Q. Where can I get a copy of your book?

A. Please read on...




For my new friends: Beginning in 1995, following a part-time career as a Clinical Laboratory Scientist in microbiology, I had been working in the field of Tobacco Control. My work included prevention, advocacy (clean indoor air policy development), smoking cessation, and professional trainings and presentations. I was also involved in coalition building (including nicoTEAM, SAFE of Kent County, Tobacco Free Partners in West Michigan, & Tobacco Free Michigan.)

More recently, I spent about 2 years co-authoring a self-help book specifically to assist older smokers recover from their nicotine addiction; Tobacco Free After 50. Rick Delano, my co-author, and I have a website with more information about this project, including how to obtain a copy of our book. Use the link to this site at the start of my blog (see LINKS) , or you can go to www.tobaccofreeafter50.com.

My work as a consultant brought me around the country, including the state of Washington in 2002, when I presented for the Washington State Department of Health. Since my parents both came from Lynden, Washington, I welcomed the opportunity to travel back here. Little did I ever dream to find myself a citizen of this state, retracing their steps in Lynden, our new home. (Tim began working near here the end of Nov '05 and we moved to Lynden in Jan '06.) It is such a delight to live in Washington with its extensive smokefree policies! We breathe easier.

While I am taking what I call a "sabbatical" from my consulting, I am doing some work with local teachers and schools. Whatever the future holds, this work has been challenging and rewarding, but alwasy a most fulfilling experience. I have learned a lot and done so many new things. Most of all, I treasure the terrific people I have met and the friendships that have formed during this journey as we were..."working together toward a tobacco-free future."

Krista

P.S. I like smokers...but I have no use for the Tobacco Industry...just in case you were wondering.

Anniversary Celebrations

Celebrating - Parts 1 & 2

Part 1: On Wednesday evening, 6-28, we enjoyed dinner with friends of my parents...and now friends of ours, Fran & Loe K. and their daughter, Jan. We tried Syros Greek & Italian Restaurant here in Lynden...our first visit. We had a delicious dinner and great conversation. Unfortunately, our camera eluded me as we left for the evening so--no photo for this posting. I'll try again another time. Fran & Lou send their best to Jim & Sylvia V.








Part 2: Thursday evening Tim & I drove to Seattle to join Uncle Dave & Aunt Kay C. for dinner. They were in town from Ohio for an Alaskan Cruise leaving the next day. (Last year we celebrated our 30th on the same cruise line in Alaska, this same week.) We met them at their hotel where they treated us to a delicious dinner...halibut and swordish...







Dinner was wonderful and since we had not seen Dave since Allison & Chris' wedding, 5 years ago, and Kay...we weren't sure how long it has been... conversation was lively as we "caught up."





Dinner's grand finale included some delicious dessert . In Seattle one can enjoy coffee on any corner and in any form. Had to enjoy the Coffee Trio of Ganache/Sorbet/and Creme Brulee. A picture is worth a thousand words...a sweet ending to a long overdue visit.

So glad they called and we made the trip!

Bon Voyage and God bless your travels.

Birch Bay Day...PS

Amendment to 6/25 Birch Bay Day....
(I overlooked the picnic photos)

The small group from 3rd CRC met for a potluck picnic supper at the Birch Bay State Park. We roasted hotdogs and then enjoyed everyone's contributions to the food table. Tim is loading up on the beans...yikes.

Fabulous weather, fabulous food, and most of all fabulous new friends.

Recognize anyone, Mom & Dad V.?

Katers stayed safely out of everyone's way by using our camp chair as

her throne. "Now, if only someone would throw me a hotdog this would be a perfect picnic!"

I will omit last names, but maybe you can figure out who these people are anyway...

(Standing) Carol D.J., Mary & Bob M., Terese & Jim H., Sherwin V.M. & Betty D.B.

(Seated) Carolyn V.M., Toots K., Tim S.,Dennie D.B.

