Parents: Dawn and Arnie
Dawn: (aka...mother hubbard, Dawnie, Mom, Neenah, Maja...)
My mom, Dawn, works at a locally owned whimsical art gallery and she is amazing at working with customers and helping anyone and everyone find their "inner artist". Not only did she raise 4 kids but we all managed to survive, be brought to church, eat, have clean underwear, participate in any and all sports that we wanted to and participate in extra curricular activities and spend time with friends. She is/was our mom, confidant, taxi, spiritual advisor and so SO much more. She dealt with me and my siblings, Erin, Peter and Jonathon and somehow (even through all the years of torture) she still loves us AND wants to be around us! Ha! My mom is strong, confident, a wonderful example of a woman of Christ and such an amazing mom, wife, Neenah to my kids and friend to others. :-) I know I will never be able to be exactly like her, but I'm trying my best. I got my spunk, love for cooking, love of decorating, and artsy fartsy side of me all from her.
Arnie: (aka...Arn, Arnoldous, Elder Gelder, Arnie, Dad, Faja, Papa, Bank (haha), Arnold...you get the picture, right?!)
My dad is smart. He knows everything. How he knows everything, I'm not sure...but I'd like the book about "everything". I think I get my love of entrepreneurship from my dad. He has always worked hard to buy and build up his own business. Arn is a civil engineer. I remember as kids while driving, my dad would point out different landfills that he had engineered. I remember him taking us to fly kites on the top of one that he "designed" (designing landfills...crazy!) on the fourth of July and then laying on top of it watching fireworks once it got dark. We thought we were SO COOL because we were VIP at this landfill because my dad was Arnold Geldermans, Civil Engineer. :-) Laugh if you want...but we were landfill royalty. Ok Ok...that's a little much but as a kid I thought it was SO COOL that my dad designed landfills, bridges, parking lots, neighborhood developments etc...My dad is an amazing example of a dad, husband and papa. He is trustworthy, hilarious, great business person and has always pushed us to be our best. I get my temper, drive for owning my own businesses, weird sense of humor and passion for financial freedom from him. :-)
Siblings: Anna, Erin, Peter and Jonathon
Erin: (sorry...not gonna give away her nicknames...too many of our secrets are in those names...)
My BEAUTIFUL sister. Truth be told, growing up I constantly wanted to punch her in the throat for stealing my jewelry, clothes, pencils, cheap make up, shoes (oh wait...she has huge feet she couldn't ever fit into my shoes! ha!) and just my stuff. You know your "stuff" as a teenager? It's uber important and it was obvi I wanted her to leave it alone. I even went as far as putting a lock on my door to keep her out. But, I guess copying is the best form of flattery right?! Anyway, my sister and I are 4 years apart, which proved difficult in ever being truly close growing up. But, as we've gotten older, wiser, more wrinkly and moved out of the same house I can honestly say she is my best friend. She is beautiful, intelligent, so passionate for life/clean eating and making the world a better place. My kids ADORE her, especially Vaelyn, and honestly...when I grow up...I wanna be like her. :-) I really want to be like all of my family...each member for different reasons. So cool how God put our family together. In fact, my sister is coming here tomorrow!!! So...I will probably get in trouble for making fun of her a little bit on here. Oopsie! Love you sister.
Peter: (genius. that is all. well....Pedro is what we call this genius. My kids call him Unky Pete)
The oldest of my younger brothers, Peter is basically a mini-Arn with just a bit more artistic flare. Oh boy....I'm gonna get it for this...but my brother Peter taught me how to knit. He is so creative and secure in himself...I wish I was more like that. He is currently going to Purdue and studying engineering. He is so freaking smart it's scary. You know how people say, "He's a rocket scientist!" I can legit say...my brother, Pedro, is a rocket scientist. He is working for GE Aviation every other trimester and is making a difference in all of our everyday lives. He works on how to make plane engines work better, faster and more efficient. He works on helicopter propellers and how to help them stand up more efficiently to enemy fire...pretty much...he's amaze balls. He is funny, has the same weird sense of humor that me and my dad do. I would say that my dad, Peter and I are the most alike among our family of 6. We are high strung, short tempered, yell a lot and are penny pinchers. haha. Maybe that's why the 3 of us butt heads the most...anyway, Peter always teaches me something new, plays forts and pirates with my kids and is just a big kid at heart....we are just trying to get him to let that kid out a bit more. :-)
And....
Jonathon: (Ron, Jon, J-Boy, JA, Unky Ron...)
The baby. I think Ern (no, that's not a typo, we call her Ern) and Pete would agree...Jon is the baby and that's ok! We always joke that we each kind of represent a different accomplishment or future accomplishment. Apparently, I'm the grandkid-giver, Erin is the amazing artist/nutritionist, Peter is the rocket scientist-smarty pants, and Jonathon is the life saver/future olympic athlete. Jonathon is a swimmer and water polo player just like his big sis Anna was! I'm so proud. :-) He went state for both sports and excelled. He looks like Michael Phelps and if he really wanted to, I know he could've swam and/or played polo for a college team. But, he chose to concentrate on school and I'm so proud of him for that decision. My brother is currently going to WCC in Ann Arbor and is also in an EMT program. He wants to save lives and make a difference. That my friends is a good person. He ALSO is planning on joining the Coast Guard...big sister doesn't like this because it makes me afraid, but my brother is passionate about this and because of that, I (and the rest of us) will support him. My brother Jonathon ranks higher than even me with my kids. Unky Jon plays forts, soccer, "frow" game and all kinds of crazy games with my kids. I am proud of the man he is becoming and what an awesome son, brother, uncle and friend he is to so many people. If he is in your life, you're lucky.
Basically, my family is awesome. Don't mess with us...we stick close together and have each others backs always. I am thankful to the Lord for giving me such amazing parents and siblings. I only hope I can give my kids the same kind of wonderful family dynamic that I had growing up...basically, we need to add 2 more kids to create the ultimate chaos...ready Jeff?! :-) hahaha
You'll hear in future blog posts about all kinds of crazy stuff we did and said and had to wear....for example...my parents always took us on these amazing vacations...one of which was to Sea World. My mom was so paranoid about losing one of us that she made us all dress in khaki shorts and MATCHING bright purple (that's right folks, BRIGHT purple) polo shirts. Gag. But...to be fair, no one got lost...just wet from Shamu. :-) Elder Gelder still wears his purple polo sometimes I think... ;) I WILL find a pic of us in those purple shirts and share in a later post...for now...here we are:
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| L-R: Anna, Jon, Pedro, Erin, Jeff and V in the middle. We're cray cray and we know it! |
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| Yup. They're awesome. :-) Papa and Neenah with Vaelyn and Maddox |
Thanks for reading!
Anna and the Gelds family
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