This was in the Milwaukee Journal the other day.   Granddaughter Lydia made the news!!

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Concordia University students interning with Rams

By NICK HALTER
nhalter@journalsentinel.com

Posted: July 31, 2008

In summers past, the few dozen Concordia University students who stuck around campus would make ends meet by mowing lawns, painting houses or flipping burgers.

Rams Camp

Photo/ Kristyna Wentz-Graff Concordia University athletic training majors Lydia Stuebs (left) and Samantha Bloxdorf are interning with the St. Louis Rams. “They’re just normal guys, really,” Stuebs said.

When Lydia Stuebs and Samantha “Sam” Bloxdorf, athletic training majors, caught wind that the St. Louis Rams had chosen Concordia for their training camp and were looking for interns to work with their players, they quickly applied.

By the end of last week, Bloxdorf and Stuebs, Packers fans who knew nothing about the Rams, were out on the field, doing a little bit of everything for the team — taping ankles, driving players to the hospital and assisting other trainers — sometimes for up to 17 hours a day.

“The players have been really nice and so welcoming,” Stuebs said.

Bloxdorf said she was greeted one day on her way through the lunchroom by a group of rookies singing to her. They were led by first-round draft pick Chris Long, son of Hall of Fame defensive end Howie Long.

The 21-year-old seniors are traveling with the team to Tennessee, St. Louis and Kansas City for preseason games later this month.

Most of the 60 or so students still living on campus are in one way or another working to accommodate the Rams, said Joel Bahr, a 20-year-old student who was pulled from his job in the admissions office to help out.

Bahr’s job is simple, yet most college-aged football fans would kill for it. He’s a gofer. He gets the players whatever they need, whenever they need it.

“Most of these guys know me by name now,” Bahr said after exchanging greetings with backup quarterback Trent Green.

“I’m on call 24 hours a day,” he said this week as he moved around campus on a golf cart, a vehicle that is an easy target for the players. “They will give me a hard time when I am driving girls around in the cart.”

The campus is fairly isolated, with Lake Michigan on the east and I-43 to the west. The only bar or restaurant within easy walking distance is the Highland House, across the interstate at 12741 N. Port Washington Road.

Dan DeMarsch, the restaurant’s owner, said a few players have made their way to the bar after nightly meetings, but they usually can’t stay long before breaking their 11 p.m. curfew. No bad behavior to report, he said.

DeMarsch said business hasn’t been as good as expected, but with scrimmages coming up, he expects an increase. His sign out front, which probably speaks for most of the Concordia community, should attract some customers.

It reads: “Welcome St. Louis Rams, Our 2nd Favorite Team.”

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 An enlargement of the picture shown above.  Lyd and Sam are roommates for this internship.

Thank you all again for your prayers for Ken’s nephew and his family.  You are all such wonderful, caring friends!  Jason and Christine will have tough going, that is for sure, but they have a large extended family living in their area, and they are all very close-knit, and that will help them a lot.   There are lots of benefits for them that are raising money to help them.  Even an auction being held tomorrow (Saturday).  I looked it up online, and they are auctioning off an older car, lots of autographed sports equipment from football and baseball teams, vacations, gift certificates, etc..  Amazing response.

We did not go to the funeral.  It is six hours away.  Wish it was closer.  If we go south this winter, we will try to stop in Springfield to visit them all then.

Our sis-in-law, who lives behind us, e-mailed me asking for info to bring her family information up to date.  Several years ago I had given Ken’s 9 siblings the information I had.  I seem to be the one who keeps it the most up to date.

I have a family tree program, but had not transferred some of the information to the file I had typed out for everyone.  While going over that information I did some counting.

Ken has 9 brothers and sisters (3 have passed already), 45 nieces and nephews, and about 75 great-nieces and nephews (that we know of).  There are even a couple great-greats.  Pretty hard to keep track of them all.

I  have one sister, one niece, one nephew, 3 great nieces and nephews, and 1 great-great.  Quite a contrast!!  It is easy to keep up with my family!!

Now, on the other hand, it is hard for the relatives to keep track of our own kids’ families, since we have almost 13 grandchildren from our two sons.  Did I mention Jeff and Judy’s baby is due Aug. 24?  Cannot remember if I told you all that or not.

