A GLANCE BACK AT 2010

Taking a glance back at 2010 can be very interesting. I just thought that I would like to share with you some highlights of my last year. These photos are not in any particular order. Just wanted to touch on the highlights.

First off, I have had quite the interesting year! In March, I no longer work at the Day Center that I enjoyed working at. There were issues with a certain employee that did not know to leave well enough alone. That is why I decided to not work there any longer as it was making me uptight I guess you could say. I was really stressed. I loved the job, just not one particular person. I decided to leave to make it better for me. I am glad I did and so is my husband. LOL He noticed right away how different that I was after I quit.

Getting use to being at home full time is quite the chore! More ways than one. LOL I have always worked all my adult life and to me it is hard not to have the social life that I had while working and it gave me something to chat about and feel like that I was really worth something and meant something to people.

Not working as also gave me a lot of opportunities to take that I would not have been able to while working full time. I was able to go to Millersburg, OH and meet my Sister Gina (from WV) out there so we could have the first Sister weekend. We had a really good time going through the cheese factory and site seeing and who knows what else. It was a lot of fun and I will always remember that.

Then once summer came along, I was able to go out to WV to help my Dad move. He was getting rid of his old place and wanted to just rent somewhere so that would give him more freedom to do whatever he wanted. Mainly what he wants to do is ride his Harley. He loves that! While I was out there, I was able to help get his rental house ready to move in. We plastered, stucko'd (not sure how to spell that-lol), cleaned, painted.

Then I met my family up in Pennsylvania as we were going to go camping with the Burgdorfer clan. We had a really nice time there and was able to do a lot of site seeing, camping, just good quality family time. Then after that, headed back down to WV to see my Dad and Sister and her family. This time we were able to help Dad move his belongings to the new place. Tom did that as I had a little more painting to finish up. We had a nice time helping Dad move. We had our camper out there so we were able to just stay in that. Had it parked at my Sister's house.

Came back home and then a week or two later, Tom and I went back out by ourselves as we had to haul back the tractor that my Dad gave to us. Tom is so excited about that. You know, once we got it there has not been a lot of snow for him to actually use it. Kinda funny!

Then a couple more weeks went by and I took two boys out with me to spend some time out there and just vacation. While I was out there, after one week, found out via facebook that my Mom passed away. Was kinda shocked about how all that happened. Then my Sister and my nephew came back with the two boys and I. Then had to make arrangements for all of that. Quite stressful. I was really happy to have a couple friends show up to the memorial service that I was not expecting at all. That meant the world to me! After all of that was settled headed back out to WV to finish our vacation and we had to bring the camper back.

Maybe I will write a little something at some of the pictures to highlight the rest of the year.
All in all, it has been a really good year for me.

This is Faith and I ringing in the year of 2010.

We made fondue!

Crazy in your hats!

Wendy gave me a shout out on Facebook to say she was coming over my way for a visit and wanted to stop in. That made me happy. I have not seen Wendy and the girls since 2003 when Randy passed away. It was great to see her and laugh with her again.

Tom is in the middle and Jordan on the left and Mike on the right (when you look at the pic). Tom always have fun going quading with his Coasties. Mike and Jordan moved away this year due to it was time to transfer with their jobs in the USCG.

Sandy and I

We go WAY back! We were friends in HS as I have posted before. It was so nice to reconnect with her this year and the family.

Buds forever!

This was Christmas 2009

The reason I am posting this is because it was the last Christmas that my Mom was able to spend Christmas with us. I miss her!

Mom is the one with her hand by her mouth. Left side!

The next couple pictures will be in honor of my Mom.

In this picture my Mom is the one in Blue and blue jeans.

Here is the order it goes from left to right.

Aunt Sis (Carol), Mom (Kathy), Grandma Myrt (their Mom), Uncle Phil and Auntie Janny!
This is my Mom in the red and my Dad (Terry Lehr) and he is holding me. The girl below is my cousin Sheila. Why is it that when I look at these while I am posting it brings a tear to my eye? Oh well, Life is good!

