Kansas City Zoo

Jesse is feeding the birds.

Timon, Anna and Carter

Carter, Anna, Timon & Jesse

When each of our grandchildren are seven, I take them on the train from Galesburg to KC. August 15th was Carter and Anna's turn. (You can tell they're both seven when you notice the missing front teeth.) We spent the next day at the zoo and Carter and I returned home the following morning. It was a special time! ---Carol

Fair Results

Couldn't have Casey's kids outdo me, but since I'm not into big cows I put a few antiques in the Hudsonville Community Fair. I think most of the pieces are from Mom's side of the family but you will probably remember the vegetable bowl from Grandma K's kitchen. I ended up with a third place (white) for the hanky holder and two fifth (pink) place ribbons for the butter mold and afghan and received a premium check for $6.75!

When Mark told Dad and Mom the money from 1905 Azalea was being wired after closing he suggested they not spend it all in one place. I'm pretty sure this check will get spent in one place!

Lynn/Mim Update

Shelley's update inspired me to update also. And, Jerry and Ada, the addition looks absolutely great.

Our biggest news is that yesterday we closed on 1905 Azalea Circle. What a relief to no longer be involved in it's upkeep--most of all the lawn. But with the sale comes a flood of good memories there as a chapter in the book of our lives closes. The transaction was completed without either us or Mark, who did all the "working out" details, present as the realtor signed the papers with limited power of attorney. We know absolutely nothing about the purchaser except that his name is Jose Fernandez--single? married? old? young? Our hope is that he will be an asset to the neighborhood.

You may be wondering if Irene will affect us. We are about 200 miles from the Atlantic and the forecast indicates we won't get even a drop of rain for our very parched soil. We had been slated to be near Charleston today to participate in an Answers in Genesis/AWANA conference, but that was postponed before it was realized that Irene would make landfall considerably north of Charleston.

Our summer has been very hot and very dry. We oldsters remember the days before AC and so can't complain as long as we can cool down in our homes. A trip to Savannah and a trip to Alabama were our only excursions away from Anderson. Savannah is such a delightful, historical city along the Savannah river with frequent ocean going ships traveling to the Atlantic--so interesting to watch. The trip to Alabama was for the church homecoming. A new incentive for returning to Alabama is having Mary and Joey there as they returned from the Philippines several weeks ago.

We've had only two sets of Alabama folks and also Ada and Jerry visit here so far. We love company and you are welcome.

ANOTHER PROJECT COMPLETED

Jerry's been busy for a couple weeks building an exension onto our deck. Here's the finished deck - I think it looks great. He is so thrilled to be able to do things this summer, and to feel good and energetic after so many summers of not having the strength to do things he loves to do.



We're hoping to have a couple deck parties yet this Fall in addition to another meeting with his Chenoa Class of 1961. I've been keeping busy with my quilts and actually have a couple ready and waiting to go in the frames.

Steffen Update

I haven't posted in awhile so I thought I'd give a quick update on happenings in our family. The summer seems to have flown right by us. June was filled with baseball activities and July was just hanging out at the local swimming pool, playing outside a lot, and general summertime activities. Now we're back into the school year schedule and activities. Keeps me busy!

We took a vacation to Michigan City, IN right before school started. We went there last year and enjoyed it so much we rented the same house again this time. It's the perfect place for us -- just a short drive and plenty of things to entertain the little boys... digging in the sand, fishing, kayaking, playgrounds, and Lake Michigan of course. The weather was beautiful most of the time. Mom and Dad came up for 2 days and of course those were the only 2 days that were overcast, cool, and rainy. We still enjoyed spending time with them. Here are a few pictures of our trip:

Playing on the beach in front of our house

At Lake Michigan, posing nice for Mom
And then back to reality
The older boys spent a lot of time playing Monopoly

Can't wait until next year!

New School Year

Reagan started her first day of Kindergarten yesterday. Zi will start preschool after Labor Day.
Today is her first full day. Zi has been asking where she is all day. He misses her a lot!

Reagan 5, Kobe 9mo, Zion 3

California

August 5th, Perry, Preston and I flew to San Diego, took the Amtrak to
L. A., visited the Nixon and Reagan Libraries, and flew home. Perry was asked to give a history talk in San Diego, where we attended church. We were quite enthralled with the Reagan library and delighted that we could go on board Air Force One and see where the president sat while making many trips overseas.

Preston at the Reagan Library in front of Air Force One.

The scenery at the Reagan Library was impressive!

Perry is going over his notes prior to giving his talk on the history of the Apostolic Christian Church.

Summer Project

It's not quite a new deck, but this was my summer project. During the hottest week of the summer, I spent two evenings at my friends' barn cutting these pieces. It's 1/2" pvc cut into 18", 12", and 6" pieces with lots and lots of Ts. These were my parts ready to assemble:

This is the finished product after assembly.

An engineer or designer would go ballistic at my design as each cage as 4-12" pieces, 16-6" pieces and 10-18" pieces with 20 Ts, but I got so tired of our wire cages falling over year after year as our tomatoes get so big that I wanted something with four sides that would be sturdy. I made a total of 8 cages.

