the Grabers

Cattails

2012-01-31T17:16:00.000-08:00

Behind our house is a little creek that empties into the lake. It is filled with cattails.
The girls began to pick them yesterday and they realized that they could strip the cattail off the stem.
And I learned something new! It turns to fluff!! Like cotton batting! I told the girls, "Just think! When God created plants He had this in mind! What a variety of plants we have!" Sophia said "And He just spoke it and it happened!" Yes! What a great Creator we have!
Thousands and thousands of seeds!! Better than a dandelion!
I love this photo. Look at Jill. She is appalled at all the seeds stuck to her black coat!
We may have cattails growing on our lawn in the spring! Of course we would need moisture for that to happen and we are in a drought right now.

I found out that you can EAT cattails!! If you peel the shoot, you can use the cane part to eat! I read that they're like a combination of tender zucchini and cucumbers, adding a refreshing texture and flavor to salads. Added to soup towards the end of cooking, they retain a refreshing crunchiness. They're superb in stir-fry dishes, more than suitable for sandwiches, and excellent in virtually any context. Sliced cattail hearts, sauteed in sesame oil with wild carrots and ginger are good I guess.

The Indians used cattails medicinally: They applied the jelly from between the young leaves to wounds, sores, boils, carbuncles, external inflammations, and boils, to soothe pain.

Besides its medicinal uses, the dried leaves were also twisted into dolls and toy animals for children, much like corn-husk dolls found today. Cattail leaves can be used to thatch roofs, weave beautiful baskets, as seating for the backs of chairs, and to make mats. Archaeologists have excavated cattail mats from Nevada caves.

No longer edible once the pollen is gone, the brown flower heads make good "punks," supporting a slowly-burning flame, with a smoke that drives insects away. The fluffy, white seeds were once used for stuffing blankets, pillows and toys. The Indians put them inside moccasins and around cradles, for additional warmth.

Very interesting. Perhaps I should harvest them to make pillows. But I read that if you do that, you must use thick batting material or you might break out in hives.

Actually, I think I am chicken. I can't see myself trying it in cooking anytime soon. Or making anything out of it. Hannah would probably enjoy doing that though. She loves cooking shows and she loves crafts. But I will probably just enjoy them for their prettiness.

"What's for dinner, Ma?" Kansas restaurants - January

2012-01-29T10:04:00.000-08:00

Today is Kansas Day. It is Kansas' 151st birthday.
Happy Birthday, Kansas!!
Last year we decided to take a trip each month to someplace in Kansas that we had never been to before. What a great time we had traveling this beautiful state! We will probably go and see more things that we missed. 12 months was not enough to see it all!
This year what we intend to do monthly is to visit a restaurant we have never been to before. We are creatures of habit and tend to go to the same ones we know we really like! The young marrieds introduced us to Cheddars. They had told us how good it was and inexpensive too. One day while shopping in Wichita, we decided to try out that restaurant but couldn't recall the name. We knew the approximate location and came upon Chester's. Thinking that was the spot, we went in. Well, the price tag on the food is quite substantially different!! Since then, we have gone often to Cheddars and LOVE it!

We contacted some dear old friends; not that they are old - they are our age - but we go way back.

Allen met Dave and Becky at Hutch Juco. We became friends. We went to their wedding - they didn't come to ours though. But I guess we can excuse them because they got married the day before we did and they were on their honeymoon. We both moved to Stauffer Place, the newly married apartments at KU and hung around together those 2 years there.

They moved to Wichita and we followed the following year when Al was doing his residency at Wesley. We both had boys, 4 1/2 months apart.

And girls are just a few weeks apart. We used to get together often!
Then they moved to Derby and we moved to Newton. Not so far apart in distance, but we both got involved in our churches and children's activities. We always kept in touch through Christmas letters and going to our kids' weddings.
Allen and I decided we would invite them to our very first restaurant adventure. We had them pick out the restaurant that we have never been to.

We ordered the Baby Back Combo with seasoned fries and sweet and smoky beans. Oh my goodness!!!
So delicious!! (if you know I am highly allergic to brocolli, you will realize this is not my plate; it was Dave's. Al and I almost always split our dinner and I forgot to get a photo before we did that.)
We spent 5 hours non-stop talking and catching up. We just picked up where we left off years ago. What a delightful evening with dear friends! And very good food - HIGHLY recommend the restaurant! Located on Rock in Derby if you want to know.
Al had fully intended to pick up the tab for us both, but Dave insisted.

We will be looking for another couple to take out in the months to come (you want to pick up the tab too??? Ha ha!!) and other restaurants to try out for the first time!

Kansas restaurants rock!!

With the other grandma and also great grandparents

2012-01-28T11:00:00.000-08:00

The girls spent Tuesday with their other grandma. They moved here from Wisconsin back in the spring and now live only 15 minutes away! She helps teach school to them each week.

On Wednesday morning, my parents took care of the girls. I was doing the lesson for Berean's preschool chapel followed by Bible study so they were willing to help out. My parents are in their 80's but are so young at heart! The girls love to go to their place!
My mom taught the girls the art of tea.

They had left over cake from Adam's graduation. The frosting is black and so are their mouths!

Thanks Dad and Mom! I'm so glad you are such loving great grandparents!!

The zoo

2012-01-27T12:33:00.000-08:00

We have a season pass to the zoo and with the nice days we are having, that was a must to go take an afternoon to go.
If you ever go, be sure to check the times when you can watch them feed the animals and also interact with zoo keepers to learn more about the animals! We were told when we checked into the zoo that the zoo keeper would be with the elephants in 15 minutes so that was the 1st place we went. They animal trainers have the animals follow commands (did you know elephants can skip??) so they can check their health.

You can ask questions like what are their names, or how long have you had them? This pair came from South Africa and are almost 20 years old. Not expected to live too much longer I guess.

The kids always like to stop at the Nganda park at the zoo to play. We had taken along some of our chocolately chocolate chip cookies for a snack. We fed the little birdies a few crumbs too.

The girls are not fond of the gorillas and would NOT go into the exhibit. But we did look at them from a safe distance.

They are not afraid of the tigers though. (I think if I had to choose, I would rather meet up with a gorilla than a tiger in real life!)
We went to the tigers when the zookeeper was there also. The tiger learns commands so they can check his overall health. He even jumped up on the screen and also growled on command. When he would do what they wanted, they would feed him some raw hamburger on this stick. Amazing to watch.
They are looking into a breeding program for these tigers soon.

After leaving the zoo, we went around the corner to the county park. It is a fun park!

I took the tired kids and (a tuckered out old grandma) home!

The grandchildren

2012-01-26T09:24:00.001-08:00

Our grandchildren spent the last 4 nights with us while dad and mom were at a pastor's conference in Oregon.
The kids brought several stuffed animals with them to sleep with.
And mommy got them each a Bravery Ballerina Bear. It isn't easy having mommy and daddy gone for several days!
But we had lots of fun! The weather was great! Hurray for January in Kansas! Although usually we do have snow, we haven't this year. It has been in the 40's and 50's.
The kids said they would be our personal GPS (Sophie said "VBS") and guided us to the park in their neck of the woods.

It has been warm enough that the Canada geese are not going south. They are congregating here! And boy are they ever congregating! Like a mega-church! Thousands!!

They are beautiful to watch.
The ice was breaking up around the edge of the lake and was making tinkling sounds like wind chimes. It was so pretty!!
We spent one morning making cookies.

I let them put sprinkles on one pan of chocolatey chocolate chip cookies.
Will post more about what we did another time! Grandchildren are so fun!

Graduation

2012-01-21T08:43:00.001-08:00

Our family got together for a party last night!
Julie made the cake. She does a great job and you might want to order a cake for some party too. It helps with their adoption costs as they are adopting a little one from China!
Adam got his master's and we are so proud! !
I made him a hat out of cardboard and a plastic bowl. Al painted it with black spray paint. I found Al's 8th grade graduation tassel (from 1969! His mom had kept it in a box and I've had it all these years) and attached the tassel to the top. The gown was one of our kids' high school gowns I had kept. And I printed out a fake diploma. Just for fun.

Master Reverend Utecht? Way to go!!

Auction for adoption benefit

2012-01-16T12:00:00.001-08:00

On Saturday evening, there was a spaghetti dinner and auction to benefit the adoption of a couple of special children in Peru.

Paige and Jim adopted sweet Emma last year and are looking to adopt the other two! You can read about it here.
Beth helped make this auction possible. An incredible caring woman with 2 adopted children from the Ukraine.

When they found out what the auction was for, the auctioneer donated his time and the building was also donated rent free!!

There was a lot of cool stuff! Over $3,000 was raised! Foreign adoption costs are really high so if you want to help, I know they would love that!! Help bring home these precious children!

Mom2Mom: Blessed

2012-01-13T16:20:00.001-08:00

One of my routines is the monthly Mom2Mom we have. We have a Tuesday evening session and a Wednesday morning one too.

A light meal is enjoyed.

And coffee and tea, of course!

When I was a young mom living in Wichita while Al was doing his residency, and me not knowing many people at all, I attended a mother's hour that was held at a church close to our apartment. I loved it. Didn't know anybody there, but it met such a need for me. Learning how to be a better mom; learning how to walk with Jesus. Some older women in their 70's took care of Josh and the other children. I loved them! You could tell they just enjoyed the children so much!

