Update on Keith

I know all of you have been wondering about Keith. He started with a stomach Thursday evening and Friday he said it was a little better. He did not act as if he was in a lot of pain.
On Saturday morning I called the Dr. and he said to take him to the ER (in Pekin Hospital).
They did a lot of blood work and his abdomen was very sore. He had a fever and they thought it might be his gall bladder. He had never had any attacks before. So they admitted him and made him comfortable and started giving him antibiotics.

By Sunday morning he was about the same, but by early evening he spiked a fever and became gravely ill. His blood pressure was very high (l89/139. By this time he was having trouble breathing so they started oxygen. A surgeon was called in and she was quite confident it was infection in his gall bladder. He got progressively worse and they called in Rapid Response and they revived him. I was nearly frantic. The surgeon decided to operate at 8:45 Sunday night.
He did have a badly infected gall bladder, filled with pus. She had to use 2 liter's of fluid to clean it out. She also repaired a umbilical hernia. The surgery took 2 hours so were so thankful when she came out and said it was over. We left for home about 1 AM as he was in critical care.
When I went the next morning he was awake and alert. He was in CCU for 2 days. Tuesday he was moved to a surgical floor and so far he is doing well. Today they took the Oxygen away,
removed his catheter and he sat up in the chair twice. He also walked in the hall. He has no appetite, but tries to take fluids. He still has IV's with quite a few antibotics.

Larry's girls came over to see him for a while this evening and he was thrilled
We thank you for your prayers and keep on praying that he will continue to recover.

Love, Alice

It's been a long time........

Not sure who all has heard the news or not, but Retta ended back in the hospital this past Sunday with another bout with Pancreatitis. She awoke Sunday morning with intense back pain and vomiting and we headed in to the emergency room where she was promptly admitted. She's been struggling the past two days to keep the Popsicles down and they are doing testing today to see if that's related to her pancreatitis or if she has caught a stomach virus. She needs to eat solid food without issues before she can go home. She's frustrated and they still don't seem to be able to find the cause or source of her pancreatitis. She does not drink, had her gall bladder removed a couple weeks ago and all tests are returning normal. Right now she's focused on getting home, realizing that she will probably be back with the same aliment at some point in the future.

In other news, I have started a job search for new employment. Please pray that we will have wisdom in searching and opportunities would present themselves. I am fortunate that I am not conducting this search while unemployed, but it is time to move on. I have lost faith in my employer and cannot further deal with the dishonesty and lack of integrity of those I report too. I will not go into further details here, but it is clearly time to move on. The decision has come after 9 weeks of soul searching and praying. We'll see where God leads us now.

The kids have settled back into school for the year. Adrian is a Sophomore (oh my!) and school takes her all day, mostly because she doesn't stay focused. Chris is a Freshman (oh my, oh my!), and gets on his school work every morning and is usually finished by noon. Amber is in 7th grade and takes all day to get done, mostly because she would rather do other things. Every time Retta turns around, Amber is "gone". Both Chris and Amber are 1 year ahead of where they would be if still in public school.

Summer family vacation was a weekend trip to Atlanta in August with Retta's folks. We didn't do much there, except swim, go to the movies, eat out and just relax at the hotel. Adrian and Chris spent a week this summer in Tampa FL on a mission trip. They really had fun, but were stretched in their faith as they went door to door, witnessing to residents there. Amber and I spend a week at church camp together and we really had a good time, even dumping our canoe in the middle of the lake.

Other than that, it's been routine as usual. I've been working 7 days a week, 12~14 hour days for the past 52 days (except for this week where I'm only working 6~8 hours a day while Retta's in the hospital). Sorry it's been so long since I've posted, but I'm usually just too tired and discouraged to post when I think about it. I'm still enjoying keeping up with all of you though, so keep it up.

EDK

A Poem of Ruth

First it was Jay
And then it was Ralph.
Now it is Ruth.
What can we say?

Ruth lived her life
With a sense of meaning.
From the Bible each day
Her heart was feeding.

She believed in her God.
She believed in her country.
She majored in values
That gave her stability

From the state of Nebraska,
She went far away.
Falling in love
With her beloved Jay.

She gave herself totally
To her lifetime mate.
In her heart
He was indeed first rate!

Her singing and laughter
Are gone forever.
But remembering such
Is a grand endeavor.

Ruth had energy, zeal
And a lot of spark
That lifted many
Out of periods of dark.

