Holther Outreaching

Dad, your guiding hand on my shoulder will remain with me forever. ~Author Unknown

2008-03-09T21:53:00.003-04:00

I miss my dad....

Mid-July and a slide show for you to enjoy...

2007-07-23T23:15:00.000-04:00

Well, it is high summer and we have enjoyed the hot weather though I wish for more rain. It has been so dry here. I am not too sure how you have all fared further North, but we have been setting records for lack of rain. The kids are enjoying the summer and the pool in the backyard and the amount of time they get to spend with Grandma and Grandpa Holther. They are getting spoiled rotten, but what can I do? Let them enjoy every moment of it, that’s what!
Mom, Dad, Anne, Don, my little brood and my Aunt Patty’s family all went to St. Ignace camping for the week of July 4th and we all had a great time. The weather was pretty brisk at times and it threatened to rain quite often. But when the sun came out, it was so very beautiful. We didn’t go to the Island as I just didn’t think the kids are old enough to appreciate it and I really wasn’t willing to shell out $80+ to ride over on the ferry. We used to be able to go for free when my Uncle Joe worked for Arnold’s but he has retired. The way I see it anyway is that the kids see horses and buggies every single day of the week around here with the Amish, and we have our own little tourist trap in Shipshewana with the same types of shops that the Island boasts, including fudge! If they were older we would do the whole fort thing and some hiking, but right now they would just complain, “My legs hurt! I’m tired! I’m bored! Can we go back and go swimming?!?”
Now we are all back at work and sweating buckets with the heat. Can I go back on vacation again? PLEASE???

No man needs a vacation so much as the person who has just had one. ~Elbert Hubbard

Zane

2007-07-23T05:56:00.000-04:00

Zane broke his leg in two places yesterday afternoon. We are at Spectrum Downtown. He's been admitted. Good Grief! He's in misery. Will be in a thigh high cast for 6-12 weeks. More later. If you read this and want to call him over the next while he'd love it. He's very sad.

Bay City Home...

2007-07-15T20:41:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone! Here is a quick photo of my house in Bay City! Yup, actually bought a home. However, over the past weekend my Mom, Scott and Kevin came up and we went to down on the little house resurfacing the porch (removing the nasty outdoor carpet) and bringing the house to life with some new color. Look below, how do you like it?

Oh lonely poster art thou Cynthia,

2007-05-30T22:15:00.000-04:00

forsaken by all. Fear not! I-ist hast come to rescue thee!

Well, the end of May is upon us. It is only right that someone post at least once each month. This has been a very busy time of year. Ry just finished soccer and t-ball just started. What weeks those were when they overlapped, and Ron going to class at night as well. This is the last week of school for us. Friday is the hot dog roast at lunch, and carnival in the afternoon. Monday and Tuesday is the school trip to Cedar Point. Then freedom, glorious freedom. I'm so ready to indulge our night owl tendencies. And no more lunch packing. Hooray! What else has been happening? Monday, Ry had a toothache. Tuesday, we went to the dentist in Saranac, and he had a cavity. Of all the nerve of that tooth. Firstly, it had sealant on it! Secondly, we just saw the dentist in March. So, they ended up getting him a filling right then. Also, he needed new glasses. It has only been 9 months since his last exam. He wasn't seeing well, so I took him in. Turns out his eyes had worsened four steps in each eye. That is a huge increase for less than a year, so we are trying bifocals to try and slow the progression. Wish they'd known about that when I was a kid. I hate for him to follow in my shoes. The theory is that his eyes are weakened because it is such a strain for the eyes to focus up close, such as reading, through lenses that are so strong and are designed to help him see far away. The bifocal will be easier on the eye because he'll be reading through barely any prescription. The glasses look cool! And they have the long-desired transition lenses. Z man is growing insanely. I just took out eight pair of shorts from his drawer and put them into Ry's. Yes, it is true. Ry still tops him by 3-4 inches, but that isn't much considering they are three years apart. We just finished putting in a huge garden. I hate gardening. It is Ry's 4H garden, but we added a lot of things because of Ron's diet being so reliant on produce. Yes, I will be freezing und canning this summer. We have cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes, brussel sprouts, carrots, beans, corn, turnips, parsnips, rutabaga, dill, cilantro, yellow squash, buttercup squash, cucumbers, spaghetti squash, pumpkins, giant pumpkins, cantaloupe, watermelon, radishes, bananalope, and gosh, I'm sure I've forgotten something. And today, speaking of 4H, we got a rabbit. Those pink eyes are freaky. Hassenpepper anyone? Me, well I'm looking for a job. Not very successfully. I have a part time job, setting up a computerized inventory system where Ron works, but it isn't really starting yet. Computer issues. Thankfully, not my problem for once. Mom was released on her own recognizance this week, or in other words, she can now travel freely without supervision. She seems to be doing well. Got the ok to drive. She was having a little trouble finding words and with her short term memory for awhile, but the doctors said that was normal. Brain needed time to heal and all. Dad is in full spring mode. We all know what that means. You will notice I did not plant zuchinni. Dad has that market cornered. We went camping over Memorial weekend. It rained. Meh. Whatever, it was still fun. I got a lot of reading done. Coming home was a mess. I had mud in the bottom of the washer. Tomorrow, I need to take Z to the doctor. He has this rash that won't go away. On his bum, in case anyone is interested. He had STREP on his bum earlier this year and I'm wondering if it is back. Ok, TMI, I know. But interesting, nonetheless. If you happen to run into him though, don't mention it. He might be sensitive about it. Me, well, I'm just me. Everyone else's life keeps me busy. Who needs a life of her own?

Tag, Abbigail, you are it.

Cyndi's April Update.... I see I'm all alone in here again...

2007-04-29T17:49:00.000-04:00

Well, here it is, the end of April and I am the lonely post-er. I sure would like to know what is going on in my family's life.
The last month has not brought a lot of changes our way. Just fabulously warm weather with always warms my spirits. Bob is outside right now getting some chicken on the grill for us to enjoy for dinner and I have made a potato salad, a macaroni salad, and some whoppie pies for dessert. I do believe that we will take advantage of the soft breezes and balmy temps to enjoy out dinner on the patio.
We're all looking forward to the coming summer months, as there are several camping trips planned, the big one being the July 4th week trip to St. Ignace. Mom, Dad, Anne, Don, and my brood will be heading that way as well asmy Aunt Patty and Uncle Mike Hamp and their offshoots. I am so looking forward to getting up to Lake Superior, Munising, and Tahquamenon (is that spelled right?), and God's country. I haven't been there for a long while. We are also planning a Memorial weekend camping outing out at Bonnie and Ray's house by the river. She said that she has quite the site for us all to enjoy, and best of all, it's FREE!!!!

And on a finishing note, here is a small slide show of the kids and I on Easter morning.

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See you all again next month when I do my lonely post! GET TO BLOGGIN' EVERYONE!!!!

March update from cold Indiana!

2007-03-06T22:57:00.001-05:00

I am well and truly ready for Spring. It is just cold, cold, cold here as I am sure it is where most of you are! The kids are completely bored at this point. The snow won't pack into snowballs or snowmen, the wind has been bitter, and the kids have had non-stop viruses this season, so I have mostly kept them indoors. Cabin fever has set in!!!!

Sami's snowy fun!

Look at that big grin -- he was freezing!!!

Let's see now. Updates. Zach is somewhere in Afghanistan driving a convoy and jumping out of airplanes. Every now and then he sends me an instant message (usually while I am sleeping) and I send one back to him. He seems to be doing okay, but I worry so.

Kimberly graduates from Air Force basic training on the 9th of this month then she will be off to her specialized training. She tells Anne that she will probably be in Iraq next year. So that is yet another worry.... Tami is still in Battle Creek. Anne and Don had a big "mishap" in the Grand Blanc house. A pipe recently broke in one of the bathrooms and flooded the house, buckling wood floors, destroying the bathroom, drywall, and the ceiling of the garage. The neighbors called 911 when they saw water pouring from the windows into the backyard. Insurance is covering the repairs, but I sure would like to see that house sell.
Brad and Diana are doing the same as usual in California. They should be around this summer on a college scouting trip with Seth. He is looking at U of M, MSU, and Notre Dame for ROTC scholarships. I would like to see him close by even if it means Notre Dame....
I missed seeing Uncle Karl and Aunt Vivian this last week when they were down to visit, but I was stuck at home with a head cracking migraine. Eeeek! Work is going well for Bob and I. I have my set of frustrations and I am ready to head back to the wonder of retail management. The factory mentality is really getting to me!
Now will someone get out there and do a warm weather version of a Native American rain dance???? I'm sick of having an icicle hanging from my cold blue nose!

New Blog!

2007-02-19T16:01:00.000-05:00

I hope that everyone is able to easily convert to the new blog format. I was requested by Google to update the blog and was told that it is a much better system. If you run into problems, please let me know and I will try to help you out.

Happy Blogging!

What happened here?

2007-01-29T21:32:00.000-05:00

Wow! I don’t post for a couple of months, and a few strangers showed up! To be honest, I had actually forgotten that I have this page book marked. I admit it! You do know that they say the mind is the first thing to go.
I see that everyone has made it through the holidays. I wanted to come up so bad but the car did not cooperate and we were stuck getting repairs done and are still awaiting a new rim for the front tire as Bob ran over a Grand Canyon sized pothole with it recently and the car does this wacky little dance as it goes down the road. Can you say, “Unsafe???”
I enjoyed all of the family photos I saw this year for Christmas. I think that this year, I will have to send out a family photo as well. Maybe I will just send one randomly, and surprise you all!
I gained a new, old, friend this past year, in my cousin Kelly. I ran across him on Yahoo 360 one day and found that my OLD cousin isn’t really so old after all.. Isn’t it funny how we all catch up to each other at a certain point? I never really know our cousin when we are kids. He just seemed so much more… mature? Nah! Old to us all! Hee hee!

Now I am happy to see the snow finally on the ground here. I have been so depressed of late with the endless cold, the brown trees, the brown grass, the brown mud, the cloudy skies. Now that just adds up to a b.o.r.I.n.g. winter. So we have been outside playing and having fun. I keep telling the kids that this piddly amount of snow is NOTHING compared to what we used to play in as kids. How deep do you remember the snow being?

Keep warm -- I’m still holding out for summer!
Love to all-- Cyndi

OR...

Holther Outreaching

2007-01-14T19:38:00.000-05:00

Eric, Amanda, Rachel and Luke are happy to welcome Callie Iva Rantanen to their family. She was born on Jan. 13, 2007 weighing 7 lbs. 11 oz., 20" long. Isn't she beautiful?

Holther Christmas Party

2006-12-03T22:45:00.000-05:00

So, how about Sat., Dec. 16 at 2 pm at Wendy's house? That way those who have to drive far could do it all in one day if they needed to. Anyone who would like to stay over, I'm sure we could find a place for you. Mom & Dad have extra beds - a queen bed and a single bed upstairs and a double/queen? downstairs. We have a couple of soft couches and an air mattress.

