Fall is in the air

I can't believe it's been almost a month since my last post. I guess it's true what they say, "time flies when you're having fun!"  Fall is my favorite time of year.  I love the cooler weather and the trees changing colors, so pretty!  But with fall, it also means busy for our family. Luke plays football, Marcus is playing soccer, and its a busy time of year for my photography business. But not to worry, between it all we still managed to fit in some fun! Here are some highlights of what the VanHuizen's have been up to the last month...

Football!!!!  High school football games are the place to be on Friday nights. While Marcus admits he doesn't understand a thing about the game, he still enjoys going for the social aspect :)

Marcus and Jake watching one of Luke's rocket football games. 

Apple picking!  We went to Crane's Orchard one Sunday and did some apple picking, followed by some donut eating. Have I told you that Marcus doesn't like donuts??  Crazy kid!

Danish Pie Making!!  After we picked apples, Marcus promised to make me a Danish apple pie :)  I peeled the apples (with my handy apple-peeler-corer-slicer), while Marcus mixed up the rest. Apparently Marcus doesn't like our "American" flour, but I think in the end it turned out perfect!  It was so delicious!!!

Cold, rainy soccer games.  I just love watching Marcus play soccer, even if it's cold and wet!  I have a lot more soccer pictures to share soon.

Fall is not over yet, we have many more fun things planned so stay tuned!

Normal Life

Marcus is settling in quite nicely here in America...things are becoming "normal".  School is going great, soccer is fun, and we are just enjoying normal life with Marcus.  He feels like one of my own kids more and more every day.

Here's what we've been up to lately...

Visiting my mom while she was camping, Marcus kicked butt on the horseshoes!

 

We went to a Grand Valley State University football game.  

...and this is what I get now when I try to take Marcus' picture :::sigh:::.  We need to work on this, lol.

A great halftime show honoring our service men and women.

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I don't think Marcus is "loving" my cooking.  He did like my meatloaf, but didn't care for my french toast, taco bake, or our family favorite "shit on a bun" (I'll have to explain that in another post).  I'm pretty sure he would rather live off fast food and a couple staples at home, such as Frosted Flakes and Ramen noodles.  

He loved the idea of corn flakes coming with sugar already on it :)

The closest we can get to his familiar "noodles" from home.

I'm thinking he is just missing his mother's wonderful cooking, of which I will never compete.  Check out her blog HERE and you will see what I'm talking about!  Her cakes are simply amazing, I'm pretty sure Marcus isn't going to be very impressed with the boxed cake mix I bought at the store this week!  HA!

When I asked Marcus what his favorite thing about America was (besides Taco Bell), he said "FREE REFILLS"!  That's right folks, us American's like our free refills wherever we go :)

Three Weeks

So, we are creeping up on three weeks since Marcus arrived.

Three weeks since we picked him up from the airport looking like "the crazy people", complete with signs, balloons, and cameras.
Three weeks since he stepped into our home and slept in his new room, his new bed.
Three weeks since he had his first taste of American fast food.
Three weeks since he came into our busy (sometimes chaotic) family life, and completely changed it...forever.

Honestly, it feels like we have known him for much longer.  He has made himself at home here.  He constantly makes us laugh and enjoy the little things in life.  The things that maybe we were taking for granted, or were too busy to notice.  He has come at a time when I think we needed him most.  A time when we, as a family, were getting so caught up in work, school, sports, etc. that we were getting lost.  A time when my kids were always fighting with each other and I was starting to wonder what I was doing wrong as a parent.

Then came Marcus.

On nights when my kids would be playing video games all night and we would hardly see them come out of their rooms, they are now playing basketball in the driveway.  On days when my kids would be fighting, my kids are laughing.  The sound of my kids constant laughter is music to my ears. Marcus is quite the comedy relief.  He is very witty and always has a quick comeback, which sends us all laughing...every single time.  I thank you for that Marcus, even though I am usually the brunt of your jokes :)

Sometimes I wonder...did we just get lucky to be matched with Marcus?  Maybe.  But I like to think that he was placed here for a reason.  This is a truly rewarding experience, I wish more people I know could experience this for themselves.  In the meantime, I am enjoying "sharing" Marcus with our family, our friends, and our community.  He is like an instant sensation here in Allendale, MI.  He says "everybody loves me", and he is absolutely right.  In three weeks he has made many new friends at school and through soccer.  He has made an impact on others here, not just our family.  I am so happy for him.  I love to see him fitting right in and making friends so easily.

