Working toward a Prius (or Pious, as Dan calls them)

Good morning, everyone. It has been a long time since I posted, and since it is a very quiet Sunday morning, I thought I would catch up. We have already had an eventful holiday week-end! Last night I ran to Meijers with Janneke and Anne. As usual, we had no time to spare because Mom and Dad were on their way to our house so that we could have dinner together. We stopped to pick up pizza for the kids when we finished at Meijers, and were headed home along Muskegon Lake when a young girl who was parked along the side of the road, pulled out to do a u-turn right in front of me. I hit her driver's side door good and hard. The girl in the other car complained of a sore neck, and was taken by ambulance, but I checked this morning, and she was released and is fine. Our car was towed, with air bags (and the stink that comes out with them) deployed and we will wait to hear if it is totaled. I've been dreaming of a hybrid for quite some time, and though unintentional, we are likely one car closer to getting one! Hope you are all well~the cottage is coming! Arlene

Two martini's later....:-)

I just want you to know that i have the best family...to be able to laugh with and to cry with, to know that we might not always agree or vote the same or hold the same views on a variety of topics, but in the end, we can be together, even if we were not sure we wanted to be together, and enjoy the time we have. I had a good time tonight, knowing the cousins were together and enjoying eachother, enjoying a good meal with parents, aunt and siblings and then sipping away on a good beverage and enjoying the conversation....life is good and you are all good to me and I want to say thank you and I love you. I hope you are having a great time together as a family L and M and N and O and S and JM. Love Trish

Golf clubs for kids

Our Mom had to work at a golf show in Chicago this weekend and we went along because our Dad needed some new clubs. But we found the coolest thing! They make golf clubs for kids that have extenders for when you grow! You use this allen wrench thing to unscrew the handle and add one inch at a time and they will last about 5 years or so. We got a putter, driver, 5 iron, 7 iron and a fairway wood. Now we get to learn what that all means! We also got a bag with a cool stand thingy build in and the shoulder strap is a backpack type of strap and our Mom's clubs don't have that! Now we get to golf at the cabin and go to the 50 best places to golf. We entered contests at the golf show too and got to spin wheels to see what we will win. Our Mom says that everyone should check out strengthenyourgame.com and get the cool tour packages that Fred Funk used to add 15 miles per hour to his club head speed and win tournaments on the PGA tour. But she can't help herself because she likes to sell things. Anyhow, Andrew won 3rd place in the chess tournament today and we had our basketball awards ceremony. Last night was the parent vs team basketball game and the team won by 1! 30 to 29!!! The ref may have been rooting for the team because he never called 3 seconds on any kids but he did on the dads every time. Sometimes he started counting 3 seconds at 2. :-) There was also a flagrant foul when a Dad picked up a kid to get him to drop the ball. Good thing our Dad never got called for that. Ryan got to drive all the way to the basket and scored!!! Andrew was the rebound king and it was a lot of fun. Who wants to go golfing with us?

No Travels to China for me

Hi there family, I wanted to jot a note since right now I am having trouble finding time to connect during the day via phone. I have decided not to go to China with Cathy. She did find out she is leaving May 2nd. It continues to be a sorting through of things for me and right now I don't quite have the emotional energy to offer her. I believe it will be best for both of us in different ways. I wanted to be sure you knew. Figured if I was going to take two weeks off, perhaps there is a place to go that offers sun and relaxation... Happy Birthday Ellie!

Good Morning from Len & family

I just wanted to thank Dad and Mom and Dan and Arlene and family for helping us get the house ready to rent last weekend. We had two renters get through the house and they both wanted to rent. Dan was going to close the deal with one of them this week. I really appreciate making progress on the house and then getting my tax return yesterday. It is amazing how financial stuff can add hidden and not so hidden stressers to your day. We went boat shopping but the price jumped from the advertesided $20K to $28K in first 10 minutes so we are back looking as far as that goes. Hope everybody is well Love Len

from henry

i would like to remind Noah, Andrew and Ryan to bring their airsoft guns to the cottage and a lot of ammo. Don't forget safety glasses and protection.

Anna and Liv,

Your contribtion is awesome. the color is so impressive. And thanks, too, for the drawing you left for me, Liv. It is on our frig! Love you lots, too. Beppe.

We love you

Hello This is Liv And Anne. We is at Annes house on saterday (3/3/07) we are just saying hi and we love you all. love your cousins/granddaughter/niece and what ever else we are.

