Getting Settled in Chicago

Well, after applying for jobs for a month in a field that is supposed to have openings everywhere, Jen finally has a job! My first day will be April 2, this coming Monday. We are living on campus at Northpark University and Seminary, and Jen will walk about 6 blocks to work at Swedish Covenant Hospital!

Andrew has been working since April 12 at the Covenant World Mission Headquarters. His job is perfect for all of his gifts...he is doing administrative work. He is organizing, working on a website, and going crazy with special projects. For more information on the Evangelical Covenant Church, follow the link!

We are now settled in pretty well. I have unpacked the last box and put pictures on the walls. It's been fun playing house wife, but it's getting old so I'm glad to start work next week! Marathon training...so far, so good!


(This photo is from last August, but I like the look of us in Chicago!)

Beth's Birthday! (Mar 23-25)

Beth (Andrew's Mom) had a birthday last week, but we won't tell you which one! We were able to leave at 6:00 on Friday morning to get to Grand Rapids and spend theweekend with her. We took her to see the new movie "Shooter" at her request! We all liked the movie, so if you like gun movies and you haven't seen it, you should! Then we ate dinner at "The Melting Pot: A Fondue Restaurant" and had a great 2 hour meal! It was a lot of fun to have the pot on the table cooking! We started with bread, apples, and veggies dipped in our cheese. We ate salads that were spectacular. Then we got boiling oil and chicken, 2 kinds of beef, Mahi Mahi and shrimp! We were so full that we didn't have room for chocolate desert!! Andrew and I went over to the Raisches to watch basketball.

The next morning Beth, Andrew & Jen went for an hour walk in the neighborhood. The weather was spectacular the whole weekend! Then Grandma and Grandpa Davidson came over, as well as Aunt Nancy and Uncle Al. We all went to lunch together to celebrate Beth's birthday again. It was great to see everyone again. We all rode together to the lunch in Grandma & Grandpa's new Honda van, which we've offered to take off their hands whenever they are ready for a new vehicle!! That afternoon the girls went shopping and they boys stayed home and explored technology together (computers and such). The three of us stayed up late that night watching SNL, and laughing so hard we almost peed our pants! Did anyone else see it?? Good stuff!

Sunday morning we went to church and then a fund raising brunch for the group going to Mexico. It was nice to see old friends, and to meet new ones. After church, Jen & Andrew went for a run. Did you know we are training for the Chicago Marathon in October?? We rested that afternoon, watched some more basketball, and then headed home. It was a very nice weekend, and we laughed a lot!

Alumni Basketball (Mar. 17-18)

Every March, the alumni of Stoughton High School in Stoughton Wisconsin get together to have a basketball tournament. I have never heard of anyone else having anything like this, have you? We combine enough old basketball players from adjacent classes to make a team, and play against other teams in the men's or women's bracket. Players represent the class of '60 to the class of '06! It's a great chance to reconnect with old friends.


This year, Jen's team was the class of '97-'99. We were only 5 players with 2 "managers" who were supposed to play...but they are pregnant! So, at 26 and 27 years old, we should have started getting in shape for the weekend long ago!!! We have won every year since graduation, and expectations were high again this year.

We won our first game by about 50 points to a team who also had only 5 players. We alternated calling time-outs to allow rest for all, and even though the score was not close it was a very fun game. It's great to get back in the zone with the girls who were such a big part of one of the most incredible times of my life. Sound like I'm having trouble letting go of high school? I kind of am! We were the first team sport from Stoughton to EVER to go to state! 1/3 of the town was at that game, and most of the town still relives those days with us each time we are home.


Saturday night we went "downtown". It's in quotes because the town is 12,000, so downtown is just Main Street! There are 2 bars that sponsor the tournament, so we visited each. Michelle, who is pregnant, and I were the drivers. It happened to be St. Patrick's Day, so we were not the only people out! It was a great time!


We made it to the championship game, against the classes of '03-'06. They were young and fresh, with 9 players on their team! But in the end, we found our groove and won by about 12 points. That makes 9 years in a row! No pressure for next year!!!

Moving In (Feb. 17)

We're going to do something a bit different! We will catch you up on what's going now, and then in April, we will begin to relive our Europe travels day by day. That way no one gets overwhelmed!!!


After seeing the world, spending all our money, and seeing each other every moment of nearly every day for the last 5 months...we were ready to move in to our apartment in Chicago and begin the next phase of life! And, after taking over 600 photos, we limited ourselves to only 57 to commemorate the move in!



Thanks to Rob, Sharon, and Taye Bradford, and to Seth and Becky Kaufman for your help. And of course, thanks to Jen's mom, Lynne for storing our stuff for 4 months and Aunt Judy and Grandma Mork for helping move in!

It only took a couple days here to make it feel like home. It is great to be back in the North! Chilly, but great!!

Settlers of Catan & Raisch Girls (Jan. 2-3)

Playing the Settlers of Catan board game with Tammi Biggs (Merge staff in the D.R.), Emily Lewis (MSU) and her boyfriend, Scott (Michigan).

Sarah, Anna, Megan and Emma Raisch in their hoodies.

Hoodies in back. 

Broomball (Dec. 27)

This post comes out of order. Oops.

There was a Thornapple Covenant Church youth group alumni evening between Christmas and New Year's. It was a time to see old friends that Andrew hadn't seen in years.

Ryan "Zerf" Zerfas, Matt "Pete" Petersen, Paul Veen and Caleb Williams playing Euchre.