Bring a dish to pass - a main dish and maybe a side or snack or dessert. An assortment of pop might be nice too. All the children who want to participate in the gift exchange, bring a gift that would be suitable for a girl or boy (and good for any age child). Should be able to find something around $3-$5. We did this at church and it wasn't that hard. Markers, crafts, games, etc. This might not work for babies (like Natalie). It's her 1st Christmas. Maybe a few people could bring her a little something.

Let Wendy know if you're coming so we get an idea of who will be there. I have a few game ideas for the grown-ups (it's not Statue, but we could play it if you really want to).

See ya'll soon!
Abbigail

Holther Outreaching

2006-12-03T11:41:00.000-05:00

I'm all for this party where you guys bring the food! It will be so fun to have a Christmas together. It has been a really, really long time.

Do you think we can introduce our children to "Jewel Thief," "Statue," and "Devil?" Oh, and Cyndi - HUMAN BEANS, or guess what? We have a big, long staircase and I"m sure I can find a couple sleeping bags....

So, I'm doing drinks and table service, right? And food for Ron. What did you say? Clean my house? You've GOT to be kidding. Yeah, well, don't expect a whole lot. Maybe Caroline will come over and help. I hear she's got herself a little business going on.

If anyone wants to stay over here, let me know. Or not. I can improvise.

Well, as far as gift exchange for the littles (and not so littles geesh - think Andrea, Mitchell, Ryan, Michael, Rachel and Kaelyn!) I think it would be fun. Don't you remember how when we were little we asked at least 200 times when it would be time to open gifts? And now, I want to impose that same torture upon my children. "No, not yet dear." I just know our parents got so much pleasure making us wait. Isn't it our turn to experience that joy? What do you suppose we do though, without knowing exactly who might show up?

So, come on people! Let's get busy making plans to come to my house!!!!! Don't make me name names!

Kathy has joined the Chenille Sisters!

2006-12-01T10:27:00.000-05:00

Mom has quit her day job and is now on tour with the Chenille Sisters. It was discovered that her alto voice harmonized perfectly with the group. In addition, she will enhance the performances by doing chalk drawings to the music. Dad's hidden talent for doing the polka will also be incorporated into the act. The new and improved group will be performing at "The Ark" in Ann Arbor on New Year's Eve. Go to Ticketmaster to get your tickets now before they are gone!

OK. That's not really true. But we did have a "Girls Night Out" recently to see the Chenille Sisters and we got Mom's picture taken with them. It was fun. The Chenille Sisters are very entertaining!

Ken & Kathy's 40th Anniversary

2006-12-01T09:39:00.000-05:00

Back on August 26, 2006 we celebrated Mom & Dad's 40th anniversary (their actual date was Sept. 3). Our family walked in the Saranac BridgeFest parade. Mom & Dad rode Amanda's surrey bike and the rest of us rode bikes or walked. We all wore our tie-dye shirts that we made at Family Camp. It was really fun. We threw out lots of candy. After the parade, we went to the Nature Park (that Kip wrote a grant for) and had a party. The weather was hot and steamy and it rained a little, but we had a couple of tents. We had a good turn-out and everyone brought lots of good food. I think Mom & Dad really enjoyed it. 40 years is worth celebrating don't you think?

Happy Holidays!

2006-12-01T09:35:00.000-05:00

Season's greetings to my Holther family! It's been a really long time since I posted. Busy, busy, busy. Well, things are good here at the Hale house. We had a very nice Thanksgiving with the Tuckers. Lots of food and laughs. Now that our kids are a little older they can go off and play and we (the adults) can enjoy Speed Scrabble and Euchre.

We have our 9ft. Christmas tree up. We bought an artificial one last year. That really makes it a lot easier. After it was up, I needed a little nap so the kids started decorating without me. When I got up, the bottom half of our tree looked very nice! I got the step stool and decorated the top half. Sunday it was so warm outside and Steve was actually around, so he put some lights on our house and bushes. It looks so festive. The kids are sooooo excited about Christmas.

We have had a good year health-wise. Nicholas is doing great. If you would like a more detailed update on him, you can go to his carepage at carepages.com. His carepage is called "babynicholas".

Kaelyn and Emma are also doing well. Kaelyn is in 3rd grade and Emma is in 1st grade. They are both good students. Kaelyn is taking a gymnastics class and just started piano lessons. Emma was in soccer in the fall. All three kids attend Pioneer Club at church as well as Sunday School.

Cosmo, our dog, is about 90 lbs. now. He has been a source of great vexation for me at times, but he is calming down and not ruining as much stuff. He is cute but very nosy. Sunday he got the plastic lid to an aquarium stuck on his head when he was in the garage. It was so funny! I could not get it off. Kaelyn finally got it off. That's what he gets for being a snoop.

Steve works a lot of hours (not his choice). I keep myself very busy taking care of the kids, dog and house. We're busy and tired, but very thankful for God's blessings.

I sent out an email about having a Holther Christmas party at Wendy's on Dec. 16 or 17th. These are the ones that said they can come (so far): Aunt Jeannie & Uncle Scott, Mom & Dad, Josh & Shelly, Amanda & Eric, Kevin & Regina, Ron & Wendy and us. Jannah won't be able to come. I’m sure there are more that can come, but just haven’t heard from them yet. Well, sounds like enough for a party don’t you think? I’ll keep you all posted by email.

I looking forward to seeing everyone (or almost everyone?) soon! Merry Christmas!

Love,
Abbigail

2006-11-28T20:32:00.000-05:00

Well the bird is gone, most of the dishes are again empty (not all clean yet), I am used to eating every couple-three hours now. Now it's on to the next big event, only just around the corner. Time goes pretty fast at the post office these days, lots of packages to send. All those things folks bought on "black friday" and on "cyber monday" have to get delivered somehow. Nicholas got a good review with his liver doctor, Abb put it on the carepages. We had a good trip to see Jannah. The weather was really nice. She lives near Lake Erie, so we spent time on the beach, beachcombing and doing watercolor pictures. She was home for Thanksgiving, as were all the others. A real housefull!!!! We have so much to be thankful for, can't count it all. So Cyndi keep writing, the rest will catch up one of these days, Love to all. A.K.

Holther Outreaching

2006-11-21T22:23:00.000-05:00

I have a new email address if anyone wants to try it out - cmuwendy@sbcglobal.net

I promise I will come back soon with an update - Life With Crohn's or How Cooking Isn't What It Used To Be. Best seller material, I'm sure!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2006-11-18T10:36:00.000-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving Aunt Kathy! It seems that you and I are the lonely contributors to the blog of late.
We are gearing up for the holidays now. I am getting ready to do all of my holiday decorating this coming week as I am off work for the whole week. I have 4 trees that I would like to put up and lots of other Christmas goodies to put out. For Thanksgiving we will be going to Mom and Dad's. Anne, Don and the kids will all be here for it, even Zach, who has the weekend free. He will be bringing home of his Army buddies with him who has nowhere to go for the holiday. What better way to give thanks than to share it with a someone in our armed forces? My sister-in-law and her family will also be joining us. Since Bob's mom died and my brother-in-law's father passed away last year, they would have been celebrating all alone and most likely going to a resturant, so I told Mom that they would be coming along as well. We all agreed that it was a time for family celebration and that we should all be giving thanks together. Mom and I will be doing our usual foray into the wilds of Black Friday shopping on the day ofter Thanksgiving. We are planning on setting out at 5 a.m. to get those insane bargains with all of the other crazy shoppers.
I am off now to take Michael bowling on his league. Sam does not think it is fair that she can't bowl too, but she does gymnastics. Fair trade off to me.... Give my love to everyone! Cyndi\

2006-11-03T22:39:00.000-05:00

What happened to Fall? All of a sudden it is snowing, feels pretty cold to me. My laptop was on the fritz, its up and going again, I will be getting a new one sometime soon. Thus haven't been on the blog lately. Lonely Cindy is here , where are the rest of you. ? Thanksgiving will soon be upon us again already, why is it when our bodies slow down, the time gets faster, hmmm, one of lifes mysteries. I' ve heard that people who live in the U.P. live longer, or maybe it just seems longer. hmmmmm. Going with Abbigail this weekend, starting out by going to Jannah's in Ohio, then back through Ann Arbor Monday a.m. to take Nicholas to see his liver doctor, his routine checkup. Jannah needs company, she has an extra bed, and is only 8 miles from Cedar Pt., so go and have some fun. I noticed there's a great wolf lodge there too. I'll be checking the blog for more news from you all. Love A. K.

Where is everyone??????

2006-10-27T22:15:00.000-04:00

Okay! Summer is officially over and not one of you has done a post since Aunt Kathy's in August! For shame! Every other day I check in on my Holther Homeys and what greets my eyes but a big fat nuttin'!!! So this is your call to action! I want to know what is going on with my big far flung family!!! Get to bloggin'!!!!!
P.S. Happy Autumn!!!

2006-08-30T22:23:00.000-04:00

Well, I guess i will take a break from eating fresh corn on the cob, and toast and tomato and miracle whip sandwiches and post a message. Where has the summer gone? Seems when I was a kid, summer was so so so so so long. Couldn't wait until school started. We celebrated our 40th anniversary last Sat. with a get together at the Saranac Nature Park. Our day is actually Sept 3, but last Sat. was the only day all the kids could be around. A lot of you ,unfortunately, couldn't be there, sure hope another time will allow us the opportunity to see you all. Of course we won't be having another 40th party, maybe 50th. We probably won't recognize or remember you then, but oh well...... We had a good day, it started out with us being in the parade. Bridgefest was going on last Sat. Amanda brought her surrey bike out, so Ken & I peddled it, Gabe, Sam & Nicholas rode in the seat on the front, and I held Natalie. The other kids rode their bikes, and we all wore our tie-dyed shirts we made at family camp. We passed out candy, Sam had fun eating suckers and tootsie rolls with no restraint. He did throw some out to the crowd, but was more interested in eating it. Abbigail had a bubble machine that she attached to the surrey, and they put a c.d. player on with vintage music. It was fun, Ken was not too excited about it, but actually enjoyed it once he got there. So we count our blessings, all 18 (kids and grandkids) plus one coming in Jan. The Saranac Nature Park is there largely because of Kip's work to get the grant when he was working for the DNR in Lansing. It is about 15 or so acres along the river with a paved bike path, a wetland, platforms on the riverbank, an open grassy area perfect for kite flying, frisbee, model planes or whatever one could think of for big open spaces. The nice thing about it is that noone seems to know about it, we had it all to ourselves. The kids can ride their bikes without worrying about cars, it is great. Way to go Kip!!!! Ken's going to head out to Wyoming antelope hunting the end of the month, got any good antelope recipes? Hoping to take a little jaunt with Jeannie while he's gone. We'll go see Kip's new place, and then go visit Jannah's new place in Ohio. I haven't seen her apartment yet, went there when she had her interview, so I have seen the park where she works, but need to get back to see her place. She's getting settled, was pretty lonely to begin with, talked to her about every night, now it's every few days or so. I figured that would happen when she got settled in and establish some friends. I am working in Carson City, I'll probably be there a while, but it is uncertain, could get a call to go somewhere else without warning. I don't think they'll have me go back to Saranac, but I guess they could. Lord willing, I'll be in Carson until I can retire. But who knows, things can change like a blink of an eye. Keep these messages coming, love to hear the news. GBWYTWMA Aunt K.

