Well, we made it through the holidays and 2007 is in full swing. Here’s the latest:
Wendy painted the dining room this week (see photo). As you can see, it made a huge change but we absolutely love it. The hallways are next (a light beige).
Taylor and Madison survived semester tests this past week.
Taylor is still getting back to normal after her mission trip to Panama. She’s already signed up for a mission to Romania this summer with Global Expeditions.
Speaking of missions, Madison is headed to Mexico (with our church) and Costa Rica (with Global Expeditions) next summer.
Both girls are now in the restaurant biz. Madison has been enjoying her new job at George’s as server and hostess. Taylor has now been a hostess at Monarch’s for a couple years.
I have been battling a nasty cold for the past week. First time I’ve had a cold like this in a long time. The rest of the family has thankfully been successful at avoiding it.
I was able to avoid the road for much of the past few months, but I’ve got my travelin’ shoes on once again. Twin Cities this past week. Montana and Wyoming next week. A visit to San Antonio is imminent in the coming weeks.
No word on a job for Wendy. She’s still praying and looking.
I’m directing USP’s next show, Morning’s at Seven. Rehearsals started this past week. Performances are scheduled for the last weekend of February.
The Christmas Post is a bona fide hit! We had a great opening weekend, with attendance growing with each show. Sunday afternoon matinees is usually a small crowd and there were people lined up down the hallway of the Pella Community Center to buy tickets at the door! The place was packed. It’s a nice pay-off for all the time and energy Wendy has put into the show!!
Thank you to everyone who has been praying for Madison. She’s made steady progress since the doctor changed her anti-biotic last week. She returned to school this morning. Praise God!
It was great to have family and friends come down for the show this weekend. We didn’t get to spend as much time with everyone was we would have liked, but with Christmas around the corner we’ll have that chance in a few weeks.
Wendy has been keeping so busy with the show that she hasn’t had much time to think about her job situation. She’s looking forward to a few more weeks of rest before she begins to think about what God has in store for her employment-wise.
Taylor is getting excited about her mission trip to Panama. She leaves December 27! She’s raised enough money for the base expenses. She just has a few hundred dollars left to pay for her plane ticket.
On a sad note, Grandpa and Grandma Vander Well are closing up the playhouse on Lake of the Ozarks this week. Grandma said Tim was going to be there this past weekend for one last visit before the folks shut ‘er up and head back to Des Moines.
Speaking of Tim, he’s got his own apartment in Lawrence, Kansas. He’ll be working on a project in Topeka for another year or so. He found the social life a bit more to his liking in Lawrence, and found an apartment where he can set up a shop and work on his guitars.
We had a great time Saturday in Iowa City with Wendy’s siblings. We joined Becky and Josh at Jesse and Heidi’s apartment. What a blast. We hadn’t seen Jesse and Heidi since the Wedding, so it was great to all get together. Unfortunately, we forgot our camera!
Becky was inbetween work contracts but plans to head back for another stint in Rhinelander, Wisconsin. She still plans to sail as a nurse on Mercy Ships, but the ship is still under construction and so the mission trip is on hold for now.
Taylor and Madison had all the Homecoming festivities this past weekend. Sounds like all went well. Pella won the football game and the dance was a success – though Taylor looked particularly dead at play rehearsal Saturday morning.
Taylor is waiting for her confirmation packet from Global Expeditions so she can start sending out support letters for her mission trip to Costa Rica this Christmas.
Play rehearsals continue for The Christmas Post (plan now to attend Nov 30, Dec 1,2,3,7, or 8). Wendy’s doing a great job and the cast is wonderful. Wendy has been pleasantly surprised at how quickly the cast is picking up the music and choreography.
What have the Vander Wells’ and our families been up to? Here’s a few quick hits:
Wendy and I spent the weekend painting our living room [see picture]. We started Friday night and worked until the wee hours, then hit it hard again Saturday. We love it. The dining room is next! Our bathrooms continue to be under construction. The contractor hopes to have that all finished in the next week or two.
I uploaded pictures from our trip with Taylor and her friend Rachel to Chicago. Click on the "Tom’s Album" link on the left side-bar of the blog.
I’ve gotten a couple of e-mails from Madison this weekend. She’s doing great in Thailand. She was preparing to go with her Global Expeditions team to a mountain village to minister to the people there. Last week was spent helping University students on their conversational English. They were having a party Friday night with all of the students with the intention of sharing the Good News with them.
Taylor continues to work at the Restaurant and is working at the area TEC (Teens Encounter Christ) retreat this weekend. It’s hard to believe that school is just around the corner.
Wendy and I are headed to the lake to see my folks this coming weekend. We can’t wait!
Wendy’s siblings Josh, Jesse and Heidi are in the process of moving to Iowa City to start Dental school this fall. We can’t wait to have them a little closer to home so we can see them more often!
