The Event ~ Meeting Jack

I met Jack today!  And I adopted him!  Yep, sure did.  I adopted a cat!  Tim will not be happy with me! 

All my life I've been partial to cats ~ and dogs.  We have always had one or the other or both or several of each at any given time.  We've had several white cats through the years, lots of farm cats that are wild.  Our last cat was a huge tabby that Tim named Steer because it pooped like a steer in the corral!  Even Tim learned to like that cat.

When we lived in town for three years, we had a black kitten that went camping with us.  We think the neighbor took the kitten and kept it in her house with her other 32 cats!  We all liked that kitten.    Later, here on the farm we had a white kitten and a yellow kitten that just entertained us all with the playful antics.  We even bought them a two-story cat house to play in. 

When I was a child I had a calico cat for several years.  When I see a pictures of a cat or someone else's house cat, I'm filled with a desire to have my own cat again.    I've always wanted a shop cat here at the office to greet the customers.  

The Humane Society has been having a two-month adoption special  to find new homes for all the cats and kittens that show up at this time of year.  I've made several visits to the shelter the last two months just to see what was available, but never felt inclined toward one until today. 

This cat came with the name of Jack, is two years old, declawed on all four, and neutered, and so gentle and loveable.

It will have to be a shop cat for awhile, or maybe forever, because I'm not sure if I dare take it home!  So Jack, what an event to bring you to your new home today, my office!  I hope you will be my eventful friend!

The Event ~ A Mother’s Love

  A tribute to my mother!

Mother - 1957 and 2005

A Mother’s love is something that no one can explain. It’s devotion is deep, it’s sacrifice is endless and unselfish. Nothing can destroy or take away a mother’s love ~ sometimes it can falter, sometimes it is touched with hurt and pain, but it bounces back and never fails. It is patient and forgiving.

Blessed is the mother who can be thankful and proud of their children. I am one of those mothers. And so is my own mother.

My mom’s love for her four children has been endless and enduring. Her children include my three brothers ~ Allen, Vern and Kelly. I am second of the four.  There was another son that died shortly after he was born - Gregory Van.  Not many people know that.  We have never talked about him.

Mom has always been there for all four of us. She hurts when we hurt. She worries about us even when we don’t. She shares our concerns and anxieties. She rejoices when we rejoice. A mother will always worry about the well being of her children, no matter what the age.  My Mom worries alot about all of us.  I don't know why!?

As I was growing up, I remember my mom helping daddy as his parts manager, bookkeeper, and sales person in the Massey Ferguson implement business; working as a nurse's aid in the hospital; working as the assistant cook at the school for many, many years; selling Avon for a number of years; and working side by side with Dad in his water distillation/wheat grinder/Bosch kitchen machine/bread baking business.   Mom was a hard worker.  But she was always there when we needed her.  She was an excellent cook, too!





In 2005 all four of us (her children) gathered with our families and gave her a surprise 75th birthday party in Billings. .She was truly surprised and it was, indeed, a celebration for all of us!  There were about 100 friends and relatives that gathered for her birthday dinner at a restaurant. 

Ever since I can remember, Mom has been faithful in her love for God.  I remember her teaching Sunday School and Bible School for many years.  She was an excellent singer, yodeler and accordian player. 

My mom is one of the most selfless people I know. She has always and still is very giving, always thinking of others and lending a helping hand when she sees a need.

Mom has suffered her share of hardships through the years.  God never promises anyone immunity from hardship.  Trials draw us closer to Him.  My mom is a survivor with a tender heart and a heart filled with compassion for others.   

A year ago today,  August 29, 2009, Mom moved from her home at 922 Yellowstone River Road that she has known for the past 25 years or so to a senior citizen apartment complex. The decision to sell her mobile home and make the move was a very difficult decision that caused her a lot of stress. She doesn’t make decisions easily.  Maybe I inherited that from her, as I don't make decisions easily either.   Tim and I drove to Billings to help her move, as did my brothers Allen and Kelly.

1993

A year later now, she has numerous new friends, has taken on leadership roles in her apartment complex, and loves her new space. She is quick to agree it was absolutely the right move for her.

Feb 2010 with Joe

It's bittersweet watching a parent grow older. The aging process takes it toll, but to have a parent live a long healthy life is a blessinig.  It is, of course, hard to lose a parent ~ my dad died in 1998, suddenly and unexpected. The years following were painful for Mom. However, my mom has aged very gracefully. I can only hope I’m as active and spirited and beautiful at age 80 as she is.   She will celebrate her 80th birthday on November 5, 2010.   Another milestone! 

