for interesting days! When the computer does start, the CD drive is broken, so it makes the huge grinding sound...We are hoping to have computers donated soon...this one keeps me on my toes! You will also notice a pot of yogurt with a spoon. I eat a strawberry yogurt everymorning. Tesco's the local supermarket sells them for 8p a piece!!! I will soon publish pics from our trip to America....I have some cute ones of the family....Hope you are all doing well...Have a great day!

Paul came to visit!!!

It is always so much fun to have visitors!!! our friend Paul came to see us in September, and we had a few days to show him around. We took him up to Cullun, and had a fun day walking along the beach and cliffs. We also walked to this great castle that was built into the side of a cliff...It is shown on one of these pictures! In this castle, you could walk up and down for 2-3 levels; it was open for the public to explore. At one level, it was quite rough footing, and if you weren't careful you'd fly out the crumbling window!! we were okay though...
The last picture is of a rock near Cullun....what does it remind you of? A whale's tale?!?



We are doing well, looking forward to our trip to America and the Netherlands. In trying to wrap everything up, we are just tired and ready to be gone. In three days I get to see my family!!!! I hope you are all doing well...

The Blairmore Tartan

It has been suggested to me that I give a bit of a tour of where we live....So I am starting with the Blairmore Tartan. This tartan was made for and paid for by the Swiss millionaire who owned Blairmore before Ellel. I am sure it was a pretty penny....Anyway, until recently, this was the floor covering in the main hall way and the main staircase. Unfortunately with the amount of traffic we get with all our courses, the tartan wore out and we had to replace it with a nice, but boring green carpet....It is still in place in many rooms in the house, and is my favorite thing about this place... So Scottish! Just wanted to show you the carpet!

a cool story

Today was an interesting day where I learned more about the history of this building. The house was built in the 1880's by a buisness man name Alexander Geddes. I was suprised to learn that he had made a lot of money in Chicago in the meat and grain markets. He was very much impacted by the Great Chicago Fire. There is an inscription all about his potential ruin due to the fire, but was saved due to a certain chest. Anyway, during WWII the house was used by the British Forces to house a small regiment that trained locals how to fight in case they were invaded. Today, a gentleman stopped by and asked if he could look around as he had been stationed here during 1942. I asked him a bit about his time here and during the war, and he shared a bit about what he had done and seen. He fought in Sicily, Italy, Northern Africa, and was a POW in Arnham. It was very cool to be able to talk with him, and I told him that I had recently been in the British cemetary in Arnham. He told how when he was stationed here, they got to go to Huntly alot and visit the dance halls. He also mentioned that it was great there were no Yankee's up this way, so that the British soldiers got more attention from the ladies!!! Fun time!

More pictures...

This is a cool stone bringe which was only 2-3 miles from our cottage...Peter and I went by ourselves to find it, and that turned out to be a really nice time. There was a small waterfall, and it was just very peaceful.
The picture above and below were taken on a walk we took on the Rothiemurches Estate. It was our best day, weather wise, with blue skies. We got to see all the heather in bloom, and it was a beautiful time. The purple heather with the blue sky and green trees, were quite amazing. On this walk, we got to see loads of RAF fighter planes flying. They go so low to the ground and you feel like you can almost touch them! I did not get any pictures of them...too bad!

The above pictures is from falls in the NorthWest Highlands, where we got to see salmon jumping up stream. It was the first time I have ever seen salmon in nature swiming and jumping about. It was very cool. We sat for about 45 minutes and saw quite a bit of action...we were all very excited!
With all the rain and sunshine, usually at the same time, we got to see alot of rainbows. Everytime I see one, I always think of God's promises...They are so beautiful and are becoming my favorite thing to look for...
Peter's parents, Serry and Joop. This is in Glen Coe, after we had done a bit of walking...we just sat and enjoyed the view...Serry and Joop beat us here and had about 30 minutes waiting for us. They said in that time, countless people would stop, get out and take 2-3 pictures and hop back in the car. It is like they only see Scotland through thier camera. It is a real pity, this was such a magnificent place to just sit and be still. So many miss that in thier hurry to see more.

