Roseland Ranch

On the day after Thanksgiving, our family traveled upstate to visit Roseland Ranch. It was an experience we will never forget. This place was top notch, high class hospitality. We enjoyed every minute of delicious food, endless cups of Starbucks coffee, horseback riding, quads, archery, the shooting range, the paddle boats, and just sitting by the roaring fire for good conversation and lots of laughs. There was a playground for the little kids with a petting zoo and power wheels for them to ride. We met tons of new people and we're looking forward to going there again sometime in the very near future. I'll be posting more pictures of our trip as the week goes by. Stay tuned!


Roseland Ranch

Cheryl, me, Randy, and Jeff

Abbey and Melissa

The view from our cabin window. Our room was hot in the middle of the night, so I woke up and cranked open the window. The sound of the rushing water sent me back to sleep in no time.

Thank you, Lord

I am thankful to my Saviour for His great salvation so freely given to me. I am thankful for the deep, inner peace He has given me, even in the midst of all the turbulence in our world today. I am thankful for for the bright future He has given His children. Thank you, Lord, for all of this and even more...

I am thankful for a wonderful marriage to a wonderful man...
for three wonderful children of whom I am so proud...
and for the coziest place on the planet, the place that I call "home."

That little thief...

It was Haagen Daz ice cream and he even took the spoon. That little thief.

Thursday

My new office at Long Island Baptist Church was supposed to be nice and quiet. It never is on Thursdays... (or Mondays, or Tuesdays, or Wednesdays,...)

Abbey, at my desk. (Left click on this picture and then click on it again to enlarge it. Now compare Abbey's profile to the little girl depicted on the greeting card in the deep left corner of my desk. An amazing resemblance!)


Melissa, sharing my desk space with Abbey and acting a just little bit goofy!

Bruce, our bookkeeper and friend.

Some favorite people of mine...

Abbey and her Daddy, two good friends.


Michael and Kathleen, the host and hostess of a wonderful get-together for friends.
Josh and Jen, the sweetest couple you'd ever want to meet.
Ashley, Abbey, and Brooke, three very lovely young ladies.

Josh, Madison, and Jen. (This is Madison's "posing" smile. Isn't she just the cutest?)

The statue has been located

I finlly found a photo of the statue of my great, great grandfather, Statesman Charles Karel Jonas. It's located in Racine Wisconsin. It was placed in a small park near Michigan Blvd. and Barker St. Not a great picture, but a picture nonetheless. I can't tell you how intrigued I am by all of this. Randy, my good friend and husband, said that maybe we can go there this winter sometime to view it for ourselves. I think I would like that very much.

Family history uncovered!

For years, I was told by my mother that I had a great, great grandfather who was very influential in the making of the state of Wisconsin and also in the American/Czechoslovakian relationship. She told me that President Cleveland appointed him United States consul to Prague and that there was a statue in honor of him in Racine, WI. I tried for years to find out what his name was, what he did, etc., and I finally uncovered the mystery. I always thought his last name was "Salak," like my mother's maiden name. Turns out that his name was Charles (Karel) Jonas. He and his wife, Christine, had a daughter named Carrie. Carrie married Charles Salak and together they had a son who they named Charles Karel Salak, who was my mother's father! This is all so interesting to me. Right now, I am trying to find a photo of the statue of him located in Racine, Wisconsin. Maybe I'll just have to go there myself and take a picture with our trusty Kodak!

Here's a photo of my great, great grandfather, Charles (Karel) Jonas:
If you would like to read the history of this important man, click on the following link:
http://www.accessgenealogy.com/scripts/data/
database.cgi?file=Data&report=SingleArticle&ArticleID=0034117

Name change...

Here's our "October Glory" tree in September; and this is exactly what it looked like for the entire month of October!

Here it is today, November 7th.

Its leaves are glowing with beautiful shades of orange, red, and green.
Here's another picture of our "November Glory" tree...

Little Tim and the Brave Sea Captain

When my two boys were very little, I read them this book - regularly. Actually, there was a whole series of books by this author that my boys enjoyed so much. We used to sit on the sofa and read for HOURS, literally hours. Yesterday, I actually met the brave sea captain. I really, really did - I'm sure of it! Scroll down to see our brave sea captain as I always imagined him!

Here's the book...
...and here's the Captain. Isn't he just perfect? Land ho!

Moonrise on Long Island

I took these photos at about 4 o'clock in the afternoon on Saturday. A beautiful sight...

Who's in control here?

Is it Randy?
Is it Gordon?
Or is control really not the issue?

At the South Shore on Saturday

Anette's parents are visiting from Sweden! It was a pleasure to spend Saturday with them. We drank hot cups of coffee, chatted, went for a walk, looked at pictures of their homeland, and had a nice lunch together. It was a wonderful, memorable day!

This boy has stolen a piece of our hearts...
Austin has stolen another piece...
And Brandon has taken the rest! Here is Brandon with Abbey.

Here's Luke on the lap of his kind grandfather, Bengt.
Here he is again sharing a snack with his sweet grandmother, Vivianne.

the PROJECT...

Here are some pictures of my progress on my Civil War dress. It really has been a PROJECT and I have learned alot about sewing - mainly patience.

Here it is with the collar still unattached and the sleeves waiting to go on. In the background you can see the cuffs and sleeves, which have been a project in themselves. The sleeves are loaded with pleats and I know it will be difficult to attach them to the bodice.


Look at all those buttons! It took one whole morning to make the buttonholes and then to sew on the buttons. Whew! I'm glad that's done.
Here's the part that's giving me bad dreams. Check out all the pleats...
These are called "cartridge pleats" and as the instructions say, they "allow for a TREMENDOUS amount of fabric to be FORCED into the narrow waist." It's going to be a long night! But the end result will be worth it and I can't wait to wear the dress! (So sorry this is blurry.)

New friends

The newest members of Long Island Baptist Church...

Ardell and Louanne


Their little boy, Caleb. Madison affectionately calls him, "Beep."


Sean and Gwen's fourth little girl.

Her name is Lilianna Abigail and she is beautiful!

Presents!

Madison's birthday came and went so quickly! I took these photos in the church office where she opened her gifts from the Engesetter family. I never knew that a two-year-old could exhibit such delight and thankfulness for a simple gift of clothing! What a sweet little kiddo.

She LOVED the bag with the doggie on front!


She kept saying it was "her doggie." What a cutie.


Two shirts - one with colorful polka dots and one with a cowgirl on the front!


I think she like the cowgirl shirt the best.


Her very first pair of Oshkosh overalls.