Greatest family in the world: June 2007

Last week I begged you all for your favorite memories from the reunions past. Well here is what I recieved. I think they are great.

After reading these memories please take the time to vote for your favorite. (Just remember, no voting for your own memory) Just click on the word VOTES located directly at the bottom of this post. We will be voting for 1 week. All votes must be cast by midnight on June 21. The contest winner will receive $5.00 off the '09 reunion dues.
Alright, have fun taking a little trip back in time.
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Harriet Kattenberg (Daughter of Liz)

Ok, I'm late but the one we still laugh about is the contest between two uncles on motorcycle riding. The first reunion in SD. We think it was Uncle Case's family that drew a motorcycle with cut out faces, hands and feet. The first uncle (was it Uncle Bob maybe?) had to ride the motorcycle making motorcycle noices. Shifting, revving, braking, back firing, etc. Louder was better.

Then Uncle Carl had to make more and better noises. Meanwhile these crafty nieces and nephews switched the cardboard motorcycle for a cardboard throne!!! Uncle Carl put his whole heart into it. The crowd laughed until they cried, and then laughed some more. Henry still recalls his head ache.

Uncle Carl won ... He was SO embarrassed when he left the lime light, looked back and saw that he was making noises on a toilet!!! We always recall how well he handled it. A good sport and classy, too
-Harriet
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Lauri (Daughter of Bill and Trace)

Can we do more than one? Here's mine:

1. The first reunion where Gerrit and Danny did the auction. And Jayne and I and Michelle waited in my car (that little white convertible) on that gravel road to tell everyone where to go to get to the place. It was so exciting to see everybody drive up! It was the very first one and people really came! And late one evening, about 10:00 p.m., when a very young Aaron came up to his mom and said, "Could you fix me a little supper?". We also had a great game of keep away, with a volley ball I think, in the pool. Boys against girls. Girls won, I think.

2. In Colorado where the elevation was terrible high and we couldn't breathe and Danny drove up to me and Jayne one time and said, girls, I'm gonna be driving wherever we have to go...hop in if you want to. Me and Jayne also drove by ourselves to that one and we saw an eagle on the way, that was cool.

3. In Arkansas, where all the Rozaboom brothers did the auction..that was great. And the big pushing in the pool party that we had.

4. The many games of Mafia played late into the night at almost every reunion...and how loud they got, thank you, officer Lee.

5. The clam hunt in Washington and the great old fort that kept my nephews occupied for the whole weekend...oh and those porches, they were so cool.

6. The last one where Aaron was up on Uncle John's pickup to take the family pic and the Navy flag and the "homemade" Army flag...and the auction with Darrell, that was so cool.

My most favorite part of every one is when everyone is arriving. You find a good place to sit and then just watch them all come in....and yell out like, Eric and Beck are here....here comes Uncle Dick and Auntie Mary...I love that part...

-Lauri

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Becky VanHofwegen (Wife of Eric, daughter-in-law of Bod and Dee)

I'd have to say one of my favorite memory is from this past one at Canby Grove. It was during the always exciting auction when my dear husband had to hold up
and describe the beautiful handmade Hardanger. He wasn't sure of the name of
it, he thought it was a doilly but thought he had better ask his mom. She
corrected him and told him it was a Hardanger. He wasn't quite sure what she
said and didn't really think he wanted to repeat what she said because it
didn't sound quite right. He did his best trying to describe it. I think the
even better moment was him retelling the story over and over and over again and
listening to the Aunts just crying with laughter as he told it.
-Becky

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Holly VanHofwegen (Daughter of Eric and Becky, Granddaughter of Bod and Dee)

Her very favorite Van Hofwegen Reunion memories are from the Square Skips.
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Mia VanHofwegen (Daughter of Eric and Becky, Granddaughter of Bod and Dee)

Her favorite Van Hofwegen Reunion memory was from the last reunion when she and some of the cousins hand made cards and watched them get auctioned off.
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Gerrit Rozeboom (Son of Kryna and Dick)