Even after moving away from Wichita, I still kept going back each month. Many years later, when my kids were all in school, the our older women's Bible study I belonged to started a mother's hour that we call "Mom to Mom" (it has morphed to M2M for some of us)

Each month we have a special speaker. This month it was Gail Voth. You can read about their story here. The book we are going through this year for M2M is "Growing Grateful Kids" by Susie Larson. I highly recommend this book! The section we looked at was "Teach Perspective". The chapters were - Develop Compassion, Ask for Wisdom, Live Humbly, and Embrace Contentment.

Gail shared that in America we are so very blessed and we need to bless others with what He has blessed us with. She said that if 58 airplanes (747's) fell out of the sky each day, we would take notice!! We surely would! And yet, each day 29,000 children die and do we even bat an eye?! 70% of those are from poor water, malnutrition, childbirth (her son was in this category), respiratory illness or malaria.

Today I read this blog . Please take time to read it. It will hurt; it made me mad. How people can be so callous toward others, especially children, I do not understand!! There must be some way to intervene. But in such a country, how? I know I can pray. "Prayer is the wrist that moves the hand of God!" There is a Dark Power in the universe - he is the power behind death, suicide, disease and sin. The Evil One hates God, hates anything that reminds him of the glory of God...wherever it exists. We are at war. We each have a crucial role to play. We must ask Him what our role is to be. He ultimately wins and Satan will be conquered!

* * * * * * *

During the Wednesday morning M2M, I help out in the nursery.

With the older ones, I tell a lesson that reflects what the speaker talks about. So we talked about sharing our blessings with others.

Count Your Blessings (taken from "Growing Grateful Kids")

* If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof over your head, and a place to sleep - you are richer than 70% of the world.

* If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish somplace...you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy.

* If you woke up this morning with more health than illness...you are more blessed than the million who will not survive this week.

* If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation...you are ahead of 500 million people in the world.

* If you can attend a church meeting without fear of harassment, arrest, torture or death...you are more blessed than 3 billion people in the world.

* If your parents are still alive and still married...you are very rare.

* If you hold up your head with a smile on your face and are truly thankful...you are blessed because, although the majority CAN, most do not.

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Not the routine

2012-01-11T18:52:00.001-08:00

My Tuesday routine usually involves leading the Young Mom's Biblestudy and also helping my Aunt Millie. But this week is Mom2Mom at church so we don't have Biblestudy with the mommies.

After taking care of Aunt Millie, I took care of the grandkids, which isn't my usual routine. But Jill was running a fever. So the girls came. And it was a gorgeous day. This is January?? In the 50's? I LOVE it!! (today it snowed, by the way - that is Kansas for you!)

The girls brought their scooters and we took a walk around the lake. A 2 hour walk!!

"Halt!"

"Beware of the poop!"

Really?! Look at that mess! I think we have about 1,000 Canada geese around.

Seriously on Sunday morning at church, one of my nursery classes was out on our playground and the children ran under the play equipment so they wouldn't get plastered by the geese flying overhead. Can we just get some hunters out here?

I told the children to dodge the poop, but Sophie didn't have much luck. We had to wash the scooter when we got home and disinfect it!
The girls had so much fun! They have quite the imagination!
They found hills to climb.

The next several pictures are ones the girls took. They enjoy photography! I hold on to the camera (or to the strap) but I let them figure out what they will shoot and they click away.

Sophie is just singing away while riding her scooter. The girls just love being outdoors! I am not so looking forward to the next couple of months with ice and cold. A sunny, mild day with snow on the ground I will not mind.
Going back home. What a wonderful afternoon.
And Jill is well today so that is good. More on my routine on the next post.

Back to the routine

2012-01-09T12:11:00.001-08:00

It was so wonderful having all the grandchildren with us last week!

But the holidays are done. The Alabama and Arkansas kids are back at home. And it is time to get back into the routine of things.

On Mondays, while Jill teaches music at the preschool, I have Hannah and Sophia. And I take that opportunity to teach them Japanese. This is one of the tools I use.

Today we also did flashcards with a story I made up, reviewing and learning greetings one would use in Japan. We also did a color sheet with animals and reviewed animals and what they say. Also reviewed colors.
Tonight we have community life with the young marrieds so the girls helped me make some delicioius peanut crisp bars, one of their Papa's favorites!

We sort of got cheerios all over the floor - accidents happen with little ones about! But they got out the broom and swept it all up and then took the kitchen rugs outside and shook them out! They are such helpers!

Ready for small group tonight! (and the girls got a little snack too for a reward!)

Recipe for Peanut Crisp bars:
Combine in saucepan and bring to boil:
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 cup light corn syrup
Take off heat and blend in 1 cup peanut butter (I use crunchy)
Combine in large bowl:
3 cups rice krispies
3 cups cheerios
Add to the hot mixture and blend well.
Press into buttered (or sprayed with Pam) 9 x 13 pan.
If you want, you can melt a bag of chocolate chips and spread that on top too!

Extended family Christmas

2012-01-06T07:48:00.001-08:00

We had the extended Graber family Christmas on New Year's afternoon. This year we went to Al's sister's house in Little River. This was our first Christmas that both of Allen's parents are in heaven. Although we have gone to celebrate Christmas with Dad at the old folk's home, he hasn't been able to join us at our homes for several years because of his health.

When Dad died in August, as we were sorting his things, our sister-in-law, Brenda, took his old shirts with her. She knew someone in Lyons who made quilts from them. Isn't this neat?!

Russell, our brother-in-law, was wearing this pink t-shirt. Little River had a pink out night, where they honored Al's sister, Julie, at a football game. The whole town wore these shirts! She had breast cancer this year. Luckily, they were able to get it all and she is fine now.
After a delicious pot-luck (we always bring so much food!!), the children exchanged gifts. Then we did our traditional gift giving for the adults. Anyone who comes brings a gift. It can be a white elephant that is practical and useful, something you don't use anymore at your home, or it can be something not too expensive from the store.

We pick numbers. #1 picks the first gift. #2 can either steal #1's gift or draw from the pile. So on and so forth. This year I got stole from twice!

The girls always wrap their presents so nicely, but the guys love to throw it together. We have lots of fun and laughter!

After the gift exchange, we played a game that is a twist on the "telephone" game. You know where you whisper something into one person's ear and they whisper to the next person down the line. At the end, usually what comes out is not a thing like what was first said.

In this game, we all got a stack of paper. We all wrote down a phrase or word of something. For example, "baking a cake". The stack is passed to the next person in line. That person has 1 minute to draw a picture of someone baking a cake. Everyone passes their stack down the line. Now everyone writes down what they think that picture is about. So on and so forth. This is a hilarious game and we laughed and laughed at how it turned out.

Have a blessed and a Happy New Year to all!

Belated Christmas, part 2

2012-01-05T08:18:00.000-08:00

We had our Christmas dinner on New Years' Eve. We missed you, Mindy!! Maybe next year we can do it all together once more!

The kids had been waiting to be able to finally smash the gingerbread house and take a bite of it! Sort of hard to see, but Hannah has the hammer and is getting ready to break the house.

I also made a yule log.
After supper, Santa arrived! (I think he needs a new beard!)

Santa passed out a present to each child. Before leaving, he tells them all to be good boys and girls for this coming year!
Papa comes back from "going to the bathroom". "Papa, you missed Santa!"
Emeri saw a Santa at the mall one time and asked her mommy, "Is that Papa?" We enjoy playing this game each year. My mom made this Santa suit for my dad many years ago. My dad has played Santa many times in the past. Although for us, Christmas is more than anything the celebration of Christ, it is fun to do the Santa gig a little.

Look at Eli's lip! He fell when we took a walk around the lake and boogered it up!

Mom gave me this lace tablecloth that used to belong to her mother.

My parents volunteer at Et Cetera and always include some kind of funny or gag gift along with something very nice and practical!
Adam got a reindeer with reindeer poop (chocolate peanuts)!

What a gift - the blessing of family!

Belated Christmas, part 1

2012-01-04T11:39:00.001-08:00

We had made plans to have our Christmas on New Year's Eve day. Grandpa and Grandma would be coming and we would have a feast and then open gifts.

The day doesn't really matter, does it. We really don't know our Saviour's birthday anyway. On the DVD "Star of Bethlehem", he makes a clear case that Dec. 25 is the actual day that the wisemen came and gave gifts to Jesus! (see at bottom) What is important is that we celebrate God's love for us in His most precious gift to us - His own Son!

The grandchildren were so anxious. "Can't we at least open our stockings early? Please??" So that is what we did!

Eli's stocking was handed down again (it first belonged to Hannah) for the anticipated arrival of our 5th grandchild. Of course I had to have a stocking for that special one too!

Showing Sophia the nice burp cloth. Andrea's sister makes these!

Eli loves the movie "Cars" so I got him a Baby Kachow (his name for Lightning McQueen) stocking. I got these sweet hair pins for each of the girls. Julie is making these to raise money for their adoption.
Somehow I didn't get a photo of Hannah's new stocking. She is very much loving horses these days so I got her a horse stocking in place of her princess one.

