Marc's Messages

Change of plans

The boys are spending a week with my parents in Enschede, while Karolien and I planned to head to south Germany to walk the forests and visit some friends. Unfortunately the generator of our car broke down just after we crossed the border, so we decided to return to Utrecht to have it repaired and 'relax a bit' at home. But this morning Rob called that the rain was coming through the roof of our office, because the building contractors who work there didn't cover it properly.



I was quite irritated, as I double-checked with them beforehand to make sure there would be no damage. We cleaned up the mess and decided to move office already this week instead of 8 November. The downside, apart from the extra work, is that I will be less online over the next few weeks, as our telephone and internet connection is not yet activated in the new office.

On the road to Bethsetera

Peter has his own way of combining Bible stories, and it's always hard to tell whether he didn't listen properly or just wants to make fun of it. Today I told him the well-known story of Joseph and Mary on their way to... "Jerusalem", Peter says. "No, it's not Jerusalem. It's the town where Jesus was born. Do you remember?" He thinks for while and answers: "Jericho!" "No, that was the story of Joshua. Try again." Peter: "Babel?" "No, Peter, but you're right that it starts with a B." "Ah, I know," says Peter. "It's Beseret!" "No, let me help you. It starts with Beth..." Grinning all over his face: "You mean Bethsetera!"

Quiet waters of Vollenhoven

Sunday leisure at Vollenhoven estate in Zeist. The boys found a funny tree to play with.

A day in Amerongen

To celebrate our 15 year wedding anniversary, I took Karolien and the boys on a surprise outing to Amerongen. We made a walk along the Rhine, visited the castle (it was Open Momuments Day), had coffee with apple pie, enjoyed the Griet Market, and watched a historic open air play about King William III. It was fun. In the evening Henk Vink threw a garden party in Heemstede, which was a good opportunity to catch up with many friends.

15 years married

Pssst... don't tell anybody - today we're already 15 years married! It feels like ages ago that Karolien and I said YES to each other on a sunny September day. We were sooo young and sooo cute. On the Big Day we looked incredibly cool in our Van Gils-Laura Ashley combination. For our honeymoon we hitchhiked to Germany, putting our thumbs up in our 'just married' t-shirts. Or at least tried to, we only made it to Arnhem, and it started raining, so we continued our journey by train. Would I do it all over again? You bet, and I would even throw a much bigger party.

Three-day wedding party

My sister-in-law Anneloes and her fiancee Wulf got married today in Vught, and are throwing a three-day party on the premises of Huize Bergen.

Late mover advantage

Does the term late mover advantage ring some bells? That's the competitive advantage held by firms that are late in entering a market. Late movers often imitate the technological advances of other firms or reduce risks by waiting until a new market is established. Well, I have some suspicion that that's Karolien's strategy too. Since half a year or so she's been connected to the internet, working on my former notebook. But today she suddenly overtook me. Peter had accidently kicked her already aging notebook into the grave, which resulted in Rob fixing Karolien a much faster and more fancy Acer Aspire, which gives her a tool with which she can seriously compete - if not beat - me. Life is not fair.

Cleaning up house

One of the things we sense God is saying to us as a family is to travel lightly, to get rid of unnecessary stuff and prepare ourselves mentally and physically to move. To help us focus in the selection process of what to keep and what to sell or give away, we set ourselves two goals: 1. to get rid of 50% of all the stuff in the house (including furniture) and 2. to get rid of 40% of the books, CD's and videos. That should render us some space.

The monkey clowns

David and Peter showed their creative side again. This morning they dressed up a like two 'monkey clowns' and gave a whole musical performance. Afterwards Karolien and I took them down to the street for their second cycling lesson. Yesterday I picked up two bicycles at the Wensink family and we committed to run daily behind these bicycles (getting some much needed exercise too) until the boys can ride for themselves.

Happy birthday to Peter

"Dad, wake up, wake up! It's my birthday! We're going to have presents, and cake, and candy!" Peter jumped on my bed this morning to make sure I wouldn't forget that today is the most important day of the year. Our little boy is becoming five. Yesterday he assured me it would mark the end of the diapers era, and that he would learn to cycle. Let's see. Karolien bought him a nice race car and a medium-sized backpack that made him even look small again.