How do I add Glenda? (or anyone else...)

This is Glenda's e-mail address. (It's new.) GlendaBruggom@gmail.com
She wants "in" on this. Help please.

Also, would all of you mind signing your real names when you post something. (Speaking mostly to Daniel Johns. Most people wouln't recognize "Prodigal Pariah" as you.) Thanks. Love, Rachel/Mom...use the one that applies.

And what about this calender thing? What am I supposed to do?

What happens when you combine a generous dollop of Judao-Christian holiday revelry with a dash of Asian cultural fetishization...?

Dévoilé! Yuletide bonsai!!!

How's THAT for "The Perfect Christmas Tree," "Stephanie Benedict"...?

[Glaring suspiciously into the computer monitor]

Welcome to The VanderStoep Connection!

Hello-
Well, here it is, a quick and easy attempt to see if we can open up the lines of communications between family members that would like to communicate more than 1-2 times a year when we meet over the holidays!

I hope to be able to invite everyone that is interested, and hopefully give everyone the ability to post messages on the site. At a minimum, family members who register with the blog should be able to post a new article and leave comments on others. This service is free and very easy to do. If you would like to upload photos from your family events, let me know and I can help you do so.

This site will be open and available to any family members that are interested. I don't have email addresses for everyone, IE, Carol and Jim, Unky Al and Robin, and many of their kids, children, etc, so please share this link with them, and if you have additional email addresses for me to "invite" to the site, then please forward them to me so I can send them an "official" invitation.

Merry Christmas! I will try to add some photos from our get together in Sheldon before the days end!

Ben Johns

Luke the Dork

This is Luke attempting to use the leaf blower to blow the snow off our deck. He thought it would be easier than shoveling. Nope. Power tools, that's what it's all about.

Snowman

This is the snowman that Luke and Hayden built on Christmas night at about 8:30. By sunrise the next morning, this poor snowman had another three inches of snow covering him. Again, it was just awesome!

The Perfect Christmas Tree

It was such a perfect Christmas day. It snowed all day and is still snowing in this picture (it's the little white falling specks for those of you not in snow country). I couldn't possibly get the camera to do the real thing justice but it was, I think, the most perfectly weathered Christmas I can remember.

Christmas Morning Swath of Destruction

This is what my house looked like at about 5:15 AM on Christmas morning. You can see Hayden's trail and where he ended up. Ultimately he did go back and finish opening everything and then playing with it. He was ready to burst he couldn't wait any longer!!

How to post a picture...from Rachel J

Okay...on the first page...you'll see a thing that says +New Posts.
Click on that. It will bring you to the page where you can type.

On THAT page, click on the thing that looks like a photograph. (second from the right in the grayish area right above the typing place.)from there you'll have access to a drop down menu to find the picture that you want. Click "open." Choose your Lay out and size. "upload" image. Wait. Click done when the thing stops twirling. "Publish Post". (With any luck at all...there will be a picture of Gramma.) Love, Rachel

PS don't worry about that stuff that looks like code. It's code...telling the computer where to put stuff.

Umm

I'm blog challenged. This is my first time ever. How do we invite more people? I have emails for "Al's kids" in different states and could send it but don't see the idiot's guide to how to do this....

Christmas was very fun. I'm so glad we went to IA for the dinner. It's so fun getting to know some of my cousins.

We had the most beautiful Christmas day here in MN. It was the ideal scene. We had giant falling snow flakes falling straight down with no wind almost all day. Luke and Hayden went out and built a snow man after all of Luke's family left. It was perfect. When we woke up the next day it was so beautiful outside. I'd post a picture but I'm not sure how.... I'll learn, I'm not that old of a dog.

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas from Chris VDS

Hi all,

Merry Christmas and a VERY blessed New Year to you all!!!

And Ben, Thank you so much for putting this Blog together. I'm so glad to have a place to get to know everyone. I hope the whole family participates.

:) Chris

Merry Christmas VDS family!

Merry Christmas everyone! We really enjoyed seeing everyone in Sheldon on Saturday! Thanks for all the great gifts- Peter and the boyz are still horse-trading the movies from Aunty Rachel ;o)

To the left is my favorite picture from the ClipArt Gallery... no snow! :o) love you all!

Merry Christmas from Rachel

Hi Everybody...This is my first blog. Ben worked pretty long and hard setting this up. I've got nothing spectacular...just wait...eventually I will. Until that time, Merry Christmas. Love, Rachel
PS Thanks Benno
PPS This is my favorite picture of Randy, me and our friends when we went on an Alaskan cruise this summer. (We are the two on the left.)