Yes, I'm still around...

2006-08-17T17:09:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone-- it's been quite a long while since I have posted so here is the latest update:
Michael is now in 2nd grade and has turned 8 (he thinks that he looks like he is 9 though!)

Samantha is going into the first grade and is now 6 (she thinks that she looks like she is six!) and has lost her two bottom front teeth recently!

I am still toiling away as a quality auditor for Keystone RV but lucky break for me! I got my transfer to the new one right down the road in Howe. Only 7 miles away! Yippeee!!! Bob on the other hand is on his 6th (yes, 6th!!!) job this year. And he is already looking for number 7. Lucky me. Sigh... I think it is ADD -- no, seriously.
This summer has gone entirely too quickly for me. It seems that the older the kids get, the faster the time goes -- I can relate with "W" on that one as I am sure that you all can! It has been so very busy throughout the summer as well with so much going on with the kids, visitors, friends, family, and on and on and on... One high point for Michael and Samantha: They just returned from a week long trip to the UP with Mom and Dad. They had a blast but I did not! I missed them soooo bad and as soon as they got home I told them that they are not allowed to go for that long again until they are 30 respectively.
That is the news that is news in my corner. A couple of notes for you though: Kimberly has joined the Air Force and is getting ready for Basic Training soon (we have no date yet), and Zachary is going to Afghanastan in December eith the 87th Airborne. Both are excited (!?) about the changes in their lives and so I must be excited for them, but I am so worried for Zach. Just keep praying for them. Anne and Don are in Grand Rapids now and Tami is getting ready to back to G.R. with a friend as well. They still have that brand new house for sale in Grand Blanc if you are looking for a change of scenery...
Take care all-- Hugs-- cyn

hoo boy

2006-08-14T12:01:00.000-04:00

Another summer on its way outta here! Why do they go so fast? The boys and I have a list we made - seems like yesterday, but it was really the first of June - of all the things we would like to do of a summer. Seems like last week we were dreaming of and having everlasting conversations about that fresh spring air, of leaving the house without a jacket and sleeping in - every day rolling out in front of us with no plans, no committments. Yesterday, I caught the whisper of fall in the air. How can this be? Although our list is mostly completed, we haven't done each item ENOUGH! There's more to do, dang it! Why did we waste so many days saying, "It's too hot out!" Or, "Before we do anything we have to clean up around here!" I don't want school to start. I like these days where my boys are MY boys and our time is our own. Just like summer, I can see these little boys slipping away. Unlike summer, which will be back - my little boys won't be back. They are slipping away for good - turning into giant, huge boys, and then teenagers and then young men. Is it just me, or does time speed up the more I try to slow thngs down? Hey, I'm outta here too! We have things to do.

Holther Outreaching

2006-06-01T23:34:00.000-04:00

Caroline! Aunt Kathy! Have you been watering your trees? How on EARTH do you have time to be blogging if you are watering your stinkin' trees? See, it is after 11 p.m. here which is the only reason I'm able to blog. I might add that last night at 11 p.m. I was still watering the stinkin' trees. Yes, that is what we are up to. Water water everywhere but not a drop to drink....

Yeah! Ryan is out of school, as of May 23. Zane is out next week. Both promoted to the next grade. My baby in kindergarten. Next thing ya know he'll be moving out just like Jannah and leaving me an empty nester too.

If I told you all the things we have been busy with, you'd be so exhausted. So, I'm thinking of you all and sparing you the details. Let's just say that things aren't going extremely smoothly right now in RonandWendyland and it feels as if I run around putting out all the fires, only in time to deal with the Next Big Crisis. (Not related to the Next Big Loser or the Next American Idol.) If just one or two...things would fall into place it would just be really, really good. So, if you send out thoughts/prayers/good vibes/positive energy - whatever picks your wig - this way I'd appreciate all we can get.

In other news, the boys have their first ever sunburns. I got tired of Ryan's and copycat Zane's new sunscreen battle and let them play out for one and half hours without sunscreen. Ha! Guess who won that battle? (Oh, mommy it hurts! I'll never go out without sunscreen again! You were right!) Doesn't every mother love putting her children into the skin cancer zone just to prove a point? Well ok then, I'm racked with guilt over it yet savoring my victory. Hmmm....

We have six open houses this year - actually eight, but two of them we aren't exactly sure why were invited - and two weddings. All in June. Eeek. Coming up July 4th weekend, we are camping locally this year at Sessions. Come on out! I myself may be in Chicago, but the fam will be there. My friend from Australia is working in Canada for 2 to 5 years. She may be coming to Chicago to visit our friend Susan and if so, I cannot see me missing this opportunity to be there.

Well, Caroline thought she was jabbering! I think perhaps I need to just go to bed. With luck, you are reading this at bedtime and now are sooo sleepy too. TTFN!

You guys are funny

2006-06-01T22:17:00.000-04:00

I am home with the kids while Gelan is in Saginaw for work, and Mom and Dad are up north with Abb and Nicholas. Kind of lonely around here, kind of. Gelan is always surprised how clean things are after he has been gone for a while, hummm. Looking forward to our weekend up north with Kev- doggy dog and his pack. Heard y'all got sick on your trip to Maryland. I have been coughing up my lungs and a bunch of gunk with them for more than a week now, so we can hack together - not hacky sack though, cause I suck at that. I laughed so hard at the picture of Uncle Robert. I have to get Josh on here and show him. I also laughed out loud and hard at Kevin saying Kip was injured defending our wetlands. Oh man. Though I do feel bad for you Environmental Career workers with Jannah and her ankle and all. Though her place is real cute and close to the Lake (like a block) gonna be real nice for her there. Guess we'll be headed down there a couple times this summer. Amanda and I went with her and Troy to get her moved in and then Amanda picked up her (Amanda's) Surrey bike in Cleveland. When you have some time (and seriously you need some time) ask her about her new business venture. Well there is no big news around here since my last blog, no one got there leg bit by a chain saw lately, and we haven't sent anymore containers to Ethiopia. Did get rid of my new renter pretty quickly though. That was no fun. Looks like we got a new renter now, Josh. He needs a place for a home office and just sold his house so he's moving his office over here for a while. That will make a much better situation. Okay, I'm just yapping now. Talk to you all soon. :O)

It's summertime, summertime, sum sum sumertime .......

2006-05-28T14:01:00.000-04:00

You guys haven't been "posting" very much, let's hear from you. !!!!! We're going north this week, beat the heat. Abb & Nicholas are going with us , we'll only be gone a few days, Abb & I are going to paint a mural on the wall up there, and get it cleaned up so they can take their family vacation over the fourth up there. It's what 85 or so here today, it's 63 today up there, guess we'd better take our jacketsand long pants. So Abb is going to be traveling with us as an only child, she thinks it might be fun to be the "youngest" instead or the oldest for a change. It's going to fun for us too. Give her a treat instead or a treatment, as Mom would say. Love to all, and it would be nice to see Anne and family esp. now they are so close. A.K. Oh Kipper, how did your MRI turn out?

2006-05-28T11:15:00.000-04:00

Hey! In answer to Aunt Jeannie's question: Anne and Don are in Grand Rapids, as is Kimberly. They still have a brand spankin' new home in Grand Blanc for sale if anyone is interested..... Tami is in Battle Creek. I am not too sure how or what she is doing; no one hears from her unless there is trouble, so with her, no news is good news... Zachary is at Ft. Bragg, NC in the 87th Airborne and will be deploying to Afghanistan this coming April. That is all of the news that I have for you... love cyn

2006-05-02T20:37:00.000-04:00

Hi, just reporting that it has finally happened, our nest is going to be empty, officially. Jannah got herself hired in a real job, with benefits and everything. She can make her own car payments, yippee. She got a job in Ohio, for the Lorain Co. Parks, Vermillion. She will be doing nature programs, park interpreter, developing programs, etc. just what she hasbeen doing and wanting to be doing full time. She starts May 22. So she has to find an apartment and get moving.It's been a long wait , and she's lucky to break in to a full time job in that field. But she's also on the disabled list, had to go to her interview on crutches. Fell and sprained her ankle really bad, her right ankle, made it hard to drive, so I took her down. She can tell you how it happened. With her and Kip, makes one wonder if it's the line of work they are in, or is it something else? I am watching Am Idol, Ken hates it,he thinks it's on everynight, every time I have to tell him, Tues night they perform, Wed. night we get the results. How simple is that. Of course I think the Hitler Channel is on everynight too. We are not very compatible on t.v. shows.Anyways, I really like Taylor, but I think Chris will win it. I have only voted once, that was the last time, I voted for Carrie Underwood. And of course I watch Survivor, not a real good episode this time, but it is always interesting to see how it boils down. The nutty Shane is weird, there's one in every crowd. They will all want to be in the final two with him, nobody would give him the million. I have always been intrigued with survival stories, and fantasize how I would do it. After all, it isn't really that much different than farming for a living while raising 5 kids. Love to all, keep on bloggin' A.K.

Not much going on

2006-04-25T17:10:00.000-04:00

We did self portraits - here is Anne's (chocolate teeth and all)
My handsome husband...
Mom-- isn't she pretty?
Kimberly and I - Queen Beauty I and II
Dad, looking normal...

Hello to all. It has been quite a while since I have posted so I thought that I would journal a line or two to let you know that we are still alive and kicking (unlike Kip) in our little piece of Earth.
I am busy busy busy working. I took a job at Keystone Rv corp doing quality inspecting and auditing. Not the greatest job in the world, but the hours are set (days only 5 am until usually about noon) and I wanted that for the kids. Now I am only at work while they are at school. Don't know what I will do for them this summer but we will cross that bridge when we come to it. Right now they are slated to go to their normal 'latchkey' provider, but we have friend whose niece is great with them and would like a summer job so we are thinking of offering it to her instead. Anyway, the job pays the bills too... I will probably go back to retail in a couple of years and find that job that I will likely retire from.
Kids are doing well in school and Bob is still kicking around here as well, though sometimes I would like to kick him! tee hee....
That is about it, except I am still reading like a fiend. I picked up 10 new books this weekend and have read one and am half way through another. Bob thinks that I am such a geek. Michael is just impressed with whatever page I am usually on. Sam sits right beside me and reads as well. That is my girl!!!