Memories, memories, memories, there are too many to list. But I would have to say among my favorites would be the square skip in Rock Rapids, the sing along in Colorado when Danny and Aaron helped the Uncles play while anyone who felt like singing joined in singing the gospel and old country songs that we all remembered from the Uncles. Jill's marriage proposal at the California reunion would be hard to beat.
I love the unending laughter. Every one has a laugh that is unique to only them and it is great to see and hear all the laughter. But the memories that are most precious to me now are probably those of watching how my Dad so totally enjoyed the V.H. reunions. I can remember him square skipping in Iowa, telling jokes in Minnesota, and staying up late, visiting, totally relaxed and totally enjoying the company. Like I said, memories, memories, memories. I could go on and on. Oh wait, I already have gone on and on. Anyway, I hope I never have to miss a V.H. Reunion. After all it's now a family tradition.
-Gerrit

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Mollie VanHofwegen (Wife of Scott daughter-in-law to Arie and Betty)

1988 First reunion-Iowa! watching the most beautiful thunderstorm I've ever seen from the balcony on the the last night...my kids were little but they liked it too!
1994 Colorado! Seeing all the cute hand-placed road signs as we entered the park. Presentation of the flags to all the Uncles for their years of service to our country...
2000 California! Meeting the Beld family for the first time and giving them a run for their money with who can trash/TP the other's room the most. Fun, fun, fun! Trying to make our son Scottie's face look normal for pictures after having a severe allergic reaction to the horse he rode earlier that day (he still loved the ride)
2003 Washington! Staying in the cool turn-of-the-century housing. Seeing those awful looking horse clams for the first time--we never did get to taste those puppies Lee! Seeing the infamous town of Lynden for the first time--beautiful
- Mollie
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Lanette den Hollander (Daughter of Gerrit and Evonne Rozeboom Grand daughter of Kryna and Dick)

The year was 1991, the sun was high overhead beating down on my freckled, six year old back as I lounged in the pool. Mom was inside the meeting room directing rowdy VanHofwegen traffic as they poured in for the reunion. It was all pretty cool because I got to swim in the pool for almost a whole week. Not only that but there was an ice chest full of soda and I had been told I could have as much as I wanted of it. At the time, that may have been my favorite part of the whole reunion. At six I don't think I had quite developed a sense of the bigger picture I was part of. Anyway, my all day swim was soon interrupted by a deafening sound. Men laughing and women shrieking. I looked up to see a bunch of guys carrying my Uncle Rick on a plastic chair with metal legs headed straight for the pool. If I remember right there were several men who got carried over to the pool and thrown in, fully clothed, still sitting on the meeting center chairs. So now you tell me that our family is more upper crust than yours, Beld.
Some of my other favorite memories are from the Minnesota Reunion. The young fry had a lot of late nights just hanging out and one night I remember Dary (of Pete and Shar) drew a mustache on his face with a permenant magic marker to get the rest of us to laugh, which I'll admit we did. The funniest part came as he emerged from the bathroom his face beet red from scrubbing, still sporting his new mustache. Sorry Dary, we had a lot of fun at your expense that weekend.

-Lanette
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Tracie (Wife of Bill)

The great skit that Auntie Liz put on with her family for the talent show....she played gramma VH and Pat play grampa. It was outstanding!

And then when Uncle Dick's kids got up there and said they were going to perform all the songs that he had ever taught them. Then they proceeded to sing like only the first 2 lines of each and then faded away, cuz Uncle Dick could never remember past the first 2 lines of any song....that was funny.

-Tracie
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Michelle Hielkema (Daughter of Bob and Dee)

1. I remember the very first reunion: when Rick and Karla were in a bidding
war over a wooden baby cradle for their brand new baby daughter. I'm
remembering that they had all boys up to this point, and now Rick was going to
go for broke for that new lady in his house!! I was 16 years old at this
reunion and I thought: I hope my husband will be so in love with our daughter
someday!!

2. At the Denver reunion, I can picture our square dance night. It was pretty
hot there, and the altitude was so high that everyone was out of breath and
sweating like crazy! I'll never forget when I watched Scott and Molly dancing
together, or rather meeting every once in a while throughout the skip. Many
times over, I heard Scott tell Molly he loved her each time they came together,
or Molly saying the same thing back to Scott. I thought: I hope Gary and I
will always love each other that much!

