Family Visit

Eric gave a good rundown of our weekend trip. It's a lot of miles on the road, as they well know, as they make it home way more often than we make it down there! A highlight of the trip was seeing Eric's new office and plant. The other picture is Amber so glad to be home after 3 weeks in Illinois.

Note to Uncle Lynn and Aunt Mim: Every previous trip Dave has said, "Want to stop at Uncle Lynn's?" I've always said, "No, we have to get home!" This time I suggested stopping and Dave nixed it as he thought it would get too late getting home. We'll have to plan it into our next trip to make sure it actually happens!

Down on the Farm

For the last two Summers, Grace and Owen have volunteered on a nearby organic farm. They are responsible for feeding the chickens and cleaning nests as well as collecting, cleaning, and packaging the eggs for sale. Here's a video of a typical morning at the farm:

A relaxing weekend

I'm sure mom will post more on their trip to the south, but we had a great time. Mom, Dad and Amber drove down on Friday and we went Friday night and celebrated Christian's 12th birthday at O'Charlies over a great bowl of cheddar potato soup. We all came home and relaxed while watching the olympics. Saturday morning, Retta made everybody pancakes and then the girls w/Chris went shopping. Dad and I took a nap, watched a tractor pull on RFDtv, and caught up on what's going on in life. In the evening we all watched a replay of the Obama/Biden speaches and then some more olympics. This morning was church, out to lunch and then Mom and Dad hit the road home. They are probably somewhere north of Nashville as I type this. I know it was a lot of driving for them, and the primary goal was to deliver Amber back home to us. She spent the past 3 weeks in Illinois being shared between the grandparents, aunts and uncles. Thanks to those who spent time with her. Even with that purpose, the 1 1/2 days we had together was really fun, relaxing and a good time of catching up.

On another note, it's been raining for a couple days, heavy at times, although nothing like along the coast. The dog came in this morning with his underbelly covered in red mud. He got to dry off in the garage, a treat he really enjoyed....NOT. This afternoon there have been several tornado warnings, although none real close to us. The one north of us was probably closer to Lynn's than us.

Ann, did you get any rain out of the storm, or did it all come south and west of you?
EDK

Update: Apparently James Spann (local Birmingham weather hero, known for naming every resturant/convenient store within a mile of wherever the tornado is located) reported on ABC 33/40 that a tornado was in Brookwood AL which is only 25 miles from us. Guess it was while I was "watching TV" aka sleeping.

FUN WEEKEND

We had an enjoyable weekend. We went to Shipshewanna IN on Thursday where we stayed overnight at a Bed and Breakfast. I'll just say it was "an interesting experience" - and one we will probably not try again. We went to a gospel concert Thurs. eve by the group Greater Vision - I'm sure some of you have heard and/or seen them. It was excellent and very enjoyable and inspiring. We also had a delicious Amish dinner before the concert. Did a little shop-browsing before heading to Vernon Hills on Friday.

Grace was a dancer/singer in the musical "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat". She did a great job - I don't think she missed a step! - and has quite a stage personna. She had 6 (or maybe 8) costume changes and she said the quickest change had to be made in 45 seconds! The production was presented by their church and was quite a production with people of all ages participating. So it was a good weekend but always good to be home again.

Ada

I'll be Barack

Kelsie and I went to Springfield today for the Obama/Biden rally. We waited in line for about an hour, quickly made it through the Secret Service screening, and then waited in a mob of sweaty people for another hour. It was impressive to hear 20,000 people recite the Pledge of Allegiance, and then the complete silence during a prayer. Obama talked first, and then Biden came out. They talked for about 30-40 minutes total, and all the while Kelsie and I wormed our way closer and closer. By the end, we had gotten pretty close, maybe within 20-30 yards. While we only caught glimpses of them through a bush (it doesn't help that we are so short!), it was worth the trip and the heat. The pic attached is from when we were further back -- if you look closely, you can see Obama. Particularly if they win, this will go down as a day to remember for years to come.

