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!

The Event ~ Christmas 2011

As much as we all love our busy lives in the city or wherever our daily life takes each of us, a family Christmas celebration together is a time needed together to remind us all of the timeless blessings of food, family and faith that light up our lives. 

Christmas 2011 will be added to my family history book as a memorable Christmas of late, along with the 2007 Christmas in Estes where 22 family gathered in a beautiful lodge for three days, the 2009 Christmas in Eagle where we all got snowed in and couldn’t leave the house for two days, the 2010 Christmas in Sonoma where Tim and I so very much enjoyed time with Alexis; in her beautiful home; and a few other memorable Christmases that I really don’t remember much about.

(Pause for a moment of nostaligic memories. . . )

OK, let’s see  what I do remember, in no particular order: 1) A Christmas in Kansas with Kathy and Paul, Christian and Bobby,  and Alexis and Cash with Grandma & Grandpa Stricker and Tom, but missing Janel and Tim. 2) A Christmas in Crete at Janel & Tim’s house in 1998 when Daniel (an exchange student from Germany) was with us. 3) A Christmas in Billings, MT in 1994, the last time the five of us traveled together as a family before Janel got married. 4) A Christmas celebrated in Nashville, Tennessee in 1981 on our way home from a pre-Christmas vacation to Disneyworld with Connie & Rich, Stephanie & Richie;  5) Many Christmases at Tim’s parent’s house in Bayard, following church and family gathering at Grandpa Stricker’s house across the street from the church. 6) Christmas 2005 in Estes with our family, but not Kathy & her family. 6) Christmas 1974 when we brought our baby Alexis home two days before Christmas and celebrated with both my parents and Tim’s parent’s present. 

OK, I’m sure all our Christmases were special, celebrated around family.   Now back to the present:  what a wonderful celebration we shared with Alexis home from California;

Cash and Annie celebrating their first Christmas as husband and wife with us;

Janel and Tim and our most precious seven grandchildren opening their hearts and sharing their Christmas blessings with four needy families in Scottsbluff;

my 81 year old  mother who flew from Billings to Denver to be with us (and she learned the hard way that the Denver airport at Christmas time is no place for an 81 yr old to venture through on her own!);

Tim’s parents and Tom who so easily can join us any time of the year because they live only a mile down the road;

Kathy & Paul, Bobby and Alexandra;  and finally Chris and Mia and two girls Lily and Anya, who were gracious enough to join us for two days even though they were preparing to leave for a year mission stint in  South Africa three days later.  It was a good family send off for them. 

 Yes, the timeless blessings of family were very much a part of our celebration

We enjoyed chicken noodle soup and butterballs Christmas Eve,

and prime rib and all the trimmings on Christmas Day,

along with the traditions of lefsa, black and white fudge, bottles of wine, and lots of other goodies.

Yes, the timeless blessings of food were very much a part of our celebration.

I finally gave in and let Janel in the kitchen to prepare egg dishes for Christmas morning.  She had earlier been banned from active cooking in my kitchen during the weekend.  But when she began to show eradic behavior syptoms due to cooking withdrawal, I had to let her have her quick fix and resume her normal cooking activities.  Thank you, Janel. 

We enjoyed many a different games around the tables, several movies on the tv. 

Including a little arm wrestling. . .  I'm not sure who won this challenge

We had time for naps. 

Our front yard is turned into a football field when this family gets together and whenever the weather allows, as the kids, young and old, get active in the sport. 

And this year, the weather was shirt sleeve weather on Christmas Day afternoon. 

The gifts of giving and receiving were enjoyed by all.  Gifts ranged from head gear and scarves

to aprons and dolls

to  ladles

and tools

 

and wallets

It was fun cayous. . .

We took lots of pictures,

enjoyed alot of one-on-one time,

and even got serious in a very intent study session. . .

As we enter a new year, we will continue to build and cherish memories which include the timeless blessings of faith, family and food that light up our lives, no matter how busy our daily lives impede.

I cannot forget that the reason for celebration of course was the birth of Christ our Savior.  We did not forget Him during this celebration as he was the focus of our gathering.  We did all attend church on Christmas Eve, but that gathering is another blog of it's own.  How can a Christmas Eve church service  spoil an otherwise wonderful celebration?  We found out it is possible. Perhaps the worship of Christ's birthday is sometimes best celebrated right in the home that Christ is very much a part of, surrounded by loved and cherished family.