Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Rens Christmas

We got together with Grandma Rens last night and the relation and we always take pictures for grandma - thought I would share them with you! This first one is Grandma with her Son Dave and wife Bev, Grandma, then it's Shirley (Gerald's wife - Gerald past away 2 yrs ago) and then daughter Mary and husband Dale
Here are all the grandchildren with their spouses!

And here are all the great-grandchildren and one great-great grandchild.
We had a nice time it was in Rock Valley in the basement of Peoples Bank and we had supper and played a few games together - Grandma just enjoyed seeing everyone together - we had a good time some of them we only see once a year so nice that grandma gets us together.


Friday, December 25, 2009

Merry Christmas to all!!!

We woke up to a very White Christmas this morning - church was cancelled last night already - so we slept in and then Mike and Marcus started to scoop us out.
The snow blower is working good this year and getting lots of use :)

We opened presents last night - funny story - Mike's shaver has not been working well for quite some time - I bought him one for Christmas a month ago and had it under the tree - well two weeks ago he started to grow some facial hair and when he opened his gift he thought I was hinting to him that he needed to shave :) It has pretty funny and I do like his face with or without hair - was not a hint just a needed gift!!!







These are the gifts that the kids recieved from Grandpa and Grandma Altena and they were thrilled - Marcus showing off his new hat and shirt




Vanessa showing off her two IA Shirts - the green one and the hot pink!!




Jamie showing off her IA shorts and her shirt is behind her!






Posing for the camera




Three great kids in their Iowa apparel - we had a very nice evening and are enjoying hanging out this morning - waiting to hear if my brothers are going to make it to town today - it's still snowing now and the wind is suppose to come up later too!








Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Winter Wonderland!

These pictures are from a couple of years ago - we will see what we get this week and see if we can match or top them!!
It's suppose to start snowing Wed. evening and last through Friday - predicting around 20 inches for NW Iowa - Kids are excited hopefully we can do some sledding and fort building!! Marcus is leaving on Monday for Terry Peak in South Dakota to do some snowboarding with friends - should be a great break from school for them and lots of fun outdoors time!!
May you all have a very blessed Christmas!!

Monday, December 14, 2009

Christmas Shopping

Mom and I went to Sioux Falls today and did some Christmas shopping - we had a great time and are ALMOST finished - we left at 8:15 and got home around 5pm. We made a BIG day of it and my feet are sore tonight - I am going to go soak in a hot bath for awhile - hope you are all cozy inside and we wish you a very Blessed Christmas - we are starting get togethers on Saturday night this weekend with friends and our church program is Sunday night and then its Christmas week :)

Monday, December 7, 2009

Happenings in Iowa

A week or two ago Sawyer stayed overnight on a school night - they were busy with harvest and Kerri was out of town - so we took Sawyer and had a great night - He was SOOOOO busy and at one time Mike said to him - "Sawyer, please use your inside voice" Right after that Mike looked at me with this look I haven't seen in a long time and his response was "Boy, I haven't said that for a long time" Crazy how fast they grow up - Here Sawyer is reading one of his books to Mike and it was adorable to listen to - he is reading very well and just neat to see him try so hard and be so proud of himself.
A week ago Friday, Mike and Marcus brought away all the rest of their furs that they trapped for the year - they had a great year and lots of animals again.

On this past Friday, Marcus and Jamie came upstairs with the same shirts on for the day - I thought out loud and said how cute we should take a picture - as you can see Marcus was not impressed.


But- he did take a picture with his sister but wasn't happy bout it :)




On Sunday - we made Christmas candy and goodies all afternoon - we had everyone helping and it went really well.
















We made holiday treats, popcorn candy, almond bark cookies, peanut clusters, almond tarts and peanut butter cup cookies. The freezer is full of goodies and it was a fun day with everyone helping.








Saturday, November 28, 2009

Marcus and friends - Pheasant Hunt

Ethan Mulder-Austin De Boer-Jacob Faber-Marcus Altena-Austin Van Zee-Patrick Kooima


Marcus and his buddies went pheasant hunting yesterday and had a great hunt - we will be eating good tomorrow for dinner - thanks Marcus!!

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Birthday boys and state VB

Mike celebrated his birthday last Thursday and we had small groups for young peoples on Wed. night - so we surprised him with a cake :)
Thur - Sat we went to Cedar Rapids, IA to watch Western Volleyball - I took Jamie and two of her friends and they made these shirts for Brandalyn Van Zee - their favorite player


Marcus and his buddies on Friday after the game

Marcus and Austin Van Zee




Kaylee was in our hotel(Bonnie's grandaughter) Western lost in the semi-finals - had a great year!