Lots of fun and more party time to come the next night!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

For centuries, skeptics and seekers alike have pondered the star of Bethlehem. The Bible describes unusual or even impossible astronomical events at Christ's birth. Was it a miracle or mere myth? This compelling DVD - from producer Stephen McEveety ("The Passion of the Christ") - examines Scripture, ancient writings, indisputable astronomical facts and more. Learn nine specific features of the star recorded in the Gospel of Matthew, how it established a date for Jesus' birth and death . . . and its significance for you today!

Family comes!

2012-01-03T09:34:00.000-08:00

Our daughter, Mindy, came home for the holidays a couple of weeks ago but had to return to Alabama to work.

Our son, Josh is a worship pastor and could not get away for Christmas Day, so his family came this past week. I think this was the first time our family had to do Christmas in shifts. We made the most of it. Had a wonderful time with Mindy and then this week too.

We went on walks...

celebrated Staci's birthday...
played games....

(sometimes it may have gotten out of hand!)
The cousins wearing "matchy" dresses
Grandma Lois read to Hannah and Eli.
And we celebrated Christmas. That will be on the next post.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T12:25:00.000-08:00

Have you ever made one of these yule logs? They are simply delish!

I grew up with the tradition of having an advent yule log. As I have mentioned in past posts, when I got married, my Dad made one for me also.

This morning I was reading "Stories Behind the Best-Loved Songs of Christmas" by Ace Collins. It is very interesting. And I found out where the tradition of the yule log comes from.

"During the Middle Ages, English peasants had adopted the Viking custom of the Yule log. Each winter a family would go out into the woods, cut down a huge tree, drag it back home, cut away its branches, and hollow out its core. They then filled the hole with oils, spices, and other sweet-smelling ingredients, and set the log in the fireplace. Kindling was sprinkled around the Yule log, and a daughter or a wife would light the fire with a splinter left over from last year's log. Families that burned a Yule log each year believed that good luck would befall their household.

When those who embraced this custom became Christians, they adapted the Yule log to Christmas. Eventually the timber came to symbolize the wood of the cross, and the sweet packing to represent the beautiful life Christ offered each Christian - His ultimate sacrifice on that cross. The log was brought into the home on Christmas Eve and was lit. It was hoped that the log would burn for the entire twelve days of Christmas.....

In England, 'The First Noel' was sung each year by many peasants as they lit the Yule log. Therefore, this became the song that started the entire Christmas season.

'The First Noel' is one of the oldest Christmas ballads still sung today. Though it first appeared in print in 1833, the song goes back at least three hundred years prior to that. The exact place and time of its origin are in doubt, with both France and England claiming it as a part of their heritage. "(you can read more about this by purchasing this wonderful little book)

Merry Christmas!

Early Christmas

2011-12-21T09:25:00.001-08:00

Mindy came home from Alabama early. She is working Christmas.
We went to look at
lights.

??

Had our Christmas dinner. This year we didn't have a traditional meal. We went with a Japanese meal instead - oyakodomburi! YUM!

And opened presents.

A Sophie smirk

Mindy has left. How we will miss her! She tried to get left before the

SNOW!

Singing and dancing with the broom

More Christmas celebrations to come!

Feeding the hungry

2011-12-18T13:42:00.001-08:00

Numana, Inc. is a nonprofit hunger relief organization with the mission to empower people to save the starving. Through meal packaging events, Numana sends food to countries where intense insecurity exists.

Numana started a couple of years ago after the earthquake in Haiti. Since then they have continued to help other nations.

The hospital pharmacy workers and their families got together to help pack almost 13 boxes to send for hunger relief to the Somalian refugees in Kenya.

These are the rice bags we put together. Each bag is enough for 6 meals.

These are the Numana volunteers who came to show us how to package the meals. In talking with them, I found out that their grandson married the daughter of some friends of ours who live in Pennsylvania. Small world! (yes, young couples - that was quite a bit of "spaghetti-ing" to find that out!)

We had to put on some protective gear.

We looked real pretty.

The first step was to put a vitamin packet in each bag.
Next came some beans.

And soy mix.

Last of all was the rice. This bag was then given to the person who would weigh the bag.
If it did not weigh enough, more rice was added. If it weighed too much, rice was taken out. Amazing how just a few kernels made a difference.

Young and old, we all helped. We took turns doing the different jobs.

The bags were sealed.

Then pounded flat and even.

Meanwhile, the artists are busy drawing, coloring and putting stickers on the boxes.

When 36 bags are completed, they are put in the boxes. We completed 461 bags or 2,766 meals. Each meal costs about 30 cents; that includes shipping. Numana does not pay for this. This is what the volunteers also help out with. We have so much in America - we need to help those who don't have enough! I can't imagine being a mother with a starving baby in my lap.

When each box was completed, we would all clap and cheer.

There was a raffle for a Numana t-shirt and wrist band.

Clean up.

What a fun activity. I think it would be neat to do next year as well. If anyone wants to join us, please call!

I'll be home for Christmas

2011-12-17T15:59:00.001-08:00

Aunt Mindy came home for an early Christmas! Of course we had to go to one of our favorite donut spots in town!
Stopped by one of the infamous trains we encounter in town. This one had 114 cars!

Christmas donuts for the season!
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

Hannah's Photography

2011-12-16T13:33:00.001-08:00

When Hannah came over yesterday, I asked her what she would like to do.

"Let's go for a walk."
"OK."
So we bundled up as it was pretty chilly in the late afternoon.

"Aren't you going to bring your camera?"
"Would you like me to?"

"Yes! I've been learning about how to take photos."
"You have?!"

"Yes. I have been watching "Create" (a PBS channel show). They have filmed tornadoes, deer, flowers..."

So I took my camera and helped her shoot pictures.

She thought the reflection on the lake was pretty cool.

The geese had swum (is that a word?) to the other side of the lake. Hannah thought it would be fun to take a picture of them in flight so we began to shout at them. You can see one irritated goose.

And they all took off. (I got that photo)

She wanted a photo of the pine cones so I showed her how to hold down the shutter half way to get it to auto focus.

She was doing a great job in taking photos!

I don't think there was much danger that we would swim that day. Brrrrr!

My sweet little photographer!

She took another picture with reflections in the water.

I got this one of the geese flying north. I said, "I don't know that they are going to fly south this year." (I have heard they haven't been doing that as there is plenty of food around here)

"Maybe they are flying to the North Pole."

I'm so proud of Hannah for wanting to learn how to take pictures. I do mine in auto. I would love to learn manual but it seems too daunting to me. I don't understand numbers at all. My mind doesn't work math. Maybe I can take a class someday.

My grandfather was into photography. He even developed his own pictures in the cellar. Here is a photo of my mother as a baby.

My Dad took lots of photos when we were in Japan. I wonder how many. I'm guessing over 1,000. Maybe over 2,000! They used to have to show slides to churches when we would come to the States on furlough to show them the work they were doing.

My brother also enjoys photography and my son does it as a hobby too. It is only natural that Hannah would enjoy it too!

worshipping at the manger

2011-12-14T10:28:00.000-08:00

My grandson, Elijah, loves Lightening McQueen from the animated Pixar film "Cars".

He calls Lightening McQueen, "Baby Kachow". He loves to play cars so much!

Here he is tractor tipping, like in the movie.

Eli's other grandparents sent me the picture below.

"Worshipping at the manger?? Soooo sweet!!!! May God help us all to stay focused at the manger this time of year!!!!"

Lunar Eclipse

2011-12-12T19:57:00.000-08:00

Did you catch the lunar eclipse the other morning? It was pretty neat! We heard it would be at 4 am. I wasn't going to get up for that (although sometimes this old body sometimes wakes up involuntarily at times at that hour!). I woke up sometime around 6 and saw this!

And here it is as it is getting lighter and as it is slipping down to the horizon.

We only got a partial eclipse in this part of the world, but it was neat to see anyway.

On Wednesday between 1 - 3 am, there is going to be a meteor shower; one every 1-3 minutes. We may be foolish enough to get up to watch this. Al says to look in the north east. Which means we can probably just lay in bed and watch them!

The Kansas version of the Nutcracker

2011-12-11T18:35:00.000-08:00

Today I took the girls to a Kansas adaptation of Tchaikovsky's traditional Nutcracker. It was at the Hutchinson's Historic Fox Theatre. Allen and I used to go to the movies here back before we were married! I got my first job after school at the office across the street.

The girls thought it was soooo fancy!
They wanted to climb the stairs up to the balcony so we went to the restroom up there. They wanted to sit there but I had already ordered reserved seating. You can see Sophie looking at the balcony seating and thinking "I wish we could sit there!" But our seats were good. I was surprised to see that we ended up with 2nd row seats and in the middle so I think they did ok!
The setting is not in Germany, but in the heart of Kansas. The story begins on Christmas Eve, 1869, at a Kansas western fort. Nine-year-old Laura has just arrived from Boston along with her father, Lieutenant MacGuffie and his wife. Lieutenant MacGuffie is there to fulfill his Fort West post. (Incidently, Laura looked very much like our friend Kendall as a little girl! It was like I was just watching her through the whole program!)

Laura's friends gave her a fancy Boston china doll as a parting gift, but they have also filled her head with warnings about Indians, coyotes, prairie fires and tornadoes.

The new arrivals are greeted at the fort by the commanding officer and his wife and their oldest daughter. The Officer's Christmas post party is about to begin.

