Happy Birthday Johnny!

Just wanted to wish our son a happy 16th birthday!
We went this morning to get his driver's license and away he went!
We are so proud of him and wanted to share a few pics we took today.


John's Jimmy! Getting ready to leave for school! He looks a little "cocky" but I think he was a little nervous!

#7 in action on the soccer field!

A plate full of "Crab Chee on the house" at his favorite, First Wok

You bring so much joy to our lives. You truly are a blessing. We love you and "safe drively"!



(Now I remember why I don't post blogs more often...takes me forever!!!)

The Blessing of Grandchildren

Almost two weeks ago, we were blessed with another beautiful granddaughter.
Juliet Lynne Dieleman was born to Michelle and Dan on Tuesday, April 15
at 9:13 a.m. She weighed in at 8 pounds 12 ounces and was 20 inches long.
She is a sweet, precious gift to our family from God and we thank Him and praise
Him for her. Her big brothers Chase and Drew, and big sister Joy are delighted
with their new baby and love taking turns holding her.
The timing of her birth was perfect as I had planned a short trip to DC to visit
my granddaughter Stella for Grandparent's Day at her school that weekend.
Juliet was born on her brother Drew's 6th birthday and he was so proud!

Juliet Lynne Dieleman

The proud siblings, Chase, Drew and Joy with Juliet

Sylvia (6 weeks) and her little cousin Juliet

Grandma D with Drew at Build-a-Bear for his 6th birthday
Drew on the carousel at the mall with his new friend, Spots!
The other April birthdays - Sara 26, Tom 32 and Scott 33



On Friday, it was grandparent's day at Dutton Christian School. Here are a few pictures of that special day!
Grandpa and Grandma Hopkins with Drew in the Kindergarten classroom at DCS Grandparent's Day
Grandma D with Chase at in his 2nd grade classroom at DCS Grandparent's Day. Chase has the same teachers that his Uncle Johnny had in 2nd grade when Chase was born!I was "Grand Auntie" for my precious niece Laiya in DCS Middle School. Here is Laiya with her friend Hannah in front of a decade timeline she worked on. It was very well done!


The Friday prior was Grandparent's Day at Stella's school in Washington DC. I had such a nice visit with Amy, Tristan and Stella and Tristan's family. Here are a few photos of that short, but very sweet trip!

Sweet Stella at Grandparent's Day at Lowell School in Washington DC with her friend Noelia in front of Stella's self-portrait
Stella and her teacherStella with her "Momoo" and "NeeNee" who were definately the youngest grandma's there!

Stella at her soccer game
Stella, Momoo, Amy and Tristan after the soccer game.


And just a few more pictures to share with you....
Sylvia in her new Bumbo seat!My nephew Ben and his wife Cat playing Rock Band with Johnny.

That's it for now! I will try not to wait so long between posts! Happy Spring!

Sylvia Kate DeBoer

Just wanted to update the blog (I know, it's been a little while!) to show off the latest edition to the Dieleman/Wierenga gang.
Sylvia Kate DeBoer was born yesterday, March 3, at 7:59 a.m. She came into the world weighing 7lbs. 9 oz. and is 19 1/2" long. She has dark hair and looks alot like Katie did when she was born. In other words, she is beautiful!
Sylvia is our 5th granddaughter and we have 4 grandsons. Dan and Michelle are expecting a little girl in April too.
God has blessed our family with another healthy baby and we are grateful to Him for Sylvia.
We are thinking of Scott's family at this time also, knowing that they are still grieving the loss of Loie, yet praising God for this new life.
Please continue to keep them in your prayers.


For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you, because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works
are wonderful, I know that full well. Psalm 139:13&14

Precious Nicholas just wondering who is this little one?
The DeBoer Family, Scott, Nicholas, Katie and Sylvia

Our Special Thanksgiving in DC

Amy and Stella waving good-bye

Tristan, Stella and Amy at dinner

Thanksgiving dinner with the Magee's and Hormel's

Graeme, Johnny and Nyle playing video games

John, Tristan and Nick playing poker

John relaxing on the back deck

Momoo, Grampoo and Stella at Build a Bear

Amy checking the rolls

This year we traveled to Washington DC to spend Thanksgiving with Amy, Tristan and Stella. They recently moved into a new house and they had plenty of room for all of us. John, Betsy, Johnny, the dog and I left home on Tuesday afternoon when Johnny was finished with school. We stopped in Pittsburgh to pick up Nick and arrived at their house at 1:30 a.m. We spent most of the day Wednesday in the kitchen baking pies (with the crust from scratch!), making apple crisp, peeling potatoes and preparing the turkey. Diz made her special stuffing and several other dishes. Needless to say, we had plenty of food!
While we were there, we celebrated Amy's 26th birthday and Stella's 6th birthday. We took Stella to Build a Bear and went to see the movie "Enchanted". John spent some time just relaxing on the back deck, reading. We had beautiful weather and walked to town a couple times.
We had a wonderful 5 days with the kids and got home late Sunday night.
We are thankful that we were able to spend some quality time with them and are looking forward to their visit for Christmas!

