Happy Birthday, Uncle Tom!

December 16, 2008--



Here's to my wonderful Uncle Tom (the glue that binds much of our family together) who is a half a century old today! May your next half century be as adventurous and blessed as your first half century. Lots of love to you and the fam down in the warm part of the country. Happy Birthday! (Uncle Tom is pictured above with his grandsons--thanks for the pic, Manda! Hope you don't mind...)~

The Living Christmas Tree

December 5, 2008--

My friend, Carrie, and my mom, Cheryl, came to town to go to the Living Christmas Tree production with me. The production was a wonderful mixture of all types of Christmas music (with a live symphony orchestra & choir) and the lighting and special effects surrounding the featured "tree" were outstanding. Carrie and Mom were non-stop entertainment from before the time the show even started through the time we concluded our night around midnight. The whole evening was so much fun, I haven't laughed that hard in...well, I don't know how long. Thank you guys for such a great time!~

Basketball!

December 3, 2008--

It was fun joining Steve and the rest of his coaching staff for the basketball game here in town. (We missed you, Lu & Jake!) The last few moments of the game were really intense but the home team came out on top.~

Football!

November 28, 2008--

We had a great time at the game on Friday night with Robb, Rita, Matt and Ben, despite the chilly temperatures when the sun went down. (That's typical weather for our area though, so it was no surprise. We all came prepared with warm gear!) It was the last regular season home game and our team is undefeated!~

Happy Thanksgiving!

November 26, 2008--

Here's wishing you and yours a delightful and relaxing Thanksgiving or whatever you are hoping it will be (if you aren't into the relaxing part)!~

A "Salute" to Veterans

November 11, 2008--

What a privilege it was to attend the Veterans Memorial Dedication Ceremony on the BSU Campus today. The pictures and my description really won't do it justice but I'll try. The main part of the memorial is a (steel) silhouette of a saluting soldier thus the appropriate name of the memorial being "Salute." The ceremony was very moving with students, faculty and student veterans speaking. We were also treated to music of the 25th Army Brass Band Quintent as well as an AH-64 Apache flyover to start the dedication ceremony (seen in the video montage below).

On a separate but similar note, I would like to thank all of you in my life, and the thousands of those I will never meet, that have served and/or are still serving our country in the armed forces. Just to name a few (and I'm sorry for those of you whom I have failed to list): My Dad and hero, Rick; my Uncle Darrell; my sister Ange'; my brother-in-law Adam (still active duty in the Coast Guard); my Uncle Terry; my cousin Erik; my cousin Paul; Grandpa "Big Joe"; Grandpa Dean; my friend Gary H.; my friend Eric B., my friend Nancy N., my friend Sean O. and my late Grandpa Art. Thank you for making this country the land of the free BECAUSE of (you) the brave.~

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Maiden Voyage (Solo) on our Buell!

November 8, 2008--

As many of you may know, I took the STAR Course a few weeks ago and it really boosted my confidence with regard to my motorcycle riding abilities so I decided to try to ride our Buell (motorcycle). Our Buell is a little bit too tall for me to touch the ground flat-footed so I tippy-toed it and did just fine. After riding around our subdivision and a few neighboring subdivisions for a half hour or so, I ventured out to Gary and Melissa's house which is about 6-7 miles away. Here are a few video clips Jeremy took.

I really enjoyed my time on the bike today, despite the 48 degree weather.~

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

More from Vegas...

November 3, 2008--

Here is a video clip from Jeremy while on vacation in Vegas (see previous post entitled "Las Vegas Motor Speedway (NHRA)" for details of his vacation). This is a video clip taken of Pro Stock Motorcycle Racer Karen Stoffer's burn-out during one of her test-n-tune runs in Vegas today. Jeremy was right there at the start line when filming this clip.~

Las Vegas Motor Speedway (NHRA)

October 30, 2008--

Jeremy finally took a vacation! Way to go, Jeremy! He's currently in Vegas with Mom and Don at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway Drag Track for the NHRA drag races. They (Mom and Don) are both NHRA racers and they often frequent these big venues in their quest for points for the title at the end of the year (sorry Mom & Don if I don't get the race jargon right, please forgive me!). Anyway, as a crew member, Jeremy gets to go down the staging lanes with them and stand at the start line. He took this picture of Mom's car (Diana) presumably just before she did her burn-out in the water box--hence the water under her back tires but no smoke yet--before she staged at the tree and went down the quarter-mile track for a test-n-tune run. Jeremy reports that he is having a great time and if I get more pictures I'll update the blog as I can.~

Pumpkin Seeking & Carving

October 25, 26 & 29, 2008--

Melissa and I set out on a mission to find pumpkins to carve before Halloween so our first idea was to hit the pumpkin patch at the corn maze (you may have heard about this corn maze, it has Obama's & McCain's faces as the maze route). (Below is a picture of us on one of the bridges in the gigantic maze.) We went through the maze first because we didn't want to carry our pumpkins around and didn't want to walk them back out to the car (the place was packed and we had to park far, far away) but by the time we were done with the maze it was dark and we didn't bring flashlights. We thought about coming back on Sunday but found out they would be closed.