Following the party, as Laura is about to go to sleep, the commander's daughter gives her a prairie doll which years ago had comforted her when she arrived here from the East. Laura is not interested in the doll and throws it out of her bed. She much prefers her china doll!

But then Laura has a dream. The prairie doll has come to life! What magical moments as toys come to life, snowflakes dance, there are deer and antelope, prairie fires and yes, even a tornado.

In the end, Laura awakens and takes the prairie doll in her arms. What a precious ballet for the girls and I to watch!

We stopped to eat supper before going to church for Cocoa and Carols, a great fun-filled family night where we sing Christmas carols, Santa Dave comes to tell the Christmas story while children cluster around him (his granddaughter climbed in his lap and played with his beard), there was a silly Johnny and Chachi video followed by cocoa, cookies and fellowship.

Kansas Adventure, December, Part 2

2011-12-10T18:27:00.000-08:00

Leaving Ellinwood, we went back east about 8 miles. As we were going to Ellinwood, we had seen a sign for the Santa Fe Trail ruts and wanted to see that.

With about 1000 wagon trains traveling this area each day, the ground left its mark. Most of the trail has been tilled by farmers, but occasionally in Kansas, you will come across areas where you can still see evidences of the wagon trains.

We went to Holyrood! Just because it sounded interesting.

A small town of about 450 or so.
We got on an un-named road that took us in to Wilson from the south. There were lots of old pioneer homes along the way.
Two story home!

Post rock country. Miles of stone fence posts put up by the early settlers. When there aren't trees, you use the native limestone.
Imagine homesteading on this farm.
The town of Wilson just south of Highway 70.
Post Rock Scenic Byway is north of Wilson and is a beautiful drive for about 16 miles.

Beautiful Wilson Lake
Lots of luxurious homes are dotted around the lake. Some of the lots are selling for $140,000! I should have taken a picture of the homes.

Wilson Lake has the clearest water in Kansas. The salt content is higher than most inland lakes.

It was a very cold day!

We continued on the scenic byway, going north toward Lucas and Sylvan Grove. There was a little construction. The worker told us that this was not his dog; just some farm dog who comes every day to say hello.
Entering Lucas. A very unique, artsy town. Some world famous artists live here. In the sticks. A very quiet place to live.
World's largest souvenir plate. 15' across.
The Garden of Eden - known the world over. Samuel Dinsmoor, a retired schoolteacher and Civil War veteran began building this cabin and the Garden of Eden in 1907 at the age of 64. For 22 years he fashioned this unique cabin.
This mausoleum if where he is laid to rest in a glass-topped concrete coffin.
See the kitty? He's real. We watched him climb up the cement structure.
Our next stop was going to be Sylvan Grove and then up north to a twin arched bridge and then to the geodetic center of the United States. But....

We were so very lucky. The car began to sputter and would not pick up speed. We had just left Lucas so Al turned around and we pulled into this convenience store that just happened to have a mechanic (the owner). We could have been stranded miles in the boonies. But here we were with a place to sit while our truck was worked on.

Very interesting to watch people come and go. Everyone knew everybody. "Hi Connie! Is Mike here?" "Are you going to the game tonight?" "Haven't seen you around lately. Have you been gone?"

Unfortunately, our truck could not be fixed. But the owner was willing to load us up and drive us back to Newton, 2 1/2 hours away! And so, this ends our 2011 monthly Kansas Adventures. But we will have to do more adventuring because Kansas has more to offer!!

The End

(for now)

Kansas Adventure, December, Part 1

2011-12-09T19:24:00.000-08:00

We have had an incredible 12 months adventuring the state of Kansas! December is our last monthly trip, but we will definitely make more trips. There is still much to see!

Our trip this morning began with a stop in McPherson for breakfast.

When we arrived, there was only 1 booth left and most of the barstools were full. A hopping place which is a good sign that this is a good place to eat!

The owner (in the pink) came to talk with us. She is a HUGE Chiefs fan and has season tickets. She knows the coach personally. "He knows me as the lady with the lucky lingerie." Hmm. Must be an interesting story behind that one!
After a very filling breakfast (which was so much it was also our lunch), we headed further west on Highway 56.

Our destination was Ellinwood. Back in the late 1800's, German/Austrian immigrants settled here. They were lured there by lies about Kansas; that the winters were mild and that it never got above 80 degrees in the summer. (HA!) And how pure our air was. Also they were offered 187 acres of land. Can you imagine leaving the beauty of Germany for prairies with no trees and such HOT summers?
Ellinwood was along the Santa Fe Trail. Unlike the Chisholm Trail which was for people headed west, the Santa Fe Trail was for commerical use. Similar to our modern day trucking routes. A man could purchase a wagon load of supplies for $1,000 in Missouri, haul it to Santa Fe, New Mexico and sell it for $50,000! He would then load up lumber and haul it to Kansas where there was not much lumber to build homes and businesses.
Built in 1887, this is the Dick building. The main floor originally housed a bank and a hardware store. Today it is an antique store. (take note of the manholes in front of the store)

Behind the building, there are stairs to the underground world of Ellinwood. The walkway to the underground businesses lies directly beneath the main street sidewalks. The German's were used to basements back in the old country. Extensive passageways and tunnels were made to connect the shops underground. Underground malls!!

At the peak of its growth, Ellinwood had 11 saloons. Being on the Sante Fe Trail, where around 1000 stages came through a day, it was the place to stop! The town decided to put most of the male related businesses underground. While the men who traveled the Santa Fe Trail and worked the rail roads were busy underground, townsfolk could visit shops, businesses and offices on Main Street in a respectable manner. A harness shop
Even a water pump in the basement.
The owner of this building left everything "as is", just like it was in the old days.
The strings on the horses is to keep flies off the horses.
These are the coal bins that are directly under the sidewalks. They would simply lift up the wooden side-walk above the ground and drop in the coal to heat up the shops.
Remember the man holes? They let in light in the coal bins. This is the walk way to the different shops. It seemed so narrow and they think it was because the men who visited the saloons might need the walls to hold on to.
This is the barbershop, next to the harness shop.
The barber's red, white and blue pole was outside of the building on ground level. Many people could not read in the old days so the red, white and blue (representing blood, bandages and veins) let people know what kind of shop there was.
Blood, bandaids and veins?? Well, the barber also was a man who might remove teeth and also tonsils! Instrument to remove tonsils.
The red case is for cigars. The white jar for leeches to "bleed" the ill.
The barber's chair. The wheelchair was for anyone who might have passed out.
This was a wild place. There are several bullets in the walls.
In the adjoining room to the barbershop was a place for the men to have their laundry done. The men who worked the trails might only have a couple of outfits and without deoderant and with dusty trails, well, they needed washing. Above is the ringer-washer.
The men would have baths. Hot baths were 15 cents for hot, clean water. 5 cents if you wanted to use used water.
There was also entertainment for the men with the ladies.

In the days of the prohibition, the tunnels took a colorful turn with a number of activities that operated more comfortably out of sight of state officials.

In the 1980's unfortunately, most of the underground tunnels were filled in due to modernization, but this small portion was preserved and is very much worth going to see! We were told that many towns, including ours also had underground tunnels at one time.

World Impact

2011-12-07T19:27:00.001-08:00

Every year our Bible study does some kind of outing in December. We've gone to Hutch and McPherson to shop. Or Wichita. This year we decided to do something a little different. Instead of shopping, we would do some volunteer work.

World Impact is a non-denominational Christian missions organization in Wichita
which ministers to the urban poor. And today our Bible study took some donations there. They were needing workers so we had made plans to help out.
Dave gave us directions on how we could help.
Mary Ellen and I both love books so we chose to work and sort through boxes of books.
And we both found some books to purchase too!
Clothes that had been on the rack too long were taken down to be given to another organization that gives away clothing to the poor. All clothing at World Impact is $1.00. Quite a bargain!

We worked all morning and had such fun doing it!
Mary Ellen had made reservations for us to eat at La Galette French Bakery in the Delano district. They have quiche, soup, and fattoush salad, which comes with a crusty french roll and real butter. There are pastries, cookies, chocolate covered strawberries, different kinds of cheese cakes, and tarts. It's all wonderful.

A great morning was had by all!!

Birds

2011-12-06T19:11:00.001-08:00

A red-tailed hawk sitting on a tree out my back window.
and there it goes! You can see that red tail.
A junco in this bird feeder a friend gave to me.
There have been hundreds - or thousands - of Canada geese here lately.
Gotta watch out if they fly overhead! As the grandkids say "Bombs away!"
The squirrels have found one of my feeders.

Gingerbread house

2011-12-05T12:03:00.001-08:00

After church yesterday, there was a Christmas Bazaar in our activity center. I bought a gingerbread house kit from a sweet family.
I "glued" the house together before the girls came for their Japanese lessons today.

Before decorating the gingerbread house, we did our Japanese lessons. We learned Japanese words for "house" "window" "door", etc. as the girls colored gingerbread houses.

We also listened to an old record of "Hansel and Gretel" and put together a puzzle that I have of that old Brothers Grimm fairy tale.

That reminds me. When my kids were little, we got a huge refrigerator box and made it into the gingerbread house that the witch lived in. Even put real cookies on the roof and we acted out the Hansel and Gretel story. The problem was, after we did that, the kids were too frightened to ever go to the basement to play in that cardboard house. So we threw it out.

