I grew up in a tiny town in the Qu'appelle Valley in Saskatchewan, Canada. My parents, two brothers and a sister came to Canada from Holland. I was born shortly after, as was my younger brother.

My father worked in the potash mines. He and my mother separated when I was 10. He remarried a lovely woman in 1979, and they had several happy years together. Unfortunately, she died very unexpectedly in 1984. My mother also remarried, in 1980, and continues to live with her husband in small-town Saskatchewan.

My father passed away March 24, 2000. While this was a very sad time for me, I rejoiced that I was instrumental in him recommitting his life to the Lord two weeks before he died. I dedicated a web site to him "Gods Plan of Salvation"

I graduated from high school in 1975, and one month later met my future wife. I was attending a family Bible Camp - the one I had attended every summer for as long as I could remember. That year a tall blue-eyed girl caught my eye. After careful manoeuvring, I caught her attention too. After 3 days, she finally asked my name! We spent all of our free time together, and most services and mealtimes found us together too. In one of our many conversations, I realized she was still in High School. I asked her what grade she was in. I almost fell over when she said she was going into grade 9! She still chuckles when she remembers the shocked look on my face. I had assumed she was my age, so I was left wondering which mess I'd gotten myself into - either I was with a complete idiot, or a young child!! She laughingly reassured me she had just turned 14. I was shocked, but hooked.

Fortunately, her parents had taken a liking to me, and allowed us to continue our friendship. And friendship was all it was. I left immediately after camp to go to Holland for some time. I then moved to Calgary, AB, to attend a Bible college. We continued a friendship with regular letters, and 2 years later; I began to visit her home. Her parents still approved of me, and I was continually impressed with the maturity she had achieved at such a young age.

God smiled on me, and on October 14, 1978, that gorgeous girl became my bride..................

We were young, but in love, and equally committed, both to each other, and to serving God. We went into our marriage determined to make it work, with no thought of divorce as an option. We had a glorious, prolonged honeymoon; never experiencing that rough first year so many couples speak of. Perhaps our youth worked in our favour - we hadn't had time to become "set in our ways" so there were few growing pains.

Real life settled in slowly, and after one year, we left our first apartment in my home area, and moved to Saskatoon, a larger city. I began to work at a concrete plant. Almost one and a half years after that, our daughter was born.

Callista was born Jan 1, 1981. She was 3 weeks premature, but was a healthy 6 lbs, 2 oz. She was a beautiful baby from the very beginning, and had her mothers striking blue eyes. She made us feel like a complete family, and life was good.

We built our own home in 1986. We were so proud! Carol has a special touch when putting together a home, and she quickly created a lovely comfortable home for us to enjoy.

Carol has always had a special place in her heart for children, and felt like she needed to do something for the less fortunate ones. After considering other options, we decided to become foster parents. Our lives changed dramatically with that decision, but it was a positive experience. We had a total of 42 placements; some stayed with us up to 3 years. Carol threw herself into raising those children with her whole heart, and for many of them, it was the first time they had experienced a mothers love. They were loved, scolded and trained like they were her own. It was always hard to see a child leave, but every one of them took a piece of Carol's heart with them when they left. She truly had a huge capacity to love those kids!

Laurelle waltzed into our home early in 1989 and into our hearts at the same time. As Carol has often said, Laurelle walked in, said "I'm home - you do what you have to to make it legal". It was far from that easy though. Laurelle had not always had a pleasant life to that point, and it took a while before she trusted us. But we persevered, and a bond was established. After a long, unpleasant battle, she was legally our daughter in Sept. 1991. That was our introduction to the idiocy of government bureaucracy. But finally common sense overruled political correctness, and we were allowed to be the family of 4 that we were meant to be.

Our daughters are 6 years apart in age, but have bonded and become great fans of each other. Callista stepped in to the role of a protective big sister with ease, and Laurelle responded with appropriate hero worship. As they move through their teens, their relationship is changing, and a real friendship is becoming evident. It's been a joy to watch as they have both made the necessary adjustments, and grown into such lovely young women. Best of all, they both have a love for the Lord, and a strong desire to live their lives for Him.

We were always outdoor lovers, and spent many summer evenings going for long walks or bike rides. We always made sure our foster children had bikes too, and we sometimes must have resembled a duck family as we made our way down the streets with our "chicks" trailing behind. In the winter, we enjoyed snow-mobiling and tobogganing parties at the riverbank. In the summer months we went camping at every opportunity.

While we have always spent a great deal of time doing things as a family, we do occasionally indulge in separate hobbies. I did a lot of leather carving in my early years, and have always been a "tinkerer". I've played with electronics, and have found a great love for woodworking. I've spent many hours on numerous projects - nursery furniture for a niece, children's toys and furniture for the girls, a clock for Carol.... I like old trains, golfing, and have a collection of Swiss Army knives.

Carol loves to paint, and crochet, and does some other needlework. She has made countless afghans, baby sets and doll clothes. She is an interior decorator at heart, and mentally renovates every building she enters! She loves anything that has roses and/or lace on it, and has a peculiar passion for chime and cuckoo clocks. She surrounds herself with flowers and soft colors, and is always trying to beautify whatever corner of the world she is in.

With her endless ideas, and my questionable skills, there have been many times that we've gotten halfway through some major project, when we've stopped and looked at each other, and said "oh, no, what have we gotten ourselves into this time?" But with enough brainstorming, we've always managed to pull it off! And usually had a good time doing it.

We are both avid readers, and have acquired thousands of books over the years. Carol absolutely devours her books at an incredible rate, and is always looking for new reading material. She reads a lot of biographies & autobiographies, nostalgia books and magazines, Christian romance, and psychology-related material. She loves to study different religions, and is fascinated with the idiosyncrasies of the English language and it's history.

I tend to read Westerns of all kinds, and a lot of instruction manuals - woodworking, construction, computers.... Carol and I both have a definite affection for computers and the Internet, and we can often been found passing an evening with our matching laptops!

Callista shares my love for math and computers, and is also an avid reader. She has achieved her Certificate of Christian Leadership, and plans to continue her Bible College studies. She is presently in a managerial position in a restaurant, and works as a clerk in an office supply store.

Laurelle is following in Carol's footsteps, and is showing a definite inclination towards all things feminine and decorative (and expensive!). She shares Carol's tastes for traditional decor, and has a lovely singing voice. She is a movie addict, and recites lengthy speeches from her favourites.

Both girls are known for their gentleness and compassion, and their skills in caring for children or disabled people. The many, many hours they have spent in the hospital with me after my injuries have definitely prepared them to be wonderful caregivers. In whatever areas God calls them, I am sure they will put their gifts of tenderness and compassion to good use.

We are members of the Church of God Pentecostal, where I also serve as a board member. We love and appreciate our church family, and feel a strong loyalty to the church.

This is a quick snapshot of my family. Thank you for taking the time to visit us.