Goin' Home!

Thanks to both Knoblochs for your posts. Had wondered what the retiree was doing. And having been the parents of teenagers (did you know we lacked only 2 weeks having all 4 as teenagers at one time?), I pretty much knew how Eric and Rhetta were keeping busy, between home, work, and school!

As for us, WE'RE COMIN' HOME TODAY! We're very excited. Thanks to any and all who have prayed for/e-mailed/thought about us. Your encouragement has meant so much. We'll return in January but for now are eager to get home and see our girls, parents and siblings and of course other family and friends. We would love to be at the Klopfenstein Christmas on the 18th but will be unable to be at those festivities. With love to all.

Update from White Squirrel Country

Well, once again it has been way too long since I posted on the blog. I enjoy reading others posts and I am disappointed when it goes a couple days an no one has added a new post. However, I don't take action and post and I guess I should. Yes, as the title says, I am blogging from the home of the elusive White Squirrel. On Saturday, before heading to Mom and Dad's for Thanksgiving we stopped by the local library and observed 4 white squirrels playing in the open lot behind the library (where they are heartily feed all winter).

What's been going on in our lives, well a bunch, but not much at the same time. We are settled into Olney now and have developed many new friendships. We're "popular" again and although I hate to admit it, it's nice to feel wanted again. The kids continue with home school, but some changes are coming with that too. Chris will be starting at the High School in the spring semester where he will take Biology and Composition/Lit. He will do the remaining subjects at home. Adrian, who is 16, will actually have enough credits to graduate from High School at the end of this year, but has decided to take her official "Senior" year at the High School. She will be taking dual credit courses that will count towards her Junior College credits and she is excited that she will get to "graduate" next year. Amber hasn't requested to go to school yet, but she does have a new boyfriend from church. She has been going to the basketball games to watch him play in the band. Retta and I continue to be involved in ministries at our church, Mt. Gilead. We teach an Adult Sunday School class together, help with the youth groups "Wednesday Night Pulse", Retta, Adrian & Amber sing on the worship team, and I've recently been appointed chairman of the Missions committee. So we manage to keep very busy around there.

My work situation is the same here as everywhere in the automotive industry that I've worked. Long hours, a lot of stress, constant change and not much job security. I go through a bottle of tums every two weeks and I normally put in 12~13 hours a day and get phone calls until 10 or 11 at night, but so goes the job. Life goes on and I try to deal with it the best I can.

A week ago, we held a special Thanksgiving Service at Mt. Gilead Church and I was asked by the Pastor to give a "God Sighting". The "God Sightings" are something we normally do one Sunday of every month, where people in the congregation are given the opportunity to share their "God Sightings", or in other words, ways they have seen God move in their everyday lives. For this service, it was an extended version, with 6 of us giving extended testimonies. The entire service is posted on the Mt. Gilead Website (HERE), but I have cropped out my portion and placed it (here) for you if you want to listen to it. It's an MP3 file that can be listened to online or downloaded and played on an MP3, etc. It's about 15 minutes in length. I'm borrowing space on another website to post it, so it won't be there forever, probably a couple weeks. My God Sighting is a summary of the past 2 years in the life of our family. I hope you'll listen and praise God with us for all He has done for us in the past 2 years.

Well, that's probably enough from me right now as I've taken up quite a bit of space on the blog. I promise I'll update more often and not be as long winded at today.

EDK

The Knobloch's

Started this post bright and early, then heard Dave up, so quickly set out his lunch for him to pack, and then made his breakfast, so now back to my desk...

It's bright and early...well, still dark outside and early in the morning! I've been up a while...excited about the day. I've paid some bills, messed with some pictures, have a few things to clear off the desk, and then...?? Now, I really feel retired! I've been really busy with a couple of projects that have pretty well directed my days the past 2 months. Today I woke up early and thought...hmmm...what will I do today? What a feeling!

We had a nice Thanksgiving meal with our family Saturday evening. The kids really play (aka run, yell, and have a wild time) together, and I hope they are making good memories at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Here are a few pics to share.

Phoebe, 2 months old

Nate and Carter "playing" monopoly

Will and Wade

Thad and Mara

Our First Cookie Baking Day

With 5 days off work and school, I figured we needed to do something besides just lay around and watch TV, so I planned for us to make cookies on Friday. We started in about 11 and worked til about 4.