Mom continues with her hobby of metal detecting, which gets her outdoors and lots of walking exercise.        It keeps her young. In 1999 she and her metal detecting hobby were a feature article in the  magazine  Woman's World.

She recently made yet another road trip ~ all by herself ~ to Nebraska in June.  That may be the last time she drives the 7 hour trip to Nebraska as it gets harder for her each time.  We have loved and enjoyed every time she has graced our home with her presence. 

She has a new special friend now, and that is her cat, Mia. It was a farm kitten here that we took to Mom in July 2009, because we thought she needed a pet companion. She gave it up for adoption once, only to retrieve it back. The cat has frustrated her especially with its biting, but she dearly loves her  pet Mia.

2009 - Kelly, Allen, Mom, Sandi, Vern

Memories of Mom are vivid in my mind from childhood on through the years. Mom, I love you. You have been an Eventful Mother and Friend  in my life forever.

The Event ~ The Auction

For the last twenty years Tim has stepped gently into the auction ring as head auctioneer.   He has been dabbling in the business, doing charity auctions, church fund raiser auctions, and personal property and estate auctions for others.  He runs his business "Tim Stricker Auctions and Appraisals" as a supplement to his real estate business and haying operations.   He's never really  promoted it through advertising, just word of mouth.  People like the way he does business.  We usually do about a dozen auctions a year,  sometimes more, sometimes less.

I do all the ad set up, cashiering, and follow up paperwork.  It's like a second part-time job.  Auctions are fun.  One can easily get caught up in the flow and excitement of an auction and buy really, really nice "stuff" at an auction for a dime on the dollar ~ stuff you need and stuff you don't need.  I have brought home some real treasures myself. 

Sometimes we get really, really tired of selling toasters ~ meaning the same old things that everybody already has.  But people just keep buying more and more stuff at auctions, probably because it's such a great bargain.   Many of our auction customers buy to resell on the popular ebay.  Ebay has really kept the acution business healthy, even through the depressed economy.  If it wasn't for ebay, some of this junk wouldn't sell, but ebayers buy it to resell to someone else in another part of the country.  Like the saying goes, "One person's junk is another person's treasure!"  By the way, we don't use the word junk when talking about our auctions.  It's merchandise!

We had an auction over the weekend on Saturday.  It was the average auction with about 100 registered buyers, except that we had "treasures" from five different clients.  We have had huge auctions in the past with up to 300 buyers, and some piddly little ones.  But that is the auction business.  We never know what the day will bring. 

One of our most memorable auctions is one we did a few years ago ~ It was all  1950's era merchandise.  A couple that lived and furnished their house by the 1950's sold their entire collection.  It was such an upscale event that we held it at the Civic Center, and the crew dressed in black dress pants and white shirts and the guys wore ties.  We even dressed the tables with white linens that the "merchandise" was displayed on.

A more recent memorable auction was one we did in October 2010.  The lady abandoned a huge house literally filled to the  brim with very nice furniture, artwork and "stuff".  She was one of those compulsive buyers, because half the stuff was still new in boxes. It took the moving crew five days to move it all to the auction site.  She had an entire basement room filled to the ceiling with Christmas and holiday decor.   Three 8' tables were filled with crystal and glass still in their boxes.  It looked like a department store!   The people came out of the woodwork for that event! 

Tim has a real talent for the auction chant ~ a skill that came easily to him, chanting the time away in tractors moving up and down the fields through his many years of farming.   He has received many nice compliments over the years.  That's why people keep coming to him to do their auctions.  But we are glad that he's not made it a full-time business or that he doesn't keep too busy at it.  It's a nice little hobby that supplements the budget.   But I certainly wouldn't want to fill every weekend of my time doing this! Currently we have three more scheduled within the next two months.

We have a nice dependable crew that has just as much fun at the auctions as we do.  Auctions are a social event, they draw alot of people.  It's amazing people just keep buying the same stuff over and over and over.  Yes, auctions are an eventful time that is sometimes hard to understand!  Just another eventful chapter in our life.

The Event ~ The Farm Sale

In the mid 1980’s farming went south. That “phrase” was mentioned to a city gal recently, and she asked what it meant – “did we pick up and move the farm south?”