Happy Birthday Andrew

Was going through some photos tonight and thought this was a pretty fun one of the big boys from Christmas. I hope that Andrew had a GREAT day and I am sorry I did not catch you home. Were you out celebrating? Andrew, is there anything special on your wish list?

Y Aunt Trish

Happy Birthday, Andrew

I have been trying to log into this thing for the last few days so that we could wish Andrew a very happy birthday. So, Happy Birthday a little late, Andrew. We hope you had a great day. Henry was very disappointed that he could not come, but could we make another date? Uncle Dan and I thought we would bring him and, since Henry does not want us to stay with him, we thought we would use it as a get-away and shop at Ikea. Maybe your mom and dad would have dinner with us. So tell us some week-ends that work and we will bring him over. Of course, you are always welcome here, too. But we really want to see where you live, and our house is way more fun in the summer. Now--how do I get my own account (I have one on Google) to allow me into this Blog? I noticed Len and Trish and Suzi are all members. I want to be one too. I hope you are all well. Have a good day! Arlene

Immigration

Olivia was at our home this weekend and she interviewed pappa and I about our immigration experience. I promised Olivia that I would send her an email giving her some more details about what it was like to leave my home and country (the Netherlands) when I was 10 years old. That is how old she is and Andrew, too. (And, we missed our interview with Andrew about this same topic because of a snowy roads. This does not necessarily replace that, but it may also answer some of your questions). The days leading up to the date that we left were exciting. We had a car that would take us to the city for medical exams and we had our family pictures taken and there were passports that we all neeeded. There were very few cars where we lived. Fortunately, Uncle Lieuwe (Aunt Trina's husband) had his driver's license and he would be the chauffeur. One time he picked us up from school and did I feel like a big shot! On March 28, 1953 we boarded a bus (I forget where they picked us up) and they took us to Amsterdam to the boat that would take us to America. The boat was called The Maasdam. When we left the Dutch waters all the adults stood on deck and sang the Dutch National Anthem. I can still hear them! The days on the boat are without a doubt, the most exciting moments of my young life. I had never seen a movie before and we could go into the theatre and watch them whenever we wanted to. They were in English, but who cared the moving picture was fascinaging. There was a playroom with the kinds of toys that I had only dreamed of. There was an elevator that we constantly would ride up down to different decks. Our family (there were 12 of us) had a table in the dining room with a waiter all to ourselves. That was foreign to our way of life. I was brought up on a farm in the northern part of the Netherlands (Friesland) and I had no knowledge of restaurants. The food was more and better than we had ever tasted. I ate so many bananas that for years the sight of a banana made me slightly ill. We arrived in Hoboken, New Jersey on April 5 and that is when we started a new life in a new country. I went to school that first day thinking I looked just great, to find out I was completely out of it. My look was Dutch, not American. I did not understand the teacher. I was in fifth grade and a teacher took a first grade reader and helped me read Dick and Jane. Math was my favorite subject because I understood numbers. Science and history were my worst subjects, because there was so much that I missed because I did not know the language. I developed a love and appreciation for America in those early years. Many years later I went back to my home country and discovered that something inside of myself felt much more at home there, then it ever did in the United States. I even thought that our kids would feel like strangers among their classsmates and that, because we had journeyed from a far country, they would still feel the impact of that. I know that my life is rich because of where I was born, and where I grew up. I identify easily with those who are "immigrants" and there are many of us. And today I feel pretty settled in the country I have called home since 1953. Thanks, Olivia and Andrew for asking about my immigrant experience. It is pretty neat to talk my heart in 2007 on a kupborgdebos blog. I am truly blessed! Beppe.

Andrew's Blog

yesterday was my birthday and we barely slept. We played racing games that I got for my birthday all night except for some 2-on-2 pool games. we had a couple fights but it was fun. we had pizza, cake, and a chocolate fountain. in the morning we had pancakes for breakfeast and then one kid stayed till 12:00 noon. Everyone got here at 5 and at first time moved really slowly but we ate a ton of sugar and we were moving at warp speed so time just seemed slow. We had glow bracelets and played in the dark for a long time tackling each other and being goofy. When we had the lights on we were throwing a ball and broke a framed picture that my mom had for a long time. There was a lot of glass. Mom yelled and we stopped horsing around. We watched Batman Begins on DVD but mostly played a lot of X Box.