3. I remember sitting at the auction with Mandy VH at the reunion in Washington
up at the front to keep track of who was buying what. That reunion was alot of
work for Bob's family, as we were in charge and little did I know both of my
sister in law's were newly pregnant at the time. (neither had told anyone yet;
and to make matters worse Becky had the three babies instead of one!) On a bid
for a baby blanket by my brother Jason, I leaned over and blurted to
Mandy..."Are you pregnant?" By her reaction, I knew I had stumbled on their
secret and I felt so badly for having forced their hand! I thought: This
family will forever be blessed by new life...and I will never cease to forget
the blessing Pa and Ma VH gave us all by their heritage.

So there you have it, my best three memories. I seriously have visited them
periodically over the years, for different reasons and have never forgotten the
details of each one!
When we had Marissa, our first daughter, I really did think of Rick and
Karla, and the excitement they showed for thier baby in Iowa! And yes, Gary
resembled Rick pretty closely with the way he would have done anything for our
new baby girl!
I still get excited for all the news of the babies that all the VH's have,
no matter how far down the line, and I especially love the pictures posted on
the blog! Every new baby in this family just makes it better, and I can't wait
to get to heaven and see what Pa and Ma VH think about us all!
As for my second memory...well...Gary is still learning HOW to square skip,
and so I think I'll have to wait for him to express his true love for me in the
midst of sweat and fatigue! In all honestly I have been truly blessed and he
does deliver sweet nothings often! In the meantime.. maybe you can all give
him a dancing lesson at the next reunion????

-Michelle
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Dixon (Son of Dick and Mary)

I remember Uncle Arie/Aunt Betty and Uncle Mart/Aunt Bernice singing "Keep on the Sunny Side of Life" They were doing a send-up of the song.. I'm pretty sure they had on straw hats and suspenders to get that "hayseed" look just right. Normally I love to hear the aunts Betty and Bernice sing and the uncles Arie and Mart play. But they were doing wince-inducing, avant-garde stuff here. Hamming it up, intentionally singing as far off-key as humanly possible, really belting it out. But what was weird, it was SO bad, it was - well, it wasn't good in the conventional sense. but it certainly was entertaining. I still get a chuckle out of it. And it has left me with a good memory all these years.
-Dixon
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Evonne Rozeboom (Wife of Gerrit Rozeboom, daughter-in-law of Kryna and Dick)

When I got Lanette’s email about the VH memory contest, I thought that’s easy. But no, this is hard. There are so many. We have been to every reunion, that is seven reunions, and a bazillion memories. Playing or watching Mafia has to be in the top list, along with Bruce proposing to Jill, Eldon holding 47 cameras, and all late night gabbing.
But I think of this and have used this over and over. When we were at the 1991 reunion in Arkansas, Aunt Trac, Lauri and Jayne asked if we (Kryna, Lanette, and myself) wanted “To Do Lunch”. Beings how we lived under a rock back in the hills, we had never heard that before and thought it was just the best. We have laughed over that again and again.
Thanks, Ladies. I would ‘Do Lunch’ with you any day.
-Evonne
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Lee Beld (Husband of Lisa Beld, son-in-law of Herm and Joan)

