It is time for Special Olympics swimming again. SO started a couple weeks ago and Jacob and Luke are both helping out this year, making it truly a family affair. Jacob explained the importance of donuts in the swimmer's diet, so we did kick off the season with donuts for breakfast the first week. Jon Felipe is wondering if he'll have to shave his head like Luke and the other boys on the swim team (Jacob went short, but not completely bald).

Here are Maria and Luke and the athlete Luke is working with.Jon is really getting into swimming this year, he's becoming more confident and working hard.

And he loves wearing cool goggles.
Last Sunday night we went to a celebration of adoption hosted by Bethany and Ginny our adoption coordinater. One of the featured speakers was Elizabeth Stone (and her mom). She won a silver medal in swimming at the Paralympics in Beijing last summer! She was adopted at the age of 4 as a special needs child with only one leg from the Republic of Georgia (Russia). It was a good program (thanks for inviting us Ginny) and Maria really enjoyed hearing about other kids like her who are successful in spite of their disabilities.

Swingin' the Night Away

This was a busy week at the VanTol's. Here are pictures from the BOC (Band Orchestra Choir) fund raiser Swingin' the Night Away. We had a great time. Maria and her friend Lily showed off the skills they've been learning in their after school dance class. Jon Felipe danced with mom and checked out all the yummy desserts. Earlier in the week, we all went to the swim meet to cheer Jacob and Luke on to their team's win over Byron Center.

Winter weather advisory

Exams ended last Friday and 2nd semester doesn't begin until Monday for our high school kids, so this weekend has been homework free and the kids are enjoying being able to just hang out and play Rock Band or other games. Of course they still had swim practice on Saturday but it wasn't until 10 so they still got to sleep in. It warmed up a little today, the thermometer said it was 20 deg. F. It was in the single digits for most of last week, so 20 with no wind felt almost balmy while I was out blowing snow off the driveway. The piles on both sides of the drive are so tall, taller than me and I'm 6'2", that my little Toro can't shoot it that high and so I have to scoot it to the edges and finish up with a shovel. Makes me feel old when I am done, achy joints and sore back. At least I can pretend that I am losing a little weight.

Jon Felipe is convinced that we have so much snow because he asked God for "mucho nieve". He loves to play out in the snow making angels and sledding down the snowbanks. Perhaps it is still a novelty for someone who was born where it is always summer. Big Luk, Our "Lost boy of Sudan," liked winter too. He said that Africa was too hot and it was nice to live where the weather wasn't always trying to bake you. I know that by the end of my stay in Bogota I was really ready to get back to Michigan, but right now I am dreaming of that ever warm Colombian climate.

It has stopped snowing after coming down hard for most of the day and the firmament has lightened to the point where I can almost believe that I can see blue sky. But the weather bug on my computer tells me that more "lake effect snow" is on its way and the kids are starting to talk hopefully about a snow day tomorrow. Time to go make something hot and comforting for dinner.
Dwight

Happy Holidays

We got a lot of snow in December. The kids enjoyed playing on the huge snow pile next to the driveway. That's Jon in orange, Maria in the dark blue, and their friend Karis in purple.Everyone got new winter hats from Santa. Don't Jacob and Luke look handsome.
Maria and Jon can't wait to open the presents at Abuela and Abuelo's house. Guess what everyone got? New clothes because they are growing up so fast.
Goofing around at the otro Abuela & Abuelo's casa. We enjoyed visiting lots of the relatives. The kids kept asking, where are we going today?
It was a good vacation, but now that we are all back to school and life is back to the regular routine, life is much simpler.

OK, this is Maria baking jumbles as part of her American History project for school. They were very tasty.

Jon and Grandpa Davis getting dessert ready on Thanksgiving day.


Jon and big brother Colin having a good time together while watching Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
Jon and Grandma Davis taking pictures with Luke in the background.

Today was supposed to be the last day of school before Christmas break but we had a big snow storm over night so today is a snowday. I'm all achy from shoveling out the driveway all morning. The snow drifts were up over my knees so that was a lot of snow.
Dwight

I have been trying to publish this post for a week but have been having internet problems.

Maria Trick or Treating with her friends Abby and Elizabeth.

Jon went trick or treating with his friend and our neighbor Ben, They had a great time and gathered mucho dulces. Halloween was a new experience to Jon and he couldn't believe so many people wanted to give him candy. America truly is the land of milk and honey.
Jon had a great birthday. A little overwhelming the first time for someone who grew up in an orphanage (or at least for Jon) He was so excited to get his own Torta with candles and this bus was one of his favorite presents. Thanks to all who helped to make this day special to a special kid.
If I remember right exactly a year ago Kathleen,Luke, Maria, and I were on a plane headed to Bogota Colombia to meet Jon for the first time and take him home with us. Later today I will probably go back and reread some of those early posts to catch some of what I felt at the beginning of this journey. I can tell you now that the feeling that someone has dropped of their kid for us to babysit and forgot to pick him back up has gone away. Even though I have learned more Spanish than he has learned English so far we communicate just fine and we tell each other everyday "I love you." Our love for this child is real and deep and we're sure that it goes both ways. We told Jon just as we told Maria that we were their "forever family" and no matter what, we would love them and take care of them. It's nice then, that we can tell by the twinkle in Jon's eye and the smile on his lips that he thinks that we are special too.
Thanks to all of you who have shared this year with us and made Jon's adoption possible.
Dwight and Kathleen.