Ryan's blog

uhh...Henry? I wanted to know if you remember the Adventure Quest password. Cuz I wanted to log on and I didnt have it. Anyway, now for everyone. At Andrews party,we played Xbox, used our new chocolatefountain [which we will bring to the cabin] stayed up past midnight and uh ate! Thats all I have to say. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thank you to my family

Well, Friday night was a good time to be together and I felt celebrated and loved. We missed you Nick and Jonna, Andrew and Ryan. The owning of VA, although in some sense a process of paperwork and payment, I do find that my day to day ownership sense feels different!

I thought you might all enjoy reading the poem once again, although some of the enjoyable flavor was Suzi's tone and our laughter that went as well. I cherish the memories of the years I was with Ted, but am happy with my ted-less-ness status!

Three years ago we were sitting outside

When you mentioned Ted and an idea in mind

You would hire immigrants and refugees

To wash peoples' backs, elbows and knees.

To take them places and clean their floors

Play games with them and do their chores.

We had our doubts and how it would go

Nick ran some numbers and said "I don't think so".

Only three people in all of our state

Can afford clean elbows at your going rate.

But you saw things in a different light

Only time would tell if your feeling was right.

So you bought a red car and you hired some people

and placed ads under every steeple.

As time passed it became very clear,

"Watch out Angel Care --Trish is here."

Visiting Angels grew and grew

We'd look at each other and say, "Who knew?"

So tonight we want to celebrate you

All that you are and all that you do

In our celebration we hope that you know

Our love surrounds you wherever you go!

The artwork is great and will be beautiful on the wall of our new location.

I love you all and hope Visiting Angels will give us reason for celebration for many years to come!

Trish

Len and Marcia

I am not sure if this will work but here goes.... We are coming to Muskegon this coming saturday to knock out some work on the rental and maybe go see the Lake Mi ice. No pressure on anyone but if anyone wants to help that is great. We will call with details and ofcourse if it is rented by then (it might be) then the work might be less immeadiate.

An update

I just posted the book Restavec and I do want to explain a little bit about the content and why I was so interested in it. Restavec is a French word, meaning to live with. In Haiti, children from very poor families are often designated to live with families other than their own who are not as poor as they are. As you can imagine, the arrangement often leads to abuse which has strong overtones of enslavement. Restavec is the autobiography of a restavec who somehow found his way out of it but to this day is living with the results of all the abuse he suffered in his earlier years. The reason I was so interested in this book is because Ted Boers started a project called Rescue One, which is designated to save the children from becoming restavecs. It is in its third year and he now has 50 children involved. His foundation, Micah, pays tuition to a Christian school, uniforms, books, one meal a day and health care for these children. Three Haitian churches help him, along with Kerline, who is the Haitian director of this program. His budget is $100,000 a year. And, because he wants to simplify his life, he asked me to take over this project. He will fund it until the end of August. At first I thought there is no way that I want, or can, do this. But more and more it is growing on me. When I talk about it I feel a real interest inside of myself and in the people I relate to. Len said if I did it, he certainly wanted to be involved. Could I raise a hundred thousand dollars each year, and hopefully more as the years go on and as the project grows? I think I can. I have not yet said yes. I am going to wait until the end of April to make a firm decision. I thought this would be a good way to let you all on this little intriguing bit of information that has come to me very unexpectedly. I'll keep you posted. By the way, this blog is a great idea, even though it took a while for me to catch on it. You can tell, I am making up for missed opportunities. Mom

A Cabin Rainy Day Preview

The boys and I had an idea for the rainy day at the cabin. Chocolate tasting! There are tons of different kinds of chocolates out there and we all have our favorites. And, few of us have tasted a wide range critically. So, we thought we should have a bit of a "taste off" this summer! Our idea is to have 5-10 different varieties. Something like a square for each of us to taste, and a score card preprinted for each person. Then review the cards and select a winner. My friends and I did this in college with local mico-beweries and it was really fun! Tonight we used a chocolate fountain with lots of unhealthy stuff to dip for Andrew's birthday party. A huge and delicious hit! And not even too messy! Jonna

Jonna's Job

I have to admit that I hadn't been on here yet. I just never took the time. And shame on me because thre is a whole "brag on Jonna" entry. Thank you for posting that! I thought I would fill you guys in on how it's going. I have my clinic 1 mile from the house and I will still technically be the boss there. But I am trying to hire staff to do the treatment because I am stretched a little thin and find myself getting sick every few weeks. Now that I have given myself permission to just have a successful clinic and not a super-stellar clinic, I feel much more relaxed about it. Nationally, I have clinics starting in WI, IL, TN, IN, AZ, GA, CT, OH, KY soon in MI, and FL. I am on the phone much of the time and I have been traveling some. More of the one long day variety and I have been able to schedule trips around Nick's schedule. But he will be gone for almost all of March and we have arranged for my Dad to stay here when we will both be gone. My Dad did that once already for us and everyone seemed to have a great time, and he is willing to come back so I will take that as a good sign. As far as working for Stryker goes, I am really liking it. I have fantastic people working around me and for me. People have been very positive, although I did have a very long conversation yesterday with some lawyers. I stress them out because this is a new product line for Stryker and Medicare is always scary. We managed to end the call without swearing at each other and no reports are out about any lawyers jumping off any bridges so I guess all is well. But check the statistics on liquor sales in Kalamazoo because I suspect they may go up.

