2004 News Archive
December
2004 is rapidly winding down and
proven itself a very exciting and monumental year for our family with Jessica's
marriage to Jason. With the holidays rapidly approaching we are engaged in
preparing for our annual open house for neighbors and friends, early Christmas
with Barb's brother, Bob, sister, Janice, and nephew, Henry and his family in
Topeka -
and Christmas eve and day in
Wichita,
Kansas with our new in-laws and Jessica and Jason.
November
A cold and wet start to the month
which we hope doesn't indicate a long and cold winter! Well, after a few warmer
days, that cold and wet forecast is back - especially the night of the 10th -
the
Bette Midler Concert at
Omaha's Quest Center.
Brisk northerly wind, rain, and falling temperatures made the walk from the
parking lot to the concert venue more than a little on the damp side, but well
worth it for the hours of highly entertaining "Divine Miss M's" talent we
received. For the Thanksgiving Holiday Barb and I traveled to the Lynne and Walt
McIver's farm near Abbyville, Kansas where food and friendship was abundant.
October
The month begins with Barb's birthday
on the 1st. Barb, Rachael and John celebrated with a great meal at Charleston's
Restaurant. On the 21st and 22nd Barb and John traveled to Iowa's
Amana Colonies
near
Iowa City.
Barb got to shop in the various towns in the Colonies and check out the nearby
outlet mall.
The photo above is of beautiful fall leaves in the Colonies. And guess what -
John found another radio for his collection - a 1941 Zenith Model 6D526 Table
Radio in an Ingraham cabinet.
On the 31st we called Jessica and wished her a very happy 30th birthday. Next
weekend she and Jason fly to
Las Vegas
for the weekend for a late birthday celebration where they will be staying at
the
Bellagio.
September
A quiet month - so far . . .
we had a "Farewell Dinner" for our good friends, Linda and Marvin Larsen on the
5th - hosted by Carole and Mike Berger. The Larsen's are moving to
Des Moines, Iowa, where Marvin will
head up an expansion office for his architectural firm. Only a couple of hours
away from Omaha, we expect to be able to keep in touch easily. We celebrated our
35th wedding anniversary on the 13th with a great dinner at Rick's Boat Yard
Cafe near Omaha's refurbished riverfront Lewis & Clark Landing . . then off
across the Missouri River to Harrah's Casino where we did our best to contribute
to their bottom line.
August
What a strange month of weather - a lot of cloudy
days, only a few days above 90°, lots of rain - just not
your normal hot and humid August. We'll probably pay for this in September and
October with soaring temps! On the 8th we drove to Topeka to catch Jessica and
Jason for a couple of hours as they made their way from Wichita, where Jason
participated in a friend's wedding, to Kansas City for their flight back to
Houston. It was good to see them even though the visit was short. While in town
we also visited with Barb's brother Bob's family and her sister, Janice. Rachael
made day trip down and back with us. Speaking of Rachael, she was in St. Louis
for two days (10th & 11th) of meetings at NETCO's Central Order Processing
facility there. She met some new people and picked up some new job-related
information while there. The
annual air show at Offutt
Air Force Base (StratCom) was on the 21st & 22nd this
year - the weather cooperated - not the usual blistering heat and humidity wave
that accompanies late August in Nebraska. Lots of displays and aerial shows!! Jason celebrates the BIG 3-0 on the 28th and we wish
him a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
July
We attended the Blaine Hill Reunion in Hutchinson,
Kansas on the 24th and on our way back to Omaha spent the 25th in Abilene with
friends Colleen and Rex Cearley where we had a great chicken dinner (that's all
they serve, folks!) at the historic
Brookville Hotel.
John also caught up with old friend, Bill Robinson, with whom he used to run and
play tennis. On the 15th Barb and I spent
the morning at the
zoo where
we visited the newly complete Gorilla Complex. After that we took in the
rainforest, aquarium and the nursery where there was a baby orangutan and a gorilla. The weekend of the 4th we traveled to
Manhattan,
Kansas for Barb's 40th
Manhattan High School
Reunion. Lots of memories relived, some others no one could really remember
specifics of (old age, you know), and lots of laughs and catching up on current
news.
June
GREAT concert last night, June 27th, from
Simon & Garfunkel and the
The Everly Brothers. Sure brings back a lot of
memories . . such as how old we are getting! Next week it's off to
Manhattan, Kansas for Barb's 40th high school reunion . . gee, that also
reminds us of how OLD we are getting.
May
We have several activities this month - on the 8th we drove to
Pella, Iowa for the
Tulip Time Festival complete with
beautiful flowers, local Dutch-founders' history, parade, and more. On the 30th
we will travel to
Topeka, Kansas to visit relatives over the
Memorial Day Holiday. Then we can't forget that SCHOOLS OUT FOR SUMMER!
Congratulations, Barb . . you made it through another year!
April
This month John traveled to Houston to attend the
U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships at the
Westside Tennis Club. Jessica and Jason were generous in sharing their tickets
during the early rounds so that John could see players such as
Andy Roddick in action.
March
What a magical and wonderful wedding day for Jessica and Jason!
Surrounded by family and friends in the beautiful gardens of
Houston's River Oaks Garden Club under a bright
sun and 75° temperature, they read their vows in an emotional ceremony. What a
great way to start a new life together! Jessica has truly found in Jason someone
to love and with whom to share her dreams, aspirations and interests for a
lifetime. We are so happy for both of them. Check out their
wedding photos and video on this site in
Jessica's Wedding
on the main menu above.
February
And there's more, you say -
how about another 12" the following week with schools closed for yet another
day. That uses up all the "slack days" in the school year so if any more snow
days occur the school year will have to be extended to compensate for the lost
time. The current 22" of snow still remaining on the ground from these last two
snowfalls is the most snow groundcover for February in
Nebraska in recorded history.
January
A
very interesting (and completely Nebraska-like) start to the New Year. On the
2nd, Barb and I enjoyed a sunny 60° day at the zoo . . . and on the 4th we're
looking at 6"-8" of snow, high winds, and temps in the teens. But . . wait . .
there's more . . on the 27th we were hit with 12" of blowing snow that shut the
city down (Barb was particularly upset that the schools were closed . . yeh,
right). Accompanied by a nighttime low of minus 5° and 30 mph winds a fun time
was had by all . . I lied about that, too!
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