Grandparents, Aunt, Nephews and Nieces Trips

In October, 1999 Mom, Dad, and I went to Williamsburg and Monticello with Andrew. It was a great trip with him as he was about fifth grade at the time and a real history buff. Since money doesn’t sit in his pocket long, he bought a bag of plastic soldiers that both Mom and I tried to discourage him from doing so. However, he spent hours in the car and hotel those few days playing with those plastic soldiers so they were well worth the few dollars he spent on them.

In July, 2006 Mom and I took the four girls (Mary Lee, Haley, Lauren, and Lindsey) to Nashville for a short trip together. We did the Aquarium, a cave, and the Imax while there and had a pretty wild Uno match in the hotel. For them the biggest attraction was the mall where we learned that even though they could roam the mall together on Thursday evening while we were there, they had to have an adult chaperone with them on Friday night. I’ve never spent so long in two stores (Abercrombie and American Eagle) in which not one thing would fit me and yet had so much fun watching them shop and try on things. (The memory of that is much more pleasant two years later than at the time when I was so tired I could barely stand up.)

Next week is an overnight trip with the two youngest grandsons/nephews. We’ll be doing some Nashville sites on Monday and Tuesday. In addition we’ll probably get in some games of Phase 10 or Quiddler or some other new game. Hopefully with two digital cameras we’ll have some pictures to post by mid-week. I can’t wait to see everyone.

HOLLYHOCK DOLLS

Some of you may remember making "hollyhock dolls" as children. We have a couple stalks of hollyhocks in our yard, so this morning Grace and I made a couple dolls from them. Yesterday was a very busy day and we didn't have time to take pictures, but here is one picture of this morning's creations.

We just got back from Joliet where we met Drake and Michelle and had lunch. Now we're heading for the couch(s)! It was a good, fun-filled weekend.

Home again

Jerry and I are back home -- and to reality -- after a long, much-needed weekend in Chicago. We had a such a fabulous time! We ate dinner on Navy Pier, took a boat tour of the city from the lake and river, walked around Wrigleyville during a game (didn't have tickets but still enjoyed the Cubs fever), rode the "L", saw Wicked and saw Jimmy Buffett in concert. The best thing about the weekend was that there was always something to look forward to. Friday night after the play, I was a bit sad that it was over. But, no worries because the concert was still yet to come. Today, however, I'm a bit let down as I look forward to unpacking, doing laundry, and getting ready for another work week. Oh well...

DAY TWO AT G&G'S HOUSE

Well, I thought I already sent this, but apparently I didn't! So here goes again. This morning Heat and I drove to Joliet, had lunch with Drake and Michelle, then brought Grace and Owen home with us. We spent the afternoon playing in the tent, the pool, the slip & slide, doing kitchen table crafts, making haunted houses in the basement, going to the park this evening, etc. Right now the kids are watching a movie with the idea tht that will "slow them down" a little; however, Owen is making Nathan laugh louder than I've ever heard him laugh! It's been a good day and we're looking forward to tomorrow. I'll send more pictures -- if I'm still able!

DAY ONE AT GRANDMA & GRANDPA'S HOUSE

We've been having much fun with Heat and Nathan. Since Ang never sent the pictures of the bean fields as promised, we walked across the street and took a couple here. Unfortunately, after dinner, Nathan fell on the kitchen floor and the result is a "fat lip". He recovered quickly and was ready to go to the park and walk around the block. Don't worry Mom and Dad, he's tough and if we mention it he just says "I'm ok".

Sorry, but I'm going to bore you all with pictures documenting our weekend.

Bush in Peoria event now over

Kathleen and I are quite tired, but excited having seen the President today in Peoria campaigning for our local young 26-yr-old candidate for US House of Representatives.
My previous post was removed by me due to a request from SS. Not sure why, as the post was very positive and nothing confidential or "classified", for sure. They threatened that if not removed, my name would be removed from the Volunteer Help List and I would not be allowed to attend the event. Now it is over and not a drop of rain, mild temps, and an over-flow crowd of 1400 or so @ $500 per head. A surreal atmosphere, a great meal, fist-class accommodations, etc. Kathleen worked on flower prep and she and I both were on the food-serving line. We were allowed to go inside the air-conditioned main tent for the entire program and saw and heard every word of the Pres.' 25-minute talk. We also got to eat the full meal, backstage. What a deal! He is a MUCH better speaker than the press would want you to think -- very inspiring. And, of course, many, many accolades about the young man he came here for.