Sunday night Marcus' friends came over and celebrated his 17th birthday!!




Had a great time feeding and listening to them hang out - great times!!






Sunday, November 8, 2009

Trapping Season is here!!!

Ready to go this morning - Jamie was excited to use her waders for the first time!!!!

Mike picked up Erin and Patrick Kooima also and they checked Patrick's traps as well - fun filled day!
They even enjoyed a packed lunch outdoors - was a very nice day - around 55 degrees and no wind.


Patrick and Marcus showing off their catches!!



Same place - 3 kinds of animals - muskrat, racoons and a mink.
Today they caught 27 animals which is great - looks like Mike is going to have a good week of weather and hopefully of catching many more animals.




Thursday, November 5, 2009

Friday Night Football

This is the article that was featured on the news on Tues already - I have a feeling that this game is going to be packed and lots of fun - Neither team has ever advanced to the third round of tournaments and now both are there but only one team can advance to play at the Dome!!


11/03/2009 10:56 PM
HSFB: The Battle For Hull, IA
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In a day and age where co-ops are king, its rare for two teams to call one small town home. But that's the situation in Hull, Iowa for Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley and Western Christian. And when the two sides meet Friday night in the Class 2A quarterfinals, moving on won't be the only thing at stake. Despite cliches like "taking it one game at a time" or "it's just another game," not even the coaches can deny Friday's matchup between Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley and Western Christian is a little different. "It's a unique dynamic," said Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley coach Cory Brandt. "A lot of times, to go to the UNI Dome, you're playing somebody you don't know. But in this game, we're going to play somebody we're extremely familiar with and the people know everyone in town. It will be a lot of fun." The Nighthawks and Wolfpack are a combined record of 21-1 this season. That one defeat came when the two teams played each other in October, a game Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley won 31-21. "The first game we played, I'm pretty sure there was no one left in the town," said Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley quarterback Josh Vander Maten. "Everyone was at the game, it was filled up, everyone was supporting their team."So is it going to be like that on Friday?"Oh, I'm sure," Vander Maten said. "Plus some other towns.""It'll be a town divided, there's no doubt about it," Brandt said. "There's a pretty sharp divide between those for Western and those for us, but that's the excitement in it."Western Christian has been designated as the "official" home team for Friday. Is that a home field advantage?It depends on who you ask. "It's kind of nice for us, we get to be in the home stands and stand on the home side," said Western Christian head coach Travis Kooima. "It's a little bit of an advantage, but not much though.""That's our home field too," Brandt said. "We still consider that our home place, there's no doubt about it. But yeah, they're designated home, they'll wear that jersey, we'll stand on the other side, but it's still a home field for us." And while neither team wants to lose the intra-city battle, the fact that there is a battle is a testament to the town. "I think we have a lot of pride in that, having so many athletes from such a little area," said Western Christian running back Theo Bartman. "We're going at each other to go to the Dome, it should be really exciting and fun." Friday's battle will also pit student against teacher. Kooima is a former player for the Nighthawks and coach Cory Brandt. The two will come head-to-head at 7 PM Friday night.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

GO WOLFPACK!!!!!


Monday evening at 7pm - the Western Christian Wolfpack football team is taking on Eagle Grove in the second play-off game post-season - YEAH!!!! Both teams have a record of 9-1 - we have to travel to them which is 3 hours away - I think its north of Des Moines, I know that it is past Fort Dodge a ways. We are taking Jamie out of school at 2pm and leaving around 2:30 - we hope to be back by 1am and we really hope we come back with the win!! But they are already winners in our eyes - fun times. Marcus gets to leave Western at 1pm on a chartered bus with the football team - stop on the way at Subway and on the way home they get Papa Johns pizzas - a large pizza per 3 football guys - it will be a great, fun day for the guys. GO PACK!!

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Pollema pictures!

Dad and the boys - I had this in order - accidentally deleted it - so now it's first
Here are the pictures we took one Sunday afternoon for my mother - this of course is my favorite!! Love it and the two awesome kids in it!!

Mom and Dad and all the grandkids and one great-grandkid


Mom, Dad, and the 5 children with their spouses




Mom's favorite picture





Mom and her girls





5 kids




Bonnie and her family




Bonnie's oldest and her family




Belinda and her fam :)




Our children




Barry and his family



Brad and his family




Becky and her family




The whole works! Was quite a bunch to get together but all worked out great - Fun pictures to have - in all we took over 400 pictures that day - she just snapped, snapped, snapped!!