DaKuipers

2007-12-10T06:49:00.000-07:00

Greetings to you all!

It’s time once again for our annual Christmas letter. I hate following the crowd on this one, but there are so many that are so busy; this is pretty much the only time of year we’re able to connect!

Life for the Kuiper clan this year has been anything but easy. We’ve tried to think of it more as an “adventure” of sorts—always looking to see what God was going to do next (though most of the time we really couldn’t see). In January, we closed the door on our condo in Colorado Springs, started up the moving van and headed to Denver to live with my parents. We were sad to leave, but we knew that we had to do it. Between then and now we’ve been through a miscarriage in June at 9 weeks, two job losses for Ben within a month of each other, almost three months without health insurance, as well as some other major financial setbacks. Now I stand here twelve months later in awe of God’s sovereignty and grace. Right in the middle of everything, when we had pretty much been stripped of everything we had, God began to show us the promises He had in store for us—promises of blessing and restoration. We had nothing else, so we held on for dear life and let Him work out His plan. At the end of October, after a rather slow and discouraging period of unemployment, Ben was offered a 1-year contract-to-hire position with Barclays Bank—get this—IN COLORADO SPRINGS!!! Barclays is one of Britain’s largest banks, and is the 4th largest bank in the world! They have an office of about 400 people in Colorado Springs, and they’ve contracted him to do maintenance programming on some of their systems (which is what he did for a year an a half before the lay-offs). Looks like the days of working for tiny start-up companies just might be over! And since the contracting firm who hired him is paying mileage, the 120 mile a day round trip won’t have any impact on our budget—talk about a blessing! And if God wills, we’ll be moving back to Colorado Springs sometime at the end of next year!

Otherwise, we’ve all been doing well. Adriana turned two years old on December 2nd, though her “terrible two’s” started sometime this summer. She loves to count to ten, sing her ABCs and read books with Daddy. She also enjoys trying to ride Rosie like a horse, but we try to discourage that. She’s definitely a challenge, but her sweet smile and loving spirit make it all worth it.

I’ve been keeping busy trying to make our little space in the basement look somewhat like home. And when I’m not cleaning, doing laundry or chasing after Adri, I’m in front of my MacBook working on my latest addiction—digital scrapbooking! It’s less expensive than traditional scrapping, and MUCH lessmessy—I’m ALL for that! I even designed our Christmas cards this year! Hopefully soon I’ll be ableto post some of my pages on my blog or our website.

I leave you all with this verse from Zephaniah. Someone prayed this verse over Ben and I earlier this year and it was a great encouragement. It is our prayer and blessing for each one of you.

The LORD your God is with you,
He is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
He will quiet you with his love,
He will rejoice over you with singing."

Zephaniah 3:17

Love to all,
Ben, Brandi & Adriana

Our Family Christmas Letter

2006-12-20T15:53:00.000-07:00

Just incase you just can't wait to get our letter in the mail (or if I don't have your address or ran out of money for stamps...), here it is!

Greetings to you all!

As you can see, I’m getting our Christmas letter out AT CHRISTMAS this time instead of three months from now like last year. I think this year was just as eventful as last year, but without all the medical complications—and definitely less expensive. Our year started out learning how to live with a newborn, and it’s ending with us learning how to live with a toddler! We just celebrated Adriana’s 1st birthday yesterday with my family here in Denver and will celebrate with Ben’s family next Sunday in Colorado Springs. It’s been amazing watching her grow and learn. She’s blowing kisses and giving hugs and will be walking before we know it! We’ve got a few doctors to see in the next couple of months, and I’m REALLY not looking forward to more Clomid, but we definitely can’t wait to have another one!

We had a bit of a rough start at the beginning. Ben was laid off from his job at the end of February. It was a real faith building experience for both of us. But as always, God was more than faithful, and May 1st he was hired as a programmer at Area 101, a software company in South Denver at an even higher rate of pay than he was making before. The job has its challenges, but he’s taking every one of them head-on and thoroughly enjoying it.

