Greetings from the Dykstra Family! Our apologies for being strangers these last months. we have not taken the time to share with you some of the things going on in the life of our family. I will briefly do so here.

Wow, the time these days seems to be flying! Leah and the kids are in the dog days of summer and loving every moment of it! Though the kids like school, they love summer too! Leah has been enjoying the change of pace as well. Tomorrow they will host a tea for a neighbor down the street, Miss Betty. They made scones and cookies today, and will set a table in the yard for them, as Miss Betty cannot climb the stairs.

You might hardly recognize our crew now! Abaigael is 8 years old and is a genuine book worm, we have had to encourage her to eat books one at a time, which she laments, because there are so many books and seemingly so little time! She has read all of the Chronicles of Narnia, Anne of Green Gables, and is eager to begin reading about the Boxcar Children. Keely is 5 years old, she is more active than ever! Keely has a servants heart and loves to help her younger siblings, though they don't always appreciate her help. Keely's favorite thing is to run into a room yelling "Roar!!!" at the top of her lungs! Silas is 3, he loves to rinse things in water, for his birthday in April we got a water activity table for the deck, and he loves to play in the water. Actually, he loves even more to help mom in the kitchen rinse the dishes, this will occupy him for hours if he were allowed! Evangelyn is now 14 months old, walking, pivoting, and slowly beginning to speak. She says, Momma, Dadda, cracker, this, and she recognizes dog barks. She is the happiest baby of the lot, and is contented just to follow her siblings around most of the time, as they often do their share of entertaining her! (If they are not trying to carry her around).

Our family has prayerfully submitted an application to begin the process of an International adoption, though it has been a while since an update from the agency, we trust that if the Lord would bless the process we are quite willing to be an adopting family. We recently read "Adopted for Life" by Russel Moore, and served along side a family of our church as they welcomed a daughter from China. What a blessing to witness adoption, and how it serves as a picture of our adoption into the family of God as God's children through our adoption in Christ. We will keep you posted in how this goes or as we receive updates.

Leah and I recently attended a "Weekend to Remember", a marriage conference hosted by Family Life Today. What a blessing that was, to see God's merciful and abundant hand as He has blessed our almost 12 years of marriage. We are thankful for the time together, it was a refreshing and renewing weekend.

I have been working for the County of Los Angeles now for 6 months as a District Public Health Nurse. What a blessing that has been! I work out of the county health center 1 block away, a 6 minute walk! I serve a region only 7 miles away, following-up referrals for communicable diseases like TB, SDT's and reportable acute communicable diseases (like salmonella, pertussis, etc...). I am enjoying the field of nursing and each day prayerfully and expectantly walk to work knowing God has placed our family in this place at this time.

Thank you for your prayers, we pray this finds you well, and we would love to hear how you are doing. We have also attached a semi-recent photo of our family :-)

Much Thanks!

Geoff
for the Dykstra Family South
Geoffrey & Leah, Abaigael, Keely, Silas, Evangelyn, ?

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Get Healthy and Help Orphans!!!

So, starting in March we are going to have fresh, organic, seasonal produce delivered to our home once a week! A local farm in Irvine has a neat program that we've been thinking about joining for a while. By starting a group and getting at least 10 families to order a small or large box per week, we can use our house as a drop point and Tanaka Farms will deliver the boxes right to us and anyone in our group who orders can pick up their produce at our place. And the even cooler thing is that the Tanaka Farms CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program will not only benefit our health but will also benefit orphans through Project Hope's Lifesong Adoption fund! For every box of produce our group buys, Tanaka Farms will donate 10% to the Lifesong Fund. Our church has an orphan ministry (Project Hope) and we are so excited to join in supporting orphan care in this small but practical way. If you live locally and are interested in participating let me know!!

Today, Eileen from the farm, delivered two boxes to us to "sample"! Oh yum! She gave us a small and a large box full of all sorts of of great veggies and fruits. The kids and I enjoyed some tasty strawberries and crunchy carrots. I love these kids! They make me laugh so much. Especially Keely......check out the pictures of our fun afternoon.

Here's what this weeks small box contained (minus the kids):


Here's what this weeks large box contained (also minus the kids):

And another one bites the dust.... or why I love my washing machine and miss my dryer

So yesterday started off normal (whatever that is!) and quickly turned the corner into Wednesday, daring me to follow. Evie threw up in the morning and it wasn't pretty. This was complicated by the fact that our water was turned off. The kids and I trooped downstairs to see if there was a note left on our mailbox and saw a city water truck parked in front of the house doing something to the fire hydrant on the corner. Thankfully the water was back on in a few hours. The rest of the day seemed pretty normal, we got some school done, went to bed at a decent time. Then Evie woke up around 4am vomiting. Ewwww.

Geoff got up early and I was able to sleep until right up until he went to work at 7:3o which I would later be even more thankful for than I was then. School started great and Keely and I were able to get through several Phonics lessons (which is her least favorite subject). Then she said she didn't feel well. Uh oh. By 1o she began to throw up, on the couch. (Warning, if you have a weak stomach you probably won't want to read about the rest of our day).

