The Event ~ The Corneliusen Family Reunion III

July 1 - 4, 2012, Beartooth Mountain Ministries Camp, Montana

65-70 family members gathered together to enjoy three days of renewing family ties.  This is the third Corneliusen family reunion that I am aware of.  The first was 19 years ago in 1993 near the North entry of Yellowstone Park in Montana.  The second reunion was five years ago in 2007 in Scottsbluff, an event Tim and I hosted at Trails West Camp along the North Platte River right here in Scottsbluff.

And now the third reunion is history as well.  For those of us there, we all had a really great time.  For those family members who were not there, what a wonderful time you all missed out on.  The setting and scenery was beautiful, the food was delicious (alot of good cooks in this family), the activities fun. 

Kids and adults alike enjoyed horse back riding, zip lining, rock wall climbing, kayaking,   a horseshoe  tournament, lefsa making,  swimming, card games, reminiscing, and of course working on puzzles! 

It took us about a day and a half to complete this eagle puzzle.  A real challenge!

We enjoyed the opportunity to take granddaughter Mathilda with us.  She had so much fun.  She even climbed to the very top of this rock wall. . . .

Alexis' friend Val flew into Billings on Tuesday nite to join us briefly before heading out camping with Cash and Annie and Alexis on Wednesday morning.  It was exciting to finally meet this guy who Alexis is so happy to share her life with. 

Family Reunions are very special events and I am so blessed to be a part of such a wonderful extended family.  Till we meet again. . . 

The Event ~ The Perm

Mathilda likes Grandma's perm.  She would like to get her hair curled like that.  Today Mathilda got a perm ~ with Mom's blessing!  Her hair being long, she got a spiral perm.  I hope it is easy to care for and lasts a long time, and makes her feel like a princess.  What a curly girly event!

Event ~ The Sewing Lesson

There is still a place that, in spite of frustrations, I can still remain calm.  That place is at the sewing table.  No matter what goes wrong when I'm working on a sewing project, I seem to always remain calm.  I think it's because I realize that patience is essential when it comes to sewing.

Our beautiful 8 year old - almost 9 - granddaughter is with us for a few weeks, and it's wonderful to have the opportunity to spend one-on-one time with her doing "girl" things.  Together we decided that she should learn to sew.  I started teaching my own girls how to sew when they started 4-H at 8 years old. So certainly Mathilda could do the same.  

My own patience and calmness in this particular "teaching" time surprised me.  And Mathilda's ability to do a good job surprised me as well.  We started off sewing lots of straight seams on scrap fabric.  Using the 1/4" quilters guide and the "slow" position on the machine made it especially easy. 

Mathilda caught on fast and sewed for two hours last nite and another hour this morning.  She even did some straight sewing for me which included straps and pockets for a handbag I was making.  Tonite she is going to make a pillowcase to take to the family reunion as her "auction item" contribution.  I will cut the pieces for her and she will do all the sewing!

However, any new learning experience brings its own unique incidents.  And Mattie's lesson, unfortunately, included a not-so-pleasant incident this morning.  But calm Grandma was nearby!
Mattie was sewing on her scraps and somehow managed to get her finger between the needle and the pressure foot!  Yep, the needle went all the way through her finger - top to bottom!  Ouch!  That DID hurt!

After much consoling, I told her she needed to "get back on the horse" and continue.  She said she never wanted to sew again!  And that I could make her pillowcase for the reunion.  Of course, I was not going to make her pillowcase and we would not need to go to the store to find her trim fabric if she wasn't going to sew anymore.  When she felt better, about an hour later, she announced she would "get back on the horse" and sew again and she wanted to go to the fabric store to get her pillowcase trim!

After finishing the pillowcase, Mathilda sewed together a quilt.  She used scrap blocks cut from all the infant car seat covers that her mom made in recent years.  Janel sent the scrap blocks home with me for some useful future project.  I squared up all these blocks into 6 1/2 inch squares.  Following some instruction from me,  Mattie sewed everyone together by herself.  Then following more instruction, she sewed all the rows together.  An event she should be proud of.  We will get it finished soon.

