Slide show continued

Here as promised are some more of the slides from my dad's collection. There are so many to choose from and I am sorry that these are out of order. These happened to be on a flash drive from a few years ago so I just put them on my computer and used them for this post.  Hopefully I can add some more at another time. Again, my reason to do this was to give my daughters and granddaughters some of the memories and stories that I loved so much. 

Kev and I on Halloween 1960. I think I was some type of fairy and I don't think that Kev wanted to dress up.

This is me swimming in a lake somewhere up north. It's either in Minoqua or a lake a a cottage near there. We had gone up to a cottage on a lake with the Goeckes and the place was awful. There were leeches and bloodsuckers in the lake, so we would go to Minoqua to swim.

This is one of my favorite pictures of my brother Kev. This is one of the flower gardens in my grandma and grandpa's backyard. I love his saddle shoes!

Easter 1959. Both my brother and I look a bit wired on this photo. John's comment was, "Why does that bunny have such big ears?" I am not sure but they do seem unusually tall.

This is Easter 1959 before church. I love how I had a matching coat, hat and that cute little purse. My mom was so skinny back then. I think our house was yellow at this time. Notce the corsages that my mom and I are wearing, too.

This is me and Kev, summer of 1959 on our neighbor's swingset. We were very close to all our neighbors and shared all the outside swingsets, sandboxes, etc. This was The Velhuizens swingset. They lived next door to the sough of us. Checkais house is across the street. I was the only girl in the neighborhood so I spent a lot of time playing baseball, kickball, and wrestling. 

This is me up at Santa Land in the Dells. Of course, just like Storybook Gardens and Fort Dells, it no longer exists. My Aunt Pearl made the dress of wearing. We took a lot of little trips to places like this around the area.

And speaking of Fort Dells, here we are having a fun time at the Fort. 

This is my grandpa on a hot summer day. I remember he drove up to our house, that's his car and he had cut off a pair of his long pants to make shorts. My grandma was not happy with his new look. My grandpa always wore suspenders. 

I really like this picture of Kev and me. It was Halloween 1959

This waw one of many family vacations that\we took to Lake of the Clouds Michigan. 

My dad, Kev, and I having a picnic lunch on one of our trips. I remember that cute outfit I was wearing and I also remember that cooler on the table.

For some reason we have a lot of pictures by pumps at waysides. We must have liked to stop at them and I am sure Kev liked to work the pump.

This is Kev and me at Ohma's house on N. Washington St. It was Easter and look at that pillbox hat that I am sporting. Ohma always liked to be posing or touching something in pictures as you can see here. She was such a wonderful lady. She had very little but her heart was full of faith and love. My mom was a lot like her.

A Christmas at my grandma's house on Green St. They always had a tall, very skinny tree. All my Christmas dresses in gradeschool were velvet. 

This is Christmas in our basement with Jody and Tim Block. Their mom, Betty was my mom's cousin and our families were very close as we were growing up. My dad always liked to have a tree in the basement and upstairs. Some years, he just cut the top off of the upstairs tree and stuck it on a table down in the basement. This year's tree was a full size.

My grandpa, Kev, my dad, and me at the Milwaukee County Zoo. I don't remember going many places with my grandma and grandpa except out to eat but apparently we did go to the zoo with them.

You might recognize this rock. It's located near the bandshell at Riverside Park. I always called it the watermelon stone because at park school we would spit our watermelon seeds from this rock. It actually has a time capsule buried under it.

Feeding the deer at Riverside Park. We grew up just above the baseball diamonds on Highland Ave and this was our backyard. We loved feeding the deer until someone shot one, then the city got rid of them. It was a sad day.

/...........................................

....................This is a pool at a motel in Eagle River on one of our Northwoods vacations. My dad was very thriftly when it came to motels and he was not a swimmer so having a pool was not important to him but this time he let us stay in this motel and I loved the pool.  The next time we traveled north and I asked if we could stay there again, he checked on the price and it had gone up to $22.00, much to expensive for him. ..I remember not being very happy that night!

..............................

Another Easter and I have lost my cuteness to that awkward age around middle school. Still have the matching purse and hat though but what is up with those socks

This is my cheerleading uniform in the 5th grade at St. John's. We had to make the coulotte skirts and the top was a simple white sweatshirt. We had to try out to make the cheerleading team and it was quite an honor when over twenty girls tried out and only six were chosen to wear this uniform and represent the school! 

Fifth grade slumber birthday party for me. These were three of my gradeschool friends, Chris Grosnick, me, Pam Grady, and Lori Wickus. I remember this being a very fun party.

Another favorite of my dad and me. He must have made those paper hats for us. I know we were up icabin in Tomahawk on this picture.

 

This is my grandma and grandpa, Leona and Erwin Kohlhoff in their backyard. Look at those beautiful roses! I had so many good times with my grandma and grandpa over the years. They were even able to take are of Alissa when I taught preschool and took Courtney with me\

My fifth birthday. I loved my cowboy hat, I also had a gun and holster as well as cowboy boots that I loved just as well. My mom always made sure we had a birthday party with our friends. Birthdays were big celebrations in our house.

This is me on a slide at the lake in Tomahawk. I nearly drowned going down this slide. I guess it would have been after this photo because I look pretty happy here. I went down, went under the water and had to be pulled out by a man there. I think my mom was busy chatting with her friend, Juanita up on the beach. The man who pulled me out was a pastor and his last name was Thies, He had a daughter named Amy who became my friend after the incident. So, there you have my near death experience.

This is me and my mom at that same lake in Tomahawk. Sicne we went up there for a number of years, I am not sure if this was the year I almost drowned or not. Apparently my mom is keeping a closer eye on me here.

Another Easter before my brother was born. I must have been three or four. I love that green lamp, wish I still had it today.

......................................................................................................................                              
   

These are two of my best friends from the neighborhood, Tom Checkai and Bruce Veldhuizen. We had the best neighbors growing up. It really was a much easier time to grow up. We would walk in and out of one another's houses, play from sunrise till sunset, and play lots of games with guns. (sticks if no guns were available) Whenever one of us got shot, we had to count to ten and then we were alive again. Teh boys ere always very good about playing dolls with me every once in awhile.

This is the house that I lived in for 20 years of my life until I got married and then I lived there with John and my mom for the 20 more years after our girls flew the nest. My dad lived here for almost 30 years and my mom for over 60 years. That's a lot of history in one house.  This is how it looked when we first moved in when I was two. My dad added the addition of a bedroom before my brother arrived and John and I added a master bedroom with on suite bath. We also added a big bedroom for my mom and made a double garage. 

This is my bff from high school, Connie Dobbratz. She joined my family for a vacaion in a cabin on Lace Arbor Vitae. Her family moved to Brandon WI after our freshman year. I was so sad when she left, but so happy when she returned for our senior year. We have remained friends to this very day. When our kids were little, we spent many fun weekends in Wausau with Connie's family. So many happy memories.

John and I in my backyard sometimne around our engagement. I was teaching Kindergarten at St. John's and he was finishing up college.. So young, so thin, so in love.

My dad behind his beloved bar. He spent a lot of time behind that bar. He loved to have people over, he was a very social person. I think this is after one of our trips. He collected beer cans and mugs from his travels. If this bar could talk, oh, the stories it would tell! My girls spent many hours sitting at this bar while my dad served them kiddy cocktails. Later after my dad died, we spent Christmases down there around his bar reminiscing about him.

And on this note, with my dad at his bar, I will close the slide show. 

Cheers Dad and thanks for leaving me so many memories.