So we ventured out again on early Sunday evening looking for pumpkins (not just any grocery store pumpkin would do!) and headed toward another local corn maze, only to find that it, too, was closed on Sunday. So we ended up at one of my favorite little family farms called Spyglass Gardens and we walked through their patch (see picture below) and then found a couple perfect-sized ones sitting on a stand near the front of the property.

While we were carving our pumpkins on Wednesday night (sans the husbands who were out of town), we were treated to a surprise guest, Lee, our beloved pet-sitter. She was in town sitting for some friends of ours so she stopped by! In the picture directly below this paragraph, Lee is helping Melissa tape the pattern on her pumpkin.

Here is the final product! Stacey's pumpkin is the classic pumpkin on the left and Mel's is the cool one on the right.~

STAR Course Completed!

October 24-26, 2008--

After having been a passenger behind our husbands on our motorcycles for several years, my friend Melissa and I decided to enroll in the STAR Course to see if piloting our own motorcycle was something that interested us. (STAR stands for Skills Training Advantage for Riders - see graphic below for more details.) We had a fabulous time, despite the fact that our range hours (time scheduled for hands-on motorcycle training) were 8 am - Noon on the first day and 8 am - 1 pm the second day (it was around 40 degrees in the early morning hours the first day and around 30 degrees in the early morning hours the second day). Lucky for us, having been passengers on motorcycles already, we already owned all the warm weather gear needed for that temperature...but it was STILL cold! In the picture above, we are on a break between exercises, trying to warm up.

We took the "Basic I" course and the motorcycles were provided for our course so the bikes were perfectly sized for Melissa and I who are vertically-challenged (short!). We were both on little 125cc Suzukis (see us below by our assigned bikes) and they were perfect to practice on. Overall we had about 9 hours of range time and probably about 9 hours of classroom time. Melissa and I both passed the range evaluation (it's basically the equivalent of a "road test") and the written exam. All that's left is taking the written test at the DMV and we'll have our motorcycle endorsement! We are now seriously considering getting our own motorcycles so watch out world! Ha-ha! In all seriousness, if we learned nothing else this weekend, we learned that it's everyone ELSE we need to watch out for!~

Retreat on the Lake in the Mountains

October 17-19, 2008--

I had a wonderful time relaxing and recharging this weekend at a retreat on the lake in the mountains. I was blessed to be with some great friends (new and old)! Check out the scenery...isn't it amazing?!

Goodbye...you'll be missed!

October 17, 2008--

My brother Doug, my nephews Tristan and Ethan, and my niece Madison left town today on an airplane headed way up North to cold country. I'm sending a shout-out telling you that you are loved and you will be missed. Keep in touch!~

Jill, Jerod & Karsten Visit!

October 16, 2008--

Jill, Jerod & Karsten were in town with family and we had them over for dinner and a tour of the house! It was great to finally connect with them because they have been in town several times in the past 6 months or so and we are always busy. Karsten is growing up so fast and he's now on the move. He was too shy to show us his newest talent (walking) but I'm sure he'll be cruising along next time we see him!~

Earliest Snow on Record!

October 10, 2008--

Can you believe it? We got snow! It's not so hard to believe, really, since we live in this great mountainous State, but our home is in a relatively mild weather area so it was surprising. It was the earliest snow on record (since they started keeping track of these things in our area back in the 1930's)! It was unseasonably cold but the snow was worth it. It was beautiful! I didn't get a chance to take a picture of the snow until after dark but you can probably see enough of it in this picture to get the idea.~

Another great WWF!

October 2-4, 2008--

We had another great WWF (weekend with family)! Our cousins, Kole and Logan, didn't have school on Thursday or Friday so they, along with their parents (Uncle Kim and Aunt Lori), came to town for a few days! It was a lot of fun (despite the fact that Jeremy and I had to work on Thursday and Friday!) because they love to play games, a favorite pastime of ours usually only reserved for the holidays when we are with lots of family!~

A post out of order...and a BIG thank you!