Yo all my Holther Homeys!

2006-04-22T23:06:00.000-04:00

Wazzuppp? Hmmm... well we're up, still up north. Life's not too bad, though a bit cold and lonely up here at times. We did manage to escape the last snow storm a few weeks ago (I heard the "s" word mentioned for this next week - arrrggggg!) when we were in the Virgin Islands - visited friends made while out in the Pacific. It was good, good and hot, just the way I like it - funny thing is that Regina doesn't. I was raised in the cold and like the heat and she was raised in the heat and likes the cold - go figure, eh?

Andrea cumplio 12 anyos esta semana, yes, 12 years old as of last Wednesday - my, how time flies and fades away. Next year she'll be a teenager. Tonight she has a few friends over for a sleep-over - as I type, they are in the basement doing who knows what... Andrea is in Petoskey Middle School now, playing drums in the band, running track and involved with a local (and unfortunately somewhat expensive) performing arts group.

Regina and I continue working to pay the bills, always barely scraping by, but not complaining... at least not loudly. Regina is kind of in transition or maybe limbo is a better word, between jobs, but working largely in assisted living. She is also taking classes at North Central Michigan College, which is here in Petoskey. Speaking of NCMC, I led a field trip out there today to celebrate Earth Day - HAPPY EARTH DAY EVERYBODY!! The entire Holther clan should go out this spring and pay homage to mother earth and the memory of Fred Holther and plant a tree!! I definitely inherited that bug from Grampa - I've planted some 180 trees in our backyard in the 2 1/2 years we've lived here. Well, I digress... So yeah, the field trip was work related - hiked with a group through the NCMC Natural Area, exploring the aquatic ecosystems and pulling critters like dragonfly and mayfly larvae out of the water to identify and talk of their importance. I still love my job, just waiting for global warming to really kick in, so that it is consistently 85 degrees in Petoskey year round!!

Sold the 85' Audi recently, yes old "Betsy" that bounced around between several family members. Sat in the driveway for about a year and somebody knocked on the door one day to see if it was for sale ( to which I replied "you bet your big booty it's for sale - how much money ya got? Fork it over buddy!!!). Guess it was time for me to move up into the 1990's - now I'm driving a 92' Suzuki Sidekick - you got it - another one of dem darn ferrin' cars!

Did you know you are all stars??!? Go to http://www.geocities.com/guapocronk/ and click on the word "family" and see if you can find a member of the Holther clan - kinda like 'where's Waldo?'

So, my Holther Homeys, time for me to sign off and turn into a pumpkin or prickly pear or something. We'll try to stay more in tune with the Holther blogosphere. Give my poor back-broken-bro a call if you've got time and a dime - poor guy, fell in the line of duty defending Michigan's wetlands - or perhaps there was some form of subconscious sibling rivalry, trying to outdo my encounter with stairs when I wasn't much more than an amorphous blob on pegs, slithering around on lineleum, tumbling down stairs and cracking collar bones - how old was I Ma? And Kip, you definitely outdid me - heal quickly mon! - summer is around the corner!

Key West or Four Stairs...

2006-04-20T12:15:00.000-04:00

Greetings! I was hoping to join in on the blog talking about my trip to Key West, but instead I had a little encounter with four stairs...

I was suppose to be going to the Florida Keys for 7 days with a couple friends from Ann Arbor yesterday, but instead last Wednesday, while out in the field working, I took a slip and fall on four stairs. Yup, OUCH! All I remember about the fall was smacking the middle of my back on one of the stairs and thinking that something very, very, very was wrong. Luckily I was able to get up, but while getting to a standing position I noticed my left pinky was facing the wrong way, and of course, that made the stress factor go up several notches, but I could not feel the pain in my finger. Well I got up to my car, called 9-1-1, but go no service. Ugh... Now what, well I had to drive myself to the hospital, which of course I did quickly, actually hoping that I would get pulled over. Half way to the hospital I had to hide my pinky because I could no longer look at it. Well I did make it to the emergency room in Gladwin and they took good care of me. After resetting my finger and several x-rays they determined that I dislocated my pinky (no fracture amazingly enough) and had a compression fracture in the middle of my spine (vertebrate T9).

Another worker came and took me back to Bay City and then that night my wonderful Mommy came up to take care of me for a couple of nights (not allowing me to have any fun - no lifting, no bending, no nothing).

Since then I have been to a couple of doctors. My own family doctor, who saw me for the last time, lectured Mom and I about my cholosterol while I was sitting in there with a messed up back and finger. Luckily he sent me to an orthopedic surgeon who was wonderful. The surgeon told me that most likely the finger will not require surgery, but should stay immobilized for two weeks. As far as the back in concerned, he said he was not a back specialist, but the x-rays should that any compression fracture was pretty small. He told me not to return to work for two weeks and to return for a check up in two weeks. I do have a back brace I am wearing for support and the belief at this time is that it will be 6-10 weeks before my back is healed, but I may see a specialist for another opinion.

Overall I feel very fortunate, because when I fell I thought it would be much, much worse. I am getting around decently and the pain isn't too bad. And oh, by the way, I have rescheduled the trip to the KEYS for September.

April Fools

2006-04-01T20:20:00.000-05:00

So what tricks did you alll play? I was on instant message with the King of tricks, Uncle Don, asked him to help me figure out how to get Ken, he suggested putting something in his shoe, which I did , but he didn't wear those shoes to work, dang. I put in the fake dog poop. But I did do something he couldn't avoid, I put hair setting gel on the toilet seat. A little slimey start to his day, otherwise pretty mild day, I have been home alone most all day, strange. Josh & Shelly went to Florida,they left yesterday. they actually let Natalie fly with Shelly's Mom today, while they drove , they should be picking her up at the airport right about now. Amanda & Eric and kids went the other direction, went to see Eric's folks in Calumet. Eric's Dad has hadsome serious health issues. so it is good they could go. We are staying home, except for next weekend, we will all be at the hotel in Holland again, they gave us free nights from our last stay cause it was such a fiasco. so we will try again, at least they have a pool etc. Have a good spring break, write something. A.K.

Huh?

2006-03-25T09:51:00.000-05:00

Okay! What in the heck is "Speed Scrabble??????????!!"

March Madness

2006-03-24T08:40:00.000-05:00

So Mom told y'all about Gelan's fun little game with the chain saw. Yeah, we are just so thankful he didn't really hurt himself, I mean it hurt but you know what I mean. He is hobbling around but is functional and working. Other crazy business around here, we sent a 40 ft. container with 4 tractors, an engine, some implements, bikes, motorcycles and all sorts of odds and ends on March 13th to Ethiopia. Gelan's Dad - Dr. Mamo Dibaba - has had this idea for about 25 years (started back when he was getting his Ph.D. at MSU) and bought the first tractor 12 years ago. So we have been working on it for a while but really got busy with all the moving and details the first of March. Anyway, it was quite an endeavor and we think we should make a TV reality show about it called, "Fill the Container" and have a warehouse full of stuff, then you have 3 days to organize it and 2 hours to load it. It was a real task of ingenuity. Josh was very helpful. We operated from Hessler's Orchard, which reminds me that we had a little Belding Class of 1984 reunion. Craig and Lisa Hessler and Steve Grody were all involved with our container project in some way or another and then we discovered they all graduated with Cyndi too. That was just funny. And then during all of that activity with the container, we rented out our basement apartment to a friend of mine and her 3 kids, so we were hussling to finish the 2nd bedroom and other little projects, like the lock on the door, etc... Again Josh was very helpful. So March was just plain Madness. (and MSU didn't even make it to sweet 16) Well I guess I will leave the floor for someone else. Love to hear from ALL of you. DaRRelLIne

March,not my favorite month

2006-03-23T19:10:00.000-05:00

Isn't March ugly? March and November, 2 of my least favorite months, ugh. Ken turns 61 tomorrow, Mom & Dad's anniversary, and Robert &Jean's anniversary. the 24th and 25th. The year Ken was born his Grandpa was planting oats on his birthday. Then one year we were trying to get over to Mom & Dad's for a combined party for all of these special events, and there was so much snow, we couldn't get there. March can have anything. Did you all hear about Gelan cutting his leg with the chain saw? Last Sun. afternoon, he went back to get some wood, he was by himself, Ken & I had a tax appointment so Ken couldn't go with him. Somehow he cut his left leg across the top of his knee, no fun. He is fortunate, it didn't cut any ligaments or bone or tendons. He has a ragged gash that kept him at the emergency room for 6 hours, he has an immobilizer on his leg to keep it from bending, they couldn't stitch it very well. He has been working somehow, I don't know how. The good Lord was watching over him. I cannot even let myself think about all the what ifs. So Kip, did you re-name speed scrabble? Come on over, and we'll play a game or ten. So, it might be good weather soon for kite flying, I remember that Robert made a box-kite when he was young, seemed so amazing to me. Laid out all the parts, glued it and had the sticks just right. It was on the dining room table as I remember. And it flew. Keep these messages coming. A.Kathy

Is anyone out there?

2006-03-05T11:12:00.000-05:00

Hey! I check this out everyday to find out what is going on in the ever revolving days of our lives, but alas, it seems that no one has anything at all going on except for Darroline, Aunt Kathy, and I at this point. So I am not going to check this blog for the next two weeks to see what surprises are in store for me.
So this is the last update from this side of the border for you all for a while:
It is still cold and brown here with no snow in sight, just brown leaves, brown grass, dirt and dirty looking lawns. We will be hitting the 50's this coming week though and everyone that I know is planning on getting out and starting lawn prep for the coming warm days. I finally cleaned out my basement and unpacked the 30 boxes left down there from our move here from a year ago so that I don't have the guilt feelings that they are sitting down there calling to me while I am out tending to my future flower plots and raking out the corners of the yard.
Michael and Bob are busy right now playing with nascar 2006 on the play station and Samantha is doing another epic artwork for me. She is actually doing pretty well for her age -- you should see the Sponge Bob that she drew me the other day and the playground that she did last night. Maybe she will be another Aunt Kathy! Michael can draw fairly well too, but he just won't. He sings all of the time though and carries a great tune. He gets sixes in music class all of the time and the grading scales goes from 0 to 6. Pretty snazzy, huh?
I think that I am going to drag all of my scrapbooking supplies out today and do as many pages as I can. I have been reading too much of late and can feel myself getting burned out on it. Good pick for the week though:
I dreamed I married Perry mason by Susan Kandel. It is a really light mystery about a woman who does biographies on writers and finds herself solving an old murder mystery that crops up in her research of Earl Stanley Gardner. I learned quite a bit about him while reading the book too!
Well ta ta for now-- hugs to all-- Cyn

My apparent purpose in life...

