MY GARDENING IS FINISHED

Front garden path leading to new pot. Roses looking good. I planted petunias, but rabbits ate the flowers, so I pulled them up and put in the yellow marigolds.

Lilac bushes are almost in full bloom and smell so good.

My usual pots & hibiscus tree. Hopefully these will all grow to large colorful flowers. The two rectangular containers will eventually be placed above the lattice, but I want them to grow a bit first. I filled them with the petunias (minus flowers) that I pulled from the front and will give them another shot here. Rabbits have never bothered the plants on the deck.

MY GARDEN!!

A tomato plant and a lettuce pot!

We've been enjoying really good salads and hoping for tomatoes by summer's end.

Zac's Graduation

Zachary graduated from the Eighth Grade at Downer's Grove Christian School last Thursday evening. It was a class of about 18 (don't have the list to see for sure) graduates - all dressed "to the hilt". They were all so cute and excited.

It was quite impressive and very touching as each set of parents read a letter to their son or daughter - memories of them growing up as well words of encouragement for the future and perhaps most importantly reminding them to keep the Lord in their hearts.

This is Zac with Grandma and Grandpa. Doesn't he look great in his new suit. Can't believe he's taller than both of us; at Christmas we still had him beat!

Zac and his proud parents and brothers.

Zac with his Aunt Angela and cousins Kelsie and Nathan.

Many of the students were wearing purple ties - the color of Downers Grove North where some of them will be attending high school. We wish them much success during their high school years. God Bless you, Zac - we love you.

What a difference a day makes!

Dave and I got away for the Memorial Day weekend. Thanks to all who wished me a happy birthday and Dave and I congrats for our 40th anniversary. We went up to Michigan City, Indiana. The weather was chilly and wet for 3 days, but today it was beautiful for sitting on the beach.

We didn't see much observance of Memorial Day on our road trip. We went through several small towns and only saw a couple cemeteries that had flags up. A couple of houses were flying the flag, and only a couple places we saw groups of people grilling and eating together. The biggest gathering we saw was the thousands of people at the outlet mall in Michigan City. It was an amazing crowd.


We tried to find a sheltered spot to sit on the sand, but it was just too cold and windy.


Today the beach was sunny and loaded with people.

Memorial Day Weekend

It's been a very quiet Memorial Day Weekend so far in West Michigan. We are under a tornado watch until 8 p.m. or so which means everything gets cancelled so no church tonight. I spent the first part of the weekend helping my friends in their yard get ready for summer; I get to use the pool a lot during the summer so I try to help them in return for using their "toys". Tomorrow hopefully will be 9 holes of golf and then who knows.

While we haven't had family members who died in service to our country, I'm again thankful for Uncle Jay, others who won't list as I'm sure I wouldn't get everyone, and now Nick who are family who have served and are serving our country in the military.

I hope everyone has a great Memorial Day weekend.

Trip South

After my trip to Aruba I worked for two days and then left for a 9-day trip South to visit family and got to see everyone but Joey. The first weekend was a bridal shower for Jaimie and then several days in SC before returning to AL for a small get together with classmates on the eve of our (gasp) 30th high school graduation anniversary.

I didn't take many pictures but thought you may like to see these.

Almost ready for the shower. Kathleen, I think I got the recipe for the fruit pizza from you.

Mom and me in their back yard:

Mom and Dad in front of their house with the planters Mom and I planted.

Dad, Mom, and Mary on their deck. Notice the lovely Peba flower pots on each side.



Perry II Update

Perry II is still in OSF St. Joseph Medical Center in Bloomington. He has had nothing to eat or drink besides ice chips since Friday. He has a NG tube that they plan to remove in the morning. The hope is that his intestines will be ready to respond and start working by then.

The doctor said they (the intestines) were stunned by the "sticky mess" from the ruptured appendix and were red and inflamed when he performed the surgery on Saturday afternoon.

Perry had a rough day on Monday with lots of pain. It really exhausted him. The doctor regretted that he had them take the NG tube out too soon, so they put it back in---which was not a pleasant experience.

Please pray for him for healing and patience. We don't know when he will be able to come home from the hospital. Thank you for your prayers and well wishes. He is very appreciative of each card, phone call and visit! It really helps to keep his spirits up so he doesn't get too discouraged.

