We Will Be In Yellow

2009-02-01T15:40:00.000-05:00

Locks of Love

2009-02-01T15:37:00.001-05:00

Emma donated 10" of her hair to Locks of Love today. She is very proud to help and loves her new doo.

Come thou long expected Jesus

2009-01-31T17:19:00.002-05:00

Lavender mood

2009-01-31T17:08:00.002-05:00

2009-01-31T16:24:00.002-05:00

Angels we have heard on high

2009-01-31T16:20:00.000-05:00

Abbey did a great job at her recital this morning.

2009-01-04T20:28:00.002-05:00

New Year's Day at Coney

2009-01-04T20:25:00.002-05:00

We always go to Coney as a group for breakfast on New Years Day.

New Year

2009-01-04T20:25:00.000-05:00

New Years Eve

2009-01-04T20:20:00.001-05:00

Our new additon to our evening. Our decedant chocolate fountain.

18 people doing fondue

Christmas fun

2009-01-04T20:17:00.000-05:00

Playing Wii bowling with Grams

Lots of great presents!

Christmas

2009-01-04T20:11:00.002-05:00

The girls opening stockings from Santa. Lots of goodies.

Make enjoyed opening her presents too. Santa and Grandma Bardhardt were very generous.

Emma and her friend Kate came down on Christmas Eve dressed like little Santa cuties. They sang us a little song and did a little dance. How cute!

Abbey's 12th

2008-12-18T22:33:00.002-05:00

A new book from Papa and Diane. She has a few to read then she is on to this huge book.

Just one snipit of Ab's sleepover. Opening presents. She has a great time with her friends.

We went out for a birthday dinner. I love this picture of the girls together.

Emma

2008-12-18T22:28:00.001-05:00

Emma got her new reading glasses today. She loves them. I think she looks adorable.

This last picture, I just couldn't pass up. She loves to wear her HSM sleep mask.

Crazy homeschooler

2008-10-07T17:15:00.001-04:00

I walked into the room to find Abbey reading Homer Price like this. Too funny!

Crazy things

2008-10-07T14:37:00.002-04:00

Max likes to get her tummy rubbed
She loves to lay by Abbey when she practices piano

It makes her sleepy
She will finish her water no matter how much you give her. Then she carries her heavy glass bowl into the other room.

More Pictures of our sweet puppy

2008-10-03T21:38:00.002-04:00

Jonathan caught her sleeping with her tongue sticking out. We always thought it was so cute when Bailey did it. Was too sweet to see Maxine doing it too.

I did a photo shoot of Max at church the other day. I finally got some really cute pictures of her.

New Puppy!

2008-09-16T16:25:00.003-04:00

We got our new sweet little puppy 2 days ago. She is 7 weeks old. Her name is Maxine but we call her Max and Maxi too. She is still so little that she sleeps quite a bit. That will change in time I am sure. The girls are loving having a puppy as they have never experienced that before. Bailey was already calm and big by the time the girls were big enough to care.

2008-08-07T07:25:00.000-04:00

In my devotions this week I read an article from Tabletalk, May 2008 that I have found very interesting. It was about gluttony. I have always related gluttony to food and nothing else. As stated by the author of the article, Chris Donato "In reality, it can apply to toys, television, entertainment, sex or relationships. It is about an excess of anything." He then goes even deeper with the idea and this is what struck me the most.

"Gluttony, or a lack of moderation also leads many of us to demand all things to be exactly the way we want them. A more subtle form of gluttony, this vice is not merely tolerated in churched today but acclaimed. It has become respectable." Slap in Nikki's face. I have always deemed my thoughts and sin issues in this matter to be mere selfishness. Which, I guess if we look at selfishness and gluttony together we will see they go hand in hand. Being selfish lead me to feel I have the right to demand what "I want".

Another aspect that the author brings up is the "tendency to demand too much from others, thus exasperating them to the point of withdrawal or anger" Having high expectations is fine, but not being unrealistic about it. Once again it hit me hard. Whether it is an outward demand or just in "Nikki's head" I tend to demand things of people. Many times the other person never even knows what demand has been put on them. Of course they then cannot fulfill that demand.

