Photo Story

Meet the Zuber family. Top: Trenton, Matthew, and Chrissa. Middle: Katherine, Elise (mom), Duane (dad). Bottom: Grace, Ruthanne. Duane manages hotels across Michigan while Elise, former children councilor, is now a stay-at-home mother.

Katherine Zuber, right, is Elise's blood daughter was adpoted by Duane when he married Elise. At 19 years old, she attends Grand Valley University and is studying child psychology. She is also looking into art therapy. Here she is shown putting Matthew to bed.

Trenton Zuber, Duane and Elise's blood son, ponders what to do next in his "get well soon" card for his dad. Duane was severely dehydrated and was hospitalized that night.

Chrissa Zuber decorates an Easter egg on April 3, 2010. She was removed from her parents home when she was about 3. From there she was transferred to two other relatives houses, but neither worked out, thus her landing at the Zuber household. They finalized the adoption in June.

Matthew Zuber removes eight bottles of pills and vitamins that he must take daily. Matthew was exposed to drugs en-uteri. The Zubers originally had Matthew for foster care, but then fought a long and hard custody battle for his rights, eventually winning and adpoting him into their family.

Grace and Ruthanne Zuber were adopted a year ago from Ethiopia. Elise and Duane Zuber, along with their daughter Katherine got to fly down to Ethiopia to pick up the twins, and even got to meet their birth mother. She was giving them up for adoption because she simply could not afford to raise them.

Elise Zuber, third in from the left, volunteer coaches an after school bosy running program called Total Treck Quest (TTQ) at Roosevelt Elementary. They run every Tuesday and Thursday, and some of the boys are up to running a 5K."I hope that TTQ will help teach the boys healthy exercise and running habits." explained Elise.

Matthew Zuber is enrolled, and very talented in, gymnastics class. He attends every Tuesday morning. "We need to keep him interested in sports and other things now so that when he's older there is no chance of him getting involved in bad things." said Elise.

The Zubers have a special place in their heart for Africa, as the twins are both from Ethiopia.

Elise, left, shows the kids how to decorate an easter egg the day before Easter. The twins, who had never decorated eggs before, had a blast.

A single glance at the Zuber's family calendar will show anyone how busy they are.

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Alyssa DeKock, Cornerstone University freshmen, pauses on her walk around campus. “Winter is an awesome time on campus,” she explained, “I love seeing all the missionary kids get excited about the one thing I dread all year. It makes winter a little more bearable.”

Richard "Doc" Strait, a seasoned war veteran holds his hat while sitting on a bench at Cornerstone University. He is attending the school to major in music. “Cornerstone was really good at working with my schedule,” he explained, “I have physical therapy in the mornings but they really worked with me to make things work out. I appreciate that.”

Central Wesleyan Church holds their annual outdoor baptism in their pond. Pictured, Jacob Hafler and a group of his friends tackle their freshly baptized friend in congratulations.

A Bible can express feelings in many ways. Many turn to the Bible when feelings of doubt and sadness overwhelm them.

Alyssa Berens, current freshmen at Grand Valley University, is what is defined as a “school hoper.” She started her freshmen year at Western Michigan University, ended the year at Grand Valley University, and will be finishing out her years at Indiana Wesleyan University. She is in the nursing program and transferring schools has made the already hard program even harder to get into. “Some days I feel like I can’t even hold my pants up.” she exclaimed.

Hannah Baker and Ethan Lampe, both freshmen at Spring Arbor University, have been dating for a year. They grew up together, have been good friends for most of their life, and recently decided to take the next step and date.

Nicole Capps, Indiana Wesleyan University freshmen, holds out a flower she found on a walk. “I’m never walking anywhere with a photographer again!” she exclaimed as her picture was taken for the umpteenth time.

A small lizard pokes his head around a leaf in a small outdoor mall in Hawaii. The Waterman family was visiting Hawaii because their son, CPL Justin Waterman, Marine, was returning from his first tour of duty in Iraq.

Facing inner and outer demons can be a hard task for anyone. This picture is a representation of this struggle. The girl in the photo has a mirror image of herself. This concept is used to show good vs. evil.

Lake Michigan as viewed from Holland State Park is frozen over for the winter. While most kids just enjoy climbing on the frozen ‘icebergs’ a small group decided that it would be fun to try and bike down them. They were surprisingly successful.

Alyssa Berens, freshmen at Grand Valley University, enjoyed her winter break by taking long walks in a park near her house.

Caleb Duckworth, freshmen at Grand Valley University, and Nicole Lechner, a home schooled Senior, jump into a puddle from a stage in Central Park, New York City. The week before they had been working hard in inner city Philadelphia on a mission’s trip through Central Wesleyan Church. They were given on day to spend in New York as a reward.

A glorious sunset is viewed from behind the Statue of Liberty.

CPL Justin Waterman, a U.S. marine, salutes his country. He is currently taking part in a big operation going on in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. It is his second tour with his battalion, “The 1/3 Lava Dogs.” They will be returning home in July.