2006-02-18T18:36:00.000-05:00

C/CPL Seth Holther and C/SGT Jeremiah Weiskercher, both sophomores, sing karaoke at the One Root Festival. Photo by Julian Brown-Johnson.

So I was just minding my own business tonight, checking my email and I thought, "Hmmmm... i haven't googled our family for a while." As we all know, we had some fun speculation at poor Seth's expense, and so I googled his name and said I was feeling lucky. How interesting! I got a photo of that handsome boy at an ROTC event. If you want to check out the whole article here is the url: http://www.grant.k12.ca.us/schools/fhsr/stampede_web/html_pages/archives/news/051006_one_root_festival.html

Hugs to all- Cyn

does anyone have any ice?

2006-02-17T21:33:00.000-05:00

So did you all enjoy the ice show? As I was driving home from Crystal today, the sun was starting to set and it was really showing up the beauty. I did not want to be driving, I wanted to be looking. It was awesome. It willstill be there tomorrow because it is so cold. I hope we don't lose many trees, they are holding up a huge weight. Makes me wanted to see Dr. Zivago, ha ha ha. Amanda is starting to think about camping this summer. Who wants to go? Let's have a camping reunion. Wouldn't that be so fun. Let the kids get to know one another. There's nothing like cousins. And us grownups can play some speed scrabble, ask Caroline what that is. The Olympics are on, gotta go. Love to All. GBWYTWMA A.K.

What Brad wrote to me!

2006-02-10T23:21:00.000-05:00

Okay --
As I said before, since no one was hearing from Bradley, I would just post his next email, and so here it is in it's totally un-edited form, so now you know some of what is going on with him and the boys. No news about the girl who hates Seth though! Go figure!-- Enjoy!

Good night!!!! I don't ever check this email. I work on a stinkin' computer all day, I rarely get to this one. Anyway, yeah; still here - alive and kickin'. Went golfing today, 72 degrees, sunny and beautiful, what a great day to be on the course, absolutely wonderful.
I've been real busy doing the B-ball thing. Next week will finally be the end; 6 months of non-stop officiating has taken it's toll (football right into B-Ball), boy will I be glad next Friday night about 7:30pm, it will be over, at least until August.
Seth is going to his ROTC "Ball" tonight, he has a date, a freshman, had to go in uniform w/bow tie, he looked pretty sharp; we will get pictures w/him and his date and send them along. We also have new family photos; still haven't gotten them in the mail yet, but we will, promise. Ryan and Alex are doing well also, Ryan won "grand prize" at the 8th grade Science Fair for his project; he gets to go to "districts" now and we'll see how he does against other 8th graders in other schools. He did an experiment with "batteries", different types and how long they would last compared to each other for certain durations in a flashlight. He did all the work himself for the most part and we are really proud of him. Alex is just "plugging" along, pretty much a straight A student, kind of boring hey!!! Ha ha!!! we are very proud of all 3 of them, they are all doing very well.
So the Steelers won, big deal; I wasn't really rooting for either team, but after some of the "crappy" calls, (and I say that begrudgingly) because I am an Official and I know how hard it is, but boy there were some really really bad calls, but after all that, I was sort of rooting for Seattle.
Anyhooooo, thought I'd finally answer your wimpering emails way to go CRY, you got your way again- ha ha!!! give Michael and Sammy a big hug and kiss for me. Love you guys;Brad

My Dinosaur has been replaced

2006-02-09T11:17:00.000-05:00

So we got a new computer, well new to us anyway. A hand-me-down from Eric's work. I hope its worth the 25 bucks we dropped for it. Anyway, I'm trying some new stuff like uploading a picture, but its taking a long time I think something may have gone wrong. So where is everyone? Didn't my last post please the goddesses? I am on the computer today because I don't feel like moving. Amanda and I went downhill skiing yesterday at Cannonsburg. Crazy middle-agers trying to live it up. It was awfully fun though and I am going to do it again for sure, I don't care if I can't walk the next day. I hadn't been in probably 10 years. Now we are ready to watch the Olympics like we are pros :O)
Oh look, there's my picture. It worked. Can't see the kids great but I loved the sun coming in through the trees out in the meadow in the woods behind our house. I think I am Norweigan - I really like winter (when there is snow) and Gelan is definitely Ethiopian he hates this weather. And I hate sitting in the sun and he loves baking in it. Opposites attract they say. Well hope y'all have a great weekend and we hear from you soon. Enjoy the winter weather while it lasts and get into it this Friday especially (Opening ceremony). CHoa for NoW. Darrelline

I just wanted to share this; maybe you've seen it.

2006-01-30T10:46:00.000-05:00

Welcome To Holland

by
Emily Perl Kingsley

c1987 by Emily Perl Kingsley. All rights reserved.

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."

"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."

But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.
The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.
But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.

daBOYZ!~

2006-01-29T20:14:00.000-05:00

HOWDY! Wow, this this has gone hog wild...or wait, should that be HoltherWild? Anyways, I am glad that everyone is getting so much enjoyment out of it. I guess it would be good for me to check it more than once a month huh?

This past January 4, we started a new tradition called Kacee's Gift. Family and friends of Kacee donated money to provide Kacee's gift to a non-profit organization and we amazingly raised $390 that was given to the Packard Community Clinic in Ann Arbor. The PCC believes in helping everyone no matter if they have the means to pay for quality health care. This is also where Kacee's family doctor worked and continues to work. More information about Kacee's gift can be found at http://www.angelfire.com/mi/daKipper/kaceesgift.html

There is not a lot going on in Bay City except for the snow falling and then melting to create a big ol' winter time mud puddle. My job is going well, and I have learned that everyone should get a wetland determination done on their property before building - too many people find out the hard way... I am thinking about buying a home over here, but that is one of those commitment things and we all know how I am with those... Ugh!

Alrighty, I will be back in about a month or two...

Thats nothing...

2006-01-25T13:31:00.000-05:00

My kids are all mostly naked just underwear and diapers, the table still has lunch all over it, there is barely any floor space remaining since the invasion of the toys and there is laundry haning all over the couch and piles of it in my room. Oh and they all need to brush their teeth today. At least they are fed - right, and they even ate some protein - for real, chicken salad wraps. But back to maybe I better clean it up off the table. I look good though, took a shower, and like my hair today. Took more time than I should have on myself, but I was listening to the Dianne Rieme show. See how it goes. Everyone is generally happy and they are playing some kind of imaginary game and having fun, why should I ruin their fun, I'll just sit here for a minute and blog. Then maybe I'll clean up the food and take a nap while the kids run around unsupervised. Now maybe we are past mediocre and on to bad. But I worked so hard yesterday, and I believe in working every other day. I got over to see the new baby and took homemade rolls and beef and veggie soup, guacamole and cookies. And I washed up the breast pump and swing, gave the boys haircuts took Laensa to school and picked her up and cleaned my kitchen about 50 times. That was enough for 2 days maybe even 3. WEll I hope my contribution to the blog will make the Blog Goddesses happy and they will return with more words for us. :O) I have no real excuse except that I have to get online with a dinosaur and she bites me sometimes. Well I guess I will go do my jobs, I have a lot of work to do as you mayb well have observed and if I do want a nap I better work fast and get Gabe down for a rest too and put in a video. Love to hear from y'all, maybe some men could write something - KIP or KEVIN or UNCLE KARL or BRAD or UNCLE ROBERT or UNCLE KEN (ha ha ha, that was a good one) Choa for now. DarrelLine :O)

Hello, I am finally back to the blog thing

2006-01-21T21:55:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone, did you all see that beautiful new babe. ? It was so good to hold a newborn again. It has been all of 2 yrs, since Gabe was born. Yesterday was a long day for us all. We got the call from Josh at 5:00 a.m. that Shell's water broke, so what should we do, go to work , what? Well, Ken went on to work, I planned to only go for a couple of hours, I had time cards to get done and that was something I only could do. So , because it was thought she would deliver pretty fast, she'd been dialated to 3 and 80% effaced for a while, I was expecting to be able to get back and go to work in the afternoon., well nothing much was happening in the a.m., so I took off to Crystal, Caroline chauffered me, got my work done, and high-tailed it back to Grand Rapids. She was born at St. Mary's there. Shelly's Mom & I got in trouble, they had to call the Granny Patrol to kick us out of the hallway. We were lurking nearby to hear when the baby was born, they (nurses)didn't like that , we got a lot of different reasons why we couldn't be there. Finally they sent a security guard to chase us out. Can you imagine? There were no other people in rooms near there except Josh & Shelly. They didn't care if we were there, Shelly just didn't want anyone in there to see the things a woman doesn't want shown. Well, we got to hear her first cry anyway, despite the rules. There must be something about me that makes St. Park Rangers, and hospital security guards go nuts. Afterall, we all had had a very long day too, and if we hadn't eavesdropped, we wouldn't have known she was born for almost an hour later. She had the cord around her neck, they had to have Shelly stop pushing so they could clamp and cut before she came all the way out. I don't care how many babies come along, they are all so special, and I need to hear that cry. They'll be home tomorrow, I expect I'll be over to their house a lot. I will take food, so they shouldn't be sorry to see me. heehee. We didn't go down today, we had our church annual sleigh ride/chili dinner fund raiser. We were blessed with a beautiful winter day, it snowed last night, and the sky was blue. The horses and sleighs could go out into the fields around the church, a lovely sight to see. It wasn't looking like a very good year for the event, but we have some real prayer warriors in the church. ....... So what is this being planned? A Holther get together at Wendy's, when? I am ready!!!! So, just tell me what you want me to bring. I do make pretty good homemade bread, and rolls. I am curious though, I do not remember Mom making refrigerator rolls. She made homemade bread that was perfect, and when she did, she usually made some of the dough into a pan of rolls for supper. I started making refrig. rolls from a recipe from Ken's sister. Do you remember Dad's doughnuts and fudge? Mom made pineapple upside down cake. Oh and Robert, do you remember Mom making lemon meringue pie for you for your birthday? I made 2 of them for Abb & Amanda's birthday this year. They were so good. I cheat though, I have been buying Pillsbury premade dough, makes piebaking much easier. Mom also made molasses cream bars, they were so melt in your mouth. I bet none of you has had ox tail soup since Dad quit making it. It was called (phoenics spelling) "Lobscafves. " anyone know the correct spelling? He would dice up the celery , onion etc really small.and it was very tasty. I used to make it when we had a cow butchered and ox tails were part of the meat we got. I think because of all the bones, it makes good soup stock. Dad also made up some other things to eat, he'd force us to try it, Jeannie would somehow manage to get out of it, and leave it to me.(She's good at that) He made some homemade lunchmeat out of something, I could not eat it, shudder shudder. He'd act so hurt , but it was awful. He made pizza, but he wouldn't eat it, at least he claimed he wouldn't . Just like he claimed not to watch t.v., but he'd watch it by looking into the mirror over the buffet from his seat at the south end of the dining table where he played solitaire, just like he never was actually sleeping when he laid down in the daytime, just resting his eyes. I do miss Mom and Dad. I always knew they loved me,that is so important. we were very forturnate to have such parents. Well, I will be reading more blog now that things have calmed down. Keep writing. Love hearing from you all. Love K.

