A step back in time

When John and I were celebrating our 27th anniversary, I made a scrapbook for us.

Last night I got the scanner bug and today I scanned the pages.

The only problem is that the pages are too big to fit the scanner so you are only able to see some of each page, but I thought it would be fun to show you a glimpse into our past, page by page.

I will do a few pages each post.

This first page is from 1974, two years before we got married.

We are dressed as the Beverly Hillbillies in the picture on the bottom left.  The occasion was a dance in college.

I am Ellie May Clampett.

The photo on the bottom right is from a wedding that John and I attended together that summer and the other photos are from a fraternity formal that we attended.

Page 2- 1975

Our engagement picture is in the middle.

We were dressed for a 1920's party in the bottom right photo.

I was teaching Kindergarten that year and my class is in the bottom left photo.  I had forgotten how many kids I had in those two classes!

More of 1975.

We were at more weddings of friends that year.  Seems everyone was getting married.

The larger picture in the middle was snapped of us at a wedding.

Good times all around.

And finally on June 12, 1976, it was our turn to tie the knot!

It was a beautiful, hot summer day.

Lovely yellow/orange homemade bridesmaid dresses with yellow floppy hats.  Such was the style that year.  Groomsmen wore tan tuxes.

I loved my dress and all the daisies.

More 1976. 

That is our new couch in our very first apartment.  We both loved that couch.

We had eyed it up for months before receiving it as a wedding gift.

That couch was with us for years till is fell apart.  Oh the stories that couch could tell!

We loved everything about our first apartment.

More memories from our apartment.

John is trying on his coveralls in the middle picture.  I think we must have known he would be working in Elkhorn and thus the purchasing of coveralls for work in the sewers.

I am in an eighth grade St. John's cheerleading uniform in the bottom left photo.

We had just purchased our first car together, a blue Gremlin.  It was a wonderful car!

I am also quite proud of that God's Eye that I made in the bottom right photo.

This will be my last page for this post.

We moved to Elkhorn where John started his first job with Jensen and Johnson, I think that was the correct name.  He had to go into the many sewers in Walworth County.  It was a good job and we met many friends at that company.

I have very few pictures of my pregnancies, no one took pictures of pregnant ladies in those days, but I am pregnant with Courtney in the bottom middle picture.  It was taken at Christmas and she was born in February, so I was seven months along at that time.

It is a precious picture to me.

So, there is the beginning of our story,

Stay tuned for the continuing saga.

 

Where were you 8 years ago?

 8 years ago today we were on St. George Island at Courtney and Paul's wedding.

It was a beautiful, sunny day on the Island, perfect place for a wedding.

 Here are the bride and groom saying their vows.

 The beautiful wedding party.

 Our family with our new addition.

 Courtney and all her favorite boys.

 Courtney and Paul's transportation to the reception.

 Courtney dancing with her dad.

 Alissa enjoying a cigar with the boys.

My brother, Kev and Alissa lighting one up.

Today I want to wish Courtney and Paul a Happy Anniversary.

I loved every minute of that wonderful day and the memories still make me smile.

We all returned to the Island for their five year anniversary, but that is a post for another day.

Courtney and Paul were full of hopes and dreams on that day.  I know that there have been a few curves thrown into those plans, but they are truly blessed to have one another and are more than capable of facing anything together.



Rawley Point and Mariner Bike Trails

 As you know from previous posts, John and I took our third annual bike ride on the Rawley Point/Mariner trails this past Saturday.

The Rawley Point trail starts in Two Rivers and goes into Point Beach State park.

The weather was predicted to be in the high eighties, but when we started our ride, it was considerably cooler than that.  Luckily I had grabbed a jacket at the last minute.

When we first started riding my legs and fingers were cold, but it did not take long to warm up. 

 Here's the little cabin where we always like stop for a photo.

I love this trail because it has lots of ups and downs as well as twists and turns.

There are beautiful trees all along the path.

 And of course, the reward at the end is Lake Michigan which is always beautiful.

The sun was shining brightly by this time and the temps were rising.

It was actually near perfect weather for a bike trail.

 Lake Michigan looks so much like St. George.

In a pinch, it serves as a nice substitute.

 We bought lunch of pizza and diet cokes at the concession stand

Not the best pizza, but it filled us up.

We had a gorgeous view from our picnic site, too.

 After lunch we rode to the lighthouse just like we always do. 

Yep, it was still there, unchanged from last year.

 By the time we returned to our starting point at the park, we had our jackets off.

We had ridden about 16 miles on our round trip to the beach.  We decided to add a few more miles on to our ride by heading over to the Mariner trail which goes from Two Rivers to Manitowac.

 Here is John in front of the place where the first ice cream sundae in Wisconsin was served.

 Of course, I had to take this photo in honor of my dad who, as you know by now if you follow my blog, never passed up an opportunity to look through one of these viewing things.