Wendy’s dad and brother, Lucas went on a short mission to Tijuana a week or two ago. We saw them this past week and got the scoop on the trip. They handed out clothes & toys to the poor and taught VBS. They’re hoping to go back down with some men to build houses in the near future.
My folks have been entertaining guests down at the lake in recently. Friends from church visited, then Jody, Emma and Sol were down there this past week.
Madison has her last Driver’s Ed class on Thursday. She’s still a year and a half away from her license, but happy to have the class over. She’s packing for Thailand and leaves July 11.
Taylor, on the other hand, is not too far from having her license – seven days to be exact. Our 4th of July kid will be driving "old blue" around Pella next week. Yikes!
Wendy has been doing well with the commute to Sully each day. It hasn’t been a huge deal except when she got stuck behind the Great Iowa Tractor Ride coming home Monday and going to work yesterday. She called me to vent her frustrations as she putzed behind a million puttering tractors that were in her way.
We’re enjoying a respite from the stage for a few months before Wendy begins directing The Christmas Post in the fall. It’s strange to be able to sit in our home at night and…do nothing.
Brown Construction arrives Friday to begin our 2006 home improvement project. We’re putting a shower in the main floor bathroom and expanding/adding a shower to the upstairs bathroom for the girls.
Looking forward to seeing the family at Grandma VH’s birthday party on Saturday!
Madison has her last Driver’s Ed class on Thursday. She’s still a year and a half away from her license, but happy to have the class over. She’s packing for Thailand and leaves July 11.
Taylor, on the other hand, is not too far from having her license – seven days to be exact. Our 4th of July kid will be driving "old blue" around Pella next week. Yikes!
Wendy has been doing well with the commute to Sully each day. It hasn’t been a huge deal except when she got stuck behind the Great Iowa Tractor Ride coming home Monday and going to work yesterday. She called me to vent her frustrations as she putzed behind a million puttering tractors that were in her way.
We’re enjoying a respite from the stage for a few months before Wendy begins directing The Christmas Post in the fall. It’s strange to be able to sit in our home at night and…do nothing.
Brown Construction arrives Friday to begin our 2006 home improvement project. We’re putting a shower in the main floor bathroom and expanding/adding a shower to the upstairs bathroom for the girls.
Looking forward to seeing the family at Grandma VH’s birthday party on Saturday!
Wendy and I had Shakespeare rehearsal Friday night and Monday, so that pretty much took away any chance to plan much. But that’s okay, we relaxed, cleaned up the massive, living, breathing mass of junk piled in the basement from our multiple moves (Tom & Girls to House, Wendy out of one apartment into another, Wendy out of apartment into House) last year. We have three or four coffee makers, two irons, multiple phones, radios, alarm clocks, etc. When the girls are ready to move out on their own I think we could set them up without having to buy anything!
It was an X-men marathon weekend. I hadn’t seen either of the first two movies, so Wendy watched them with me on TV Sunday night and then we went to the matinee of X-men 3 yesterday. Fun stuff. It’s pretty rare that sequels get better as you go along but I think they pulled it off with this one.
It’s the girls last week of school. They have semester tests this week. I can tell that they’re both excited to be done.
Madison is looking for a job to make some extra money before she goes to Thailand. Please pray for God to open something up for her.
It’s cool that Taylor and Wendy both dance with the same dance studio. The semi-annual recital is this Saturday. It’s such a blast to see the little ones in the their pink leotards and tutus. Taylor is doing both jazz-tap and hip-hop. Wendy’s "adult" group is reprising a beautiful ballet number they did last year and then, for a stretch, doing a hip-hop number. Recital is Saturday. If anyone wants to attend, let me know!
Taylor and Madison are looking forward to being done with school in just two more weeks. Taylor is hoping to get both lunch and dinner hours at the restaurant. Madison will start Driver’s Ed as soon as school is out.
Much Ado About Nothing rehearsals are every week night and Saturday mornings, so Wendy and aren’t doing much else outside of work. Are you coming to the show? It’s FREE! For schedule of performance dates and locations click here.
We had two graduation parties to attend yesterday, which seemed like a lot until I spoke with Monique, one of our group members who we ran into at Brooke Zehr’s reception. Monique said that she had 27 graduation receptions to attend next weekend. That’s ALOT of white cake.
Wendy and I stopped by Mom & Dad Vander Well’s yesterday after the graduation parties. They are back from Lake of the Ozarks for a few weeks. Pray for mom’s cataract surgery tomorrow (May 22).
We then scooted up to Boone to see Mom & Dad Hall and attend Suzanna’s little league softball game. She was adorable in her hot-pink batting helmet. Heidi was home, as well. She and Jesse are planning to move to Iowa City the first of August. We’re looking forward to having them closer!
