Here are a few more pictures from the LCK family Christmas on 12/26/11.
This is just proof the Klopfenstein men can and do help in the kitchen. Mark is making mashed potatoes and Dad is working on the turkey some way. I actually took the picture for future documentation and evidence.
This is the adult table or as was described "more adult than others" since Andrew was seated there. We missed Mike who had to work that day.
This is the "kids" table although few qualify technically. Maybe "the next gen" table???
This is waiting for the opening of the gifts. To my left is Mark's children (John Michael, Lauren, Jeffrey, and Lindsey), Mary Lee and Haley. Not sure where Andrew was and Joey/Mary's other girls had to work that day.
Well they weren't IPads but Mom certainly her had her share of gifts to open.
This is Jeffrey and me as we both got several Alabama Crimson Tide gifts.
We arrived in Indian, Rocks Beach on Tuesday, and have just been too busy to get a post in here! Actually, the format has changed and it took me several frustrating tries until I could figure it out and in fact might actually be easier. This pictures is dinner last night at one of our favorite restaurants, Scully's, located on the Boardwalk at John's Pass a few miles south of here.
It has been sunny and warm and we've been walking the beach, sitting on our balcony, eating, playing Crazy 6's and Uno - that Nathan's a good little card player, but we don't let him win all the time! He's learning to take losing like a man.
The LCK family celebrated Christmas on Monday night, 12/26, when Mary, Joey, and Haley were able to get here. Mark's family and Rhoda came on up from Atlanta on Christmas night. The talk of that evening was iPads, since Mark brought his along and Mike had given me one for Christmas. Dad was very interested in all the talk, and one could almost see the wheels moving in his mind that when all this was over with, he was going to go get himself an iPad.
What he did not know, but the rest of us did, was that Mark was going to give him one when we opened presents Monday night.
I wish you all could have seen the expression on Dad's face when he opened up that package. It was priceless.
Once he opened that present, he was useless as far as observing others' presents for the rest of the night. He had no idea what other people were opening around him. He was in iPad glory. It was fun to watch. :-)
Once again, Happy Birthday, Aunt Alice! Here's a great picture of the Klop's two Alice's -- taken Saturday at DAP (Day At Perry's), but actually taken at Jerry and Ada's house after the fire.
People with birthdays close to Christmas sometimes get shortchanged....
Marry Christmas from from the Knoblochs' in Olney IL.
It's hard to believe how much the world has changed in just my 39 years, so I can't imagine all the changes you older folks (men of course, cause there is no such thing as an old woman) have witnessed. I sometimes wonder if our kids or the little ones at church grasp how amazing the Birthday account of Christ really is. It is all so distant to us now days. Why did they have to travel Bethlehem for the census? Couldn't they just log-on to the government page, lie about reading the terms and conditions, and fill out a form? Why wasn't there room in the inn? Didn't they make reservations on priceline or hotels.com? Why didn't Joseph call the Maury Show to confirm that the Holy Spirit was "Indeed the Father" and shut those doubters up? When the Angel told him to travel home by another way because the King wanted to kill Jesus, why couldn't they check it out on www.snopes.com? Maybe they wouldn't have had to flee to Egypt. Even if they did, why didn't they use their GPS and cell phones to keep tabs on Cesar? Wouldn't that have been easier?
The reality of it is that Joseph and Mary were rebels in their time. They pushed the envelope by speaking the truth, that Mary had become pregnant by the Holy Spirit. Joseph chose not to put her to death, to put her away, to take the blame. Rather, he had faith and trusted God, and lived his life, with all the turmoil, stress and tragedy with an unshakable faith in God. We look back and know the plan. I don't believe Joseph and Mary had all the details.
With all the technology that we have at our fingertips, we are exposed to so much information & data that makes it hard to accept the simple, simple message of Christmas and more importantly of Easter. The History Channel (or the producers behind their shows) have spent millions trying plant that seed of doubt in our minds that the Christmas and Easter Stories are not entirely real.
Jesus said that if we have faith as a mustard seed, we could move a mountain.
"You don't have enough faith," Jesus told them. "I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it would move. Nothing would be impossible." Matthew 17:20 NLT
What seeds have been planted in our minds lately? Is it the simplicity of the Christmas and Easter Stories or the distractions of our daily lives that keep us from experiencing the very presence of God like Mary & Joseph did?