OUR VACATION!!!

Hello again....I finally have a bit of time to download some of these pictures onto our blog. We has such a great time on holidays with Peter's parents, traveling around Scotland is always fun! We stayed about 2 hours south west of Blairmore, on the outskirts of the Cairngorm National Park, which boasts the second tallest peak in the UK. We had a small cabin with beautiful views and a week of no rain...it was not always blue skys but atleast it was warm and partially sunny. The above picture was taken near Fort William (close to Ben Nevis) at Inverlochy Castle. It is a ruin, but you could climb around the fortress and see out the second and third story windows...I love going to old buildings, and this one was fun to see. Usually you can not climb around, but this one was open for that..
This is in Glen Coe, probably the prettiest, most amazing scenery that we saw. We had driven down to Fort William, and proceeded further south, to this area. We did not have so much time, but Peter and I climbed for about an hour, and took this photo...You can just see the road that goes through this glen, and it is really stunning. This picture doesnot show half of it. It was so green and majestic. It was like you were just seeing God's hand all over His creation. The peaks we were walking to were called the Three Sisters...Sarah, Leah and Elisabeth!!!
This is Peter and I (just in case you forgot what we looked like!) on Loch Morlich near the Cairn Gorm. We got to do some hiking in these moutains. We pretty much spent all day either reading, playing games or hiking...the only other things we did was eat!
This is a view of the heather, which was in full bloom...it was so beautiful on the hills especially when the sun is shining....Bonnie Scotland!!!

our team

Well, this is most of the team that I work with, minus I think 4 people who were sick or not working....It is a fun group and I will tell you all thier names!!!
Left-Right, back row: Russ (America), Johann (S. Africa), Joe (N. Ireland), David (England), Simon (England)
L-R 3rd row: Heather (Canada), Maureen (England), Lindsey (England), Malcolm (England)
L-R 2nd row: Laura (Australia), Carol(Scotland), Anna(England), Helen (Australia), Sarah(Scotland)
Front Row: Liz, Peter, Pablo(Argentina), Kerry(England), Jenny(England)

We are lucky, the team keeps going and we expect two more people to come in the next 2 weeks...God has really brought the people we have prayed for and we are all blessed becuase of it. Seeing these young people come has really encouraged all of us to step up and do what He has called us to do. Peter and I have enjoyed them very very much.
We are sad to lose two people from this group, Sarah and Heather. Both have been here since we have been here and are very fun people...

Thank you to all who have prayed for us...We have definately come through some hard moments and we appreciate you!!!

Hello Friends

Here is a picture of a castle you see if you go to Aberdeen...I just added it becuase I like it!!!

As many of you know, Peter's parent have been here to visit and we were able to take a week's holiday near Avimore (in the middle of Scotland). Joop and Serry have now returned to the Netherlands, and we are still recovering from our busy trip! Soon very soon, I will show you pictures. Our time was great...we were able to rest and see alot at the same time. Plus, we got to play games every night!!!! It was so much fun. I also think my dutch took another step in the right direction...one day I will get there. I must say, that we have gotten to see two amazing things in the last two weeks. On our trip, we went to some water falls in the NW highlands and got to see Salmon jumping upstream...it was so cool to see them jump right out of the water...I had never seen that, accept on TV...very cool. The other thing happened yesterday when we, as a team, went to the north coast for fish and chips for one of the team is leavng. We were on the beach, and we got to see dolphins off the coast...it was really amazing to see them so clearly and so closely....neat eh?!? well, I hope to write again soon...luv to you all...