This has not been a good year for tomatoes here, but we did have enough for a big batch of salsa.

SUNNY DAY

We couldn't ask for a more beautiful, sunny, summer day. I took a half-hour walk this morning - second day in a row, and I hope I can keep motivated. We've had a busy summer and here a few pictures of the fun we've had.

Nathan and Heat spent a couple days while Angela took Kelsie back to Florida. This new mini-race track was a hit.

Jerry has a new project - extending the deck a few feet. I'll post another picture when it's finished. Also as you can see, my petunias have been growing well this year. I think they like the hot, humid weather we had a few weeks ago.

We've had a lot of beautiful hibiscus blooms this summer, but we've had to fight the Japanese Beatles. That Sevn is pretty potent stuff!

We took Heat and Nathan to Downers Grove one day so Grandpa could fix the Go Kart while Janice, Heat, and I went shopping. Fun day.

The next generation!

This past Friday was the 160th anniversary of the church we're attending in Olney IL. The church wanted to celebrate this anniversary in some special way in August. Retta & I are on the Deacon Oversite Team and this task was given to us, another Deacon and the Pastor & his wife.

We came up with the following items:
1. Put up a new church sign on Friday. (It was vandalized with spray paint and dented by kicking on Friday night. Currently, it is believed to be a current or recent church member who did it based on the way the vandalism was carried out). Our younger children's Sunday School classes made forgiveness and invitation posters on the sign Sunday, hoping the vandals will see them.
2. This past Sunday we recognized the oldest member of the church and the member who had attended for the longest time (72 years).
2. We sang many of the favorite hymns of the church including our "theme song" - Find Us Faithful
3. We had a special worship service (more on that in a bit)
4. Next Sunday we will have 3 (or more) outdoor lake baptisms.
5. In two weeks we will host a Anniversary Picnic for current and past attendees.

What I really wanted to post about was how proud I am of my 3 kids. For our "Special" worship service, eight kids from our youth group who recently attended a CIY:Move conference prepared and preached the sermon this Sunday. 3 of those kids were mine. They did an great job of teaching God's Word and challenging our congregation to step up and move forward. The message can be heard HERE. Our kids speak second (Amber), third (Christian), fourth (Christian's girlfriend Maddie), seventh (Amber's boyfriend James), eighth (Adrian).

Did I mention that I am so proud of my kids?

EDK

Growing like crazy!

Here's the kids in front of the corn across the street from Mom & Dad's.
Here's the sunflower. It must almost be time to start Kindergarten!

Random Pics from a Michigan Summer

Nothing very profound or nostalgic, but a few very random pictures from my summer.

This is a washcloth that has been missing for several years. Surprise, surprise, when I had to replace my dryer earlier in the summer there it was. I was so disappointed when I couldn't find it all those years because I couldn't find another bright one to match the set in my guest bathroom!

On the way back from Jaimie's wedding I watched this piece of luggage getting loaded and was so relieved I didn't check any bags on that trip! One of the bag guys tried very hard to get it zipped and finally just sent it up the belt. I've had so many issues with luggage and flight issues through the years, it was kind of nice to know I wasn't the one with the problem.

Last week I went blueberry picking. This has not been a good year for them, but there were a few nice bunches.

An hour and a half later I had these 9 lbs. Some went into a pie and some went into muffins. Tonight or tomorrow I'd like to try a blueberry pound cake that was on the recipe sheet the blueberry farm gives out, and the rest are in the freezer. 

Just ended a few wonderful days with Haley visiting. Most of the time I forgot my camera, but this was from Tuesday evening when we got sushi and had a picnic at the beach. 

Last night we went fishing at a lake where some friends live. We both caught our fair share of blue gill and bass.

2 pics -- 1 nastolgic and one artistic

We enjoyed the family art pics and comments, and also all the old pics posted.
Here is one from what year? Maybe 1962 or 63? Perhaps soon after Grandpa K.'s death? I was always intrigued by Grandma's kitchen and the linoleum -- what were those spots? Modern abstract designs?
I could not resist putting up just one of my brother Marty's charcoal drawings -- done freehand. Marty is truly an artist, even to this day making money at it, and is THE ARTIST of the RDK family. I'd suggest you click on the pictures to enlarge and appreciate the wonderful atmosphere of Grandma's kitchen and Marty's talent.
Cleve

A Couple of Nostalgia Pictures

We are absolutely broiling in the southeast. High today projected to be 99, but what really makes it impossible is the high humidity. It's like walking into a sauna whenever you go outside. I go back to school for teacher inservice on Wednesday, but have gotten wise. Mary Lee needs $$; I need my room decorated. So guess what she is doing this afternoon--and is happy to do so!! And I am home enjoying the last two days of vacation.

Anyway, in the interest of family nostalgia, here are two old pictures that I found this summer. I would guess they were taken at Christmas around 1970; if that is wrong please correct me.

Will's Drawing

Will worked all summer on this drawing. It reminds me of Marty's drawings at that age. A budding artist!