So far, I find working with her on the sewing machine a very rewarding experience.  Stay tuned to see how long I remain calm and patient!!  This whole event took me back 30-35 years when I worked with several 4-H girls teaching them to sew.  If I could teach a group of  6 - 8 eight year old girls to sew on basic machines back then, I should be able to teach one eager girl to sew now on a machine that can adapt to beginners. An event to reamin calm for!

While Mattie was here, I got out a couple dresses that were Janel's so many years ago.  The dresses were about the right fit for Mattie right now.  What fun to reminisce when Mattie looked so pretty in Janel's pretty dresses!

Mathilda Grace ~ you are loved so very much!

The Event ~ Beet Harvest

The memories came flooding back when we started talking about our beet hauling days while playing the  a card game recently with friends ~ the Kaufmans and the Rahmigs.

It was funny how us three women unanimously agreed we should have driven for each other’s husbands and not our own.  There would not have been nearly as much hostility!  During beet harvest husbands yell a lot at their wives, trying to get them to move the truck closer or back or forward or wherever they want us to be to get the perfect load without spills.

We women tried so hard and sacrificed a lot to be out in those trucks from pre dawn till after dark day after day during beet harvest.  That’s what farm wives did for years, so when Tim and I got married, it was a natural assumption that I would learn to drive a beet truck.  I did just that from 1971 through beet harvest 1985 – till we left the farm and moved to town.

Since that time, beet harvest has transitioned from small little farm trucks to big semi and trailer trucks.  The farm wife has also transitioned from working on the farm to working in town because of the need to supplement the farm income.  Consequently, there are very few farm wives driving beet harvest trucks today.  Oh, there are some, but few. 

Anyway, back to my beet harvest days, we would be in the trucks like at 7 am or earlier, with our lunch packed, coffee and rolls packed, kids bundled up to ride along.  Grandma Stricker would watch the babies until they were old enough to ride along.  Then the kids would spend all day long in the truck with me. 

Back and forth to the beet dump.  Once at the dump, our trucks would often be one of many in a long wait line, as the process to dump was rather slow and truck line would get long.  Us farm wives would jump out of the trucks and congregate along the line, chat, share stories, and describe the yelling antics of our husbands.  Even then we said we should drive for someone other than our own husbands! 

The kids for the most part seemed to enjoy riding in the truck.  Sometimes they would ride in the tractor with Tim.  Usually they would nap in the truck.  Once in school, they would come out and ride for a couple hours after school and on weekends.  Sometimes, they would just go to Grandmas.  In the earlier years of my truck driving, I think we actually stopped for lunch and went to Grandma’s house where she had dinner on the table.  A quick lunch break and then back to the truck till 6:00 p.m. when the dumps closed down.  Sometimes we would load one more time and park the load overnight, ready to go to the dump first thing in the morning.

Anyway, just talking about those days with friends brought back memories that had long been buried.  The farm and family scene has changed dramatically since my harvest days experience.  Farming is no longer a “way of life”, but rather a “business” today.  Beet harvest continues today, but like everything else, it has all changed through the years.

Beet harvest was certainly an eventful experience.  I’m glad I had the opportunity to be part of it for a period of time.    

The Event ~ Listing

For Christmas 2011, my grandchildren worked creatively to personalize for me and Grandpa "Our Book of Lists".  Obviously, it was more "MY Book of Lists", but some of the lists apply to both of us.

The first page was titled "Places You've Lived. . ."

A little pink house in Terry, MT where I grew up

A big white house in Terry, MT where we moved to when I was maybe in 8th grade.

The girls dorm at NCB in Rapid City, SD June 1968-Dec 1969 when I went to college.

An apartment on Sherman St in Denver, CO while working as a legal secretary Jan 1970 - Nov 1970

A two-story house two miles east of Bayard when Tim and I got married Dec 1970 - Spring 1974.

A tiny white bungalow house 1 mile west of Bayard on a farm we boughtt 1974 - 1977.

A big beautiful green house we built on the corner hill on the same farm 1 mile west of Bayard 1977 - Oct 1986.

A blue and grey house on 1906 Ave K in Scottsbluff after we left the farm Oct 1986 - Dec 1989.

An old farm house 2 miles north west of Scottsbluff that we fixed up and we still call home today.  Jan 1, 1990 - present day.   

