SC House/Move Update

Hey everyone - you may be wondering about Dad and Mom, who have completed their move to SC. Notice, they have completed their move, not their move-IN. If any of you have moved recently, you know how long that takes!

Rhoda and a friend of hers have driven to SC to help them unpack. Ann had several meals waiting upon their arrival. Mike has been there to help. Mark and Molly are going this weekend. Unfortunately, we're unable to be there but plan to go in December to help them decorate for Christmas.

They seem happy and excited in their new home. I'm sure they'll post some photos as soon as their Internet is up and going. Thank you for your prayers and concern for them as they start a new phase of their lives.

New Baby Boy

Kobe Nash

11/6/10 (Daddy's birthday)

8lb. 8oz., 18.5"

Parents: Staci & Jerime

Grandparents: Cathy & Tim

Everybody's doing great!

Steffen Update

Since everyone is posting updates, I thought I would include one from our household. Probably the biggest news in our family is... the dog is gone. I'm sure you've all been wondering (ha, ha) since there have been no dog stories lately. He just got too big and turned out to be an 85 pound puppy. He was so excited around the boys that he would knock them over without even trying to. After he knocked down a relative and a preschool teacher who stopped by one afternoon, we decided it was time to let him go. We gave him back to the man we got him from and he is living a wonderful life on a farm in southern Illinois with him mom and his brother. Sam misses him dearly, but I have to admit that my life has gotten a lot easier without the dog around. We have seen a big increase in critters around here (possum, raccoons, and skunks), but that's okay.

I have 3 in school this year, 1 in preschool, and 1 at home. With homework and after school activities it seems we are always busy doing something. I'm in a meal exchange with some girls from church and that has been a huge help. We each make 2 meals x 4 and exchange at Wednesday night church. So twice a month I come home with 8 freezer meals. I'm loving it!

Sam keeps busy at work and his latest project is restoring his grandpa's 1947 pick-up truck. It's been his sanity-keeper lately. The boys are really excited to have it finished so they can "ride in parades and stuff".

Our next big event will be Sam's Mom's wedding in January. Earlier this year she was contacted by a man she knew from childhood, who lost his spouse at around the same time. They began corresponding through mail and phone calls as they shared their mutual grief. We can trully see God's hand in their relationship and it's been a beautiful testimony. It reminds me of Isaiah 61:3 where it talks about beauty for ashes, and the oil of joy for mourning.

Nothing too exciting with me. It seems I'm on the treadmill a lot (literally and figuratively). And in continuing my pursuit of healthy living, I gave up Diet Coke a few months ago. It was a big adjustment but I feel so much better.

That's it for us. I've enjoyed all the updates - keep them coming!

Knobloch House update

Slowly but surely the building goes on, and on, and on

Porch ceiling almost complete

Starting on siding

Update on my kids

We had a monster appointment for all four kids last week with our primary doctor. Ethne and Catie have started growing again, so Dr. C feels okay with backing off the testing for now. We still have no answers for why they were losing weight. I am glad we did the testing, but I'm also okay with backing off. The girls are happy, healthy, and meeting milestones. As long as they keep growing, I'm not worried about them being small. It's only when they stopped gaining and started losing that we wanted some tests done.

Thanks, everyone, for the prayers and support while we were testing the girls. Here's hoping they keep gaining.

If you want more details, you can check out my personal blog.

Wetzel-Celis Update

Well, mom and I must be on the same page, because I was thinking it was time for something new on the blog too. It's been awhile since I posted, so figured it was my turn. We have been busy, as usual. Jerry drives to Springfield everyday to work for the State of Illinois. Makes for long days. Interesting to note that they got "Voting Day" off. I always tease Jerry, "That's the government for ya!" I had a more-exciting-than-usual day at State Farm today ~ I witnessed a bizarre scene when a security worker lost control of an SUV and drove erratically through the parking lot, crashing into cement planters, light poles and ultimately a tree! Thankfully, no one was hurt. Heather is living at home with us while she saves money working at Chipotle. Can you believe she brought her dog with her, and the dog and I are getting along great?!?! It has been fun to have them both around; Heather is good about recognizing when I need help and will jump right in. Kelsie visited a couple weekends ago from college in Florida. She is doing so great down there, but needed a weekend of some good old Illinois fall weather. Oh how I loved having all the kids home, but oh how worn out I was! Here they all are around the breakfast table that Saturday:



Heater is training 2 hours a day in high school to be a CNA. She is surely learning to do some tasks I don't know that I would be able to do. She really loves it, and we are excited that she is excited about something! Nathan was Ironman for Halloween. I actually watched Ironman I with him, and liked it enough to think I might watch the sequel. This is not my kind of movie, but yes, I am a mom of a son, so I must go along with him. He made a fine (and fast running) Ironman, and scored a big bucket of candy which we've all enjoyed! Here he is prior to going trick-or-treating:



There's alot more, I'm sure, but that's a quick look into where we are right now.