No we didn’t move south. But we did move. “Farming went south” refers to farming accumulating more expense and debt than income over a number of years. The depressed ag economy of the 80’s hit and took its toll on many valley farmers. It was a farm crisis in many agriculture states.  It became obvious to us that to continue in farming was not a smart choice, but the decision was still ours to make. Unlike other farmers who were told by the bank they had to sell out and walk away with nothing left, we still had the option to keep going. However, we could read the writing on the wall.

Our hearts told us to stay, but our heads told us to get out while we could without losing everything. It was a very difficult decision. For Tim, it was hard to walk away from the only way of life he ever knew. His grandfather farmed. His father farmed. He farmed with them. It was the only life he knew. But we knew it was the smart choice, the right decision. It was a head decision ~ not a heart decision!

We lined up our equipment. We had a farm sale. It was March 1986. We sold most everything, including my milk cow!

We kept an old “C” tractor which Tim was really partial to and which we still have today, and a few other pieces of equipment.   We knew we were making the right decision when we felt inner peace and comfort about it.  Alot of prayer went into the decision, and  God was with us through it all.  We felt His presence.   One knows when a right decision is being made when His presence, His peace, His comfort, His direction can be felt.

By October 1986 we were living in Scottsbluff.  We  both got city jobs ~ me at the Chamber of Commerce and Tim as Transportation Supervisor at the Scottsbluff Public Schools. We both stayed at those jobs for 13 years. I loved mine. Tim hated his!

We were both very fortunate.  I remember when the Job Service sent me to the Chamber of Commerce to apply for an opening.  I thought "how boring", but I went anyway.  That's where I met Joyce Hillman.  She also had been a stay at home farm wife for 16 years before she went to work at a city job years earlier, so she knew just where I was coming from.  After visiting briefly about my qualifications - or lack of them - she said, "You are just the type of person I'm looking for - someone who can manage and run several things at one time.  Anyone who worked as hard as you did on the farm can certainly manage an office."  She hired me on the spot, even though I hadn't held an office job for 16 years, since leaving my job in Denver (see August 16 entry).  She became a friend and mentor.  She left the Chamber to become State Senator.   She is the one who also put in a good word for Tim to her very good friend ~ the school administrator who hired Tim.

We all know the saying “You can take the boy out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of the boy.”  Our goal was to find an acreage in the country. It took us three years to find the place we currently own ~ a 40-acre corner on the outskirts of town. We moved there Christmas 1989. We turned it into a haying operation a few years later and have been haying ever since. (see July 12 “Home Sweet Home” entry”).  It was a sweet day in December 2007 when we made our final mortgage payment on our current home and acreage. 

Following our exit from farming, many other friends followed suit. Several of our friend's marriages didn't survive their transition.   If they weren't forced out, they were forced to get bigger. Bigger means more land, more debt, bigger machinery, bigger debt, bigger headaches, more government, and in a good year ~ more income. But the good years are far and few between as this valley sits in a summer hail zone!

Farming is no longer a way of life like many farmers knew it prior to the 1980’s. It is now treated as a business swallowed up by government rules and regulations, technology, automation, and computerized equipment.

For Tim and I, our little acreage started out as more of a hobby, but it too has been consumed by current trends. Tim has been in high demand for custom work which keeps him busy, but it’s a business he loves.

Back in 1986 when we made the transition, Tim wasn’t the only one to line up his machinery. Cash lined his up as well ~ and packed it away! After moving to town, he never once played with his farm toys again. At age six, he said he was not a farmer anymore! He too, walked away from something he dearly loved. I think that was harder on me than the real farm departure.  Today his farm equipment remains neatly parked on shelves in a basement armoire, waiting to be handed down to his son someday.

A farm sale is a solemn event.  It's also a social event that farmers enjoy going to to catch up with their neighbors.  It's always helpful when God walks with you through life's trials and tribulations.  We have been blessed beyond any expectation we may have ever had.  "All things work together for good to them that love God."    Life is good!  Life itself is an eventful friend.

The Event ~ The Season of Friends

Friends are a treasure. Friends weave in and out of life, they come and go with seasons and reasons. I don’t make friends easily, probably because of my reserved, quiet nature ~ I’m not an outgoing person.

Today I want to remember friends who have walked through my life.

