Excitement in the Stam Family

On Thursday night our niece, Nicole (from Robert's side of the family) got engaged to my cousin, Mark (from my mom's side of the family)! They have been dating for over 4 years and we are thrilled that they are going to get married. Congratulations Mark & Nicole!  We love you both! XO

In my face

I went for another Remicade treatment today and realized that it's probably always going to hit me smack in the face, that this is my life.  I shudder when people ask me if the Remicade's effect will eventually wear off. What I'm not used to and don't know if I ever will be, is that, in order to enjoy a slightly better quality of life, I have to head to the Arthritis Center every 5 weeks for an IV infusion.  Sometimes I forget that it's taking big gun medications like Remicade and Methotrexate that allows me to walk a little easier and generally have a little less pain. I am, however, reminded of that truth every 5 weeks.  Do you get used to something like this? Do I just simply forget because I'm not grateful at other times?  I don't know.  I just know that living with arthritis is not fun.  Is that complaining?  I think it's just stating a fact.
Today as I was sitting in the Arthritis Center in a bright blue, reclining chair while Remicade was dripping into my veins, I experienced a mixture of feelings.  Overwhelmed because this disease can be so debilitating.  Sad because sometimes I just want to cry about it. Thankful because there are caring doctors and nurses  and because there are medications like Remicade etc for people like myself. Worried because my most recent blood work showed that the inflammation is escalating again. And it goes on and on.
However, I would be foolish to stop there.  I also have feelings of excitement. Excitement that God will always be there, that He doesn't change, and that I can always count on Him to give me the grace to bear this cross that He has seen fit to allow in my life.  It's about so much more than just me.  For that I am grateful. I also have a feeling of deep contentment. Contentment that God will only use this for my spiritual good, that He loves me more than I can ever hope to imagine, and that He promises to never leave me or forsake me.  I often think that if I feel like God has left, it's because I've moved away, not because He has. It is in the knowledge that God is big enough for anything that comes into my life, that I am able to quietly trust Him. I guess it's 'in my face' but thankfully not 'without His grace.'
Praying that you are able to quietly trust in Him as well, no matter what your life might be burdened with.

Who am I?

Who am I to tell you what the real purpose for life here on earth is? Who am I to convince you that to be saved by the blood of Jesus Christ and to worship, adore & praise God is the only thing that really matters?  Who am I to tell you that eternity goes on forever and ever and that your priorities in life here on earth, will be reflected in where you spend eternity? Absolutely nothing is more important than the fact that you must be saved.  Even if you're a relatively good person, attend church regularly, wear the right clothes, have compassion for others...you still need to be saved. If Christ is not your Saviour, none of these outward rituals or behaviours will bring you to heaven.  God is so loving, so willing to save, won't you take time to read His word, realize your need for this Saviour, tell Him all about it, confess your sins, ask Him to forgive you through the blood of his precious Son and to change your heart forever? He will, if you ask.  He never turns anyone away.
John 3:16 - "For God loved the world so much that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes on Him shall not perish but have eternal life"

Our Kitchen

These are before, during and after pictures of our kitchen project. The 'old' kitchen was painted wood, the drawers were super heavy to open and close, and the bright white counter top showed every little crumb or stain.  The new kitchen is an amazing improvement!!

Before:

During

Fridge & stove used to be right next to each other.
Much nicer to have them separated a bit:)

 After:

floor to ceiling pantry along one wall

Just the tiling needs to be done here

Love these drawers in my pantry!