What are the rest of you up to?

P.S. I didn't comment awhile back when the posts were made about Andrew's singing group came to Indiana, but will say now how great he sounded (and I only heard the online version!). Heather said it was really fun, and the group was awesome. So happy that mom and dad could take her with them, and that they all got the opportunity to see Ann and Andrew there. He sure can sing!!

NEW STUFF

Well, the election is finally over! Thank goodness! We just got home from church; small crowd tonight, but I think there were some various activities going on at the same time.

Jerry and I both have mild colds, coughs and stuffy noses. Do you think it will take us twice as long to get over it since we'll just keep passing it back and forth? Obviously I don't have anything exciting to report on, but I'm sure you're all awaiting another post on here, so I thought I'd just do it! Whether you like to see my creations or not, here are the latest.

A snowman wall-hanging was fun to make.

Christmas table-runner
One of a set of 12 placemats - I hope to make more.

Ornaments and lace snowflakes.

Caleb and Alice

Here's another picture so you can see Alice, who is crawling all over at 7 months. ---Carol

Cousins in Kansas City

Ashton and Caleb went with Perry, Preston and me on a bus to KC last week-end. It was a fun trip and we got to be there for the celebration of Jesse's 2nd birthday.

More Klop Sleep Isues

Tuesday night the power was out in my neighborhood meaning it was extremely dark and very quiet trying to go to sleep.


Here's how I solved my problem: I have a crank flashlight so I wound that up for about 30 seconds to give a little light in the room and I also remembered getting a crank radio so pulled that out and wound and wound and wound it (all that winding really kind of woke me up) to listen to the end of the Celtics/Heat game on ESPN radio. I use my cell phone for an alarm clock so I knew I'd wake up when needed in the morning, except I was down to one bar as I hadn't charged the phone the previous night. I also had in the back of my mind what if the phone dies and I don't wake up in time for work.

With all the sleep issues we Klopfensteins seem to have has anyone had it too dark and too quiet to sleep with the power out?

By the way, this is the third time in two years wind has caused power outages for my area.

And the power came back on at 11:53 pm.

Update?

Always good to hear from you, Mary. Doesn't seem like you are so far away.

We need an update on U. Lynn and A. Mim. House bought? Moving date set? Somebody fill in the details!

Wheat Pillow

At a hotel where we stayed recently, a choice of pillows was offered. One was a wheat pillow, supposedly good for supporting a person's neck, and I tried it the last couple of nights we were there. It was very different, but I did think it helped support my neck, thus helping me sleep better.

Joey brought one back for me so I've been using it for a week now - and I really like it! If you like soft, downy type pillows this is not for you. But if you have any neck issues, it may help. If you get one, make sure it's fully refundable just in case it doesn't work for you. I had to order mine online since I couldn't find it at the regular department stores. The cost is sort of up there but hey, what's the price of a good night's sleep?

Sobering Afternoon

It is very sobering to go to a funeral for an 18-year-old young man. I did that today. He was a former student of mine (five classes over the years), a graduate of five months ago, who collapsed while running at a local track on Wednesday night. He was eight months younger than my daughter, and as I sat next to her today, with the casket of one of her peers resting just a few yards away, the minor things that sometimes come between us seemed so unimportant.

To those who are parents of children still at home: Give them an extra hug tonight. Life is fleeting - my church and school families have found that out anew this week.

CRAZY DREAM

This won't compare to Judy's posts about nighttime activities, but I awakened with a rapidly-beating heart about 3 am and actually she was part of my dream. We were in some airport waiting for our plane to go to Florida. Lots of people actively moving around when Judy told me to hurry our flight is boarding. I tried to pick up my purse, but it was gone and I yelled at her to help me find it, but she kept going so I ran around like crazy to find my purse, but couldn't find it. I ran as fast as I could down a huge flight of steps trying to get to the gate on time - but knew they probably wouldn't let me on. Then I woke up and in reality my heart was just thumping, thumping!! Took me awhile to calm down, but went back to a peaceful sleep and didn't wake up until 7:45 - pretty late for me. Jerry was already gone to his Friday breakfast.

I've been making table runners as I have a special order for three of them and I also want to make several for a craft show. Here's the latest three.

Have a great day.

Phoebe AnnaRae Knobloch

Phoebe AnnaRae arrived at 4:41 this afternoon. Jake and Malissa are thrilled with their little girl. Grandma's pretty proud, too!

