Early on we have made quite a few small trips together...  Later on these trips have turned to something a bit bigger and our destinations are becoming further from Iowa. Below are some of the local trips we took and you can see pictures from all the trips on the Galleries page.

We have visited Omaha on a couple of occasions with highlights of the Henry Doorly Zoo and downtown's  Old Market.  We've hit a few local Des Moines attractions too...  The Blank Park Zoo, the Des Moines Art Museum, and the Botanical Gardens.  We have also visited the spillway area and various other areas at Saylorville Lake along with  Ledges State Park north of Boone.

Melinda has been doing her best to keep me cultured.  We have attended the following shows together at the Greater Des Moines Civic Center:

The Music Man
Blast
Stomp
The Phantom of the Opera
Blast II
Mamma Mia!
A Midsummer Nights Dream (Stephens Auditorium - Ames IA)
The Lion King (Reservations made)

We attended the Salisbury Renaissance Faire on 5/19/2002

Together we planned a trip to Niagara, but later changed plans and headed to Mackinaw MI.
Point of Interest - Makinac is a French spelling and Mackinaw is a British spelling. Both are pronounced as "aw".

July 2002 we took an 11 mile canoe trip down the Des Moines river, courtesy of "7 Oaks Recreation" near Boone IA.

On Aug 10th we attended the 2002 International Balloon Classic in Indianola IA. What a gorgeous night... 

Melinda, Morgan, and I spent the afternoon of December 8th, 2002 setting up our Christmas tree at Melinda's place. On the way home we stopped by the Hallmark store to let Morgan pick out a couple of ornaments to start our own family Christmas tree traditions. We had some very nice family time together and I took a few pictures of course.

The first holiday trip of 2002 took us to Detroit MI to spend the weekend of December 14th and 15th with the Higbee side of the family.

I was finally able to get one of the family pictures from Christmas in Detroit scanned in. Large and Small

The days surrounding Christmas itself took us from West Des Moines IA to the Hippler side of the family in Davenport IA. From there on to the Mettler side of the family in LaCrosse WI... Finally wrapping up in Goldfield IA for my (Tjarks) side of the family, returning home to West Des Moines on Dec 26th. Our Xmas celebration with my daughter Morgan took place on Jan 5th 2003. This wrapped up our Holiday season of 2002.

I also took a little time to put up a gallery page of Morgan's Pictures throughout the years. There are quite a few pictures so please be patient while the page loads.

New Year's Eve welcoming in 2003 was spent with friends. A quiet evening with games, good food, and a champagne toast at midnight. Here's wishing all who touch our lives a very "Happy New Year" in 2003!

2003 has brought alot of changes to both of us. It's nearing the end of February, Melinda just got back from Detroit, and the wedding plans are coming along. With the possibility of moving in the near future life has become hectic at times.

Well we made it through March and into April. The move I talked about did happen at an accelerated pace. We made an offer on a house together in Clive through Next Generation Realty. The offer was accepted and we closed on March 12th and took possession on March 13th. The move went well... Thanks to all who showed up to help! As you can see in the pictures of the house we are getting settled in and still have a bit of unpacking to do.

Here it is June 2nd and the wedding date is getting closer. Melinda has had me running around pretty much solid since coming back from my trip to Columbus OH with my Dad. It's been an experience. Registering was kind of fun though at Target and Bed Bath and Beyond. The best rest I get though is sitting back and watching Melinda and the rest of the girls... It makes me tired just watching them plan a wedding.

Father's Day 06/15/2003 - We had Morgan all day today. Probably enough said on that one, a Dad can never be as proud. Two bridal showers have now gone by and the honeymoon plans have been made... We made our arrangements through Travel World in West Des Moines. Following a day of rest after the wedding we will fly out of Des Moines for a week in Las Vegas at the Luxor. Neither Melinda or myself have been to Vegas before so this trip is something we are very much looking forward to doing.

07/28/2003 - Well the wedding has come and gone, as well as our honeymoon, and there are so many things to mention but the pictures can say more than words. Please visit our Galleries page for tons of pictures from both. Vegas was a pretty neat city and we really had fun, but I think we both were looking forward to being home by the end of the trip. Melinda and I are phasing back into just taking life day by day and doing the more mundane things that couples are supposed to do. We are both thankful for everyone that touches our lives in some way.

One last update... Also in the past few months we are welcoming 2 new nieces and 1 nephew into our family; Kolbi (John and Trish), Amber (Ron and Beth), and Abigail (Dave and Heidi). With these additions we still have one more new niece or nephew on the way.