I am told the SS had "Google Alerts" on this event for several weeks. With our Blog being registered with Google, our main Posts are all available for the whole world to see. Googling key words of any post will cause that post to come up on a Google Search! I think my words of SS, the young man's name, the amount of ticket sales, etc. trggered their concern. Security was indeed extremely tight today, as well. The candidate has requested no photos to be put on the internet. Email pics might be OK, however. No video cameras were allowed. All in all, a very unique experience. Tomorrow morning, you can read the Peoria Journal Star and read of the account, and also his website, if you are so inclined.
Cleve & Kathleen

What next?

Recent web surfing revealed the following:

Don't Get Taken For A Ride--
Some drivers will do anything to get a free tank. Classic scam: The customer leaves a credit card at the cash register, pumps gas and peels out just in time for the attendant to discover the card doesn't work. In this environment, always make customers prepay and authorize the cards before a drop gets pumped.

"And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." Genesis 6:5

I'm doing it!

After much thought and prayer, I'm starting a business--Bonny Blue Babywearing! I'm so excited about it. I've barely slept in days because I'm constantly planning. We've been busy getting paperwork together, looking for material suppliers, and planning classes.

For those unfamiliar with babywearing, it's the practice of using a carrier to "wear" your baby on your body so you can carry them as much as they need while keeping your hands free. I'll be offering consults on how to choose from and use the various types of carriers, and I also make and sell ring slings. Here's a picture of my first sling:

REMOVAL

The post from CK has been removed. Please don't ask any questions or mention the upcoming event. Just trust me on this. - Ada

We are babysitting this weekend with Nathan, Heat, Grace and Owen. Should be fun and busy.

Ada

Regarding groceries...

Maybe better read the first post I wrote to have this make sense!

Now on to the grocery store...usually Walmart. I hate getting groceries. I consider it a cruel practice of self-denial. I walk in the door and on the right are cookies and cupcakes. Can't have that. Down the center aisle are sales on potato chips...can't have that. Down the ice cream aisle...shouldn't have that. Over to see two nice red steaks in a package...25 bucks...can't buy that. And so it goes...
I walk out with a gallon of milk, a box of Cheerios, maybe a bag of apples, and my staple snack, a bag of popcorn. Lunch meat and bread if we need it. Maybe another reason I'm in a bad mood by the time I reach the poor, innocent check-out girl...so off I drive to the fast food drive-thru...I know it doesn't make sense!

"Be Nice?"

I was scrolling back reading some of the previous posts and comments, and came across Ada's explanation of her Walmart shopping experience. I have a tendency to be quickly frustrated with sales clerks in general. I don't know if it's because I don't know these people and think I will probably never see them again or what, but I don't always show my usual restraint and I can get pretty snotty and short with people - which prompts Dave, if he knows I am heading out to do some shopping, to say, "Be nice!" Isn't that awful that he knows somebody might be about to get the bad side of me!

Here's my latest shameful story: I was in line at drive-thru at Steak n Shake and it was taking a looong time. Too long for my patience level, besides the guilt that was building knowing I had no business even buying fast food, again! When I finally get to the window the young gal handed me my sandwich, then turned around and talked, finally handed me some fries, turned around and talked, then finally got around to getting my drink, which she slightly spilled when putting on the lid. By this time, I was getting riled, and I thought, "I'm not taking that sticky glass, I'm going to make her wipe it clean..." Just then she handed it out the window and between her hand and mine, the glass fell straight down to the pavement! Oh, boy! Now just as she was trying to apologize, I said dramatically, "Oh, just forget it!" And I rudely pulled away.

I felt bad about it for days.

By the way, I still choose Walmart.

PRISON RIOT - GERBILS

The Pantagraph had a large front-page article w/pictures about the Pontiac Prison Riot 30 years ago today. It was a major riot with deaths, injuries, fires, etc. Quite the news at the time. We remember it well, as 30 years ago on this day, we were driving to Pontiac to buy Angela some gerbils complete with cage, an exercise circle, tubes to crawl through, etc. for her 10th birthday. As soon as we left Minonk and headed east, we could see the smoke and eventually flames and wondered what in the world the big fire was. We had the radio on and soon heard that there was a riot and fire at the prison. Funny how some things stick in your mind and anytime I hear any reference to that prison riot I think about Angela and her gerbils. And, by the way, she raised gerbils for quite awhile and when all the babies got big enough, we took them to the high school and fed them to the snakes in the biology lab.

Tall Corns

As we drove on Northtown Road a few days ago, Nathan said, "Mom. Tall. Corns." So tonight we walked a block over to stand by some corn to see just how tall it actually is. It really is amazing, when you think about it!