Even with all this, whether it is food, demands we make or addictions change can still happen. God can enable us to make those changes in our behavior. Self-denial is not something that we are accustomed to. I know that a little more of it in my life would be a good thing.

BEST IN SHOW!!!!

2008-07-09T20:47:00.002-04:00

Last year we won "Most Humorus". This year we were just hoping for a trophy. We got BEST In SHOW! Too cool! One of the priveledges of being best in show is that we get to pick the theme for nexts years parade. How fun is that? Last year was vacations. This year was T.V. shows. We have to let them know by September.
So all in all we had a great time. We did great! We are proud of our trophies! Yeah Snyders!

Before the parade

2008-07-09T20:36:00.002-04:00

Photo Op with the Beauties
Patti and Zac - Our Drew Cary and a crazy contestant!
Our contestants! Audrey as "Gertie", Seth as "Lenorad , Patti as "Bertha" and Tyler as "Herman"
Our annual Blue Fin pull, this year otherwise known as... contestants row!

Our crazy game show host- Drew Carey!

Final Preparations!

2008-07-09T20:30:00.000-04:00

The girls putting on the final stage.... GLITTER!

Boat Parade Prep!

2008-07-09T20:28:00.000-04:00

We got together 2 different nights to work on the boat parade preparations. Had some fun girl time, creativity abounded, accomplished much.

The life of a home schooler

2008-06-06T11:25:00.000-04:00

Some pictures of the girls doing school when it is 90 degrees out! Not many public school kids can do their English lesson in the pool, I think. Oh the joy of staying home!

Co-op art show

2008-06-06T11:21:00.000-04:00

The girls had awesome art teachers at co-op this year. They held a year-end art show to show off all the work. Here are pictures of the girls with just a few samples of their beautiful work.

Picture 2 is Abbey with her color wheel design. It was chosen as the artwork on the invitation and the nights program. She was very proud of that!

Picture 3 is Abbey's rendition of Andy Warhol. This was their first project of the year. I think it is my favorite of the whole year.

Picture 4. The black dog is Emma's work. She did a great job!

Memorial Day at the cottage

2008-06-06T11:15:00.000-04:00

We had a very relaxing time at the cottage. Steve's family and ours were there. The weather was wonderful. We had a great time!

Rainbow

2008-06-06T11:07:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago, we saw this beautiful, full rainbow. It has been a long time since I have seen a full arch.

Backpacking

2008-05-31T16:06:00.001-04:00

The girls went backpacking with Grandma and Papa Barnhardt. They had a wonderful experience. One that they will never forget, I am sure. Thank you Grams and Papa for a great time!

Abbey's Homework

2008-05-31T15:57:00.002-04:00

Abbey's homework assignment was to go outside and write a Psalm to the Lord. I thought you might be interested in what she wrote. I was very happy with what she came up with.

I thank you Lord for the garden with food for me to eat. I thank you for the bird songs I hear in the tree tops and the clouds to shade my eyes. I thank you for the green grass around my toes. The swing set that holds many memories was a gift from you. My one tree that blooms white in the spring came from your almighty hands. The flowers with a joyful scent look up to your heavens. A cardinal sounding off his chirps. Oh, the glory of your creation. Hank the robin, surviving on your worms. I thank you for the wind and the sand. I thank you for my intelligence and my want to be with you.

I don't mean to brag, but I think this is beautiful from a 5th grader in about 15 minutes of work.

Wondering who Hank is? I have a little robin friend in my garden who likes it when I stir up the worms.

Abbey's first piano recital

2008-05-12T20:04:00.001-04:00

Abbey did a wonderful job at her first piano recital. We were very proud of what she accomplished this first year. Good job Abbey!

Card making room at Tamar House

2008-03-02T22:30:00.000-05:00

Everybody was so busy making cards. They did good work. Very detailed and time consuming. We didn't get to talk to or spend any time with these ladies. Just toured their work area, told them we liked their cards and moved on. I liked this set up and their work. They looked like hard workers.

