My Brother, The Auctioneer

I always admired my Brother Don's skills and abilities as an Auctioneer, but seldom have had an opportunity to be "in the ring" and help him spot bids, hold up items, or whatever. However, this was an event at UN-L East Campus back in 1992 when the Soil Conservation Club held a "Hired Hands" Auction. (We didn't call it that in those days). As I recall, it was a very successful event. The Club was active with environmental plantings on Campus as well as providing some scholarships. Don had a very successful career as an Auctioneer, having been President of the Nebraska Association and Auctioneer of Year on one occasion. He is basically retired but still has the ability to hold a audience with his ability and humor. He and I also sing "The Auctioneer's Song" at family events.

The Champion

Yesterday I posted a group picture of the Florence and Tony Vrana

Family Reunion that was coordinated by Brother Don, Gladys and family at Syracuse, NE in July of 2003. I finished scanning pictures of the event today and thought this one was outstanding. He had obviously just won the Championship Ribbon for Mutton Riding and wasn't sure how to react. His big blue eyes indicated that he was pleased but not necessarily elated. The Mutton Bust'en was just one of the many events that took place during the parts of 3 days that we were together. They included; Horseback riding, Softball games, Hay Rack Rides, Golf, along with a lot of singing, visiting and eating. We have had family reunions since then in California, Colorado, here in Seward, up in Tomah, WI and the last one at Mahoney State Park. They have all been good but this '03 event has been hard to beat for the wide variety of activity. I not sure what is on the agenda for the next one. Janice and Larry are already planning to be back in Seward this summer for a special HS Class reunion. Elaine and I plan to celebrate our 70th Wedding Anniversary on June 5. That may generate a lot of family and friends whether it's called a Reunion or whatever.

Family Reunion at Syracuse

We were pleased to hear from Brother Don that they are bringing a couple daughters along and will be up to visit us on New Years Day. I can't think of a better way to spend it.  When we were kids we always went to our Grandparent Walker's since it was their Wedding Anniversary, it followed Christmas Day there, since that was Grandpa's Birthday. This picture was taken during a "Florence and Tony Vrana" Family Reunion at Syracuse, NE on July 11-13, 2003. I scanned our original print at 600dpi so it should enlarge. I have no idea how the original was taken. Don, Vivian, Janice and I are seated in the front row. Jerry didn't make it but Cindy is seated between Janice and Elaine. Eddy had passed on recently. Larry Sorge is between Vivian and Janice.  Don and Gladys have their 4 daughters seated with them. We had a Great Time doing a variety of things over the 3-days we were together. I noted in my Journal that I was able to identify everyone there by their first name. I wish I could do that today. Don has sent us some good family information recently which helps. Maybe we can go through it on Tuesday.

Whitman's Sampler

A box of Whitman's Sampler has been part of our Christmas for many years. It was the item I gave to Elaine along with whatever the major gift may have been. I gave her an engagement ring for Christmas in 1948 but must have also given her a "box of candy" when we went to Tamora for a Flowerday get-togather on Christmas Day. If not then, it may have been held off till the next day when I took her to a Family Dinner at my Grandpa Walker's. As time went on and the Kids came along, the tradition was continued. We had some question about this year since I didn't find one while shopping Monday while she was at the Beauty Shop. Then, "Lo and Behold" when Ben came up to take us out to the Owens for Christmas Dinner, he brought us this box. We are enjoying it as we eat one choice piece at a time. We have even shared it with a special guest. When it is gone, I'm sure Elaine will find a use for the box. For years she kept my old "Love Letters" in an early one I'd given her. It is ironic that we have watched an NET program on the Nebraska Blizzard during the winter of 1948-'49. That was also my first year with USDA, Soil Conservation Service.

Old Red Wings

This pair of old Red Wing boots came into view today as I scanned pictures from 2002. I would have bought this pair soon after we moved back to Nebraska in 1980. Julie got a similar pair recently and told Carolyn about being with me when I took the one for the left foot, in to Spence Shimmerhorn, and had him put a little patch on the toe. It seems I had hit it with the chain saw and cut a hole. If you look closely, a little hole even shows up in the patch. I must have worn these for working out at the farm and in our back yard for 20 years. It appears that I had on new ones at the time I dropped theses in the garbage can. Julie was real pleased to get a pair for herself with leather shoestrings just like mine. I believe she may have even gotten a pair for John to wear for yard work.

Christmas Day

Jack is pretty proud of his little Toyota electric car that he got for Christmas. Sadie got a fancy doll house with all the trimmings. She seemed to enjoy Jack's car more than what his interest was in her doll house. By afternoon, it was neat to watch Jack back up into places where he had to turn the wheels first one way and then the other. He understands all about shifting gears and going slow. I told John that after his growing up with a "Toy" like this, he will probably be able to drive his Dad's SUV when he's 10 years old. 

We had a great Prime Rib Dinner with potatoes, sour kraut, pink stuff, etc. eggnog and Chocolate cake for dessert. Some of us attempted to play a new card game that had been a gift, but we didn't get very far with it. Ben and Carolyn brought us home and went on to their new house where they slept last night for the first time. They were able to get the Mover's to come yesterday with the weather outlook questionable for the next few days.

