Fall-ing

Halloween music on, Karen making dishes with root vegetables... means it must be ages since I posted.

Some old guy had an awesome chocolate-orange cake with a Tabasco theme.




We got in a visit with Carmen and the Amazing Roelants. Waaay too long since we've seen them, and the girls are a delight.

















But the big fall event was a movie premiere for

Storm Dependent

the local west Michigan movie that threatens to turn super hero storytelling on its head.

Red Carpet, sponsored by Dr. Pepper.

 Co-director and editor, Anna Minnebo.

Co-director and screen"writer," Diablo Cody.

The first showing!

Setting up for the gala. The cake was so good we invited the baker.




Awards the same night as the premiere? Someone's on the ball.

This was the first awarding of the Ultimatums, sure to go down in history as the greatest honor in cinema.


Here are the nominees. Winners are highlighted.



Best Location Supervisor & Craft Service for a Motion Picture: Karen Golden, Storm Dependant; Rachel Ray, Unbearable Lightness of Being; Martha Stewart, The Thief, the Cook, His Wife and Her Lover

Best Riff Raff in a Motion Picture: John Golden, Storm Dependant; Simon Helberg, Dr. Horrible; Meryl Streep, Sophie’s Choice; Gregg Minnebo, Storm Dependant (it's a tie?)

Best In-depth Reporting in a Motion Picture: Ysabela, Storm Dependant; Michelle Pfeiffer, Up Close and Personal; Holly Hunter, Broadcast News


Best Editing in a Motion Picture: Anna Minnebo, Storm Dependant; The Bourne Ultimatum - Christopher Rouse; The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King - Jamie Selkirk

Best Super Villain in a Motion Picture: Xavier, Storm Dependant; Jack Nicholson, Batman; Samuel Jackson, Unbreakable; Neil Patrick Harris, Dr. Horrible's Sing-along-blog


Best Sidekick in a Motion Picture: Chris O’Donnell, Batman Forever; Brandon, Storm Dependant;  Sebastian Stan, Captain America 

Best Sword Fighting in a Motion Picture: Mandy Patinkin, Princess Bride; Mason, Storm Dependant; Viggo Mortensen, Lord of the Rings

Best Super Hero in a Motion Picture: Christian Bale, Batman Begins; Chris Hemsworth, Thor; Robert Downey, Jr., Iron Man 2; Lillian, Storm Dependant


Quite a night for Storm Dependant!

Aside from the premiere, we've had the chance to catch a couple rocking Christian shows. The Blind Boys of Alabama at Hope, and the Music with a Mission Tour with Super(chick).

The St. John's youth group took a spin for Crop Walk. The youth were cheered on by Tess the Tremendous.

To wrap up, two videos from this weekend with the kids, showing where they're at...

Xavi did a great job with this belt test. Good concentration and perseverance.

Ysabela finally consented to putting a song to video - she's been working hard on this one.

Butterflies and Broken Boards

Happy September!  John is back to school and the kids are just around the corner from it.  Ysabela in middle school (!) and Xavier in his last year of elementary.  Zoinks.

There was a weird happening a few days ago when suddenly a crowd of at least 25 monarch butterflies showed up in the ysabela tree (actually a hydrangea).  I have a new appreciation for those butterfly photos you see because it was really hard to try to capture it.

While I was out there trying to shoot the butterflies, I met the daughter of the mayor who brought the Coast Guard to Grand Haven.  She grew up in the big house up the hill when there were no little houses down below on Slayton.  Pretty neat local history.

More relevant and exciting was Xavier's belt test.  After all our conflicts and miscues, he tested for his Blue Belt.  Did a great job on the form, is ahead of the game on his Korean, and broke a thick board on the first try with a spinning back kick.  Wow!  Nearly as tough to capture as butterfly action.