Also pray for Joan because it has been very tiring for her too. Her boss is on vacation and she has a heavy load at work and then also spends time each day at the hospital with Perry. Right now she is trying to "do it all."

Carol

Perry II

Just wanted to let the family know what happened to my brother Perry yesterday, as it may be awhile before my mom will post anything. Long story short, he went to the ER yesterday morning and surgery revealed a ruptured appendix. The Dr. described his abdomen as "a sticky mess of puss" and said that gangrene had set into the appendix. So he was a very sick man! Last night after he got back to his room after recovery he was feeling much better and in good spirits....but still has a long road of recovery ahead. His comment last night was he was feeling so much better that he thought he could probaby go home and not spend the night :) So, prayers for his healing are appreciated but also pray that he can have patience as a week long hospital stay goes terribly against his nature! He is at OSF in Bloomington and Joan and my mom are both there with him.

Correction!

Will says, "Grandma, it's the Rainforest Cafe!"

Duh!

Here's a couple more typical Disney pictures.

Disney

I spent a week at Disney with Will (Sam and Shelley's) and Wade (Casey and Jamie's). They both turned 10 this year. We had a wonderful trip and the boys couldn't have been any better.


Upgraded to business class!




Rock, paper, scissors at the Raintree Forest Cafe

THIS AND THAT

First of all, just want to let you know that we are "empty-nesters" once again. Our little robins have left their nest and we miss watching their parents feed them. It really was fun watching them grow so fast within just a couple weeks.

Kelsie spent a couple days with us this week. She will be starting a summer job at State Farm in a couple weeks, so we thought we'd take advantage of her before she starts. First she helped me in my sewing room - she cut four-inch squares, then I folded and ironed them into triangles to be used as "prairie points" for the next quilt I have to finish. She also played with my embroidery machine and completed a couple designs for herself.

She also helped us paint the lattice frames on the deck yesterday, and today painted the deck with Grandpa then pulled weeds with me. We may call her back a few more times this summer - she's a happy, willing worker.

Blogspot Website

The entire Blogspot website was down for over a day. Some posts were lost, however now appear to be retrieved, but I don't think all comments came back. So if you made a comment, and it's gone. . .it was lost, but not deliberately deleted. Just wanted you to know!

RECIPE FOR BRIE

Does anyone remember how Mother used to make the brie for lettuce? If you check p.83 in the Klop cookbook, there is a recipe from Aunt Mary. It calls for 2-3 slices of bacon cut up and fried, then add 1 T flour, 1/2 C vinegar and 1/4 C water to the greese. salt, pepper and sugar to taste. Add cream or mayonnaise.

I'm sure this is close to Mother's recipe, but not quite (and I know she never used mayo). Someone (Mim, actually) asked me for her recipe and this is the best I can do but thought maybe someone might still make it. Now, I'm motivated to try it and see what I come up with although I never could make it like Mother.

Just got back from a mile+ walk and am cooling off under the fan as I type this. I think I better get moving earlier in the future to beat the heat. I don't like to sweat!!

Alice Caroline

I was going to just email these photos to Alice & Keith and then I thought the rest of you might enjoy them also. Maria's family is coming this week-end and we are eager to see them again! Grandma Carol

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

Happy Mothers Day to all the mothers in the Klop family. Hope you all have a great day.

Great memories of Mother and Jay and Ralph with this picture taken in 1978.

Our mother robin feeding her babies.
(no comparison, I know, but cute picture)

We Have An (Almost) Graduate!

Andrew graduated from college today. I say "almost" in the title because he still has to take twelve hours in summer school for eight weeks, starting Monday morning. But since his school only has one ceremony a year, if a senior can complete his work in summer school sessions, they'll let him participate in the commencement. It was an exciting morning!

SOS!!! Can You Help??

This is specifically for all you computer experts. If you can help me, perhaps the non-experts will benefit also. This is my problem: Suddenly the e-mails in my delete and in my sent boxes are missing. I think some in my inbox are missing also. My personal computer expert, my husband, is baffled. Can anyone out there help? Much valuable information is missing and I need help to retrieve it. Thank you for your help.

Fun Pics

Just found these pictures on my computer at school and thought you'd enjoy them. You won't have any trouble identifying them, but even so I'm not putting any names on. :-)

Thinking of you...

Linda and family,

My thoughts went immediately to Nick following the big announcement last night.
Praying for his safety in these uncertain days.