Ben Armfield, Tim Erickson & his girlfriend (Natalie) playing Euchre with Andrew. Ben had a memory lapse and struggled to relearn the rules.

Broomball at Patterson Ice Arena. The juniors (in college) beat the seniors (college grads).

New Year's Eve (Dec. 31)

After missing 2 years in a row while we were in Texas, we made the annual New Year's Eve party in Ada, MI at the Kaufman home. Hello 2007! The annual Trivial Pursuit game showed the "kids" (those without children) defeating the "adults" (those with children) in a close finish. Better luck next year! 

Birmingham, AL & Downey Wedding (Dec. 29-31)

We made a quick trip down to Birmingham, Alabama for Ben Downey's wedding to Kathy. We found ourselves with some free time, so we saw a few of the sights.

We toured the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, right across the street from the famous Sixteenth Street Baptist Church that was bombed by the KKK in 1963, killing 4 girls. Here's the church undergoing restoration. Leaving the institute, it was cool to walk out with white, black, Latino and Asian neighbors. Left us with hope for the future of race relations in our country and world.

What better way to settle the pre-wedding jitters than some 4-on-4 basketball? Ben, the groom, is fourth from left in the red t-shirt.

We toured the Sloss Furnaces, where iron was refined and poured for a hundred years. We learned that Birmingham was a major steel town, called the Pittsburgh of the South, starting after the conclusion of the Civil War. The tour was self-guided and allowed near full-access to the many stages of iron production.

Jen, Andrew, Ben and Kathy. We look forward to spending more time with you guys! 

Christmas (Dec. 25)

We spent Christmas with our moms. That meant we were apart. Both sides of the family were thinner than normal for various reasons.

Andrew and his mom served Christmas dinner with a few friends from church at the Renucci Hospitality House in Grand Rapids, MI.







Somewhere between 35 and 40 people came for dinner, on a break from visiting their loved ones in the hospital over Christmas.











We prepared a typical Christmas meal: turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes & gravy, green beans, rolls, cranberries, salad and pumpkin pie. 

West Michigan Friends (Dec. 6-9)

We visited our good friends, the Bradfords, Blondins and Wolthuises, once we returned to Michigan. Seems the thing to do is spawn (make babies). It was a string of great evenings with all of them. Once we land in Chicago come February, weekend trips will be possible. We have missed all 9 of yous.

Taye Robert Nesta Bradford - created by Rob & Sharon Bradford.

Kev & Jen Wolthuis have procreated Elinore Yarin (taking the picture, just kidding).

Andrew with RB.

Sixty My Senior (Dec. 3)

We celebrated the birthday of Andrew's Grandma Vans after celebrating his the day before. There was a surprise cake and a birthday-girl dance for Grandma put on by her friends. Grandma is 60 years older than Andrew and still going strong! 

Florida Grandparents (Nov. 29 - Dec. 4)

After visiting Jen's sister in North Carolina, we decided to visit Andrew's grandparents in Florida. After the thousands of miles we had driven thus far, a day's drive was no big deal. Here are the highlights:




Our first casino gambling with electronic slot machines. Andrew lost his second $10 in 90 seconds. Jen tripled her $20 in the end. It was irrational: pushing a button and not understanding why you are winning and especially why you are losing is lunacy. Next time, Andrew is going to the poker table for Texas Hold Em (and giving Jen his slots money)











A bridge lesson with some of aces. They all thought it would be so neat for us to play in Chicago. I said we're the youngest bridge players we know. Jen said we could take a class at the local senior center. We all laughed and had lots of fun.











Everyone together for the Sights and Sounds of Christmas production put on by Word of Life. Left to right: Grandpa Ray, Grandma Vans, Grandma Dorothy, Jen, Andrew.














Shuffleboard with the Davidson grandparents. There were a few tough calls, so we put our heads together. In the end, the grandparents pummled the grandkids.

Christmas Decorating

Brody loved his branch.
The sisters decorated the porch. 

Christmas Tree

Tree selection at Lowes. This was the first, and only, one Kristi touched. She picked a winner.






Wrapped, Tied and Loaded.







Girls with saws...









Final status.

North Carolina Sister (Nov. 24-29)

Jen's sister, Kristi, lives in Fayetteville, North Carolina. What brought her there, you ask? Her husband serves in the U.S. Army at Fort Bragg. He was deployed to Iraq in September. So we hustled down to see her (in the car) after Thanksgiving.




Friday night we went to the Dickens Holiday. People were in costumes, we all carried candles, and fireworks were launched after the lights were turned on.





Taking advantage of a little mistletoe.

Moving North (Nov. 18-20)

Back in February 2004, Jen's mom helped her move cross-country to McAllen, TX.

Andrew's mom flew down to help move us back north.

All of our stuff has been sitting in a self-store unit in Texas. We opted for this because it's a whole lot cheaper than renting the apartment for the time while we were road tripping.

Our friends Alex and Oscar helped us load the 16' Penske rental truck in a few hours. One of the tires was bald; Penske fixed that within the hour. Our Penske experience was great: new equipment, reasonable price, friendly service.

Andrew's fear in towing the Ion on the car carrier behind the truck was having to back up at some point in the trip. 1,551 miles later, it never happened. We drove it in 3 days.

We unloaded our stuff in Wisconsin at Lynne's Self Storage (Jen's mom's). She no longer has a useable dining room. We turned our attention to the 15 lbs of mail waiting for us.