Happy Birthday John!

This blog post is a tribute to my husband on his 53rd birthday! John is a wonderful, dedicated husband, father and grandpa. He is a very consciencious, hard-working man and a friend to so many. I am so grateful to God that He brought us together almost 17 years ago. It has been an interesting ride, to say the least. I have learned so much from him. I don't know of anyone with a deeper faith or more integrity than John. I am blessed to be his wife.
Last weekend we did some celebrating with family. On Saturday night we went to dinner with John's family. We met at Papa Vino's and had an incredible meal, served family style. On Sunday afternoon, we had dinner with our children and grandchildren. We had a turkey with all the trimmings because on Thanksgiving Day we will be in Washington DC celebrating with Amy, Tristan and Stella. John received many beautiful cards and gifts from the kids and it was a beautiful day.
I want to wish him a very happy birthday and pray the year ahead will be full of "mercy drops".
If anyone deserves it, he does.



Nicholas, Grandpa, Joy, Andrew and Arianna. It takes alot of hot air to blow out the candles.

Arianna was laughing so hard she was crying over the musical card she gave her grandpa.

Chase was reading the birthday card he got for Grandpa. He sure does a good job!
John's sister Cory and her husband Bob
John's sister Jayne and her husband Bob John's brother Pete and his wife Judy

Our Annual Girls Shopping Trip

Betsy, Amy, Katie, Mom, Michelle and Sara in the hotel lobby. Ready for day #3 of shopping!


I hope the girls didn't see what I was buying for them!


Sharing the Sugar Mountain Moccasin and the Brownie Cobbler. Yummy!!


Michelle, Sara, Amy, Betsy and Katie

Every fall for the past 16 years, my girls and I go on a little shopping trip. We've been to the Detroit area a couple times, Chicago, Columbus, Ohio, Holland and Lansing. We always manage to have a great time and usually one of the girls are pregnant or nursing. If the babies are too small, we stick closer to home, but this year we decided to head to Detroit again.

Last weekend, Katie and I set out early Friday morning to drive to the Detroit Metropolitan Airport. Amy's plane was due to arrive from DC at 10:00. Her plane was a few minutes early and by the time we pulled up to the curb, she was waiting with her suitcase. It was so good to see her. After our little reunion, we drove to Troy and shopped the Somerset Collection most of the day.
Betsy had a test at Calvin in the early afternoon, so she and Michelle and Sara left home around 3:00 and met us at the hotel at 6:00. We settled in our rooms and then went looking for food! We were all pretty hungry and we found Cosi, a little deli not too far from the hotel. After supper, we did our annual Target run.
Saturday morning we were up early and headed out to Great Lakes Crossings in Auburn Hills. We again shopped all day. By supper time we were pretty exhausted, especially the expecting mothers! We found a neat steak house called Montana's Cookhouse and had a nice dinner. We even shared two huge desserts, the Sugar Mountain Moccasin and the Brownie Cobbler.
We went back to the hotel and yakked until way too late. Sunday morning we went to Novi to the Twelve Oaks Mall. Michelle and Katie went to Ikea for a couple hours and met up with us later.
It was a wonderful weekend of girl time and power shopping. The weather was wonderful too. I think some of us even got a lot of our Christmas shopping done! We certainly missed Lia this year and are looking forward to 5 weeks from now when they will be home for the holidays!
Just a few pictures from our trip....

Our Short but Sweet Trip to Florida

Cher's sweet dog, Mitzi


Cher and her puppy, Mitzi



Mom and Rich in the pool



Rich, Mom, Denise and John by the restaurant on Anna Maria Island



Mother sharing her dessert with Rich



A week ago, John and I were in Florida visiting my mom and Rich. We had such a wonderful time so I wanted to share some photos with you.
We left on Thursday, the 18th and flew from GR to Tampa. We spent most of the day in airports and airplanes. By the time we got to Tampa, we were tired and hungry. We ate at one of our favorite restaurants, Sweet Tomatoes (Thanks Dan and Michelle!) and checked in to the Country Inn at 6:30 pm. We watched an in room movie and then slept 12 hours! It was great!
On Friday morning, we left Tampa and went South to the famous Outlet Mall. We spent most of the day there, where John went on his semi-annual shopping spree. It was fun to see him shop. Each time he went to the restroom, he came out wearing something new!
When we were finished there, we drove to Mom and Rich's house, our home away from home! The greatest accomodations anywhere! They are always so welcoming and fun to be with. We enjoyed some great meals at "The Club", breakfast on Anna Marie Island, golf, swimming and lots of R & R. We arrived back home late Tuesday night and were well rested, which was a good thing, because there was much to do when we got home!
Thanks to Mom and Rich for the much needed respite. We love you both!