Anderson

Tonight, Anderson was enjoying Grandpa's antics and Caleb took a picture.  7 months is a fun age!---Carol

LUNCH WITH "MY" QUILTERS

Had lunch for my quilters today. We had chicken salad croissants, lettuce salad, TGIF Potato Skin Chips, and a "no-name" desert consisting of the following items - angel food cake, vanilla pudding mixed with ice-cream, strawberries and whipped cream - even with no name it's quite good. You might notice the little jars of candies - that was their treat to take on home. The ladies in the picture are Marjorie Witzig, Helen Zimmerman, Mary Gramm, Dorothy Ringger, Mary Ringger, Joan Aupperle, and Anna Marie Reutter. As I look at these names, I believe all but Helen and Joan would be somewhat related to us.

Carol's Dad

Did you all know that Carol's dad, Robert Miller, passed away last week?   His funeral was Sunday afternoon.  He had been in failing health for some time, but apparently had a heart attack and death came several hours later.  He and his wife, Pearl, lived in Portland, Oregon for many years.   In fact, Carol grew up in Portland and four of her siblings are still in the Portland area.  Robert walked closely with the Lord for over seventy years and was an inspiration to many.  Now he is "absent in the body and present with the Lord."

Beautiful Switzerland

Kathleen, Crystal, and I returned 7 days ago from a wonderful 15-day trip to Switzerland & the Alps -- the "homeland" of both of our extended families.  After an 8-day guided bus tour throughout the country, we rented a car for the remainder of the trouble-free days seeing specific sights -- many related to our family and church history.  We stayed 3 nights/days with the extremely gracious Peter and Hanni Klopfenstein in their rental apt. above their home in the mountain village of Adelboden.  They operate a Photo Shop specializing in making and selling Switzerland scenic postcards (which we saw for sale throughout the country) and are a prominent family in Adelboden. 

K saw the original farmstead of her grandfather and great-grandfather Bahler.  There we were met with open arms of the family who purchased the farm and now reside there since the late 1800's.  We also saw many gravestones bearing both of our family names as we vagabonded around that beautiful country which offers constant irresistible photo opportunities in every direction one looks.  The scenic beauty is beyond description and the infrastructure is magnificent (perfect highways, mountain tunnels, passenger trains, etc.) and the people are educated, "westernized" in every way, and very helpful and friendly to visitors. 

Pease bear with the long train of photos here, but I just couldn't quit showing "just one more"....of my hundreds of pictures.  My camera battery was dead at the end of each day! 

 This is not a postcard or mural...it is the window flower-box on the balcony of the Klopfenstein Apartments overlooking the snowcapped Alps, outside our room in Adelboden.

On top of the highest and longest ski-lift in Switzerland, at the Jungfrau mountain.

To get to the top, one had to take 3 back-to-back lifts, transferring one to another.

That's the village at the bottom of the valley in the middle of the picture.

 

Our hosts, Hanni and Peter Klopfenstein, Jr. who operate the family Photo Shop

 on the main street in Adelboden.

 

Markus Klopfenstein, uncle of Peter, looking at photos of himself with

 my parents and Vic & Jean Rich in Adelboden in 1998.

 

Crystal and I sitting on the very same bench that Jean, Vic and Dad sat on in 1998.  Note the name on the bench!  The tower is an old military tower from the 12th century!!  Things in Switzerland are OLD!

 

 

Milk cows (with cowbells) grazing at 6,000 ft. above sea level.

 

Kathleen beside one of the many "family" gravestones we saw...

 

The very shy Klopfenstein daughters of Hanni and Peter K.

in front of the family Photo Shop.

 

 

Kathleen loved the flowers in Switzerland.  They were everywhere -- and beautiful.

 

A typical example of thousands of neat, flowery homes that dot the vast mountain foothills.

Note the old lady mowing her yard.

 

 

Absolutely gorgeous!!  And this river and buildings are pretty, too!

 

(Bern, Switzerland -- the capital city and area where many of our

acquaintances originate from)

 

 

 

 

Entrepreneur

Sam and Shelley's 9 year old Ben informed me last week that he has a new way to make some money! He is taking wood burning orders from his classmates at school. He showed me his orders. He had the student's name and what object they would like burned into the wood. He was charging $1.00. He was very enthused.

Shelley texted me a picture of Ben working hard at his project.

 

And here are some of his finished pieces. I was impressed. (Of course, I am biased, I will admit.)

The best part of the whole thing is that Ben is now ready and willing to go to school! He is not a school lover, to say the least. In his mind it is a waste of his time. He is in the 4th grade and it has been a daily struggle to get him to school in a good mood and ready to learn.

Now he can't wait to get to school and get new orders and deliver his goods and collect his money. Shelley texted; "Just waiting for the call from school that he can't be running a business out of his backpack!"

Too funny!

Cousin Nancy

At the Klopfenstein cousin reunion in late July, Mom and Dad found out that Nancy Davis lives quite close to me. Tonight we met for dinner at a local Italian restaurant.

I asked if she had always been told she looked like her father because I could see Uncle Fred in her. It was interesting to hear about her family as I really didn't know her daughters. She kept us quite entertained with her stories of trying to learn to water ski at their cottage outside Lacon and her various encounters with wildlife.