MY BEST MEMORIES COME FROM PLAYING MAFIA. THE YELLING, THE SCREAMING, THE LYING, THE CHEATING, THE FALSE ACCUSING, THE MURDERING AND OF COURSE THE BACK STABBING ALL MAKE FOR A GREAT TIME OF CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP. WHAT STRIKES ME THE MOST IS THE AWESOME BELD DOMINATION. HOW I CAN TAKE GOOD PEOPLE LIKE YOURSELVES AND TURN YOU AGAINST ONE ANOTHER. IT WARMS THE HEART RIGHT DOWN TO THE SOUL. LAST REUNION I REMEMBER ONE OF YOU ROZEBOOM GIRLS (FILL IN YOUR NAME HERE) IN THE LATE MOMENTS OF A GREAT GAME LOOKING AT ME AND ASKING IF I WAS MAFIA OR A CITIZEN. I TOLD YOU THAT I WAS A CITIZEN. YOU STARED AT ME FOR SEVERAL SECONDS AND THEN TOLD ME YOU BELIEVED ME BECAUSE YOU COULD SEE IT IN MY FACE. I EXPLAINED THAT YOU HAD TO TRUST ME BECAUSE IF YOU DID NOT SIDE WITH ME TO KILL "THE MAFIA" THIS ROUND THE MAFIA WOULD WIN AND ALL WOULD BE LOST. YOU SIDED WITH ME. WE KILLED AN INNOCENT CITIZEN AND I, THE REAL MAFIA, WON THE GAME. YOU JUST LOOKED AT ME AS IF I WAS THE DEVIL HIMSELF. AGAIN, IT WARMS THE HEART.

THIS IS JUST ONE EXAMPLE OF HOW I LEAD THE SHEEP TO THE SLAUGHTER HOUSE OF BELD INCORPORATED. MAFIA DEFINES OUR NIGHT LIFE. WE PLAY IT INTO THE EARLY MORNING HOURS. WE YELL AND SCREAM TO CONVINCE OTHERS OF OUR WAY OF OUR PURITY. IT IS WHERE MUCH OF OUR LAUGHTER COMES FROM DURING THOSE FEW DAYS. YES, I REMEMBER OUR FAMILY REUNIONS. I REMEMBER PLAYING MAFIA WITH SOME OF THE BEST PEOPLE I HAVE EVER HAD THE PRIVILEGE OF GETTING TO KNOW.
-LEE BELD
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Jessie VanHofwegen (Wife of John)

I have fond memories of the whole reunion , It was all great!!!!
-Jessie
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Sharla Ellens (Daughter of John and Jesse)

I really liked seeing Cory and Kaiden sitting on Uncle Arie's bass when he was playing in in Washington. I also loved being in CA and square dancing in the tennis courts as well as all swimming together. I miss watcing Danny (and uncle Bill) play with the brothers. It is had to choose what is our favorite but there's a couple.
-Sharla
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Kryna Pohl (Daughter of Gerrit and Evonne Rozeboom, Grand daughter of Kryna and Dick)

Ok, I know this doesn't involve everbody. But the thing that keeps coming back to me is from the reunion in Washington.

Remember those great big awsome houses? Well we (as in the Van Rozeboom grandkids) were trying desperately to figure out what we were going to do for the talent show. Lots of ideas were thrown out for reveiw. Maybe, maybe not, maybe.....definately not!

The next thing we see is Aric walking/danceing/miming his way past us doing the 'lawn mower' and a few other dance moves.

Did that ever make the cut is what I am wondering?!?!? :)
-Kryna
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Susie Yarger ( Daughter of Bill and Trace)

I have a couple of favorite memories. One is of the tug of war we did at the South Dakota reunion, or was it Iowa? It was one of the early ones.. All the brothers were in it, and it was really fun..then, that arm wrestling contest they had at that one was amazing. I think Uncle Case won, but almost all of the brothers took part, and you know how strong they are.. I know everybody will remember that thunderstorm that struck in the early evening at that same reunion. A lot of us watched it from a screened-in porch, and there was a lot of lightening and thunder. It went on a long time, too.
-Susie
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Bill Yarger (Husband of Susie, Son-in-law of Bill and Trace)

My memory is from the reunion in Washington. The Beld vehicle had just received a thorough toilet papering from a then unknown individual or group. Lee says words to the effect that he is a detective and he suspects that the guilty party or parties were relatives. He describes the scene when he was upon the throne and heard some noise in the vicinity of his vehicle. I suggested to him that he probably scared off the offenders when he racked the slide (pulled back the top portion of his service weapon thereby making a distinctive and unmistakable metallic noise), a technique used by police officers in case it becomes necessary to use their weapons. I said this in a comical manner and Lee responded in kind and laughed.
-Bill
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