She's here!

2006-01-21T10:34:00.000-05:00

Josh and Shelly welcomed their new baby girl at 4:56 pm on Jan. 20th! She weighed 6 lbs. 9 oz. and was 19.5 inches long. Her name is Natalie Christine Tucker and she has quite a bit of light brown-blondish hair. She has the long Tucker fingers and toes according to Shelly. It was a long day. Shelly's water broke around 3:45am. She did great and looked and felt good afterword. They are tired but very relieved that there daughter was born safely and is a picture of health. Praise God for this wonderful blessing!

Yet another January Birthday!

2006-01-20T15:12:00.000-05:00

Actually there are 2 more January birthdays: My Samantha's is the 22nd and Anne's Tami is the 23rd. We will just be having a very small family get together on Sunday for Sami. She is so excited about being one year older! Boy do I wish that I had that kind of excitement over birthdays! I am just too old to anticipate them anymore... Bob and I are celebrating our 8th anniversary this week as well. We are doing dinner and a movie tonight to celebrate. Love to all-- Cyndi

Young love is a flame; very pretty, often very hot and fierce, but still only light and flickering. The love of the older and disciplined heart is as coals, deep burning, unquenchable.
Henry Ward Beecher

By the way!

2006-01-19T22:54:00.000-05:00

Our family will soon be celebrating another January birthday. Shelly is due on Saturday. We keep waiting for that phone call. The anticipation is about driving Kaelyn crazy. Can't wait to hold that baby girl!

My excuse

2006-01-19T22:18:00.000-05:00

OK, well, for us THE HOLIDAYS ARE NOT OVER!!!! Have you forgotten all the January birthdays? For New Years/Jannah's birthday (2nd) the Tucker clan stayed at the Holidome in Holland and checked out Jannah's new place. It's actually a very old place. She lives upstairs in an 1870 farm house which is part of the Holland Nature Center's VanRaalte Farm. The VanRaaltes founded Holland, MI. OK, then on the 6th Amanda and I met in GR for lunch to celebrate our birthday. Then on the 8th Caroline and Mom had everyone over for taco dinner at Caroline's for Am and I's birthday. Then on the 14th we had two birthday parties for Kaelyn; one for her friends from 1 to 3 (they dressed up and put on play make-up), then we had a family party and dinner in the evening. Man, that day wiped me out! Now we're making plans for Emma's birthday on the 28th. She'll have 2 parties also; one for her friends (Hawaiian) and dinner later for the family.

It's like one non-stop party from Oct. 24 until Jan. 28 for our family (Steve's family has their b-days in Nov.). I'm getting sick of cake!

Well, that's my excuse anyway. As far as our childhood games, I liked "Statue" the best. That is basically the same as freeze tag, I believe.

So, do we have the Holther get-together planned yet? I'd be glad to bring my artichoke dip. Somebody make a date.

Well, it's 10:30 pm and Nicholas is still up, so Wendy, I guess I'm in the mediocre mom category too! Problem is, he's not tired b/c I let him have a 3 hr. nap. I've been avoiding naps for him so that he would go to bed at a decent time, but he NEEDED it today b/c he woke up way too early. Plus I wanted a nap really bad too. Ah, it was nice!

Oh, Wendy, can you beat this? I don't even have to put Nicholas' jammies on b/c he's still wearing them from last night.

I guess my computer time is up. Take care all! Happy belated birthday to you Aunt Jeannie. I thought of you and Kacee both on your birthdays.

Love to all!

Today on the Cyndi and Wendy Blog...

2006-01-19T14:35:00.000-05:00

All righty then. I am NOT coming back here for ONE week. That will be next Thursday. I think by then someone or three can manage to pen a little ditty. Any volunteers? Sit down, Cyndi. You don't count. You are one of the regular contributors. One whole week! That is a lot of time! (Kip, you started this and you are being a.w.f.u.l.l.y. quiet out there.)

Well, I am going to go now. I've said enough.

It's the....Wendy and Cyndi blog!

2006-01-11T15:10:00.000-05:00

But seriously, the mysterious W and I seem to be the only ones with any free time to do an update or 3 these days!
If anyone wanted to know how old our bunch is looking, here is your opportunity!

Hey Wendy-- If I was coming over, I think that I would bring you a New York style milk chocolate cheesecake with strawberries and heavy whipped cream. Would anyone be bringing Grandma's refrigerator rolls? I would but I can't make 'em raise and mine are always like little somewhat softish stones.
Michael just walked up to me and told me that I have to find him something to do! I don't think that I can recall ever doing that to my mom, but I am sure that it happened. So I told him to use his imagination and find something to do and he informed that "that is boring!" If only he had cousins around and not just his sister to play with. We always had the BEST games that we came up with! If it wasn't so wet, drizzly and icky outside, I would send his behind out the door. It is so warm. (It should be a small relief on the heating bills for a month!)

So what was YOUR favorite game that we came up with as kids to play together? I think that "jewelry thief" was pretty cool ( when Grandma would let us destroy her catalogs by cutting out all of the jewelry and we would hide it all around her house), but it ranks right up there with cowboys and Indians when Brad, Kevin, Karen, and I would tie up the little cowboys to the light in front of Grandma and Grandpa's house then go play our own games!
I have had no book or author of the week because I just have not read anything worth mentioning. I did start reading Sue Grafton's alphabet series but it is ho hum... Hoping to get Phillipa Gregory's new one from the library this week, but as usual in this small town, they don't have it and they have to request it from libraries as far away as Indianapolis.

Well, I am off because I have to get ready to go and bar wench tonight- fun. fun. fun....cyn

Love not what you are, but what you may become. -- Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

And if relatives were indeed coming to my house...

2006-01-08T20:20:00.000-05:00

this would be my menu wish list. And, of course, I know it is wishful thinking but hey, we all have to have dreams!

Aunt Jeanie - Marinated black beans
Abbigail - Artichoke dip
Kevin & Regina - Tamales
Aunt Kathy or Aunt Jean - Shrimp Salad
Amanda - Funky salad with all the yummy ingredients with raspberry dressing (good description huh?)
Caroline - Raisin scones - Oh, I have developed such a fondness and CRAVING for these

I don't know what the rest of you specialize in but I'm open to surprises too. (Ann? Kip? Jannah? Shelly?) Think I'll go have a snack......

Geesh, do Cyndi and I have to CARRY this blog thing or what? The holidays are OVER. Someone can certainly find some time to entertain us with some writing, right? So get busy and jot already....

My son, Zane, has one of those binder clip things, like the ring things that open and you can put papers on it and flip them - ok, so I'm lacking in descriptive qualities tonight - anyway, he has it stuck in his nose like a bull ring. He is going around pawing the ground and snorting. Perhaps a good mother would stop him. I'm laughing my head off...so, I guess I won't be putting my mother of the year award on the mantle tonight. In fact, a good mother would be thinking of putting her children to bed by now. Heck, even an all right mother would be thinking about this. So, because I'm being all the mediocre mother I can be, I am now leaving to work on this task.

Be thinking about this menu thing, ok?

Godt Nyttår!!!

2006-01-01T20:35:00.000-05:00

A very Happy Norwegian New Year is wished to all! It sounds as though the infamous "W" had a far more interesting New Year's Eve than we did!
Mine started out on Friday bar wenching. I started waiting on several drunk, or soon-to-be-drunk, people at 6 p.m. and finished my 'night' at 3 a.m. after cleaning up after said drunk people. And I while I was on the phone with one of my good friends, I realized that those people were probably out drinking last night and today while watching pro football and would probably continue right on through the bowl games tomorrow! Ewwww! I got to bed at around 4 a.m. and the kids allowed me to sleep in until right around 8:45 a.m. then Bob, the kids and I spent our day shopping. The kids had gift cards and cash from Christmas that were burning holes in their pockets! We got sodas and snacks and spent the rest of the day and evening all together in front of the fireplace watching football and then Dick Clark's Rocking New Years Eve. Wasn't it nice to see him back?
Michael and Sami wanted to stay up to watch the ball drop, but Sami could only hold out until about 11 o'clock before she fell asleep on the couch. Michael watched the whole darn thing though and still didn't want to go to bed! I was wiped out though. I am getting too old for these late nights (unless I am reading a good book, of course!).
Like W, I am happy not to have those nasty hang overs to recover from. They are just not worth it, in addition to the potentially humiliating things that may occur before the hang over! It was a lot of fun just stepping back on Friday night, watching all of the people make idiots of themselves! And most of them were not youngsters! I would have to say that they were in the 30 to 65 age range! Go figure! ;-}~
Michael just stepped over to have me tell everyone, "GO IRISH!" and "GO COLTS!" He is such a turd. He realizes that most of his Holther relations would rather scream GO BLUE, but he is definitely his father's son! And I am going to go out on a limb here too because I really like the coach and have been rooting for Irish football all season. If Charlie ever leaves them though, my appreciation will go with him. BUT it only extends to football! Has anyone seen a petition to fire Lloyd Carr yet? I just can't cheer my boys until he is GONE!!!
Happy New Year to all. Enjoy your life, your faith, your family and your friends! Cyndi

Smile at each other, smile at your wife, smile at your husband, smile at your children, smile at each other - it doesn't matter who it is - and that will help you to grow up in greater love for each other.
Mother Teresa

Happy New Year

2006-01-01T10:10:00.000-05:00

Hello all -

Happy New Year and Happy January Birthdays to all who qualify!

What did everyone do for New Year's? We were pretty laid back this year, as is the case these past years with children. No more waking up with a hangover on someone else's couch! What? That shocks some of you? *snicker* Much easier recovery these years, that's for sure.

We stayed home with the boy children. Around 6:30 p.m. Ron's sister and family came over. They brought stuff for pizza and we had stuff for pizza and we made pizza. My boys love my nephew, and we didn't see them much all evening. It is so strange that even Zane is big enough to play for long periods of time without constant monitoring and care. Although, I take a leap of faith that Ryan and Spencer will be keeping a bit of an eye on him, too! We had a variety of snack-y stuff out and every so often a blur of motion would materialize, and the snack trays would be significantly reduced when the air cleared. I also got them pop. That was a big hit as none of them get pop very often. I am lucky to be one of the chosen few my dear niece girl loves, and I spent a lot of the night googling at her and snuggling her.