Tamar House

2008-03-02T22:26:00.000-05:00

This kitchen is top notch for them. I guess they used to cook on a big pot on the floor. Although an outdoor - open air kitchen doesn't sounds bad to me at times, I think I will keep my kitchen. This girl cooked for the whole house.
I was very fortunate not to need to use many of the bathrooms we visited. This one, well first of all, you used with bare feet. I guess you needed to take water from the garbage can and put it in the toilet to flush. One experience I was glad not to have.

International Worship Service

2008-03-01T21:53:00.002-05:00

The international worship service in Pattaya was a wonderful experience. The leader of the group ( Cliff to the Berean women) did a great job at the devotional. Singing and worshiping with so many different languages singing the same songs was just a great experience. I have never experienced that before. We had a great time of prayer for all the different groups minsistering to the women in Thailand. People from many different countries. All serving and worshiping the same God. The whole service was emotional for me. We then took a tour of the Tamar house. That will be my next post.

Street Life

2008-02-28T08:37:00.000-05:00

People eat out on the street for every meal. Gas is too expensive for most people to have in their homes. So they eat from food vendors off the street. The vendors are everywhere. Some of the food looked amazing and others were amazingly gross. U.S. standards for food are definetely not followed in Thailand. They hang uncooked meat out in 90 degree weather with flies landing on it. Who knows how long some of the food has been around.
Janelle and I did eat from a food cart the last night there. I would have to say it was my favorite meal of the trip.

McDonald's

2008-02-27T17:10:00.000-05:00

After waking up at 3a.m. (Thanks alot jet-lag) and leaving at 5:45a.m. to head to Pattaya, we were pretty hungry. We couldn't get across to our driver that we needed to stop for breakfast. We finally convinced him to stop at McDonalds right as we got into Pattaya. McDonald's never tasted so good. We got a kick out of old Ronny. Every Micky D's we saw he was giving us the Thailand bow. We also stopped at that same McDonald's for lunch. Even at McDonald's we saw the prositution. A table right next to us sat an American man with a young Thai women. It really wears at you. The emotion is so great. You really want to slap him and call his wife. You want to reach out and save her and help her. All you can do in situations like that are pray. Pray that situations in both of their lives will be changed. That God will reach down and save them.

Buddist worship

2008-02-27T16:58:00.000-05:00

On our way back to the hotel from the dinner at the mall, we passed this Buddist worship spot. This was a larger one, but we saw them all over. People would lay fruit, flowers all around the statue. They would burn incesence and pray. It broke my heart to watch them. These statues can do nothing for them. They are not God. I know the true God. I prayed and prayed. I wanted to go to them, pull them away, tell them this was not the true way. But I couldn't.
People have their own little worship places in homes, businesses, on street corners.

Ultimate food court

2008-02-27T16:21:00.002-05:00

We went to the same restaurant 3 different nights. You could go around and pick from all different nationalites of food. I had my first Indian food, buttered chicken. I loved it. Our first visit was my favorite.

Amazing Malls

2008-02-27T16:13:00.003-05:00

Amazing wealth among the amazing poor. These malls were beautiful and I guess for the wealthy Thai, and travelers. We did very little shopping here. We at a restuarant on the top floor.

Traffic

2008-02-27T15:39:00.003-05:00

The traffic in Bangkok was crazy. Cars and people everywhere. Here is a picture of our group in a Tuc-tuc. And then a picture of Janelle. Check out the traffic below us. This really was nothing compared to what we saw. In between each traffic lane motorcycles went freely. We never figured out the rules of the road, although I am sure there were some. We only saw 1 bumper bender. People work togethe and do not seem to get angry at each other. It was definetely something we are not used to seeing.

Views from our hotel room

2008-02-27T15:32:00.002-05:00

Of course, like any picture, it just doesn't show the detail. Everything looks dirty. It truely is a poor, worn down city. The poverty is seen everywhere you go. Even right next to a too fancy for me mall you see vendors on the street, run down or abandoned buildings.

