50th Anniversary of Assassination of John F. Kennedy, 35th President of the United States

The scrapbook I made following the assassination of JFK

 

 

 

I was in 6th grade at Peoria Christian School when my teacher, Mrs. Gussie Downing, received word that President Kennedy had been shot. That was a Friday. On Sunday Bill Neal, who was sitting in his car waiting for his wife and children to come out from church, came into the foyer when the service was completed and said Lee Harvey Oswald had just been shot. Our nation was shrouded with disbelief and grief at losing our leader. 

 

Watching the news coverage all weekend and the funeral procession was very sobering. It is one of those experiences you never forget and share with anyone else old enough to remember.



 

 

Janet's Birthday

 

Janet's 31st birthday is on a Sunday. After church we had chili, cornbread, apple sauce and cake for our noon meal. (Unfortunately, Janet didn't feel good, threw up and slept most of the afternoon. Maybe her flu shot from a couple of days ago was the culprit.) Later in the evening the four of us went to Pizza Hut for her traditional birthday meal

 

A beautiful young lady!

 

 

Thirty-one candles was a bit too much for Janet to extinquish in one breath. :)

 

Man Alive, Zane is Five!

I tried to have this wonderful outdoor fun, educational experience with the grandkids when they were in Colorado. We looked for different kinds of pinecones--round ones, elongated ones, singles, bunches of three. We also looked at different kinds of bark--red bark, smooth bark, rough bark, etc. Kate quickly lost interest. Zane stuck with me but usually running ahead discovering things on his own rather than following my lead. :)

 

 

When we took a hike along the Colorado trail over in the Cottonwood Creek area, Zane always wanted to be out in front leading. (Sounds quite a bit like Uncle Mark!) Zane is in yellow.

On Thanksgiving Day we watched some fun movies. Liam and Owen have their hands in their mouth. Zane--he has his foot in his mouth! Even Liam pointed out how unusual that was. Hopefully it is not symbolic. :)

 

Happy Birthday, Zane! "So far, so good!"

 

2nd Annual Pumpkin Sampling

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Those attending--

Judy Neuenschwander

Tina Miller

Jan Tomano

Colleen Haight

Tanya

Brannyn

Marylee Klinkhammer

Erika Miller

Me

 

Pumpkin Bars--

Clockwise from top left

. . .With Chocolate Chips

. . . With Raisins, Nuts and Orange Glaze

. . .With Cranberry Crumb Topping

. . .Marbled Cheesecake with Ginger Crust

. . .Cream Cheese Frosting

Maple Pumpkin Pie Bars

 

 

Happy 3rd Birthday, Evie Joy! 

You certainly live up to your name. You bring such joy with your happy disposition and winsome laughter!

The first of what we hope is many visits by Evie to our Colorado cabin. :)

 

After one decade. . .

I finally complete Alec's high school graduation present. Alec graduated from HNHS  2003. I procrastinated and didn't get his comforter completed like I had made for my other nieces and nephews. The present still didn't get completed for his college graduation (and he even took five years to graduate!) He's been in the US Army for 8 years, has been married 9 1/2 months and I finally completed a comforter for him. It was more fun making it now than it would have been using high school or college colors. The US Army sells the rights to fabric companies with their seal and insignia on it with the extra profit towards "improving morale" in the army.

  Alec looks happy to finally have received his long-over-due gift. I prayed for him as I worked on it and will continue to pray for his safety while he serves our country in Afghanistan. Emily will also need prayer as she stays alone in Fayetteville for 6-9 months awaiting his return.

 

Getting knotted in the frame.

 

 

Front side

 

Alec with his US Army comforter!

 

 

 

Back side

 





Happy 34th Birthday, Eric Brian Potter

The day you were born was one of the happiest day of our lives! You entered our world and made us parents. :) You've been bringing us pleasure and reason to be proud and thankful ever since. "The Lord bless you and keep you."

 

 



 

Book Berners Club (BBC)

    Now in our 10th year, Book Berners Club is such an enjoyable part of my life. We started out with 8 "members" and have never had more than that in the group at any one time. Four of us "originals" are still with the group--Janice McKee, Peggy Moss, Karlene Sprunger and me. Claudia Clausen and and Janice are the ones who started the club. Vivian Rothe, Renee Liechty and Jill Robrock were the other three original members. Renee opted out and Vivian, Jill and Claudia have moved away. Angie Richert, Patti Johnston were part of the club for awhile and currently the other four besides us "originals" are Sarah Stauffer, Anne Stauffer, Sheri Liechty and Melissa Beitler.
    We had more diversity of opinions when we started but currently we are a group that meshes very well. Our most recent meeting was held in Melissa's home. She has been such a nice addition to our group for the last 2 1/2 years. She and her husband, Jim, who is retiring the end of this year, will soon be moving to Wheaton, IL, to be near two of their children, their grandson and another grandbaby on the way. We gave Melissa some book ends with bears on them--a very fitting gift, we thought, from a Berne book club.

