Dakota Golden Travel Bug

We’ve been enjoying some beautiful spring weather here in South Dakota,
which means it’s time to start geocaching again! : )

For those of you who are not familiar with the term, “geocaching” is a real-world treasure hunt using GPS devices that's happening right now, all over the world. Participants navigate to a specific set of GPS coordinates and then attempt to find the geocache container hidden at that location. According to Geocaching.com, there are currently 2,584,841 active geocaches and over 6 million geocachers worldwide!

A “Trackable” is a sort of geocaching "game piece." You will sometimes find them in geocaches. Each Trackable is etched with a unique code that can be used to log its movements on Geocaching.com as it travels in the real world. Some of these items have traveled hundreds of thousands of miles thanks to geocachers who move them from cache to cache.

Our family has enjoyed geocaching since May of 2011. We’ve found 131 caches in 5 different states. In June of 2011, we placed 2 trackables in geocaches here in Sioux Falls. One of them disappeared, never to be seen or heard about again.

The second one was a picture of a golden retriever similar to our dog, Molly,
pictured below. We called it “Dakota Golden”. Since June of 2011, this travel bug has traveled 23,641 miles all over the world! 

Dakota Golden Travelbug Timeline:

June 2011 – Placed in a geocache in Sioux Falls, SD

July 2011 – Traveled to Tennessee, Alabama, & Idaho

October 2011 – Colorado

December 2011 – Connecticut & Michigan

While in Michigan, our travelbug visited an interesting cache on the grounds of a Detroit prison, and the above tag was added to it.

February 2012 – Grenada, St. Lucia, US Virgin Islands

March 2012 – New York

June 2012 – Quebec & Ontario, Canada 

October 2012 – Germany

10/14/2012
Pictured in the Town Square in Vreden, Germany

November 2012 – Netherlands

June 2013 – Island of Crete, Greece

July 2013 – Czech Republic

 

9/22/2013 - Panoramic view near geocache in Czech Republic

 

10/26/2013 – With Geodog Peggy in the Czech Republic

 

6/26/2014
With Yrbi, a 10-year-old golden retriever in the Czech Republic.
His owner commented that he would have been good friends with Molly. : )

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Our travelbug was placed in many caches in the Czech Republic, but didn’t leave that country for almost 2 years. Just last week it was taken to the island of Cyprus!
We are excited to see where it will go next! : )

Spring Break 2015

We didn’t travel anywhere for Spring Break this year, but we sure had fun…! : )

 

How many kids can you fit in a 2-person tent?! Here are Jenna, Kara, Luke, Sierra, & Brooke. At one point Evan & Ryan were in there as well.
(My siblings will recognize this tent… we spent many nights sleeping in it in our backyard while we were growing up! :)

 

 

Free vanilla cone day in celebration of Dairy Queen’s 75th anniversary… hooray! : )

 

 

Children’s Museum of South Dakota
We’ve been here quite a few times, but our kids never get tired of this place!

 

Changing the muffler, tires, and air filter

 

 

Luke seeing how fast he could go in a wheelchair.
(No, his lips are not turning blue from the exertion…
he had a blue ring pop on the way there. ; )

 

Climbing on the clouds… they all made it to the top!

 

Evan found a nice place to take a break

 

Grocery shopping… always a favorite!

 

Luke just taking it easy. : )

 

Having fun in the restaurant

 

 

Painting & washing windows

 

Luke is quite certain he wants to learn to play the drums.
(His Mom is not so sure. ; )

 

Playing in the tipi

 

Indian hoop dancing

 

Cowboy Evan

 

Kara reporting the news

 

Luke just being Luke : )

 

 

By the giant T-rex

 

 
Just goofing around

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At the Visual Arts Center in the Washington Pavilion…

Dressing up and building with magnetic tiles

 

Playing pirates

 

Building with blocks

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And last but not least… lunch at Subway.
Delicious! : )

Ryan Gets his Nose Fixed

Ryan’s been having trouble with a stuffy nose for the last 2-3 months. He was constantly sniffing and rubbing his nose, and no amount of coaxing or scolding could get him to leave it alone. So about 3 weeks ago we took him to an ear, nose, & throat specialist to get it checked out. The doctor put a camera up Ryan’s nose and determined that he had a capillary hemangioma that needed to be removed. His right nostril was almost completely blocked, so no wonder he was having trouble!

The surgery was scheduled for last Tuesday morning. The plan was to do a CT scan right before the surgery, so the surgeon could get good images of the growth, and so that Ryan would only need to be under anesthesia one time.

Here he is all checked in and ready to go.
He was pretty excited about the little Sanford Health crocodile they gave him. : )

 

Just hanging out with Mom while waiting

 

I was able to stay with him until he was put to sleep,
which was very nice, but also difficult.

 

He did NOT want to change into the hospital’s scrubs for the surgery.
I finally convinced him to wear the top, but the nurse reassured me that it was not worth the battle to make him change out of his own pajama pants & socks. ; )

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Immediately afterward, the surgeon came into our room with a great big smile and some good news. He was carrying this jar in his hand…


The CT scan had revealed a big surprise – Ryan did not have a capillary hemangioma after all. That tiny red plastic thing is a pellet from one of his big brothers’ airsoft guns! We had no idea it was stuck in his nose for the last 2-3 months.
Poor boy… that must have been miserable!

Here he is after surgery… so sleepy!

 

Starting to wake up a little bit

 

They expected that the breathing tube used for the surgery would make his throat sore. So they offered him Jello, and he insisted on feeding himself,
even though he still had an IV in his hand. : )

 

Happy to be heading home!
(He actually was happy about it, just not happy to have his picture taken. ; )

 

Evidently the breathing tube didn’t make his throat too sore…
We picked up McDonalds on the way home because chicken nuggets are his favorite.
He ate the entire Happy Meal and cried for more. He hadn’t eaten anything but Jello since the night before, so he was hungry!

