In The Proposal, Betty White (the grandma) gives Sandra Bullock (the soon-to-be granddaughter-in-law) a necklace that has come down through the family.  When Sandra protests, Betty insists that grandmas love to give their things away because it means they’ll still be around in some way after they die.  This is true.

A few years ago, I gave Kyra, my only granddaughter (as she likes to remind us), a few pieces of my jewelry.  I wasn’t sure if she’d wear them or not, but I hoped she would at least treasure them as a memento of me.

Kyra is currently serving on a mission for her church in Bakersfield, CA.  She sends a weekly email message and always includes some photos about what’s going on in her life.  Today, as I was scrolling through the pictures she sent, I recognized a necklace from me on her neck.

Yes, grandmas love to give their things away.  They love it even more when they see their granddaughters enjoying those things.

This is me at three years old.  Check out the necklace.  I’ll bet my mom made that skirt and blouse.  The decorative bow in my hair that matches the skirt is definitely her touch, and she loved to do detailed sewing like the blouse.

Here’s Kyra.  Check out her necklace.  Beautiful girl, treasured necklace, and a little tear of happiness in grandma’s eye.

Kari was notified that Teddy would be receiving three awards at school today, so she invited Ted and me to attend the assembly.  Each classroom teacher gave awards for subjects taught in that classroom.  Special subjects included art, music, computers, etc. in addition to reading, writing, math, and the Big 3–given to one student in each class for being a safe, respectful, and responsible learner.  We were very proud of Teddy.

In the special subjects category, Teddy received a music award.  He’s on the far left.

Next was the classroom reading award.  He’s on the right in the back row.

Teddy’s third award was the Big 3.  Kari said the teacher told her Teddy is the most mature child in her classroom.  (Check it out.  The boy on Teddy’s right is wearing a shirt that says “Fossil Fuel” and has a picture of a dinosaur riding a motorcycle.)

The Big 3 includes a medal in addition to the certificate.  Here’s our winner.

 

Today was also Hat Day at school.  Most of the hats were cute, but not remarkable.  Some kids went for the extremes.

A Beefeater, perhaps?

World’s largest hat?

No hat, but the boy in the middle wore a three-piece suit and a tie for the event.  He looks bored here, but he was excited about his award and was glad-handing everyone.  Future politician?

Back at Kari’s house, we celebrated all these certificates with fresh-baked raisin bread and fresh caramel-frosted chocolate cupcakes.

 

Meanwhile, outside in Kari’s driveway, the Camry lives on.  Ted and I bought the Camry in March 1992.  It wouldn’t die, and we got sick of driving it, so Ted replaced it with a 2003 Solara and we gave the Camry to Kathy.  In December 2017, Kathy bought the Prius from us and gave the Camry to Kari.  Those Toyota cars just won’t quit!

 

It’s so much fun to live close to one of our kids’ families so we can regularly be a part of days like this.

My dad loved Hostess Twinkies, and my mom packed one in his lunch every day.  I’m pretty sure Twinkies have negative nutritional value and an expiration date of “when the world ends.”  I wonder if Dad would have appreciated this treat for Easter dinner.

Ted and I spent the afternoon with Kari’s boys today.  Ted and I look forward to these days and, whatever we do, we always have a good time together.  As usual, we started with lunch.  History is a good predictor of the restaurant the boys will choose, so yes, we went to Steak ‘n’ Shake.

Sitting across from the boys at the table, I noticed that all three were wearing sweatshirts with orange zippers.

 

The best part of Steak ‘n’ Shake is always when the shakes arrive.

 

It was cold outside (10-12 degrees) and a dangerous wind chill advisory was posted for late afternoon through the next three days.  An indoor activity like bowling seemed like a good idea.  The boys were willing, so we each got a pair of ugly bowling shoes and picked out a ball.

The boys might have been overly optimistic about their superpowers.  Sky and Dylan selected ten-pound balls and Teddy chose a seven-pound ball.  After several frames of watching Dylan and Teddy drop, rather than roll, their balls on the alley, I suggested they look for lighter balls.  (Teddy’s ball would probably have been good for Dylan, but the finger holes were too small.)

It was Saturday afternoon on a cold holiday weekend, so all the lanes were filled with families whose kids also needed lightweight balls.  As a result, Teddy and Dylan couldn’t find anything lighter than what they had.  Due to the large crowd, the bowling alley policy was six people to a lane.  That meant that after throwing (or dropping) a gutter ball or a low-scoring ball, each of us had to wait five turns to try it again.  B-o-o-o-ring!  We finished the game, but no one was eager to bowl another line.

Here’s Dylan, using body language to coax his ball toward the pins.

 

These are our scores–but not really.  The screen only showed the first initial of each name, so Teddy and Ted and Dylan and I sometimes messed up and bowled on each other’s turn.

 

Looking at the family scoreboards across the lanes, I saw very few scores over 100–apparently there were few true bowlers present for open bowling on a holiday weekend.  The boys and I have tentatively banned Ted, the family jock, from playing miniature golf with us in the future because his score was a lot lower than anyone else’s.  We might also have to ban him from bowling with us in the future because his score was so much higher than anyone else’s.  The scores weren’t the important part of the afternoon, but I think I speak for all of us when I say we were ready to move on to a different activity.

The boys voted that we return to their house so they could show us all the things they got for Christmas.  After that, we played Michigan Rummy, using the new chips Dylan got for Christmas.  Just as Teddy was ready to quit because his chips were gone, he won several of the pots and perked up again.  The Christmas toys and Michigan Rummy were the highlights of our time together, proving again that the simple things are the most fun.  We were practicing hygge.

Kari’s family opened gifts at their house this morning and then joined Kathy, Annette, Ted, and me at our house after lunch.

Kari took a group picture before the unwrapping began.

Annette has apparently been waiting years to make waffles at home.  Now she can do it.

The boys seemed very pleased with the gifts they received.  Teddy added two pigs to his collection.  Is it significant that both are piggy banks?  The jar he’s holding is “pork and beans”–little stuffed pigs mixed with bean seeds.

Here’s Teddy with his Lego piggy bank.  Who knew you could get a pig Lego set?  When Ted and I saw it, we grabbed it.

Since he was a little kid with enough money to buy gifts, Thom and I have always exchanged a Christmas Lego figure with each other.  This is the one I received from Thom this year. . .

. . . and the one I sent to Thom (on the right).

I took a group picture after the boys distributed the gifts.

 

After an early dinner, it was time for Kathy and Annette to leave for Kirksville so Annette could get some sleep before going back to work tomorrow.  Our two-day Christmas holiday with our girls and their families was wonderful.  We had time to visit and time to play.  Family time is always good and always goes by too quickly.  Until next time, merry Christmas and happy new year!