Nathan unwrapped the kisses:


Heater made the Peanut Butter Balls, a family favorite:


Grandma and Heather made divinity. It turned out OH SO GOOD!!


Here's Kelsie with all the stuff we made: PB Balls, Fudge, Divinity, PB Kisses, Chocolate PB Chip Cookies, Chocolate Crinkles (the only flop of the day), and Thumbprints.

Black Friday

I have never done the Black Friday thing, and I usually think people who camp out in parking lots are just plain crazy. But this year I decided to give it a try. There were a few items in the Thanksgiving Day fliers that looked too good to pass up. So I left the house at 1:30 this morning and headed for Toys R Us, which opened at midnight. Apparently people had been standing in line since 10:30 to get in the store and all the sale items that I had on my list were already gone. So far I thought this Black Friday shopping was for the birds.

Next I headed over to Kohls and stood in line outside for about 45 minutes until the doors opened at 3:00am. I had only one thing to purchase there -- a media projector. They were very organized there which several people on the sidewalks making sure there were no 'butters' in the line, and also giving directions for once you got in the store. I found my projector quickly and walked right up to a register. It was normally $179.99 (which I never would have paid) but I was able to purchase it for $59.99. Things were looking better.

By this time the McDonalds had opened it's drive-thru and I swung through to get a Diet Coke. Hadn't had one in a long time, but I needed the caffeine to keep me going. Last stop of the morning was the dreaded Wal-Mart. Our camcorder quit working a few months ago and WalMart had a great deal on a camera. They had been open all night, but the cameras went on sale at 5:00. By this time it was about 3:45. All of the 5:00 sale items were in the middle of the aisles covered in black plastic. You had to sort of guess what was in each package, or ask the people already sitting in lawn chairs in the aisles. Finally found the camcorder area and there were about 8 other people 'camped' out there. You could tell from the display that there were only about 12-15 cameras. So I stood there waiting and hoping this was not a huge waste of time.

Around 4:30 a larger crowd was arriving and people were jockeying for position. Several police officers and store managers came to the area and the store manager decided to go ahead and open the items to avoid too much of a commotion. As soon as he did there was a press of people, many who had just arrived. A tall gentleman standing in front of me reached over and grabbed a camera for himself and one for me. He wanted to make sure that anyone who had waited for sure got one. My hero.

So, I can now say I did Black Friday. I only purchased 2 items but I saved about $200, so it was worth it. I don't know that I'll do it next year -- I value my sleep too much! Did anyone else venture out this morning? Did you get any great deals?

Shooting Skeet

Mom and Dad went with us yesterday to the Bailes Thanksgiving, held each year at Mike's brother Steve's home in Spartanburg. We had a houseful - Steve's family is a "more the merrier" kind of group. One of the annual rituals is shooting skeet out in the large field behind their home. Guess who decided to try her hand at it!

Steve showing her how to point the gun. (One of their son-in-laws in the foreground.)
Reacting after the retort -

She looks like she might be "game" to try it again!

Happy Thanksgiving! Aaron's aren't coming until tomorrow, so I hosted my mom & dad at my house for Thanksgiving dinner. I made a Mexican feast - red & green pepper boats, homemade guacamole, hot tamale casserole, gratin of greens, salad, & lime sherbet for dessert. We are probably one of the few people to NOT eat turkey today. We'll do the turkey dinner on Saturday as a family.

Betty Klopfenstein.

For those of you who have not yet heard the news - Betty Klopfenstein passed away early this morning. She has been in the Meadows nursing home for about a year. She has had severe heart problems for many years including a pace-maker. She has been alert and able to make all decisions involving her care, which included the decision not to have the battery in her pacemaker replaced as her heart was not strong enough for another surgery.

For those who do not know, she was the wife of our cousin Carlton who was the son of our Uncle Joe and Aunt Setta. She was a sweet lady. May she rest in Peace as she joins her husband and many other loved ones in the Presence of the Lord.

