Hands

The youngest and the oldest. How quickly time flies by. I have thought many times lately that I can hardly believe where I am in life right now..5 grandchildren? Aches and pains where I've never had them before. Married to someone nearly 40 years? Yes, time has flown by..

Christmas 2010

I see it's been months since I've done any blogging. So there's nothing like getting a Christmas letter via my blog. If you didn't get one in the mail, it isn't because I don't wish you a Merry Christmas. But Thank you so much to all for friendship, and support. Onward and upward in 2011, and we hope you all continue to be a big part of our lives.

What could be better than inviting all our friends and family into our living room and sitting with them to chat about our year! Oh wait, I do have a way-Our Christmas Letter! So come join us in our front room and listen in on our conversation:

Ron: So, Sue, I'll let you start with what happened this year. I don't remember much anymore.
Sue: Lots of things that happened this year could go in this letter. We should probably organize
things in a logical way. Chronological could work.
Ron: Perfect. So the first thing we should talk about is my garage. Just look at it. Big, beautiful, woodsy color, and we can even use it!
Sue: Yup, that one would work. However, you're not done with it yet. Aren't you still putting in electricity, putting up a ceiling or something?
Ron: Ok, I'm still working on it.
Well, I did finish putting in a new floor in our living room. That turned out pretty good don't you think?
Sue: Pretty? Yes. And it only took 3 months to do. We really should have more people over so they can see it. I don't think that's too interesting for a newsy Christmas letter, though. Good thing they weren't here in this living room when you dug those dead squirrels out of the chimney. Now that was gross. Poor Burt and Faith. They still don't know that that awful smell was right over there in that fireplace. I think we'll keep that to ourselves.
Ron: Ok, well then we could talk about my trip to the Boundary Waters. That was a pretty good trip
Sue: You didn't even catch any fish.
Ron: That hardly counts. The weather was great, the other guys caught fish and we got to canoe.
Sue: Well, take it away then! Did you bring your pictures? We could do a slide show here or something. I'm sure our friends and family will love all your pictures of water, trees, canoes, and fishing poles.
Sue: Or, hey, wait. Our biggest news was grandchild number 5! That should be at the top of our list.
Ron: You're right, April this year was a pretty big deal.
Sue: All 9 lbs. 13 oz of her. What a little princess.
Ron: As I remember that's exactly how big her father was! Oh, and her name. Her name, means princess; Sarah Elisabeth.
Sue: And here we are at the end of the year, and she's crawling and has teeth popping through. She's going to give her parents and brother a run for their money.
Ron: That reminds me, we had the other 3 grand-kids over for a few days in July while their parents were gone. That was adventure at its best.
Sue: You took them “camping” in the new garage and used them for manual labor.
Ron: They loved it, and don't tell everybody that. It sounds like we're, well, slave drivers. They did other fun things... Boat building, wii playing, picnicking days!
Sue: Ok, then, on to other things. I really think our friends and family should all hear about our one and only camping trip to northern Wisconsin. I mean after all, who wouldn't be jealous of a trip to a place filled with giant mosquitoes, no electricity, pit toilets, and bathing in the lake.
Ron: Oh, hey, that's pretty negative. You forgot that I do all the cooking. The weather was perfect. We sat around the fire ring and ate s’mores and pudgy pies, AND we were there with friends.
Sue: shhhh..I just want everyone to know how “hardy” we are!
Ron: Well, we don't have to tell them exactly where we went. That would help.
Sue: Ok I think they got the camping idea anyway.
Ron: You forgot to tell everyone about the family weekend together in Cancun.
Sue: You're right, that's because we didn't go to Cancun. We went to the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha.
Ron: Well, you're the one always wanting things more exciting. It'd be pretty exciting to take our whole family to Cancun don't you think.
Sue: Yes. Though, having 5 kids, 7 adults and a dog in one house was adventure enough. It was a lot of fun. I'm so glad we enjoy being with each other.
Ron: And what was the highlight of that whole weekend?
Sue: It had to be playing “Family Trivia”. Jon comes up with some good prizes. Weird questions, but good prizes. Though, admittedly I love the zoo, and the Lincoln's Farmer's Market.
Ron: I still can't believe they expected me to know what Simeon's middle name was...
Sue: At least he didn't make you memorize “Goodnight Moon” again.
Just think, they'll all be at our house again for Christmas. I have to come up with some sort of adventure for everyone. A non competitive ‘game’ this time.
Ron: How about having them help me put up the ceiling in the garage. We could make it a puzzle.
Sue: Maybe having a White Elephant exchange will be adventure enough.
Ron: We could start on the bathroom....
Sue: Maybe here would be a good place to tell everyone that you had projects galore at Amy's new house in Michigan and it's like, your favorite thing to do. Projects that is.
Ron: I suppose. I didn't end up at the doctor's and the Chiropractor's after I was finished like I did after spending a couple hours picking strawberries in June.
Sue: Yup, I think it's time to summarize. We promised not to talk about doctor visits. We really had a pretty good year, don't you think.
Ron: We have.
Thanks for joining in on the conversation here! There's no question that we have seen answers to prayer, God's faithfulness to us and our family.
“admonish….encourage….help…be patient…But always seek to do good to one another and everyone. Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. Give thanks. He who calls you is faithful. He will surely do it.”(I Thes 5:14-16,24)
We don't know what the next years will hold, but we do know that God is faithful. We wait in great hope and expectancy for 2011 and pray for you to know God's grace and love...