October 3, 2008--

I was looking through my digital pictures today at lunch and realized that I totally missed blogging these photos! We owe a BIG thank you to Mom and Grandma for coming to our house a couple of weeks ago (September 16) and fixing dinner for us. It was such a treat!

On top of bringing and cooking a fantastic dinner (swedish meatballs with zuchinni!) they brought tons of fresh fruit and vegetables from Grandma and Grandpa's garden. (See picture at the bottom of this post.)

All of the fresh fruit and vegetables they brought (and the dinner they cooked) were great but the one thing I really have to brag about were Grandpa's table grapes...simply amazing. He's got quite a green thumb.




Thanks again Mom & Grandma (& Grandpa)!~

Bogus Creek Ranch!

September 27, 2008--

Gary, Melissa, Jeremy and I met at Bogus Creek Ranch for their Fall Brew Fest and a good time was had by all! The property was beautiful (Jeremy and I had never been there before this event), the entertainment was fun (in addition to the music they had "team" events like roping, mechanical bull riding and last, but certainly not least, stick horse racing!), and the food and beverages were fantastic (an authentic "Oktoberfest" dinner was served)! The night began and ended with a covered wagon ride to and from to the old Western town of "Coolwater." Here are a few snapshots of our adventure!~

5K Run!

September 20, 2008--

I participated in the St. Luke's Women's Fitness Celebration 5K, despite standing in the starting line for over an hour in the rain. (I later learned that the event officials considered cancelling the event because of so much rain, thunder and lightning.) The rain continued for the duration of the 5K (3.1 miles) but I wasn't deterred! I was surprised when I learned my "official" time was 36 minutes and 24.5 seconds since I had only trained for about three weeks before the run. Now I am motivated to continue training and running in future 5K events. Here is a not-so-glorious picture of me after I arrived home, still drenched from head to toe, proudly displaying my bib number.~

Another Fun WWF (Weekend With Family)

September 12-14, 2008

I finally got to meet our newest niece, Addyson, this weekend (see picture below with proud Dad, Andy) when we hosted her family (Andy, Sarah, Hailey & Hanna) for the weekend! She’s still such a tiny girl (she was a preemie) but is as healthy as ever and cute as a button.

They were in town for the company picnic (Andy works for the same company that Jeremy works for) and we thoroughly enjoyed their stay.

Our other nieces (Addyson’s older sisters) Hailey and Hanna really had a good time with Holly and Stanley (our dogs). We were happy to have someone else entertain the dogs for a change.~

Company Picnic

September 13, 2008—

Jeremy’s company picnic was held at a park here in town and was well-attended by local employees as well as several employees from branches as far as 2+ hours away. The weather was beautiful, not too hot and not too cold.

Although the preparation for the picnic appeared to be a joint effort by several in the management team (great job everyone!) it is certainly worth mentioning how much energy was put into the game preparation by Kristina & Devry. (Most company picnics I have attended over the years have not only had poor game planning, but the games have had little or no participation.) Kristina & Devry did a great job engaging most of the attendees in the games (kids and grown-ups alike) with classics such as the potato sack race and the egg toss as well as a few new ones (one involved shaving cream and as you can see in the pictures, the adults got a little out of hand—not the kids!)

Check out the slide show for pictures of some of the picnic-goers as well as the games.~

Grandpa's Visit

September 6-8, 2008--

Grandpa came to visit for a couple of days and along with some fabulous corn on the cob (thanks, Big Joe*!), he brought some great stories! And believe me, there are a lot of stories to tell when you're 75! For those of you who know him, you might find it interesting to know that he has a Coast Guard tattoo but never served in the Coast Guard. (Some of you may know that he served in the Army during the Korean War). Even more interesting, he got the tattoo in Alaska. Try to figure THAT one out! You'll have to ask him about it!

*The nickname "Big Joe" started about 10-11 years ago when we used to live next door to Grandpa and Grandma on the family farm and when he would phone our house we would occasionally (obviously jokingly) answer "Joe's Bar and Grill!" So he took to saying "oh, yeah? Well this is Big Joe!" (meaning that the boss was calling) so we started calling him Big Joe. I don't know if the rest of the Ihlers even know that's where it came from but it started to catch on and several of our family members call him that today, too.~

More Optimist Football!

September 6, 2008--

We had a great time watching Tristan's football team play their first regular-season football game. Tristan scored the first touchdown of the game and his team played really well (they won the game by a significant amount). Way to go guys!

(Tristan is number 82 and he has dark green socks on...he's not too hard to spot, he's the small guy in the middle of each of the photos.)~