We are blessed to come from two wonderful families.
Deb comes from a family of seven. Living with two brothers and two sisters was quite an experience but one that taught her a lot about what it means to live in community.
Jon comes from a family of three. Jon grew up with one sibling; a sister who is three years younger. They lived in Redlands, CA since Jon was two years old. Jon's dad passed away ten years ago and since then it has been the three of them. Mom flies out a lot to MI since both her kids are there for now.
Deb's parents - Jake and Minka love to slow dance to Blue Rodeo's "Lost Together" in the kitchen of their home. Their 31+ years of marriage bliss have taught them that wall-papering and painting together is not a good idea. However, canoeing and frequent stops at coffee shops do prove to be quite enjoyable for them. Both teachers, my beloved parents spend a lot of their time at John Calvin Christian School in Guelph, ON. Every Friday night, they also spend a lot of time with their friend Barbara Walters who hosts 20/20.
Deb's younger brother Peter is affectionately referred to in our family as "Ruthie" (if he would have been a girl, that's what my parents would have named him. When we were younger, we took great delight in calling him this. We don't so much anymore…probably because Peter could beat all of us up at once. Peter is in his forth year at Calvin College where he is studying to be a P. E teacher. He was an RA in the NWV dorm and has recently picked up reading as one of his hobbies (quite a step from his Archie comic book days!).
Deb's youngest sister Danielle recently came back from a semester trip to the Middle East. She is hungry for more travel experiences and so is more than ready to be finished with her last semester at Dordt where she hopes to graduate with an English major. She is an incredible writer. She was recently published in the Banner. We will try to include a link to some of her writing here soon. She will be done with school (for now at least) in December and is thinking of spending some time overseas.
Deb's younger sister Sarah and her husband Aron have replaced us as the newlyweds of the family. "Saron" was married on July 28 and moved to British Columbia (Vancouver area) in August. Sarah is in her third year of teaching at Fraser Valley Christian High School and Aron is taking medical classes at UBC. We love hanging out with them as a couple and look forward to our bike trip across Canada with them next summer (this trip did not happen, but a hiking trip did). As a family we are trying
to encourage Saron to write a book on the merits of friendship in which they will explain the mystery to all of us of how two "friends" can just one day decide to get married J
Deb's older brother Joel- is an inspiration to us.
Not only is he the Vriend reigning trivial pursuit champion but he also holds the award for having the best car stories (just ask him about the Red Baron). He lives in Hamilton, ON and works with the World Home Bible League. He was part of the loosing side (including Jon and Pete) of a game of Canasta that ended with the guys jumping in a cold lake at about midnight.
Jon's sister Laura was Jon's full time playmate growing up. They spent many hours playing in the mud in the backyard and swimming in at 5th avenue swim club. She is a speach pathologist at a nursing home (crazy to think a little sister could ever do that). She got married three days after us in December of 2000 to Jason Dyksta. Jay is a medical student at the University of Michigan. In addition to his studies he leads a Bible Study and is the head of the Christian Medical Association at the University. They live in Ann Arbor in a nice little apartment.
Jon's Mom still lives in Redlands, and no she is not moving to Michigan to be close to her kids as many people tend to assume. She loves going to the Redlands Bowl and going to spiritual retreats in between her trips to Michigan to visit her children. She has also taken up bike riding after a little inspiration from us.