I let Hannah and Sophia decorate the house all on their own with not much help from me at all.

A couple Hannah-isms: The whole point is to get messy and have fun.

Also, "I'm queen of the Nerds".

The yellow Nerds on the front lawn are dandelions I was told.

The girls wanted to pose for their camera crazy lovin' Nana.

Glory!

2011-12-03T08:26:00.000-08:00

The sunsets and sunrises this past week were just glorious!!

It boggles the mind that the Creator of the universe chose to come to earth.
He was given existence by a mother whom He brought into existence;
He was carried in hands which He formed. (Augustine)

On Thursday night, we went with our friends, Gary and Debbe to "The Story" tour in Wichita.

It was a musical journey from Genesis to Revelation featuring Steven Curtis Chapman, Newsboys, Francesca Battistelli, Natalie Grant, my favorite Selah!, and others too along with another of my favorites - Max Lucado. The songs touched my soul.

The song about Adam and Eve - "If I could, I would rewrite history. I'd choose differently if I could, I would. I'd leave out the part where I broke Your heart in the garden's shade. Fix the mess I made if I could.

Daniel - "Feed me to the lions. Throw away the key. How will they deny Who delivers me? How could I love another? My knees bow only to One Name!

Esther - There's a time to hold your tongue, time to keep your head down, There's a time but it's not now. Sometimes you gotta go, uninvited, sometimes you gotta speak when you don't have the floor.

Job - If one more person takes my hand and tries to say they understand, tells me there's a bigger plan....But who am I to make demands of the God of Abraham?.. Will You hold me? Will You stay? So I can raise this broken praise?

We are getting ready to celebrate a birthday party for the Saviour!!

This was the set that we had growing up. Mom let us play with it and the ears of the cow and donkey are broken off. I treasure it!

We have too many stockings to hang at the fireplace so we have them all around the banister.

These little angels and choir children are from the little Christian bookstore in Miyazaki, Japan.

We had one of these too. The little angels make a tinkling sound as they go around and around. I got this at the Christian bookstore here in Newton.
My mom found this Bible for me. Printed in 1883! In German.

My Dad made one of these yule logs when we lived in Japan. We light a candle each week in anticipation of that birth date. He made this yule log for me since I wanted to keep up the tradition.

We met pain in a garden where we lived a lie
We met hope in a manger and a baby's cry
Rescued by hand's bleeding grace
Are we ready to see His face?
On the great day He will come to claim us with a rushing wind
One day Love will wear the crown
One day Love will set us free

He will be King
He will be King!

Pizza

2011-11-30T20:00:00.000-08:00

While the family was here, I made this pizza. Josh helped me figure out what to put on it.

Spinach-artichoke chicken pizza

Pizza dough - if you are the Martha Stewart type, you can make a home-made one. I just used one that you pop from a refrigerated can. I had never done that before but it really tasted good and it was so easy!

Spray a pizza pan or jelly roll pan with non-stick spray and spread pizza dough out.

Spread jar of pesto on top of dough. (YUM!)

Top with mozarella and parmesan cheeses.

In skillet, heat in a little oil:
sliced onion
garlic
diced chicken (I recently discovered a bag of frozen grilled diced chicken and I used that)
can of artichoke diced
fresh spinach
Heat through then add on top of cheeses. Add more parmesan.
Bake 15 minutes at 350 degrees.
Add more mozarella cheese and bake another 5 minutes until melted.
Delicious!!!!

I know, I didn't say how much of stuff. It doesn't matter. Whatever looks good to you. For example, you can add 1 cup of cheese or 3. What you like.

The girls helped me start doing some Christmas decorating.
It will be December tomorrow so I think it may be time to get those pumpkins off the porch! What must the neighbors be thinking. If they get too crabby about it, I guess I can play Santa and deliver them some pizza!

Thanksgiving over

2011-11-27T12:44:00.000-08:00

People have moved on to decorating for Christmas, but I am not ready just yet. I have enjoyed Thanksgiving so much! It is one of my favorite holidays! A time to reflect on His many blessings. To thank God. A time to get together with family.
What fun to have our Arkansas babies here - to squeeze and love on them! The grandchildren love to play with their Papa!

We had the Voran Thanksgiving on Thanksgiving Day.

Aunt Millie and Sophia

Water or Raspberry/Mango tea?

Mom makes the most beautiful presentation with a turkey!

When I was growing up in Japan, Dad always carved the turkey at the table. We have kept up that tradition.
Eli DID NOT like the sound of the electric knife!

On Saturday, we had the Graber Thanksgiving.

With the Graber family, we just serve turkey already cut up, along with some ham. Too large a family to all sit together at the table so it doesn't make sense to cut the turkey at the table.

More, mommy, more! (looks just like a baby birdie!)

Cousins!

The teens ate downstairs. Another thing to be thankful for - a finished basement!! After living 6 years at this house. Allen did such a great job!!! And I am so grateful for him!!
After dinner, we played Imaginiff and Sardines. What fun family times!

So, now Thanksgiving is over. I guess I need to think about getting out those Christmas decorations. Better get in the mood! I do LOVE to celebrate Christ's birth - but I just love fall and am not so fond of winter and cold weather. Oh well, those Salvation Army bells are ringing and there is no getting around all those decorations in the stores. 28 more days to Christmas!

Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T17:51:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving is a time to remember our blessings from the Lord.

Thank You, Father, for Your Word. And thank You for "bending Your ear", to listen to me.

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide.
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow -
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside.

Thank You, God for my family!

We missed you this Thanksgiving, Mindy!!!

I'm thankful for the beauty of flowers
and birds
and Kansas sunsets!

I'm thankful for our nursery!! What an awesome group of people I work with at church!! (I would love to post all their pictures, but I won't.)

Thank You God, for Kansas. I never would have drempt to live here, but this is where You placed me. What a diverse state this is!

I'm grateful for the Packers! 11-0 !!
Today Sophia said "My Daddy really likes the Packers. I don't know why. But he used to be one of them." "Really?" "Yes, he has a shirt."

I'm grateful for the young marrieds we get to hang around with!

And the young moms from church.

My "oldie" friends. We've been studying the Bible together for years!
And thank You, God for all these other friends You have brought into my life. How rich I am!

And I can never thank You enough for delicious coffee!! The world is a better place because of it!

So much to be thankful for!

Happy Birthday!

2011-11-20T18:32:00.000-08:00

This Packer is "packing" in a LOT of years!

Happy 32nd Birthday to my son-in-law, Adam!!

signs of fall

2011-11-14T19:27:00.000-08:00

Autumn is my favorite season!

hanging on!

The last cold snap did not make some of the plants too happy.
Getting ready for their winter nap.

The roses are still doing ok though.
The girls made nut cups today for our Thanksgiving dinner.
Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays!
Sophia took the next 2 photos! I held the camera but she took the photo.

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Thanking Him for all His blessings.

More of Birmingham

2011-11-13T19:10:00.000-08:00

Continuation of our tour of Birmingham:
Mindy took us on a drive over the mountain on Shades drive.

There was a sign that read that this was the location of Lover's Leap. We didn't look for it but I found this picture elsewhere. The folklore is that an Indian brave, supposedly grown weary of the attentions of an Indian princess, took her to the high crest where he stabbed her with a bone knife. Suddenly stricken with remorse, he gathered her in his arms and leaped off the bluff.

The houses on Shades drive were often held up by metal posts. I couldn't get a good picture. I would NEVER buy a home that didn't have some kind of solid foundation! The views were spectacular, but...

Definitely in the south.

We drove to an area called Ross Bridge. It was voted the best community in America.

Renaissance Ross Bridge Golf Resort & Spa

Next stop was to -

Mindy's friend, Micheal met us there

I think this is so funny! A johnny temple to go along with the Sibyl temple.
Time for supper. We went to the Flat Top Grill at Summit Shopping Mall. Soooo good!

And had to stop at some of the shops. Micheal making some wise crack.

Back home to play games and eat popcorn.

What a wonderful time with both Mindy and Josh's family! Sad to have to go back home but it was a beautiful autumn view at least!

Birmingham

2011-11-12T18:27:00.000-08:00

This is the apartment complex where our daughter lives. So pretty!

Mindy acted as our tour guide and drove us all over Birmingham.
A man named John Perryman operated this old mill from 1867 until 1887. It ground the corn grown by local farmers.
The present structure, while not a working mill, was built in 1927. The Old Mill, under the management of Miss Frances Bomer, served breakfast, afternoon tea and dinner. Meals ranged from 50¢ to $1.75. Local residents found it to be a delightful rest stop while on horseback rides.

Perryman’s old original millstone was unearthed and used in the current building’s stone fireplace. It is now a private dwelling. Wouldn't it be fun to live there?!

So, Min drove us to this area called Five Points. She couldn't find a parking place so pulled into the parking lot of a certain wonderful chicken restaurant (my daughter-in-law's favorite one). It said that cars would be towed away if they weren't restaurant customers. We were just a few feet away from this fountain and Al and Mindy weren't at all concerned that we were not parking where we should be, but I was! I just was sure that a tow truck would appear! Of course if Staci had been with us, there would be no question that we would have had to stop for a quick bite of chicken!
Next stop - The Vulcan. The Vulcan statue is the largest cast iron statue in the world, and is the city symbol of Birmingham, Alabama, reflecting its roots in the iron and steel industry.