11/23/2003 - A1l the new arrivals are here including one more for us. On August 7th 2003 we brought Casey into our family. Casey was a 6 week old Cockapoo (1/2 Cocker Spaniel 1/2 Poodle) when we brought him home and has matured into a 5 month old that still likes to push Mom and Dad's buttons. He's learning and so are we. Quite a bit has happened in the last four months and I don't know where to begin so I can just keep it at... Life is good.

02/01/2004 - It's been awhile since the last update. Gary and Jan moved back to Iowa from Detroit, right around the time of our wedding, so there was less traveling this year for us around Christmas. The holidays have come and gone. Santa was kind to us this year. I took a break this year and left the camera at home for the most part, and just enjoyed being with family. I fully anticipated getting some pictures from others and scanning them in, but I haven't got around to asking. New Years came and went like any other year, but after that Mother Nature has shown us snow like we haven't seen in a few years. It's still falling as I look out the basement window with 8-12 inches expected.

04/24/2004 - Not much has been going on lately. Kind of hard to believe Morgan is going to hit double digits in 2 weeks (The BIG 10). I'm starting to feel old. Both Melinda and I haven't had the healthiest year of our lives this year. Things are still well though all things considered. On 02/10/2004 we brought Ben home. He's half Brittany Spaniel and half Border Collie (we think). Ben was adopted from the Animal Rescue League West location. He's become a very welcome addition to our home and gets along with absolutely everyone.

12/20/2004 - Wow... Almost 8 months without an upate. I'll have to keep on top of things a little better. A few things have changed in our lives, but not too many that are significant. Casey is no longer with us and we have adopted a Boxer mix named Tucker. We have already enjoyed two Christmas celebrations this year. My (Tjarks) side of the family and the Higbee side of the family. It was good to see everyone again. In the next month or so I'm planning on doing a major overhaul to this web site. It's about time for things to be changed up a bit. "Happy Holidays" to all!

1/23/2005 - The holidays came and went, we finished the celebrations with everyone, and we find ourselves in a new year. The weather has been great this year up until about 2 weeks ago when God decided we hadn't had enough cold and ice yet for Iowa. On a personal level things have been calm so far in 2005, and hopefully this will last. Melinda and I haven't had a whole lot on our list to get done and we're enjoying the time inside together. Hopefully the -25 degree wind chill will break soon. Melinda and I are both still with ADP and the Mo'ster is doing good.

2/20/2005 - I have added a new Galleries page. This page displays some pictures from my Navy days (07/1988 - 07/1992) that I am in the process of recovering from negatives. Please visit the Galleries section of GCW and click on the Navy Days button.

5/9/2005 - Mo hit the big 11! How come it's neat to watch your child celebrate another year, but that same year just seems to bring more gray hair for me? You'd think it was almost directly related somehow. :o) I think I get it now Dad...

5/31/2005 - Memorial Day weekend brought time with my family. My Uncle Marty has some property not far over the border in Missouri from Iowa (Between Princeton and Trenton). This weekend brought 4 generations together. The pack of cousins I grew up with (Carrie, myself, John, Jason, Donovan, Kandi, and Heather) were together for the first time in many years... It sure was good to see everyone again, get to know everyone's spouses a little more, and meet some for the first time. Melinda and I both had a good time and are hoping we can make it again next year if the family gets together. I'm still trying to forget all the comments on my gray hair though, and I think my wallet's finally dry after my mid-afternoon swim on Sunday (Thanks Mary)...

8/2/2005 - Our 2nd anniversary has come and gone, and so has my 35th birthday. The birthday left a few more gray hairs it seems. It's been a pretty uneventful last few months. Not much has been happening, and some times that's a good thing. The house and work have been keeping both Melinda and I busy. I've actually been getting the tools our more often and am keeping up on the yard work better this year...sort of. Ben and Tucker are both doing well and Melinda is on schedule to graduate in October from William Penn with her BS in MIS. Morgan is starting 6th grade pretty soon and is taking off this Friday for a trip to Florida to see Mickey Mouse with her Mom, step-Dad, and little sister. We'll have our summer visitation together soon after she gets back. I'll try to get some more (updated) pictures up soon in the Galleries section.

10/21/2005 - Tonight was one of those nights that you get a kick in the pants to remember what's truly important in life. I'd like to share a couple of sites with you and hope that you will take the time to visit each one. The first link is for a friend of mine's son Brant Thomas Hamilton and the second one to honor the life of a new friend's son Jared Coones.