My Birthday

2 days un til my party henrys coming and I can't wait for it. and I can't wait to have all of my friends over for a sleepover. Plus I kmow it's kind of greedy but I can't wait to open presents. Also my mom got us new movies to watch for the sleepover. And theres one movie called hot shots and hot shots deux. My mom ordered my cake today and I'm not sure she got a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and filling. Also we're going to use a chocolate fountain that I got for Christmas and it's also for the rainy day at the cabin because we always have a rainy day.

Time to Celebrate!

As you all know, Trish purchased the other half of Visiting Angels from Ted last week. We are planning to have dinner at Mom and Dad's on Friday night to celebrate her Ted-less-ness, as I like to call it (no offense to Ted, it's just fun to say).

I think the initial idea for a blog was to improve communication about such things, so I thought I'd give it a whirl. Here's what we have planned and what I know about who's coming and when.

We're meeting at Mom and Dad's at 6 pm (Len and Marcia & Co will not make it until 8) for happy hour. We will feed the kids and get a movie started for them as soon as the Borgdorff's arrive.

Nick, Jonna, Andrew and Ryan can't make it. Is that right? If so, nuts, we'll miss you so.

Arlene and Suzi are taking care of most of the food. We will have everything ready to go so that we don't spend our time cooking (and messing up Mom's kitchen!).

We will eat at 8ish while the kids peacefully and quietly enjoy a movie in the basement.

I know Len and Marcia are spending the night, and I have heard some talk of plans for Saturday, but I'm unsure about those. Feel free to fill in that part if you know.

Ok, that's all I have. We're looking forward to it.

Love,

Suzi

Peter's Box Company

Peter has begun to explore his creative side by decorating boxes. He begins by choosing the recipient and spends hours, literally, working on a box especially for that person. He uses a variety of techniques on his boxes including punching holes with a screwdriver, coloring, sanding, and painting. The latest limited edition box was given to our neighbors. When this Huggies box was finally complete, he insisted on delivering it to them all by himself (we had to call to give the neighbors some warning and to offer to dispose of it if neccessary!). I'm sure he'll accept special orders if you feel that your house will not be complete without one (Grandma uses hers as a trash can...).

100th birthday

We all made a quick trip to Minnesota this past week-end for Grandma's 100th birthday. We are all very glad we went! We had planned to stay in the Super 8 in Milaca, but friends called before we left and offered us their home. Dan's sister Karolyn came with us. We drove through the night on Thursday and arrived at 4am on Friday morning. After a little nap, we went to the school and took a tour. We spent most of our time gawking at the students who were so much smaller the last time we saw them. Janneke chose to stay for the rest of the day and hang out with her old class. We spent some time with Grandma in the afternoon. She did not remember us, but she did recall certain things as we talked about them. She still has a great sense of humor. It was so good to see her. She is an amazing 100 year old woman! There was a big party for her on Saturday at the Elim home (which is a very nice nursing home). Several hundred people came, and she did not want to miss a thing. Karolyn read her the card she had made, and when Grandma saw the whole basket of cards she asked me, "Are those all for me? Can I take them to my room?" There was a home basketball game at the high school on Friday night, so we went there as well. Between the party and the game, we saw more people than you would think possible in a week-end. Henry spent some time with an old friend on Saturday, and all five asked to move back by the end of the week-end. Dan and I left very happy that we had gone, but also glad that we now live where we do. Going back is great, and we are thankful that we were so warmly received there. I will be at every 100th family birthday from now on. It was well worth the trip! Love you all so much~