Page 2:  "Favorite Toys as a Child. . ."

A beautiful bride doll named Roberta.  My Aunt Bertha and cousin Evelyn made her lots of clothes when I took her out to their farm with me and spent a week or two with them.  I gave the doll and all her clothes to a toy collection drive that my FHA chapter was having when I was maybe a sophmore or junior in high school.  I wish I had pictures, because I can still vividly picture her and her beautiful clothes.  My granddaughters would have enjoyed Roberta.

A soft rubbery fat baby doll with curly blonde hair.

Coloring books.  I loved to color as a child, and I was very good at coloring!

A spirograph which I remember doodling with alot.

A metal doll house with lots of plastic furniture.  An heirloom and antique today if I still had it.

A metal dish set used for playing house with my dolls with my red/white table & chair set.

A small suitcase style record player that played lots and lots of records on in my bedroom.

These are the first things that come to mind when I think of the toys I played with as a child. 

I also played alot of pasture softball and hide and seek with all the neighborhood kids.

Page 3:  "American Cities You've Visited. . ."

As I think of them in no particular order. . .

Sacramento, San Francisco, New Orleans, Orlando, Cleveland, Chicago, Mionneapolis, Elkhart, San Antonio, Billings, Cheyenne, Denver, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Palm Springs, Albuquerque,  Santa Fe, Ft. Worth,  New York, Virginia Beach, Corpus Christi, Miami Beach, Nashville, Daytona Beach, Bismark, Bozeman, Boise, Lincoln, Great Falls, Las Vegas, San Luis Obispo, Skagway, Juneau, Salt Lake City, Boston, Bismark, Scottsdale, Cincinnati, Bartlesville, Rapid City, Sioux Falls, Bennington & Burlington VT, little towns in New Hampshire, and many other small cities. . .

Page 4:  "Best Gifts You've  Ever Received. . ."

Pearl ring, engagement ring, 11 long stemmed yellow roses, diamond bracelet, (all from my soul mate!), pink easter dress and white gloves from my Dad, sewing machine for high school graduation,  cards from my kids with personal and thoughtful hand written notes (I still have them all!), a red/white drum majorette form Janel  and a lady pin cushion from  Alexis when they went Christmas shopping  at Western Auto when they were little (I still have both and still use the pin cushion!), surprise fix it projects from Cash in our absence, such as flower beds and painted basement floors.  These are the first things that come to mind, although there are many more that will come to mind from time to time.

Page 5:  "Best Purchases. . . "

An old round oak table and four oak school chairs purchased from a "junk lady" near Bridgeport in 1978.  The table had been used as a shop work table.  I sanded and stained it all and continue to use the set today.  It's the table my family was raised around.  Alot of memories have been made at that table.

Page  6:  "Favorite TV Shows. . ."

Then:  Father Knows Best, My Three Sons, The Waltons, Dallas

Now:  Celebrity Apprentice, The Firm,  Boston Legal,  House Hunters, Design Star, Food Network.

Page 7:  "People From History You'd like to have a Conversation With. . ."

Mary, mother of Jesus,  Martha Washington, wife of President George Washington, My Dad, Noah's family, my grandparents

Page 9 "Things People Should Remember you For. . ."  The cabbage burgers I would cart around the country;  my contentment and calmness;  my conservativeness (some may call it being cheap) and trying to teach my kids financial finess.  I wonder what others would answer on this one!

Page 16:  "Things You'd like to do Before You Die. . ."

Visit Norway,  take a (fun) family destination vacation with all my kids and grandkids,  attend high school and college graduations of all my grandchildren, be a Great grandmother & hold my great-grandchildren, go to culinary school and learn to cook (ha-ha!),  skip the school and just learn to enjoy cooking,  

Page 19:  "Bad Things You Did as a Kid. . ."

I was always a good kid, except when I. . . blew my snotty nose into my nanny's flannel nightgown; stole a pop from my Dad's pop machine in his shop;  waxed my mom's linoleum living room floor with oily dusting polish making it so slick and shiny it was dangerous;  fought all the time with my oldest brother;  knocked my youngest brother against the wall and thought I killed him; 

Page 29:  "Favorite Smells. . ."