Thailand

2008-02-21T05:41:00.002-05:00

I am having a fantastic time in Thailand. What an experience. Everything is so different here. The traffic is just something I don't think I can ever explain. A 2 lane road has motorcylces inbetween each lane, pedestrians going in and out. It is just crazy. And unlike the US people are helpful and do not get angry on the roads. They all seem to know what they are doing.

We have been eating exceptional food. Not a whole lot of Thai yet, though.

We have been to the Tamar house in Pattaya. A 3 hour drive. I experienced my first international worship service. What a blessing that was. Of course, I do not have enough time to share now, (or enough brain power, due to much lack of sleep and jet lag).

Today we visted the Night Light and the Well, both agencies that support the women with a wonderful means of supporting themselves. We met many of the women. At the Night Light we sat in on their devotional time. Of course it was all in Thai, so I didn't understand a word of it, but still was a wonderful time.

At the Well, we were able to see what the ladies already had in stamping supplies and got to talk to the lady who runs it, Judy. She is very open to our help, which I was very nervous about. Tomorrow, we will shop at a market with a few of the women. I am so excited to be able to work with these women. They are so sweet.

Through all of this, I am realizing how protected I am in the US. I realize how much I love my husband. I realize that God is so good, even the ladies that have had just horrible lives are thankful for the grace that he has given to them.

I am taking tons of pictures and will add them when I can get home. That will really help me to be able to share my experience.

My love to you all,

Thailand Prayer Card

2008-01-16T20:41:00.000-05:00

February 17th I am going to Thailand on a missions trip. Here is a prayer card that a friend put together for us. Thought you might like to see if. Let me know if you would like more info on what I will be doing there!

How we spent our Christmas Day

2008-01-02T10:01:00.000-05:00

Putting together a Scooby game. Thanks Grams!

Trying to get a slurpee machine to not freeze up the motor.

Christmas morning

2008-01-01T17:22:00.000-05:00

Abbey got a new adult sized bike! Teal, her second favorite color.

I think that it was another good Christmas!

Christmas morning

2008-01-01T17:20:00.000-05:00

Santa came again this year!

High School Muscial barbies!

Webkinzs- how exciting!

Abbey's Barbie

2008-01-01T17:08:00.000-05:00

Abbey wanted a Go Red Barbie for Christmas. She was very happy to get one from Grandma and Papa Snyder!

The girls with Grandma and Papa Snyder

Em's American Girl

2008-01-01T16:35:00.000-05:00

Abbey's 11th birthday party

2008-01-01T15:28:00.000-05:00

Emma and her friend Kate.

Eleven wonderful years old

Abbey with her best friends Alice and Megan, her wonderful sister Emma and Emma's friend Kate.

More Halloween fun!

2007-10-31T16:30:00.000-04:00

Grandma and Papa Barnhardt came this weekend and did a trial run for Halloween! Abbey and Emma and 7 friends practiced trick or treating. They had lots of fun! Thanks Grams!

What a surprise!

2007-10-31T16:12:00.000-04:00

Happy Halloween

2007-10-31T15:32:00.000-04:00

Papa and Diane sent the girls a Halloween box the other day. They had so much fun! What a surprise!

Goodbye to a good Friend

2007-10-31T15:23:00.000-04:00

We said goodbye to our dear friend yesterday. She was a super dog. We couldn't have asked for a better one. She was patient with our girls as they grew. She was always there to greet you at the door. She will truly be missed.

Co-op lunchtime with friends

2007-10-12T20:28:00.000-04:00

Abbey and Emma and their church/co-op friends. They get a lunchroom like experience every Monday.

Art class

2007-10-12T20:25:00.000-04:00

This year in co-op Abbey has an awesome art teacher. She is loving her art time. Last week they did a charcoal drawing of negative space. Thought you may like to see it.

Ceryano

2007-10-12T20:23:00.000-04:00

Our homeschool co-op went to the opera today. We had a wonderful time watching Ceryano de Bergeac. What a great experience.

Ear Piercing

2007-10-12T20:19:00.000-04:00

After a long time of asking Dad for the permission to get her ears pierced, he finally said yes. She is so happy to have her new earrings!