So, what mountains have I moved lately? What mountains have you moved lately?
Wow! A day never to be forgotten by those in attendance at Uncle Perry's homestead today. The traditional Christmas meal was well under way with gracious hosting by Perry and Carol and with Maria helping, etc. The traditional generous helpings of turkey, potatos and all the trimmings were served. The kitchen, too, was packed with Perry II, Joan, Brandon's family, Preston, Casey Knobloch's family, etc. etc. The usual great time was being experienced by all. The dining room group was moments away from Aunt Alice's Heavenly Hash dessert when suddenly A FIRE BROKE OUT IN THE CLOSED BATHROOM behind the kitchen...(unofficially, a burning candle above the toilet ignited towels above it and then the wall also started burning.) The smoke alarm sounded but amidst the noise & fun, there was no mad rush to check things out. When the smell and appearance of smoke started to emit from below the bathroom door Casey, and a few others, rushed to open the bathroom door to literally see flames shooting from the toilet area. Those in the kitchen and dining room also reported seeing the flames and/or a distinct orange "glow" when the door was opened. Fortunately, Casey (Chief of Gridley Fire Dept.) was present and took charge..."FIRE! Evacuate and call 9-1-1 !!" Joan and Preston contacted the Fire Dept., while all of us, including children, quickly evacuated to the front yard. Casey, Uncle Jerry, and Brandon quickly fought the flames with water. Four(4)Gridley fire trucks (and the ambulance and Police Squad car) arrived within 6 minutes. Fortunately, despite cool temperatures, the day was sunny and mild as we(many without coats)waited outside for a progress report. Neighbors started gathering also. Firemen chopped holes in the surrounding bathroom drywall, checking the scorched studs, etc. and finally determined the fire to be "out". Stunned, yet thankful there was nobody injured and the damage repairable, we migrated to Aunt Ada and Uncle Jerry's home where an appropriate prayer of "thanksgiving" was offered by Uncle Jerry. We then all enjoyed the Heavenly Hash (which had been safely kept in Uncle Keith's car the whole time). Carol remained back at Perry's to clean up and to assure the fire did not re-ignite. Attached are a few photos depicting this memorable experience. It is indescribable as to "how bad it could have been" and we all went home thankful in so many ways. Chief of Gridley Fire Dept.(Casey) was quoted as saying: "In about 1 more minute, the fire would have been up the wall and perhaps out of control at that moment" You might want to enlarge the photos for the full effect!
Gloria continued her tradition of hosting the full Ralph K. family Christmas at her Normal home on Dec. 17th. A very crowded household of 42 Klops gathered for great food, great fellowship, and much fun -- including a surprise visit from Santa Claus (Gloria, herself) in full uniform. A special large gift box was made by Gloria for Grandma K's -- the box was a scale-model duplicate of the RDK home in LaGrange Park on Beach Street from the 1950's and included a slot where all could put some cash for Grandma K's Christmas gift for 2011. A great time was had by all.
We're eagerly anticipating their arrival in Gridley Friday night! They plan to be with us Saturday for the Klopfenstein Christmas dinner. The Endress family plan to come on Tuesday for our supper and gift exchange. Endress's and Emch's will probably stay until Thursday morning. The cousins are so excited to be together! Merry Christmas! Carol
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
I didn't do a lot of decorating this year although I did put out this ceramic tree that our great aunts on Mom's side of our family. I haven't unpacked it for several years and many of the lights had fallen out so I had to unpack to the very bottom of the box to get them all. At the very bottom was a small piece of paper "For Mary K." Oops, I guess I'll be returning it to its rightful owner. And Mary, thanks for loaning it to me this year!
Saturday morning at 3:00 a.m. our phone rang - Dad was having chest pain and could we please take him to the hospital. There they did an EKG which had some abnormalities, and his pulse was very erratic, so they did further testing (echocardiogram and stress test) and kept him there overnight, until this afternoon. So he was there about 36 hours total. Bottom line: Not a heart attack and not a problem caused by cholesterol or blood clots, but rather an electrical problem which can be controlled with medicine. He and Mom got home around 2:00. We are very thankful that it did not turn out to be a major problem.
This update was posted on Facebook this morning, and I thought some of you might be interested.