Lilacs in full bloom,  fresh baked bread and cinnamin rolls, wood burning in the fireplace, fresh cut hay.

So this is a sampling from "Our Book of Lists".  This requires alot of thought. . .

The Event ~ The Transformation

Saturday,  April 21 was Mathilda's First Communion.  That is always an important event in the life of young boys and girls growing up within the Catholic church.  The service itself speaks of a transformation within the hearts of these young children when they publicly accept their responsibility as a child of God and declare their faith and belief in Christ as Lord.  This event in itself can transform the life of a child forever when the event and meaning is guarded within the heart, soul and spirit of the believing child and lived through actions and attitudes that will glorify God. 



Nov 28, 1970



The young girls participating dress in beautiful white dresses and veils which I think  symbolize purity.  This being the first granddaughter to enter into this rite, following three grandsons, I knew her mom would want to make a very special white dress for the occasion.  I offered my wedding dress to Janel to cut up and transform into a first communion dress.  Mathilda, Mom and Grandma (me) were delighted with the end result. 



 

What a splendid way to make use of a wedding dress, transforming it into a first communion dress. 





It's always a joy and a blessing to share in these eventful days in the lives of our very special grandchildren.  We love you Miss Mathilda!





The Event ~ The Swing Swung, Swang, and Scrapped

We bought the heavy tubular swing set must have been back in 1974 when Janel was about 2.  We bought it used, but it was heavy and more solid than the light-weight modern swing sets.  It moved from the fenced in yard of the little white house to the big back yard of the big green house.  Then in 1986 it got moved to Grandpa & Grandma's yard for three years when we moved to Scottsbluff.  In  1990 we moved it to it's new home in the country where it weathered many storms and brought enjoyment to more children and our  own grandkids and friends and relatives.  The swing was painted a few times.  The glider was scrapped several years ago.  The old swing continued to stand - not so firmly - through the years.

Janel at age 4

Until . . . Sunday, April 8, 2012, the swing set was put to rest on the iron scrap pile.  It's almost sad!  But what once brought years of enjoyment became a recent eyesore and no longer a safe playmate.  The memories of childhood swinging will linger with my children and grandchildren. 

Alexis at age 10 months

Cash - age 4 months

Janel - 6 yrs,  Alexis 3 1/2 years



Aunt Kathy with Janel  - 3, and Alexis - 7 months.

 

Melinda, Vern, Julia, Justin, Jaclyn - 1995

Somewhere there must be pictures of my grandkids on this swing set.  I know they enjoyed it many times.  They were eventful times ~ swinging times ~ swinging events!   Now may it rest in peace!

The Event ~ Phoenix, Phamily, Phriends, Phun, Phood. . .

A ten-day road trip to Phoenix turned out to be quite fun and relaxing.  It was nice that we didn’t have any “special” event to attend ~ just a lot of quality down time.  It seemed Tim and I were on the go a lot, and even though we “headquartered” at Vern and Melinda’s house, they thought we were not there much.  Actually, we weren’t, considering we were in and out for seven days.  But it was still good time with them.  Also an opportunity to catch up with niece Kadi Jo who lived two doors away.  It was a treat to go to her house on Monday am for coffee and a breakfast sandwich.   





Lunch in the truck!



We headed to Arizona to deliver two whole processed beef to Vern and his brother-in-law Mark and Millie Becker.  Consequently we made the trip in the pickup truck with a freezer and two coolers on the back.  We made the 17-hour trip in one day, leaving at 4 am Sat March 17 and getting to our destination at 8:30 p.m.   15 hours of driving time to be exact and two hours of stopping for gas.  We grazed on our lunch bag all the way.  Eating sandwiches, etc in the car is always something I enjoy doing on a road trip.  Sandwiches just seem to taste so good in the car. 

At the Mining Camp

We especially enjoyed dinner out at the Apache Junction Mining Camp with most of Melinda’s clan on Sunday evening ~ all you can eat ribs, stuffed chicken and beef; and then again with the Sekia clan the following Saturday nite at Melinda’s parents home where the whole clan plus friends gather every Saturday nite for family dinner ~ a long time tradition. 