 This is about midway to Manitowac.  We opted not to go all the way, but instead rode four miles out and four miles back on this trail, making our total trip about 26 miles.

After our ride, we headed over to Courtney and Paul's in Oshkosh, we fondly refer to their home as the Van Auken B and B.  They were camping, so we had the place to ourselves.

We went out that night for dinner and few beers.

It was a great holiday weekend.

memorial Day - God Bless the USA

 Today was Memorial Day - a day to remember all those who fought and will fight for our freedoms.

John and I took a bike ride around Oshkosh and ended up running right into their parade.

It was a typical small town parade with lots of bands and members of the armed forces.

It felt good to see all the red, white, and blue lining the streets, it felt good to clap as the many soldiers marched by, and it felt good to know that we can watch a parade like this because of all the soldiers who fought to give us this freedom.

 After the parade we rode to the veteran's cemetery.

Seeing all the flags honoring those brave men and women is quite the site.

My hope is that we never forget all these brave men and women who fought for us.
And let's not forget all the families that were left behind.

When we grill out today, when we toast with beers today, when we meet with friends and family for picnics and parties today, when we gather together to pray today, let's remember why we are able to do these things.

God bless the USA.

This is all I Got Today

We are spending the weekend at the Van Auken B and B in Oshkosh.

The Van Aukens are camping.

We biked the Rawley/Mariner bike trails yesterday.

I planned to upload a number of the pictures from our ride, but the computer is not being cooperative tonight, so I am leaving you with just this one teaser.

I was just ready to begin the ride.

More to come tomorrow, I hope...

Today at the B and B I organized and cleaned for Courtney.  I believe in earning my keep while I am here. 

I cleaned up Tizita's room, she has a bit of her mama in her, reorganized the playroom, and redid the guest room which was going to be Natnael's room.

It all looks good and I will share those photos when I get back home.

Annual Memorial Bike Trail

 Memorial Day 2009 - Cold and rainy

 Memorial Day 2010 - Beautiful warm day

 Memorial Day 2011 - Very cold, dressed in layers to stay warm
Just back from our annual ride on this trail.  I cannot load the new pictures right now, so I will leave you with these blasts from the past and add more tomorrow.
It was a great ride in case you were wondering.
Best weather yet.

Perks

One of the perks of being a teacher is the gifts.

I usually get them for Christmas, my birthday, teacher appreciation week, and now at the end of the year.

I especially like the end of the year gifts since they usually include plants and other garden items.

I got the flowers from Owen.  He picked them out himself because he knew I liked daisies.

 Morgan picked out this balloon for me because she knows I like princesses.

I do like princesses, right?

 This is the third year that I have gotten a pretty plant from the Duddeck children.

Last year it was roses, year before that daisies, this year geraniums and allysum.

 Some lavendar from Carlee as well as

these homemade sprays and deodorizes made with essential oils.

They smell so nice!

There were a few other gifts but these were my favorites so far.

Today was the last day of school.  I am going to miss the kids, but need a break.





Another school year comes to an end

Our school had its Spring Sing last night.

We tried something new this year, instead of only involving the Preschool and Kindergarten classes, the whole school took part in the performance.

Our school band played a few numbers to open the program, followed by a piano duet by two talented students.

My Preschoolers took center stage next.

We had made them little birdie costumes by sewing scarves onto the sleeves of colorful T-shirts. 

Elastic ponytail holders sewed on the corners of the scarves held them to the kids' wrists.

We also put feathers on the back of the T-shirts for their tails and made headbands for their heads.

They were the cutest little birdies ever!

Here they are shaking their little tails during one of our songs.

The audience laughed so hard at their cute little tails swishing!

We also received very loud applause after our numbers.

Here were our seats for the remainder of the show.  All 39 of my preschoolers sat on these two lines and never moved.

They enjoyed the rest of the program which included songs by the other classes, choirs, and more band numbers.

It was indeed a fun evening and my kids made me one proud teacher yet again.

I am going to miss this class of kids as they move on to Kindergarten.

They had line following down to a fine art from the start and it made my job so much easier.

In ways, I am ready for school to be over on Friday, but in other ways, I am sad to see this year end.

Happy Birthday dad

My dad would have been 84 years old today.

He died when he was 62.

At the time, 62 seemed rather old to me, but as I get closer to that number, I realize how young he actually was when he died.

He died unexpectedly but so often we see God's perfect plan in the timing of his death.

My dad died before almost all of his good buddies.  He has such a soft, sensitive soul that it would have hurt him so much to see those he cared about suffering.

We like to think that God took him early so he was spared all of that.

Now most of his good friends are with him up in heaven and I like to imagine the great birthday party they are having today.

As much as we would have loved to keep him around for many years, we never wish him back.

We think about him often, laugh about the good times, and often drink a toast to him.

Today we will do those things.

Happy Birthday, dad!

See you soon.

If you see Natnael running around up there give him a big hug and let him have a big piece of you birthday cake today.