Preparing for the parade

2007-07-12T17:23:00.000-04:00

European Vacation! The preparation was fun time together. What good sports!

The Parade

2007-07-12T17:19:00.000-04:00

We had so much fun on the boat parade. Everyone did great.

The Participants

2007-07-12T17:15:00.000-04:00

Zac and Patti as the Gondaleer and beautiful lady!
Matt and Jenn as our Greek models.

And Laura, as our beautiful Frenchie!

Boat Parade Winners

2007-07-12T17:12:00.000-04:00

2007 winners of the Big Star Lake Boat Parade - Most Humorous- Even though that is not what we were going for, we were quite happy! The mantel now sports a shiny trophy!

Last day of School

2007-06-15T19:08:00.000-04:00

Abbey and Emma threw a party for their friends. They had a good time playing with water and their friends. 22 little girls. Lots of water. Lots of food. Lots of fun!

2007-06-15T19:06:00.000-04:00

2007-06-15T19:04:00.000-04:00

2007-06-15T19:02:00.000-04:00

2007-06-15T18:59:00.000-04:00

Em's broken arm

2007-06-14T16:02:00.000-04:00

Last night Emma banged her arm on a slide. She came home and was treating it quite gently, (well, not using it at all). I got her into the doctor this a.m. and 4 hours later we came home with a cast. She has a buckle fracture. It will be at least 4 weeks, but since it is such a bad break it might be 6. We got a waterproof cast so she will still be able to swim and take baths. What a blessing that will be. What an adventure!

Emma's Class Party

2007-06-14T15:58:00.000-04:00

Hulsing's whole second grade had a year end bash yesterday. Waterballoons, limbo stick, tie dying, hotdogs, icecream, watermelon, chips, tug of war, bubbles, etc. They had so much fun.

Abbey's class party

2007-06-14T15:54:00.000-04:00

Abbey and her class headed for a local park to have a year end party. They threw waterballoons at Mr. Gold, who became a human target. They had pizza and snacks. What a fun day!

Laura's Graduation!

2007-06-11T22:07:00.000-04:00

Laura's graduation

2007-06-11T22:05:00.000-04:00

Congratulations to our wonderful neice Laura. She graduated from Canton H.S. and is attending Calvin College this fall.

Ducks on the roof

2007-06-11T21:59:00.000-04:00

The girls called me outside one night, and begged me to take a picture of these silly ducks on our roof.

Sweet sisters

2007-06-11T21:54:00.000-04:00

We were playing in the backyard on a warm night in May. The girls were having fun together.

My newest addiction

2007-04-23T21:33:00.000-04:00

I added a link to my newest addiction. An African waterhole in the northeast section of South Africa.
If you go to the africam site, click on the button for Nkhoro Stream and you will see what I mean.
So far, I have seen elephants, hippos, giraffes, rhinos, baboons, hyenas, impalas and wildabeasts.
Check it out!

More birthday fun!

2007-04-23T21:29:00.000-04:00

Red Robin

2007-04-23T21:23:00.000-04:00

We went to Red Robin with Grams and Papa to celebrate Em's 9th birthday. We enjoyed the time together. Em was sung to in the typical Red Robin way, and loved it.

Florida visit

2007-03-27T22:48:00.000-04:00

The following are some pictures from our wonderful visit to Florida with my mom and Jon. What a nice visit.

Tiki hut

2007-03-27T22:46:00.000-04:00

This is where we spent quite a bit of time. Love the tiki hut!

Dolphins

2007-03-27T22:42:00.000-04:00

All the girls went to Theater of the Sea and saw a parrot show, a dolphin show, and a sea lion show. It was a great day. These are some pictures of the beautiful dolphins. It is always so fun to see these creatures up close.

More Florida Picts

2007-03-27T22:37:00.000-04:00

Girls with their pretty coconuts. All the girls and their crocs.

Sister Love

2007-03-27T22:34:00.000-04:00

The girls had such a great time visiting Grams and Papa. Swimming, watching, painting coconuts. It was a great week.