From Thanksgiving until Christmas, the St. Charles Historic District is decorated for the holidays and has holiday activities and performances several days and evenings each week.  There are Santas from around the world, carolers, a drum and fife corps, and over 40 costumed Victorian holiday characters from history, literature, and folklore.  All of these characters walk throughout the district and interact with visitors and shoppers.  There is an opening parade the day after Thanksgiving and, on Christmas Eve, a closing parade, followed by a farewell to Santa as he leaves to begin delivering gifts to children around the world.

Kathy and Annette wanted to do some shopping in the Historic District, so that’s where we headed after lunch.  As we were walking around the area, the Christmas Eve Parade began.  We went to the parade with Jeff’s family in 2015.  It was sunny and in the 40s.  Today it was around 20 degrees with a wind chill about 10 degrees colder.  The parade moved faster and there were fewer attendees than in 2015, but it was still fun.

Here they come. The wassailers are first, singing warm songs in the cold.

These are the Victorian carolers.

This guy is the Master of Revels.  I don’t know why his lipstick, eye makeup, and costume are bright blue.

Here comes Santa Claus!

 

Santa’s horse-drawn carriage is the last thing in the parade, so spectators along the sidewalks fill in behind him and follow him to the riverfront (one block east of here).  Annette, Kathy, and Kari opted to shop inside a warm store; the brave boys (Sky, Dylan, and Teddy) came with Ted and me to the riverfront where they could play in the snow some more during Santa’s farewell ceremony.

I’m not an official crowd estimator, but I’d guess there were about 200 people braving the cold to wish Santa a good trip.

The man is one of the international Santa figures; the woman is Saint Lucia, the saint of light (candles in the wreath on her head).

Four more international Santas.

There’s a short ceremony on the bandstand to bid Santa farewell.  That’s Dylan in his snow-covered jacket in the foreground.  Sky is bent over ahead of Dylan.

Santa said all the girls and boys in St. Charles are on the “nice” list this year.  Whew!  That’s Mrs. Claus on his left.

It’s time for Santa to leave so he can load his sleigh and get started with his deliveries around the world.

 

And then it was time for the boys, Ted, and me to join the girls in a warm store before heading back home.

Last year, when the kids arrived for Christmas, we decided to have lunch at Pizza Hut.  That was fine with me because I didn’t have to cook.  The girls and their families remembered the fun we had at last year’s lunch and said we should do it again this year.  Easy!  Kathy and Annette arrived last night, spent the morning at Kari’s house, and we all met at Pizza Hut for lunch.

We were the only ones at the restaurant when we arrived, so we parked our three cars side by side.  You can see that it’s snowing again for our white Christmas.  That’s now Kathy’s Prius on the right.

Just waiting for our food.  Dylan is toasting the fun we’re having.  Annette is still too cold to take off her jacket.

 

After lunch, Kathy and Annette wanted to browse in some of the St. Charles Historic District shops, so we headed downtown.  The boys are out of school and it’s our second day of snow, so they were hyped up about being outside in the snow–even if it was less than 20 degrees with a nasty wind chill.

The boys spotted a teddy bear decoration that had fallen over, so they had to inspect the fallen bear.  Dylan is in a sympathy pose, imitating the bear.

Dylan had fun rolling in the snow.

Sky and Teddy got in the sled and Dylan became the horse to pull it.

A view of the white Christmas riverfront.

Ted and I kicked off the concert season at the Hardin Middle School orchestra’s winter concert.  Sky and Dylan are cellists in the orchestra.

It’s Big Teddy and Little Teddy, ready to hear some music.

The orchestra is warmed up and ready to play.  Arrows point to the people we are most interested in–Dylan in the center ahead of the bass, and Sky on the right in the front chair.

Here’s a closer view of our boys.

Only the eighth graders played the most difficult piece.  Afterward, they stood to take a bow.  Sky is already in eighth grade!

 

Ted and I always look forward to these concerts, and we enjoy them.  The holiday music season has officially begun for us!

Ted and I have been looking forward to our stop in Longmont, CO to see Alex for the first time in 25 months.  He just returned from his mission in Peru on November 5, and we arrived at the house on the 6th, so we didn’t give him much time to recover from the international travel or to re-acclimate himself to the U.S.  After two years, it’s obvious he is a mature young man who’s had a very enriching experience.  We’re so proud of him!  We had a good time with the family and, as always, were sorry to have to leave and be on our way.

It looks like Jeff, La, and Zaque were excited about Alex’s homecoming too.

 

Jeff’s first ultimate frisbee game of the winter season was scheduled during our visit, so we watched his team play two twenty-minute fast-paced indoor games.

Here’s Jeff’s cheering section.

Jeff is a team captain, so I assume he’s giving the team a pre-game pep talk here, even though the team looks pretty relaxed at the moment.

Jeff in action.

 

Since Alex has been gone for two years, we needed to take some family pictures.

Here we are, looking at some of the pictures Alex took while he was in Peru.  Zaque had already gone to bed.

And here we are the next morning.  Zaque was in school.

Yet another grouping–Ted and me with our elder son.

Our final shot:  three generations of Schroeder men–Ted, his elder son, and Jeff’s elder son, our eldest grandson.

 

I think we need to do a better job of scheduling our trips.  At the start of our Spring Break Road Trip, we had three inches of snow in Nashville, TN and three more in Asheville, NC.  At the end of this trip, we had three inches of snow in Longmont, CO.

 

It must be time to get home and put the flannel sheets on the bed!

Ted wasn’t feeling his best today because he’s beginning to catch a cold.  It’s a mystery how that happened, but that doesn’t keep it from being a fact.  His energy level was low, so we opted for easy sightseeing in the Tucson area.

Yesterday, we were at the Desert Museum and saw a little bit of Saguaro National Park West, so today we went to Saguaro National Park East.  There is an 8-mile loop drive with lots of turnouts for viewing the desert landscapes.  We considered hiking, but Ted didn’t really feel like it and I was tired too, so we chucked the hiking idea.  After all, this is our vacation, so we get to do what we want (or don’t want) to do.

After the national park, our next activity of the day (following a lunch break) was a narrated tram ride through Sabino Canyon, northeast of Tuscon.  There were beautiful views throughout the canyon and both of us felt it was time well spent.

You can see the two stone railings of a narrow bridge in the lower right center of the photo.  It was about six inches wider than the tram, but the driver got both tram cars safely across all eight water crossings on our journey.  The rocks at the top of the center mountain are called the Acropolis Ridge because of their shapes.

