Historic Homes in Holland ~ Shane's Trip

 

Shane and Jan Weening - December 2018

From Shane: I just barely got back from visiting Groningen (Northern Holland, where most of the de Haan lines are from). Jan Weening, a Family History Consultant in Groningen has written a book about the early church there, and knows a lot about Ate Obes Westra (my great-grandfather). I took the 3-hour train ride to Groningen, rented a bike, and Jan took me all around to see where Ate Obes lived, worked, and served as a missionary. It was so cool to see!

Here are the pictures he took on his trip ...

The photo on the left and upper right are two locations Ate Westra lived while serving as a missionary in the Netherlands (1919-1922). The bottom right is where church services were held during those years ...

... more locations where church services were held in Groningen are pictured below, 

although these were after Ate's time. 

The one on the left was where Jan Weening was baptized.

If you read Ate's History, you know that he met his wife Geeske in Groningen and they ran a laundry before they immigrated to America. Below, the top-right photo shows this laundry and their residence from 1902-1907. The building on the left is where Ate lived 1899-1900, and the bottom right is another possible residence. 

Check out A History of Homes for where Ate lived in Utah after they came to the United States.

Mom/Margie wrote to Shane: Dad just showed me your letter just now, with all the pictures!  That's amazing that you took the 3 hour train ride to Groningen, rented a bike, and went all those places where your great-grandfather lived!  So nice of Jan to take you all those places and that he knew a lot about Ate Westra! So wonderful that you took advantage of that great opportunity!  Thanks for all the photos!

... and to the other siblings: We had a nice video chat with Shane last night from his hotel in Boston. He mentioned the time with the FH consultant Jan in the Netherlands was delightful, after several train changes and bus ride---and the people in the smaller towns didn't speak English nearly as much as in Amsterdam, so it was a little harder to know what trains to take, etc. Shane would like to do something for Jan for taking so much time with him (though Jan seemed to enjoy it just as much as Shane).

One final photo from Shane's Netherland's trip ...

Shane eating raw herring ... mandatory Dutch street experience. Ewwwww.

Shane's Penny Portrait

Yes, it's a portrait of Lincoln made of pennies! Shane had the idea back when he was in high school. He completed it a couple of years ago and I loved it then, and I love it now. With President's Day weekend coming up ... and today actually being Lincoln's birthday, it definitely deserves a blog post!

Here are some random facts about the picture from Shane:

• Made from 1,638 pennies (1,612 whole pennies and 52 half pennies).
• Each row has 31 and 1 half pennies.
• There are 52 rows.
• The pennies are staggered (so the second row is offset from the first row so each row “fits” into the neighboring row), resulting in the need to have a half penny on each row.
• There is at least one penny from each year from 1909 to 2009.
• There is one 1943 steel penny (lower right-hand corner).
• The US mint is making 2009 pennies with new designs on the reverse – there are 4 different designs: Birth and Early Childhood in Kentucky (aka “Log Cabin”), Formative Years in Indiana (aka “Rail Splitter”), Professional Life in Illinois, and Presidency in Washington, DC. I wanted to use at least one penny with each reverse design (although all the pennies in the picture only show the front); but only the first two were available when assembling the picture, so I’ll swap out two pennies for the other 2009 designs later.
• I tried to find enough dark pennies, but ended up coloring some pennies (using different methods) to have enough dark and mid-tones.
• The pennies are fastened to a piece of pressed wood (masonite).
• The pennies were fastened primarily using contact cement; although I did experiment with gorilla glue and liquid nails as well.
• The picture is fairly heavy, and so I will craft a special mechanism to hang it (once I get it framed).

Update: It has been hanging in Shane and Alicia's home for a while now ...

Shane Shows Up

Mom's Memories (written in 2020): We were back in Salt Lake. I chose the St. Mark's hospital since I wanted a private room, albeit, they were very small rooms. Then I chose a doctor who delivered there. He was probably a good doctor, but had a very poor bedside manner. The doctor visits consisted on his saying, "Any questions? See you next time." With Shane's birth, it was the only time I was told by a doctor at one of the last visits, that I would probably come early. Then he was 16 days later than his due date! It just started to feel unreal, like this baby would never be born! He was 8 lbs. 12 oz. Our biggest baby.

From the baby book:

• It was Monday, May 3, 1976. 6:10 a.m.
• 8 pounds 12 ounces, 22 inches
• Dr. W. Adams
• Dad's Notes: Our new baby was scheduled to arrive 17 April 1976 but was 16 days late. Finally, early in the morning of 3 May, 1976 at about 12:30 a.m, Baby Shane decided to let his mother know he was ready. Bags had been packed for weeks, so his mother showered, his father called Grandma Burgener, and Mom and Dad left for the hospital in the little yellow-orange Vega. Arrangements had already been made with the new St. Mark's hospital at 13th East and 39th South, about a 10-minute drive. Shane didn't seem to be in a big hurry, so we took our time, arrived at the emergency entrance to the hospital, took the long walk to the elevators, and went up to the 2nd floor, past the nursery. It took us about 10 minutes to roust up a nurse, but we finally made contact. Margie changed into hospital wear and got into a bed for tests, hooked to a monitoring machine, and a long wait. Dad went back down to officially check-in at 3:05 a.m. Dad was quite queasy after the birth, and had to leave for a few minutes. Grandma Burgener came to stay with the children while we were at the hospital. Dad came home in time to get the kids off to school, and then hit the sack for a few hours to try to make up for lost sleep the previous night. Dad stayed home from work that day. They next day he took his "cigars" (tootsie rolls packed in a cigar box) and passed them out at work.
• Mom's Notes: Shane was born at 6:10 a.m. The cord was around his neck and he was very blue. We were quite frightened as it seemed to take several minutes to get him crying. His color improved rapidly after that. LaMar was with me all during labor and birth (for the first time). We called the kids and told them about their new brother before they went to school. 
• Shane slept through the night the day he was one week old. He slept through the night most nights after that.
• Shane loved the pacifier, starting his first night home. He seldom went to sleep without it.
• June 6, 1976. Shane was blessed by his Dad in the Cottonwood 11th ward. Wendy was confirmed the same day. After the meeting, we had a nice family dinner at the house. Both grandparents came, and Aunt Lorrie, and cousins Jason and Katie (Merrill was out-of-town - Shane shares this birthday with Uncle Merrill).  
• Shane started smiling a little and making a few "goos" and gurgles at four weeks. He laughed a little at one month. He rolled from his stomach to his back on June 3, when he was one month old. He rolled from his back to his stomach just before four months. 
• At six-weeks, the doctor (Dr. Steven Carr) discovered that Shane's feet turned in too much. He recommended a bar to force his feet outward and even loaned one that his children had used. At five months the special shoes/bar didn't have to be worn anymore. 
• September 25, 1976 the whole family went to Lagoon on a special, $12 per car. Grandma Burgener and Karen also came. This was Shane's first big outing (4½ months old). He had his little hand stamped along with all the rest of the family. He was very good, pushed around in his stroller the whole time.  

Very glad to have all this information recorded in the baby book (and now the blog!)

Here's a little peek at the baby book, and some of the other saved mementos.

As with the other "birth stories" I'll include the captured DMarie TimeCapsule ...

... there was something similar typed up and given out at the hospital