HIGH WINDS - TREE DAMAGE

We awoke this morning about 7:30 to the sound of very high wind gusts and shoved each other out of bed to see what was going on. Looking onto the deck we noticed the hibiscus plant had blown over and the lattice was flopping around. Looking our the front window, we saw our mulch blowing around the drive and yard, the trees bending waaaay over, and one tree had snapped off and was on the ground. (I guess if the beetles won't kill it, the wind will!)

A short while later, Jerry checked Pantagraph.com and saw a short article about the many downed trees due to high wind in Gridley. So, of course, we had to go scout around (just like we have to chase the fire sirens from time to time) and there were certainly many large limbs and complete trees down on almost every street in town. The city crews were busily involved in the clean-up. Our pictures show one tree on the corner of 5th Street and Center Street (next to Old Jack Taylor's house) and one in our yard. Can you guess which picture is our tree. So . . we saved it from the beetles, but the wind got it! Go figure!

No pointed toes!

I've been thinking about the comment mom made some time ago about me walking with my toes pointed out, just like Grandma, her and Alice. I didn't think it was true when she wrote it, but recently I noticed when I walked past my grandfather clock, the reflection in the glass proves that it is true! Horror! So today as I walked in a hallway at work, seemingly alone, I forced my feet to walk straight. It didn't feel right, but I kept going. Then, right when I turned a corner, I tripped trying to walk that way, and someone saw me. I didn't fall down, just stumbled a bit, but still felt silly. Double horror!

Since we're talking milk. . .

In recent weeks you may have seen the new milk carton design either in stores or in the media. Stores and dairies like it because it is more stackable and will allow for less cost in transporting the milk. While watching a news clip about the new carton the reporter said the new design will save .20/gallon.

My friend (not Renae for those who know her) and I had a disagreement as to whether this was a significant savings or not. We figured this would be 5% on a $4.00 gallon of milk. One of us said 5% savings on a staple was huge and one of us said it was not much of a savings for the consumer.

So, what is your opinion? Is a 5% savings on milk significant?

The Price of Milk

WOW--did I ever get a rude awakening today. For months I've read how the price of dairy is skyrocketing, but I've been able to get a gallon of milk for $2.99 until about a month ago; even then it varied between $3.29 and $3.69. Well, this past week the grocery near our house put milk on sale for $3.08, and I found out why--it was the setup leading to the fall. (Actually the rise.) Because, starting tomorrow, a gallon will be $4.88! Do the rest of you in other areas pay that much for milk? I'm going to have to get Andrew to quit guzzling it, starting tonight!

Erin and Thomas Frankie

Here's a very cute picture of Erin and Thomas. I think they are an adorable couple and appear to be very happy. Thanks to Barb for sending me the pictures.

WEDDING PICTURES

Barb send me some snapshots of the wedding so I could post them here. She said she's send more when they get the "real" pictures but I assume that will be awhile. I don't know why two of them are so small. #1 is the wedding; #2 is Bonnie and Lauren, #3 is the pretty tables, and #4 is Erin and Larry.

Off on an Adventure

Whitney (#2) left today for a 1-month stay in the Philippines! She has an internship with a company there that manufactures items for some large retail stores here. The owner booked a flight on Monday . . . for TODAY, so we've had a whirlwind week getting her ready to go! She's so excited and ready to greet the world. Right now she's flying over Alaska. Makes me remember my adventure to Antigua that resulted in a 7-year stay!

BEETLE UPDATE

Just wanted to update you on our Japanese Beetle problem. We had five trees damaged plus a couple bushes and the roses. The bugs have eaten many of the leaves - they eat all the solid leaf but leave all the veins, so the remaining leaf looks like lace and turns brown. So we have large areas of this "brown lace" in our trees. They especially like Birch, Linden, and crabapple trees - we had some of each. Others they don't bother at all. Spring Green sprayed them quite generously - and as of now, there's not a bug in our yard! We will be checking every day to see if they will need a second spraying. The problem is quite prevelant in out neighborhood.

I'm having lunch tomorrow with six of my grade/high school classmates. Doesn't that sound like fun? I'm looking forward to it.

Erin's Wedding

Last Saturday, July 12 was Erin and Thomas' wedding. It was held in Bloomington at a Nazarene Church. They attend Twin City Bible Church in Champaign, but wanted to get married in Bloomington, so the Nazarene church was rented.

Erin was a beautiful bride in a gorgeous white bridal gown with a train. Her bridesmaids wore red dresses. She had 5 attendants, Bonnie was maid of honor and Lauren was a bridesmaid along with 3 of her friends. The church was full with about 250 guests.