Saguaro cactus are growing among the red rocks.  The tree on the right is a palo verde (green stick) because everything on the tree is green, including the bark.

Another pretty view of the Sabino Canyon.

Ted and me, having fun on our tram tour viewing stop.  We’re getting pretty good at selfies, aren’t we?  How about those two guys you can see between us at the back of the tram?

 

We hoped to drive the Catalina Highway along a mountain ridge for some spectacular views, but we ran out of time, so we checked into our hotel and freshened up for dinner.  We had a special dinner in Tucson with my cousin, Bob Lorenzen.

Both Bob and we thought he might have visited us once in St. Charles, prior to 1979, but none of us could remember for sure.  If not, the last time we’ve seen each other was at Ted’s and my wedding in 1969.  My youngest brother (Russ), Bob, and our cousin David were all born within a year, so they hung out together at Ted’s and my wedding.  They also signed our wedding guest book as Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, and Superman.  If I had the book with me, I’d scan the page to show you this wedding artifact.  It’s been a fun memory for Ted and me over the years.  Bob is more mature now and we had a great time together for several hours.  As soon as we saw each other, both Bob and I said, “You look just like you used to.”  Of course, we look older, but yes, it was easy to recognize each other, even after nearly 50 years.

Can you believe that–even without planning it–we all wore blue shirts?!  It was so good to see each other and to catch up on all kinds of extended family news.

Ted, Dan, Vernie, and I spent the afternoon at Kitt Peak Observatory.  I will shamelessly name-drop that Dan is an astronomer and did work at Kitt Peak on his sabbaticals as a professor of astronomy.  Who better to take us to an observatory?

We took a tour with a very knowledgeable docent.  His only mistake was starting his tour by asking (somewhat playfully) if anyone in the group was an astronomer.  Personally, if I’d been in his place, I’d have been intimidated to be giving a tour to an astronomer who had previously done work at Kitt Peak, but the docent seemed to take it in stride.

Until today, I didn’t realize that there was more than one telescope at Kitt Peak.  Actually, there are three operating night telescopes, two radio telescopes, and 22 optical telescopes on the premises.

Here are some of the telescopes on Kitt Peak.

 

There is also a solar telescope that is no longer in use.

This is the solar telescope.  I was trying to figure out what was inside this building, because I never saw a telescope that looked like this.

From inside the solar telescope building, you can look upward toward the sky to see where the light enters the telescope.

The focal length of the solar telescope is 285 feet.  The light is reflected deep into the ground (arrow).  I had to take this picture through a window, so it’s not great, but the telescope was very impressive.

 

Kitt Peak is one of the sites for the Very Long Base Array.  The VLBA is a system of ten radio telescopes that are operated remotely from the Array Operations Center in Socorro, NM (home of the Very Large Array).  These ten telescopes work together as an array that forms the longest system in the world using interferometry (simultaneous observations made by many radio telescopes, then combined to yield data as if from one extremely large telescope).

The telescope facing upward in the center of the picture is the VLBA radio telescope.

 

Kitt Peak’s four-meter telescope was installed in 1973.  There was a lengthy delay in completing the mirror, so a concrete model of the mirror was built to the exact size and weight of the actual mirror.  This allowed some of the other work on the telescope to progress.  At the time it was completed, this telescope was the second-largest in the world.

When the actual mirror was installed, one person suggested the 15-ton concrete model be rolled down the mountain.  Instead, a mural was painted on it and it was placed at the entrance to the visitor’s center.  Check out my trusty scale model (Ted) to see how big a 4-meter mirror is.

The building on which the telescope dome revolves is constructed of ten hexahedrons and is architecturally beautiful.

This is the 4-meter telescope.  They were shifting the position of the telescope while we were inside, so we actually saw it moving.  The black part within the white circle at the top is the piece that will look outside the building when the slot on the dome is opened.

Our tour took us to the level of the vents inside the dome.  The vents are needed because the temperature in the dome must always match the temperature outside; otherwise, the mirror might cloud up when the door is opened and that would not be good for seeing stars.

 

Dan told us that when the Kitt Peak Observatory was built, location and access were important.  In the digital age, however, no human actually looks through the telescopes; all of the visual information is transmitted electronically, so it doesn’t matter where the telescope is placed.  As a result, remote Chile is a popular place for telescopes now because it is dark and high.  I know that today’s technology will greatly increase our knowledge, but doesn’t it take the fun out of a telescope if you can’t look through it?

 

Note:  Dan, if you are one of my select few readers, please correct any errors or misunderstandings I’ve made.  Thanks.  And thanks for taking us to Kitt Peak.

This morning, Dan and Vernie took Ted and me to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum–a definite “must see.”  It’s an outdoor museum with paths that took us through true desert.

A variety of cacti are visible in this photo. The center plant is an organ pipe cactus; the lower center is an agave cactus (they make tequila from these roots); and just above the agave is the stalk of a young saguaro cactus.  I don’t remember the names of the leafy one on the left or the bare-looking one on the right.

The short plants are cholla cacti, but Vernie said they are called “teddy bear cactus” because they look fluffy.  (They’re not.  They’re sharp!)

The cactus on the left is called a “jumping cholla” because if a branch dies, it will “jump” onto your clothing if you brush against it.  It doesn’t really jump; it breaks off of the plant and sticks to your clothing.  How do you get cactus out of your clothes?  Vernie said you use a comb.  In the center of the photo is a prickly pear cactus, and behind it is a saguaro that is probably over 100 years old, since they don’t sprout arms until they are about 75 years old.

Here are many young saguaro cacti (no arms), some prickly pear, a cholla on the right, and the mystery (to me) cactus that looks like a bush of sticks.

 

There is a hummingbird house on the museum grounds.  I didn’t know until today that hummingbirds are found only in the Western Hemisphere, and in the U.S., only west of the Mississippi River.  (The docent admitted that with climate change, there might be a few hummingbirds just east of the Mississippi.)  Arizona has 18 kinds of hummingbirds; Missouri has one, maybe two kinds.  There are about 300 species of hummingbirds.

The hummingbirds fly all over in the hummingbird house and are easy to spot, but getting a picture is harder.  They move very quickly and they are hard to see when they alight on the dense foliage.  I got a lucky shot of this one.

 

Finally, here’s a photo of the people with whom I had a wonderful desert museum experience.

Kathy and I saw this shirt when we had our September “Columbia Day” together.  We both laughed when we saw it because it made us think of Thom.

Since neither Jeff nor Ted bought the colorful spring suits they found, Ted wondered if the darker fall colors might appeal to Jeff as a second chance to buy matching father-son suits.

Badaboom!  Matching jacket, tie, and pants, with lots of color.

This one has an added feature:  a purple lining!