Well, must get this day going.  Have been taking it easy this week.  My back started giving me problems the day before the Xanga gals arrived, and is just now starting to feel better.  It is worse in the morning, and works itself out by the afternoon.  This morning it was pretty good.  At least it wasn’t as bad as it was during the winter.  It lasted about 3 weeks then.  I need it perfect by the weekend of Aug. 9, when we take our trip across state to visit Jeff and family, with a stop on the way at Ken’s brother, who has cancer.  More about that later.

Pictures later, too, of all my daylilies.  I bought about 9 new plants last year, and they are finally blooming about 2 weeks late this year.  Wish I had room for many more—-love them.

I hope you all have a great summer weekend. 

Hugs to all of you!

For those of you following the story of our nephew’s tragedy.

This is from the Springfield IL  State Journal Register

It was a BEAUTIFUL Xangan afternoon!!

Ken and his “harem”

Val (Valreads), Ken, Dawn (Sue’s friend), Sue (Coolmom56)

Doesn’t he look happy??

It was a perfect day for eating outside.  Just a fly once in a while, and NO mosquitos.

Good times, good friends.

They arrived shortly after 3, and the time flew by.  They left about 6:45.  Val had a long day already, driving from Indiana early this morning, picking up Dawn at Midway airport in Chicago, driving up to Sue’s outside of Sheboygan, and then coming here.  I cannot blame her for taking a little snooze while we were yakking after the meal.  She was hoping no one would notice, since she was wearing sunglasses.  We knew—–she was quiet!! lol

The time went way too quickly, and soon they were on their way again.

They were buckled up in the car already when I realized I didn’t get a picture of all of us.  Oh well, next year!  They still had to stop for groceries in Green Bay before heading on up to Sue’s cabin.  That is one long day for them!!

Off they went, and those rotten kids didn’t even help clean up!

LOL, not really!  They kept asking to help, and I kept saying NO.  They had a long way to go.  Besides, I have a live-in maid—Ken.  And our kitchen is so small that there isn’t room for more than two people to work.

All the food, except for the snacky stuff was inside the house.  I put the food away, and Ken did the dishes. 

And, I knew I had to get this up tonight since Fran (Josaju) would be waiting.  Val said she was going to call her mom right after leaving here.

Thanks for a great afternoon girls!!

Same time, same place, next year—-God willing????

Busy, Busy, Busy

Getting ready for our visit with Xangans Valreads and Cool-Mom56, and Coolmom’s friend, Dawn.

They will be arriving later Sunday afternoon.  We are excited about seeing them again.  As Val said, it has become an annual tradition now!  This will be the third year.  Val promised no rain, and so far, so good!

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Now the latest on our nephew’s tragedy.

I am inserting the text from the Springfield paper today.  Tough news.

The family of 9-month-old Savannah Stuebs, struck by a tree while camping earlier this week, learned Friday that her brain injury is more extensive than they realized.

The Springfield girl’s uncle, Dale Logerquist, said her family is taking things day by day, but doctors have warned them that Savannah appears to have severe and permanent brain damage. Another stent was placed in her skull to relieve swelling, but it continues to be a problem.

Savannah is being treated at OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria.

Funeral arrangements are pending for her 4-year-old brother, Dustin Stuebs, a preschooler at Ball Charter School who was in the same tent as Savannah. Visitation is Thursday at Calvary Temple with funeral services the following day.

A rotted oak tree fell on the children’s tent during a violent windstorm that swept through the family’s campsite at the Indian Trails Resort in Colona near the Quad Cities on Monday morning.

The entire Stuebs family was on their first camping trip to the Colona resort. Parents Jason and Christina were sleeping in one tent with their children Dustin, Savannah, 9-year-old Dyantae, 7-year-old Hannah and 1-year-old Jacob. Their other two children, Danielle, 12, and Madison, 10, were sleeping in a second tent.

The tree narrowly missed the girls’ tent but landed on top of the larger tent.

What you can do to help:

• Give blood. Logerquist said Savannah has received a great deal of blood, and anyone who wants to help can give blood at the local donation center.
  