Jeani Martin, me, Marilyn Roos, Valerie Buckingham, Connie
Covert, (back row) Charlotte Ross, Connie Undem

I don’t remember much about childhood friends or class mates.  Many of my elementary classmates went through 12 years of school together.  All seven of us in this first picture started and graduated together.  This picture was in our yard at one of my birthday parties.  H-m-m,  maybe I was seven or eight that year!  That's me, second from left!

One dear friend I met at church camp in 4th grade remains a dear friend today. We continued to go to church camp togther for several years.  Her name is Heidi Gasser – today she’s Heidi Thomas, author and journalist. I am the proud owner of her first published and autographed book. We were in each other’s wedding. She is a Godparent to Janel. She lived two hundred miles away, but we managed to spend time in the summers at each other's home. Our constant snail mail letters to each other in the late 50’s and 60’s always included the silly musings of me buying gas from her (Gasser) and she buying corn from me (Corneliusen). Ha-ha!

Off to college in 1968 and the beginning of the most special life friendships. I cannot imagine whatever brought the seven of us girls together in college ~ we were all so different – way different ~ but we became inseparable for our two years of college. My roommate Carol Sethre (Pomeroy); Penny Anderson (Becker); Carla Stroman (Miner); Diane Parmley (Olsen); Betty Heezen (Stewart); Ginger Redfern (Campbell) and myself. We partied together, attended each other’s different churches together, ate meals together ~ where there was one there were seven!



Top photos 1968-69 in college; bottom photos 2002 at reunion 32 years later



For the most part we’ve managed to keep in touch, although we each lost touch with someone through the years. Internet and email brought us all back together again and in 2002 all seven of us reunited at a 32-year reunion in Rapid City, our college stomping grounds. We picked up where we left off ~ we laughed, we cried, we shared. A fun weekend. Today we are drifting again, but in our hearts, the special memories will remain.

Doug and Lorraine Kizzire

Our first best friends in marriage in 1970 were Doug and Lorraine Kizzire. They lived across the road from us after Tim and I were married. Today they remain our most special  friends.  Lorraine and Tim share a birthday, and every year we still get together to celebrate over dinner. It may be the only time each year that we see each other, even though now we live only 30 miles apart. Occasionally, we do talk on the phone. I must remember to guard this friendship as it remains a special blessing in my life.  Lorraine is truly an angel as helping others in need is her gift. If there is a need, she is there.

We had special friends from the church in Bayard ~ the Masers (John and Joyce), the Kaufmans (Rick and Jacque), the Sauers (Patty and Lee), and others in the late 1970's early 1980's. Our kids grew up together and we spent many, many Saturday nites visiting in each other’s homes, putting all the kids down to sleep while we adults played cards well into the early morning hours. I know the kids remember those many nites of playing with their friends while we adults played cards or visited into the wee hours of the morning. The guest kids at each house were put to sleep on the couches, and loaded into the cars for home at 1 or 2 or even 3 in the morning. Yes, they did sleep!!

Roberta Clark

For many years while living in Bayard, Roberta Clark was a dear, dear friend.  Those were the years I was a stay-at-home Mom, and we spent many days sharing morning coffee together.  Our kids played together.  We continue to keep in touch today.  We moved from Bayard, and they since moved to Chappell, but we got together often for lunch when we both worked in Scottsbluff.

Gene and Mari Scharzkopf; Beth and Dan Forbes

Moving into Scottsbluff we gained new friends ~ Gene and Mari Schwarzkopf.  We shared many a ballgame together through junior high and high school watching our girls play volleyball and basketball. We became good friends with Dan and Beth Forbes who moved into the house across the street from us on Avenue K. They have since moved to Idaho. We had the pleasure of visiting them in Idaho and seeing them whenever they get back this way.  Schwartzkopfs, Forbes and us rode all over town in a big black limousine once when I won the limo ride in a contest. We had the limo drive through the Hardees drive thru and order pop for us all; and then up to the Monument and all over Scottsbluff/Gering.  Crazy!



Top:  Doug/Pam Hill; Beth/Dan Forbes; John/Joyce Maser
Bottom: Connie/Ernie Bussinger; Mary/Gene Schwarzkopf

 The pictures around the table are from fun murder mytery dinner parties we hosted. Enjoying the dinners and fun mystery game were Forbes, Hills, Masers, Bussingers, Schwarzkopfs.   We had to dress the part at these dinner parties. We were gangsters, call girl, tennis player, priest, gypsy, hobo, Italians, doctor, and other  Fun, fun.  I'm preparing to do another one this fall.  It will be a murder mystery dinner at a 50's reunion.  Appropriate for our age as we go back to the 1950's era! 