 

 

Project for Veteran's Day 2013--working on a comforter for Alec who will soon be deployed to Afghanistan. He said this may actually be more for Emily to use in his absence. It was great to see them for just an hour a couple of weeks ago on Mom's birthday. Alec and Emily were on their way to Minnesota for a pre-deployment visit and just happened to be passing through Indiana on Mom's 85th birthday. Happy Veteran's Day, Alec! (And happy 29th birthday in two days!) 

EZ-LOK spent the weekend with us. A couple of highlights--going to Kerry and Lois Steiner's farm on Saturday morning to see baby lambs and also seeing ducks, pigs, lots of cats, chickens, and farm machinery. They also played on Sara's play set, saw the elevator Kerry made in his garage and then rode the elevator in the shop!
  Knowing how the kids--especially Kate and Zane--love warm tapioca, I decided to make some applesauce while they were here. It was "hot off the griddle" or "warm out of the kettle and strainer" and they loved it!
  Kate was acting apprehensive when I took her to her SS class on Sunday morning. In walked Kit Sprunger and the two of them hugged like old friends. Aren't familiar faces just the greatest?!
  Sunday afternoon we took a walk to the clock tower. It was a good idea to get the kids--especially Zane--out of the house to run and play. He had been a bit too rambunctious and caused Grandpa to get irritated with him. When we were outside I talked to Zane about why Grandpa raised his voice (yelled) at him. Kate responded by saying "Grandpa is usually not like that--he is so nice. Grandma, you really chose wisely when you married him!" I hope she will do as well someday. I'm sure she will!!!
  Rambunctiously running through a pile of leaves towards the end of our walk, Zane enthusiastically exclaimed, "This is why I totally love fall!"
    Before we came back in the house Zane and I again talked about what he should do/say to Grandpa. He agreed he needed to apologize. When we went in the door, Zane saw Grandpa (watching TV) and hesitated and looked at me. I didn't say anything but Zane went ahead and apologized and said he was sorry for being reckless. Then he added, "I promise never to do it again," and ran rambunctiously upstairs!  :)

 

First Extended Stay in Colorado--Fall 2013

It was great! I left Berne on Sunday afternoon, Sept 15 and arrived on Monday evening in Colorado Springs to meet Neil at American Furniture Warehouse. My departure from our beautiful new home was on Friday noon, October 11 and I arrived back in Berne on Saturday evening, October 12. Four wonderful weeks in Colorado as the aspen turned from bright green to brilliant gold and the weather included warm sunny days but cold nights. The pictures below were taken on the same day at about the same location. The one on top is at the end of the day when the hiking club hiked up to Lily Pond beyond Twin Lakes. The bottom picture was taken at the beginning of the day when there was more snow on the mountains. The hike, led by Bob Hickey, was absolutely awesome. Each vista was more beautiful than the last, the weather was perfect, the colors were at their peak and gentle breezes with sudden gusts created "showers of gold," "waves"" among the tree tops, and ripples on Lily Pond that resembled fireworks! 

 

 

 

 

Cousins--for Neil and then for me. John and Connie Potter arrived on Wednesday, Sept 18 and were there through Saturday morning, Sept 21. We enjoyed good company, good food, a trip to Leadville, an evening with good music and a full moon and more while they were with us.

 

 

 

 

After a week alone, I drove to Lousiville on Sunday, September 29, to spend the night with Scott, Heather, Bridger and Iris Livengood. The next morning Sharon flew in to Denver and she and spent the whole day enjoying a gorgeous fall day--Red Rocks, Kittredge and Evergreen, ice cream in Bailey, Guanella Pass between Grant and Georgetown, and then Hoosier Pass between Breckenridge and Fairplay. What a treat to spend so much quality time with Sharon--a first in 36 years. Cousins are fantastic!

 

 

 

If I had tried, there's no way I could have been successful at getting a piece of grass in front of each of our faces!

 



 

 

 

This old blog, so seldom used, has seen its day. Something new is on the horizon. Before it "rises" let me know if you are receiving a notification (wanted or not). cosupo@gmail. is the easiest (for me) to hear from you. Thank you ever so much. :)