A New Child of God

A last minute decision for Tom's last day of vacation took us with Opa and Jane up to Dick and Diane's for their new grandbaby's baptism. It was a great day except that the barbecue was brought inside due to rain.

We heard a wonderful sermon on how not to worry. We got to see Addison become part of God's family. We got to spend time with Dick and Diane's SEVEN grandchildren--believe it or not they've got us beat! We got to walk across the suspension bridge that Dick and Diane built across the river behind their house. We had a delicious dinner. We got to listen to Opa tell us all about the countryside between Carson City and Lansing. How does he know all that??

We got home and had short naps. Then Heidi and the kids came over (more fun!) Then Tom W. and son Mark from church came over with a snazzy little convertible car that Tom W. had on loan from his job and we went for a quick ride in that. More fun!

Then I came in and checked the blogs and found the touching blog from Andy! A great topping for a great day and a great end to Tom's vacation!

34 Years Ago

On this, our 34th wedding anniversary, here are a few recollections of the day July 29, 1972:
- waking up in Tom's family's dormer "dormitory" room full of girls singing "Goin' to the the chapel, and I'm gonna get married..."
- Tom giving haircuts to some of his groomsmen in the basement
- Tom riding a motorcycle down Ridge Rd. at 75 mph (Was it a death wish?)
- A beautiful 70 something degree day with blue skies and puffy white clouds.
- The "camper city" set up in the Schroeder yard to accommodate out of town guests
- Pat's head peeking around the shower door in Concordia's locker room with a plastic bag over her head so as not to ruin her "do"
- Getting dressed in my revamped, borrowed from my sister, wedding dress
- Facing Dr. Foelber (our former Concordia choir director/pastor/officiant) and the altar at Concordia's chapel while singing "The Wedding Prayer"
- putting Tom's wedding ring on the wrong hand
- our photographer taking way too long to take pictures (for naught--he lost them all)
- Dick ripping his tuxedo pants while bending over to put rocks in the hubcaps of our brand new "Cutlass"
- cold cuts, potato salad and cake in Concordia's dining room and then back to the "Cow Palace" for beer and dancing
- stopping along the side of Ridge Rd to take the rocks out of our hubcaps on our way to our motel in Ann Arbor on the first night of our honeymoon trip around the perimeter of Michigan
- the beginning of 34 years of joys, blessings, and love!

I love you, Tom!

Smudge's and Friend's Smudges

As I'm sitting here in my lazyboy with my laptop in my lap, I often look up and through the door to the family room. I had a clear view yesterday, but today it's full of smudges again as all of my grandchildren were over last night. I see "hamburgery" fingerprints, and nose and mouth marks because they were told that everyone had to finish eating before they could go out for tractor and "motor" rides.
Grampy quickly finished his dinner and took the three younger ones on his wagon train pulled by the John Deere lawnmower, while Quinn and Ella followed on Quinn's "motor". The two of them make a good team. Quinn drives but he likes to turn and watch the back wheels, and Ella sits behind him and warns him when he is about to run in to something. The only mishap was when Q and E got ahead of the wagon train and then stopped quickly. The "motor" was rear-ended by Grampy and his wagon train. No damage and no injuries.

It is worth all the Windex in the world to have those moments!

A Reunion or Two

I'm looking forward to today. My brother Rich, his wife Sheila, and their youngest grandson Noah (almost 3), are coming up for a visit. So we decided to also have Jeanne come over from Muskegon and Pat come up from Ohio. We will assemble here for a visit this afternoon and then Heidi, Emily and their families will come later for a barbecue. I only get to see Rich and Sheila about once a year, and I've never met Noah. It will be a fun day!

In other news. Tom has actually not set foot at COK all week and we are worshipping elsewhere this morning. Hopefully, he'll be able to stay away another week.

Tom's Uncle Melvin died yesterday. What a reunion he's having! Tom was asked to do part of the service. Uncle Melvin had struggled with diabetes for a long time and recently fell and broke his hip and was just not able to recover. Our prayers are with his wife and family.

Have a blessed day!

Short and Sweet Get Away

Tom and I are back from our mini-vacation. It was a great time thanks to the wonderful hospitality of Mary and Mark. Our vacation included:
--riding up north with Matt and his girlfriend Heather
--a detour that took us on a Joyce and Pam type two-track adventure
--a very wonderful 1920's or 30's era cottage with a huge screened porch overlooking Lake Michigan
--a beautiful Sunday night sunset on Lake Michigan
--watching Quinn, Avery, and Kaleigh enjoy the beach
--wonderful meals
--a visit to Camp Arcadia with a stop at "The Ice House" for an ice cream lunch
--an almost boat ride on Mark's bass boat (cancelled due to the extreme choppiness of Portage Lake).
--watching Q,A, and K on their "boat" ride on dry land, and sorting through Mark's extensive rubber lure collection.
--Mary's delicious cinnamon rolls and lemon poppy muffins
--swimming in the huge waves of Lake Michigan
--a fun game night (except the wild "Spoons" game that put my shoulder back in pain mode)
--a wild and wooly storm that saw a sudden wind shift that blew a tablecloth, rocks and two decks of cards across the porch
--a leisurely drive home that took us through Grand Haven and lunch at the "Morningstar" with Andy
--a fun drive home navigating the back roads just for something different
--arriving home to find the McClelland's there to greet us (we're glad we got to see Avery on her actual birthday)

Now the challenge--keeping Tom occupied, relaxed and away from work for another week and a half.

