the Grabers

Monday, February 19, 2018

Fun with the Wisconsin family

The girls still had school to attend while we were visiting there.

Have a good day, girls! My blessing to them as they walked out the door.

May the words of your mouth and the meditation of your hearts be acceptable in His sight.

- from Psalm 19:14

Snuggles with Claire before she has to leave for preschool.

Claire has school in the morning only so she went shopping with her momma and me and her baby Rose. I told her that one of my best friends growing up was named Rosie!

Here is a picture of me in 3rd grade - 3rd from right in front row and Rosie is beside me. This was a school program at our one room missionary school.

Play time after school. There is a tiny hill behind their house they can sled down. And make snow angels. The girls LOVE snow! Not having it here in Kansas, so good thing they are in Wisconsin!

The real fun was sledding down this big hill in a park close by!!

Claire plowed into a boy on her way down once and she said "I don't want to ever ride by myself again!"

It snowed off and on while we were there. Al helped shovel the sidewalk. Each day joggers and dog walkers come by. Wisconsin people have no idea that it is too cold to do that!

Homework with Papa's help - check out the photo bomber!

Saturday morning fun with Papa

And because I had taken Claire shopping, I had to go with the big girls too! They love being silly.

Sunday morning we went to church. There was a baptism that was so very sweet.

My emotions were all over the place, so thankful for the Lord's work in their lives!

Sunday afternoon, we went to see Hannah in a school play "Shrek"

She was Shrek's mother

and a few other characters too.

We were able to watch some of the Olympics too while we were there. Most of it was after Clair's bed time but the other girls were able to watch a couple hours.

Thursday, February 15, 2018

Off to Wisconsin!

We set the alarm for 4 AM the morning we were going to leave for yet another trip to Wisconsin to see the children, but we both woke up at 3, so we were on the road by 4:23!

We hit KC at the start of rush hour. Living in Small Town, USA, my nerves get taut by traffic in the HUGE cities. Glad Al doesn't mind it. Having grown up on a farm outside of a really small town, like 500 people, you'd think it would bother him. I lived in one of the largest cities in the world - Tokyo - but we always traveled by train, not by vehicle.

As we were driving north, Al began to get sleepy so I took over the driving.

And of course, it was while I was driving that we hit snow and icy roadways!

Al finally woke up and took over for me. Relief for me! We decided to stop at Lamoni, the Iowa Welcome Center that is also an Amish country store. We purchased some home-made goodies. Having grown up Mennonite ourselves, we think there is nothing like Mennonite/Amish cooking!!

We began to see MANY vehicles that had slid off the road from the storm that rolled through the day before.

On the highway around Cedar Rapids, we noticed lots of birdhouses attached to the road signs. I looked it up:

“Due to loss of habitat, American kestrel populations were in decline. In the early ‘80s the Iowa DNR started the interstate nest box program in cooperation with the Iowa DOT. Together, the Iowa DNR and DOT created the first of its kind statewide kestrel trail along an interstate system. The program was entirely supported by volunteer resources so the boxes belong to varying organizations or groups. The nesting box program allowed the population of the American kestrel to rebound within the state of Iowa. Although some of the boxes still remain, in recent years the DOT has discontinued the program.”