The reception was held at Miller Park Pavilion with Hors D'oeuvres first and then a sit down dinner for 250 people. Everything was very good and the room was nicely decorated.

They are in Colorado on their honeymoon this week. Thomas is from Mahomet and graduated from the U of I (as did Erin) this spring in Engineering.. He will go to Grad school in the fall. He is a very nice young man and a devoted Christian. Larry and Barb and the girls really like him and Larry considers him as a son he never had. Erin has a job in Rantoul as a second grade teacher. They will live in Urbana.

Keith and I are resting up this week. We hope to go to Colorado sometime in September.

Car parts??

First, I want to say thank you to Ann and whoever else was involved in starting this blog. I have learned a lot about the Klops through the blog and I definetly know more of what's going on in the "bloggers" lives than I would have known otherwise. Now, if only more Klops would post and share.....we would know even more.

The end of last week I did something for only the 2nd time in my adult life, and it has caused another time of reflection for me on what "work" is all about. In January 2004, I walked out BSC (Bloomington Seating) after 9 years in employ there. I started there as a young kid building seats and left as Quality Manager. I learned so much there, including many life lessons about the right and wrong way to be a "boss". I came to JCI C'Dale (Johnson Controls Cottondale AL) as a Quality Engineer with no one reporting to me, and left after 4 1/2 years with 36 engineers and auditors reporting to me.

My team, both day shift and night shift threw parties for me as I left. Day shift had a potluck and night shift took me to Ruby Tuesdays. Several of my engineers told me that they could not have survived in the company if it were not for my leadership. Many of them (females and one guy ) actually cried during the speech I gave at the party.

Just so you don't think I have a big head, this is where the reflection part comes in. I DID NOT DO ANYTHING!! Most days I came home depressed at how I "suck" at my job. We could not fix anything, quality got better and then worse without anything happening, battles were fought, won and lost every day. I often came home feeling like a failure at my job. Now I am wondering....was I really a failure. Sure, I couldn't keep leather seats from having wrinkles, couldn't make the production lines run faster, wasn't willing to "massage" data to make numbers look better than they were, BUT....I knew all my employee's, their cares, their concerns, their spouses names, the illnessess they or their family had, and I was willing to listen. I could tell when they were distracted, didn't feel good, or had a lot of stress going in in their lives. When I focused on my people, I did find that quality did get better too!! I found it funny when one of my most hardened employee's, sailor mouth and all, would remind me with the sailer's tongue that I would be late for church on Wednesday night if I didn't leave on time.

The decision to leave was very hard for me, not because of the job, but because of the people. I was able to make the "job" decision very easily. It took about....not even as long as it took for the person to tell me about the new job. Then, however, I remember my team and how fractured they were when I took over as their leader. That made it hard. But God said go, so here we go.

I moved to a new JCI plant called JCIM (Johnson Controls Injection Molding) in McCalla Alabama. It's about 2 miles closer to the house, but takes 5 minutes longer to get there due to the route speed limit. Today was my first day and I got to meet my new team, as frustrated and fractured as they are. I am looking forward to seeing what the future holds with them and seeing how God allows me to impact these folks lives as they impact mine. Isn't that what its really all about? Relationships that result in our ability to share God's love. I sure hope it's not all just about car parts!!

EDK (sorry so long, just started typing and out it came)

Worldwide Klopfenstein Family Reunion--2008

The above map pinpoints the various locations in the USA of attendees at the reunion. There were 290-300 in attendance from 25 states. Note the point in upper northwest Washington, to California, Florida and to New York. A family friendship evolved quickly and I'm lonesome for some who became fast friends! Like it or not, there are Klopfys in almost every state. I enjoy tracking the unknown family members.
[Map setup by Joey and Mary (Klopfenstein) Medlen!]

Cherries

Thought I'd share the results of my labors on Saturday. My friend and I picked 30 lbs of tart cherries Saturday morning. She made two cherry pies and I made almost 32 half-pints of jam. (The jar in the back right is just under half full.) We also have several bags of frozen cherries to make cherry sauce for pancakes or cherry pie later. The orchard also had a cherry cake recipe I would like to try.

How to Edit Your Posts

For Ada and anyone else: You can always edit your posts. When you are signed in, you will notice at the top that right after your email address is the Dashboard. Click on that; then you will see the name of the blog (and any other blogs you write or are a part of). Click on Manage Posts and it will take you to everything you've posted, with a way to edit them if you wish. Try it.