Knobloch House update

Painted porch floor

Casey the painter
Mara cleaning up

Dave building house driveway

My November & December Hobby

I always enjoy seeing Ada's projects, and thought maybe you'd like to see these. I love to pull out the paints every year around now and get to work. Even if the day is very full, just 15 minutes in the evening is very stress relieving. I've been doing these ever since Rhoda was here one summer about seven or eight years ago and we painted and painted. . .and I just kept on doing it once a year ever since.

These are the current finished ones so far. . .most just still need ribbons for hanging.

The "workshop" in action. (Mike, who doesn't like mess very much, is patient.)

And the many I have left to do! (Also have a hard time resisting buying more, especially when they are half price. . .)

Thanks for looking!

JUST A SILLY LITTLE POST

On Friday I was in Bloomington and went to Walmart to pick up a few things. Among the items were several boxes of L'eggs. This morning, as I was getting ready for church, I opened one of them and pulled out a single tube of "nylon" with elastic at the top and at the bottom!! I kept trying to find the other half, but it just wasn't there!! Jerry said I should put it on, wear it to church and see if anyone would notice. :)

Weekend in Michigan

This weekend is the start of the holiday for me in Michigan. The tradition is to go to the craft show at the local high school at 9:00 and then watch the Hudsonville Holiday parade at 10:00. Both are just a block or so from my house. Typical tradition is that I host a pumpkin pancake brunch for friends afterwards, but this year the weekend crept up on me too quickly, plus I want to do it when my Christmas decorations are out this year. In past years some have watched the MI/OH State football game as well, but this year that game is next weekend. 

The pumpkin pancake brunch on MI/OH State game day began when I lived in OH and I would invite MI fans to watch the game at my house. I'm really not a MI fan; I just really don't like OH State. When I moved here the tradition fit in well with the craft sale and parade.

What are your plans for the weekend?

Klopfenstein Family Christmas Dinner

Perry and I are planning to host the annual Christmas dinner in our home on Saturday, December 18th. We plan to send you each a post card with the details--so watch for it in the mail. Hope to see you soon! Carol

House Pics

Well Aunt Ada asked so here are a few pictures of the new house. I just realized I never took a picture of the living room as I was expecting to take a picture of Mom and Dad in there. You'll notice there is more work to do such as emptying some more boxes, putting up wall hangings, and hanging window coverings.

Dad in his office.

Dining room waiting for furniture. Rug will go when the furniture comes.

View to kitchen from dining room. Notice curtain rod in the corner. And then a view from the master bedroom into the kitchen.

 Picture above is from living room through screened porch overlooking a large deck. Below is front of the house.

The only thing they really need now are guests and a volunteer to wash the dormer windows!



SC House/Move Update

Hey everyone - you may be wondering about Dad and Mom, who have completed their move to SC. Notice, they have completed their move, not their move-IN. If any of you have moved recently, you know how long that takes!

Rhoda and a friend of hers have driven to SC to help them unpack. Ann had several meals waiting upon their arrival. Mike has been there to help. Mark and Molly are going this weekend. Unfortunately, we're unable to be there but plan to go in December to help them decorate for Christmas.

They seem happy and excited in their new home. I'm sure they'll post some photos as soon as their Internet is up and going. Thank you for your prayers and concern for them as they start a new phase of their lives.

New Baby Boy

Kobe Nash

11/6/10 (Daddy's birthday)

8lb. 8oz., 18.5"

Parents: Staci & Jerime

Grandparents: Cathy & Tim

Everybody's doing great!

Steffen Update

Since everyone is posting updates, I thought I would include one from our household. Probably the biggest news in our family is... the dog is gone. I'm sure you've all been wondering (ha, ha) since there have been no dog stories lately. He just got too big and turned out to be an 85 pound puppy. He was so excited around the boys that he would knock them over without even trying to. After he knocked down a relative and a preschool teacher who stopped by one afternoon, we decided it was time to let him go. We gave him back to the man we got him from and he is living a wonderful life on a farm in southern Illinois with him mom and his brother. Sam misses him dearly, but I have to admit that my life has gotten a lot easier without the dog around. We have seen a big increase in critters around here (possum, raccoons, and skunks), but that's okay.

I have 3 in school this year, 1 in preschool, and 1 at home. With homework and after school activities it seems we are always busy doing something. I'm in a meal exchange with some girls from church and that has been a huge help. We each make 2 meals x 4 and exchange at Wednesday night church. So twice a month I come home with 8 freezer meals. I'm loving it!