Ben Nevis

Ben Nevis is the tallest mountain in the UK at 4406 feet. On Friday, Peter, me, Helen (Australia) and Sarah, (Scotland) climbed it!! It is located about 2 1/2 hours south west from Blairmore. We got up at 5:30 on our day off, and headed to Fort William. It was a realtively nice day, with no rain, but it was pretty cloudy. It took Peter and I 3 3/4 hours to get up and 2 1/2 hours to get back down. After about an hour and a half, you reach the clouds, and from that point on we were walking in a thick mist. We got a bit wet, but not too bad. The hard part was not being able to see where you were headed, and it got a bit discouraging. However, once we got to the top, it was amazing. The clouds lifted and we got a beautiful view of the gorge below. It was so steep! These pictures don't do it justice. There were alot of people climbing as well...including on little girl who could not have been older than 9...That was my motivation to keep going!!! The next day, most of us were so sore! My calves and my hamstrings felt like they were on fire, and it isn't until now that I walk normal again! In all, tit was a fun time and I am so glad that we got to do it!!!

Cherries!!!!

I must tell you, I love cherries! When we arrived, and it was so dark and winter was really going, people told us about the garden. Beautiful flowers, yummy strawberries, and a host of other goodies. What no one knew about was the 6-7 cherry trees that we have on our property. Peter has been busy picking and sharing them. Fresh cherries are so much better. yummy!!!!

I find it amazing that we can go into this massive walled garden and have a hundred different flowers all blooming at different times. In addition, there are strawberries, raspberries, black currents, red currents, and cherries! plus we have spring onions, potatoes, different lettuces, and spinach...Peter is starting to work more in the garden....He is dirty and happy.

My Birthday!!!

Well, I know this was now a few weeks ago, but on my birthday, Peter and I left for a work trip to St. Andrews. We had to get up at 7:00 and pack the van to leave. So, my birthday celebrations were not too crazy, that early in the morning. Peter was very sweet and gave me a few candle holders he had carved out of wood and then the last gift was this pretty jewelry box. It is so pretty and the mirror reflects the colored rose. It is very beautiful in the sun.

It was a fun birthday, even though I had to get up early!

A trip to Pemberly

So, I do find it difficult to keep up with posting things here. I can't believe it took me 5 weeks to post these pictures, as the contents are so important. In late June, I went to visit a friend, Erica with whom I did NETS. She is living in Manchester right now, and we have a very good time, talking and going out for Pizza Hut!!! One of the exciting activities Erica planned was a trip to Lyme Park, which is better known as Pemberly in the BBC's production of 'Pride and Prejudice.' As some might know, I really enjoyed the movie...all 6+ hours of it!!! I have seen multiple times and read the book so often that it is starting to wear out. We were able to walk around and it was great...There are SO many beautiful houses like this in England, and unfortunately they are falling apart from lack of money.
These stairs, if you recall, are where Mr. Darcy runs out after changing from his swim in the pond. He knew Elizabeth was waiting... and below is where they meet. Needless to say, we made fools of ourselves here playing the parts. Inside the building that you see below there were beautiful indoor gardens, I will show some pictures another day. Anyway, this was a mini-tour of my day at Lyme Park...

What a week!

Man, what a week!! Lindsey (my office mate), Peter and I left on the 15th for St. Andrews to work at a Chrisitan conferenct called CLAN (Christians Linked Across the Nation.) We put up a stand for Ellel, and then helped answer any questions that came up. It was a good week, and many people stopped by to either ask questions or to tell us they had already been and had been so helped by the ministry. It was very encouraging! I even had one lady give us money-totally out of the blue.
For me the best part was getting to play with some kids! This event is really organized for the family, with events for all ages, and plenty of free time for families to get to be together too...it was great! At any moment, we had 2-5 kids hanging about, and that was great... One little girl reminded me of my niece Allie, because she would always come up to me, but then run away yelling 'NO!' so funny.
On most of the days, there was record highs throughout Britian, and we were so hot!!! I have never been that sweaty and dirty, even at camp! There were thousands of tiny bugs and in all, I was SO glad to be back to Blairmore and to be inside ALL DAY!!! The differences between me and Peter were very apparent as he was in his element, being outside!!! Well, I will post pictures later...It is nice to be back and hopefully thing will cool off a little...

