Update from Casey & Jamie Knobloch, as some may know we are in the process of doing a complete renovation of the Gridley Hardware Store! We are rebuilding with the intention of opening Rob's Ice Cream (operated by Philip Romersberger - one of my employees who's father was Rob Romersberger) and Knobloch Catering. Hoping to be open around July or August.
Philip with his hard ice cream machine - currently at my shop, the former home of Rob's Ice Cream Hous
Just thought I'd post another of Thad's book reports from earlier this year. This was actually the first one he did - his teacher said he set the bar pretty high! He's a pretty quiet kid so it's fun to see him get excited about these reports and showcase a little of his 'acting' skills.
For extra credit points, who can name the antique machine located to the right of 'Jamie'? It belonged to Thad's great-grandpa and grandma, Sam and Anna Steffen. It's something they used on a regular basis, and not as a plant stand (as I do).
This morning I was awakened in the middle of a crazy dream. I was meeting Alice someplace to go to a fancy dinner. When I got there, she was standing in the lobby with some other people.
I noticed that she was wearing a fleece sweatsuit while I had dressed up in my "Sunday Best". I was so embarrassed to see her dressed like that for a nice dinner, but as I looked around, it was ME that was not dressed appropriately and everybody else just looked tacky. Then I was really embarrassed AND mad. About that time the doors to the banquet room opened and we headed in - there were lots of tables, none of them were set, and it was just a junky old room . . . and I woke up before I had a chance to say anything.
So Alice, next time you invite me out, let me know what to expect ahead of time!!!
Due to the threat of snow on Palm Sunday, the Stevig Easter dinner was moved to Saturday. It was the first road trip for Silas, and he of course lit up the house. We do love being grandparents! Photos of great-grandma and grandma included here.
Many of you were aware that Jake has been in need of cervical surgery on
his neck. He finally had it done yesterday after many painful days and disheartening
delays.
He was in surgery for 3 hours where they cleaned up the disc, and put in a
cadaver bone and metal plate, which will all create a fusion as it heals. He
came out of surgery with no pain in his shoulder, no numbness in his arm, and of
course a sore throat and neck. I just talked to Malissa and she said he is doing
great and is taking no pain pills. (There was a concern he would be addicted to
the pain pills after 7 weeks of use of heavy narcotics.)
So all around, we are thanking the Lord for what has transpired so far, and
we are praying for a quick, thorough recovery. He has to stay home from work for
10 days until he sees the doctor again, but his only restriction now is no
lifting. He has no collar on and only a large bandaid covering the incision
site. Modern medicine...what a miracle...once you can get it done!
(I only took one picture of Jake in the wheelchair getting ready to go home. He was feeling like you can imagine and looked it too, so I refrained from posting the picture. You can thank me, Jake!)
Just a quick update on what's been going on in the Steffen Household. Not too much new and exciting (thank goodness). Mostly just homework, practicing instruments, running kids around, and trying to keep up on the laundry.
We have had a few projects recently, mostly concerning Thad. The annual Father-Son Cake Bake was held last night. I've posted pictures of our cakes in the past so thought you would like to see what we did this year. They found a really neat cake on Pinterest (actually I found a really neat cake on Pinterest).
It didn't look too complicated, so I got them some supplies and they got started on it Monday night. Unfortunately they ran into a little problem with the engineering of it and the whole cake collapsed down in a pile. Thad was a good sport about it all, and they decided to go ahead and take it in anyway. They named it "Father-Son Cake Bake Epic Fail". They actually won 3rd place in the Yummiest Cake category and even got several votes in the People's Choice category!
He also finished up a book report that I thought I'd share too. He was assigned to read a fantasy book. He chose The Lightning Thief, which I didn't care for. It is so hard to find good books for boys. It seems they go straight from the booger and potty-talk books to the dark, scary, underworld books. If anyone is a good writer and wants to find a niche, we could really use some good book series for preteen boys. But enough about that... here's his report:
After what seems like months of moving I arrived in Little Elm, TX on Saturday about 5:30 CDT. The temp was in the 80s with lots of sun. Each day since has been sunny and in the 70s although the weekend could be "only" in the 50s. I'm loving it!!!