Last week, Kathy and I met in Columbia for a girls’ day out.  We like to do that whenever we can make it work with both of our schedules.  It’s about a 1.5-hour drive for each of us and we get to spend an entire day together.  We always have a good time and have never yet run out of things to talk about.  We’ve got the routine down:

(1)  Meet around 10:30 a.m. in Columbia at the intersection of I-70 (my road) and US 63 (her road) where there’s a big Bob Evans/Steak ‘n’ Shake parking lot.  We leave one of our cars in the parking lot for the day.

(2)  Eat lunch or breakfast, whichever seems right.

(3)  Browse through the downtown stores in Columbia.  Sometimes we actually purchase something, but most of the time, we just look at things.  This time, our browsing led us to an interesting T-shirt.  (We didn’t buy it.)

(4)  After purchasing some hand-dipped gourmet chocolates at the Candy Factory downtown, go to the Columbia Mall food court for a beverage to accompany the chocolates and a few hours of talking.

(5)  Select a restaurant for dinner and a few more hours of talking.

(6)  Return to the car in the Bob Evans/Steak ‘n’ Shake parking lot around 9:30 p.m. and leave for our respective homes.

One of our favorite dinner spots is Shakespeare’s Pizza, a family-owned pizza parlor.  Shakespeare’s is always busy, and recently expanded into a huge space.  That was our choice for this girls’ day out.

While standing in line to order our pizza, we had time to read the “Pool Rules.”

The yellow brick road is present in all of the 6 dining rooms and leads patrons to the rest rooms.  When it’s necessary, just follow the yellow brick road.

We ate in the first dining room this time, but I think it might be the noisiest.  You can see that Shakespeare’s is a happening place.

After another great day together, it’s time to head home.  The time always goes too fast for us.

We arrived in Longmont and were happy to see Jeff, La, Kyra, and Zaque.  Kyra will be leaving on September 13 for her 18-month mission in Bakersfield, CA.  To celebrate, Jeff and La took all of us to Kyra’s favorite restaurant, Benihana, for a farewell dinner.  Jeff has told us many times how much they like this restaurant, so Ted and I were eager to see what it’s like.  (Remember the trail mix lunch in Cheyenne?  We were ready for dinner.)

There were six of us, and Benihana seats tables of eight, so two other people were seated with us.  The six of us ordered the filet mignon; the other two people ordered salmon.  I mention this because you can tell which food is going where in the pictures below.  If there are only two of an item, that’s what the other people ordered.  Everyone gets many of the same side dishes, so there are eight of some things.

The first course (vegetables) included the onion volcano.  I’ve got to try this at home!

This man had sharper knives than I’ve ever seen.  He has to cut the food to chopstick size and his knives slid right through everything, from the zucchini to the steak.  Here he’s stirring the chicken cubes he cut.

And now, the main course–our steaks.  It was so much fun to watch him cook and to smell everything, then have it served piping hot.

 

On Saturday, none of us wanted to do much of anything, so we relaxed at home.  I found an interesting lamp in the room where Ted and I sleep and asked La about it.  She said her mother made it for her.

La’s doll lamp.

Look what La’s mom used for the lamp base: a weighted Clorox bottle.  You never know what women put on under their clothes to look good.

 

Sunday was church day and it was special because it was Kyra’s last Sunday and she was scheduled to give a 20-minute talk to the congregation about her upcoming mission.  She had worked on the speech a lot before we arrived and she also spent several hours Friday night and Saturday polishing it and timing it so it would be just right.  The speaker ahead of her went over his allotted time, but Kyra was told to use her full twenty minutes anyway.  Her talk was excellent.  She has a gift for personalizing what she says and it’s always interesting to hear the personal side of people’s stories.  Church worked up an appetite, though, so when we got home, it was time for a snack.

 

At 4:00, we headed back to church for Kyra’s setting apart service.  This rite set her apart as a missionary and she will have to follow missionary rules from this point forward.  Only family and close friends attend the setting apart, and Ted and I were honored to be present.  I asked Jeff ahead of time if this was a photo op celebration or if it was reverent and without pictures.  He said “reverent” (no surprise to me), but I brought my phone along anyway.  After the prayers and congratulations, the man who conducted the service (I don’t remember his title) smiled at all of us and asked, “Does anyone want a commemorative photo?”  I produced my phone and he took a group picture of us.

 

Knowing what a busy and important day this would be, La had a beef roast in the crockpot.  Combined with fresh seasonal corn on the cob, we had a delicious dinner and then sat around talking and playing games.

Sheephead has become a favorite of Zaque’s and Kyra’s.  They must have some Wisconsin blood in them.

 

At one point, we found ourselves talking about rewards and punishments parents use with their children.  Jeff’s family started talking about the “bucks” the kids used to get for good behavior that could be redeemed for privileges.  Naturally, that required digging out some souvenir bucks.

Zaque tried to duplicate the expression on his childhood 10-buck.

Kyra’s grown-up smile is the same as her little girl smile.

Alex is still in Peru, but we included his bucks in our discussion.  When she was little, Kari would have called these recollections “rememories.”  I’ve always liked that word.

 

Much too soon, it was bedtime and our time together was over.  Ted and I plan to leave at 5:30 am; Jeff and Zaque will be going to seminary at 6:00 am; and Kyra’s missionary rules say she should get up at 6:30 am.  It looks like only La can sleep in tomorrow morning.  We said good-night and good-bye to each other before going to bed.  Jeff was up and dressed when Ted and I were ready to leave, so he wished us a safe trip and we were on our way.  This MAT was one of our best trips ever.  (But we say that after every trip.)

The sun rose as we drove eastward from Denver.

The next stop on our Midwestern Adventure Trip (MAT) was Grand Island, NE–home of Ted’s sister, Mutzie and nephew, Glenn.  The state fair was in town, so the three of us set out in search of adventure at the fair.  This was opening day, so anyone who arrived before noon was admitted free (admission was $12 for adults).  We arrived at 11:45.

The sign on the gate behind us says we are welcome at the fair.

As we headed for the main aisle of the fairgrounds, the first thing we saw was the local NBC weatherman telling his viewers that the weather was beautiful for fairgoers.

The forecaster was broadcasting from right in front of the Nebraska history trailer and was wearing a red shirt and tan shorts–just like Ted.

We decided to scope out the fairgrounds to discover what was offered before deciding what to see, so we caught one of the trams that toured the fairgrounds, complete with a narrator on board.  There was a minor adventure when one of the riders on our tram fell off.  He was standing on the step instead of inside the tram.  Fortunately, he suffered only a minor scrape on one elbow.

Naturally, nothing but a large tractor would be appropriate to pull the tram car at the state fair.