2010 Ornaments

This is the result of my efforts on Saturday.  I'll let you look and here and here for the explanation.

There has been some speculation that the kids may be getting too old for this tradition, but I was excited on Friday when within minutes of getting a text from me almost everyone replied how much they like to get their ornament each year.

Video Clip

How Great Thou Art

10/3/10

Terre Haute IN

SWEET PICTURE

This is a bad-sleep night so I'm "playing" with my computer. I've had this sweet picture laying on my desk for awhile and thought this would be a good time to share it.

An interesting morning with Maria--Carroll, that is

Maria Carroll, German war bride, married a soldier from Shelbyville, TN during or just after WWII. I met her when we had an AiG table in Huntsville in August and found her German accent and enthusiasm delightful. I told her I had three German creationist books at home. She was interested in buying them, so today we met at Cracker Barrel for breakfast to get the books to her. I would much rather have had her in our home, but with a kitchen full of packing boxes, the idea of a guest was abandoned quickly. Of interest also was a devotional book written in old German, the frontpiece that Lynn wanted to have Maria translate. She didn't know old German very well; guess it was like trying to translate the original Beowulf in old English. This is an excerpt that she deciphered: "To the Christian reader, I wish blessing, peace and mercy from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. True Christianity leads us back to God, which is the source of our happiness."
The date in the book is 1785 (not a typo!) and was sent to Lynn from a Stephanie Klopfenstein from Crestline, OH because she was downsizing and wanted to get rid of it. Lynn had never heard of her before the book arrived in the mail. I'm trying to get him to put a picture of it on the blog, but that is easier said than done for us oldsters. The book belonged to an Isaac Klopfenstein and contains 365 devotionals. It is at least five inches thick. Lynn thinks it should go into a Klopfenstein museum that is yet to be constructed.

Back to Ada's question, "What Keeps You Awake At Night..."

Well, the night-time antics never stop in the Knobloch household. I couldn't sleep last night, possibly due to too much diet pop yesterday. So I was on the couch, when suddenly at 2:30 am I heard a loud explosion, then another. I jumped up and ran to the back of our house...and there was Dave with blood running down his face, completely disoriented, and insisting he was running from a crumbling barn. It took a while to wake him up and then we examined his damaged face. We still can't figure out what he hit, as there doesn't seem to be any damage to the house anywhere, but he must have hit a wall or door. It looked like he had scraped about 8 inches of skin off the right side of his face, and possibly had broken a bone in his cheek. He cleaned up and put ice on it and slept in his chair until morning.

This morning, the swelling in the cheek was down, but he has a nasty swollen, black eye. He bandaged himself up, called off of work at IDOT, and headed out to the farm to run the tractor all day, chiseling. His only comment was, "See, this is why you don't take days off of work for no good reason, in case something like this happens!"

And I was emphatically told, "No pictures on the Internet!"

I hear thunder now, so maybe he will get rained out and have to come home.

What happens...

...when you put 10 eggs into a pot on the stove to boil, then go off to do laundry, read emails, proofread books, etc.???

Answer: It STINKS in here!

...when the caller-ID says "Bromenn Hospital" and you answer it and they say, "Just wondered if you would like to come in this afternoon and help us out."

Answer: NO! (I'm sticking to the retirement plan!)

FATHER - SON EXPERIENCE

Tim & Amy took the motorcycle safety course at ISU.

The 20 hour course included classroom and riding instruction.

Maximum speed: 20MPH!

"It was a great Father/Son experience" - Tim

"Um, in case you hadn't noticed, I'm a girl!" - Amy

"OOPS" - Tim

 Tim & Amy celebrate completing the course.

 Tim on a 250 Suzuki

Amy on a Honda Rebel

"Little Women"

Last evening Jeanette and I went to see "Little Women" performed by local actors. The two hour presentation was excellent. When I was ten years old I was given the book "Little Women" (my italics are not working, need help) and read it over and over. Books were few and far between at our house although everyone in the house from my aged grandmother on devoured the daily "Peoria Journal Star."
I read the book so often that had an actor forgotten lines, I could have prompted easily. The book has many inspirational thoughts and the lives of the characters show much that is admirable. But years later I was disappointed when I learned that Mr. Alcott, Louisa's father, was a Transcendentalist and hobnobbed with Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. They no doubt were men of principle, but they rejected the authority of the Bible and hence God's way to get to heaven.