• Make a financial donation. Contributions to assist the family with funeral, medical, travel and lodging expenses are being accepted at any Marine Bank location. Checks can be made out to “Stuebs Family Benefit.” Anyone who wishes to mail a check to the fund can send it to Marine Bank, 3050 Wabash Ave., Springfield, IL 62704.
  Jason Stuebs, who has worked at a local not-for-profit thrift store for 14 years, has no medical insurance and was the family’s sole income.
  
• Send a card. Letters, cards and well-wishes can be sent to the Stuebs family in care of A-Plus Pack and Ship, 2112 S. MacArthur Blvd., Springfield, IL 62704.
  
• Attend a fundraiser. Two have been scheduled so far — one from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 2, at Mariah’s Restaurant, 3317 Robbins Road, and another Sunday, Aug. 17, at the Field House Pizza and Pub, 3211 Sangamon Ave., organized by Ball Charter employees and parents.
  Silent-auction items are being sought for both fundraisers. Call Mariah’s owner Sam Alkhayyat at 622-7600 or Ball Charter parent Steve Rockford at 525-0847 to donate items or services.

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Me again!  Danielle, Madison and Jacob are their foster children.  I do know that as of Christmas they were planning on adoping Jacob—don’t know about the other two.  I know Madison has facial injuries and will need plastic or reconstruction surgery.  Something is out of whack with the report because it says Madison was in the tent the tree missed, but she has facial injuries.  

I thank you all so much for the prayers so far.  Please keep them up!  This family has a long, hard struggle still ahead.  Thank those of you who have prayer circles going for them, too. 

We went to church yesterday morning for the monthly devotional service, and told our pastor about it.  He is married, but they cannot have children.  He said a prayer for Jason and family, and we could tell he was getting choked up during it.  He will ask for prayers during Sunday services, too.  Thank you, Pastor.  They need all they can get. 

You all are so very special.  Many people (non-blogging or non-computer)shake their heads when I tell them about the friends I have here on Xanga.  I think they think I need to get a “real” life.  Well, you are all so very “real”!!  I have gotten to know more about most of you than I know about the people I see in person.

I love you all!!

UPDATES

I haven’t heard anything more from family in Springfield.  Didn’t really expect to.  But I have been going online and reading both the Springfield (where they all live) paper and the Moline (near where the tragedy happened) paper. 

9 month old Savannah is still alive, with swelling of the brain.  They may have to remove part of her skull in order to relieve the pressure.  And the poor little thing may be in the hospital for months! 

Both the Springfield and Moline areas seem to be putting on several fundraisers for the family, since they have no insurance.  Can you imagine what the medical bill will be for Savannah if she has to stay in the hospital for up to 9 months??  They live in Springfield, but Savannah is in the hospital down in Peoria, so they have a commute to be with her.  Guess some people got together and gave them a $350 gas card to help with those costs.

I will probably call the oldest niece, who has a upscale resale shop along with Jason, the little ones’ father, in a couple weeks.  I know she was so very broken up over this that she couldn’t do any of the calling.  She is the one who pretty much took over raising her younger siblings when her mom died.  She was only in her 20′s at the time.

Thank you all so very much for your kind and caring comments, and also for your continued prayers.  They are much needed.  Will let you know when or if I hear anything else.

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Now on a lighter note.  Greg and Lori heard from Lydia last night.  The football team had not arrived yet—they will have arrived today.  Lyd said that the food she had so far was so-so, but that tonight’s menu is steak and lobster!!

And, if things go according to schedule, she will be working with them past Aug. 15, when she thought she would be finished.  There seems to be enough room on the plane, so she should be traveling with them for their first two pre-season games—to Nashville and to St. Louis.  I am sure those games won’t be shown in this area, but would love to see if I could see her on the sidelines of the games!!!

Because of this change, she will miss the first few days of school.  But she said the first few days are not very busy, so she is not concerned.  And most of her classes have to do with athletic training, and am sure the instructors will understand. 

Will keep you updated on this, too.

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Now, I have to get busy.  This coming Sunday is Xanga Day.  Valreads(Val) and CoolMom-56(Sue) will be here in the late afternoon, along with Cool Mom’s friend, Dawn, on their way up to Sue’s cabin for “Girls’ Getaway Week”.  Guess this has become an annual get-together, which is great with me!!  Of course I will take pictures!  Val promised “NO RAIN”, and the forecast is proving her right—-so far.  Temp should be mid-70′s.  Perfect!