(Missing) Krista, the wanna be photographer

(OK, I am omitting more than last names...I cannot get the group picture to upload into this post. Tried 6 times doing everything I know, to make it work.. Anyone out there with technical advice - please comment. Thanks.)

What were you doing 31 years ago?

What were you doing 31 years ago, today?

We were saying our vows to each other and have spent the last 31 years keeping them. Thank you, Tim, for everything! God has truly blessed us and our family. I look forward to many more happy years together...just can't predict exactly where they will be...but the adventure has been remarkable.

Thanks for sharing the good times and the bad with such faithfulness and love.

Thanks for giving me 3 wonderful daughters, and all that has resulted...Chris & Jack, soon Jason, and who knows what our future holds when it comes to more family?

Thanks for giving me the world...places I never even dreamed about seeing in my lifetime.

Thanks for sharing your faith in our awesome God. "Great is His Faithfulness."

Happy Anniversary, honey!

Krista

P.S. There was another thing we were doing 31 years ago...Wishing my sister, Debbie, a very Happy Birthday!!!! We love you!

A Birch Bay Day

Today was hot-especially by Lynden standards-sunny and 82 degrees at 6 pm. My outdoor thermometer hit over 90. We appreciated our A.C.

Fortunately we had a picnic planned with our small group from 3rd Christian Reformed Church to be held out at Birch Bay (about a half hour from our home.) This is the salt water bay where cousins Rod and Carol D.J. have their cottage...The Milk House.

This is where we have spent Memorial Day & Father's Day (hope to be there on the 4th as well...fireworks!) Rod & Carol have been so generous to invite us to join their extended family & friends. They help us fill these days of potential homesickness with great fun, food & friendship.



Today Carol D.J. (Sister to Rod), "Toots" K. (from small group), and I drove out to the Milk House around 3 pm and escaped the heat-it had to have been 10 degrees cooler. Their porch was the perfect place to catch the breeze off the Bay.















Here is the view that we enjoyed...The San Juan Islands are off in the distance.












Here's a peek inside...it is so cozy and cute and comfortable. The perfect escape location. Thanks Rod & Carol for sharing it with so many, including us!

Libby-Our Grad!

Libby's Graduation from Calvin College May 20, 2006

We are so proud of you, Lib!










You can go to the Calvin Website for a family photo. http://www.calvin.edu/gallery/2006commencement/DSC09801
(Photo # 74 of the 96 posted)
I am sure there is a way to get this photo into this blog but it is currently beyond my technical abilities. Any suggestions? Wow!! I just accomplished it. Go to the box of LINKS (on the right near the top of blog) and click on the 3rd link and you will see our family photo at commencement. Aren't you impressed?....I am.

Next stop for Libby is the University of Kentucky in Lexington for graduate studies at their School of Social Work where she plans to get her Masters in August of 2007.

Libby moved to Lexington after graduation to share a zip code with Justin R. She is a nanny for a local family (please send a photo) and shares an apartment with Julie and Angie (please send another photo). Julie is a friend that Libby met at the Young Life camp, Rockbridge, in Goshen, Virginia last Summer, where she also met Justin. (Both of her room mates are Young Life leaders at local high schools; Julie leads with Justin R.)

Libby loves mail so e-mail or call me and I will share her contact info.

We will keep you posted on the Kentucky Connection.

(If you have not done so you can go to Sara, Justin's sister's, blog (www.tommyandsara.blogspot.com ) and check out the June 18 post with all the photos from the recent trip by Allison & Chris, and Becky & Jason to visit Libby and Justin. They all joined his family on their houseboat. Looks like great fun.
(I bet you could link your blog to this blog, but again...too technical. Sara can you help?)

News Flash from Chicago

....Jack & Carol H. are grandparents!

(OK, so it is 7 month-old news. It takes a while to get news out here to the west coast.)

Let me introduce their grandson, Riley James H., son of David & Roberta H. What a family resemblance. It brings back Godwin Street days. Congratulations and welcome to the club. You are gonna love being grandparents.

