The Doctors

We spent our last weekend in Michigan for awhile. Coming up we've got IN, MO, and IL. Our in-state trip was to Saginaw for a little Veldof get-together at Gwen and Rob's. It was fun as we played some Seafarers of Catan, went biking, and went shopping at Birch Run.

We also celebrated Gwen's birthday.

Speaking of Illinois, less than 4 weeks until the Chicago Marathon!

Uplifting Weekend

This weekend my dad, brothers, Grandpa E, and I attended Promise Keepers here in Grand Rapids. It was a great experience and very uplifting and motivating. Its pretty awesome to be part of 7000+ men worshipping God together.

Afterward we enjoyed a great Michigan game and I capped off Saturday by running 20 miles with Jason. Ouch.

The Elenbaas women had a fun weekend of their own. They drove to Stratford, Ontario for a play. It looks like they had a good time.

Randy's Most Memorable Sports Moments: #6

There is a BIG difference between a bogey golfer and a golfer that can challenge par. I am a bogey golfer, so when I get anywhere near par I am ecstatic. My best stretch of golf came when I was lucky enough to be on PCA's golf team for 3 years and play 4 times a week for free! My senior year was by far my best year and I averaged somewhere around a 44 during the season.

Our home course isn't very long but it has a lot of trouble on the front nine and difficult greens. On one sunny fall afternoon I put it all together. I remember not being on the 1st green in regulation but chipping close and tapping in for par. For the next 5 holes the game was exceedingly easy. I was on the green in regulation on every hole and made my pars. On 2 of the holes I had very difficult 40 foot birdie putts that could have easily been 3-putt bogeys, but my 1970's putt putt putter was on its game.

I parred my first 6 holes before bombing the 7th. I lost a ball off the tee on the very difficult 400 yard dogleg left hole and ended up making a triple bogey 7.

Frustrated but not beaten I salvaged a par on the 8th and had a great iron to the back of the green on the 9th. I stared down a 15 foot putt for birdie and sank it with ease to finish the best round of my life...a 38. Since then I've broken 41 only a handful of times and never on a good course and with such superb play. It was a great afternoon when the game just came easy to me.

Professional Photography

These are too good not to post. Luke took them earlier this summer with his sweet camera.



WOW! Evinpossible

College Football

Fall has begun, and so has college football. This weekend I went to Ann Arbor to spend the weekend at Rob and Amy's and watch some Michigan football. Eric and Amy were also able to come.

We really wanted to tailgate for a full football experience. Unfortunately, we were complete novices and woefully under prepared. On the way out the door we all double checked that we had the essentials: grill, omelet mix and fixings, skillet, cups, drinks. As soon as we parked, however, we realized we didn't have matches to light the grill, we didn't have a spatula to flip the omelets, we didn't have plates to eat off of, and we didn't have silverware to eat with. Luckily we were able to bum off of other friendly tailgaters but we definitely felt inferior.

The most exciting part of the game was the rare suspension of play because of weather, but it was a good Michigan win so all was well.

After the game we enjoyed some free golf at Michigan's faculty course, where Rob used to work.

Randy's Most Memorable Sports Moments: #7

Notice I titled these sports moments as the “most memorable,” not necessarily the most heroic. My #7 is definitely not my most heroic, its actually one of the most embarrassing moments of my life...and also very memorable.

As a junior in high school I decided to go out for the basketball team. I had not played in previous years and lacked team experience, plus I wasn't that great. The coaches decided to start me on JV for the beginning of the season so they could see how I performed in games. I played well on JV averaging almost 10 points per game and leading the team in rebounds. Halfway through the season my coaches decided it was time for me to jump to varsity.

My first game on varsity was at home against a tough conference rival. I didn't expect to get any playing time but towards the end of the 3rd quarter our other big guys were in foul trouble.

At first I just ran around and stayed out of the way but I did touch the ball a couple of times and safely passed it off. Then, after the other team scored they applied a full court press. The press worked well on our guards so I ran to an open spot at half court and my teammate passed the ball to me. I was definitely out of my element trying to dribble up the court knowing full well that a trap was coming.

I happened to be on the sideline right next to the bleachers. As I approached half court I thought I heard a fan yell "2 SECONDS" to me. I very briefly glanced at the scoreboard and thought I saw a 1. Instinctively I shot the ball from just inside 1/2 court. It wasn't a bad shot and went off the backboard. I had expected to hear the buzzer go off when the ball was in the air and when it didn't I looked at the scoreboard...8 seconds left and counting! In retrospect I realized the fan had actually said "10 seconds."

One of my teammates grabbed the rebound after my miss and got fouled so there was a dead ball with 3 seconds left. My coach immediately benched me and didn't put me in for a LONG time. I was thoroughly embarrassed for launching a 1/2 court shot with 10 seconds left in my first varsity game in front of our home crowd.

Summer Farewell

This year's summer holidays were amazing. We had 90 degree weather on both Memorial Day and 4th of July. This weekend was also beautiful weather giving way to a lot of fun. We boated, played lots of games, hung out, and worked. Here are some of the moments of the final weekend of the summer:

The Elenbaases and Steensmas formed a 4 layer pyramid with Molly doing the splits on top.

The old #8 Frisbee golf tree breathed its last breath. It was about 75 years old.

CLICK HERE to see it fall

Yet some more tubing pictures. Erin and Molly are a great pair. Ben and I switching tubes.

An barrel roll in progress

The 4 super-tubers go out in glory