This is the Pennsylvania family.

We had a lot of fun camping out there and spending time with everyone.

This is Shawn with the fish that he caught while camping in PA.

This is Tom

He made waders out of garbage bags so he would not get wet while fixing the pool. Yeah, you do what ya have to to make it work--no matter how redneck it is. LOL

We had a small hole in our pool and Tom had to patch it because we did not want to pay for another liner when that one was only used once as it was.

Matt and Amanda

I love them both very much!

Renee and Cameron

Renee and I met back in 1997 and I am so thankful for and treasure our friendship.This is the whole gang!

When I go up to Cadillac (Caddy) to visit friends and family this is one of the bunches that I see.

We have lots of fun!

This is my Dad

He is awesome!

I made one more trip to WV to see him in November as I got a call from my sister that he did not feel good. So, I ventured out to WV to be with my Dad. He had to have a pacemaker/defibrillator put in. He is doing really well now. I am so glad that I made that trip. I was able to spend some extra quality time with him.

This is me!

While I was in WV~~I was able to go and take some pictures and just have some good quiet time to myself. Everyone needs that once in a while.

Had a great Halloween!

Tom surprised me with tickets to go see my favorite group!

Lady Antebellum
I like to take pictures and this is how beautiful Fall was at our house.

Amand and one of the baby chicks this year.

We like to raise chickens! Thinking about a pig next year!

Took the kids to Fallasburg Park in Lowell to get their pictures taken.

Me, Sandy, and Stacey

Big year of reconnections this year!

So Happy!

Mason playing football for the first time.
Mitch playing soccer on the 7th grade team.
Windy Grand Haven

WE had a great quading trip as a family.

Looking forward to many more times of that.

Well, that is a look back at my year! I am hoping that all of you have a wonderful New Year! I hope and pray that 2011 will be a wonderful year for you!

Happy Birthday Jesus-Merry Christmas

What a nice day with the family. So relaxing!

Tom's parents and sister came over and we had a nice meal and good quality family time.

What is it about Christmas day that is tiring?

I hope that all of you had a great Christmas! I pray that you all know and love the Lord!
God is mighty! Thank God for the Saviour Jesus that He sent to us so that we have the opportunity to have eternal life.

What a mighty God we serve
What a mighty God we serve
Heaven and Earth adore Him
Angels bow before Him
What a mighty God we serve!

Merry Christmas!

Vandlen Christmas in Battle Creek

Oh Christmas Tree-Oh Christmas Tree

How lovely are thy branches!
Dave and Jan Vandlen (aka-Mom, Dad, Grandpa, Grandma)
Mitch, Shawn, Connor, Mason, Amanda

Uncle Louie having a good time with the family and opening his presents.
He is a great man!

The boys got some snuggies from Grandma and Grandpa.

They love them!

Connor and Mason wanted their picture taken with their snuggies!

Sara (Tom's sister) with her cousin Bryan.

Sadie had a great time opening her present that Gramps and Gram got her!

Amanda loves opening things! Ever since she was a baby, she was always wanting to know what was in a package or bag. So curious and still is!

Mason, Connor, Mitch and Shawn

These boys get along great!

This is all of us!

Enchilada Night!

Playing a board game that John brought. He is the one in the blue! He looks like he knows what he is talking about. That game was pretty cool. Something called IDK battle of the sexes or something along that line. It is a trivia game. The girls would pretty much know all the questions they ask the guys and the guys would know probably all the questions that they ask the girls. Guys won!

Renee and Rick brought over a yummy dessert! Ludwig's sour cream donuts, warm it up, cut in half and then put vanilla ice cream on top and drizzle with homemade fudge sauce. So delicious.
The kids were having fun playing!

Case trying to kick the basketball to mess with Shawn.

Case and Cameron loved the matchbox cars that Auntie Shelly got them!

Renee and Cameron

The night was wonderful having friends over for Tom's famous Chicken Enchiladas! We had that and some chips with salsa and a cheese dip that Faith made.

Great laughs and fun had by all!

Winter in Caddy!