It began to rain and was just a bit blustery.
View from the top. Lortab is a bit blurry. Maybe he was shaking from fear of heights.
Taken from the top railing. Al is in front of the door to the steps. They were locked. We had to take an elevator up. (I didn't mind that! Climbing 6 flights doesn't sound like fun.)

( You can hardly see Lortab sitting on the stone.)

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Alabama foliage -

More to come....

Drive to Birmingham

2011-11-11T17:38:00.000-08:00

Before leaving Fayetteville, we had coffee at Mama Carmen's. You have to read her story!
This coffee shop is located across the street from the church office (located in a warehouse) where Josh works. The church owns the coffee shop. They purchase the coffee from Mama Carmen's farm and 10% of the profits go to Mama Carmen and the children of her orphanage in Guatemala City. The remainder of the profits go to similar community development projects around the world. They also sell fun products from other countries to help the people there. Reminds me a little of 10,000 Villages in our town. I purchased a nice Christmas present for a certain someone!

After our good-byes to our son, we took off for Birmingham. Josh gave us the idea to take a scenic route called Pig Trail.

Pig Trail Scenic Byway runs through the Ozark National Forest for a length of 19 miles. You have to allow 1-2 hours to fully enjoy this byway.

"Why is this spectacular scenic route called the Pig Trail Scenic Byway? Well, for one thing, the meandering nature of the route reminds visitors of a trail carved in the woods from wild pigs. Another factor that influenced the name was that this route has been a major travel way for students, sports fans and other University of Arkansas supporters going to and from Fayetteville, Arkansas, home of the Arkansas Razorbacks."

As we were driving along, I saw a cemetary and had Al pull in to it.
I have never seen a cemetary so decorated! Very unusual.
What a beautiful time of year we chose to drive through Arkansas and on to Alabama!

This is supposed to be a waterfall. We had seen pictures of it with the water running over the top. Unfortunately, they have had somewhat of the drought we have experienced in Kansas too.
When we were travelling on Interstate 40 to Dauphin Island this September, we drove by a sign that read "Toad Suck Park". We were so curious as to what that was! So we took the time to drive out off the interstate to find out.
Lortab was curious how Toad Suck got its name.
One theory is that the name came from the tavern that sat on the south bank of the river. Possibly the ferry operated out of the Toad Suck Saloon, giving rise to the name of Toad Suck Ferry. But how did the Toad Suck Saloon (or Tavern or Inn) get its name?

The story you'll hear from the locals and read in the Arkansas Historical Quarterly is that this place was a popular spot for the bargemen to pull over and drink rum and moonshine. They are said to have "sucked on bottles until they swelled up like toads." There you go. Toad Suck.

The lock and dam.

This was a pretty site as we continued our journey.

Of course if you know us, we cannot journey anywhere without a stop at our favorite beverage coffee shop! On to Birmingham, refreshed with our java!

Photo shoot

2011-11-10T14:06:00.000-08:00

The kids had arranged to have a photo shoot by their good friend, Phil. The location was an old confederate cemetary. You could not read most of the names on the stones they were that old. Some of these men had died in the civil war; others died later.

The leaves on the trees were breath-taking! I love autumn!

Staci's parents
and us.
After taking photos we went to Noodles. Staci's folks were going to a fund-raiser so were not able to join us.
This is a child's portion??! I had to tell Emeri the story of Goldilocks and the 3 bears and the great big bowl that Papa Bear had.
Josh entertained Eli with car drawings while waiting for his food to arrive.
Can't wait to see if perhaps we will get a picture for Christmas??

Arkansas birthdays 2011

2011-11-09T14:25:00.000-08:00

We love to see the grandchildren in Arkansas. They had to show us their wheels.
We were not able to be with them on their real birthday, so we celebrated with them late.
This year they got an extra cake. I don't think they'll be able to get by with sharing girly cakes again next year. I think he will catch on.

What fun to spend time with them, reading, playing and just loving on them!

My folks sent them money so they could shop for their own gifts. Wow! They loved that!!

Emeri's other grandma was telling her one day that God is good. All the time! Emeri said, "If God is good, why don't Nana and Papa live next to us?" Isn't that so sweet?! They are lucky they at least have the other grandparents living by them. And their great-grandpa too! I grew up not really knowing my grandparents as they lived an ocean away. In the olden days there were no cell phones or skype to keep in touch. Just old fashioned mail and that just isn't the same. So happy to have grandkids to cherish and love! Even if they are 5 1/2 hours away!

Joplin tornado damage

2011-11-08T13:14:00.000-08:00

On May 22 of this year, a monster tornado tore through Joplin, MO, killing at least 116. It ripped the roof off a hospital and destroyed thousands of homes and businesses. We drive through Joplin when we visit our kids in Arkansas and since we were on our way there, we decided to survey the damage.

Our daughter used to work in Joplin at the other hospital. She knew some of those who were injured or killed.

Out of the rubble...
The Howard family used to live in our town and were part of our church family. We were so sad to see them move to Joplin a few years ago. Kyle took a job as a fire fighter in Joplin and was at work the day of the tornado. Jill and the boys hid in a closet and although their house was destroyed, they made it out alive.

Extreme Makeover decided to come to Joplin and do a makeover of 7 houses in 7 days and the Howards were one of the families to receive a new home! And they were the first family to see the reveal!
I would have loved to have rung the doorbell, but there were lots of cars going up and down the road, checking out the new homes. Jill may not have answered the door with all the traffic snooping around! And we knew if we stopped we would be late for dinner in Arkansas. Next time!

Out of the chaos, the new. God does that too, doesn't He? Takes the mess we have and as we give him our lives, He does a work on us. I am so happy for Kyle, Jill and the boys!

Kansas Adventure, November, Part 2

2011-11-06T17:41:00.001-08:00

After our little visit with Officer Ferguson, we got settled back in our car and continued on Highway 160.

It was lunch time as we headed into Independence. This place looked like an interesting place to stop for lunch. The Bella Vita restaurant in the Booth Hotel.

"The Hotel Booth opened in January of 1912, back when Independence was one of the wealthiest cities in the nation. Sinclair Oil was started here, and until the Great Depression, we had the highest number of millionaires per capita in the United States. Former guests include Presidents Franklin Roosevelt, William Taft, Dwight Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, and Gene Autry stayed here when he played the Memorial Hall in the 1940s. It was the first steel-framed concrete building west of the Mississippi, revolutionary at the time. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in the 1983 for its cultural and architectural significance." Many of the rooms have been converted into luxury apartments.
Unfortunately, the restaurant is not open for lunch during the week, only on weekends.
Look at these awesome revolving doors!
We asked around for a spot to eat and were told that this place was a great place that the locals love. The full parking lot confirmed it. We thought it would probably be the place to go. We like to try to local places instead of the chain restaurants.
They had an all-you-can-eat buffet. Fried chicken, baked chicken, mashed potatoes (the real thing) and gravy, cornbread, salad, chocolate cake and southern style tea. We were stuffed with one time through. But it was one price, whether you eat a lot or a little.

There was an interesting historical marker 1 mile out of Independence. It was about the Osage Indians who were "the tallest race of men in North America, either red or white skins; there being few indeed of the men at their full growth, who are less than six feet in stature, and very many of them six and a half, and others seven feet."

During the Civil War, militias from both the Union and Confederate sides were stealing the Osages’ cattle, harassing their villages, and blaming the Indians for raids actually committed by Americans. Osage leader Charles Mongrain cautioned everyone to leave his people alone: “I most earnestly warn all intruders, trespassers, and others not citizens of the Osage nation to leave the nation immediately.”

"In May 1863, a few miles east of here, an Osage hunting party confronted about 20 strangers riding through their territory. A shot was fired, and one of the Osage went down. His comrades chased the trespassers about 15 miles and finally overtook them near Drum Creek, killing all but two (who escaped). The strangers turned out to have been Confederate officers, marching west with orders to recruit volunteers and encourage rebellion in New Mexico & Colorado. The Osage had foiled the plot."

A silo that hasn't been used in a while.
The road to our next site.
Big Brutus! It is BIG!!

Big Brutus was the world's second largest electric mining shovel when it was in operation in from 1962 to 1974. Now it is a tourist attraction. Big Brutus is 160 feet tall and weights 11 million pounds. These giant electric shovels, and the earlier "draglines" that they replaced, were an important part of the Kansas strip mining industry. Big Brutus was put out of business when the economics of the coal mining changed in the 1970s.

Look at Al in the photo above! He looks teeny!

It was just massive inside the machine!

Lortab sits in the driver's seat.
The oil drums that the workers used to keep all the machinery oiled.

Kansas journey finished. On to Missouri, Arkansas and Alabama.

Kansas Adventure, November, Part 1

2011-11-05T11:25:00.000-07:00

For our November trip, we went to Southeast Kansas. And we decided to combine it with a visit to our son in Fayetteville and daughter in Birmingham. We took along Lortab, the hospital pharmacy mascot. The story goes that some nurses once called the pharmacists "weasels". The pharmacists got a weasel and named him Lortab. You can "friend" Lortab on Facebook. He has 200 friends! People take him on many of their vacations. He has been on lots of trips - Alaska and all over the US including the White House, down to the bottom of the Grand Canyon, Italy, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Mexico...
So, Lortab was on our trip on roads less traveled. First stop - Beaumont, KS.