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EDIT

Just got a call from Lori.  Lydia e-mailed her and said the steaks were 2″ thick!!  She said that when she comes back to her room she never knows what she will find. On Tuesday she was surprised to see that someone had been in her room while she was gone.  Evidently there is maid service!   Today, she came back and a large flat-screen TV had been put into her room.  She shares a 2-bdrm suite with another gal who is an AT, too.  Each bedroom has two twin beds.  She put her two beds together and now has a king-sized bed!  She also received a list with all the players names and phone numbers.  Tomorrow the real work begins.

PRAYERS PLEASE!

We received some tragic news yesterday. 

A nephew, age 28,who lives down in Springfield, IL, was camping this past weekend with his wife and family near Moline IL.  They are such a sweet young couple.  They have four children, and are also doing foster care.  They have stopped in here and visited with us a couple times when they came up here to camp outside of town.

Anyway, they were sleeping in two tents.  Monday morning, early, a sudden storm came up with high winds.  A tree blew down and fell onto the kids’ tent.  Their 4-yr. old son was killed, and as of yesterday, were not sure the 9 month-old daughter would survive.  Some of the others had minor injuries, I believe—not sure about that.

Both parents are sedated—of course.  What a tragedy.  The funeral for the 4 yr. old is being delayed, because they think it might have to be a double funeral.

They have had so many tragedies in that family.  Our nephew and his siblings lost both their parents within a couple years time.  His dad was Ken’s oldest brother.  The older children who were married took in their younger siblings to raise.  Then our oldest nephew in that family committed suicide just a couple years ago, shocking the whole family.  Now this happens!

Again, please keep this family in your prayers! 

Just found this article in the Moline Dispatch.  The link gives a lot more details, and has pictures of the kids.

http://qconline.com/archives/qco/display.php?id=396625

First our weather.

It is 1 p.m., and it is a sunny, breezy, 68 degrees.  Just a couple degrees too cool for me.  As I have aged, my comfort zone has really narrowed.   80 is too warm now—-and it used to be perfect.  I know all of you suffering with your 90′s and 100+ temps wonder what I am complaining about!  lol

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We were invited over to Greg’s house Sunday evening for Linden’s 6th birthday.  He was so much fun to watch.  He was so thankful for anything he received, even if it was just something silly.  He is such a thoughtful, kind little guy!  Kind of unusual for the youngest in the family. 

He loves the movie “Cars”.

How old are you?????  Showing off his “loot”—a clip-on lamp for his bed, a bicycle horn and lock; shirt and pants with “Cars” characters on, and a couple silly little playthings.  Also cash!

Then we played with their Wii.  I should have taken some pictures of that, but just didn’t think of it.  It was very humid that day, and I got a little light-headed just playing a little tennis on the Wii.  Then I just sat and watched them play different things.  I am going to try to get one.  I can see that it would be “fun” exercise for me—–anything to get me moving!!!!!

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They heard from Lydia, who is now back down to Concordia and getting ready for the Rams to arrive on Thursday.  She found out that she WILL be getting paid, and will be making about the same as she would if she had just stayed up here and worked her 3 jobs for that length of time.  She will live in the same dorm as the players, but on a different floor.  She is with the administrative staff.  She will eat with the players, though.  Now, she is going to eat VERY well.  I have seen the Green Bay news stations report on the Packers training camp, which is held at a college up in Green Bay.  They really feed the players well—-not your typical college fare!!

Lydia had taken quite a bit of her dorm room things along with her, figuring she would need all her usual things for school.  Not so.  Everything is furnished—even down to the towels. 

During the school year, there is a security guard at the school entrance, but it is very lax.  Just about anyone got waved through without stopping.  Not so now.  Lydia is stopped every time now, and her credentials checked.  I am sure that is so that football “spies” and general population cannot get in.

Will keep you all posted as to how she is doing as I hear about it.

This is a picture of Lyd taken over a year ago.

I wanted to put a pic of our granddaugter, Lydia, up here, but Xanga won’t let me insert it!  Tried last night, too, but couldn’t get it on.