 

We are very thankful for a safe and successful surgery! It’s never easy to hand your child over to be put to sleep. Ryan has recovered well – he didn’t even take a nap that afternoon. Guess he had a big enough nap in the morning!

(We haven’t decided yet what to do with the BB…
guess we’ll wait ‘til the bills come to see what it’s worth. ; )

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*If medical images are not your thing, you might want to skip the rest of this post.
If you would like to see some amazing images of the BB in Ryan’s nose, keep going…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This photo was taken with tiny camera in Ryan’s nose. Because the color blended in so well with the surrounding tissue, it was difficult to tell what it was.

 

These two images are from the CT scan:

Ryan’s nose is pointing up at the ceiling here.
The red arrow points to a hollow circle that is the BB.

 

This one is a profile view. As you can see, it was pretty far in there! The surgeon reassured us that even if they had known what it was from the beginning, it would have taken surgery to remove it. There was no way they would have gotten that out with him awake. Wow!

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All 3 of our boys have now put something in each of their noses…
Evan stuck a piece of corn in his nose, which we were able to get out by blowing hard into his mouth. Luke got a bead stuck in his nose, which had to be taken out at the ENT’s office. And now this with Ryan. What next?! ; )

Grandma Grace

One week ago today, we laid Grandma “Top” to rest in the Doon cemetery,
not far from where Grandpa & Grandma VE and baby Emily are buried.
Rev. Engelsma comforted and encouraged us with a message based on Proverbs 3:5&6…

“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”

He spoke of how the Lord had ordained every moment of Grandma’s life,
from her birth through the unexpected stroke that left her unresponsive ‘til she took her last breath, when He took her by the hand and led her Home.
He reminded us that God has not forsaken those of us left behind,
and will continue to guide our steps going forward.
Even those of Grandpa, who now goes on without his dear wife of 56 years.
She was the perfect match for him, laid-back, calm, and full of grace. Her name fit her well. They did everything together, from gardening to exercising and even grocery shopping. Those of us who know and love him don’t know how he’ll manage without her,
but we know that by God’s grace, he will.

As I paged though old photo albums, searching for photos and memories of Grandma,
it struck me how few pictures there were of her. There are many photos of happy birthdays, Sunday night get-togethers, and Christmas gatherings... But there are very few pictures of Grandma. She was always there though, always in the background with her sweet smile, taking care of whatever needed to be done in her quiet, humble way.

Here are a few of the ones I was able to find…

Grandpa & Grandma on their 25th wedding anniversary in 1983

 

Four generations… My mom, me, Great-Grandma Bloemendaal, and Grandma VDT
(Evidently I wasn’t too sure about Great-Grandma at the time… although I have fond memories of visiting her at the nursing home as a child. ; )

 

A typical Sunday night at “Grandma’s house”.
From left to right: Erin, Joel, Grandma and Sherry, Sarah, Bethany, and Lanette

 

Kindergarten Graduation
I wore one of the many dresses Grandma VDT sewed for me, complete with a matching hairbow. : ) Grandma VE is pictured here, as she was my kindergarten teacher. The Lord blessed me and my siblings with two wonderful, godly grandmas. They were women who feared the Lord, lovingly serving their families, church, and school.
Both gone to glory; both deeply missed.
It is after these two lovely ladies (Jeanette and Grace)
that our “Jenna Grace” is named.

 

Years later, Grandma sewed all the bridesmaid and flower girl dresses for our wedding. She’s pictured here with Sarah & Bethany during one of many fitting sessions : )

 

Our wedding day, August 2001
with Grandma & Grandpa VDT, Grandma DJ, and Grandpa & Grandma Flikkema
Three of them now gone to glory.

 

For as long as I can remember, my Mom and aunts have been making Grandma & Grandpa a calendar of family photos to be given to them each year at Christmas time. Every so often we look through the binders full of those calendar pages,
and can’t help but smile at the memories of years gone by.

 

Mother-Daughter Banquet at Doon PRC in 2002

 

Grandma & Grandpa at our home in Lansing, IL shortly after Jenna was born in 2003

 

Grandma & Grandpa with Evan James in 2005

 

With Jenna, Evan, and Luke William in 2007

 

With Kara Brielle in 2009

 

At Ryan Perry’s baptism in 2012

 

This photo was taken after Grandpa gave a presentation at NWIPR School on Veteran’s Day in 2012. Grandpa & Grandma are pictured with their grandsons Braden, Andrew, & Jerron, and great-granddaughter, Jenna.
There are now 5 grandchildren and 6 great-grandchildren attending this school,
which Grandpa & Grandma have tirelessly supported for many years.
Our kids always looked forward to seeing them when they served hot lunch together, which they did for the last time just over a month ago.

 

 

This is how many of us will remember Grandpa & Grandma… together at the annual school kick-off camping at Newton Hills. They pulled their trusty camper out there year after year, and spent the days relaxing together in the shade. They were always the first ones up in the morning. By the time the rest of us were rolling out of bed, Grandpa had a roaring fire going, and Grandma had a pot of coffee hot and ready to be shared.

 

 

One of my favorite photos of Grandma & Grandpa…
watching their grandkids & great-grandkids in a pedal pull at Doon Days
on a scorching hot day in July 2014. : )

 

 

Grandpa & Grandma’s 50th anniversary photo, August 2008

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To read Grandma’s full obituary click here.

To read my sister Sarah’s beautiful post about Grandma, click here.

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Looking forward seeing Grandma again one day…
and what a day that will be!