Anderson Japanese Gardens

Well it's October 31, 2007 and thanks to my sister-in-law, Venita, Gary and I had a complimentray pass to the Anderson Japanese Gardens. Today the weather was great..plenty of sunshine and a nice soft breeze.

Just so you have a little information about the picuture. ".West Waterfall took three years to complete. It is built of 800 tons of boulders and 250 cubic yards of concrete. A 20 ton steel wall serves as its base. Fourteen hundred gallons of water circulate through the waterfall each minute."

In the Tea House is a hanging scroll known as a Tokonoma..it reads "Each day a good day"..I know your thinking :I WISHED EACH DAY WAS A GOOD DAY!

Well enjoy the pictures as much as Gary and I enjoyed the day at the Japanese Gardens.

Check out my Slide Show!

Prayers and Praises

Last Thursday we left for Rockville, IN. for vacation. Unbeknown to us, my mother went into the hospital the next day. My sister, Louise (who has been in alot of pain due to a hip joint that is now bone on bone..OUCH) came in from Brodhead, WI every day to attend to her needs. Others also came in to check on her.

Mother has gotten real weak and needed medical attention. When we got back on Monday, I was able to give Louise some relief and see Mom on Wednesday and Thursday. She would have gone home on Wednesday, but they needed to give her some blood that day. On Thursday, I got her dressed and in a chair. After lunch, they took her back to River Bluff. She is still weak and now she needs the help of others to get her dressed. She will be using a wheelchair till she gets her strength back. Her mind is still sharp! That's a PRAISE!!!

Now here's some facts about my sister, Louise you may not know. For 26 YEARS she has not had any alcohol...that great because she use to be an alcoholic. On September 27th she took laser treatment to her quite smoking...it's been a month now and she is doing great. On November 13, she will have hip surgery. Louise, who so often cracks us up with laughter said, "Did you know that they have laser treatment for losing weight? After my hip surgery, I may go for those treatments!" (I'm thinking, if those treatment work, I may go too);) Louise may not know it, but along with my MOM she is one of my heroes.

We as Christians know that it is the grace of God working in our lives everyday. But when I see people lives in action as these two, I just remember what Dr. Culbertson, President of Moody Bible Institute when I was a student..."It's important that you end well!" No matter what happens in life, keep living for the Lord.

So please be praying for Mom and Louise in getting their health back.

Check out my Slide Show!

Check out my Slide Show!

COVERED BRIDGE FESTIVAL

Well as always, vacation goes real fast. We took at bus tour of the bridges ..taking what they call the RED ROUTE. The place we liked most on this trip was Bridgeton, IN. We only got an hour and most of us would have liked to have stayed longer, but the bus waits for no one...well actually there was a couple who almost missed it. We waited ten minutes longer than we should have, but they finally showed up.

Saturday Camille, Andrew, Brigitte, Gary and I headed for Turkey Run State Park. The kids wanted to hike. In fact Andrew had purchased a walking stick the day before in Rockville. It's really a neat thing to have when your hiking. We took a difficult trail..went across a suspension bridge..narrow paths, climbed many stairways. Kids enjoyed the different caves we ran across. At one point, they had a three levels of ladders to climb. NOOOOO with my phobia of heights that was not for me. It was time to turn back anyway..Brigitte is only 5 and I know her legs were getting tired. I told them to go ahead, but Camille said it was time to start going back.

If you ever are able to visit this park, you will truly LOVE it. They have about 11 different hiking trails and the accommodations look great.

In the evening with the help of Andrew finding twigs, we managed to start a fire. Brett kept the fire going by fanning the flames. We were able to roast marshmallows and make those famous s'mores. MMMM Good.

Sunday Gary and I were all alone...he said that it was too quiet and he missed everyone. However, we did enjoy that Bears game. WOW what an ending. Go Bears!!!

Well, it good to be home. We had good weather and are very thankful that eveyone got h0me okay. Enjoy some of our photos.

Uncle Brett and Brigitte

For some reason unknown to me, Brigitte is not afraid of that TALL Man...Brett. She just walks right up to him, smiles and enjoy being around him.

She likes going on vacation with him.

WHY READ A BOOK?