Are you ready for some football?

That time of year has certainly come quickly to our house. We have been working hard at practice since July 28th. This year Noah was the only one who decided to participate (in addition to Jason coaching his team). The hard work paid off in the second pre-season game Friday night. Our team was able to beat the Streamwood Falcons 25-0. You can see by the video that we get to play on a beautiful field that was recently installed by the Downers Grove Park District.

Noah is #30 and one perk of the being the coach's son is you get to play quarterback. I have attached two plays below - an extra-point after one of our touchdowns, and the other is our longest pass to date to his friend Connor. [The color commentary is provided by Zac - who also films the games.]

The real season starts next weekend - so back to practice this week to ensure we are ready.

Amazing trick

I don't want to start of chain of novelties on the blog but thought that with many of our members being very good with numbers -- U. Jerry, Drake, Jason, Aaron, etc., I am posting an unbelievable mind-reading game. I would like math teacher Jerry, or anyone else, to try to explain how it works.

1) Go to the link below. After reading each window, click on the
boy in the lower right corner of the picture.

2) In the last window type in your answer in the white box using
the Keyboard (there is NO cursor).

3) Watch the paper in the boy's hand. You will be amazed. And
no, I don't know how it's done. Cleve
Go to:

http://digicc.com/fido/

A Memory of Grandma

Okay, this one's going to be long, so either dig in or scroll past!

Tonight I graded a paragraph written by a senior English student in which she wrote extensively of her good relationship with her grandmother. At the bottom I wrote, "You will never regret the time you spend with your grandmother and will always treasure those memories." Which of course got me thinking. . .

I remember very well the year I was 19 and at ISU, and spent most weekends with Grandma K. in her "new" home in Gridley. At the end of the day on Friday, Cathy and I would pack up and head that way, then return to our apartment (607 Hillview, I still remember) on Sunday night or Monday morning. (Thank you again, Cathy, for all those rides!) At the beginning of the year I was a little hesitant, wondering if Grandma would really want company every weekend, but she quickly made it clear that she enjoyed having me come. If there were any remaining doubts, they were squelched the time that I made plans to visit Uncle Chuck Hemmer's family in Peoria one weekend and she said, with even a slight hint of petulance in her voice, "Well I don't know why you'd want to spend a whole weekend in Peoria when you could come here instead!" (Can't you just hear the tone she used?!!)

If there weren't any "young group" activities, she and I would spend the evenings in her den; she would sit in her brown rocker and cross-stitch or tat or work find-a-word puzzles, and we would watch "Lawrence Welk" and other TV programs on Saturday nights. She'd talk about her activities with her friends that week, and I'd tell her about the events at school. Some nights she'd cook a simple meal - I especially remember her cube steak, potatoes, applesauce, and apple pie - or we'd go up to the blacktop and eat at that restaurant that I can't remember the name right now.

That was the year that she had severe problems with hives that would strike various places on her face, neck, and throat, even going to Mayo Clinic to get a diagnosis, and she was afraid about her throat closing up. I remember thinking that it may have been a comfort to her to have someone actually spending the night at her house two or three nights a week, and that thought brought me joy, that I could help her in that way.

During the Thanksgiving holiday I got sick with strep throat and was miserable--it was so bad I couldn't swallow. I remember on Friday of that week she took me to Dr. Helm's office; he diagnosed me and put a little stack of antibiotic tablets in an envelope. She took wonderful care of me that entire weekend.

Perry's or Ada's would stop by after church on Sundays a lot. Angela, Drake, and Jason were elementary-school ages, and Elizabeth and Charity were toddlers.

I remember that Grandma made me feel so special that entire year. You all know the way that she had. One time it hit me that, as nice as she made me feel because I got to stay with her for so many months, she had other ways of making all of her grandchildren feel like they were special. That's why we all have such good memories of her.

Thank you for letting me ramble for awhile tonight!

Worth the moment of reading!