Cousins picture

Ok, so here I'm trying to get just one picture of the 5 grandkids together. We start with the 4 boys until we can quickly (and I really mean quickly) get Sarah in place to get a shot of them all. As you can see, the results are pretty hilarious. Well, for me anyway. Simeon is obviously not too happy with this process. Ah well, it will be funny some day! And, all 5 of them are in the picture.

Wisconsin Camping

As you can see from my pictures we had the best weekend in Wisconsin. Granted, we didn't do a whole lot, but I think that's what camping is all about! I don't think I've seen skies so blue in awhile. The tree colors? Beautiful. Hurrah for camping. Eating, sleeping, walking...oh yes, and we talked. Our conversations these days revolve around retirement and aches and pains. Yikes, it is scary. Are we acting like old people? Maybe just acting our age. That's sad.

The Sycamore Tree

(sycamore) (Basswood)

Orange City has two beautiful, huge Sycamore trees that I walk past on my morning walks. They are so splendid I decided I wanted one for myself and our back yard. So we've been looking. and looking. In my research however, I discovered that the Sycamore is a space hog. It gets so huge it should be planted by itself in a space because it takes up so much room. Since we have quite a few trees in our back yard already, we thought maybe a different tree would fit better. So we went with the Basswood tree, a.k.a. the Linden Tree. (I did not know that before) The Basswood is also known as a Bee Tree. You can guess the reason for this, Bees love its blossoms and incredible fragrance. In fact, Basswood tree honey is highly sought after. (Though it won't make much difference to us since we aren't keeping bees as well) It too, is a beautifully shaped tree and grows quite large. There are several of them in our neighbor hood as well. So Saturday, we stopped at Del's Garden Center in Spencer and found our Basswood. We are taking out a spirea bush plunked in the middle of our yard and replacing it with this lovely Basswood. Now if I can just live long enough to see it as big as the one across the street!

Is This Heaven?

Lynn and I took an afternoon and headed to the Adam's Homestead Nature Preserve near McCook Lake near Sioux City last week. We've ridden our bikes on this trail before, but it is so beautiful we had to go again. We were not disappointed. The day was picture perfect. Lynn had made us a lunch and we stopped along the Missouri River and enjoyed the afternoon. I know this is one picture I have in my head that I want to keep. Thanks friend, for dragging me out of work to go do this. It was lovely!

