David James Endress

He is 20 minutes old in this picture.  We may post more pictures soon. :)

David was born Thursday evening, January 30th, weighing in at 8 lbs 2 oz and 21 inches.

David's siblings are Matthew, 15, Sarah, 14, Laura, 11, Andrew, 8, Julia, 5, and Heidi, 3.

Perry and I are delighted to welcome grandchild #17, and we are thankful that mother and baby are both doing well. --- Grandma Carol

Surprise for a Birthday

Of course I didn't get any pictures--just one on my phone that didn't turn out very nice--but Ada, Jerry, and I pulled off a surprise on my dad on Tuesday.  :-)

Dad's birthday was yesterday.  Ada called me last week and said they wanted to come see them (Dad and Mom) on their way to Florida, and what did I think about them surprising Dad for his birthday?  Of course I thought it was a great idea.

The original plan was for Mike and me to plan to take Dad and Mom to a restaurant they really like called the Galley, a place with good food and a beautiful view of Lake Hartwell.  Ada and Jerry were going to be there ahead of us, so that when we were seated, they would already be in the booth.  This was all on Tuesday, actually the night before his birthday.

Things started getting complicated when Mike found out he had to work later on Tuesday night.  Then the reports of an impending winter storm started coming in.  The snow started about 2:00--and I know you Illinois people think this is funny, but when snow starts, things shut down around here.  (And if you saw the news about what happened in Atlanta when things don't shut down on time, you know why.)  Furthermore, the road to the Galley goes over what is called the Double Bridges, which are treacherous enough when the weather is not bad.  (The bridges are very long, very narrow, and have no shoulder whatsoever.)

So we went to plan B.  Ada and Jerry went straight to my folks' house and surprised Dad at the front door.  (He was equally surprised even though the circumstances changed.)  Then I pulled together a birthday dinner at my house and they came over and ate here.  Mike got home really late, not only from working over, but because the roads really were treacherous.

Anyway, it was a nice evening, we celebrated Dad's birthday, and pulled off a surprise!

EMMA AT THE PIANO

Here are a couple pictures of Emma playing her new piano. She is such a sweet and pretty girl and very excited to have this.

THIS AND THAT

We recently gave our piano to Emma. She was so excited to get it. I've asked Jodie to send us a picture of her playing the piano so we can post it here. My dad bought the piano for me when I was about 9/10 years old. Also have a picture here of Owen as he was playing his Cello in an IMEA competition in Peoria yesterday. He is very talented and it was so fun to listen to this group of 6, 7, and 8th graders perform.

Sunday morning in Lester, IA

 Anderson, Milan and Jesse in the baby room.

Milan and Jesse

Here is a small (less humorous) part of the "story."  Sunday morning, when I got to church, Brandon handed Milan to me and said that Maria wasn't there because she took Alice to the doctor.  Alice (3) had been sick all week-end with fever and cough.  Milan was not at all happy to leave Daddy, but when Daddy was out of sight, he was fine.  When it was time to go in, Jesse was on the bench just outside the sanctuary with Julia and Heidi.  I went to tell them it was time to go in, and I noticed that Jesse was crying.  I asked him what was the matter and he said, "I want Daddy!"  Daddy was walking up to the pulpit to preach and Jesse proceeded to cry so loudly it became a big wail.  I knew if I put Milan down or gave him to somebody else, he would join the chorus of tears.  Jesse's loudest cries were right when the congregation was silent in prayer just before the service.  Brandon could hear him on the pulpit and he thought it was Milan.  (This wasn't typical behavior for 5 year old Jesse.)

I managed to persuade Jesse to follow me into the baby room where I distracted him by reading him a book. We could hear Brandon preaching, so I told Jesse that even though we can't be with Daddy, we can listen to him, and Jesse was fine the rest of the morning.  At this point, I decided the best place for me to stay with the two boys was in the baby room.  Charity was in there with Anderson, so I got out my new smart phone and took these pictures.

Shortly before the service started, I was told that Matthew was also not there.  He was resting at somebody's house nearby because he wasn't feeling well.  About 11 am, I texted him, and he said he was doing better and would be coming for the afternoon wedding service.

Maria, Alice and Matthew were there in time for the wedding, and we all sat up front.  It was a beautiful service. ----Carol

still more wedding photos . . .

                          All sixteen of them ready for the photographer. (I only took one picture and then decided it                                    was best to wait and let them be fresh for the "real" pictures.

                                              Anna, Laura, Ellie and Julia in their matching outfits.

Father of the groom and father of the bride.

The bride and groom with the maid of honor (Kyla's sister, Becca) and the best man (Perry II) at the         wedding supper at the church the night before.  All of the out of town visitors were invited to this meal which was followed by a singing in the church sanctuary.