Here's something to chew on while I'm away on vacation. Have you ever asked yourself at times why you don't read more books? Now I know there are many types of reading...some for just the pure pleasure..funny, romantic, or perhaps true stories of people lives. Then there are the many books dealing with theology...

At our church, we have a ladies group in which we are reading Disciplines of a Godly Woman by Barbara Hughes..a great book. I'm on chapter 6..Discipline of Mind (Submission's Education) "Do not confirm any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." Romans 12:2

Here we go..First paragraph.."The human brain has an astonishing capacity! It doesn't miss a thing. Capable of giving and receiving the subtles input-from imagining a universe in which time bend to creating the polyphonic texture of a Bach fugue or transmitting and receiving a message from God Himself-it accomplishes feats no computer ever will."

Did you understand ALL of that! Well I'm not a music major and I needed help in understanding at least 2 of the words in that paragraph. First word: polyphonic. Now here's the fun. Grab that wonderful book called The American Heritage Dictionary and look up that word. Polyphonic- (now remember this is going to give me the meaning of that word) ADJ. Mus. of pertaining to, or characteristic of polyphony. HUH???? Now you know what is next..ya look up polyphony...Mus Music with two or more independent melodie parts sounded together..now we are getting somewhere.

Next word for me fugue..I took the dictionary second meaning. A pathological condition during which one is apparently conscious of his actions but has no recollections of them after returning to a normal state.

Like I said before this is only the first paragraph!!!

My advice or is it advise is to keep reading, but keep that dictionary handy. Okay I took the time and will follow my own advise to keep a dictionary close at hand.

Take Care and while I'm on vacation, I think I will keep my theology books at home:)

ER

Well every parents nightmare is hearing that your child has had an accident. Well , Gary and I had the grandkids in Jansville, Wi for a fun event. Brett was in Geneva helping his dad. My tracphone rang and it was Brett.."Is Gary there?" So instead of telling me that my daughter had been in an accident, he tells Gary. I think he thought I might freak out! ME PERHAPS!!

Thankfully she ended up with two very bad sprains..one ankle and one wrist/

For more info read her blog.

Enjoy the picuture, because I know that she won't.:)

Fun at the Berg Farm

Fun at the Berg's Farm

What a beautiful day ..October 5, 2007. Bruce Berg has told us that next time we have the grandkids to bring them out to the farm and he would give them a pony ride. We had made the arrangements for them to come out and boy did they enjoy the farm...goats, cats, chickens, and of course horses. Tammy and Rick's two boys, Caleb and Jacob were able to come to.

The kids played outside for 6 HOURS!! Earlier that day I had asked Brigitte if she wanted to go home...NO! (She did fall asleep in the car on the way back to our house.)

Louise was so gracious and fed all of us. Brigitte only wanted a jelly sandwich. Andrew ate his hamburger, mashed potatoes and green beans. He did not want dessert (fudge brownies), but Brigitte wanted her :)

The pony rides were fun for the kids...Gary fell off the horse and we all had a good laugh.

If any of you have been out to Bruce and Louise you KNOW how much fun kids can have. It's just so nice that they are Family.

Grandparents Day in Dixon

Off to Dixon we went to visit Andrew and Brigitte's school. It was very interesting that at each school we had to sign in and answer the question.."Are you a sex offender?'

We arrived at Brigitte's school late and only got to spend about fifteen minutes with her. It was nice to see her classroom and meet some of her classmates.

At Andrew's school we got to spend the whole hour with him. They had a questionnaire for the grandparents to fill out...like, "What was your favorite subject in school?" That day Andrew learned alot about both sets of his grandparents.

We spend the evening with them and ended the day at an ice cream place.

WELCOME FALL!!

October 1st! While at my sister Jan's I took a photo of her in her pumpkin patch.

Most of us look forward to Fall..beautiful trees dressed in their colorful leaves..the smell of cider donuts @ Edward's Apple Orchard and especially the cooler days and evenings.

This season goes away faster than we would like..but soak it all in while you can.

Jan gave me a nice BIG pumpkin. It looks great on our front step. THANKS Jan.

May we all thank God for this wonderful and beautiful season of FALL.