Great ribs and great company at the Mining Camp!

There were 20 family and friends gathered there this time. I think this has been the third time we have had the privilege of joining that tradition.  What an awesome family tradition to keep alive.

Cousins Paul & Sharon Allen with us enjoying margaritas.

We drove to the Yuma area for an afternoon and evening with cousins Sharon and Paul.  We drove out and around the beautiful Arizona vegetable farm lands where they were harvesting lettuce and cauliflower before stopping for excellent Mexican food and margaritas, returning the next day. 

On the return to Mesa, we stopped by a hay farmer in Buckeye who was in Tim’s office a few weeks earlier looking for Nebraska farm ground.  He toured us around his Arizona hay operation, and then also to the cotton gin operation nearby.   We found the cotton gin operation very interesting. 

12 years as school buddies!

One morning a school-days classmate of mine came over and we visited for a couple hours reminiscing the good old days.  Craig Dunnam and I went through all 12 years of school together, and we both agreed we always seemed to gravitate to each other as friends throughout that time, but never once dated.  Just close friends.  What fun it was to reminisce those school days together.  He remembers way more than I do.

We met up with former Scottsbluff friends who are realtors/real estate managers and looked at several homes for real estate investments in the Mesa area.  Also spent one morning having a nice visit with church friends from home who were snow birding in Mesa.    This whole scenario had made Tim and I realize we are fast approaching that “snowbird” age, and a lot of our road time was spent chatting about the feasibility of that option in our future.

We went garage sailing with Vern and found a few useful items.  I went to Zoomba with Melinda (like jazzercise, but different).  In keeping with the Corneliusen tradition, there was a puzzle scattered out on a table with half the border done.  I sat down several different times and worked on it, with a tad bit help here and there, and completed it within a few days.  I forget how much I enjoy putting puzzles together.  Need to do that at home more often. 

Jack & Lori Gould with Tim and I.

Friday nite we met up with friends Jack and Lori from Ontario, Canada whom we met on last year’s Caribbean cruise.  They were vacationing in the Scottsdale area.  We took two bottles of wine over to their resort condo and sat around catching up before going out to a great brewery for dinner. 

Saturday they joined us at Vern’s house and we spent the afternoon at Arizona’s biggest and nicest swap meet/flea market.  It was way too big with over 1,600 vendors.  After about two hours and traipsing thru 1/3 of it, we saw enough and headed out for pizza and Coldstone Creamery ice cream.  One has to be very disciplined when strolling through that flea market.  It was fun to see them again.  Who would have thought we would see these friends from eastern Canada ever again!

The only thing I bought at the flea market was a very colorful metal lizard for my kitchen wall.   Lizzie looks great on my lime green kitchen wall. 

Several years ago Melinda introduced me to the Superstition Ranch Market, a little shanty-like produce store that seems to have several rooms in it.  It’s a fun little store to go to to buy fresh in-season produce for really cheap. 

Tim and I filled a grocery cart with $.99 pineapples, $.59 # asparagus, $.23 # brussel sprouts,  3 heads romaine for $1,  $.39 # oranges,  6/$1 huge red bell peppers,  a few red onions, a deliciously sweet watermelon, big bag of small portabella mushrooms for $.99,    a bag of mixed peppers for $.99,and other produce.  I was sure, even as cheap as prices were, that I had $65 worth of produce to take home.  But the total bill was only $30.42 for this entire basketful of produce.  Wow!  And that was my second trip there.  I had already gone on Wednesday  and bought 12 # of strawberries, and 6# of blueberries and had them washed, froze and bagged in the freezer, ready for the trip home.    Crazy, eh?  As our Canadian friends would say!    The freezer and cooler on our truck came in really handy on our return trip!

We took the back roads home out of Arizona and New Mexico, going 50-65 mph from 8:30 to 8:30 seeing new country before stopping for the nite in  Las Vegas.   It was nice to get off the interstate and see something different.  It made for a much longer trip home,  but it was good. 

It was an eventful time with eventful family, eventful friends, eventful fun.  Thanks Vern and Melinda for your hospitality.

The Event ~ Wipeout!