Mom and dad popped in for a few minutes, and mom brought up chocolate baked goods. Go mom! Mom told us a story about her car and men and how they think they know everything. What's that? You girls all are nodding your heads. Ah, yes. We've all been there! She told dad a few weeks ago that it smelled in the car. Could a mouse have died up in the motor? "Hahaha...No, of course not....hahaha!" Then, the last week or so each time the car was started the window would roll down. Yesterday, the check engine light came on. Dad opened the hood of the car and what do you suppose he found? Do I need to even finish? Well, ok. All together now - A Mouse Nest! And, the mice had chewed through some wires as well as stinking up the place with their deadness.

It was our intention to play cards, but that never happened. We all just visited and before we knew it, Grace was fussy and ornery and it was 11 o'clock.

After they left, Ron wanted to go to bed but the boys and I were determined to wait those last twenty minutes to see the ball drop. Ron is such a party pooper! He tried to go to sleep, but the boys got in bed with me and we watched the gala and noise-making at Times Square. We TRIED to be still and quiet....somehow Ron was still up and stirred himself enough to count down from 5 with us. Then, much hugging and kissing and shouting of "Happy New Year" commenced and I was happy to see the excitement and joy abound! And, because it is my nature, I immediately began thinking about how this thrill over such little pleasures would soon enough be a memory too.

But for now, happiness reigns in our little world and I resolve this year to try to hold it a little tighter and cherish it a little better...and sneak in as many more hugs and kisses as I can.

So what did you do?

*edited to add* Ancient Chinese Proverb: Better to end up on someone else's couch in yesterday's clothes than to end up on own couch in someone else's clothes.

Christmas traditions

2005-12-18T17:19:00.000-05:00

Merry almost Christmas to all! I was in the store today buying all of my ingredients for my annual Christmas baking day with Mom, and I got to wondering what everyone's favorite Christmas traditions are.
I must say the the baking day with Mom and my friend Sandy and Christmas Eve at Mom and Dad's are my two favorites. Every year, about 4 days before Christmas Mom, Sandy, and I get together to make a bunch of goodies for trays to give to our friends and co-workers and to put out for Christmas Eve. We make fudges, breads, chocolates, cookies, just anything that strikes our particular fancy for the year. I always do hand dipped chocolates and they are the thing that I dread the most (making the home made toffee is not a cake walk either!), because it is so time consuming and SO messy! The time spent in the kitchen with Mom is something that I would never give up though! I hope that it will be a tradition that I will be able to have with my daughter.
Christmas Eve has stood out in my mind as such a special time as well. We started the tradition after my Grandpa Witherell died and we had my Grandma Witherell and my Uncle Steve over for steaks on Christmas Eve so that they would not be alone that first Christmas without Grandpa. It has grown to include family and friends each year. The fun and love that we share on this most special night can not be compared. Dad always leads us off before we go carolling on that night with all of us singing "Silent Night." I look more forward to Christmas Eve than any other day of the year!
Merry Christmas to everyone! Love to all! Cyn

Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful. ~Norman Vincent Peale

2005-12-14T22:52:00.000-05:00

Here's a picture of our newest addition, Cosmo. Merry CHRISTmas!

Profile?

2005-12-12T21:17:00.000-05:00

Hi y'all! Just checkin' out the old blog (who invented that word anyway?). Thanks Aunt Jeannie for the family picutres and history. Does anyone know...if you enter all that extra information in your profile, can anyone access that? You get there by going to the dashboard and clicking on "Edit Profile" (box on rt.). You can put your address, ph. #, interests, photo, etc. I guess I don't really understand the privacy of this whole thing. Is there some info. that can only be accessed by team members, or can anyone access any of it? This is my first blogging experience. Our carepage for Nicholas is a lot different. It's by invitation only. Anyway, I'm enjoying getting more connected with the Holthers : )

a white Christmas, for sure

2005-12-10T13:49:00.000-05:00

I am really enjoying the news from you all, and pictures too. Christmas Eve at Mom & Dad's was one of the best times, Dad's shrimp salad. Excited kids, excited teens(me) I love to remember the good times. (Just as soon forget the other stuff. lol.) Now we are the old folks, and the kids come together here, and I treasure thesetimes. We will be gathering here the evening of the 25th. It has been a tradition for us to spend the 24th with Karl & Viv. and Wendy and family, celebrating Karl's birthday. Wendy makes the best white chili and Vivian makes rolls, yummy. It is getting to be the only time we get together, life gets complicated, and it is too easy to stay put, get home from work, and crash.I think Karl has eaten up all of his fruit cake, maybe we should get him eating ludefisk, or limberger cheese too. ( some of the stuff noone else can get themselves to eat. ) I am not certain that Amanda will be here , they may go up to Calumet to Eric's folks, Erics Dad has had a rough year, is on dialysis now. Eric is busy at work at this time, so they might not be able to go as planned, don't know for sure yet. We are trying to figure out how to make Christmas a little less stressful. The gift buying will only be done for the little kids, and they are drawing names. We all have a "stocking" which everyone contributes a small gift to, which is a fun thing. We always talk about doing some charitible thing, but nothing decided . We will have lots of food, that's a given. I have to quit here pretty soon and get out to the kitchen, going to bake some cookies. We will be going to Amanda's tomorrow, going to go to Rachel's program at church, and while we areall there, celebrate Gabe's birthday. Shelly & Josh get closer to parenthood each day. Shelly is doing better, she had been having contractions, but nothing more has progressed. Baby's due Jan. 21. Each week, day andhour she goes will make it better for that little baby girl. They are keeping the name secret. If I were to have had another baby, I think I would have named a girl Ivah, spelled a little different than Mom's,but maybe someone else will use her name sometime. I think of Mom & Dad alot at this time of year. I met a man at the post office in Crystal where I am working for now, and he used to work with Dad at Mitchell Bentley. It made me feel like crying. You know, to talk to someone who knew my Dad, makes a connection. Dad's been gone now close to 28 yrs. long time. well, it's been almost 21 yrs. for Mom. So we'd better make the most of our times together, hope to see you all this year. Love A.K.

The explained adventures of Seth!!!!

2005-12-06T23:41:00.000-05:00

Here is a link to the girl's blog (she is story_teller123 at live journal) that hates Seth so much: http://www.livejournal.com/users/story_teller123/8171.html
Check out some of her entries preceding the page that you go to and you will find her song stylings as fabulous as I did, I am sure. Here is one jewel:
Capturing
Capturing
Crimison shot
Penetrate
Layers of sorrow
Shallow awakening
Off the deep end
Forever drowned within
The darkening shades of gray

Enjoy this purple prose!!!

I thought that I would send along a photo of Samantha that we took this summer. I happen to think that she is one of the prettiest girls in the world (she has to share that distinction with all of her cousins), but she is truly one of the most stubborn!! Love to all! Cyn

I think there's just one kind of folks. Folks. ~Scout, To Kill a Mockingbird

I thought W was for our beloved President

2005-12-06T16:11:00.000-05:00

Oh this is just so cool. I love having my family so close by in cyberspace. Thanks for the pictures of Gramma and Grampa, A. Jeannie. :O) I looked over them for a long while - again. I think I poured over them a few months ago when Mom showed me. I would like a copy of some of those pictures. I have big plans of framing up all of my children's ancestors that I have pictures of. Humm wonder when thats going to happen? We are getting ready for Gabe's birthday - Dec. 7 - He's going to be 2 already. Such a cute and comical little thing. What a wonderful surprise, what would our family be without him. Everyone's having trouble this year remembering which day his birthday is, the 4th ??? the 5th ???, except Dad of all people who can tell anyone what day it is cause its Pearl Harbor Day. Now its burned into his memory with all those other war facts. he he he. So has anyone else checked out the SEth Holther journal entry? Cyndi you are so funny - thanks for the exact address, that is just so hilarious. The things this family finds funny. :O) Gotta love it. We are also getting ready for Christmas around here. Our tree is up and some garland and lights, Laensa was so upset it wasn't up earlier (we did it the next Thursday after Thanksgiving) cause at school they asked who had their tree up already and she didn't get to raise her hand and she said it hurt her feelings. Poor kid. And so then I thought it would be a fun activity with the kids but they just got me so crazy trying to get into stuff by themselves and breaking ornaments, and tangling up lights and I thought Oh nice yell and scream at the kids so that they can remember a Merry Christmas. The Christmas music has helped calm me down now and it does feel festive and fun. And it probably is good advice to not post addresses but you may have my e-mail address: dibabas@hotmail.com and I can send you my home address and phone number. So Anne is moving up here to GR. Thats close in real space. I live next door to Mom and Dad so come see us some time. :O) Well Laensa and Sammy (Samuel) went downstairs and I don't hear any crying or screaming or laughing or running or rough housing so they are probably doing something naughty. ITs too quiet. I better go check. Keep posting. All for now. Love Caroline

Greetings from Hoosierland!

2005-12-05T21:50:00.000-05:00

Good evening to all! Hey, I emailed Brad to let him know that there was an invite for him to join 'Holther Outreaching' but I am not sure if he has already deleted the invitation. Could you please send him another out, Kip? Much appreciated! I also sent him a link to the blog about Seth. What a hoot! You know, I read through some of that girl's blog and she is really suffering from some major teenage angst as well as being a suffering poet! Does anyone remember our own lives being that Earth shattering at that age? She really took herself seriously and I guess that I am getting old, because I thought it was hilarious! If anyone wants to check it out just go to www.livejournal.com and do a search on Seth Holther.
I am really suffering from the cold snap that we are all having. I am sure that it is probably a little colder up further North where most of you are, but when the wind chills are like this, cold is just cold! Brrrr. I do have all of my Christmas decorating done. I started 2 days BEFORE Thanksgiving! I am a total sap for Christmas! I have 2 full sized trees and another small one decorated. It took me almost 5 hours to do the tree in my front room. Ridiculous! Pine garland is everywhere, along with my wreaths, and sparkling lights; even my bathroom and bedroom got involved in the fun this year. Bob is going crazy, but deep down I know he likes it -- at least I keep telling myself that! I really can't complain about the snow because it sets the mood for everyone else, and to look at the snow sparkling like diamonds on these cold nights and hearing it crunch under your feet as you walk through it, it is like nothing else. Can you imagine any other kind of Christmas or winter season? It really brings to mind the Christmases at Grandma and Grandpa Holther's house when we were kids. I loved to go to the tree and look at all of the shiny, the old, and the home made ornaments. I can really picture the light the most though, especially the big round ones that looked like they were made of broken glass. I hope that my kids have fond memories of their Chistmases at my parents' home! Hey Wendy!! Do you wnat to play Human Beans???
Have a great week everyone! And... My book of the week is: Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt by Anne Rice. I know! I know! She has always done that vampire and witch thing but it seems that she has given it all up because she has come back to the Christian faith after many years of atheism and is going to devote her writing to the life of Jesus. This one starts out with Jesus at age 7 leaving Egypt with his family after the death of Herod. I am about 1/2 way through and so far it is a pretty interesting read. It does have a somewhat Catholic slant to it, but she does fairly well at putting a fictionalized account together that has not been offensive (Mary Called Magdaline by Margaret George managed to offend me in a few parts just by how far fetched it was).
Hugs and kisses to all-- Love, Cyn
"It is with the approach of winter that cats...wear their richest fur and assume an air of sumptuous and delightful opulence." -Pierre Loti

wendy needs another invite

2005-12-04T23:20:00.000-05:00

Wendy e mailed that she needs another invite, someone help her, I am not sure how to. A.K.