"Ramona" by Helen Hunt Jackson was another oft read book given to me by Aunt Angela Hemmer, when Mother, Chuck and I visited them in SanDiego in 1940. We saw Ramona's
marriage place, which made the book come alive. The book, based on fact, is the tragic story of Ramona, half Spanish/half Indian, in the days when the Spaniards treatedthe Indians mercilessly. Ramona fell in love and married an Indian, much to the disgust of her heartless distant relative/guardian. For the rest you will have to read the book.

MORE ABOUT DINNER

Since you asked Mim - here are some details about the evening. There were 260 BC Survivors there. I was surprised to see one of the "regulars" from my sewing club - we did not know we had this in common. All the other dinners we went to had entertainment such as an inspirational/comedy speaker, group or solist music, slide shows, etc. This time there was no such thing. The head of the Community Cancer Center spoke for about 10 minutes about updates going on at the Center, then said we were our own entertainment for the evening in just getting to know each other. Kind of a "letdown".

The dinner itself was interesting. There were four food stations: mashed potato bar, mini salad station, carving station, and mini dessert station. We had to stand in line about 10-15 minutes at each station, go sit and eat items from each station one at a time, then go back in line at another station. It seemed very disorganized and complicated and everyone was rather puzzled about it. We're not used to eating things separately.

The layout of the country club was not really conducive for this large a group. We were seated in three rooms with large doors and windows connecting them. We had two violinists playing in our room, another room had a pianist, and the middle room had the food. I'm not really "complaining" just letting you know how the evening went. I really do appreciate the efforts they went to in providing an evening out for us. As always, they took a picture of us and I've included mine.

Knobloch House update

Wade helping dig in Geo Thermal while Casey eats supper

Installing septic lines
Perry II and Jimmy (K & W employee) framing in attic
Geo Thermal lines in front yard

SPECIAL LADIES

This evening I'm going to dinner for special ladies at the Bloomington Country Club. This is an annual event that began about five years ago. I will be going with two other special ladies from Gridley. We will get the royal treatment with delicious food and good entertainment.

I'd like to say I wish you could all go with me, but actually I hope none of you will ever be invited to this event - it is a celebration of life for breast cancer survivors. I'm so thankful to be an 11-year survivor!

Two More

I'm taking this picture of the back of the bus and was able to include all 5 of us - the "star" with his four favorite "groupies". Pretty clever picture, huh? And I've included a picture of the entire Calvary Quartet. They will have new CD's out probably in December - be sure to get one. Their singing is beautiful.

Nice Afternoon in Terre Haute

It was so nice to look up at a church dinner in Terre Haute, IN, and see Ada, Jerry, and Heather walking in. Andrew's quartet sang at a 3:00 service and they came just to hear him - and it was great to have them there. I do have some videos, but am having a hard time getting them to post. Will go ahead and post these pictures now and try to add the video later.

Here we are in the back of the touring bus. Ada's face is buried in the flash, but you can see her in the background - and Jerry too - if you look closely!

The quartet spent Saturday recording a new CD in Evansville, IN. I did get a short video of that to post on my blog. That gives me hope that others may post as well -

Getting ready to get started on another recording session -

This producer really knew his stuff. You may be able to see the four colored lines on the computer at the left - each line represents a single voice. They can re-record over small places that need correcting, and just change the one voice that needs fixing. It was an educational experience to watch.

It was a LONG but very good weekend. I learned a lot about spending a weekend on a traveling bus. Had my own bunk - there are 12 on the bus. There is a living area in the back, and in the front is a living/kitchen area and a small bathroom. Six of us were along this weekend - the four quartet members, the piano player, and me. Usually the director's family comes along, but his children were in a play this weekend, which is why I rode along instead. After the recording session on Saturday, we drove to Terre Haute and had two services on Sunday at a church there. Then we went on to Cloverdale (didn't know there were so many hills, valleys, and curvy roads in Indiana) for an evening service. Left there at 9:30 p.m. and pulled into the director's house at 5:30 this morning.

Thanks so much, Ada, Jerry, and Heather, for taking the time to come meet us!

Weekend of Cousins

This weekend, we spent time with both of my brothers and their families.

Friday we met Jason, Janice, Zac, Noah & Miles at an apple farm near Dekalb, IL. The kids played in a little park, we made it through a really cool corn maze, and we picked apples. We also had lunch at a popular NIU place that I was longing for.

Then on Saturday, we went to see Drake, Michelle, Grace & Owen. We got to see Owen play football, and Grace cheer. They both did a really good job! Go Cougars!!


When I tucked Nathan in to bed tonight, I asked him which cousin is the coolest. He said, "All of them!" :)

MOVING BRINGS MEMORIES!!!

These photos are among the literally hundreds that we have uncovered in the moving process. The above shares only a moment of the family history--of which we have enjoyed so many moments. Who are they?

Uncle Lynn