Off to the North Country!

After church tomorrow- God willing - Tom and I will head up north for a few days. His sister has rented a 3 bedroom cottage near Onekama and has invited us up. We haven't been up north since we went to Ron's place two years ago, so I'm looking forward to it. Tom has the next two Sundays off so we'll probably relax around home the rest of the time, and maybe take some day trips somewhere. The trick will be to get Tom to relax and stay away from church! I will try to keep in touch blog-wise!

July 11, 1970

What I Know (or think I know) about Joyce and Mark's Wedding:

Hot! Very Hot!
Bridesmaids wore pastel colors
Pastor Schaible had just come into town
Ron went down like a ton of bricks followed by Joyce soon thereafter
Reception at Carrawee (sp)
Mother of bride wasn't happy that bread was served in its wrapper
Honeymoon at Cedar Point
Marriage was bound to succeed with love, faith, and family!

Congratulations! I'm blessed to have witnessed your marriage for 33 years even if I didn't witness the day!

Number "One and Only" Son

How could I neglect blogging about my "one and only" son on his birthday! Sorry, bubs! I know how it happened--I'm a day by day (like Heidi) thinker and I spent the day with Ella and that was on my brain.

My memories of Andy's birth. He was my easiest birth! He came 3 days early. He was almost born on July 2nd - 4 minutes after midnight! I remember the dr. talking about his glasses during the c-section--saying, "These glasses from K-mart work pretty well." You were the only one whose actual birth your dad got to witness. I remember wheeling Heidi and Emily in my wheelchair down to the nursery to get their first look at you! I remember seeing Kathy Davis laboring in the hospital with Stephanie while we were there (who would know you would be special friends for so many years?) We brought you home the day of Waltz's homecoming parade and you slept through the loud sirens of the fire engines.

I could go on and on with memories of your childhood, young adulthood, etc. But I'll just end this with how proud I am of the loving, easygoing, caring, funny, honest person that you have become!

Happy late birthday--but day that you were due anniversary! I love you!

Two New Houses for Ella!

How many people get two new houses for their fourth birthday? Yesterday, Ella did!

Emily and Bob made their move to their new home on Ella's birthday; and Ella received a very cute Fisher Price Loving Family Dollhouse from her Grandma, Grandpa, and Great-Grandma Woehlke.

Most of the boxes of stuff were moved on Sunday by a lot of hard-workers--Andy, Brad, Kelly, Betty, Tom, Bob, Mark, and Mary (Em and I unpacked a lot!).

Yesterday five incredibly strong Spanish-speaking young men shrink-wrapped, loaded, and unloaded 2 truckloads of furniture in only 4 1/2 hours! It was quite amazing to watch. The only casualty was a couple of holes in the walls going up the stairs in order to get their king size four-poster bed up the stairs (quite an ordeal). Bob finally gave permission to mar the walls since it was a brand new bed and there was no other way!

Ella and Sophie quickly made 4 new neighborhood friends who kept them occupied most of the afternoon, (including a swim in a nifty new blow up pool).

By the end of the day, beds were made (ready to fall into), the kitchen was pretty well settled, the living and family rooms pretty well settled (except pictures on the walls), lawn was mowed (Tom brought over his 2 mowers and he and I made quick work of it), bushes in the front were trimmed by Tom, the cable guy had come and the TV, telephone, and internet were hooked up, and vases of flowers from their extensive flower gardens made the place look settled. Then a wonderful barbecued rib dinner (a la Brad), a "princess" birthday cake (a la Grandma Woehlke), and the dollhouse arrived.

There was a perfect ending to the day as "Princess" Ella waved goodby to me from her "turret" bedroom as she was ready to go to bed after a long, fun, exciting day!

Perfect Place for Grandkids!

Ella and Sophia spent the day with us yesterday while Mom and Dad had their closings and worked on some more "moving" preparations. Later in the evening, Bob, Emily, and the McClelland family joined us for a barbecue. We had a great time. I'm always thankful for our "country estate", but especially, when all our young'uns are around. We had a great time! Here are some of the things we did.

1. built a fort in the carport
2. picked cherries and ate them
3. picked peas a few at a time and went to the shade to open and eat them raw
4. dug buried treasure - potatoes
5. pulled some onions (or as Ella says "ying-yungs")--since we were eating peas straight from the garden, Quinn decided to sample the ying-yungs, too and took a big bite - greens and all.
6. had a picnic in the shade of the maple in the backyard - Sophie and Ella made their own peanut butter sandwiches
7. fed the fish
8. watched the baby birds that built a nest in our birdhouse hanging from the magnolia tree
9. had a swim in the hot tub
10. drove and drove Quinn's little motorized John Deere four wheeler (I think Ella's become an expert at parallel parking before she's 4.) Later Quinn and Ella shared rides all over the property. What a hoot to watch! Quinn got to be an expert driving it, even with an onion in his hand. We had to warn them about standing on it to pick more cherries especially when they were right next to the ditch.
11. watered the sod and the grandchildren with the hose
12. ran through the "corn tunnels"
13. played in the sandbox (it may take a while for Sophie to get all the sand out of her hair)
14. swung from the swings in the maple tree
15. "climbed" the magnolia tree
16. had a barbecue supper on the deck and "wore" ice cream sandwiches for dessert
17. had a few "meltdowns" when it was time to go home

Yesterday was one of those days that I wished I had a digital camera and the ability to display all of our adventures in pictures!