We're glad for her memory
As a part of our family.
We'll feast in thought
On the joy she brought.

Now as she goes
To her final rest,
Many will think,
"She was one of the best."

Perry A. Klopfenstein, Sr.

Memories of Aunt Ruth

always Aunt Ruth
black hair in a French twist
rouge and red lipstick
a string of pearls
sleeveless dresses
hose and high heels
sings like a bird
a hearty laugh
politics and religion
complimentary
sophisticated
adding life to the party

I remember going to Harv-something (Harvey? Harvard?), where Uncle Jay and Aunt Ruth lived. It was Thanksgiving. I remember a white house with lots of trees dropping fall leaves. It was a sunny, crisp day, very beautiful. The house was filled with the aroma of roast turkey. The women clattered in the kitchen while the men watched football in the den. Uncle Jay sat in a big chair. I can still hear the shrill blow of the whistle, the call of the ref, and the cheering crowd. And I can hear the electric mixer whipping the potatoes and Aunt Ruth's laughter filling the air. Uncle Jay and Aunt Ruth both had unique and distinct voices.

My girls were so surprised to see that Aunt Ruth was a farm girl from Nebraska. "I thought she was always a city girl," they said. I guess she made Chicago her farm.

I loved Aunt Ruth. She was unique.

Cathy

Our memory of Aunt Ruth

Whenever I think of Aunt Ruth, I think of her singing. The time I remember most was at a shower -- bridal or baby, but for who I do not know. It was time to eat, so we needed to pray but there were no men there. Never fear, Ruth said, "Let's sing the doxology," and she started right in. I had never heard the song before, but could tell most of the ladies knew it, although they all sang quite sheepishly compared to Ruth. She sang loudly, but very beautifully. She was very happy and confident as she sang that song. The church I attend now sings the doxology every week, and I think of Aunt Ruth every time. When I was telling Heather that Aunt Ruth had died, she needed more information to place her. When I said Aunt Ruth is the aunt who sings loud and high, she knew exactly who I meant. My sympathies to Linda and Bruce and the entire family.

My Hero

It seems I may have written about this before, but if I can't remember, maybe you don't either. This picture is marked July, 56, so I would have been just 4 years old. It was the Gridley Centennial and everyone in the family was participating, and especially excited about the big parade. Many of you have seen the pictures or remember the sail boat and sailor costumes the boys had, etc. I remember when Aunt Ruth and Uncle Jay arrived, Ruth was very sympathetic to me that I had no costume. I think she went uptown or somewhere, and soon she had this red crepe paper which she turned into this cool skirt and hat for me. She decorated my trike with the ribbons and I was absolutely thrilled with the outfit and the extra attention. (I was the middle child, you know.) Aunt Ruth was my hero that day.

I also remember going to their house in Evanston to spend a few days with Linda. We were allowed to roam a little, to a park and down the block. I remember Linda had one or two really fancy, frilly dresses, and we wore them outside to play one day. I don't think Aunt Ruth was pleased. On that same visit, Linda and I must have been spatting, so Aunt Ruth sent me with Bruce to a little corner grocery store to get a few things. One thing she needed was cooking oil. It came in a glass container. On the way out,I dropped the sack and the glass and oil made a huge mess outside the store. The clerk scolded me and Bruce and I think that upset Aunt Ruth. If I remember right, she stood up for us and argued a little with the clerk for chewing us out.

Those are a couple of stories I remember from childhood. In later years, Aunt Ruth was always an encourager and spoke positively about life and her love for the Lord.

I so wish I could be at her funeral, and Bruce and Linda, know that our thoughts and prayers are with you. We will miss her.

MEMORIES

Since most of us won't be able to go to Ruth's funeral, I thought it might be nice to remember her here on the Blog. So how about sharing some of your favorite memories of Ruth.

I remember when Jay first brought her to Gridley. I think I was about 5 years old. I was fascinated by her - especially the red nail polish, lipstick and jewelry. I thought she was beautiful. She was very happy and very talkative. I think I just sat and stared at her.

One time when she visited she took me for a bike ride - remember that old blue bike with the wire basket on the handlebars? She put me in the basket and we rode up and down the street. Then when she turned into the backyard, the ditch was just deep enough to dump the bike and she and I both went flying to the ground! I think I screamed! Luckily, neither of us were hurt, but Mother wasn't too happy about it.