Ahhhh Saturday

It's hard to believe that a week that had a holiday in it could end up being a long week, but it was. I fear next week, with the regular 5 days, will be an even longer one with long hours. And that when Ron finally gets home again. I ate out waaay too much while he was gone. At least he will be rested and ready to go. (after all, his favorite thing to do is projects! seriously.)
But we are here at Saturday again. That is good, though too short I'm sure.

I am thinking about doing Sunday School tomorrow. We are diving into "Choosing Gratitude" by Nancy DeMoss. So it would be pretty wrong of me to start complaining here. Instead, I'll just start this period of my life by saying, I am so grateful for my church and a group of women I can walk down this road with. Thanks to my wonderful daughters-in-law, and daughter who first did this book with me. It makes it extra special to be able to share this with others.

Lost and Found at the library

Ok, since I've been working at this library I often feel like I'm in an Oz like state. You know, "I don't think we're in Kansas anymore, Dorthy". Maybe it's just the age we're living in, or maybe I'm just getting old. Who knows. From the little old man rushing into the men's restroom to the policemen arresting someone in our foyer I find myself a bit dazed. Anyway, to the point:
Found in library's Reading Room: 1 bottle male enhancement pills.
Claimed the next morning by owner who explained in detail what great lengths he had gone to to purchase said pills.
Sheesh.

Birthdays

Picking out a sucker at the Farmer's Market


I know you will think it silly when I tell you that I remember this boy's father's 3rd birthday. We celebrated it in Illinois and I almost willingly missed it for a trip with a friend. I decided in the end, that I simply could not miss a celebration that happened only once in a child's life. I have a picture of him sitting in a chair in front of his cake. We must have just said "Take your thumb out of your mouth, Jonathan" because the thumb is pulled out, but still close so he can pop it back in as soon as the picture is snapped.
I realize that Jon wasn't there for this day but he did make it home for the actual birthday day so technically he only missed the party.
So that said, I am so glad that I also got to celebrate my grandson's third birthday. He had such fun. He enjoyed every package, every bite of cake, and blowing out those candles! Thanks Mindy and Jon for letting us be a part of his special day. I am looking forward to every one of them!

BWCA

Apparently it was a very good trip to the Boundary Waters! Ron didn't catch a single fish. (not for lack of trying, though) But they ate plenty of fish anyway. Weather was good. They all made it home safely. Ron saying, I'm not as young as I used to be. Those portage trails weren't easy.

But next week is our vacation together! Hoo Rah! We're going camping.

Family

I spent last weekend with family. I haven't seen them in nearly 10 years. So I had been looking forward to the time together! It was a 7 hour trip one way for me. I took some audio books and enjoyed the ride! And it was worth the trip! Catching up. Remembering. Being a part. My sister, niece, mom, brother in law were there as well. I went to church with the cousins on Sunday. I bought Sweet corn. (only $3 a doz) I helped pick fresh green beans and peas. We ate together. We did dishes together. We laughed a lot. I will keep this family for sure and try to get Ron to go with me next time.

Home again, Home Again, Lickety Split

Dear Nathan and Kristin,
Well, your boys are back. We did our best to spoil, pamper and generally love on them while they were here. I doubt they learned anything life long...you know, like the immutibility of God, or anything about the time space continuium, but we had a wonderful time. Do you see the picture of me with Simeon? I have to say, he is one wonderfully, huggable kid. Oh my but I enjoyed holding that one. And the other Two? They were talkitive, willing, ready, and game for any and every thing. When Aunt Joan asked them what their favorite thing about the weekend was, Isaiah said, "There were just too many fun things that they did to just pick one." I loved that! I think we all had a great time. And they were kind, polite, generous to each other, and ate everything I fixed. (and more) So. Let's plan on doing this again...but maybe not for a few months. I need to get some rest. Bless you for the wonderful job of parenting that you two are doing! They will eventually learn the Westminster catachism and I won't have to help with that!

Summer Adventure pt. 3

Hi Mom and Dad,

Isaiah and Phinehas may not miss you, but I just gotta say, WHEN ARE YOU COMING HOME? I MISS MISS MISS YOU. -signed Simeon.

P.S.