Before this trip though I enjoyed about 48 hours in central IL the previous week getting to see all of my aunts and uncles except for Uncle Keith and several other family members on this short trip. Beyond seeing family a highlight of the trip was seeing Klopfenstein's Office Supply Store in Pontiac. I had never seen it before and it was probably my first time in Pontiac since I was about 6 or so when Grandma took Mary and me there on an errand one day.
Last Thursday I picked up a 16' truck and had 3 friends help me load it. Thankfully all of the big stuff and furniture for my friend and me had been moved earlier so this trip was boxes and a lot of miscellaneous stuff. After loading I went back and had the car trailer loaded and put my vehicle on it. The next morning at 8:20 my friend from church Nancy and I drove off. We planned to meet a former co-worker in St. Louis for dinner so we had lots of time driving through Illinois. That made it possible to meet Judy for lunch at Avanti's. I think I kind of impressed her how I manipulated the truck and trailer through downtown! We made it to St. Robert, MO on Friday night about 8:00 and then were on the road about 8:00 the next morning. We were not in a rush either day as there was no need to get too tired and risk going too fast.
A truck driver at church had this advice for me: The deer are running this time of year so if one runs out Penske can fix the truck but you will lose control very easily with the car trailer attached and you can't always fix you so JUST HIT THE DEER. I was prepared to hit the deer but thankfully I never had to choose between swerving or hitting the deer.
I am so thankful that God provided many friends who helped with the actual move and for the many people who were praying for me on the road.
I am getting unpacked and settled. Pictures will follow at some point.
We are slowly making progress with our redecorating project. The kitchen area is basically complete and ready to "decorate" soon. Monday Jerry hopes to begin removing the black wallpaper in the family and we plan to paint green in that area. I've already been to Pier One and Gordmans and Jeffry Alan to get ideas for decorating. Sounds like fun, right?
Notice the crown-molding along the ceiling. Perry Jr. put that up for us today. It really looks nice. He will add more to the other areas when we get them ready.
I think all you Uncle Ralph offspring need to know that I have been air-typing my way through life ever since Crystal's question was posted!
Major lesson learned: Be very careful not to drop half a can of frozen lemonade (thawed) between the sink and the refrigerator. It took four moppings. . .
I loved the pictures of Ada and Jerry's renovation of their kitchen. (Some may have been on FB.) It has given me the bug to get Mike going on our kitchen with its dated wallpaper. Maybe when we're done paying college tuition. :-)
Very glad to hear that Charity and baby are back home. Hope they are all doing well and that Charity is getting her strength back. My brother-in-law, a family practice doctor, says that any new mother should get 24 hours in the hospital and an additional 24 hours for each child already at home. Makes sense!
Also glad to hear about Baby Silas and looking forward to seeing a pic of the little man - maybe with his grandparents as well?!!
Hope all you Ks have a good week. Spring is coming - our temps are in the 70s this week.
Postscript - One other thing I forgot to mention - I'm curious to know if Duck Dynasty is as big a deal in the midwest as it is here in the south? People around here are crazy about that show!
Big brother, Carter, age 9, is delighted to have a new brother. Ellie, age 6, Caleb, age 12, and Ashton, age 13, are also very happy.
Thankfully Charity's blood pressure was normal today after not having any meds for 48 hrs. She had what is called HELLP syndrome and her high blood pressure was a concern the last two weeks. The latest blood work showed that her liver enzymes were improved but not yet normal. She is still very tired and needs lots of rest, but things are looking good!
Glenn, Ellie and I went to St. Francis to bring Anderson home in a special car bed for preemies. He was born 2 weeks ago today, weighing 3 lbs 6 oz. Today he weighed 3 lbs 13 oz. ---Carol