Here we are, enjoying our tram tour.

When we got off the tram, one of the first things we passed was Nebraska state fair kitsch.

Just like home.

We were passing the dairy barn, so we had a delicious lunch:  pie with ice cream.  Ted had peach, Mutzie had strawberry-rhubarb, and I had cherry.  Yum!  Moving onward after eating our pie–ahem! lunch–we saw three semi-trailer trucks with Brad Paisley’s name on them.  Brad was scheduled to entertain the Nebraska crowd at 7:00 pm.

One of Brad’s trucks.  You can see some of his guys setting things up on the stage on the left side of the picture.

Grand Island, NE is the manufacturing home of Case IH combines.  Don’t think you’re going to see Brad Paisley’s show without a ticket.

Case combines (the red machines behind the tractors) were displayed around the arena field, making it impossible to see the stage from outside the venue.

There were traveling individual and group musicians.  One group went by as we were walking along the main aisle.

The group did a good job and gave the crowd a happy, toe-tapping feeling.

Since Mutzie is a Quilting Queen, we checked out the display of quilts.  There were over 650 quilts displayed in a room designed to display 400, so some had to be hung over each other, allowing only part of each to show.  The quilts were beautiful and the building was air conditioned, so it was a nice break.

This is just one corner of the quilt display.  There were many aisles filled with hanging quilts, plus all four walls of the room covered with quilts.

One of Mutzie’s friends entered this quilt.  The challenge was to design a quilt using the Dresden plate pattern.  This quilter used the pattern in the bicycle wheels.

As we were leaving the fairgrounds, a “giant” came up to us, so I took a picture of him with Ted.

He’s jolly and he’s a giant.  He was also extremely steady on his feet as he danced and twirled.

We had fun at the fair and enjoyed our family time in Grand Island.  Until next time, “fair well,” Mutzie and Glenn.  (Groan, I know.)

Note:  Mutzie apparently knows everyone in Grand Island and possibly in Nebraska.  I don’t think ten consecutive minutes went by without meeting someone she knew.  She’s way ahead of Kari when it comes to seeing friends wherever she goes.

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Kari invited Ted and me to join their family to celebrate Dylan’s birthday last week (July 13).  He is now 12 years old.  He usually picks ice cream cake for his birthday dessert, but varies the ice cream flavor each year.  This year, the cake was one-half vanilla and one-half chocolate.  Yum!  What an enjoyable evening we had!

Sky and Dylan ready for Dylan’s favorite meal:  ham, mashed potatoes, and Waldorf salad with lots of cherries.

Ice cream cake and candles for the 12-year-old birthday boy.

Kathy’s gifts had a hippie theme with a tie-dye shirt and cake mix, and a VW flower van card and model car.

Kathy also found a Lego chess set. Dylan started a chess game right after we left.

We gave Dylan stuff for his bike (lights, speedometer, water bottle) and he got a new scooter too.

Dylan tried out his new scooter on the skateboard ramp Dean built.

Jeff, Kathy, Kari, and their respective families spent the last weekend of June at our house.  Jeff’s family arrived on Thursday and voted to kick off the weekend with the traditional lunch at Steak ‘n’ Shake.  That was irresistible to Kari and her boys, so they joined us as well.  After lunch, the kids all spent the afternoon in the pool.

Kyra and Zaque keeping cool.

We had some one-on-one time with Jeff’s family on Friday, which was very nice.  We went out to lunch and then spent the afternoon at Kari’s house.  When it was time for Kari to begin her “I’m working at the skating rink tonight” countdown, we went out to dinner with Jeff’s family.  That was an easy day for Ted and me–no cooking or dishes to do.

Kathy and Annette arrived on Saturday for lunch, then Ben and Amy joined us in the afternoon and stayed for dinner.  Thanks to the gorgeous weather all weekend, we had a relaxing day enjoying the new umbrellas and visiting with each other poolside.

Some of us got an early start reading, napping, and/or swimming on Saturday morning.

The new cantilevered umbrella provided an additional shaded area for relaxing.

The entire group was present for dinner on Saturday, when Ted and I had a chance to share our Wisconsin hard rolls with grilled burgers and all the appropriate supporting foods.

Burgers, Wisconsin hard rolls, German potato salad, chips, summer fruit, and ice cream cake for dessert.

The humidity was low enough in the evening for the temperature to cool down, making it possible to enjoy the firebowl for a few hours.  Luckily, we never ran out of things to talk about.

A beautiful summer evening for a fire.

Jeff’s family left early Sunday morning.  Annette, Ben, and Amy went to the St. Louis Pride parade, and Kathy spent the morning with Kari.  In the afternoon, Kathy and Kari came to our house and the four of us had some quiet, adult time floating in the pool and chatting without getting splashed “accidentally” by the kids jumping into the pool.

Annette, Kathy, and Kari, possibly dozing on a “waterbed.”

Kathy left after dinner Sunday night, but Kari stayed for awhile to visit, giving us some more quiet, quality time with her.  It was a wonderfully relaxing weekend and I think everyone enjoyed it.  I can’t wait for the next time the kids come home!

After spending time with Tom and Jo, our next destination was Kiel, WI to see Ted’s brother, Gary.  That meant playing sheephead, eating at a variety of restaurants, and picking up cheese and bakery to take back to MO.  Gary helps make this possible by contributing freezer and refrigerator space between the pick-up times and our departure time.  When it’s time for Ted and me to head back to St. Louis, the food moves from Gary’s freezer and refrigerator to our ice chest and safely makes the eight-hour journey.

We brought back enough hard rolls, filled coffee cakes, and cheese to share with the kids, and some more for Ted and me to enjoy after the kids left.

On this trip, we also took time to drive to Door County to buy frozen pie cherries.  People in the know are aware that cherries from Door County, WI or Traverse City, MI are the best cherries in the land!  Since the tart pie cherries are frozen in liquid in large containers, they make the eight-hour trip to MO perfectly, thawing just enough to separate them into multiple pie-sized portions before putting them into our own freezer.  Ted and I now have four cherry pies in our future.

When she heard Ted and I were coming to Wisconsin, my Aunt Ruth (LaCrosse area) asked if there would be a chance to get together if she and Uncle Ken drove across the state to see us during our visit.  Absolutely!  We had a delicious brunch with Ruth and Ken; my cousin, Donna; her husband, Jon; and Uncle Gibby.  (Gibby and Ruth are my mom’s siblings, and Gibby is Donna’s dad.)  It was a two-hour brunch, but the time went by much too quickly.  Just like with Tom and Jo, we wish we could see these family members more often, but we make the most of the times we get together.