Sam keeps busy at work and his latest project is restoring his grandpa's 1947 pick-up truck. It's been his sanity-keeper lately. The boys are really excited to have it finished so they can "ride in parades and stuff".

Our next big event will be Sam's Mom's wedding in January. Earlier this year she was contacted by a man she knew from childhood, who lost his spouse at around the same time. They began corresponding through mail and phone calls as they shared their mutual grief. We can trully see God's hand in their relationship and it's been a beautiful testimony. It reminds me of Isaiah 61:3 where it talks about beauty for ashes, and the oil of joy for mourning.

Nothing too exciting with me. It seems I'm on the treadmill a lot (literally and figuratively). And in continuing my pursuit of healthy living, I gave up Diet Coke a few months ago. It was a big adjustment but I feel so much better.

That's it for us. I've enjoyed all the updates - keep them coming!

Knobloch House update

Slowly but surely the building goes on, and on, and on

Porch ceiling almost complete

Starting on siding

Update on my kids

We had a monster appointment for all four kids last week with our primary doctor. Ethne and Catie have started growing again, so Dr. C feels okay with backing off the testing for now. We still have no answers for why they were losing weight. I am glad we did the testing, but I'm also okay with backing off. The girls are happy, healthy, and meeting milestones. As long as they keep growing, I'm not worried about them being small. It's only when they stopped gaining and started losing that we wanted some tests done.

Thanks, everyone, for the prayers and support while we were testing the girls. Here's hoping they keep gaining.

If you want more details, you can check out my personal blog.

Wetzel-Celis Update

Well, mom and I must be on the same page, because I was thinking it was time for something new on the blog too. It's been awhile since I posted, so figured it was my turn. We have been busy, as usual. Jerry drives to Springfield everyday to work for the State of Illinois. Makes for long days. Interesting to note that they got "Voting Day" off. I always tease Jerry, "That's the government for ya!" I had a more-exciting-than-usual day at State Farm today ~ I witnessed a bizarre scene when a security worker lost control of an SUV and drove erratically through the parking lot, crashing into cement planters, light poles and ultimately a tree! Thankfully, no one was hurt. Heather is living at home with us while she saves money working at Chipotle. Can you believe she brought her dog with her, and the dog and I are getting along great?!?! It has been fun to have them both around; Heather is good about recognizing when I need help and will jump right in. Kelsie visited a couple weekends ago from college in Florida. She is doing so great down there, but needed a weekend of some good old Illinois fall weather. Oh how I loved having all the kids home, but oh how worn out I was! Here they all are around the breakfast table that Saturday:



Heater is training 2 hours a day in high school to be a CNA. She is surely learning to do some tasks I don't know that I would be able to do. She really loves it, and we are excited that she is excited about something! Nathan was Ironman for Halloween. I actually watched Ironman I with him, and liked it enough to think I might watch the sequel. This is not my kind of movie, but yes, I am a mom of a son, so I must go along with him. He made a fine (and fast running) Ironman, and scored a big bucket of candy which we've all enjoyed! Here he is prior to going trick-or-treating:



There's alot more, I'm sure, but that's a quick look into where we are right now.

What are the rest of you up to?

P.S. I didn't comment awhile back when the posts were made about Andrew's singing group came to Indiana, but will say now how great he sounded (and I only heard the online version!). Heather said it was really fun, and the group was awesome. So happy that mom and dad could take her with them, and that they all got the opportunity to see Ann and Andrew there. He sure can sing!!

NEW STUFF

Well, the election is finally over! Thank goodness! We just got home from church; small crowd tonight, but I think there were some various activities going on at the same time.

Jerry and I both have mild colds, coughs and stuffy noses. Do you think it will take us twice as long to get over it since we'll just keep passing it back and forth? Obviously I don't have anything exciting to report on, but I'm sure you're all awaiting another post on here, so I thought I'd just do it! Whether you like to see my creations or not, here are the latest.

A snowman wall-hanging was fun to make.

Christmas table-runner
One of a set of 12 placemats - I hope to make more.

Ornaments and lace snowflakes.