another July day

Well, It is another July day and it is chilly! I am wearing a long sleeved sweater, while talking to my family who is sweating in 30 degree weather! No fair!!! Now i know why no one has a pool here, it is way too cold. Life here is chugging away, slowly but surely. Not to much to say, nothing too big is happening, but I just wanted to say hello and show you my new favorite pictures. Bleeding hearts...somehow I find them very beautiful. The good news is our garden is bursting forth and we have loads of strawberries...yummy! They look funny, but taste great! If only they'd let me help pick them...

hmm, brochures...

Well, I must tell you, today and the immdiate future looks bleak. On July 15th, Peter, me, and my friend Lindsey are headed to St. Andrews for a Christian Conference, called CLAN. They expect 5000 people, and we are putting up a publicity stand there. Well, one part of the preparation falls to me to do: brochures. So, as I have counted, I have to cut, fold, insert, and copy over 5000 brochures!!! This is not the best part of my job, I can tell you that. Just so you know, I have not had one paper cut yet!!! another successful day. The above picture is one Peter just took here at Blairmore. These flowers are everywhere right now, so small and so beautiful. Hope this finds you smiling!

Kincraig

A few weeks back, close to our anniversary, Peter and I went, with our friend Kerry, to see one of our associate counselors here at Bliarmore. His name is John Love, and he lived in Kincraig, near Avimore. This is a very beautiful part of the country, close to the Cairngorm Mountains. We drove down together, and it was just such a lovely day. Blue sky and warm. We ended up going on a walk near his house, to Loch Insch. It was beautiful. In the top photo, you can see his church nestled into the hillside. So pretty. The second picture is of a ruin, where a tree had used an old wall/fireplace to help it grow...it looked so cool. We also got to feed a few sheep that he is looking after...they were so excited...I did not know this, but sheep will use thier heads to hit thier mother to get the mild flowing. So when we put the bottles over the fence, they just kept hitting us with thier heads....Milk was everywhere! We had fun and I wanted to share the pictures....

Our house, is a very very very small house...

This is our room! This is a shot of our little 'sitting room.' Baiscally it is big enough for two chairs and the table...our room is shaped like an L. Already this picture is out of date, as Peter found two new chairs. By new, I mean new to us! They are much more comfortable, and we sit there alot more. The tulips were from our anniversary...Peter is so sweet...
One of the girls here, Kerry, was given a brand new guitar. So, in turn, she gave me her old one!!! What a blessing! Her old one is a thousand times nicer than ours, and it sounds so much better. Makes it more fun to practice. So what do you think of the picture below?!?

A trip to the Beach

This is a castle you can see on the way from Blairmore to Aberdeen, which is about 45 miles. Peter and I stopped to see it, but it is privately owned. It looked like people still lived there! Can you imagine living in a place like this?
For our second anniversary, Peter and I took three days off, and just did not do much. We played tennis, watched a movie, went on a 9 mile walk, and just basically sat around. As it turned out, we actually had a really nice time, and it was good not to try and DO alot. We had been pretty tired from work and the rest time was fun...But it was hard to grasp that we got married 2 years ago...it feels so much shorter. The more we thought about it, we realized that our time living in Almere felt like ages ago...time is a funny thing.
Anyway, a few days after our short break, we had to pick up a new staff member from the airport, and as it was our day off, we left eary and went to a beach north of Aberdeen. It turned out to be the most beautiful day, blue sky and lots of sun. We found a sheltered spot on the dunes to eat our lunch and we just laid around, played frisbee, and read. It was beautiful. But you will never guess how cold the water was! I never got in past my toes...it was freezing! I was sweating with the sun, and could not even cool off in the water! We are so far north here...
Yeah!! some more beach pictures!