Way to go Jonna

January 17, 2007 ORGANIZATIONAL ANNOUNCEMENT Jonna Borgdorff has recently joined Physiotherapy Associates as Group Director and National Director of Senior Living. Jonna will be based in Chicago and will direct the efforts of Physio in the sales and marketing of services to senior living communities. Jonna will consult with senior and local leadership regarding the specific operational requirements for successful and profitable programming for senior residential facilities. Another goal of Jonna’s in this new role will be the establishment of partnership opportunities with home health organizations to provide therapy staff to adjacent businesses which should, ultimately, increase patient visit counts to existing clinics. In addition to her new duties, Jonna will be directing the temporary staffing business that is based in Chicago and exploring ways in which that service can be expanded on a national basis. In Jonna’s first months with Physio she opened a new senior living clinic and earned a profit in that clinic’s initial thirty days of operation. Her plan calls for an additional nine clinic openings in Illinois by year-end. Jonna has a wealth of expertise in the senior therapy market dating to 1997 when she was a rehabilitation director for three skilled nursing communities in Wisconsin. She later served in a similar role for a large senior living campus in Michigan. In 2003 she shifted her focus to building outpatient therapy offices in assisted living communities in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, and Texas. Jonna is a Wisconsin native and graduated from the University of Wisconsin at Madison with a double major in Physical Therapy and Psychology. Jonna, her husband, and two sons reside in Oak Park, Illinois. Jonna will report to Joe Delligatti, Director of Marketing. Please welcome Jonna to Physiotherapy Associates and wish her great success in her new role.

Ethiopia ~ Yeah or Nay

Thought I would share a Friesland Photo.... Thank you to each of you who offered me insight on my big decision whether to accept an all expenses paid trip to Ethiopia for All God's Children. I felt drawn to it but also some reservation. My tension was if the experience I might have would be greater than what I feared might happen in the day to day with VA or AGCI. I then very practically sat down and mapped out the calendar...Cathy is awaiting her travel notice and although we had hoped to be there and back before the end of January, we are not yet and once she receives her TA (travel approval) we will leave in about two weeks, for two weeks. They say that the 26 hour flight and 12 hour time change takes a good 10 days to recover from. Diana, my 75 year old friend, is scheduled for a total knee replacement, in early March and since I have supported her through her hip replacement in 2004, her shoulder in Feb of 2005, her other shoulder in August of 05 and her knee in December of 05, I assured her I would be available to support her through this one also. Must be crummy to have your joints go out one at a time. And then you add the day to day and the family life I enjoy and the reminders of a few of my board members that I do own a business that is undergoing a constant state of growth and change and I came into my 37 year old mind and let AGCI know how much I appreciated the invite, but maybe another time. Even toyed with it being the trip for Anna and Liv to accompany me on, but that to, maybe another time. So, until I get word from Cathy that China has granted permission to come, I am working on finalizing the VA purchase, transitioning to 6 full time staff in the office, managing a month of 111, ooo if we hold out till month end with our current client group and trying to secure new office space in or near Eastown. Add on a few home studies and some time to work out again, and what can I say but life is full and life is good....love to you all! Trish

2:00 am Thoughts from Trish

I thought I would see if it worked to post. It looks like it does. I was sharing with a few good friends today about our Christmas, about the kids, the gifts, the hugs, the laughter, the squeals, and then the laughter and the simplicity of the adult gifts. I shared a bit about the profiles and the results and numerous times, throughout the discussion, the words echoed...wow, your family does well, or wow, my family would never talk that through and so, even after a day of flying emails and alot of emotion, I am glad to be in the family I am in. Tonight Beth and I have worked late on adoption and at the end of the day I realize the deep content feeling in my soul. I have acquired Visiting Angels for 100,000 dollars and was approved for the line of credit with my VA assets. I have worked a deal with Mom and Dad to draw a small amount on their home and I continue to pay down my home equity on Aunt Dot's home. I am going down the street as Andy observed, but I won't be down to the Bos' home anytime soon. My home doesn't hold alot of equity yet but in time I will be able to share the model and allow my neices and nephews to borrow against my home for their college education! Well, dear family, I am off to bed to prepare for a busy day tomorrow. I hope you are all well and will share soon on the blog!

Hello Kupborgdebos-ers,

So, enough talking about, it was time to finally do it. We have a blog. This may not solve all of our communication issues, but let's give it a try. Besides, it's a great way to share pictures, stories, ideas, suggestions, and memories. I don't have a lot of time to format it at the moment, but I'll try to work on it in the days ahead. If you have a category you'd like to add, just shoot me an email. Or, you can access the blog by signing in at blogger.com with suannebos@yahoo.com and the password: borgdorffblog Ok, I better get back to work. I don't want to get fired. It's hard to hide this from my bosses since I have to send them the email telling them about our site! Take care and love to all. Suzi