This year also brought a lot of travel. In May Adriana and I and my parents drove to Idaho to attend my oldest niece Risa’s graduation. Then in October while Ben went to Washington DC on a business trip to do software training at World Bank, Adriana and I flew to the United Kingdom to see my friend Kim. We were there for two weeks and tried to see everything we possibly could in that time. We spent three days in Edinburgh, Scotland, two days in Stratford-upon-Avon (the birthplace of Shakespeare), spent a day touring the city of London, and then we took a day trip to Leeds, Dover, Canterbury and then a short river cruise up the Thames. I think the only time Adri cried during the whole trip was when we took a picture with one of the Beefeaters (guards) at the Tower of London. For some reason she didn’t like his hat. If he took it off, she stopped crying, but the second he put it back on she would start all over again. All in all, it was an experience I won’t ever forget!

November and December have been spent getting our belongings packed up and ready to move into storage. We decided earlier this summer that with the price of gasoline and Ben’s 120 mile-a-day commute to and from work, we needed to bite the bullet and move to Denver. We’re still waiting on our condo to rent so that we can be done with our lease, but if not, it’s up at the end of January, so even then it won’t be long before everything is living in the same city. Until then, my parents are enjoying having granddaughter number five with them 24/7.

Love and blessings to you all!

2006-11-13T17:21:00.000-07:00

We had family pictures taken at Sears on Saturday, and I just thought I'd post a few of my favorites.

Ben, Brandi & Adriana

Just Ben & Brandi

Adriana in her Christmas dress. We bought this dress the day we found out we were having a girl. And believe it or not, Sears didn't put this portrait together—I did! Yes, I love being a Photoshop guru *grin*

Check Out Brand's Blog!

2006-10-19T04:46:00.000-06:00

Brandi and Adri are currently in the UK for two weeks. Click here to read all about their adventures!!

We're all moved!!

2006-09-29T16:20:00.000-06:00

Okay, well KIND OF moved. We are now officially living in Denver (with my parents), but the majority of our things still reside at our condo in Colorado Springs. Adri's crib is all set up, and Ben and I will be driving to CS tomorrow morning to load up our bed and a few odds and ends that I wasn't able stuff in the back of my Dad's truck today. Then I'll drive to the Springs twice a week to finish packing everything up and getting it ready for storage. Our email addresses will be the same, but our snail mail address is as follows:

4772 S Newton St.
Littleton, CO 80123

I'm relieved to finally be here, because my parents' health has been steadily going downhill, and they could really use some in-house help. Not to mention the fact that my sister (she's a nurse and is managing their medical care, running errands, etc.) could use a break too!!

The month of October is going to be crazy for us both. Ben and Adriana and I all leave DIA on October 16th--Ben to D.C. on a 3 day business trip, and Adri and I to visit my best friend in London for two weeks!!! I'll try to post some pictures while I'm there.

I must needs get back to my unpacking. Love to you all!

Ben & Brandi Are Moving!

2006-08-25T22:16:00.000-06:00

Because Ben's job is in Denver, we are finally making the move from colorado Springs to Denver. We're not going to be able to get out of our lease (which isn't up until the end of January), so rather than make a 5 day a week commute to work, we're going to move the majority of our belongings (what we need to live for the next 6-9 months) to my parents' house in Littleton, and then I'll come down to Colorado Springs twice a week to get the rest of our stuff packed and ready to put into storage until we get our debt paid off and find a house of our own. We'll be making the temporary move at the end of September (which will save us about $150 a month), and then make the move permanent at the end of January when our lease is up (which will save us about $300 a month!!!!). We'll post our new address in January when our current one is no longer...uh...current ;-)

Her First Cold

2006-08-21T21:47:00.000-06:00

Well, Adriana is on the tail end of her first cold. Por thing—a 100.8 degree temperature in the middle of summer!! I can't believe how good she was, though! There was only one night that she didn't sleep well, and that was the night her first tooth broke through too. The Ora-gel helped her tooth, but it didn't help her stuffy nose and cough. So after a few days on Dimeatapp and benedryl, she seems to be a much happier baby. Her appetite still has much to be desired, but she's at least taking more than five ounces twice a day.... And now we know officially that benedryl makes her sleepy, so we will be able to use it on our trip to the UK in October.