Finishing touches:
The only things that still needed to be done at this point were the tiling and grouting as well as touch up painting.  Hans came over one night to do the tiling, Robert did the touch-up painting...it's looking great!

adding the tiles 

Reminiscing

I've been thinking about all the good times I had with my Grandma and there are a few things I think you'll enjoy reading about.  I remember:

• as a young girl going grocery shopping with Grandma and then having to date each of the grocery items before they were put away.  That way she would always know how long it took them to use a jar of peanut butter, a tube of toothpaste etc:)
• watching her make bubbelaars (Sp?) These were hard candies that she would make from scratch.  The most fun part was watching her stretch the mixture out when it was piping hot, rubbing her hands on a cold, wet cloth often, and then cutting it before it cooled off.  These candies were so good!
• helping her make food for the haying crews back in the day...
• trying on her Dutch costume
• going with Grandpa, Grandma, Mary & Wilma to visit Casey, stopping at Army & Navy for a malt and sometimes having supper at a drive-in restaurant
• listening to her knitting needles click and watching her hands fly as she knit
• sharing our new babies with her and watching her snuggle them...this is years ago, mind you!

I could go on and on...precious memories.

In Loving Memory of Grandma Maljaars (Aug 4,1921 - Aug 15, 2011)

  Catharina Maljaars-Kodde 

This picture of my Dad's Mom (my Grandma Maljaars) was taken on August 2, 2011.  On Aug 3, 2011 my grandma ended up in the hospital just the day before her 90th Birthday.  Little did we know that just 11 days after her 90th birthday she would pass away. She had a series of strokes while in hospital but had recuperated from several of the first ones and was told on Aug 10 that she would be discharged because she was doing so well.  Shortly after that she had several more strokes to the point that she could no longer communicate with anyone.
Grandma was a widow for 22 years.  She had 11 children, 65 grandchildren, 113 great grandchildren, and 1 great-great grandchild.
It's at times like this that you sift through your memories...and pictures.

I will share a few of those pictures:

Family picture - with their 4 oldest children 

This picture was taken when they were ready to set sail
from Holland to Canada.

Grandma made sure there were pictures of everything!

She would meticulously label each picture, date it, and
list who was in the picture

My Grandmas - always busy knitting!!

All my grandparents at my parents' wedding in 1966

Another family picture - this with all but their youngest

Grandma Maljaars and my mom

Here my Grandma is holding my Auntie Mary and my
Mom is holding my brother, Bob.
Bob is 6 weeks older than his aunt!

The next 3 pictures are of some of my Grandparents Maljaars' significant anniversaries:

I think this was their 25th.
I'm the baby that my mom is holding!

This picture was taken at our wedding in 1988. Here
Grandpa looked so healthy but only 10 months later
he passed away from cancer.  I'm always glad we had this
nice picture to remember him by.

And some pictures that aren't as old:

This is a picture of me in my Grandma Maljaars' Dutch
Costume. This was a family tradition - that every granddaughter
would have the opportunity to try this outfit from Grandma on
when she was about 12 years old.

In the kitchen with both my Grandmas!

Bob with both of our Grandmas!

Grandma M holding Katie

I'm still here!

Hello again,
I know it's been a long time since I posted on this blog but the past few months have been very busy.  At the beginning of March I had surgery which was supposed to be endoscopic sinus surgery and septoplasty but only ended up being the septoplasty because of too much bleeding.  I've had a few surgeries in my life and I'd take a hysterectomy any day over nasal surgery.  Because they weren't able to complete the surgery, I have to have part b at another time.  That took me a bit to recover from but I think it's healed now.  The worst part was that I had to be off my arthritis meds for such a long time, causing joint havoc for me.  I had made so many trips to the ER for joint flares but now I have injectable Toradol at home so that we can try to avoid long waits in ER and I can at least get somewhat comfy until I can see my doctor the next day.
From March - April my sisters and I put together a 180-page digital scrapbook memory album for our parents' 45th anniversary.  It was time-consuming as we waded through tons and tons of pictures, but the end result is amazing and I'm so glad we did that.
Since that album was completed, I've been working on another project (top secret for now!), had a new kitchen installed  (I'll post pics once it's all finished), have been working 2 mornings a week, and have been planning several things (in law's 50 anniversary in August,  a Youth Day in August, and a Youth leader's retreat in November).
Well, that's all for now - definitely time to head to bed. I will try to post more faithfully from now on but make no promises:)