Manatee's are so cool!

2007-03-27T22:27:00.000-04:00

A mama manatee (we named her Barbara - from Veggie Tales) and her baby came right up to the dock. She stayed there for at least a half hour begging for food. It was so neat to get up so close to her. The baby was a bit shy and didn't get to close. What a great experience.

Can't wait till spring

2007-01-15T21:14:00.000-05:00

This is what we woke up to this morning. ICE! It was beautiful on the trees. I hear that the roads were not too bad where they were treated. I am thankful that I did not have to go out. The girls had today off from school for Martin Luther King Day.

A great Christmas!

2007-01-15T21:10:00.000-05:00

I believe the girls had a great Christmas. We had a great time with family and friends over the weeks of celebration.

No More Braces

2006-11-28T21:22:00.000-05:00

Abbey got her braces off this Monday. She chewed a piece of gum as soon as she got in the car. Later she ate the Laffy Taffy she has been saving all summer. Now it is just a wait to see if she will need any further work. She is looking good now!

Thanksgiving

2006-11-28T21:17:00.000-05:00

The weather was so great Thanksgiving weekend. The girls played with sidewalk chalk and enjoyed being outside. They made a street, parking lot, a hiking trail and even a waterfall.

Thanksgiving Fun

2006-11-28T21:04:00.000-05:00

We had a great time at Gram's and Papa's for Thanksgiving. The girls got to help Gram decorate her Christmas tree.

Halloween Pictures

2006-11-28T21:00:00.000-05:00

The girls had so much fun with Papa Fessenden on Halloween. They got lots of treats, and tired Papa right out. Thanks for coming Papa!

First Snow

2006-11-28T20:56:00.000-05:00

It started snowing/hailing right as the girls came home from school. It didn't last long, but it was fun to see how quickly it came down. It didn't last long

My crazy glove girl

2006-11-28T20:54:00.000-05:00

Emma loves her new pink mittens. She wears them all the time. Even when it is nice enough for short sleeves.

School Pictures

2006-10-12T15:48:00.000-04:00

I think Ab's and Em's school pictures turned out great.

Cotton Candy

2006-10-08T16:16:00.000-04:00

Cotton candy...need I say more!

Funny Bunny

2006-10-08T16:06:00.000-04:00

We saw many cute little bunnies at Cedar Point. This one was eating away at a Blow Pop. We were not quite sure what he was going to do when he got to the gum.

Our Day at Cedar Point

2006-10-08T16:00:00.000-04:00

We had a great time at Cedar Point. The day was absolutely beautiful.

2006-09-28T21:16:00.000-04:00

Back in Time

2006-09-28T19:16:00.000-04:00

Emma and her second grade class went to Geer School today. They did lessons, sewed, played old fashioned games. They ate their lunches and headed back to "the now". They were all so cute and had a great time.

First day of School

2006-09-06T13:44:00.000-04:00

Abbey and Emma had a great first day of school. Getting back into it will take some work.

Too cold to swim, but still having fun!

2006-09-06T13:38:00.000-04:00

Abbey and Em playing in the sand while we were getting ready to head home. Abbey love to make bug houses.

Labor Day Weekend at the Cottage

2006-09-06T13:34:00.000-04:00

Sleeping Beauties.

My Accident

2006-08-03T17:15:00.000-04:00

Here is a picture of my arm after my accident. On the way home from the beach I stopped at a stop sign, thinking it was a 4-way stop. Pulled out and got hit by an oncoming car. The driver side window was shattered. The driver door wouldn't open. We are so completely thankful that all are okay. I was the most beat up - many cuts on my arms, a bump on my head and many sore ribs and achy everything. The girls are completely fine. The other car was shaken up, but all okay too. All this and it was my mom's car. Probably totaled!

Beach time!

2006-08-03T17:08:00.000-04:00

The girls and I ran down to the beach on Wednesday night. As we were walking down to the water. A freighter was smoking, which was an interesting sight.
We also watched a storm roll in. We had to leave earlier than we would have liked, but we went to get ice cream, which was fun.