The happy ending:  We had a great time, and the menus for the kids’ visit wrote themselves around the Wisconsin favorites Ted and I brought back to share with them on their late June visit.

Ted and I took a quick trip up north in mid-June to get cheese and hard rolls for the kids’ visit the following week–and also to visit family.  On the way to the cheese factory and the bakery, we stopped in St. Charles, IL to spend time with Tom and Jo, my brother and sister-in-law.  When we checked into our hotel, we discovered that the light bulb in the bedside lamp was burned out.  The desk clerk didn’t know where the extra light bulbs were stored, so she upgraded us to a suite with working lights.

We had a very nice visit with Tom and Jo.  Getting together in person is always more fun than emails.  They celebrated their 39th anniversary on June 10, and our 48th anniversary was on June 14, while we were at their house.  The four of us paid tribute to our wedding days with a delicious dinner.

The anniversary honorees.

During our visit, the four of us spent an afternoon at Cantigny.  In the early 1930s, Col. Robert R. McCormick, owner of the Chicago Tribune, established one of the most successful experimental farms in the nation.  He named the property “Cantigny” in memory of his fellow soldiers with whom he fought in Cantigny, France during World War I.  The property now focuses on horticulture, rather than agriculture, and provided us with a very nice afternoon of walking around the beautiful grounds.  We were also able to take a guided tour of the Colonel’s home.

A pretty, shaded path.

One of the beautifully planned and colorful gardens throughout the property.

Potted plants along a walkway.

Ladies posing for a photo shoot before going to their dance exhibition.

We had time to visit with Tom and Jo at home as well.

AJ joined us for a few hours before Jay picked her up to take her home. Vroom! Vroom!

Tom gave Ted and me a ride in his restored T-bird convertible.

We had a personal tour of the plane Tom is restoring.  This is a view from the back.  The wings will be attached above the cockpit.

It’s always good to get together with my brother and his family.   Thanks for a memory-making visit, Tom and Jo.

In my continuing documentation of Wisconsin-based parents teaching their children to be Packer fans by dressing them in Packer regalia beginning at birth, I have yet another piece of evidence that this is Truth.  My nephew, Brandon, and his wife had a baby girl in April and Brandon recently posted this picture of her on Facebook.

Three of our kids will be visiting us the last weekend in June, so I’ve been thinking about “family” over the past few days.  As a result, I’m also thinking about some things I’ve learned about families and relationships.

One of my perspectives of family came from a movie.  The two romantically involved main characters in My Big Fat Greek Wedding come from diametrically different family backgrounds.  At one point, the woman tells the man she is uncomfortable about her family and the way they behave.  The man responds by saying, “So your family’s weird.  Everybody’s family is weird.”  Hmmm.

I learned a way families get along from the TV series Everybody Loves Raymond.  Raymond’s mother is a stereotypical buttinski Mom.  (Wisconsin word for always putting her nose into everyone’s business.)  Mom does her usual interference routine at the wedding of her son, Robert, creating stress on the wedding day for several of the characters in the show, especially Robert.  In his role as the best man, Raymond makes a wedding toast to his brother and new sister-in-law.  In his toast, he refers to Mom’s actions of the day and mentions that “families edit.”  Family members know each other’s strengths and weaknesses, and they “edit” the less than perfect moments of family life, focusing instead on the strengths of the family unit.

One of my most valuable insights into relationships came from my Grandma Lorenzen, and it applies to people in general, not only family units.  Grandma had a plaque above the stove in her kitchen that said:  “All are queer but me and thee, and sometimes me thinks even thee.”  (Note:  This was in the 1950s, when common usage of the word queer meant “odd.”)  I’ve always thought this was good to remember, and I guess Grandma thought so too.

Jeff wondered which of these jackets looked better on him.   Ted found the same jackets.  What do you think, Jeff?  Does it help to see them on someone else?

Flamingos?

Geometrics?

Or maybe the whole shebang with the matching pants and tie as well.(Note:  There was only one flamingo jacket left for Ted to try.  I can’t wait to see the owners of the other flamingo jackets wearing them around town.)

Dylan and Teddy were ready to open the 2017 swim season, so Kari brought them over for a swim.  Kari, Ted, and I thought it was a little too cool to get in the water.  Sitting in the sun felt better to us, but the two kids had a good time.

Go, boys, go!

Today we celebrated Dean’s birthday (May 3), Teddy’s birthday (May 15), and Kari’s birthday (May 19).  For good measure, we included Mother’s Day (today).  Teddy was allowed to choose the cake, so he asked me to make a pig cake for him, like last year.  We had presents, cake, and time to talk.  Life is good.

Dean got a new miter saw with laser alignment from Kari for his birthday.

Dean can use his new saw as he reconfigures the skate ramp he’s building.

Kari’s electric fry pan is missing a leg, has hot spots, and has a cord that arcs when it’s plugged in, so Ted and I gave her a new one for her birthday.

I made a pig nose and stuck it in Teddy’s gift bag.

Here are Teddy and Waffles with the quilt and pillow I made for them.

Naturally, Waffles had to try the pig nose too.

Teddy’s pig cake.  The pig looks mystified.  Maybe because I don’t draw very well and didn’t show his good side.

I hope Teddy wished for something wonderful.

Late spring means it’s time for the school orchestras to show their families how much they’ve improved since the fall concert.  Last week, Ted and I were able to attend Dylan’s spring concert.  The music selections are always fun and the concerts last about 30-40 minutes (an important factor when sitting on bleachers).  The improvement is always noticeable and we are thankful we have the opportunity to hear our grandchildren perform.

6th grade orchestra (Dylan) on the left; 5th grade orchestra on the right.  The arrow points to Dylan.

Can you find Dylan, our sixth grade cellist?

The parent in the blue shirt is serious about his photos!

Ted and I are related to two artists whose work was selected for public exhibition:  Sky and Dylan.  Each spring, the St. Charles School District chooses a few representative art projects from each grade–K-12–and displays them at the Foundry Art Center in downtown St. Charles.  Of course, we had to take a personal look at the artwork.

Sky (not surprisingly) submitted a detailed Star Wars drawing.  Dylan painted a sunset sky.  The sun in Dylan’s painting is colorless.  Dylan told me it’s an artistic illusion:  the orange sky makes the sun look yellow.

And here’s a first grader’s picture that made us smile.  The minions always seem to have that effect.

The newspaper hasn’t moved for awhile and Ted’s head is slumped forward.  Is he sleeping?  “Oh, no,” he tells me.  “I’m just resting my eyes.”  Picture Jeff sprawled on his bed (while he lived at home) with his eyes shut.  Was he sleeping?  Not at all.  He always insisted he was “thinking of what to do next.”