As I am writing this post, I wonder if Marcus knows how much of an impact he has made on us in the last three weeks?  I'm guessing not.  He is just one of us now, another member of the crazy VanHuizen family.  He is along for the ride, and he is hanging on tight.

Three weeks...thanks for following our journey.

Lovin' Life

Nutella & GO!...Say what?  Marcus was VERY excited to find this in the store the other day.  He is a huge fan of nutella (I make him nutella sandwiches every day for lunch), so when we found this he couldn't believe it.  I think he said, "We don't have this in Denmark, we NEED to get this in Denmark!"  :)

Canned squeeze cheese?  He had to try it!  They don't have this wonderful, tasty item in Denmark either but he has seen it in movies :)  But, Marcus didn't like it...it's that texture thing again!  haha :)

Eyelashes for your headlights, anyone?  "Only in America", says Marcus.  Lol, nope...I can say this was a first for me!  Too funny, we rolled down the window at the stoplight to take this picture.  The old lady driving was pretty proud and was smiling at us :)  We do have a lot of laughs with Marcus, he has a great sense of humor and we love that about him!

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This past Saturday my mom had her annual backyard party.  We ate good, listened to some nice music, and the boys and Chad played some soccer in the front yard.  I have some great video clips, I'll work on seeing how I can add those to the blog!

For some reason when you are an exchange student from Denmark you are instantly popular...I don't get it...

My beautiful mom and her husband, Tom

And our attempt at a family picture, how did we do???

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This is a busy soccer week for Marcus.  He has 3 soccer games, one home and two away.  We had to go out and buy him all new dress clothes (complete with a tie), he is required to wear those clothes to school on away game days.  Don't worry, I'll be sure to post a picture of that :)

More soccer pictures coming in a few days, for now I'll leave you with this one from tonight's game.

Goodnight from America!

EDITED TO ADD:  Here is a video of Marcus, the boys, and Chad playing a little bit of soccer!

 

First day of school + First soccer game!

Today was an eventful day!  Marcus started school as a 10th grader at Allendale High School.   Students were welcomed back to school this morning with music, red carpet, principal and vice principal in tuxedos giving welcome back fist bumps, inflatable air dancers, and DONUTS!  I dropped Marcus off at school this morning, it was quite impressive...although Marcus passed up on the donut :)

The three brothers (Marcus-10th grade, Josh-7th grade, Luke-6th grade)

And "little man" Jake (Kindergarten)

Overall, I think the first day went really well!  Marcus introduced some of his new friends to one of his favorite foods, Nutella, at lunch time.  He opened his locker on the first try and got to all his classes on time, yay Marcus!  I think he was hoping to just blend in with the rest of the students, but it didn't happen, haha!  He had to introduce himself in each class and obviously the minute he starts to speak everyone knows he is not from around here :)  I think he is going to have many friends and will have a great school year!  

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Today was also Marcus' first soccer game!  I want to start out by saying how proud I am of Marcus for coming into the season late (due to when he arrived in the US), and being selected to play Varsity!  I admittedly don't know a thing about soccer, but it looked to me that he was doing great.  Although I don't know anything about the game, what I do know is that I seen many smiles and "high fives" amongst the teammates.  And my motto with all my kids is, "if you had fun, it was a great game".  

There were many spectators cheering for Marcus, including the Junior Varsity team that stayed to watch.  It was an awesome thing to see and I think Marcus really enjoyed it.  Looking forward to many more games this season, I could get used to this "soccer mom" thing :)

 

Enjoying life in America

Well, Marcus' first full weekend in the US was fun and busy (what our family does best).  When the exchange student agency told us the best thing to do is keep your student busy, I knew that would be no problem for us :)

This past weekend also happened to be Labor Day here in America.  This means some extra time off from work, and more time to spend doing fun stuff with family!  We started the weekend off by going to Michigan's Adventure on Saturday.  I LOVE roller coasters and was super happy to hear that Marcus did as well, yay!  The bonus thing about Michigan's Adventure is that there is a water park there as well.  It turned out to be a very warm day (pushing 90 degrees F).  After a few roller coaster rides, the boys were ready to head for the water.  I absolutely LOVED watching their smiling faces.  Here are some highlights...