Bruce and Rod Bajema shared the wedding service and both had wonderful inspiring words.  Brandon had the morning service and also did well.  If I was Judy, I would write up a funny story about all the little things that happened from the time we left home until we left Iowa.  It would be an enjoyable read since "all's well that ends well."  You can ask me about it some time when you have lots of time to listen.  Sadly Elizabeth was not able to attend the wedding.  She was able to listen to the service over the phone.  We are thankful her health is improving, and we would welcome prayers for her and her baby (boy) as her time to give birth will soon be here.  She is due January 30th.  Love, Carol

Mr. and Mrs. Preston A. Klopfenstein

We had a wonderful week-end and it was a beautiful wedding service for Preston and Kyla.  The couple is now in San Diego enjoying weather in the 70's.  Sadly, I forgot my camera and only had my phone to use. The quality of the pictures is not as good as it would have been on my camera.  We'll be glad to get the ones the photographer took.----Carol

Recent Happenings

This has been a very busy week, what with starting second semester and several other things going on. But I thought you might enjoy seeing this picture.  Mary Lee told me in December that she had something we had to do on a particular day--Tuesday, January 7--and it was for my birthday and Christmas.  It was very difficult to figure out what it might be.  My students offered up some interesting suggestions, such as Build-A-Bear, ice skating, and Gravitopia (an inside jumping-trampoline place)--to which I said it better not be that!!

Well, this is what it was.  A painting class!!  And it had to be that date because this was the subject to be painted that night--she knows how much I like birds, especially cardinals.  We went out to eat beforehand and all in all had a wonderful evening together.  It was one of the nicest presents, and most well-thought out, I have ever received.  It was an honor to paint alongside my artist daughter!

Speaking of wildlife, with Cleve's pictures in the previous post--last Saturday night, Mike, Mom, and I drove out to an area about 10 miles away where a rare owl for our area (a short-eared owl) had been spotted in the fields.  Mike and I had actually tried a couple of other times, but couldn't find it.  Well, that night, right at 5:00, we saw it, and it put on quite a show for us, swooping, diving, and landing on fence posts quite close to where we were watching from the car.  It was beautiful, and we were able to watch it for about 20 minutes as it stayed quite close by.  Unfortunately, no pictures due to dusk and a camera that wasn't any good in those light circumstances.  Mike said the next morning that every time he closed his eyes, all he could see was that beautiful bird.

I just heard from Andrew tonight that he is seeing the Yangtze River today.  He will be sending pics as he is also going to see the Three Gorges Dam, the largest dam in the world.  I asked him if he remembered reading "The Story of Ping" as a child, about the duck that lives on the Yangtze River.  We read that book over and over when the kids were small.  Who would have ever thought back then that one day he would actually get to see the Yangtze in person.

In our backyard on a recent snowy morning....

The weather seems to be the main topic of everyone these days.  Here's what I saw on a recent early morning glance at our rear hillside.  These 2 bucks took off running across the creek and into the woods as soon as I clicked the camera shutter. 

 

I'll admit I did zoom in just a bit on these 2 deer, but they were no more than 30 yards from my rear deck.  If I'd had the Bailes' shotgun, it would have been "no contest".  I did not realize they were bucks until I studied the picture!

 

 

We often see a herd of 8 deer grazing in late evening, coyotes, baby foxes wrestling with each other, even a wild turkey (last Spring).  I know this is nothing new to Mike and Ann, and perhaps many others, but I  try to grab my camera when I'm able. 
                                                                              

                                                        Happy New Year to All !!!

"Kids" Today

Thought I'd share just one more picture from Christmas together. Mary and I were hoping to have a nice face to face conversation but we couldn't get these kids off their electronic devices!!!

 

Joey did a great job acclimating Dad to a new iPhone and Mom to a new iPad mini in the short time he and Mary were in SC. Dad is back on his iPad while Mom is getting more of a tutorial. I'm quite impressed that they are as technology savvy as they are!

More pictures of the shower at Ada's

Kathleen, Judy, Kyla, Preston and Ada

On the left are Kyla's 3 sisters and her mom.  On the right is Pearl Miller and her granddaughter, Michelle and Charity

Cathy, Amy and Reagan

Carolyn

Preston, Ellie, Kyla and Alice

 

Ada had everything looking very pretty and the food was delicious!

---Carol

Christmas at Perry's

We had our family Christmas on Thursday evening, December 26th.  Perry and I gave each of the grandchildren (except Anderson who received other gifts) a new sweater.  They put them on for this picture and they are standing in order of age (except for Anderson and Milan who are being held by a sibling.)  Lord willing, soon two more will be added and we will then have 18 grandchildren.  Each one is precious and my favorite thing is to hear them sing.  That is one of the things that made the birthday surprise so special.  ---Carol