MORE BEETLES

After completing my last post, I thought I better check all my plants around the house. We've had beautiful dark pink climbing roses off our deck for several years. This year they bloomed more profusely than ever and we were thrilled. Lately I've noticed there weren't many blooms, but thought the first "crop" was over and another would begin soon. I just went out there and they were covered with Japanese Beetles and many of the leaves are nearly gone -- perfect example of the beetle infestation! I'm sharing a couple pictures that I took after I soaked it all with the Sevin spray! Many bugs have already fallen off and the ones left are staggering! Whether my roses will survive remains to be seen. If you're not already doing so, you better watch out for these ugly guys!

OH NO! Jerry just called me outside -- one of our trees is completely covered and they are flying all over the yard. Another - one of the pretty birch trees - has a lot. I'm leaving you now to call a pest control. Mary --- HELP!!!!!

JAPANESE BEETLES

UH-OH! We've just discovered several Japanese Beetles - two (on top of each other) on the Rose of Sharon and one on of each of my rose bushes. I got a paper towel and squished these -- but how many more are lurking? I've got some Sevin Bug Spray - ready to attack. And I'm researching online just what I can do - I know they can get out of control and I figure I better take the offense! Anybody have this problem?

Nothing Important

Well, I've been wanting to post something for awhile, but our lives here have been really boring lately. So for your reading pleasure, here is some of the minutiae that has been going on at the Bailes household:

**Saturday I rolled all the money in the change jar and came up with $61.

**Our second house phone was lost for a couple of days, but I just found it down in the couch cushions. Mary Lee has now lost and found her class ring three times in the last six weeks.

**Her new curtains came with only one tieback (they were supposed to have two). It was the last set in the department store. The clerk said my only option was to return the entire set and then drive to Greenville and try to buy another set at another store. I’m going to the fabric store today to find something to make two tiebacks. It irritates me, but what can you do?

**I wore a new outfit to church yesterday. Mike’s only comment was that the top matched Mary Lee’s curtains. (Both are black and white.)

**This is Mike’s last week on day shift for awhile. Next Monday he will start nights again for four weeks. (He works 6:00-6:00, whether it be days or nights.) So our entire family dynamic will change again. I’d say we’re used to it, but you never get used to it.

**Today I am going to school to run off lab manuals for the book sale. I have four whole weeks at my disposal before having to start back to school!

Kelsie's at Work Camp

Kelsie left mid-day Friday for Work Camp with the high school kids from church. After a stop in Cincinnati for a day at King's Island, they should have arrived in Oceana, WV, today. There is no Verizon service there, so I have not spoken (texted) her since early this morning. Heather went on this trip for 4 years, and this is Kelsie's 3rd year. It is always immensely beneficial -- they make good friends with kids from church, they see how little others have, they are rewarded for helping others, and they gain some independence from being away from parents for a week. If you would like to see the pictures, click here. It appears new pics will be posted each day.

Heater has been visiting her aunt for a couple weeks. I will go tomorrow to spend the day with Janice and the boys in Downers Grove, and then pick Heater up in Elgin later in the day. It always happens that way...one kid leaves, another one comes home. Keeps me and Jerry hoppin'!

More Photos

I've had a couple of requests for more photos of my adventure in Maine. I'm uploading them to a web album and add new pictures every day or two. I am taking some videos also and will share them some other time.

I'll do it!

Reading Mom's post about Nathan saying, "I'll be right back," makes me want to tell you all about his latest "thing." He's very independent and wants to do everything himself. Everything I try to do for him, he says, "I'll do it!" So now, from wherever I am in the house, I can yell, "I'll do it!" And Nathan comes running, "I'll do it!" He doesn't even know what it is (and usually it's nothing, just a joke) but he doesn't want anyone else to do it!!

Looking forward to a pic of Erin and new hubby from someone who was at the wedding.

Also, Happy Birthday Mom!!

Life GPS

Reading the comments on Rhoda's post regarding GPS reminded me of a bit by one of our families favorite comedians, Tim Hawkins.

Enjoy. EDK

CLOUDBURST

We had a very heavy rain/wind storm early this morning between 6 and 7. The rain pounding on our windows woke us up. I looked out the window to the north and could barely see the backyard neighbors house. It reminded me of when my dad used to refer to a "cloudburst" of rain - a term one never hears these days. Then I wondered just what term the meteorologists would use today to describe a "cloudburst". We actually only had .5 in showing in our rainguage but I think it was blowing so hard it didn't fill the cup. We saw Casey in his shop and he said we had between 1 and 1.5 in. Nothing compared to "Ioway".