Jim & Nancy's Visit: May '06 - Part 3

The Farm, The Fish, The Fun

Lydia and Josiah had to visit "The Farm" aka Rod and Carol D.J. Dairy. Rod is my cousin and this is The Farm of my childhood and our daughter's.

George (the blond in this group), Rod & Carol's grandson, was our official tour guide...laser pointer and all.




First stop was at George and Lane's (the other blond in this picture) farm across the street. Their dad, Jon, is Rod & Carol's oldest son, married to Shelly. Baby sister, Tabby, slept through most of the tour.





Nest stop, see the calves. George demos how the calves are held in place for feeding.
















Lydia gives it a try...and the calf gets some milk. I am not sure who is more uncertain about this, Lydia or the calf.

Now, lets see how a pro does it. Everybody looks much more comfortable.

Post tour fun crawling around. Lydia and Lane became fast friends!

The highlight of the visit for the girls was rolling down the hills together.

Back to see if the horse are hungry.

Lydia & Lane were convinced that "the horses like to eat those yellow flowers in the grass"... so they picked lots for them to eat.

Another favorite spot to visit in Lynden is the Sidewalk Cafe for a snack or lunch under the Big Windmill on Front Street. The canal that runs by this indoor cafe is filled with giant goldfish that were very popular with Josiah and Lydia. They "lived in a shoe"...wooden, of course.



Anyone who visits us can take advantage of a free Dutch contume photo op. Lydia and Josiah didn't want to miss this opportunity!

Lydia wondered how a picture would look if she used this alternate hole. Your wish is my command!

Last but not least, Lydia took advantage of Aunt Krista's offer for a sleep-over while her folks toured Vancouver, B.C. After visiting many of the businesses in Lynden to take advantage of their Welcome Wagon coupons-we collected lots of freebies (i.e. Lydia selected the style of our new free outdoor thermometer...I think of her everyday when I check the temperature on our beautiful rainbow thermomter.)

We finished our day with a long stop at the Lynden City Park. Slide, sliding poles, monkey bars- but the swings are the best!

Jim & Nancy's Visit: May '06 - Part 2

Shrimping

We joined Tom & Jacque on the first day of shrimping season. You can only shrimp for 4 hours a day on four days in June, 9 am to 1 pm. 2 Saturdays and 2 Wednesdays.


The canal is starting to fill with boats of all sizes...with many more to come.



After 4 hours of lowering and later hauling up shrimp baskets (traps), Tom brought the day's catch up to their house. Almost made their limit (80 shrimp/licensed person. We had 3 licenses).

(... Jacque and I supervised from our kayaks.)



Cleaning the catch: Lydia (6) & Josiah (2) look on as Tom tears off the heads of the shrimp.

Josiah thinks "This looks easy"...rip...plunk, plunk. After watching for a minute or two he had reached in, grabbed a critter, tore off the head, dropped it in one bucket and the tail in another...like he had been this doing for years.

"Look, Lydia, its easy, you just do it like this..." much to Tom's entertainment.

Wasn't long and Lydia joined in, but no one cleaned with the enthusiasm of 2-year old, Josiah, master shrimp cleaner.

When they were finished he reached all the way down to the bottom of the bucket (used his entire arm) and looked up at us like...

"OK, there aren't any more. We are done!"

That evening back at their home in Sequim, we enjoyed the most delicious fresh shrimp we have ever tasted....I guess it was the FIRST fresh shrimp we had ever tasted. Fantastic! Worth all the trouble. The bar-B-Q chicken, corn on the cob, homemade potato salad, and strawberry shortcake were fabulous, but nothing beat the shrimp.

No doubt Josiah is welcome back next year for shrimping season....

We just hope we are, too.

Jim & Nancy's Visit: May '06 - Part 1

Katers hangs with the Big Dogs at Tom & Jacque's

In May, Tim's brother Jim, his wife Nancy, and their children, Lydia and Josiah, came to visit us here in Washington. We met them at cousin Tom & Jackie S.'s summer cottage on Hood Canal on the Olympic Peninsula. Katers and their two dogs, Wegman & Ivory (?) got along well.