I also remember that at Christmas, when they would come to Gridley, Ruth would bring presents for everybody - many of you remember those great Christmases. The presents were unwrapped and she would sit at the kitchen table and wrap the presents as my mother was preparing dinner. I got to "help" by holding my finger on the ribbon as she tied the bow! Thought I was really smart. And her presents were the best-wrapped, prettiest packages ever!!

I used to stay with them for a few days - maybe a week? - when they lived in the third-floor walkup apartment on Kenmore. Loved the Murphy bed and the pulley-washline out the backdoor. Also stayed at the little house on Seward Street when Linda and Bruce were little. She always took a bath about 4 pm and put on a clean dress so she would be all pretty for Jay when he came home from work. It was great fun - always got a nickel from Jay to buy a "Good Humor" treat.

I could go on and on - but it's your turn now.

We'll miss you, Ruth. We love you, Bruce, Linda and your families. Our thoughts and prayers are with you.

Ruth has gone Home

It was a tremendous shock when Ada called this morning to tell that Ruth had a heart attack last evening and passed away at 11:00 P.M.

I called her two mornings ago and she was at her church working on the Sunday bulletin. I offered to call back later, but she said she could talk anyway. We talk occasionally and always have an enjoyable chat. She was all set to leave on October 12 to visit her only sibling, Gerald Vortman and his wife Hilda. She told me that her nephew would get her in Lincoln, NB. In the past Ruth always rented a car and drove the 100 miles to Hebron. But this time her family objected. Can't you just hear her comment to me? "There is only one stop light and I could easily drive it." Her plan was from Nebraska to fly to Chicago to see Melissa and her twins and little Isabella. But God had other plans.

Lynn called Bruce this afternoon. He was pretty shook up--"She was a part of us."

I feel particularly sorry for Bruce's children because Ruth did so many grandmotherly things for them. They have lost much as she did much to impart Biblical wisdom to them.

Several years ago Ruth started a book telling about her youth on a Nebraska farm, long before present day conveniences were available. She planned to intersperse recipes of that time--example: recipes from meals her mother and aunts would cook for the threshers. I asked her from time to time how the book was coming and she always said that she'd have to work on it again. I think she had a pretty good start on it.

Anyway, I am sad tonight that another dear one has gone down the valley even as I rejoice for her.

Sibling love!

READY TO GO

I've got the quilt marked and am getting ready to take it up to Sunrise for the quilters. I think it will take them about three weeks to finish the stitching, then I'll bring it home, bind it, and it will be done!!

BUSY AROUND HERE

I haven't had time to post lately. For the last 4-5 days I've been putting together a quilt for the ladies to quilt at Sunrise Manor. It's amazing what people will pay for the hand-quilted quilts - all the money goes to various World Relief projects. The one I'm working on now is the most tedious and the prettiest one. I have just a little more marking to do, then this afternoon will take it to Sunrise and put it in the frames and the quilters will start it on Tomorrow. They quilt every Wednesday, and I estimate this quilt will take them three weeks.


Barb Ringger gave us this quilt- it has 20 blocks of cross-stitched swirly circles with burgundy-colored thread. Several ladies from the First United Church did the stitching and they will sell raffle tickets at their annual pancake/sausage dinner in January. I found some pretty tone-on-tone burgundy material to put between the squares and it turned out really pretty. Lots of work and my back is aching! A picture will be posted later.


For the two weeks prior to beginning this project, I spent much time on a wall-hanging I'm making on my embroidery machine. I'm pretty pleased at how it's turning out and will also post a picture of this when it's finished.

Jerry's been washing windows - two or three a day. And he's still busy with his Farm on Facebook. I don't think he could squeeze another tree, barn, or field into the space.

What Commercial?

I haven't visited the site in awhile...and didn't do an extensive archive search...but I keep seeing reference to a commercial...What's this all about? Featuring Grandma K??

Update on Staci

Just wanted to let you know that Staci came home last Monday. She was in the hospital 11 days. She had a CT scan on Friday which showed the clot is dissolved and there were no new clots. Medicine dosage has been a little challenging, but I think they're getting it. She still has some pain from the healing of the lung infarction; they said that will take at least a few weeks. Now she has the big challenge of getting caught up on all the overdue assignments!! Thank you, everyone, for your prayers - they are felt!