So we changed gears and ended up reading stories on the couch and the next time she threw up we had the bucket ready. Score 1 for preparedness! And then Silas begins to say he doesn't feel well. At this point I begin to wonder how long it will be for the rest of us if 3 out of 6 are sick within 12 hours of each other. I decided to tuck sad Keely in bed with her bucket ready thinking she'll sleep and feel better soon. How wrong I was!

I get her tucked in and Evie, who had been napping wakes up crying. Before I could get her up Silas throws up on the kitchen floor. At least it wasn't the couch this time. The floor is so much easier to clean. Clean Silas up, tuck him in bed, exit his room to the sounds of Keely throwing up in bed (not in the bucket). Bummer. Evie's not crying anymore though. I'm SO thankful she went back to sleep. I clean Keely up, strip the bedding off and put clean sheets on and head downstairs to toss the soiled laundry in to wash.

As soon as I get back upstairs I hear Silas. Change his sheets, clean him up, toss the yucky stuff on the porch for the next load. Get Abbie some lunch. Sit down to eat and hear coughing. Uh oh....Silas again. Change the sheets again and toss them on the deck. Sit down to eat a few more bites and hear, "Mama!!!". This time it's Keely. De ja vu! Change sheets, exit room...Silas' turn.

So now we are out of sheets and I just shift Silas to a different spot on the bed and put towels under him. I called Geoff at work (which is something I rarely do!) to get his expert advice on what to do for them. As I'm on the phone Keely comes out, I tell her to get her bucket. She gets it just in time! And then it's Silas in his bed again. I start to wonder if this is really real? Per Geoff's advice I made up a re hydration drink and as I head to give it to Keely who is on the couch, out comes Silas with his hand over his mouth. Clean him up and sit him on the couch. I give them each a cup and a towel and Evie wakes up.

I'm so thankful for Disney movies! We sat on the couch the 5 of us and for the next 2 hours Keely and Silas both throw up every 15-20 minutes. I felt like I was playing a Wii game. Abbie jumps off the couch, I put the baby down, wipe a mouth, grab a clean towel, toss the dirty one on the deck, start the movie, repeat......

In between I have been running up and down to the laundry and notice that the dryer is no longer drying. Problem. Geoff gets home and he and Abbie run out to get some dinner and while they are out Abbie begins to feel yucky. Silas finally succumbs to sleep at 7:30, and Keely stops throwing up and goes to sleep at 9:45. Abbie wakes at 11 and now it's her turn every few hours.

And another bites the dust.....it's Geoffs turn.

I am sooooo thankful to the Lord that all 4 kids didn't have it at once and that He gave me the strength to make it through that marathon! I am soooo thankful for a washing machine and Disney movies. Abbie (who has been reading Little House on the Prairie) reminded me multiple times of how good it was that I wasn't Ma and that we weren't living on the prairie. Amen! And I'm soooo thankful for our wonderful friend Sheryl who let us dry clothes in her dryer and for our other friend Cheryl (and Cindy) who came and picked up our laundry, washed it and dried it and returned it to us! Blessings upon you!

Here's a picture of my favorite load of laundry :

The New "Normal"

So it's been way too long, I know! We are hoping to revive our blog starting today =)

Geoff started work last week as a District Public Health Nurse for the County of Los Angeles. His office is a block from our home and his hours are 8am to 4:30! Several times a week he is able to come home and join us for lunch! It has been worth the 6 month hiring process and wait! It's hard to believe that after the last 5 years of school he has finally reached this goal. We are so grateful to our good God for the tremendous provision, stamina, strength, grace, mercy and patience he has provided along the way! What a journey. And now we are on to the next.

With Geoff's job starting, I ended my short term job at Biola and am back home adjusting to school and life with 4 active kids. It's taken more adjustment than I thought it would! People are always asking me what our days are like since we homeschool. Really every day is different and crazy. We have a shell of a routine but nothing is ever completely predictable. Evie is crawling now which adds a whole new dimension to daily life. I feel like I've added lifeguard to my job description. With school and life taking place mostly in the living room there is always something small and enticing for her to put in her mouth, no matter how often we vacuum. She HATES the removal of said enticing objects.

I'm feeling the limitations of our walls and space more than I ever have before. I find myself thinking more and more about what life would be like with one more bedroom? A large yard? Hmmmmm.....probably just as crazy! But I do need to do a spring purge. Trying to get a towel to clean up a spill while having several games fall down and spill all over the closet is discouragingly counterproductive. So is having glass spice jars fall out of the cupboard onto the glass crock pot lid. Any joy I felt in planning ahead with the crock pot disappeared with the glass shards of the lid being swept into the trash.

On a more fun note I thought I'd share these two great websites with you all:

Paper Toys - Paper Cut-Outs - PaperToys.com

and this one's even cooler:

www.thetoymaker.com

You can print out models of toys and buildings and stuff. We haven't tried it yet since our printer is out of ink but I'm hoping to print some soon and let the kids be creative =)

LD