1.  Marcus couldn't believe how big the roller coasters were, at least twice the size he normally sees in Denmark.

2.  Josh got on his very first roller coaster (way to go Josh).  Up until now he had been scared to death of them.  But I told him if Marcus can fly half way around the world all by himself, he could go on a roller coaster :)  And guess what, he loved it!!

3.  The smile on Marcus' face in the wave pool was PRICELESS!  I sat there and just watched the boys having fun, with a huge grin on my face :)

4.  Watching Marcus and my two older boys talking, laughing, and acting like brothers already.  It warms a mother's heart.  He fits in so perfectly, I knew he would!

We all had so much fun that day, memories made that will last a lifetime!

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I think the most enjoyable thing for Marcus right now is the food!  He told me that all American food tastes better :)  I am so proud of him for trying new things, even stuff he is finding he doesn't like.  So here is what I know about food, and Marcus, so far...

1.  Marcus has a texture issue when it comes to food.  He doesn't like the "feel" of anything semi-related to yogurt.  This includes pudding, cheesecake, and of course yogurt.  Who doesn't like cheesecake??  Marcus doesn't.

2.  He loves anything fast food.  He admittedly loves McDonald's, which is one place we haven't been to yet.  They have McDonald's in Denmark, so we have been trying things that are not familiar to him.  We have eaten at KFC, Taco Bell, and Burger King.  He doesn't care for the crunchy tacos from Taco Bell by the way, and calls the soft tacos "pancakes".

3.  Some new foods that he has tried since coming to America include...pizza rolls, elephant ears, french toast, tornados, candy corn, and chips and cheese.  He has yet to try a good 'ole PB&J, but it's just a matter of time :)

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Some other firsts include...

Watching Josh practice baseball.  I'm pretty sure he is totally confused about this sport (they don't play it in Denmark at all), but he'll be around it enough this year that he will get it in no time!  

A trip to WalMart!!  Now, I don't particularly care to go to WalMart, but I guess it's pretty hyped up in other countries so we had to go there (basically for the photo op).

First trip to Peppino's for chips and cheese, and pizza.

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After just a few days I can say we are really enjoying having Marcus in our family!  He is kind, he is funny, he is loving, and he is just an all around great kid!  I want to thank Carsten and Christina for sharing their son with us for the coming year.  We are so blessed to have him here, I can't wait to see what the year brings for Marcus and our family.

Goodnight from America...and a little night-time basketball!

The first few days in America

The first couple days have been a whirlwind, but a fun one!  Marcus' first meal in Michigan was at Steak & Shake (it was the only thing open at midnight when we left the airport).  They don't have Steak & Shake's in Denmark.  He ordered a burger with fries, but skipped on ordering a shake.  He says he doesn't like the texture of milk shakes :)

The next day we all got to sleep in (much needed)!  We went to the high school to sign Marcus up for his classes and tour the school.  He couldn't believe how big it was, even in small town Allendale!   He also said it was fun to be involved with picking classes, they don't get to do that in Denmark.  After the school, it was time to shop.  Marcus has decided he wants to be on the Allendale High School soccer team.  We needed to shop for all his soccer gear.  After we had everything, it was time to head back to the high school for a mini-tryout with the coach and some of the players.  Marcus did a great job, I couldn't have been more proud!  I will really enjoy watching him play, can't wait to finally be a "soccer mom"!

Here are some fun pictures of his first full day in America...

Marcus and Josh

Marcus meeting the cows

Checking out his locker at school

First ever Whopper (not a good idea before soccer we found out)

Soccer practice (he's the one in red)

And now it's time to get some sleep, fun day planned for tomorrow.  Michigan's Adventure, here we come!!!