UPDATE ON MARGUERITE - SHE WILL BE IN THE HOSPITAL UNTIL TUESDAY WHEN THE PLASTIC SURGEON DOES SOME REPAIR ON HER LIP - SHE GOT HER PROTHIESIS (TEETH) TODAY AND WAS ABLE TO EAT A LITTLE SOUP WITH CRACKERS - SHE TALKS BETTER TOO - SHE IS PRETTY WEAK AND PHYSICAL THERAPY IS WORKING WITH HER - SHE AND VICKI WILL PROBABLY GO TO THE APARTMENT ON WED. SHE TOLD ME TODAY HOW SHE FEELS THE PRAYERS AND LOVE FROM EVERYONE - THANK YOU
We have a couple more Christmas and/or birthday celebrations to complete before we head South. The frustration level is building - I'll bet most of you moms & grandmas, can relate to that?!?!?! But as the music I hear right now on the Today show says - "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" - and that pretty well wipes out the frustrations.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Sending peace and love to you all during this lovely season.
(Not sure why it is so small on screen...click on it and you will get the full screen shot!)
This is my latest project, another quilted wall-hanging for Maralon Stalter. She does the embroidery and I put it together. Just got this in the frames at Sunrise Manor on Tuesday. I'm about halfway through making the matching queen-size quilt that goes with it (four squares across and 5 squares down). I hope to have it completed before next Wednesday. It will require a LOT of quilting stitches, so I hope it will keep them busy until March!
Woke up to a "dusting" of snow on the ground. Pretty cool. Also noted on facebook that Brandon and Ranee Witzig had a fire in their garage attic last night, but luckily they were able to get out and get the firemen there in time to contain damage only to garage. Going to do a drive-by soon to see how bad it was. Small-town snooper, you know?
Plan to make some Heavenly Hash and Caramels today. Yummy, yummy, yummy!! Am I making you all jealous?
The new Christmas header is one of the pictures from Judy. Here's the one that had been up there. Will happily take any more old Christmas photos from any family members!
I consider Uncle Keith the star of this picture, as I don't think we've seen him before in any of the Christmas pics...and baby Larry Jay on his lap. It's David and Cathy in front of Dad and Cleve on the piano bench.
This is in the LaGrange Park home. I wonder what we are eating. Our hands are in the bowls, but the bowls look pretty empty and there's no popcorn on the floor. I can't imagine what it could be.
And this one is especially for Cleve. Three boys in that little bed.
Here is Mom and Dad in 1955, which would make it after Stan was born, I think. Wow, Mom has quite a figure for having 5 children...and she's not apparently pregnant here. (Notice I didn't say "apparently not pregnant" but instead "not apparently pregnant." There is a difference!)
Here is the family decked out for some occasion. Stan is the baby. Cleve has quite a hat on, doesn't he!
And this last one is a picture on a Christmas day. I have a new doll, the three boys have new cowboy outfits, and I see a new pair of ice skates in the corner by Gloria.
I also have a Christmas picture at Grandma's that I had never seen before. I'll post it soon, assuming everyone enjoys them.
We're heading to program #3 tonight. I counted from my calendar and we have 13 different programs/plays to go to this year. That's right! 13! Plus a couple of other parties thrown in. It's a busy time of year when you have 16 grandchildren.
A Pilgrim's Journey is the new autobiography by Perry Klopfenstein. The 417 page book is for sale at Klopfenstein's for $20. Net proceeds will be donated to the Apostolic Christian Home for the Handicapped in Morton, IL.
This past week I was looking around in our local Walgreens while waiting for some pictures to be developed, and I saw a product that caught my eye first of all because of the PRICE. It was "Dr. Paul's Piggy Paste," a cream to put on toes/toenails to make them look better. And it was $29.99 for a small tube! Then, thinking that this must be some incredible product, I read further that it was developed by Dr. Paul Kinsinger and used in his Washington, IL, practice, with wonderful results. It has all kinds of testimonials for how great it works. And the ingredients are vinegar and thymol. Don't know about the cost of thymol (or even what it is), but that price for a tube containing vinegar seems a little steep.
Now, I am not asking the state of your toes, but have you ever heard of Dr. Paul Kinsinger and his Piggy Paste, from Washington, IL?!!! Or is this a nice $29.99 scam?!!