From DAYS OF PRAISE

August 21, 2008

Pride Goes Before Destruction
by Henry Morris, Ph.D.
"Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall." (Proverbs 16:18)
This is the middle verse of the entire book of Proverbs, and, in view of the obviously structured original verse divisions throughout the book, it may well have been divinely designed as such. In any case, the sin of pride is so deadly, it is appropriate that a solemn warning concerning it should be placed here right at the heart of God's book of true wisdom.

The sin of pride was the primeval sin of Satan: "Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness" (Ezekiel 28:17). It was the sin by which Satan led Adam and Eve to fall. "Ye shall be as gods" (Genesis 3:5), he had said. It is always the "easily besetting" sin of Christian leaders, especially those who have assumed such leadership prematurely. "Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil" (1 Timothy 3:6). Even Jesus was 30 years old before He began to teach.

Though pride is not named as such in the Ten Commandments, in reality it is implied in the very first one. "Thou shalt have no other gods before me" (Exodus 20:3). The essence of all false religion is evolutionary humanism--worshipping and serving the creature more than the Creator (Romans 1:25). Pride and unbelief are two sides of the same coin. When men and women refuse the word of their Creator, it is fundamentally because they want to be their own "gods," as did Adam and Eve.

Human pride is the hidden root of humanism, and of evolutionism, and of "every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God" (2 Corinthians 10:5). It is the very essence of the sin nature which we have inherited from our first parents. How carefully we need to guard against this secret sin of pride. If we do not, it will inevitably lead to humiliation and defeat. HMM

Institute for Creation Research

Dallas, Texas

www.ICR.org

My Soapbox

Okay, many of you already know this about me, but we've been boycotting McDonalds for a few months now. You can look at the link below to see why.
http://www.boycottmcdonalds.com/
Please understand that by participating in this boycott, I am in NO WAY saying that McDonalds should not hire or serve certain people for ANY reason! However, it has upset me how many Christians don't seem to be bothered by the fact that when they eat their, a portion of their money is being used in this way. So maybe you all can help me understand why... Any opinions?

Old pic from the Homestead

It's time for another old picture -- this one from March of 1957. Can you guess the occasion, with Aunt Alice holding a fancy hat and with Uncle Perry wearing a corsage (or, on a man would it be called a boutonniere?)? Notice the admiring, loving glance that Grandma K is giving her husband. It's always good to see pictures of them because we need to remember that without them NONE of us would even be a thought in anyone's brain. Remember that you can enlarge pictures by clicking on them.
Cleve

All In A Day's Work

On Tuesday morning I was sitting in McDonalds enjoying some coffee and reading. I noticed an elderly man walking slowly across the parking lot into the restaurant. I returned to my reading. Shortly, he came to my table and commended me for being "dressed up," as I had on a white shirt, tie and slacks. He said it's terrible how people dress so sloppy today. His positive comment made me feel good, of course. I told him my father taught me to dress up, especially for business. He even sat down briefly. He was 78, and "went under" (financially) raising cattle in Oklahoma. Then he told me that Starbucks, all over, are closing down. Quite a talker. He didn't have much use for physicians either. He finally left. I then went out to my vehicle. I was so flattered by his compliment that I almost got into the wrong van. Mine was three parking spaces away. Hoping no one saw me I hurried to my van and got in.

In an unrelated matter, a woman came into our store in late afternoon. She had a deep, man's voice. When she left the store, I asked Carol and Heather (a clerk) if they would rather be a woman with a man's voice, or a man with a woman's voice.

Now, I propose that question to the multi-state EJK Blog members, and will await your answers. Webmaster Cleve can do the tallying, and report as he is able.

What do you think?