12/11/2005 - Christmas 2005 is two weeks away. It's been about 2 months since I have updated this site. Melinda and I followed the recent hurricanes down to Key Largo/Tavernier FL on 10/30 and we came home on her birthday (11/4). The first couple of days we were impacted by the residual weather of tropical storm Beta, but the last few days were gorgeous. The Key Largo area weathered the storms well, unlike some of the other areas of the Keys. I have posted pictures of this short vacation in the Galleries section. The water was pretty stirred up from the storms so scuba diving and snorkeling was pretty much out of the question, but we spent the evenings relaxing and enjoying the wonderful sunsets, we walked the beaches, visited a couple mangrove forests (the only trees knows to man that can tolerate salt water), took a tour of the Everglades, drove down to Key West (which was still a major mess at the time - see the last 10 pictures) crossing the 7 Mile bridge in the process, and I got a chance to feed tarpon at Robbies Marina. Some of these tarpon were 6 to 7ft long. You can view a short video we made of feeding the tarpon from a link on the Keys Gallery page.

Just FYI - We stayed at a small 10 unit resort (Island Bay Resort) that I would highly recommend. Mike and Carol were wonderful hosts and if we ever go back I think that we would stay no where else...

12/13 & 14/2005 - Added a 3rd and 4th page of assorted pictures to the Gallery section. Some family pictures, zoo pictures, updated pictures of the dogs, etc. Just lots of pictures... For some reason the gallery pages keep getting bigger. One of these days I'll fix that too.

12/30/2005 - Well we made it through another Christmas season. We wrapped up our celebrations on Christmas day with our own at home with Melinda, Morgan, and I. This was an interesting one, but everyone made it through okay. Santa was good to the Tjarks, Higbee, and Hippler families. Every celebration was blessed with good traveling weather, family, and good fellowship. I've posted a few pictures on the Galleries page under the Xmas 2005 button. Here's hoping everyone has a Happy New Year!

02/02/2006 - Well it almost seems like we are well into 2006 already. You sure can't beat an Iowa winter like this one. All the families are doing well as far as I know. Melinda and I are doing fine, everything's been on a pretty even keel. We're planning a cruise to the Caribbean in April to celebrate her graduation from William Penn with her Bachelor's degree in MIS. I was recently promoted at ADP to Sr Help Desk Analyst. A change of title is always nice... John is an interim maintenance manager at the Hawkeye Renewables ethanol plant in Iowa Falls, we're crossing our fingers that he is promoted into the position full time. My Dad and Mom have added a couple of Boxer pups to their family (Brandi and Cheyenne) with hopes of puppies to come in the future. We've had a couple of recent chances to spend some time with Dave, Heidi, and the kids when Morgan has been here on our weekends together. We've also got to see John, Trish, and the kids a couple times over the past couple months. Those visits go too long inbetween. It gets loud at times with that many small people, but it's a good feeling too. I guess things have been a bit busy now that I look back at the past couple months. Time sure does seem to fly by.

05/01/2006 - Wow how time flies by. My last update was back on 2/2 and much has happened since then. Melinda is now working for Wells Fargo and we just returned from an Eastern Caribbean cruise aboard the Carnival ship "Elation". I will try to get some pictures from the cruise posted soon on the Galleries page.

05/01/2006 (Later) - I have posted some of the pictures from our 8 day Eastern Caribbean Cruise onboard the Carnival ship "Elation" on the Galleries page under an Elation button. The cruise left and returned from Miami FL and stopped at the following ports of call; Nassau Bahamas, Half Moon Cay Bahamas, St Thomas USVI, San Juan Puerto Rico, and Grand Turk BWI.

03/10/2007 - Almost a year without an update to this page. I ought to be publicly caned... Anyway sometimes it's hard to write about things when there's been no major changes. I've setup a MySpace page and it's been good to stay more in touch with the cousins that I grew up with, but hadn't had much contact with in a few years - dtjarks on MySpace. Melinda and I are both doing well. Melinda left ADP and is now employed with Wells Fargo. Its been a good change. She's working less hours and we get to see each other ALOT more at home. I'm still with ADP and hope to start college classes this fall. I know... I'm looking forward to it, but do have some hesitation about going back to school at 36. I'll get over it - LOL. Our lives will probably change quite a bit in the upcoming months. More news on this will come later... Mo is doing well. She turns 13 this May and her interests are changing much to my dismay. It won't be long before she's all grown up...

07/22/2007 - Another birthday of mine had comes and gone. Most of you know by now that Melinda and I are expecting a little girl the end of October! We're both pretty excited and I'm a little in shock of becoming a Dad again at 37. And we may be having another before we are done... Things have been going well. Planning for a new baby has made time fly and the due date is a little over 3 months away. Though I haven't been great about updating my site I'm sure there will be planty of picture updates after the birth. :o)

Last Updated: 07/22/2007

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