Cathy

Geography Test

One of my boys studied hard this week for a big Geography test. He brought his paper home today and he did really well - he got an A. When I reviewed his answers I had to chuckle. Here's what he had:



LABEL THE 7 CONTINENTS ON THE MAP:
1. Anarticka
2. Asai
3. Astralla
4. Afreka
5. North Amica
6. South Amica
7. Yurup


LABEL THE 4 OCEANS:
1. Artic
2. Adlantic
3. Indin
4. Pusific


Now that his Geography is in order, perhaps we should turn our attention to his Spelling.

So true

Financial Quote from Adrian Rogers
There’s an Adrian Rogers quote floating around cyberspace. Perhaps you have received it?

Though Dr. Rogers said it in 1984, his words are so relevant to what we are facing in America today. In fact, it was even read and posted in the Congressional Record by Congressman Steve King from the state of Iowa on January 14, 2009.

Dr. Rogers is quoted:

“Friend, you cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. And what one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government can’t give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody. And when half of the people get the idea they don’t have to work because the other half’s going to take care of them, and when the other half get the idea it does no good to work because somebody’s going to get what I work for. That, dear friend, is about the end of any nation.”

Fall Harvest

Keith finished digging his potatoes. He got a little over a bushel. All summer the vines looked so nice and we had plenty of rain, but the potatoes are the ugliest we have ever had. They all have "scabs" on them and there are a lot of small ones. Oh well, they are edible.

We also picked the apples today from our Red Delicious tree and we got 3 1/2 bushels. What will we ever do with all those apples? Sol Rassi just came to mow our yard so Keith gave him at least a bushel. He is always thrilled to get apples. We will give a lot of them away and we will have plenty to eat for quite a while. (When I got up this morning Keith was up on the ladder picking. I quickly got up and rushed to hold the ladder for him.) All went well, no falls.

We have 4 tomato plants and they are producing very few. I canned 6 pints of juice and we just eat the rest. They are soo good.

Alice

Uncle Tom's Cabin

I've been cleaning, cleaning, cleaning. Working with plants again this morning and almost have that job done. While I work, I've been listening to books on tape...Uncle Tom's Cabin is what I'm listening to now, so I'm being cultured as I work! I don't remember ever reading the book before. I think it has been removed from public schools and I always thought that was due to the slavery issue, which is really a bit shocking in places, but there is a lot of reference to Christianity and Jesus saving souls and meeting the Maker in the over yonder. Wonder if some of that also influenced the removal of the book from public education. Anybody know the history of all that?

HE'S BACK . . . on the floor

Would you believe it?

MY MAN IS BACK.
I've never understood how he can fix things from the belly position, but he does it all the time. The front cover of the dishwasher has been falling off for several days, and after a few feeble attempts on my part to stick it back on, he is finally going to do the job right . . . note the props at his side to help him back on his feet.

HERE IT IS -- ALL FIXED -- PRETTY COOL, HUH?

Facebook

What does this say about me?

My mom is on Facebook and I am not.

Scary, huh?

Wow!

Last year I bought this fern and posted on the blog how well it was doing. I had it outside all summer and just brought it in. I hardly know what to do with it, it is so huge. I'd say my most successful plant venture ever. I hear people keep ferns for years, so I'm curious to see how long I can keep the success going.

Aunt Thelma Memorial

Sunday we had the Slagell reunion, which included a short memorial service for Aunt Thelma, Mom's oldest sister. I learned a lot about her. She owned a hair salon in Chicago, a Purina Chow business in Gridley, the Ives Realty business in Blm, built the Campus Motel in Normal, the Holiday Inn in Blm, the Illinois House in downtown Blm, all before she settled down on her dream ranch in Arizona. She was a woman of independence way ahead of her time.

We have heard that Mom's commercial started running today, although I haven't seen it yet. WEEK-25 for the local folks.

The Steffen Update

Quick update on the Steffen Family. Our puppy is about 6 months old now. Although he looks like a full grown dog, he still has the personality of a puppy. He likes to chew things up, jump on people, and drag stuff all over the yard. It's a good thing the man of the house loves him so much because I am merely tolerating him. Two of the boys love him, two of them tolerate him, and one is a true Klopfenstein and wishes he were gone altogether. My biggest gripe is that it adds about 5 minutes to our loading and unloading times into the van. I am constantly having to hold his collar so he doesn't jump on the boys, make sure he doesn't get in the garage when we pull out, etc. I could do without the extra time delay.