Two friends (Alabamians lest you wonder who) regularly send me forwards of this nature: "send this to ten friends in the next ten minutes to receive ten blessings or curses if you don't forward." Well, that is a bit exaggerated and a bit misquoted, but my policy for this is to never forward such communications.
I find some good in them, but most of them are overly sentimental and a waste of time. Mary would say this is part of my German stoicism.
Recently I got on a Snopes.com regular e-mail site to make me more aware of the erroneous messages that permeate the air waves. My daughters will appreciate that as too often I let them decipher the false from the true. And, by the way, we are still indebted to Drake for alerting us several years ago to be cautious on these forwards.
This weekend a communication arrived from one of the above two friends about Kay Arthur prognosticating a famine. Well, also this weekend Snope came through saying that that pronouncement is partly false. But Kay was vindicated as she did not claim the special revelation that was attributed to her. I am always wary of special revelations from God!
Sharing thoughts for whatever they might be worth if anything. Mim

Nacreous

FROM: GoodSearch on the Internet--
Nacreous clouds or mother-of-pearl clouds are difficult to document properly. Very often there is a dazzling brightness close to horizon while only a few degrees higher the sky is quite dark with clouds showing pastell colours. Capturing the bright part and the colours into same exposure is always a compromise. Nacreous cloud pastell colours are a bit like those in iridescence, but if sun is close to horizon or below it, then one is observing nacreous clouds. (Iridescence will be either gone or has turned into red and is indistinguishable from ordinary twillight clouds.) On my observing site I rarely see great nacreous clouds. Rather, they are peculiar twillight colours and long lasting red twillight well after cirrus clouds have turned black. Typical view at sunset is in he00652: milky and "soft", whitish veil. This stuff becomes visible only at sunset (or rise); it can be seen only about an hour prior to sunset (or after sunrise). Later this turns into red "twillight looking" cloud like in he01053 with an extremely brigh part close to horizon.

The Gridley Geek

This is stupendous. There is a geek in Gridley. Usually geeks live in cities where they can advise the stymied computerites. But a geek in a faraway, backwoods village? Alas, I found one, who works free of charge, and who apparently works 24/7, and comes in a flash.

The geek in this case still has not named her company. But I am. It's the Geekada Company. The pres. and chief-geek is Ada Kay.

Again, another historic day, and quite a discovery.

Very best wishes,

Perry

He's a good old dad

Just about every day, as a way to tease to Jerry, I say about him, "He's a good old dad." He's really proved the words true now....

We wanted to go boating, but he had to work. He said we could go without him, but I can't back up the truck and trailer. So we convinced him to follow us to the lake, help us put the boat in the water, go to work, and then come back after work to pick us up. Can you believe he agreed to such a thing?

So we loaded everyone up -- all 4 kids, life jackets, coolers of sandwiches and pop, towels, and on and on. Once there, we all got in the boat and unhooked all the stuff that holds the boat on the trailer. As the truck went down the ramp and the boat eased into the water, I reached for the key so I could lower the motor and start it. I was horrified to see that the key was already turned a notch to the right, and had likely been so since we boated last weekend.

Yep, the battery was dead. Too dead to be jumped. So we put everything back together and came back home. Then he went to work, and we swam in our 1-foot pool in the backyard. I'll probably never ask him to do that for me again. He's a good old dad.

Roosters--et al!

This blog takes some unusual turns; however, the latest rooster stuff is just about as humorous as anything can get. Here it is--5:10 AM Sunday morning and I'm reading all this about chicken manure and coyotes. The EJK Blog has injected a renewed family spirit into life, what with verbage from across the midwest and southern confines.

In addition--If brother Perry wants a challenge, we should get out our dictionaries and produce some choice words for him. Bill O'Reilly usually ends his broadcast with an unusual word. So, Perry (or Bill) here we come!!!

PerryScope

This is a historic moment for me as it's my first post in the EJK Family Blog, and it is taking place at the Historic Homestead, wherein I was born and lived in childhood, and again in 1974 when Carol, Elizabeth and I moved here in August of 1974, the same day President Richard Nixon left the White House and Gerald Ford became president. A tidbit I delight in. And in 2008, we are still here, having trained up five children -- and now there are ten grandchildren, with two in the oven. And with Perry, II now married the oven could possibly get fuller by Christmas. Who knows?