I was hoping to head home tomorrow. I still might, but I'll be coming back down toward the end of the week for a funeral. We got word Sunday morning that my cousin, Doug Moseley, died of a massive heart attack Saturday. No one knew that he even had heart trouble, so it was even more of a shock. Though when we do head home, it will be to start packing up the house to get ready to move. My parents both said they were okay with us moving in toward the end up September. We won't be able to get out of our lease, but even so, we'll still be able to save $400 a month by moving in September. Then I'll just go down to the Springs a day or two a week and work on packing until our lease is up at the end of January. By then, I should have everything packed and cleanded and ready to move to the storage unit.

Of Teeth and Passports

2006-08-16T17:53:00.000-06:00

Adri has her first tooth, ladies and gentlemen! It's just barely peeking above her gum, but it's definitely there! I wish I could get a picture of it, but she still won't let me in. She's been doing remarkably well through it all. I think over the past few weeks that she's been teething, she's only gotten really fussy twice. In fact, yesterday, she spent about 5 hours in a shopping cart at Walmart and only had a 30 minute nap between 8am and 4:30pm. Her eating is back on "normal" schedule--it really freaks me out when she doesn't eat!

We also went down to apply for her passport today. Wow...I can't believe she's less than a year old and is already getting a passport! We're praying that all the hullabaloo in the UK won't mess up our trip. Actually, from what I can tell, it's not a matter of getting there, but getting back!

We're spending the week at my parents' house in Denver. They're on vacation in Oregon with my sister and her family. My aunt and uncle live a few blocks from them, and their house was robbed recently. I'm enjoying being in town, though. I was able to meet up with a friend that I've known since I was 12 years old! That was fun :-) And I've been able to spend time with my sister and my other two nieces too. We're enjoying the savings in gas/mileage too for the week! We've all but made the decision final to go ahead and move up here at the end of September. We still have to work out the legistics, but I think what we might do is move up the things we will need to live at my parents' house--clothing, bedding, Adriana's crib.... We'll end up saving about $400 a month until our lease is up doing it this way. Then in the mean time, I'll go down once or twice a week and work on getting stuff cleaned, packed and ready for storage. And then when our lease is up in January, we'll just get a truck, load up our stuff and bring the rest of it up here and rent a storage unit. Like I said, we have to work out the legistics, but I think it might work.

Brandi's Kitchen Back Up!

2006-08-04T10:42:00.000-06:00

Well, at least my "online" kitchen. My REAL kitchen is a bit of a mess at the moment. I just finished reposting the few entries I had originally posted with iWeb. Keep checking back for my favorit recipes! Click here to visit my kitchen.

Adri's Birth Story

2006-07-27T13:42:00.000-06:00

I finally got Adriana's birth story page rebuilt and posted. You can view it here.

Ben's Hired Full Time!!

2006-07-25T11:20:00.000-06:00

Praise the Lord!!! Ben's contract-to-hire position at Area 101 was made permanent last week!! So now we can get started on our move back to Denver. If we're able to get out of our lease, then we'll probably move as early as September. If we're not able to get out of our lease, we'll be moving in January. We'd love to stay in Colorado Springs, but gas is just getting WAAAY too expensive for Ben to continue driving 120 miles a day. Not to worry--I'm still planning on coming down to the Springs about once a week to spend time with friends and family.

No, you're not imagining things. . .

