Congratulations Jenna!

Jenna is officially a high school graduate! We enjoyed celebrating this milestone with her, and are so thankful to the Lord for His perfect plan for her life, and for the godly young woman she has become!

TCHS Class of 2021

All of the ladies...
Sierra, Josie, Leah, Shawna, Claire, Alyssa, Erica, Aubrey, Heather, Jenna, and Zoë

Jenna giving the valedictorian speech.
https://youtu.be/6pGcBuhCwNM

Congratulations, Jenna!

Mary and Hannah with big sister Jenna.

  

Grandma & Grandpa VE with Jenna

Dad & Mom & Jenna

Jenna with Grandpa & Grandma DJ

Celebrating after the ceremony

Great Grandpa Van Den Top with Jenna Grace (great-granddaughter) and Sierra Grace (granddaughter), both named after Grandma Grace.

The whole crew!
We're so thankful for Jenna's place in our family, and pray that the Lord will continue to bless her as she goes on to Dordt next year! :)

Solo Ensemble 2021

 Several of our children prepared solos for Solo/Ensemble and performed them recently. Kara & Luke played theirs at Hull PR School, and Jenna & Evan were required to submit a video recording of theirs this year. We are thankful for the musical gifts they've been given - to God be the glory!

Kara (6th grade) playing "Sonatina" by Thomas Attwood Walmisely
https://youtu.be/84NKyyjrRSQ

Luke (7th grade) playing "Ave Maria" by Charles Gounod
https://youtu.be/dTHLuNF96iw

Evan (9th grade) playing "Arioso and Caprice" by Clifford P. Barnes
https://youtu.be/Xd9RIL_uDK8

Jenna (12th grade) playing "Wedding Day at Troldhaugen" by Edvard Grieg
https://youtu.be/iqlMjY5uw4c

Honors Orchestra 2021

 Luke & Evan both participated in honors orchestra concerts this past weekend.
Here are a couple of videos from each of their performances...

Luke playing cello with the middle school honors orchestra at LeMars Community High School
(He's the tall one in the white shirt, second row from the back on the right hand side)
 "Agincourt" by Doug Spata

"Catharsis" by Bob Phillips

Evan with the high school honors orchestra at Northwestern College in Orange City

(He's in the second row from the back toward the left side in a white shirt. Kinda hard to see.)

"Russian Sailor's Dance" by Merle Isaac

"The Quest" by Robert Kerr

April Adventures

April was a busy month for our family!
Here are a few pictures of our adventures...

We celebrated Mary's 5th birthday with a rainbow princess cake at Pizza Ranch. 

Field trip to the Washington Pavilion. Since Mom drove, Mary got to come too. ;)

Mom's big helpers busy baking!

Jenna all ready for Junior Senior Banquet

Mary all ready for kindergarten roundup

Next year's kindgergarten class... Caleb, Jacob, Mary & Charlie

Kindergarten Roundup... Mary and the boys :)

Micah, Reuben, Caleb, Noah, Jacob, Josiah, Mary, Calvin, Charlie & Jesse

(preschool - 1st grade)

Mom, Mary, & Hannah spent a day in LeMars while Luke was at Honors Orchestra, which involved visiting multiple parks and the Wells Blue Bunny Ice Cream Parlor, of course!

What a beautiful time of year with the trees in full bloom!

Hannah thought it was very tasty! :)

The kids talked Dad into Blue Bunny after the concert...

while Mom headed to Indianola for Kara's state AAU volleyball tournament. Go Tigers!

Lots of fun memories made with these beautiful young ladies!

Ali, Keely, Kierra, Danica, Kara, Skyler, and Coach Aubrey

(If you like music... stay tuned for honors orchestra and solo ensemble videos... coming soon! :)

More Florida Spring Break 2021

 On Day 3 we headed to Universal Studios... Here we are heading into the Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Diagon Alley.

Platform 9¾
(If you know, you know.)😉

Hogwarts Castle

More fun in the backyard!

Hannah couldn't get enough of the pool!

On Day 4 we headed out on Captain Ed's boat and had a great day on the water and exploring on our own little island on the west side of Cape Canaveral. We saw dolphins, manatees, and alligators in the wild, caught several different kinds of fish, and found some unique shells.

Our first catch of the day... a dead horeshoe crab!

Our biggest catch of the day, a gafttopsail

Mary caught a fish and gave Captain Ed 2 thumbs up!

Cooking some burgers for lunch on the island

Next we headed to Cocoa Beach... our kids' first time seeing the ocean!

Catching some waves

Mary loved the beach!

~ Family picture at Cocoa Beach ~ 

Heading home after making some unforgettable family memories!

Florida Spring Break 2021

Last week our family headed to sunny Florida, where we enjoyed a great family getaway!

We left on Mary's 5th birthday...
here's the birthday girl, flying for the first time. :)

We made it to Orlando! Riding the train to the baggage claim.

We celebrated with birthday cake at the rental house that evening.
Happy 5th Birthday, Mary!

Getting ready to head to Magic Kingdom the next morning...

Couldn't pass up the opportunity to get a picture with our Mickey/Minnie shirts and the matching coffee cups we found at the house. :)

Main Street, U.S.A.

Family picture in front of Cinderella's castle.
Yes, masks were required... Even for pictures.

Checking out Splash Mountain

Waiting in line for Splash Mountain

Yes, Mary was on the ride, ducked down behind Luke.
She was in tears afterward because you can't see her on the picture. ;)

Here's proof that she was actually on the boat, as she waved on the way by!

Dad & Mary on the Magic Carpets of Aladdin

Lunch at Crystal Palace

Big Thunder Mountain railroad. Mary's favorite ride of the whole trip! 

Prince Charming Regal Carousel

Hannah having a snack with Minnie Mouse

We spent the next day at Animal Kingdom...

Family picture in front of the Tree of Life, which has 325 different animal species carved on its trunk. Pretty neat!

Kali River Rapids ride... where you are guaranteed to get wet!

Ryan & Hannah just outside Rainforest Cafe

Ryan found the perfect souvenir... a Pumba hat! :)

After a couple of very busy days, we really enjoyed relaxing in the pool and hot tub behind our rental house!

To be continued...