As of this date, Carol and I still occupy the old Homestead, along with Preston, 17, who will matriculate on Monday at Heartland College in Normal, with the goal of studying history; and he hopes to teach that subject, perhaps in a Christian school near one of our churches, possibly Countryside Private School, where he graduated this past May. Longer term, he may some day take over Klopfenstein Office Supply, which we have owned for 31 years. I am still game to continue working.

Actually, I tell people I am retired. I retired at age 38 when I bought out Widmer Office Supply and renamed it. My rationale? It is not work, I enjoy it so much. I have enjoyed my six-day weeks now for 31 years, and am eager each Monday morning to go to work. I thrive on the variety, and the ability to be my own boss, and to set my vision and destiny -- of course, with help from Above.

So, I am on board. Be prepared for some prolificness in wordage -- and be alert for my silliness, which often can be subtle.

Perry

ANTIGUA

For the last week or so, I've awakened to the crowing of Roosters. ?? Must be our neighbors to the West, David Meiss's farm ?? . . . If only I could hear the beating of drums, I'd think I was in Antigua.

Andrew and Ernie

Last Saturday Andrew went to Spartanburg (about 1 1/2 hours away) to see Ernie Haase and Signature Sound. Cleve will know who he is for sure, and for those who don't - he's big in southern Gospel and used to sing with the Cathedrals. Andrew's been waiting all summer for this. He was meeting friends for the concert at 6:00, but he went at noon - in hopes of hanging around the auditorium and getting to talk with Ernie. Well, he got his wish - Ernie came out around 1:30 or 2:00 and chatted with Andrew for awhile, then told him to make sure he stopped by to say hello again in the lobby after the concert. Andrew asked him how he got his start and Ernie gave him good advice about letting God work it out in his life and not trying too hard. And as Ernie walked away, Andrew said "See you on the Gaither tour!" Too bad my son has no self confidence.

BUSY WEEK

I have quite a busy week on my schedule. Yesterday and Monday I worked at Meadows. Today I have my annual physical then babysitting Nathan, tomorrow lunch with friends, and Friday taking an elderly (even more so than me) friend to run errands in Bloomington. Oh, my work on Monday consisted of showing the Meadows residents a video, and on Tuesday taking them to a tea room in Pontiac for lunch and shopping at Aldi's. How's that for "work"! I love busy weeks! Been pretty lazy in the evenings - love watching the swimming and gymnastics - don't like beach volleyball! - Ada

In a continuation of the Applebee's story--I used to eat at the Burger King where this happened.

Click here to read the story.

I used to say all the time "Only in Xenia, Ohio!"

G&G K

Not sure why I have it, but here's a photo you're sure to enjoy! I don't think I've seen this on the blog yet. My apologies, if it's already been posted.



My note says it's Stan with Grandma and Grandpa. Is that right?

1943 Gridley High BB team

Here's an old rare photo of Gridley High's basketball team from 1943; perhaps appreciated mostly by Uncles Lynn and Perry, & Aunt Alice. This was recently mailed to me by one of our favorite cousins -- Carolyn Schlipf. Dad (#3) would have been a sophomore.
L to R, back row: Wes Foor, Larry Ellenberger, Ty Kaufman, Uncle Jay, Ralph K., Junior Kuerth.
Front row: Jess Durham, Vic Rich, Floyd Meiss, Ken Roth, John Diggle? (Uncle Lynn to verify?), Les Shinpaugh.

Thanks Carolyn!!

Cleve

Taking a Bite of The Big Apple

Aaron here ... Long-time reader, first time poster :)

Once or twice a year, I have an excuse to visit New York City on business. Since our little guy Cooper is so young, it didn't make sense for Kara to travel with me this time. So, I invited Crystal to go with me! We had a great time exploring Manhattan. For 3 days, we walked, hailed taxis and rode the subway, taking in the sites and sounds of NYC: Broadway/Time Square, Central Park, SoHo, Chelsea, Greenwich Village, Little Italy and China Town, to name a few. There's no place like New York! (Thanks to mom for helping Kara care for the 3 boys at home so I could go in good conscience).