"Hmmmmmm...what might this little thing be?"




Katers, "Ever get the feeling someone is following you?"






Eventually, Wegman even allowed Katers to share his bed...but not quite yet.














Wegman, freezes midway between bites watching for Katers, also frozen, to try one of her speedy "snatch 'n grab" maneuvers that has resulted in the loss of some of his food. The competition continued with no casualties, I am happy to report... and everybody got some supper.

Three friends in the end!

Stay tuned for Part 2...the saga continues.

(I got the photos in, in the correct order and you may now read my posts from top to bottom, rather than bottom to top.)

Engagements and Engaging Grandson

(Start at the bottom and work up)

I will end this post and try again. I have not gotten the layout thing exactly figured out but give me time...please note the different font, colored font, and photos, all newly aquired skills. Again this posting ends here, but starts at the bottom with Jack's photo.

Such a good looking bunch, don't you think? From the L in back: Joel & Kaleen(Jason's sis), Jenna (Jason' other sister), Allison (our 1st daughter) & Chris, (Tim was in Lynden), Libby (our 3rd daughter), Becky (#2 daughter) & Jason, Kendall & Sherry D. (Jason's folks).

This photo was taken by our fvorite family photographer, Justin R.! (The love of Libby's life.)










February 3, Jason & Becky, just engaged and all smiles. Wedding date is September 15, 2006.

( I added this second but it ended up here above Jack's picture...still trying to figure this all out.)
Just read this post backwares...

Sunday afternoon and I will try to get a photo or two in here. Here it is! Jack shooting hoops in the basket we got in Hilton Head. And if you think that is cute, wait until I get a picture of his face in here. (This child has a very serious ball fixation...do you think we can fix that? or was it inherited?)

Start here.

Name for the blog?

Can't live with this boring name for our blog, but needed something quick. I plan to find something better. We are open to suggestions and may get your vote later. One idea is "Wolverines in Washington." OK, if you hate that, maybe you can offer another idea. Let me see how creative you guys are!

Tomorrow I hope to add photos...bet you can't wait.

Krista

Krista & Tim: Life after Relocation

Welcome to my bog...it is really "our" blog since I hope it will help us all keep connected while we are so far from you. Be patient with me as I find my way through the Land of Blog. I look forward to posting photos and reading your comments. (Click on "Comments" at the end of each posting and send us your thoughts, poetry, or weather report-it happens to be sunny today in Washigton!)

Technical notes: You can have the photos we post by Right clicking on the picture, then select "Save picture as..." , E-mail picture..., Print picture..., or whatever you prefer. Feel free to call if you get stuck and I will offer what limited experience and understanding I have on this topic.

I believe in availing ourselves of whatever technology can offer to stay close to our family and friends (Yes, we have a webcam, so if you do too, call me and we can gaze into each other's baby blues. Jack and I love doing this...)

For those of you who are not immediate family here is some reference info:

Allison (28), our oldest daughter, is married to Chris T. and they live in Grand Rapids with Jack, our only and favorite grandchild, born November 4, 2004.

Rebecca (soon to be 26) is next in line and marrying Jason D. this Sept. 15. They will live in Grand Rapids in the new home they purchased recently.

Libby (22) just graduated from Calvin College and moved to Lexington, Kentucky to keep an eye on her boyfriend, Justin R. She has applied to the University of Kentucky for graduate school at their School of Social Work.

Katers is our adorable 2.5 lbs. Yorkie and she earns her keep by being a social magnet where ever we go. She usually attracts a crowd and thanks to her we have met all of our neighbors and then some. Trying to get around town can be difficult because so many stop us to chat. Katers travels with us by car, boat/ferry, train, and is especially fantastic on planes, thanks goodness.

We moved to Utah in 2004 for 18 months and to Lynden, Washington 6 months ago, on 1-9-06. (If you do not know this info maybe you should stop now because you probably don't know us enough to care about the rest of this blog.

Now you have a chance at following the postings and comments.

Stay tuned!

Krista