Last week, I saw a bumper sticker that reminded me of Ted and Jeff.

Kari’s family invited Ted and me to their house for Easter dinner.  All the food was delicious (Who taught that girl to cook?  Oh, right–me!), and it looked so pretty on the table, I had to take a picture of it.  Dylan, a master of presentation, set the table and planned the serving dishes and their placement, contributing to the overall effect.  After dinner, there was conversation and sheephead.  It’s so nice to live close to at least one of the kids’ families so we can share times like this.

Lots of milk drinkers in this group.

Tonight we went to Sky’s concert.  This is always an enjoyable evening for us.  The difficulty of the music and the kids’ improvement in musical skills is always noticeable from one semester to the next.  These kids are now old enough for competitions, so we heard some of the pieces they played at their festivals.  A few of the kids are even brave enough to play solos and duets, so we heard their competition pieces as well.  Most of the music was classical, but then the director asked, “What’s a concert without Michael Jackson?” and the orchestra played Man in the Mirror and Thriller.  Yes, an enjoyable evening.

I love that blue violin on the left.  What if the blue-haired girl played the blue violin?  (Arrow to Sky on the right.)

Over the kids’ surprise weekend visit, I had a chance to spend some one-on-one time with eight-year-old Teddy.  Teddy takes after his mother (Kari), and talks nonstop.  Like his mother, he’s interesting, so this is ok and excuses the listener from the challenge of making small talk with a young child.  What always amazes me about Teddy is that first, his mind is always working; and second, it jumps all over the place in no particular order.  For example, when Ted watched Teddy one day when he was sick and couldn’t go to school, Teddy blurted out, “I just don’t get the Big Bang!  I mean, what started it?”  During the 30-45 minutes Teddy and I were together last weekend, some of the myriad of topics that came up for discussion in rapid order included the following:

* Birch bark can be used for paper, so if you would draw pictures of trees on pieces of birch bark and then put them together with pieces of wood for covers, you would have a book about trees made out of trees.

* I wonder if you can ever chew gum enough to make it disappear.  You know, like when you chew other food, it gets smaller and smaller and smaller and then you swallow it, but gum always stays the same.  (I mentioned this conversation to Katie and she told me there is a gum that dissolves.  She had it once and said it was awful.)

* What if we didn’t have skin?  What if everything about our bodies–the organs and the muscles and the blood vessels and everything was still the same, but we didn’t have any skin to hold everything together?  Maybe we would have something rubbery and we would all be like robots.  (Demonstration of how we would move like robots if this should occur.)

* What do you think would happen if you put ice cream in hot chocolate?

* I think more men than women died on the Titanic because they put women and children in the lifeboats first, so fewer women than men were left on the ship.

* Kittens were saved from the Titanic.  Really.  This is true.  A mother cat had kittens in a lifeboat and they were saved when the lifeboat was launched.

* Maybe I could write a story about a Titanic lifeboat.  “A long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, a lifeboat sailed . . . ”

Kari told me later that Teddy had to research the Titanic for a school assignment, so that explains why the Titanic came up repeatedly.  As I said, conversation is interesting with Teddy.  You never know what he’s going to wonder about next.

Friday night, Ted said he wasn’t too hungry, and asked how I’d feel about eating dinner a little later than usual.  Fine, I was reading a book, so I didn’t care.  We had a light supper around 7:30 and, just as we were finishing, the doorbell rang.  I couldn’t imagine who would be at our door at nearly 8:00 pm on a Friday night–a driver with a broken-down car?  a salesman?  a candidate for Tuesday’s election?  I could see a young-looking man and some other figures through the blown glass in our front door, so I decided it must be some high school kids with a fund-raising plea.  I opened the door and saw . . . my kids!  They had been working with Ted to plan a surprise birthday party for me.  I didn’t have a clue and almost started crying, so I reached for Sefton and snuggled my face into him.

Just the day before, Katie texted me a picture of Sefton and I texted back that he lives too far away from us.  The next day, she brought him here.

Jeff and Thom scheduled flights to arrive in St. Louis within minutes of each other around 6:00 pm.  Kathy and Annette arrived at Kari’s house in the late afternoon, and the plan was for the girls to pick up the boys at the airport, then come to the house to surprise me, after which we’d all go out for pizza.  (That’s why Ted was supposedly not very hungry at dinner time.)  Unfortunately, Jeff’s plane had hydraulic problems and he was delayed almost three hours.  The girls got hungry and decided to eat.  (Messages between them, Jeff, and Ted that I knew nothing about led to Ted’s and my late, light dinner.)  Ted and Thom picked Jeff up at the airport around 9:00 pm.

The kids and Ted apparently exchanged many emails/texts/whatever since late February to plan all this.  The first suggestion was to get together on my birthday weekend, but Ted and I were in Key West.  Not exactly hardship duty, and I was thrilled to have a destination birthday.  I had birthday phone calls from all the kids and not a single person gave away the slightest hint that anything like this was in process.  Everything was planned so that I could have a stress-free weekend to celebrate.  Kathy and Kari took care of the food preparation, and Kari hosted lunches at her house, as well as providing sleeping accommodations for Kathy and Annette.  What an awesome, loving family I have!  This was one of those times a friend of mine described as “pearls” in your family’s life.

Sefton was happy to see his Grandpa too.

Saturday morning included a trip to Paul’s Donuts.  Sefton didn’t seem to mind that his was a toy.

Three of my favorite boys:  Sky, Teddy, and Dylan.  Sky is almost as tall as I am.

As the hostess, I usually go through the buffet line last, but as the birthday girl, I was ordered to go first.  It felt a little weird.

When my plate was filled, I thought the food was so pretty, I took a picture of it.

Then I saw Dylan’s plate.  You can tell by the ring of green beans that he is far more artistic and more skilled at presentation than I am.  (And he likes bread!)

After dinner, there were birthday gifts to be opened.

Naturally, there was Vienna Torte–my favorite dessert–for my birthday cake.

Laralee’s sister is celebrating a milestone birthday in Arizona this week, so she and Jeff decided that Jeff would come to my party and she’ll go to her sister’s.  Alex is in Peru; Kyra is at BYU; Zack stayed home with La; and Julian was dog-sitting.  Dean spent some of the weekend with us, but couldn’t be here for the official birthday dinner.  Annette’s son, Ben, lives in the St. Louis area now, so he and his girlfriend joined us for some of the festivities, but not this dinner.  The miracle is that all four of our children, representing all four families, could be with us at the same time!

Here we are–all four of our children present.

Ted and I had pizza (delayed from Friday evening?) with Thom and Katie before we took them to the airport.

