Back for another season...

KT- We thought we would be like Lost and go off the air for 7 months. But, we're back. So after many subtle hints here's our latest news. Natalie was dedicated on Sunday May 20th. Our church, Mars Hill, practices infant dedication instead of baptism. We have adult baptism which would be similar to profession of faith and conformation in other churches. Ryan and I attended a class and wrote a covenant. Our family and friends joined us in a room at church and Aaron Meares the children's pastor lead the service. We did do the traditional cake and ice cream after, we are still Grand Rapids Dutch at heart (we didn't serve the ham-on-bun or potato salad though, we are rebellious dutch). Here's our covenant that we wrote...

"Our Sweet Girl-

You have been a miracle in our lives from the moment we found out about you. Becoming parents has been one of the scariest and most amazing blessings. There are so many things we want for you, but we are learning to daily put you into God's hands. We can never be perfect, but know that your Heavenly Father is and He entrusted you to us. He chose us as your parents and we willingly accept all that that entails. We are so dedicated to you that we want to make a covenant with you and God today.

Natalie, we promise to love God and to love each other. We want to daily model the love that Jesus exemplified. Our marriage is one place that we can show you that love. We promised on our wedding day to chose to love each other for the rest of our lives and we made that commitment in front of God. Today, we make a commitment to chose to love you. The unconditional love that God has for us lives in our hearts for you. You will grow and change and mature. You will make decisions and chose paths that maybe we won't agree with. That will not change our love for you.

We cannot wait to see the person you develop into, and yet we want to slow time down to squeeze every last second out of our time with you. We know that all to soon you will not be our little girl anymore and we will have to trust that we raised you with God at the center of your life. We promise to recognize that you are an individual and not an extension of ourselves. And we promise to respect you in your individuality. Be patient with us as we learn how to love you best as you are, not how we think you should be.

We also promise to teach you and guide you in your relationship with Christ. We know that just hearing about it isn't enough. We want to immerse you in Him. Church will not be the place that God lives. He will live in our home right beside us. You will see us seek His guidance in all matters. You will see your parents pursue Him!

Natalie, we promise to create a safe place for you in our home where you know that you are protected. Where you know that your parents will not let harm come to you. Where you feel comfortable enough to open yourself up and take risks as you grow.

Sweetheart, we love you so much we can't even put it into words. You will have to feel the extent of our love in our actions."

Ryan had to read the covenant because I couldn't make it through the first paragraph with out sobbing, and that was just proof-reading it! Other than Natalie's dedication we also had a 60th birthday party for my Mom at Bistro Bella Vita, and she was surprised! It had to be a surprise or she wouldn't come. She is convinced that 60 is old, I keep telling her that she is still young, at heart at the very least. Natalie and I also participated in the MS walk with Jodi on team Twinners. We do this walk every year with the family and friends. If anyone is interested in how they can help or want to know more about MS give me an email. Well, this entry has gotten really long, hopefully it was worth the wait! Love you all.

Back to Reality...

KT - After much apprehension and a few tears, I left our daughter in excellent care and went on vacation. She hit a big milestone about a day before we left, she started to crawl. Granted she looked like a drunken sailor (her top half went forward, her bottom half went sideways), but it was crawling! We spent 5 days in Fort Lauderdale at the Harbor Beach Marriott. Our room was phenomenal, it was as suite! The sign on the door said the suggested retail was $4,000 a night! And, it's hard to cry the whole time when you are sitting at the pool sipping fru-fru drinks and then going to the spa for a pedicure, manicure and hour long massage. We really roughed it. Ryan played poker by the pool for about three days straight, you should see his deep, dark tan! We spent most of our time with two other couples (Susanne and Dennis Dahl and Rachel and Steve Miller) and a set of "just friends"(Mike and Ashley - I won't even venture on how to spell their last names). Other than lounging around, we had an awards night for the winners of the trip (they represented the top 7% of Huntington employees!) that ended with a dinner cruise on a huge yatch down the Intercostal. Ryan and I picked out a few possibilities for our future summer home! We also went into Hollywood for dinner one night and then to the Hard Rock casino. That was my first excperience with slot machines, probably my last! We were up about $20, but lost it all and $20 more in the last 45 minutes. Lesson learned. We flew back on Sunday and got to spend the evening with our little girl, I couldn't get through the door fast enough to squeeze her!