We had breakfast in El Paso this morning since our Green Garden is on vacation for two weeks. Now we're looking forward to Erin Stevig's wedding this afternoon. The reception will be at the Miller Park Pavilion - should be fun.

Yesterday, I had my day with Nathan - with Grandpa's help. I was sitting on the couch when he went to the living room door, turned around, pointed to me and said "going upstairs. you stay here. be right back - be right back" So up he went and came back down about 30 seconds later. I could just picture Ang telling him she was going upstairs and would be right back!

You are blessed!

Yesterday, I went to Aldi's for a gallon of $1.99 milk because the WalMart price was $4.22. Not a regular Aldi shopper, I invariably forget something: shopping bags, a quarter for the cart or---oops, no cash and Aldi's does not take checks or credit cards. So I called my good husband and he drove the mile or two to bring me some cash (I had to use the cashier's phone because my cell phone was at home!) and when ready to check out, I told her that everyone ought to have a husband as good as mine--for fifty one plus years. She looked at me wistfully and said, "You are blessed!"

GPS

I'm thinking of purchasing a portable GPS and wondering if any of you have one and have any advice about which to get.
Which brand is best? I've pretty much narrowed it down to Garmin and TomTom.
Is street name pronunciation an important feature?
Any other things I definitely need to look for?

Thanks!

--Rhoda

Better picture of Perry & Joan

Here is a much better picture of Perry II and Joan, known to his parents as the BoJo's. Carol provided this to me and I shall attempt to get it on the Blog.
Sorry for posting an unflattering picture earlier, but none had yet been posted and I know many of you (Ann and Nog Blog!!!) had been waiting...
Cleve

Classic Southern Beauty

Hello, everybody,

After enjoying Ada/Jerry's successful efforts at beautifying their yard, we want you to know that our clay soil that turns to concrete in dry weather has produced this crepe myrtle in our front yard. Besides that, as of yesterday we are the proud owners of a digital camera and this is Lynn's first attempt to transmit a picture. (And what a frustration--LCK) Another electronic device to learn to manipulate--or should I say another confuser! This is from Mim for all of you except Cleve and to him it is from Aunt Anonymous! Wonder where he gets that?

Picture of Bride/Groom

Apparently, I am one of the few that took a photo of the handsome couple at the reception. Unfortunately, Joan was blinking at that moment. Otherwise, you would see that she is even more beautiful that what this picture shows. If anyone else has any pics, feel free to post.
Cleve & Kathleen

LAST PICTURES, I PROMISE

Jerry wanted to show you the final pictures of both angles of our house -- all mulched and clean-up in progress.

The piano tuner was here this morning - obnoxious guy. I thought I'd never get rid of him! Never again will ask him a question. I simply asked him what my piano might be worth and I learned about everything from his Dad's prostate cancer to what vegetables he likes from his garden. I kept inching toward the door but it took a half-hour to get there!

Ada

Greetings from Brooklin, Maine

You may be aware that I'm spending two weeks at the WoodenBoat School in Maine this summer building a replica of an 1889 daysailer designed by Nathaniel Herreshoff. I'm working in the shop 8-5, then sailing on Eggemoggin Reach until dusk, and turning in early in an old farm house that students stay in. Not much time to post now so I'll leave a couple of pictures and then will write more later. (Did I mention I love my wife and kids for letting me do this?)

IT'S DONE!

Here are a couple pictures of our new garden. We need some more plants -- we "design" as we go! Jerry's worked hard on this and I love it!

Klopfenstein Brothers--September, 1948

Sixty years ago!

Uncles Lee, Harry, Joe, Elmer, Fred, Bill

Obviously the six are not the brothers in total number. Frank and John are deceased and Arthur is not present. (Five daughters really added to the mix!) The reunion days of the 40s were quite a get together of the immediate family of Peter and Sophia Klopfenstein. Another case of, "A good time was had by all."

WORN OUT!

Jerry and I are worn out tonight. We went to Bloomington early this morning - had to get a blood test. Then we ate at Bob Evans, went to Owen's nursery and got some double knockout roses, yellow day lillies, and a couple other flowers. Then we came home, waited for the rain to quit and the ground to dry a little so we could plant everything. During the waiting time I mae a purse. We finally got the flowers planted, and came in the house and "crashed".

I think we'll have a bowl of ice cream and go to bed. Ada

NICE WEDDING

Just a short report to say that Perry's weddding was very nice -- the bride and groom were both beaming with love! Beautiful table decorations at the reception with glass cylindrical (?) containers with blue water and calalillys if I know my flowers. AND the cheesecake dessert was delicious and very well "presented". Sorry I didn't take any pictures so hopefully someone else will post some.