Tom/Cindy Briggs; Larry/Kris Scovil; Jessye/Dave Goertz



We became very close to Bible study friends from church ~ Tom and Cindy Briggs,  Larry and Kris Scovil,  Dave and Jesse Goertz. We shared a lot of each other’s trials and joys in life, praying and crying together in our Bible study, Experiencing God.  The Goertz's and the Scovil's have since moved from the community, but we keep in touch.

Sandy Hanson, Joyce Hillman, Laverne Knoedler,
Suzanne Browne, Geri Manka,  Sandi Stricker

My job at the Chamber in 1986 -1997 brought friends that became close in my life: Joyce Hillman (Senator Hillman); Sandy Jo Hansen, Geri Manka, and Pam Hill. We enjoyed gathering together to reminisce through the years.

Today I cherish the friendship of Don and Becky Kerbel, Larry and Sharon Kaufman, and Richard and Cindy Groskopf ~ friends from our church in Scottsbluff. We enjoy spending time together playing games.   We have shared countless meals together and many board games, and many, many prayers as we have gathered often to pray together for our families and church friends.  I need to take a picture of this group, so one will be forthcoming soon.

Tim and I; Connie and Rich Stricker

Tim's cousins, Connie and Rich Stricker have been very close to us through the years.  They are a couple of relatives who we do alot with and have through the years.  We continue to visit back and forth.  They are the ones we went to Florida with in December 1981 for a 17-day vacation ~ their 3 kids and our 3 kids in a passenger van!  What a fun event.

Dick and Sharon Rahmig have become breakfast buddies as we share Saturday morning breakfasts out quite often. Sharon has been our auction clerk for the last 12 years, which is where that friendship started. We are sisters in heart! 

Many others have come and gone through the years, leaving only a trace of memories, but still a part of our history. I wish I would have taken more pictures through the years. Yes, these have all been Eventful Friends of the past and present.

My life friends are, of course, my family  ~ my daughters, my son, and my husband.   



The memories linger longer and forever.  I love them with all my heart, soul, and being. 

They are truly my Eventful Friends for life.

The Event ~ A Dowry for Pigs

I think I was born financially accountable! I’m surprised I didn’t choose accounting as a college major or career. However, I am getting enough pencil pushing running the finances at the office, the farm business, the auction business, and our own personal budget.

As long as I can remember, I have been an astute saver (finances, not junk). One of my first jobs (not counting babysitting) was a dishwasher at $.50 an hour when I was an 8th grader. Then I progressed to waitress and cashier in a little hometown family café (I can’t even remember the name of it now). I worked there for three summers. The only thing I really remember is that I saved for a long time to buy a two-piece red samsonite luggage set. I don’t remember what else I spent my hard-earned quarters on back then.

When I went to college, I found a part-time job working for a collection agency. I was diligent and would walk daily the ten blocks to and from work for the three-hour-a-day job in the afternoons. Walking back from work one day is when a good-looking guy offered me a ride back to the dorm. I ended up marrying that guy.

After two years of business college I went to Denver to get a city job as a legal secretary at Holmes, Roberts & Owen law office for $475.00 month. That was in January 1970. I was self-sufficient, and still managed to save. I went to Denver because I had this dream of living in the city in a cute house with a white picket fence ~ a setting similar to Wisteria Lane on Desperate Housewives, but without the trash. However, the guy that picked me up off the street in college was a farmer not at all willing to live in the city for any girl! By the time we got married, I was ready to kiss the city goodbye and embrace the life of a farm wife.

I left Denver with this huge savings account of $600 in my dowry (along with the china dishes that every single young girl bought from a door-to-door salesman back in those days). Being accountable as I was, it would be spent wisely. Then the reality of farm life hit this young new bride, and our first big purchase was some pigs ~ with my dowry to pay for them! Except it was “our” savings now. I was assured that starting a pig operation would be a good investment!. Welcome to the world of a farmer!

I totally agree that both husband and wife must merge their funds into one in marriage. Marriage ~ merge. They go together. It was easy for me to do that since I no longer had any!   I was a stay-at-home farm wife for the first 16 years! Tim made the income ~ I spent it. A good merge!  I was always very conservative, though, and not at all  high-maintenance. 