We are regular customers at this restaurant.  When they found out it was my birthday, the staff gave me a gift.  They “wrapped” it in a plastic cup and all the servers and both managers on duty signed the cup with birthday wishes for me.

Shocking!  It’s a glass with the restaurant logo imprinted on it!

On Sunday, Jeff left on a morning flight; Kathy and Annette left after lunch; Thom, Katie, and Sefton left after our pizza dinner.  I’ll bet the small, dark-colored duffle bag Thom is pulling holds his and Katie’s stuff, leaving the large plaid suitcase, the backpack, and the car seat for Sefton.

When everyone was gone, Ted and I relaxed outside at our firebowl.  The amazing, awesome, wonderful, fantastic weekend was over, but I’ll never forget it.

My cousin, Nancy, sent me a sentimental treasure:  eleven letters written by my mother to a neighborhood friend serving in the Army during World War II.  The friend was Frankie Kotnick, whose family lived near my mother’s family in Sheboygan.

One of the Kotnick kids–maybe Frankie–lived in Frankie’s parents’ house, and at least one of their children was a friend of Nancy, my cousin.  When the children were cleaning out the house, they found letters from my mother that Frankie had saved.  They offered the letters to Nancy, who shared them with other Lorenzen family members, including my Uncle Gibby and Aunt Ruth, siblings of my mother.  After that, Nancy generously sent the originals to me.

The letters, written from 1942-1944 when Mom was 20-22 years old, present her as a young, single woman–someone I never knew.  She loves to dance, she drinks, she hangs out on “Prange’s corner” with her friends, and she is “getting sick of this small town stuff” in Sheboygan.  She enlists in the Civilian Defense Home Guard and applies to the Civil Air Patrol, hoping for a job as a telephone operator or a secretary somewhere away from Sheboygan.  She confides in Frankie that “if a person wants to earn money or try to amount to something Sheboygan is the wrong place for them.”  All the action and the big money, she says, is in cities like Milwaukee and Chicago.  She admits she has it good living at home, but tells Frankie “my Mother and Dad would put their foot down if they knew I wanted to to (sic) this.  You know how parents act when it comes to something like that” (referring to moving away from home).

The letters provide a glimpse of my mother’s youth and the early 1940s.  Her sentences are filled with “gee” and “swell”–apparently the slang of the day.  Mom goes to lots of movies and dances, and mentions how much she loves to dance.  She confesses to a fascination with slot machines.  (When she and Dad went to Las Vegas, she won on a nickel slot machine in the days when real nickels fell out of the machine.)  The envelopes have three-cent postage stamps and the cancellation mark says “Buy war bonds and stamps.”  The envelope of a December letter has a Christmas seal on the back.  Mom mentions that Grandma was in charge of sugar rationing coupons for her area and spent a lot of time on that job.  Mom also tells Frankie that she wants to buy a used bicycle, but can’t find one for less than $28–more than a new one costs–so she’s decided to keep using her brother’s bicycle and wait until after the war to buy one when bicycles (metal) become more available again.

One day, my mother and her friend, Lorraine, got fed up with their jobs in Sheboygan and simply failed to show up for work the next day.  They took a bus to Milwaukee instead.  You can read the letter about that experience below.  I think moving to Milwaukee and being independent felt the same to Mom as going away to college felt for me.  Freedom!

Mom died 22 years ago, and I still miss her greatly.  Reading her letters to Frankie was like spending time with her again.  Thank you from the bottom of my heart for sharing these, Nancy.

Kari sent us some photos to let us know how Waffles (the pig we gave Teddy for Christmas) spends the day at home while the family is away.

First, while Teddy gets ready for school, Waffles has a little breakfast from the cat’s dish.

Then, after Teddy leaves, Waffles keeps an eye on the food bowls at the kitchen door.

Ted and I just returned from our visit to Seattle (Puyallup) where we were introduced to our seventh grandson, Sefton Aron Schroeder.  (Kyra retains her status as our favorite granddaughter.)  I could go on and on, but whatever I have to say about Sefton would be the same thing in different words:  he’s a baby, he’s small, he’s so, so soft and cuddly, and he’s so, so sweet and lovable. Here is February 1-5 in pictures.

My first time holding Sefton.

Sefton with Grandpa.

Sefton with his big brother, Julian.

Sefton does not enjoy bath time.

Thom and Katie blow-dry Sefton after his bath.  He likes this a lot more than the bath.

Sefton can already sit by himself–with some support, of course.

Ted and Julian having a Connect Four tournament–just like they did when Julian was much younger.  This time, Julian didn’t cry when he lost a game to his grandpa; he just beat Grandpa in the next game.

Julian playing one of his piano compositions for us.

As part of his birthday gift, we took Julian to Trampoline Nation where he amazed us with twists and flips and twisting flips.

Me and two of my favorite boys–Julian and Sefton.

A family photo.

Thom and Katie’s Lego family.

Just before we left, the rain changed to snow.   Sefton’s first snow.  (For us, two coats of de-icer on the tarmak before our plane could take off.)

While we were in Seattle, we had the chance to spend Saturday with my brother Russ’s family who have moved to Seattle from Philadelphia.  We decided to spend the cold, rainy day at a museum and selected MoPOP–the Museum of Pop Culture–at Seattle Center, in the foggy shadow of the Space Needle.

Most of the museum focused on music and musicians from the 80s and 90s, but those exhibits were joined by displays of the Wizard of Oz and The Princess Bride because of the widespread cultural influence those movies have had.  There was also a special exhibit on Star Trek for the same reason.  Unfortunately for us, the Rube Goldberg exhibit doesn’t open until February 11.  It was an interesting afternoon and gave us a nice venue where we could stay warm and dry while we visited with each other.

This tower has over 700 guitars and other instruments wired together to play electronic music.

Some of the instruments in the guitar tower.

The Jimi Hendrix display required an entire room.

Star Trek, of course.   Beam me up!

Ted and me and a friendly guitar.

L -> R:  Russ, Nick, Betsy, Phil, Ben

Katie put this composite picture together.  Sefton is on the left; Katie is at the top right; and Thom is at the lower right.

sefton-katie-thom

Thom was our least attractive baby at birth.  When they brought him to me for one of his first feedings in the hospital, I put out my arms and said, “Come here, you homely little guy.”  I said it with love, but the nurse didn’t leave the room.  I’ve always wondered if she put herself on guard duty in case I harmed my baby.  In less than two weeks, Thom’s face firmed up and he started to look like the handsome man he is today.  He’s the epitome of my Grandma Lorenzen’s saying:  “Homely in the cradle; handsome at the table.”  (What does that say about our other children who were prettier right after their births and are still handsome and beautiful?)