Ada

IT'S THE LITTLE THINGS

As I get older, it's the little things that just drive me NUTS!!! I was at the checkout at Walmart the other day and went to pick out a package of gum. Apparently all the gum manufacturers decided to change their packaging - and I couldn't find MY GUM! I got so frustrated, I didn't even know the brand name I was looking for! So I bought a pack of Orbit which is chewing up pretty good. Later I remembered - it's Extra - but what's happened to it? Oh such a dilemna!!

They must be making all the gum in the little dentyn-size pieces instead of the bigger flatter pieces so the packages are different. Is it cheaper for them, or what -- why can't they just leave things alone.

Breakfast cereals is another bad one! Why don't they just make 6 or 8 kinds and then we wouldn't have to stand there for half an hour to find the one we want! Or bread!!

So now you know, I've completely lost it!

Happy be-lated 4th of July

Comment #3 (by Eric and Retta) on the previous posting reminded me of all the July 4th and Memorial Day postings -- thanking our veterans. It would be nice if we knew of all the immediate Klopfenstein clan who served. Please add or comment on the following....I'm wondering about Dave Allenson, Joe Scroggins, Uncle Keith, Jeremy Embry, etc. etc. How about any of the others from the "original 14 kids"? Uncle Elmer? Harry? Lee? Bill? etc. etc.?

Grandpa Elmer Jay -- US Army
Uncle Jay -- Navy, overseas
Uncle Perry -- US Army
Cleve -- US Army Vietnam
Dave Knobloch -- US Army Vietnam

Cleve

More 4th of July

I have many good 4th of July memories as well. I remember lots of them spent in Minonk and I also remember the Oak Ridge Boys concert that Eric referred to (in the comments on Angela's post). I was glad to hear someone else mention it because I thought maybe I had dreamed it... the Oak Ridge Boys singing on a semi-trailer on the Minonk football field ???

July 4th is a big deal for the Steffen family. I found that out the first year we were married and I wore a pink shirt -- I was the only person not dressed in red, white, and blue. Anyway we went to Towanda yesterday for the parade and flea market. Then we headed over to Miller Park for the afternoon and evening. We saw the concert that Aunt Ada referred to earlier. It was very well done. The most moving part was when they sang the theme song for each branch of the armed forces. When they sang each song they asked veterans from each branch to stand and be recognized. It was sad to see that in such a large crowd there were only a handful standing each time. And only about 2-3 that I saw younger than 50. It reminded me of the blog discussions regarding Memorial Day.

After the concert we stayed for the fireworks and then waited in a traffic jam to get home. Today was spent recovering and catching up on laundry. My washer broke on Monday and my usual service man (my dad) advised me to call a professional this time. He can't come until next week so I had to visit the laundrymat. I did 11 loads of wash and spent $30.00. Wow! It's sure nice to have it all done at once though.

Hope you all had a wonderful 4th!

Shelley

P.S. My camera incorrectly dated the photos July 5th - they were taken last night.

July 4th Memories

I couldn't relate to the Memorial Day memories shared earlier in the year, but the Fourth of July is a different story. Growing up, it was the best day of the year! When we were very young, we would decorate our bikes and ride in the parade. At the end, we would get a 50 cent piece as a prize! Every year, there were games and entertainment for us to enjoy. Since we lived close to the football field, our house was a sort of gathering place for friends and family. The day would always end with fireworks which we would watch from the roof. A couple of 4th of July memories of interest to this group: Keith going through the screen door, thinking it was closed! And Dave Nog Blog going through the deck, thinking it was solid wood! I don't think my kids believe in the 4th of July as much as I do. I've always taken them to parades (even took Nathan to Towanda's today) but it's never been the same for them as good-old-Minonk on the 4th of July was for me!!

Happy 4th!!!

Happy 4th

Happy 4th of July to everyone! We met Ada and Jerry for brunch at the Cornerstone in Eureka.Had good food and a good visit.


This afternoon we are going to watch Tennis atWimbledon. Did you know that tennis is one of ny favorite sports? I love watching Serena and Venus.

We are excited as we just learned that Ken's apartment at Parkside sold. Now we are hoping to get him to move into Restmor Nursing Home very soon. His memory is very poor and at times he is very confused. Keith is very helpful to him and Ken pretty much does what Keith tells him. So we hope the transition will go smoothly.

We are looking forward to PerryII's wedding on Sunday. And of course our big day will be next Saturday, July 12 for Erin and Thomas' wedding.