I talked to her last night.  She is the oldest local grand.  She is attending Concordia University down near Milwaukee.  She will graduate in 2009 with a degree in Athletic Training.  She may or may not go on for another 3 yrs. to become a Physical Therapist—or maybe 2 more yrs. to become a PT assistant.  She is unsure.  PT pays so much better, but she really enjoys the Athletic Training.  This coming year she will be working with the ladies basketball team, which covers most of the school year—what with practices even before the season.

The St. Louis Rams professional football team are having their training camp at Concordia starting this coming week.  Lydia received a call from one of her instructors a couple days ago, asking if she would be interested in working with the team as an Athletic Trainer. She will start on Tuesday, and training camp goes until Aug. 15—-just a week before school starts.  She was hesitant because she really needs the money she makes from her summer jobs here.  But, she decided to do it.  She will get room and board on campus—not sure about a salary, though.  It will look great on her resume, though, and will be wonderful experience for her.

She will have very long days.  She will have to start work at 6:30 a.m.—about 2 hrs. before practice starts.  Takes lunch at 11, and then works until at least 5:30 p.m., maybe longer if she has to give treatments afterwards.

And, during all of this, she has to complete her online Statistics summer course, which is time-consuming.

I teased her a bit.  She has a serious boyfriend.  But I told her that all those hunky football players will be hitting on her, and maybe she will end up being a famous football player’s wife!  lol  I know better!  She has always been such a sensible girl.  Even at age 4, I thought she was going on age 21!!  Now she is 21, and hasn’t changed. 

It will be interesting to hear about her expereience with the team when she is done.

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We seem to have a lonely little rain cloud hanging over us this morning.  Cropped up right over us, and is still here a couple hours later.  That takes care of doing any weeding outside like I planned.  It is also chilly—only 66 degrees at 12:15 p.m.  Had to close all the windows to stay warm!

Hope you all are having a great weekend. 

My new lamp arrived.  It is on the left in the picture.

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Talked to son, Jeff, (the travelers)last evening.  He, Judy and the two youngest are back in LaCrosse for the summer.

Judy is feeling very well.  Found out her due date is Aug. 24—-Greg’s Sylvia’s birthday.  I am hoping the baby is 4 days late, and will be born on my 67th birthday!  That would be soooo neat!  I should tell Judy to just keep her legs crossed!  lol

We will going over to visit with them and the rest of their kids on August 10.  Oldest grand, Jacob, will be flying in from San Jose for a chiropractic convention at Palmer Chiropractic in Davenport, Iowa, and then will come up to LaCrosse for a couple days.  We will stay for 3 days. 

After we leave there, Jeff, Judy and the two youngest will take the bus down to the southern part of the state, where they have located two midwives.  They visited with them yesterday, and liked the women very much.  Jeff will camp a few miles away from the midwives, and when Judy goes into labor the midwives will come to them, and the baby will be born on the bus. They will stay down there until mid-Sept..  After that, they may return to LaCrosse for a couple weeks.

Before you all start worrying, Jeff and Judy had their second youngest at home during a snowstorm, without any help.  So, they know what they are doing.  Of course, there is always a concern, but I try not to think about it too much—and I believe in the power of prayer!  Just worrying does no good!

Their two oldest girls—the singers—plan on moving to Nashville around October.  Jeff isn’t sure if they want his help with the move or not. 

Jeff has to be in West Palm Beach, Florida the beginning of November to do signage for another golf tournament.  It will be at the Trump Golf Resort there.  That will be almost a month’s work.  They don’t know where they will go from there.  We will keep track of them for sure, because Ken says that if we go somewhere down south for a couple months this winter, we would probably want to be in the same general area they are.

 Some of you have been following their journey, and I know you enjoy the updates.  They are parked on a friend’s property who lives out in the country.  Jeff just bought a small motorcycle that they will take along with them on the road.  That way, Jeff could use the cycle to go to work wherever they are, and Judy still has a car available for herself and the kids.

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Tomorrow is a dental appointment for me.  Had one last week, too.  On Wed., Ken goes to the urology surgeon for his second check-up after his surgery.  Other than that, life is quiet for us, and that is just fine!

The weather is still on the cooler side.  It was supposed to get up to 80 today, but it didn’t.  It got up to the mid-70′s for a couple hours, and then the wind shifted and we got a lake breeze.  Now it is only 67 at 5:30.

Hope you all have a great week!!