Roo's first Easter!

KT - Well, Natalie's first Easter was blessing. She was sunshine all day. Just looking at my perfect little girl makes my heart break for Mary. Can you imagine seeing your child nailed to a cross? Why was Mary chosen to bear the exceptional pain of being the mother of Christ? Because she also was exceptionally blessed to be His mother. I was in awe when I saw Natalie's face light up with a smile for the first time. Mary saw her son turn water into wine and heal the sick! She had a bond with Christ no one will ever experience. I thank God daily for the gift he has given me in my little girl. I'm sure Mary felt the same way about Jesus, even as she watched him suffer and die FOR US. We had so much fun with Easter baskets and family dinner, but the most amazing gift is that HE IS RISEN!

1st time Blogger

RT- Well, my attempts of keeping my daughter off the internet have failed. Usually I'm the one with the tech ideas, but Kara beat me to the punch. Well, little story behind this picture. The day we went to get our pictures taken we decided to invite everyone and their mom to Meijer Garden to join us. Who would of thought that the place would be packed on a warm weekend after the butterflies exhibit opened... There were all walks of life that came to join us in our family picture. In the words of Jeff Foxworthy, "They had clothes on that I wouldn't wear to pick up after the dogs in the yard with." Pete, Julie do you remember the guy from the mid-year, bi-annual, summer pre-championship demolition derby with the pit stains, eating the deepfried twinky? Ya, he's holding the camera. No, it wasn't Kurt (he was too tall/quota slam on Kurt). The sign outside the gardens must of said all W/T welcome, so we needed to find something W/T to do. So there I was.....(Jeff, Kurt I know what your thinking but no; there were no jumper cables) I had Natalie looking at a flower and Kara had the camera. Kara then had the idea to get a picture of our daughter reaching for the flower. I was holding her just out of reach of the flower when my wife decides to tap the flower so it will swing towards Natalie (aka flower killer). Needless to say you all know what happens next. Yup, you guessed it after months of this flower getting all the nourishment, and sunlight it needs to grow up to be a beautiful flower my daughter dun-wrecked it in a blink of an eye. She didn't even think twice. We'd post the picture of the aftermath, but there are rules to the type content pictures can have on this kind of web sight. Here's to Christmas and may no Charley Brown Christmas trees be harmed in the filming of our pictures.

Ain't she cute?

KT - Well, Ryan likes the blog idea so much he wants his say too. So, instead of subjecting you all to two exciting blogs about the Telmans, we'll just preface our entries with KT or RT. Natalie's awful cute isn't she? The live bunnies in her Easter pictures didn't think so. When she wasn't trying to squeeze their heads or poke their eyes, she was lifting them off the ground by one ear. I think Ryan and I are responsible to pay for some bunny therapy. It took four different bunnies to finally get a good shot where she's smiling and the bunny doesn't look terrified or is running out of the frame. Unfortunately for the newest Buurstra addition (the handsome Grayson Noah) Natalie thinks he is also a little bunny. She smiles the second she sees him, but then tries to "pet" the stuffing out of him. Oh well, he better toughen up if he's gonna make it in a house with their two cats.

Hello?...anyone out there?

I decided since everyone else was jumping off the bridge (ie making a blog) the Telman's needed to join. What's life without a little peer pressure? So Jeff and Sarah, only a short year after you told us we needed one, we got it. I won't pretend to be as funny as Jeff, or as creative as Julie, but I promise to include the occasional slam on Kurt to keep with the tradition. Happy Easter all.