Love, Alice

July is Here

Jerry and I planned to go to Bloomington's Miller Park last night to listen to a Musical Spectacular. We went a couple years ago and it was really good. Then I noticed that there was a community band concert/ice cream social in Franklin Park and we decided not to fight the traffic and crowds of people and go to that one instead. It was very nice with a much smaller crowd. I believe we were the youngest people there! Hmmm.

We noticed on the drive to B'ton that that the corn is looking good - not quite up to last year - but very nice considering the slow start it got with all the rain. Beans not quite as promising.

We have more lightening bugs (or fireflies) this year than I have ever seen. They are just thick at dusk and as we look over the fields across from our house it is blanketed with the blinking lights. We have also had several in the house and in the car! I guess they get on our clothes and just come on in.

Coming home last night, the Lord saw fit to spare us our third deer accident! As we approached the Mackinaw river I saw a deer in the left ditch and told Jerry "there's a deer" so he slowed down. I said "there's another one coming across" so he stopped just as the deer entered our lane. That dumb deer just stood there and stared at us as if to say "I dare you!". There was a third deer, the buck, in the ditch on the right. We honked to get them off the road.

So, such is life in farm country in early July. Exciting, huh? We're heading to Eureka to have brunch with Keith and Alice in a few minutes.

Delayed Reunion Report

It's busy around here, and sometimes I'm right on top of things, but other times I'm not. It's a bit late, but I wanted to share our reunion experience with everyone. I took Kelsie, Heater and Nathan with me. Jerry and Heather had to work. We took the long route through Indy since the brakes on my car were going out and I thought there would be too much stopping on Route 24. The kids did great in the car, and we got there in about 4.5 hours. We were quite disappointed to find the pool out of commission, but we decided to go see Kung Fu Panda, instead and that turned out to be a good time. We had dinner with the Klops that night -- alot of people I didn't know, but was fun to sit with Rhoda, Mary and Joey! In the morning, mom met a man who worked at the attached furniture store, and he let us go in early and ride the beautiful carousel. Then off to Grabill which was about 10 miles from Fort Wayne. My Garmin took us the scenic route, and it was very pretty out there. We were so surprised and excited to see Amish horses and buggies as we got close to town. Being late morning on a Saturday, there were many Amish folk driving through town and going in and out of the local businesses. I am interested in the Amish, and I read alot of books (all of them, actually) by Beverly Lewis. So we gawked at them for awhile waiting for Jason and Janice and boys to arrive. Most of what you've heard from others about the reunion itself is really there's all to tell. Great turnout, and good program. I'm attaching a few pics that show some things the other posts didn't:

Here's Nathan in the Amish hat I bought at the super cute store in Grabill. It's a winter hat, but it's what I typically think of being an Amish boy hat, so "I" had to have it! Nathan doesn't really like to wear it, but I try to make him once in awhile! :)

It's true...Johnny Appleseed was at the reunion:

This is the Carousel our furniture store Klop relative bought online from Argentina. It was delivered on a boat, along with a guy to put it together. They paid $1000 a day for 15 days to store it in Chicago before it could be shipped to Ft. Wayne. The worker from Argentina stayed in the hotel until his work on it was done. Very impressive!

Here's Kelsie, Heater and Grandpa at our table in the back so we could watch all the goings on:

Here's mom and J&J's boys practicing for their skit:

Right after the reunion, we headed back home, and would you believe Kelsie drove the whole way!. The Garmin said we only stopped for 11 minutes total the whole time -- go potty and get back in the car! It was a good time, but we must have been ready to get home!

It would be fun to do a reunion with more relatives that we know better. Who's going to organize that?

Happy 4th from SC also

I too hope you all have a great holiday. In honor of it, I've changed the title & post colors. Variety is the spice of life. . . .

Happy Independence Day

Happy 4th of July everyone. What a blessing we have living in the greatest country on earth!

My plans are to celebrate our independence with some weeding in the garden, a little pool time, and a cook-out at some friends from church. The highlight will be going to Marigold, Herman Miller's lodge on Lake Macatawa. You can sit on a point out in the lake and face east to see the fireworks in Holland and then turn west to see the fireworks at Holland State Park. Except for turning back and forth, it's a pretty spectacular fireworks display.

Weather in W. Michigan

I don’t know what your weather is like, but the last hour has been very strange in W. Michigan. The sky has gotten progressively darker, and now at 4:30 it is literally dark outside. The storms are rolling in, all the street lights are on, and we cannot see across the highway. We are ready to be pounded with a major storm and it’s quite eery. The paradox is that on a typical day it isn’t this dark here now until at least 10:00 p.m!

Ann, I’d love to send this your way!