Headed up to Cadillac today with Faith and my daughter Amanda. We had to do a few things at my Mom's house and pick up a few things. While we were there we had lots of snow to shovel without a shovel. We ended up using a broom and a dust pan. We thought it was really funny while we had fun using those two items. Then I broke the broom. If you happen to check out my facebook there are pictures on there too.

The above picture is on the way to Cadillac (Caddy) taking 131 North.

There was a little frost on the trees and some on just the tree tops.

Very pretty!

Don't ya just love the look of the snow on the bushes and trees?

I really enjoy the looks of it and the wonderful winter land that it shows. Amazing how God can make something that seems so miserable to some so pretty! What an awesome God we serve!

This is on the drive around Lake Cadillac. We were heading over to my Auntie Janny and Uncle John's house. We had an awesome visit and so much laughter and reminiscing. Thank you very much! Faith says that she now understand where my humor comes from. HMMMM Yepper! Shoot-I even started getting gray hair early and on the sides just like Aunt Janny did! LOL Good thing there are salons out there and good hair color! :)

Amazing choir (Perpetuum Jazzile) uses their hands to simulate storm

I love this! I really enjoy acapella music. To listen to this group and how they make the sounds of the rain and everything without musical instruments.

I hope that you enjoy it as well.

My Brother From Another Mother

This is Teddy! He is my BFAM--Brother From Another Mother!

He can be so crazy! He is a lot of fun too!

I bet he misses that brown poopy truck!

Looks like he has too much dirt in that bed because the tires look like they are going flat!

Love the boots with the socks and shorts Teddy.

Sound of Music | Central Station Antwerp (Belgium)

I love this song and movie! It would be so much fun to get out there and dance with everyone and have a great time.

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

I had some fun making this video. My friends that are in it our Sandy, Janny, Annie and Sherry. They are a lot of fun! I did this just to get a little chuckle out of them.

Does anyone remember wearing clothes like that? I do remember having some striped pants. Boy am I glad that I don't have any clothes like that now!!!!

Enjoy the video!

Toys For Tots

What a great organization!

I was able to go out and take a few pictures of the Marines and the Coast Guard guys volunteering to collect toys for the little kids. On Friday I went around Noon and there were not many people delivering packages. I was going to be busy later that night at the local nursing home volunteering and would not be able to get some shots for when people were out of work.

I decided to head out Saturday after Shawn's basketball practice and it was really steady. It is great to see smiling faces when they drop off the toys. That is what Christmas is all about, giving and not expecting anything back. We don't always have to give in money, or spend a lot on gifts. It is just nice to have family together during the holiday and spend quality time with friends and family.

One thing that happened to me this week is that a friend of mine, Sherry, decided to drop of some goodies that she made. I had a couple. The caramels taste like a slow poke sucker and the kids ate all the rest of the goodies. Thanks Sherry.

Want to cheer someone, make some yummy treats and send it their way without them expecting it. That is the best!!!!

Those not left behind

Okay Teddy, here are some more Thanksgiving pictures. I did not leave you our purposely so here are a few.

Aaron does not usually get in the pictures or will always turn away when I am taking the picture. Darn kid!
This one is of Faith--aka--Faithers, little woman, blondie!

This is goofy Teddy! He is so funny!

Not sure what Faith is laughing at, maybe she sees something funny on the ceiling! Faith, you are sitting in my chair that I want delivered to my house on Christmas day!

We had a great Thanksgiving with y'all there! Many more times to come!

Beautiful Sky

What a beautiful sunrise this morning!

This morning around 7:50am I was getting Mason on the bus. We noticed how beautiful the sky was at the end of the driveway. While I was on my way back to the garage to park, I noticed the beautiful sky out back. So, I ventured into the house to grab my camera and this is a couple pictures of what I got.

The colors were amazing! The clouds were very beautiful!

Thank you lord for the wonderful portrait this morning!

May you be blessed today as I was this morning!

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving! It is a special time of caring and sharing, remembering the best and being grateful!