Saturday AM

Just a couple of pics of the boys while Shelley was out birthday shopping. Saturday morning fun at Grandma's: All in motion, got four of them in one shot, not easy to do! Joe having fun in the exersaucer. Ben on the right is the hair twister. Nathan on the left is the copycat.

Trip Pictures

Thought I'd share a few pictures of the overnight trip Mom and I took John Michael and Jeffrey on. It was a lot of fun, and the boys were great. The temps were close to 100 and the humidity felt like it as well. Jeffrey prayed on Monday night: "Thank you God for what we could learn at the zoo, at the Hermitage, and in history."
Playing games in the hotel. We had some pretty hot rounds of Rummikub, Pit, and Quiddler.


The boys and Grandma waiting to enter the Hermitage, home to the 7th president Andrew Jackson.


The boys and Grandma at a cannon at the Battle of Franklin, the deadliest half hour of the Civil War. I've driven past the sign on I-65 well over 100 times and had never considered stopping, but it was very well worth it. We went there based on a recommendation from my minister's wife as they had just visited that site the previous week.


At the zoo posing like a meercat which you can barely make out in the middle of the picture:


The four kids waiting to leave for church on Sunday morning:


I have more pictures posted at my blog.

Another Boo-Boo

I got off of work this morning after a long, arduous night, with patient after patient showing up until our rooms were full and overflowing. I got out of my hospital scrubs and quickly got dressed, trying to escape before somebody found something else for me to do. I was meeting a couple of ladies for breakfast, and though I try not to judge by appearances, I would say I was a little out of my league for fashion and style at my table. I was comfortable enough, however, to start to laugh and say, "Look at me, I've got my blouse inside out!" One of the ladies said, "I did notice, but I thought I've seen blouses that look like that before. I decided it looked OK!" Yeah right, everybody wears their shirts with the seams on the outside...

We Need Rain

This week our county was added to the list of upstate areas that are labeled "extreme drought." Mandatory water restrictions are expected to be in place by the end of the month - neighboring towns already have the restrictions in place. No washing vehicles (or anything else) on hard surfaces; no filling new or empty pools, no building washing, no watering for landscaping, etc.

Our location, just east of the southern end of the Appalachians, means that many of the storm systems that come south have been breaking up as they cross the mountains, so we just haven't gotten much out of them. We get the best rain when a system comes up from the Gulf, but there haven't been too many of those. A tropical storm coming this way instead of going westward would help, but. . .you can't just make that happen.

On a nicer note, my folks were here for a couple of hours yesterday, to deliver some carvings Mike is selling for them. We had lunch at a local place downtown that is a renovated hardware store - the old kind with the hardwood floors, beadboard ceilings, etc. There's even a shoeshine man in the entryway just like the '50s and earlier. We'd have taken and posted a picture of my dad getting his shoes shined in the oldfashioned chair, but Murphy's law decreed that the camera couldn't be found anywhere. It was nice to have them here even if it was brief.

APPLEBEES - LIZARD

Those of you who live in the Bloomington area have probably heard about the incident at Applebees - but for those of you from "afar", here it is. Two women were having lunch at the local Applebees yesterday and found a 4-inch dead lizard in their salad. There was an article in today's Pantagraph about this. The health department was called and they state that it appears to just be "one of those extraordinary things that happens"! They did not actually see the lizard because it had been thrown away. We heard from another source that Applebees offered the women $10 for their trauma. They were not happy with that!

What would it take to make YOU happy if you found a dead creature in your salad? Certainly not $10 and certainly not more free meals at Applebees for me. Maybe a gift certificate to the Outback Steakhouse or another restaurant of your choice???

I wonder -- could a "sick" employee thought it would be a funny joke? or the customer's themselves planted it? That's me - always the skeptic!