Happy New Year!

2008 already? Seems incredible! We hope you all had a great Christmas and shared a wonderful time with family and friends. We had a terrific holiday. All went according to plan (as mentioned in the last blog) and the hard work was worthwhile when the house was full of loved ones and we were having such a good time. That's the best part of Christmas -- being with family and friends. We were so excited to have all the nieces and nephews home from away.

1. Jason, Nana and Nicolle 2. Caleb, Jason and Aaron 3. The 7 youngest Nieuwhofs

New Year's Eve was quiet for us. It was storming so we couldn't make it to town for our plans with David, Paula and the kids. Oh well. I was tired and didn't mind an evening in.

We continued the spirit of celebrations with Marten's 41st birthday on January 3rd. :) Randall, Elisabeth, Jordan, Dianna, Klaas, Alice, Tineke, my sister Kathy, and our friends David and Paula came over on Friday night for Apple Pie and Fondue (Marten's favs). Yum! It was great fun. It was especially nice to see Jordan and Dianna before they headed back to New Jersey.

We wish you all many blessings for the new year. May it bring love, health and a renewed relationship with God.

Love to all, Karen and family