We had a great Thanksgiving and I hope that all of you have too. What is Thanksgiving about? Why do retailers want to rush us through this special holiday? I know it is about making money for them but I like to treasure Thanksgiving! Why? There are so many things to be grateful for--family and friends, the life we have to live, the beauty of all of creation!

There is a lot of preparation that goes into Thanksgiving to make the day a wonderful memorable day. Looking up menus, planning the dinner, decorating, calling all family members and friends to see if they will bring their special yummy dish that they make so well. Then once that is done, heading out to the stores to get all the ingredients that you need to make those special dishes.

Then it was off to Grandmother's house we go. We hopped in our vehicles and off we were!
We headed down to Battle Creek to where my husband Tom's parents live. Mom loves to have people over and spoil them with all of her awesome cooking. She is such a party planner. I love that!

As you see in some of the pictures there is a time and place for everything. Kids playing on Grandma's organ. Now the kids just make noise, but Grandma is awesome!

The family pets even get to share in the event of our Thanksgiving. Granny even has treats for the dogs. They love Grandma--even if she sneaks in a piece of Turkey to them. LOL

There is a time for relaxation before and after the meal. A time for sharing what is on our minds. Old memories of what we use to do as kids. Laughing about a lot of situations like that and harassing each other with all of the stories.

Had a nice walk on the Vandlen trail in the back woods. We actually got the walk in before it started to rain. It is so nice to breathe in the fresh air and to take in nature.

Gotta love family! There is a special bond that is created with family. We will always stick by each other no matter what happens.

There is a time to take pictures so we can look back on all of the things that we have done on Turkey day!



A time to be silly!

I am thankful for the wonderful day that we had.

Looking forward to many more Thanksgivings together!

Eat, enjoy and be Thankful!

I hope that all of you have had a wonderful day as well.

Now, off to the next holiday! Christmas! Can you believe how fast time goes when you get older?

Today I will be decorating for Christmas as well as many of you are I am sure. Have a wonderful day and SMILE!!!! SING TO YOUR CHRISTMAS MUSIC! FA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA

TIME WITH GREAT FRIENDS

Headed up to Cadillac Tuesday! We like to call it Caddy!

I went there to spend some time with some great friends. Friends from High School and made some new friends. It sure is fun spending time with friends from old and new. What a great gift to us to have friends and family to make wonderful memories.

The 'Spoonies' are the girls that I played ball with in HS. We were awesome and probably still are! Teamwork was what we did!

We were all getting together before Thanksgiving to watch the Drinking Team bowl, celebrate Sherry's birthday and to just have fun hanging out with each other.

You know you have great friends when you might not see them for a period of time and when you get back together it is like there wasn't any time missed.

This is Janny! She is looking like she is up to something!

This is Janny and Ma Spoon!
Annie and Jannie 'Spoon'


Sherry is the Birthday girl.

She is kinda like Malcolm--IN THE MIDDLE!
Sherry is Awesome! She is so fun and bubbly! Never a dull moment with her around either.

It is great getting to know you Sherry!

Getting ready to blow out all the candles!

Sherry and Sandy

Woot! Woot! Woot!

Sandy and I

Friends for a lifetime!

There will always be changes in our lives.

The lifetime of changes, will not change the lifetime of friendship!

Commitment-Dedication-Devotion-Respect-Caring-Compassion-Giving-Love

This is the whole gang!

We had so much fun!

I enjoyed spending time with my Spoonie Family and getting to know new people.

Philippians 1:3--Thank my God every time I remember you.

Ever wonder what has happened to someone you knew very well? What have they been up to for days, months or years? Where has life taken them?

Stop and take time to reconnect if you can. There is so much that life has to offer and friendship is a treasure sent from God. He did not want us to be lonely. He provided people here for us to enjoy life. Sure there may be struggles in life, but is is not anything that we cannot handle! There may be people that we can't "handle" but there are those great friends that were meant to be in our lives. There is a reason that someone has came into our lives. Whether it be but a moment or a lifetime!

John 15:12,13,17-- My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13-Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. 17-This is my command: Love each other.