October 21, 2008

• It is supposed to get down to freezing tonight, so Ken cleaned up the last of the flowers still blooming and cleaned out the fountain, removed the pump, and covered it up with plastic for the winter.

  
  

  That all signals the end of decent weather for me!  Boo-Hoo!!  But it will be still getting up into the 50′s the next few days.  But, just heard about the possibility of S*** (that awful four-letter white word) next Monday.  UGH!  It probably won’t be here near the lake though—-I hope, I hope!!!

  
  

  Yesterday, Ken’s niece and hubby visited us for a couple hours.  They are here from Arizona.  Carla is such a sweetheart.  She always remembers her aunts’ and uncles’ birthdays with gifts, and always  sends Christmas presents, too.  We always visit them when we go to Arizona to see my family.  Carla lives across the Phoenix valley from my sis and my dad.  The first time we visited her and Cory (and their “baby” Felix the cat–lol), she showed me her guest bedroom.  Well, there is no room for a guest in that bed!!  The bed is full of all the things she buys all year long to give as gifts.  I swear she keeps her Avon lady in business—and probably her Hallmark shop, too!  lol  I keep telling her to stop doing that—we don’t need anything.  But she says she won’t listen—it gives her joy to do this, and wants nothing in return. 

  
  

  Carla was single for a long time.  We had just about given up hope that any man would see what a special person she is.  She and Cory finally found each other when she was 35, and have been married for 16 yrs. now.  Cory loves to tease her, and she loves it!  Poor Cory, though, when Carla is around her family he hardly gets a word in edgewise!

  
  

  Cory and Carla

  
  

  

  
  

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  Way back in Sept., I said I was going to share pictures with you all of Ken’s brother’s 70th birthday.  Well, I FINALLY uploaded some of the pictures. 

  
  

  Merlin is Ken’s next youngest sibling.  Merlin was best man at our wedding—the first time I had met him, since Ken’s family lived back here, and Ken was out in Arizona, where we met and were married.  For those of you that don’t know, Ken was a mason, and when he was out of work here, he would go to Florida or California during the winter.  One winter he came to Arizona instead, and the rest is history! 

  
  

  We were living—and struggling financially—in Colorado in the mid-60′s, when Merlin called from here, and said he was starting to build homes.  He was wondering if Ken would be interested  in doing all his mason work.  Would be a great opportunity for Ken to go into business for himself.  We came back here the beginning of summer 1967, and Ken did work for Merlin, and then picked up other masonry work, too.  I flew back to Colorado with the boys and put up the house for sale.  Sold it just in time to move to Wisconsin for the beginning of school.

  
  

  We saw that this was the right thing to do.  Another reason for the move back here was the fact that Jeff was ready to start kindergarten, and we really wanted him in a Lutheran school.  There weren’t any out in Colorado Springs at that time.  God does provide!!!  Our boys went through the same grade school that Ken did.

  
  

  About 20 yrs. ago, Merlin gave up the building business here and moved to Appleton with his family.  He still did finish carpentry work, but for other contractors.  Then, several years ago he started his own wholesale millwork business.  Millwork is all the beautiful molding and decorative wood you see in a lot of homes nowadays. He supplied millwork to a lot of home improvement stores. He sold the business to his son-in-law a year or two ago, and is now retired.

  
  

  All of the inside pictures were taken in Merlin and Karen’s basement.  Merlin built their Victorian style home himself, and you can see the beautiful wood work he does.  The house is built on a hillside, so the basement is open to the backyard.

  
  

  Front entrance.  Here you can see some of the “gingerbread” on “The Lady”, as they call her.  The house is at the end of a cul-de-sac.

  
  

  

  
  

  This is the view out their back from the house.  They have two acres.  There is a creek in the back hidden by the trees.  Merlin is taking someone for a ride in his Gator.  I took a ride in that thing, and he drives it like a madman!!  There is a steep hill  in the middle of the picture that doesn’t really show up well in the picture that he went down full speed—felt like a rollercoaster! 

  
  

  

  
  

  Had him stop at the bottom so I could get a picture of the back of the house.  It is for sale.  Anyone want a beautiful custom home in Appleton???  They have a For Sale sign on the back.  When the trees lose their leaves, people driving by on the main road behind them can see this view of the house.

  
  

  

  
  

  Brother-in-law, Richard, going for his wild ride with Merlin on the Gator.  Hang on, Richard!!!!!

  
  

  

  
  

  The party was supposed to be outside on the deck, but thanks to a drizzly day, everything had to be moved inside.

  
  

  Part of the party-goers.  Merlin’s back is to us in the left foreground.  His middle daughter is sitting across from him.  Sister-in-law, Judy, who lives behind us, is in green on the right. Most of the others are Merlin’s wife’s relatives.  I didn’t get pictures of everyone—nuts!  I do have a picture of Karen with Merlin, but their expressions are awful—know they would not appreciate being on Xanga looking like that!  lol

  
  

  

  
  

  The dining area minus the dining table.  Set up for all the delicious food!!

  
  

  

  
  

  Merlin’s office in the basement.  Now that he is retired, he spends his day doing day-trading on the stock market.  That is why he needs a tv and 3 computer screens to keep track of every tiny movement of the stocks he monitors and buys and sells during the day.  That kind of “hobby” would drive me bonkers!!  Too risky for us!  lol

  
  

  

  
  

  The birthday “boy” eating his meal.  You can see the beautiful woodwork on the fireplace—Merlin’s work.

  
  

  

  
  

  Merlin and youngest granddaughter admiring the cake.  Karen’s theme for Merlin’s birthday was “Age 70—-A Piece of Cake”.

  
  

  

  
  

  I took a video of him opening our presents, but it didn’t turn out the greatest, so am not putting it up.  Karen also gave his life’s story—very humorous—with appropriate music and props.  So, we had a great time.  We don’t get to see them very often, so this was special!  One daughter had the flu, so she wasn’t there.

  
  

  Ok. This should last you for a while.  Will try to get around and comment during the next couple days.

  
  

   

  
  

   

  • 8:38 pm
  • 14 Comments