Pilots taxi their planes right up to this restaurant.
Leaving Beaumont on gravel road, you will come upon the windmills. You can see these from Highway 400. Over 140 of them! And there were more over in another section.

The old and the new

We kept traveling on gravel backroads. Our newly washed car was not so pretty looking.
Some pretty interesting road names, such as Rattlesnake road. There are hunting lodges all over in this area such as the one below or Buck Brush Adventures, or Running Rooster Hunting Lodge. I'm not a hunter, but I hear that they come from New York State and all over to hunt around here.
We drove south of Beaumont to Latham and on to Cambridge before connecting with 160.

We came across some interesting towns. Almost ghost towns. The porch below was intriguing. I think it would be fun to make a photo book of all the various porches in America; those who decorate their porches with sofas, washing machines, (donkeys) etc
This town looked almost dead. The population was not listed in the Road Atlas, but it boasted 3 churches!

As you pass through Moline, you will see a sign for the oldest swinging bridge in Kansas. We drove the short distance to see it. It was built in 1904.

Because of the drought we have had this year, the waterfalls were dry.

The southeast area of Kansas was once heavily mined; coal, lead and zinc. Since the mining era, thousands of acres of mined area has been turned over to the Kansas Dept. of Wildlife and Parks.
If you decide to travel in this area, be careful traveling on Highway 160. The speed varies from 55 to 65 and often you don't realize it. Ooops.

Luckily for us, Officer Ferguson was gracious!!

Halloween with the Arkansas grandkids too!

2011-11-01T08:21:00.000-07:00

I love to answer the doorbell Halloween night and give out treats to all the little children who come! Sorry to all the little ones who came this year because we were not home to do that. We made a run to Arkansas to take our other 2 grandkids trick or treating!

Trick or treating their other grandparents (who live right beside them)
and their great-grandpa B who lives across the street.

What a fun night! Treats will last a long time! They got a haul!

Trick or Treat!

2011-10-31T10:24:00.000-07:00

We got a visit from:

Samantha

and her friend, Bridgette.

They are girls from the "American Girl" books.

They came to Trick or Treat!

Luckily we had treats so they did not have to play tricks on us!

A pumpkin lesson

2011-10-29T09:53:00.000-07:00

A couple of years ago when I went to my son's church, the little kids' Sunday School class read this book. I loved the idea and decided to use the analogy of pumpkin cutting to teach the grandkids.
I picked out a very nice round pumpkin and cut off the top. "God's Word is alive and working. It is sharper than a sword sharpened on both sides. It cuts all the way into us..And God's Word judges the thoughts and feelings in our hearts." Hebrews 4:12
Inside is all slimy and messy; just like our sins.

"He has taken our sins away from us." Psalm 103:12
"God once said, 'Let the light shine out of the darkness!' And this is the same God who made His light shine in our hearts." 2 Corinthians 4:6

The girls had to sing "This little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine!" They LOVE singing!
"If anyone belongs to Christ, then He is made new. The old things have gone; everything is made new!"" 2 Corinthians 5:17

I read "The Pumpkin Gospel" to the girls in a completely dark room (the bathroom). The cool thing about this book is that it glows in the dark, words and all!

We made a wonderful fall treat - Melt vanilla almond bark (and I also added white chocolate). Add and mix in M&M's, pretzels, popcorn, nuts, candy corn. YUM!
We did our Japanese lesson and learned the word for pumpkin and also how to say "Give me candy please!" The girls are now ready for trick or treating at Nana's!

The Zoo, or Dobutsu-en

2011-10-24T19:48:00.000-07:00

Monday mornings are Japanese lesson days. Today we had our lessons at the zoo.

Since the zoo is 1/2 hour away, the kids listened to the CD of "Flitty, Twitty, and Itty Bitty", the book that my friend Mary Ellen wrote. She narrates the CD too. The CD has a story about a dog family on it too. The girls just loved it and it kept them occupied the whole driving time.

Koi - carp fish
I decided to get a double stroller today. I knew we would want to go all the way around today for our lessons. We have a season pass and usually only do a part of the zoo. I knew Sophia would need an "ombu" (piggy back ride) before long so I opted for the stroller with all the gear I had along today.
It was acutally fun because on the hills I would let it go and the kids would sail! One time it went off the path and I had to scramble to keep it from hitting a sapling! Uma - horse
The uma says "hihiin"

I made and laminated cards that had a picture of the animal along with the Japanese word for the animal and the sound it makes. We practiced these words as we came to each animal. In the picture below you can see that Sophia is saying "hihiin".

Buta - pig
The buta says "buu-buu"

Ushi - cow
The ushi says "mo-" (like the American word to mow the lawn)

Hitsuji - sheep
The hitsuji says "me me"

The yagi had to be shoo-ed back to the pen.
Camel - rakuda
Time for a snack - animal crackers of course! As the girls would take out their crackers, we would try to sound out the Japanese word for that animal.
Which animal (dobutsu) should we see next?
Chinpanjii - chimp

The chinpanjii says kya, kya

Giraffe - kirin

Tora - tiger
The tora says gurururu (I think - the same as a lion)

Playground time! Undo-jo.

Ra ion - lion
The ra ion says gurururu
Kaba - hippo
I don't know how I missed taking a picture of Zo-san. Mr. Elephant. He is the one the children have known for a long time. We sing a song about Zo-san.

A stop at the gift store seems like a must. The kids wish Nana would spend all her money (okane) here!

Kansas Adventures, October, Part 3

2011-10-22T19:00:00.000-07:00

From Castle Rock, we went south to Highway 4 on 20 miles of well kept dirt road. We could have gone north to 70 which was maybe 5 miles less distance, but we wanted to travel roads we haven't been on before and we've been on 70 plenty of times.

At Highway 83, we turned north until we came to the sign for Monument Rocks. At the sign we turned south then east on dirt road for 7 miles. We encountered about 20 deer who ran at our approaching truck.

Monument Rocks. Erosion has carved these chalk pyramids from what was once the floor of a vast inland sea (the flood). This site is the first natural landmark chosen by the US Dept. of Interior as a National Natural Landmark.

These chalk beds have eroded into unusual spires and shapes, making them spectacular landmarks on the plains of western Kansas!

This looked like a fossil of a petrified tree stump.

Al enjoyed studying the rock layers and as a creationist could see evidences for the flood and if you want to talk to him ever about why evolution is a bad theory, well, he will be willing to talk!

God's creation is magnificent! Lord, You are worthy of our praise!
"This is what the Lord says - Your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb.
I am the Lord,
who has made all things,
who alone stretched out the heavens,
who spread out the earth by myself."
Isaiah 44:24

Kansas Adventures, October, Part 2

2011-10-21T11:47:00.001-07:00

Our next leg of the journey took us to the Smokey Valley Scenic Byway. It is named that because of the hazy appearance at sunrise and sunset.

We drove to the Cedar Bluffs. Wow! So impressive!

There was a deer that had met his demise at the bottom of the canyon. Probably was being chased by a mountain lion (yes, they do exist in Kansas!) and didn't realize there was this cliff in front of him.
There is an abundance of yucca and would you believe aspens? Like Colorado and New Mexico combined! And there is wild mint growing too. You can just smell it in the air and the smell lingered on our shoes also.
We drove down to the bottom of the cliff as far as we could go. Al thought we should go on a hike and explore. It looked a little eery to me. Hardly even a trail, but Al said "Come on! It's an adventure!"
Oh my. Now I was just a little freaked out.
After about a 10 minute walk, we came to the lake.
In 1867 here at Cedar Bluff there was an Indian attack on a wagon train that was transporting a threshing machine to Salt Lake City. The remains of the threshing machine could be seen for years after the attack.
After we got back to the car (safely), we continued on west on dirt roads. Great Plains country. You could see for miles! Late in the last century this territory was the domain of the Cheyenne and Kiowa, General Custer and his troops and the likes of Buffalo Bill.

We turned west on the wrong dirt road and sort of got lost. Al says we weren't lost, we were just going west on a road we didn't know the name of. I tried to put "Castle Rock" as our destination into the GPS, but it wouldn't recognize it. We kept driving west and pretty soon we could tell that the terrain ahead was looking somewhat rugged and that maybe that is where we should go. Soon enough we saw a sign for "Castle Rock".

Castle Rock is in someone's pasture but they allow visitors to come. Just have to be respectful and not trash it up. You go across a cattle guard and follow the trail.

Al took the road to the top of the ridge. I thought he was going to drive over the ridge and I screamed! (Today in my devotions I was reading in the Message from Psalm 46 and I had to laugh out loud. "God is a safe place to hide, ready to help when we need Him. We stand fearless at the cliff-edge of doom." Well, I wasn't so fearless.) Al is such a tease sometimes and he had me thinking the car was not going to stop before we went over the edge.

In the distance you can see Castle Rock.

The Badlands

We drove down a narrow and deeply rutted road to the bottom of the cliff. At one point we got stuck. There are a few places that it is so badly rutted that they have made a 2nd path next to the original one. If you go, it would be a good idea to take 4-wheel drive if possible.

We found the badlands area just south of Castle Rock to be very interesting and wish we would have had time to do more exploring there!
The Castle Rock limestone, chalk and shale formation is fragile and may not last many more years. The tallest spire fell during a thunderstorm in 2001.