I still like to keep a contingency fund for emergencies and special occasions; and I never pay a penny interest to credit cards. I’ve tried to instill that same philosophy of financial accountability to my children through the years.

Our pig operation grew and grew for several years into quite a large farrowing and feeder pig operation. Pigs were part of our history on the farm. And to think I helped make it happen with my dowry.

Well, anyway, I must have told that pig story to my kids, because they seem to remember that little story.

I looked up dowry in the dictionary. dowry: the money, goods, or estate that a woman brings to her husband in marriage. Interesting. Back in earlier days it was an event to build a dowry. Today, I’m not so sure.

P.S.  Is is my imagination that this entry is off the cuff a bit ~ from an 8th grade job, to china dishes, to buying pigs, to Desperate Housewives, to teaching my children financial accountability, to a dowry???  Wierd!  Maybe that's what makes for eventful reading!  

The Event ~ Six Going on Sixteen

Grandparenting is a special event.  When the grandkids live seven hours away, it's a treat for us when we can have them come visit us one at a time.  We have been so fortunate for the last ten years because our grandkids are not afraid to leave home by themselves to spend a week or two at our little farm.  I know some kids who wouldn't leave home for a day without mama; and I know some parents who wouldn't let their kids leave on a road trip across the state without them.  So we are indeed fortunate.

Our first treat was when Jakob was only two years old and he came to Scottsbluff for a week or so ~ I can't remember how long that first visit was.  I do remember the trip back to Lincoln though.  Grandma Esther was with us, and as Jakob sat in his car seat in the back, he jabbered the whole way.  He was a great talker at age two ~ talking in clear, crisp sentences.  I remember exactly him asking Great Grandma Esther "Grandma Esther, are you having a happy day  today?"   Cute!                                                                        

Each fall or summer since, we've had a kid or two ~ one at a tme, starting when they are about two years old. Since the first of the year, we have had Joe for a couple weeks, then  Ben for a couple more weeks, and then I think Joe came back.   This summer we have again had Ben for three weeks, Josh for 10 days, and now we changed sexes, and have Mathilda Grace for one week.   The kids all enjoy riding the horse when they come to the farm.   And Mattie probably enjoys riding more than any of them. 

It's been awhile since Mattie has been here by herself.  The last time she was here by herself, she was a sweet, adorable  little 3 or 4 year old.  Now that Mathilda is 16, it's been quite a switch from keeping the boys.  Changing of the sexes certainly brings change.  We were getting used to the boys.  Now this 7 year old ~ going on 16 ~ comes and it's just not as easy.  It's kinda hair raising!  But we love her just the same. 

She has spent her entire week with Grandpa, and he has been on the receiving end of her "going on 16 sassy and dramatic antics"!  She is certainly not afraid to speak her mind and claim her independence!  So much drama!

When Mathilda is sleeping, she is definitely seven again.  Actually, right now she is still six, but since her birthday is in a few days, I can say she's seven.  I enjoy seeing her play with the dolls.  Actually she doesn't play with them ~ she only slumbers with them.  Everynite she prepares a slumber party, sleeping with her friends on the floor.

Sweet, sweet Mathilda.  You have to slow down a bit.  Sweet 16 will come soon enough!

The Event ~ Hosting Naoko and Daniel

The fair and 4-H post reminded me of a very special event we shared as a family ~ hosting a young exchange student from Japan through the 4-H program. This I think was summer 1983. Naoko Hirohama was 12 years old when she journeyed across the ocean from Japan to live with us for six weeks. When we picked her up in Scottsbluff we were shocked that she could not speak a word of English. Wow! Naoko carried her little translation book with her all the time. She brought a suitcase full of Japanese gifts and edible treats for our family. We were overwhelmed by the amount of gifts she brought to share.

We communicated with hands and pictures a lot. Naoko was quick to learn a lot of English words, and each day became easier. We adored her. I remember how big her eyes got and expression of surprise when she first saw a big watermelon on our kitchen cupboard. It was as great a learning experience for us as it was for her.

I cannot imagine sending my 12 year old grandchild across the ocean to a foreign place to stay with people we’ve never met, whose language is not compatible. At age 16 or 18 ~ maybe. But certainly not age 12.

In 1997 we were asked to host an exchange student from Germany ~ Daniel Meurer. It was a private exchange arranged by his parents. His older brother had spent a year with our friends, the Scovils, a few years earlier, and they wanted Daniel to have the same experience, but without the hassle of an organization. Daniel enrolled as a senior at high school here. Daniel and Cash became very good friends. Daniel could speak a bit of English, and was quite proficient at the end of one year.