Aunt Kathy Reporting, whew!

2005-12-04T22:53:00.000-05:00

Well , this is great.!!
Love hearing all the news, I haven't talked to Abb all week, so learned of Cosmo's piercing of Nicholas' ear. Now if I can justfigure out how to get here again, I will be able to really keep up on things. Getting here tonight was a major accomplishment for me. I know you all cannot wait for me to tell you all the Postal news, ......Well this one is a good one, I had an old lady come in the other day, about Jeannies age, (lol) she was mailing a small package, and had a lot of questions about the best way she could mail it. After helping her decide how she would send it, she asked me, and she was serious. "Do you think it would be better to fax it ?" I could not wait for her to leave so I could laugh, it was hilarious. Just when you think you have heard it all.....So I have to get to bed, get some sleep to prepare for the dreaded mondays of Dec., I will have more from the Post Office later. Love to all. Kathaleeny

This is fun!

2005-12-04T21:53:00.000-05:00

I love this! It's so good to catch up with the Holthers! I was wondering if everyone could post their current addresses and phone numbers. I'm hoping to send out Christmas cards (no guarantee that will happen), but at least I could update my address book. Also, don't forget to check the comments on your posts : ). That's cool that we can post pictures, and how did Cyndi do that Happy Holidays graphic? We've got some techies in this group! You guys are awesome!
Ab

Hi! "Waving Madly!"

2005-12-04T16:07:00.000-05:00

Well, here I am. The mysterious W. *snort* Not so mysterious unless there are a whole lot of W people out there that I'm not aware of.
Here at the ranch, things just plod along. It doesn't seem as if we do much, but the days fly by anyway. Ron started a "new" job back in April. He is a job estimator for an excavating company. That is his official title, anyway. He works a lot of hours, but he is in the office 90% of the time and he likes this new type of work better than he thought he would. He also works out on the job sites sometimes, but more as a site manager type person instead of a site shoveling type person. LOL. Ryan is in 2nd grade. He is doing really well in school. I think he likes it, although he is not one to volunteer a lot of information on the subject. Zane was going to pre-school three days each week, but last week he started in a developmental five program which is a half day every day. He didn't seem to mind the switch and had a really good first week. As for me, I am the chauffer, (both boys, each way) maid, cook, laundress and disciplinarian. It keeps me busy, anyway.
Well, that's about it from here. Thing One just came in to announce that I need to gear up for job #3 (cook) because he is hungry. Thing One and Thing Two are always hungry. My mother watched them the other day and asked if I EVER fed them.
A question that has been floating around in this pea sized brain is this: Are you all converging here again this year for a get together? I am hoping so.
A nice idea, a family blog. Cracking up to think of some girl complaining about Seth Holther. See ya.

helloooooo!

2005-12-03T15:48:00.000-05:00

Well, I just opened my mailbox and what should appear to my wondering eyes, but an invitation to join the Holther blog! I have gone through and read everyone's posts and caught up with a few of us. How nice! To catch up with me: Well, Bob, the kids and I bought a home in LaGrange Indiana this last March. LaGrange is a TINY town about 10 minutes south of the Michigan border, so we are closer to Mom and Dad than what we were while we were in Middlebury, IN. We decided to buy in this direction instead of going further west in Indiana because Bob's mom was suffering with terminal cancer and we wanted to be closer to her and my folks as well as his sister and her family. It has been a really good move for us, as we really like this little town and the kids love it in the schools here. Michael is now in 2nd grade and Samantha just started full day kindergarten this year. I am really happy with the schools except for the fact that they make us pay $40 a week for tuition for kindergarten here and we have to "rent" their ratty used books each year to the tune of between $80 and $90 per year for now (will be more as the grades progress). I am buying their books through Amazon or Barnes and Nobles.com for next year. Bob is working 3rd shift for a company called Utilimaster; they build Fed Ex trucks and the like. I left my career at Waldenbooks to become a bar wench this year. Let me tell you, I feel like I am on vacation! Most important, I am so close to the kids all day now and I am able to do PTO now as well as class volunteering. I am also volunteering at the local library so I get my book fix. Life is really quiet for us. We don't get out and about as much as we would like to but with Bob's work and the kids' school, we are pretty much home bodies. I did manage to make it out to see the Johnny Cash movie with Mom though. Has anyone else seen it? I really enjoyed it -- much more than I thought that I would! Well, enough about me. I need to leave some mystery about my fabulous life now don't I? Oh! Good book of the week: Queen of the Big Time by Adrienne Trigianni. Enjoy!! Cyndi

"Cats are smarter than dogs. You can't get eight cats to pull a sled through snow." -Jeff Valdez

Did I do it, Did I figure it out?

2005-12-03T10:05:00.000-05:00

Hey fambily,

So this is cool eh? I am not supposed to be doing this right now, supposed to be getting ready to run around and do stuff today. But I wanted to check it out. I would never have been able to if it wasn't for A. Jeannie's advice about putting the cursor at the end of my name when signing up. Thanks:O) I thought it was pretty funny when I did a blog search and typed in Holther I found a teenage girl blog complaining about Seth Holther - ha ha ha . That was hilarious. No secret in their online journal now. Well I guess I'll try to do some more later. Hope you all have a good weekend. Happy Holidays, Love, Caroline

How cool is this.... !!

2005-12-03T09:46:00.000-05:00

Wow, a Holther Blog! I must say I'm very excited to be a part! It will be wonderful hearing about the family's trials and tribulations. I must admit I've missed a lot in the 20 odd years I've been away. A little news from the Anne, Don, Kim, Tami and Zach world: Its been wonderful being back in Michigan these past 2 years, Don has taken to civilian life rather well, although I must admit I do miss the military way of life. But its nothing I don't think I can't handle :) We live in Grand Blanc for now, We built a house here and darn, wouldn't ya know, Don takes a lateral move with his company (Waste Management) and we're moving to the Grand Rapids area. Which I'm tickled about I might add! So alas, our beautiful new home is now up for sale and we're in the tedious process of looking for a new home. Which is fun and horrendous all at the same time. I must say there are some real interesting ways to decorate a house, that I had no clue about. :) Gotta love other's homes!
Kim, Tami and Zach are doing wonderful. Zach is in the middle of Airborne school at Fort Benning GA. He'll be stationed with the 82nd Airborne division at Fort Bragg NC in Jan. He joined the Army in June 05, and really seems to love it. We were lucky and he came home for Thanksgiving, it was wonderful seeming him! He surprised mom and dad as they didn't have a clue he was coming home. It was a nice Thanksgiving needless to say! Kim and Tami are both living and working hard. Kim is with us for now, until we move to the GR area, where she plans to buy her own house. YAYY!! Tami lives in Battle Creek so we don't see much of her, but when we do its always a great visit.
I could go on and on about me and mine, but I don't want to bore the family to tears.!!! haha I really do love hearing about my Holther kin and I hope this Blog takes off like wild fire. Thanks Kip, for sending me the link. Although I must admit I deleted it at first thinking it was spam. Then I saw the name Kip and thought I had better take a look at the email! Glad I did.
Love to you all and God Bless. ~~Anne

2005-12-02T19:58:00.000-05:00

(PICTURE TESTING)-

This past summer a bunch of the JEAN GANG met together in Assateague, MD. It was quite an adventure along the shores of the Atlantic Ocean with hot, hot temperatures, too much sand to move all of our equipment, wild horses in the campsite and of course one good thunderstorm that caused havoc upon our campsite (as noted in the picture).

Trying to Understand the World of Blogging...

2005-12-02T17:44:00.000-05:00

From what I understand you have 2 ways to contribute, you can comment on someone else's POST or you can create an original POST. To create an original POST, click on your name on the blog screen, then in the new window click on HOME and then in the new window click on the GREEN + Try it out!

To add a picture to your POST, you need to click on the button to the right of the spell check button on the post menu. It will then give you options on how to choose the proper picture.

Neat-o!

2005-12-02T15:19:00.000-05:00

I was so excited to get the blog invite in my email. When we were down to A2 on Nov. 22 (for Nicholas' check-up at U of M) I gave Aunt Jeannie an article I had cut out from a magazine on family web sites and blogs and asked her if she would start it up for the Holthers (I don't have the time!). She said she's pass it on to Kip or Kevin or Kammi so must be one of "yous guys" took charge and got it done. It's been so great having our carepage for Nicholas to keep everyone updated, but this is an awesome way for the whole family to be more connected.

So, let's see. What do I have to report. Well, in case you don't know, we got a new puppy in October. His name is Cosmo Kramer Hale and he is 4 months old (and much bigger already than what I was hoping for). He's half Golden Retriever, 1/4 Shar Pei, 1/8 Yellow Lab, and another 1/8 Golden. He's pretty good for a puppy, but challenging none the less. Aunt Jeannie and I were commiserating about the pit falls of pet ownership. Just last night Nicholas put his blanket over himself and Cosmo and they were kind of rough-housing. Not a good idea. Cosmo nipped Nicholas' ear and gave him a pretty good gash. Not bad enough for the ER, but enough for him to bleed and scream for a long time. Of course, I get especially freaked out when things happen to Nicholas, but he seems OK. I called the ped. today and they said just to clean it, put antibiotic oint. on it and watch for infection.

Nicholas had a good check-up from his liver surgeon at U of M. He's always so amazed at how well Nicholas is doing. Nicholas has been doing better with weight gain and is moving up on the growth charts to 30th %tile. He's between 50th and 75th for height. A dream come true for me! I got the results of his blood test (liver functions panel) today and all is normal!!!! Thank you, God!!!! It's pretty amazing how much a little kid can overcome.

Kaelyn and Emma are doing just fine. I signed them up last night for gymnastics class in Lowell that will start in Jan. Emma loves Kindergarten and it is especially fun because Laensa is in her class. She goes all day every other day. She's bored when she's not in school, but I'm glad to have her home. She helps entertain Nicholas. Kaelyn doesn't love school anymore, but she does very well. She has a nice teacher and nice friends in her class. She's very much into learning to knit, crochet, sew, make friendship bracelets and scrapbook.

Well, guess that's all for now. Can't wait to read more posts!

From The Beginning...

2005-12-01T20:06:00.000-05:00

WOW, this is a start of a new thing. How impressive that we can all easily share with each other within the online world and all over the world where ever we call home. I hope that all of us take some time to visit the web site from here or there and post messages to keep us all up to date. Take some time, play around with the system and try it out.