Thursday, May 28, 2015

Baby Embry on the way....

Hi all - I know some of you have already heard the news, but I want to make sure you're all in the loop. This is going 'viral' right now on Facebook too... Jeremy and I are pleased to announce we are expecting a baby in early October! I'm halfway there, feeling great, and - based on a sonogram today - everything is progressing very well with the baby. Before you ask... we are keeping a secret whether it's a boy or girl. We feel very blessed and excited about what lies ahead!!



Monday, May 25, 2015

Visit in Houston


This weekend Renae and I were in Houston. On our way home today we stopped to check out Gloria's new home and had a very nice lunch with her and Jamie. We really liked her corner room on the third floor. She has a nice deck with a lovely view of a grove of trees. There's a sidewalk all around the building where she can walk her dog every day. Everything was nice--the dining room, activity room, library, etc. We were actually a bit disappointed that the minimum age to move in is 55! Before heading home we went out for lunch and enjoyed catching up and reminiscing.

Friday, May 22, 2015

What's going on with Angela's family?

When I saw the recent urging for more to post updates and news, I thought it sounded like a good idea. I haven't written here in a long time, and I really do enjoy reading what others write, so we all should do it more. I'll get it going!

We (me, Jerry and Nathan) are LOVING life in Jacksonville, FL! We bought a house last fall and have spent alot of time painting, cleaning, decorating, and general fixing up. The best thing about the house is it has a pool. We swim almost daily, and every time, one of us says, "Having your own pool is the best!" This week, I've even swam before work. The house is several miles from the beach, so we try to get out there as often as possible too. Jerry and I are both working for State Farm. Jerry's a fire catastrophe claim rep, and I am a supervisor in the billing department. We are both pretty happy at work. Nathan goes to a school right in our neighborhood. It's the same school he's gone to since we moved here. He loves it. I am amazed every day when I pick him up, as the kids that come out of there are smiling. It seems like the happiest school I've ever been at. Nearly ever day he tells me had a GREAT day!

Kelsie lives on the "other side of the ditch" in Ponte Vedra Beach, a few miles from us. She works for KLS International, a medical supply company that supports reconstructive surgery for children with birth defects. We see Kelsie pretty often, sometimes. She's very independent and busy, but still likes to hang out with us.

Perhaps our biggest news right now is with our oldest daughter, Heather. She is due to have a baby any day. She still lives in Bloomington, so as soon as I hear baby Jett is on her way, I'm taking off! Heather is a very hard worker, managing the Hardee's in ElPaso, but she is about to find out what hard work is all about! :) I have no doubts about her abilities. She'll be a great mom, and we can't wait to meet Jett!

We don't hear too much from Heater these days. She was not able to join us for a baby shower awhile back, and my trip was so short, I was not able to catch up with her at all that time. I understand she is living in Peoria. I hope that when I'm up there soon I will be able to track her down and find out what's going on.

Well, I have more to share, but I'll save some for my next post. Who is going next?

Sunday, May 17, 2015

Birthday dinner

This evening I had my mom & dad for dinner to celebrate Dad's birthday, which happens to be this coming Tuesday.  He had a couple of requests, most of which were low carb due to his diabetes.  He is very careful with his diet & exercise, so his blood sugars are doing great as a result.  So...we had a great meal of broiled top sirloin steaks that I got at Alwan Brothers (very nice local meat market), sauted asparagus with fresh garlic, a low-carb broccoli cheese dish, & a tossed salad with almonds & strawberries.  I reserved the carbs for dessert...homemade butter pecan ice cream!  It was a rare treat that we all thoroughly enjoyed.  It was also a good way to try out the ice cream maker mom handed down to me recently. 
Oh, another thing...I have an automatic iced tea maker & use it a lot in the summer.  Our family likes our tea sweet, so I use only Splenda or Truvia.  I find a lot of people only drink tea unsweetened.  The preference seems to run in families.  I guess it depends how your mom served it?  My Grandma Steffen always served super-super sweet mint tea, with real sugar of course.  She'd serve it in those neat old multicolored aluminum glasses which kept it ice cold.  Yum.
I wonder - how do the rest of you Klopfenstein's take your tea?

Monday, May 11, 2015

Mother's Day with Perry's family

 Bruce, Elizabeth, and David

 Glenn, Caleb, Ashton, Charity, Carter, Heidi, Julia, and Anderson
 Kyla, Preston, Laura, Andrew, and Ellie
Sarah and Matthew

We enjoyed a delicious supper of ham balls, etc. at the Schieler home.  There were 21 of us since the Emch family couldn't make it.  I felt very blessed!  ---Carol