Jon's baptism

Here are some pictures of Jon Felipe's baptism. Rev. John Hutt was a missionary in Argentina and he explained in Spanish to Jon (and the congregation) what baptism is all about. The whole ceremony went well and it was very meaningful.

Here is Jon getting doused with water in Spanish and English.
Maria and Jen Brieve sang "Welcome to the Family" together.
The whole day was great. It was nice to have all the grandparents there and many of our friends. Thank you all for making Jon's baptism special.
Dwight

Fall Frenzy

Jon getting off the school bus. He really loves going to school and when he gets off the bus he always asks if he gets to go back tomorrow.

Maria Cheering at the football game. Go Maroons! Lots of fun for the young girls to be cheerleaders for a night.
Apple picking with Grandma and Grandpa Davis at Crane's Orchard. A Fall tradition. Can't wait to taste those apple pies.
Fun in the pumpkin patch. Waiting for the Great Pumpkin to come.
Tomorrow Jon is going to be baptized and we are having a fiesta to celebrate.
Dwight

Good bye Sora

Our faithful if a bit obnoxious family pet, Sora the lurcher, passed away yesterday so I posted a video in the side bar as a tribute to her. It has been really hard on Jon and Maria who miss her terribly and were not prepared for her sudden exit. Funeral services will be conducted today after school.
Dwight

This is Mom, Maria and Jon in front of Sioux Center Christian School. They were interested in seeing if schools in Iowa looked just like schools in Michigan.

Jon climbing up into the hay loft at cousin Larry's farm to see what was up there. Just hay.
And lots of cousins.
Vaca Vaca moo!

Family Reunion

These pictures were taken at the VanTol family reunion, which happened in and around Sioux Center, Iowa, in July, 2008. The beautiful Lady in the middle of the picture is my grandma, Christine VanTol who is 97 years old.
Maria and her cousin Anya at the park having fun.

Mom and Jon Felipe having a discussion or perhaps singing the cow song together.
this is what much of Iowa looks like in July.
We are all doing well, I'll post again soon.

more camping pictures

Here are some more pictures from camping. Don't we look like we are relaxing.Here we are sitting on the Muskegon channel watching great big freighter pass by, Jon really likes big things like ships and big trucks and buses and airplanes.

Jon and Jacob and Maria in the Fourth of July bike parade around the campground.
On July 11 Kathy flew out to Dordt College to teach a graduate level course in their education program, and Maria Jon and I went to the airport to see her off. We thought that Jon was with the program, that Kathy was going to fly to Iowa alone, and then the rest of the family was going to drive out the next weekend and join her there for the VanTol Family reunion and Scrabble tournament, which was conveniently scheduled for the same venue. While Kathy was in the check in line the rest of us went to look out the windows at the planes landing and taking off. As a small jet pulled into the Northwestern gate I casually mentioned that that must be the plane mom will be on. At that point Jon decided that he needed to get on that plane also, and took off for the security line and the concourse. I intercepted him just before he ducked under the ropes, but then he started yelling that he was going to go with his mom (in Spanish), and I decided it was probably time to take him home. So we went and said good bye to mom who was still checking her luggage, Jon screaming and trying to get away all the while. We then headed for the parking lot and were almost there, when we were stopped by a very nice security guard who was concerned that I appeared to be trying to escape with an Hispanic child who was screaming for his mother. While I am glad that security is good at doing its job, I am not so happy it was me being detained, and of course I didn't bring along any identification documents for Jon or Maria. So security had to pull Kathy out of line and have her identify her family and promise that I wasn't kidnapping her child before any of us could get on our way. Kathy did manage to just make her flight and we made it home and eventually out to Iowa. I will post pictures of that trip soon.

summer

We are having a great summer here in Holland. The top picture is from our camping trip over the Fourth of July at Muskegon State Park.
These next two pictures are from Grandpa Davis' birthday party. Happy birthday Grandpa.

This is the whole family, grandpa and grandma with all the kids and grand kids.

tulip time '08

Bogota collage

family movie

Spring

Hi There loyal readers. It's been a while since I posted but it is spring break so I have some time to add some pictures. Here is a picture of Jon in some new duds. He likes getting new clothes but sometimes they are a bit big on him. He is growing though so they will eventually fit.
We took these next two pictures on Easter. Maria was the only one who got dressed up though. Colin didn't come home from Calvin until later in the afternoon which is why he is only in the second picture with the snowman or hombre de la nieve we made.

This is Jon showing off his new orthotic brace and regular boy shoes. He was really excited to be able to wear athletic shoes just like everyone else and not his old black leather boots which had become quite worn out. This new brace articulates at the ankle and toe so that he can walk with a more natural gait. We are also having made an orthotic which he will wear at night to keep his foot and ankle tendons from tightening. The goal is to prevent as much foot drop as possible without having to use surgery or botox injections.
We are staying home this Spring break (like usual) which is good because Maria's health has not been good for several weeks now. She has had a cold for a while and a week ago we even took her into the emergency room because she was too weak to get out of bed and stand up. Fortunately she recovered enough during the day so that the doctor let her go home by dinner time, but we increased her mestanon dosage and the frequency of her IVIG infusions. This weekend she came down with strep throat which developed into pneumonia so she is on a strong antibiotic and nebulizer treatments. If her temperature doesn't come down to normal by tomorrow morning she will probably have to go back into the hospital for a steroid treatment and we don't want to do that, so if you read this pray for her to get better.
Love Dwight and Kathleen