The year was 1964.  I was an eighth grader.  The new hit was "Wipeout".   We  (kids) all  loved it.  We enjoyed dancing to it on the upper floor of the American Legion Hall at the many youth dances they had there every month. 

The year is 2012.  My oldest grandson is an eighth grader.  He got an electric guitar for Christmas.  The two of us hang out in the living room together while he shows me this cool guitar and he plays me a tune on it.  He plays "Wipeout".  It's the first song he learned.  Perfect song to showcase an electric guitar, and to showcase his beginning skills. 

There is a 48-year span between my eighth grade year and his eighth grade year.  "Wipeout" has bridged that span.   Truly an awesome event!  Thank you Jakob!

The Event ~ Projects

So it's been awhile and I think I may be getting journaled out.  My creative journal juices are not active and flowing! 

I should at least make note that I am now successfully healing from carpal tunnel surgery on my right hand.  It went under the knife on January 16 and is 100% better now, except for regaining the strength and overcoming the tenderness in time.  The scar is already barely visible.  Now I actually look forward to getting the left hand done on February 9 ~ next week to get rid of those tingling sensations literally running through my hand.  How annoying. 

In the meantime, a few little projects have been undertaken around the home.  Biggest and foremost is that Tim has actually tackled his half of the garage on a project that has been on his to-do list for a very long time.  He insulated a portion of the west wall, put up wall boards and peg boards and CLEANED that half of the shop/garage.    These pictures don't  portray the end result yet.  It is still a work in progress!

Getting a beautiful big tool cabinet from Mrs. Santa was some motivation to get organized.  I won't talk about my half of the garage as it is piled with auction left overs and garage sale boxes once again. 

This clean up project resulted in repairing the little rocking chair that belonged to Alexis 35 years ago.  It had a broken leg for many years, and I just couldn't ever throw it away.  Thanks to Grandpa Stricker, it is now ready for a coat of new finish and ready to be enjoyed once again.   I will give this little rocker a face lift once both my hands are healed.

I had been admiring a picture in the country store for several months that I thought I really should have.  I thought there was a flaw in the picture, but Janel and Alexis convinced me during Christmas that it was not a flaw, and that I really should buy the picture.  So I decided to use the Christmas money from my mother and purchase the picture.  The discount coupon in the newspaper came in useful for this purchase!    The picture fits our life style and mismatched decor style.   There are five cowboys and two cowgirls sitting on the fence watching Grandpa on horseback.  And if one looks really close, you can see that there is Jon, Joe, Josh, Mathilda, Ben, Jakob and Amelia sitting on that fence in that order.   I love it!  Now I just have to get it hung on the wall!

I am excited about nearing the completion of yet another quilt, this one for our bed, and one that will actually fit the bed top and sides so the sheets and other blanket don't show hanging down the sides of the bed!  This one is by far the most challenging quilt I have made.  I worked really, really hard trying to get all the points to look good.  Did a fair share of ripping and redoing in the process.  This weekend I will shop for some backing fabric for it and take it to the quilters.  Then I will start on hand stitching the binding, which  may be done on our road trip to Arizona to deliver two processed beef to Vern and his brother in law Mark. That ought to be interesting.   Quilting continues to be a relaxing hobby, and I can't wait to get started on the next one. 

Another project I have waiting in the wings is to replace the kitchen cupboard door knobs with pulls.  Now I have half pulls and half knobs.  I want all pulls because the cupboard doors don't get as dirty and scratched up by the fingers and fingernails as they do with the knobs.  And I like them better too!  Jst too ad the pulls cost twice as much now as the ones I bought  a few years ago.  Oh well! 

Last Sunday we visited a neighboring church and very much enjoyed the fellowship and worship.  Tim and I have decided we are ready to move on to a new church home, after several years of standing in the support of rebuilding the spirit and community of Emmanuel where we have been members for 25 years now.  But that rebirth of spirit and community is not happening, and is in fact growing more and more dim and soon its light will be diminished.  We see our own light being diminished and its time we rescue ourselves before the joy of fellowship is completely stripped.   I'm not chronicling my thoughts very well in this paragraph so I will leave it here. 

The projects and changes will continue to transpire in and around our daily lives, making each day an eventful day!