In other news, we have been busy this summer working on some landscaping. We put down rock around our house (as you can see in the picture above). Most of the planting will wait until next spring, but it is nice to have the rock down and get rid of the mud mess every time it rains. We have 3 in school this year and our afternoons are busy with football, soccer, church programs, and other activities. Another summer project was to build a fire-pit and we were able to break it in this week-end with 2 wiener-roasts. We are enjoying the autumn weather and the yummy foods that are associated with fall.

No more big animal escapades at the moment. In a few months we are going to take our 2 cows to market and I'm worried that this may be a traumatic experience for all involved. I will keep you posted.

Labor Day in Gridley

They're a little late, but here are some pics from the gathering at mom & dad's on Labor Day. Both the weather and the food were great. Mom's neighbor has a trampoline, so that kept the kids entertained.

Questions

--How are all the sick by this weekend? Staci? Retta? Dad? Jerry - is it true that we no longer classify you in this division?

--How are the college kids doing? Mine seem to be doing OK - don't hear much from them.(other than Andrew calling to say he got a traffic ticket this morning. . .)

--Aunt Catherine - we haven't heard much from you lately. Are you still playing the bells? How else are you keeping busy? And what about your commercial - is it on the air?

--Jodie - have you gotten moved or are you still living in the extended-stay?

--Gloria - did you figure out how to edit and if so can we hear from you?

--Shelley - Any more escapades with animals? Or are the escapades with the boys entertainment enough?!

--And everybody else: Have you taken any late-summer vacations? Anything of interest going on?

Great Tip!

I actually got this from Ada...but I might actually try it!

Good news

Staci's scans and x-ray show that the clot is breaking up. There are no underlying malignancies. So far all the bloodwork coming back has been negative. Don't know how much more they are waiting on, but looks like she'll be on the mend and hopefully going home soon. Thanks for everyone's prayers!

Cathy

FIVE DAYS AND COUNTING DOWN . . .

We see the doctor next Monday - 5 more days - and hopefully he will release Jerry from the walker. Jerry feels so good and strong and is very anxious to take off on his own two feet. I asked him what the first thing he's going to do when we get home from the doctor's office and he said "get in my truck and drive somewhere!"

We have a frequent visitor at our mini-hibiscus plant on our deck. I took a picture from the door window. It's hard to seem, but if you enlarge it, I think you will be able to see it.

I promised pictures of the completed water tower, so here they are.

This is the view from the south.

Notice that the "I" in Gridley is an outline of the old water tower. Neat idea.

This is the view from the north side. As some of you know, Gridley became a town in 1856

and is so-labeled on the water tower. I think it's a great design.

Me again.

Learning to edit.

Hello

This is Gloria learning the blog! Check in with you later.

Southern Sickness

It sounds like Alabama is a bad combination for EJK family members and pancreatitis. My dad is down with it now, although he appears to have a mild case of it compared to Retta's. He has been able to stay at home without having to be hospitalized. Retta, we haven't heard how you are doing lately - better I hope?

Staci, you are in our prayers also.

Prayers for Staci

Wanted to let you know that Staci is at St. Francis with a pulmonary embolism (blood clot in the lung). They think she'll be there at least until Monday. This afternoon they are going to teach her to give herself shots in the belly, which she will be doing twice a day for about a month. They appreciate everyone's prayers for the clot to be resolved with no complications.

CAREER OPPORTUNITIES . . .

Just in case you're looking for a new job, this might be something you haven't thought of. I'll bet it pays well.

These guys are placing the stencils on the new Gridley water tower.

Here it is partially completed.
We'll take the completed picture today and post it later. We've been driving past the park every time we leave the house hoping to get a picture of them painting. We missed it when they painted the tower white and were so excited when we saw them doing this. Doesn't take much to entertain us these days.
So . . . how much would they have to pay YOU to do this job?!?!?!?

Knobloch & Witzig activities

Some pics of our daily activities

Jon setting up a grave site
Brent taking a break and striking a pose
Casey repairing metal roof on crib

Casey Knobloch family happenings

Pics of the last couple of weeks.

Casey working at a wedding reception, the work never ends
Wade (3rd) and Mara (K) waiting for the bus on the first day of school
Mara and her watermelon and butter sandwich

Wedding reception with a taco/hay stack buffet

Labor Day plans

Happy Labor Day weekend! What kind of plans does everyone have? We'll be home . . . .