Daniel enjoyed side trips to Montana, Mt. Rushmore, Colorado, Eastern Nebraska, and the Big 12 championship game in St Louis, Missouri with the guys in the family.

Daniel’s parents came for his high school graduation and it was a pleasure meeting them. Like Naoko, Daniel and his parents came bearing gifts for the entire family. Foreigners’ hospitality exceeds Americans at times.

We still communicate with Daniel and his family from time to time. In 2006 Tim and I enjoyed being guests of the Meurer’s in Koln, Germany.  It was awesome.  We look forward to a return visit from Daniel and his family in the future. 

Both Naoko and Daniel became an extension of our family. They were/are truly eventful friends, and an eventful memory for our family.

The Event ~ The Last Will and Testament

It has come to our attention that Tim and I need to update our "Last Will and Testament".   We actually do have such a legal document.  Every married couple with children should have one, no matter what age ~ young or old.

Now that we have grandchildren, we have been enlightened that our grandchildren should not be overlooked when addressing our "will".  During their recent eight-day vacation here in July,  a few of the grandkids have made their wishes known:  "Grandpa, when you get old, can I have your. . . "

Benjamin  (5) requested Grandpa's cowboy boots, cowboy hats, and cowboy shirts.  Ben says  Grandpa has so many cool hats, one for going to town, one for the office, one for the field, one for church, some for summer, some for winter.

Jonathan ( 8 1/2) requests Grandpa's white pickup.  It's just like his Dad's!

Joshua (10) requests Grandpa's brown jeep, which he has been learning to drive in the hay fields picking up broken bales, feeding the calves or checking on the pivot!

They would like these when Grandpa grows old.

Joshua realized that  Grandpa won't be quite old enough to let his jeep go in six years when Joshua is old enough to drive.  He was a little disappointed! 

The Event ~ County Fair Time

The County fair was a family event for both Tim and I in our childhood. We were both in 4-H. He in livestock; me in sewing, cooking, gardening. It was only natural that we would continue the 4-H tradition with our own kids. Janel, Alexis and Cash each enjoyed showing livestock in 4-H, beginning with the Morrill County Fair in the earlier years and finishing with the Scotts Bluff County Fair in their last years of 4-H.

Fair was an eventful time in their youth as it was in mine and Tim’s.

Janel showed two beef as her first project at age 8.  Alexis showed one of my dairy calves one year and showed pigs for several years.

Cash started showing sheep when he was 8, building his own herd of sheep to about 40 ewes, lambing out twins and triplets every winter, raising his own project animals.  He showed in both 4-H and FFA in high school.

They continued with their livestock projects through high school.   The project monies from their livestock sales paid for their first cars and a little college,  among other things.

 

Tim instructed them in the livestock care. I instructed the girls and many of their friends in their sewing projects for several years as a 4-H leader. Janel and Alexis both took cooking as well. Cash took on photography and gardening.

In addition to showing livestock, much time was spent at demonstration contests, livestock judging, dress reviews,  talent shows, and even a sandwich making competition (left).

The kids enjoyed camping at the county fairgrounds, the water fights, the late nights, the fair food, and the fair social life. It was a fun time. 4-H has not lost its significance.  Even though it was all about the projects, the kids were the actual projects as 4-H offered training in life skills, leadership, responsibility, work ethics, accountability, etc.

The county fair has waned through the years, but I’m sure it’s still as much fun for the young kids today as it was 10, 20, 40 and 50 years ago! Fair today continues to be an enjoyable event. It’s a time to catch up with many people we know but only see once a year at the fair ~ a time to touch base with many eventful friends. Today, Tim and I still enjoy attending the fair, especially eating the fair food. We make special trips to the county fair just to eat the fair food. How divine!

We've enjoyed taking our grandkids to the fair if they are visiting at the time.  Last nite Josh enjoyed fair food ~ walking tacos and brats ~ with us at the 4-H Jr. Leaders booth, and checking out the animals.   It was another eventful outing with our grandson.  We've enjoyed having him stay with us the last ten days.  Josh left for home this morning.  We will miss him.  Tim and I will continue to enjoy fair food the rest of the week ~ tornado potatoes, gyros, indian tacos, funnel cakes, bbq ribs. M-m-m good!  Eventful food!