Ok, so I have been having a good time, but It's taken Grandma and grandpa a few days to get the hang of how I work. They tried to feed me green beans today. YUCK. And yesterday, it was potatoes. UGH. I'm not picky. I'm really not. But how did they manage to pick out things I just don't like to eat. Well, we've had fun in other ways. Running through the sprinkler today was a blast! I got wet wet and it was so nice and cool. We're eating marshmallows tonight. I'm not sure about them either, but I'll try. Oh, wait. Grandma did let me try ICE CREAM. Now there's something I just love. Why haven't you let me have any of that? Also, I've been a bit bored with the Wii thing. Goodness, what is that all about? And Grandma and Grandpa don't really have a lot of toys to choose from either. They need to do something about that.

Well, I can't wait til you get home.

Love and kisses and soft hugs,

Simeon

Summer Adventure pt. 2

Hi Mom and Dad,

Grandma is making me, Phinehas, write today. But I don't have too much time. Grandpa is taking us to Kproducts and then we get to see where he works. I've always wondered about that. Anyway, I'm kind of in a hurry so I'll try to tell you as much as I can before we have to go.

We went swimming at Grandma's pool yesterday. Wow was it ever lots of fun. They have that kind of pool where you can just walk right in and it isn't very deep. After I got used to it I could run and jump in from one edge. Grandma said we could just stay in the one place behind the blue and white rope and she wouldn't worry about us. The most fun was running over to their sprinklers! Grandma said she was putting pictures in so I won't try to describe them.

Then last night we helped Grandpa set up the camper. Right in their garage! Man o man, their camper is the coolest! It had 2 beds on the side and one in the middle and a couch and a sink and grandma said they had a stove, but I didn't really see that. The most fun was jumping on those beds. And we could jump from the bed to the little bed or the couch. Wow! It was sorta hot in there but we've never been camping before so I really really liked it. (but I fell out of bed in the night and then got a bed of my own) Simeon and grandma stayed in the house, so it was just us guys in the camper.

Today we are going to the library, the park and we're going to build boats with grandpa. So, I gotta go now. Maybe grandpa will get us something at K products!! (Don't worry, though, mom, I won't ask for anything. I will be polite.)

I love you, and miss you only a teeny tiny bit.

Love,

Phinehas,

for Isaiah and Simeon, too.

P.S.

We had baked oatmeal for breakfast! mmmm!

Summer Adventures

Hey Mom and Dad!

Hope you're having a great time in Ar-i-zo whatever....Grandma is making me write this, otherwise I prbly would be doing something else...like watering the plants. Grandma has a lot of them, and they sure do need lots of water! And guess what! We ate prbly the junkiest lunch ever. Hot dogs. And potato chips, and chocolate pudding. Maybe tonight, Grandma says, we'll get a salad or something green.

I think Grandma's figured out what you mean when you say you hardly have time to sit down and have coffee in the morning. I noticed grandma only got to drink a little bit out of her cup before we were busy doing stuff. She doesn't seem to mind though. I don't know how something as icky as coffee could be so important. Oh well...

Stuff? Oh yeah, we had to help walk Buster (you should see how much he licked Simeon. I hope dog germs don't make people sick,or Simeon is going to be sick) We walked to the park. Grandma said I was a real monkey on those hanging bars, and jumping on the merry go round. I gotta say, I love grandma's parks. Then we watered the plants, like I said earlier. We got pretty wet with that. Oh well, we're going to the pool later so I think it will be ok. And we played Wii too. Driving, and shooting, and snowboarding on a cow and riding to the sun through a bunch of rings. I think by the time we go home we might have the hang of the Wii thing. It sure is different from that nintendo 64 thing that daddy has. You should think about getting one of these, I think. Then Grandma would have some real competition when we come to play.

Well, we love you. And don't miss you too much yet. Have fun.

Isaiah...for Phinehas and Simeon Too!

P.S.

Grandma brought boats home for Phinehas and me to make with Grandpa. We even get to paint them!

compare

What do you think? Do these two have any resemblance to each other?