2006-07-23T20:33:00.000-06:00

Yes, I changed the site again. Which also means I have to rebuild the pages with pictures and such. One MINOR thing Apple overlooked with iWeb. It doesn't allow you to manage more than one site at a time! What a pain! So now I'm using my old blogger account to make updates since I blew away the site I built thinking that I would be able to reopen the site in iWeb again. I guess they forgot that feature too. So just be patient with me as I get everything back up again.

My Five Minutes of Fame

2006-07-10T13:32:00.000-06:00

Adriana and I are going to be on the radio!! Focus on the Family has a national public policy news update called Family News in Focus. Earlier today our doula (the lady who helped us through my labor and delivery with Adri) and asked if I would be interested in doing an interview for a segment FNIF is doing on the CDC’s recent recommendations for weight loss for (overweight) women wanting to get pregnant. Evidently some of the liberal women’s organizations are getting on the CDC saying, “next thing you know they’re going to be telling us WHEN and HOW to get pregnant.” Honestly, it’s not about that. It’s about living and eating healthily. And it’s even more important when you’re pregnant, because it’s no longer just about you--you have another life that you’re responsible for their health and nutrition. I’m learning a lot about how unhealthily I’ve been living for the last 30 years...and it’s my responsibility to change it--no one else’s. I have a family now who needs me to live another 50 or so years! Okay....I’ll get down off my new soap box

If you’re interested in hearing the segment, it should be on sometime this week (7/10-7/14). You can either hear it on the radio (click here to find out when it’s on in your area) or listen to it online.

2006-07-07T14:26:00.000-06:00

The only thing that absolutely fascinates her more than the junk mail on the floor is my MacBook. She LOVES playing with the keys and the sound they make.

Anyway, I just wanted to let everyone know that I’ve added a new “home movies” page. They may take a couple of minutes to load, but they really are cute

Drums Along the Rockies

2006-07-06T17:38:00.000-06:00

I am SO excited!! The last time I went to Drums, I was 15, and I went with my best friend and my high school band teacher. We helped him stripe the practice field, so he took us with him as our “payment.” Most people go crazy over sports....or rock concerts...I go crazy over drum and bugle corps competitions. Come with me and you’ll watch me scream like a teenager :-) Ben is looking forward to going with me. I think he wants to see what all my hype is about. I’ll admit--it’s not your typical obsession. Mine started in 1986 when I signed up for marching band in 7th grade. I did that for 2 years, and then my freshman year in high school I made the flag team. Yes, I marched down the street wearing stupid costumes...in public. I also had a 3 pound 7 foot fiberglass pole that hurt when I hit you with it. Just ask the field judge that I hit....well....let’s just say he may not have children to pass things on to. I also marched in a parade in Canon City in a lightening storm with a 6 foot aluminum pole. Not really smart, but we won :-) Of course we were the only band marching in the parade.... We also one Best Guard in state my junior and senior years (when I was co-captain and captain). It really was a lot of fun.

Ben is bugging me to go to bed, so I’ll just close with something I never thought I’d actually be saying again--our cheer. I think you’ll find it amusing. I didn’t make it up---I just screamed it at the top of my lungs. We used to do this cheer before competitions. So imagine me in a body leotard (I was MUCH thinner then) and a pink tutu and have a laugh at my expense.

Flags are grrrrrrrrreat!
Stick out your hands, hope for the best
Togetherness is what counts!
Spiffy crunch, blood toss,
WE EAT RAW MEAT! Grrrrrrrrr......

Just the Beginning

2006-06-20T15:31:00.000-06:00

Well folks, welcome to what I hope is the beginning of a frequently updated website (as opposed to the website that’s had nothing on it for the last 3 years). I didn’t design it like I wanted to, but I figured it was better just to get something up there than fight with myself about whether to continue using tables or take the time to learn CSS. So instead I’m using iWeb’s templates. Okay, let’s be realistic...my designing days are over until we’re finished having kids and they’re all in school. Although as you can see from the picture above, Adri is VERY helpful when it comes to computer work. What can I say...we’re getting her started early (and on the right computer too!).