The shadows were lengthening and we needed to get to our next stop - Monument Rocks before the sun set.

Kansas Adventures, October, Part 1

2011-10-20T11:52:00.000-07:00

For our October Kansas Adventure, we hit the road going northwest. We like to take back roads whenever possible - highways we have never been on. We headed out toward Great Bend to pick up highways 156 and 4, part of the wetlands & wildlife scenic byway.

Since we were so close to Great Bend, we decided to stop in to see Al's brother who works at John Deere as a service writer.

He was telling us that it is not uncommon to write up repair bills for $20,000 - $40,000! The combine in background brand new would cost a farmer 1/2 million! These new machinery have GPS and can drive themselves. Pretty soon you'll be able to get rid of the farmer! Ha!

Growing up on a farm, Al had thought he would like to be a farmer one day. We tease that he thought he was going to "farm-acy" school. But Al's Dad did not encourage his boys to follow in his footsteps. It was hard and often Dad had to take on a second job. So he told them to go to college and pursue a different career.

Just northeast of Great Bend is the Cheyenne Bottoms wildlife area, a marsh habitat for waterfowl and shorebirds during migrational periods.

Sandhill cranes, whooping cranes, various duck and lots of other birds can be spotted. Bald eagles winter in the area.

We saw a big flock of white pelicans yesterday. They summer in Alberta, Canada and winter in Florida and Mexico.

We saw a few hunters. Hunting is regulated of course because of many endangered and protected birds.

We left the area and drove west on highway 4. Friendly locals would wave to us. Al said they aren't used to seeing humans around. There truly was so little traffic! We were the only ones on the road it seemed.

There are miles of stone fence posts. Farmers and ranchers quarried the abundance of rock to make fence posts since there were so few trees in the area.
Many barns and homes had seen better days. If only we could "hear" the stories they could tell us.

It was past 1:30 and we began to look for places to eat. We like to try those rural mom and pop restaurants - hole in the wall type places. Unfortunately, although many of these small towns had bars (this town had 3) we could not find a diner. So we had to settle for a bar that advertized that it served food too. I was wishing I'd packed a picnic.
The establishment was clean and not smokey at all due to laws. A little tacky perhaps. Check out the curtains made from bed sheets. And I've never had an ice tea or 7-up served up in Bud Light cups before! We just are not bar type people. Oh well, the hamburger and enchilada were decent enough.

We were refreshed and ready for the next part of the adventure!

Playdate

2011-10-18T20:15:00.001-07:00

The young moms in our Tuesday morning Bible study along with their children came to my house this morning for a playdate. We visited and laughed while we had coffee, cherry coffee cake, hashbrown casserole and pumpkin cupcakes.

The kids played quite well - there might have been a few squabbles. Infact, I thought some child was about to be decked when I appeared with this camera. Then they were all smiles for Miss Debby for picture taking. Always glad to stop a fight!

A princess pirate?
Marin wearing this crown backwards cracked me up.

Luke is all boy. He wanted to see the garage to look at Mr. Allen's tools, lawnmower, saw blades, etc. Luke loves his lawnmowers and will ask anyone what color theirs is and how you start it up. And he does a great imitation of how to start a lawnmower by pulling the start thing. (I have no idea what it is called) But Luke probably would know.

A fun play time dear young friends! Come again!

Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-17T19:53:00.000-07:00

Today we went to Papa's Pumpkin Patch north of town. Before going to the patch to pick out our pumpkins, there were other things to do!

We got a hay rack ride out to the pumpkin patch.

The kids each picked out their very own pumpkins.

The burro watched the children pick their pumpkins.
More play time.

The children were given an educational time about how pumpkins are grown and the many types of pumpkins.
Long time ago children played "spin the top" with these little gourds.
Our time at Papa's Pumpkin Patch ended with some very delicious pumpkin cake!

Today was really our first quite chilly day. I could have had a jacket besides my sweater. I was freezing out there on the farm! Winter is around the corner, but I have to say I love pumpkin season!! Winter can wait just a little.

Taste of Home

2011-10-15T14:50:00.000-07:00

When my children were still living at home and I did lots of cooking, I used to subscribe to the Taste of Home magazine. I LOVED it!

So when Carolyn Dewey suggested that we go to the Taste of Home Cooking School that had come to the area, I was excited to do just that! Last night several from my ladies' Bible study went. We arrived early so we could go around and visit all the booths.

Got a nice sampling of lipstick...
Got to taste wonderful cupcakes! and chocolates!

and for me the best was that I got a wonderful back massage!! (sorry, no picture of that)

We all got Walmart bags with goodies (coupons, wooden spoons, magazines, etc.)

What an entertaining and educational evening learning cooking hints and seeing the culinary specialist make all kinds of wonderful foods - pumpkin whoopie pies, agave chocolate cake, roast pork tenderloin sliders, groundnut stew, Chex pb and chocolate blast...

We were given lots of hints - like "never refrigerate tomotoes or sweet potatoes".

They gave away tons of prizes! All the food made was given away along with the pretty dishes they were served on. Lots of cookbooks were given as prizes. There were appliances given away. Even a tv and an overnight stay in KC. We were disappointed that no one in our group got one. We will have to go back next year and try again!

In the meantime, well, we shall try our hand at making these wonderful new recipes!

Stroke

2011-10-11T15:55:00.000-07:00

On Sunday while sitting in our church service my phone vibrated. As the nursery director I thought it was probably a nursery worker calling to say they could not make it this morning. But it was my mother telling me that my dad had a stroke and she was at the hospital. Decisions needed to be made and she needed us to come. So I went back into the worship center and called Al out. Jill came too and we went to the hospital.

Mom told us that they were getting ready to go to church and were getting in the car when he told her "You drive". Well, Dad always drives when they are going somewhere together so Mom found this very unusual. As he got in the passenger seat, she asked if she should drive to the hospital and he nodded.

Dad was in Intensive Care. We decided that maybe we should transfer him on to Wichita because he was not getting better. We signed papers but then remarkably Dad began to get better! He began to speak fairly well and he could make movements fine. So after confiring with my brother (who is a physician in KC), we decided he should stay in town at the local hospital.

Dad was doing well physically, but his speech at times would be good, and at other times it was like he was speaking a foreign language. We could tell it was frustrating to him because he knew what he wanted to say but he just couldn't get it out! They call it aphasia. And how hard for a communicator like Dad - a missionary/pastor and one who loves to tell lots of jokes.

After only 1 night in the hospital the doctor released Dad! We were sort of surprised! But he is so happy to be home!

He tried to re-program the coffee maker (since Mom had unplugged it) and Mom said it took him about 1/2 hour to do so. But he was determined.

Today Mom wanted to go hear a speaker so I went to babysit Dad. Or maybe I should say Dad-sit. (Sophia and Hannah do not like me to say I am babysitting them. I am kid-sitting them!) So, I was Dad-sitting, just to keep him company and for Mom's reassurance.

I was amazed at Dad's improvement in speech! When I got there, he was on the computer and he was just responding to an e-mail I had sent him. I sent it, wondering how he would do on the computer. Dad looked at me and said "Oh, I just sent you a cucumber!" We laughed because we knew he didn't mean that.

We spent the next hour talking and although at times he would struggle with a word or two, for the most part he was speaking quite well! Maybe a little slower to make sure he had the right words. He told me he spent this morning reading a chapter in Ecclesiastes over and over and over. Then when Mom got up, he read it aloud to her. He feels that helped him with comprehension and speech.

He went to see a speech therapist this morning also and will do so for a while.

Mom said it is like when Jesus told the paralytic "Take up your mat and walk". We are getting Dad back and we are so happy!

Kansas' 150th Birthday parade

2011-10-08T18:04:00.000-07:00

Although Kansas became a state January 29, 1861, celebrations have been going on all year. And since January really is a difficult month for parades - well, there was a big one today in downtown Wichita. So we went to this sesquicentennial birthday parade with the grandchildren. We knew that rain clouds were off to the west so we took umbrellas - just in case!
Messin' with Papa waiting for the parade to start.

Look Nana! My wite hand is ovoo my haht.
The Governor
I was just hoping these longhorns wouldn't get out of line and come at us!!

I am not sure what the Batmobile was doing in the Kansas parade. Any ideas? Maybe a Kansas guy bought it?

Miss Kansas
The cows and horses left a lot of evidence behind....
...luckily this street cleaner came along before all the marching bands and people came along.

The Pretty Prairie Bulldog marching band! I remember when I was on furlough in the 8th grade and got to march with them at Sterling College.

It was almost over when we began to feel drops of rain.
So we started to get ready to leave when it began to pour. Time to go! It almost rained on our parade! But glad it held out!
It was a fun and long parade and the kids got lots of candy thrown to them too. But we weren't done! We headed to Elbing, to Berean for their Country Fair. Kansas has so many country fairs in the month of October! We could have gone to several today.
Posing with Tante Hulda, who I painted probably 10 years ago when our kids went to school there. I painted her as an advertisement for the German food that they serve. Verenika, German sausage, New Year's cookies, zwiebach.

And now we are thanking God for the rain He has sent. So far about an inch, but we could get possibly up to 3 inches we are told. Great for the grass we planted and for the crops around here. An end to the draught perhaps.

Happy 150th Birthday, Kansas!