I had the first taste of cake before taking the picture is why the point is missing. It was delicious. The little wine glass is from a set that we had for many years from Czechoslovakia.  Tim called this morning and we had a good visit about they're not getting with their kids until next week end. Jon called after we got home. They were down in Florida visiting Heather and will be out here next week. He is on unpaid furlough. We talked to Verlon this evening soon after his getting home from Ed and Katie's who have been close friends for many years. Dr. Vahle stopped bye to visit so all-in-all, we had a great and Merry Christmas, which we extent to all viewers.

Nativity Scene

St. Luke, Chapter 2. verse 6 And so it was , that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. 7 And she brought forth her first born son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room in the inn. 8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. 10 And, the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

     This message is being repeated around the world this season and Nativity scenes are symbols of the story. This "stable" on our table with the baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph, the Wise men and Animals, has been a part of our Christmas preparation for many years. When we moved, Carolyn kept the box with this, at her house and brought it up recently along with Sadie and Jack.  They were the ones that set it up   with this configuration. Elaine's guests have commented on the appropriateness of this arrangement. Merry Christmas to All.

We Live in Interestng Times

We had a church group sing for us this evening as we had our Potato Soup and sandwich supper. They was a larger group that shown and brought along a Comfort Dog for people to pet. After singing for us they went down the hall and sang for the folks in the assistant dining room which we could still hear as "background music". Some people had finished eating when Jeremy told people to wait on other folks coming in. It was Jim Luebbe and his wife from the Goehner area that had sacks of "goodies" for each of us. The sticker on the sack indicated that they were "Thrivent Action Items".  They had parked the cart with the boxes of sacks, near where we were seated. This gave us a chance to visit when they finished their distribution of sacks. 

Jim had written a very scientific letter to the editor of the Seward Independent on Costco's proposed Chicken farms that was in this weeks paper. He was a Civil Engineer who worked for Olson's for a number of years and also continued to carry on his Dad's aerial crop spraying business. After complementing him on his excellent letter, someone mentioned that we live in interesting times. It was a coincidence that while visiting with son Verlon this afternoon. he mentioned that the ancient Hebrews used "May you live in interesting times" as a most severe curse. When Jim heard the comment that was made about interesting times, he mentioned that it was an old Hebrew curse. How interesting that I had never heard the curse bit and then hearing in twice in the same day. I attempted to confirm it on Wikipedia but most references told of it having a Chinese origin.

Excellent Visit

Here are a couple more of my favorite pictures of the year. This was taken soon before the second one of the first day of school this fall. Sadie is in 1st grade Jack is in preschool. He was the first pupil in the room the day school started. That is very typical of him. He has very definite ideas and one of them is that he likes to lead. Sadie's a good student with much different ways of doing things. We really enjoy the privilege of their coming to see us like they did with their Dad this morning. We not only enjoyed the kids but also the help from John this morning. He was pretty brave in coming up to talk some business after the stock marked went down like it has this past week. We had missed talking during the week because of playing telephone tag. After satisfying my questions and making a couple decisions, I asked him to set down to the computer and search for a file that got displaced yesterday. After a few minutes, he caught on that it was already on the desktop but mislabeled. I had earlier spent 2-3 hours looking for it with no success.  I couldn't have asked for a better visit or visitors.

Family

Back in the olden days when we took pictures with a camera, put them in the PC computer, and select 100 or so that I would put on a couple collages at the end of the year. This year I put my smart phone, selected pictures as well as some others in a file on the desktop of my Laptop. This evening I went through that file of some 180 pictures and picked this one to use as we approach Christmas. It is of Tim, Carli and Archie. Tim is a Grand-nephew (brother Don's grandson). He is an EMT with the Lincoln Fire and Rescue Department. They visited us earlier this year and Archie was just as cute then as on this picture. As we enter this season of "Good Will to Fellow Man", we need all the smiles and "good cheer" that comes our way with all the problems in government, the stock market, etc.

Big Day

Lonnie Piitz entertained with his accordion and his family stories this afternoon. He played a few Polkas and Waltzes but it was mainly Christmas songs. While he played and invited us to sing along on the old favorites, he even had a request to play and sing "Grandma got run over by a Reindeer". It took him a while to find it but he came up with it, pausing while he turned the books pages. While he's good with the accordion, it is his "down home style" of talking about his family that we enjoy. His wife has recently changed jobs from working with Nebraska Game and Parks in Lincoln to the USDA NRCS office in David City. This gives her more time with their 4 daughters. He was able to call several of the residents by their first name and is even a Facebook friend with some. We had our "Christmas Dinner" here this noon at one long table. After prayer, we had salad, breaded shrimp along with some roast beer, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, a roll and cheese cake dessert. We will finish the cheese cake that we brought home for a bedtime snack. I enjoyed an hour of Boston Pops Holiday music on NET 12 while Elaine went to an evening social of Methodist ladies here at Brookdale.

NOEL

     Julie and Jack stopped by this afternoon when they were up this way to pick up Sadie from school.They delivered a great box of fruit, candy, etc. they had ordered from Oregon. We will enjoy it over the Holidays. After his one cookie, Jack headed for the NOEL figurine display.This has been in the family since the early days of our marriage. Somewhere along the way, it became tradition to move the angels around to have it spell LEON. As the 3rd or 4th generation "Angel mover" Jack just moves them around and challenges his mother to pronounce the word it spells. It was enough fun to even take priority over playing with his Texaco trucks. 

      Carolyn took us up to see their "finished" house earlier this afternoon. It is just great. She was able to pull right in to the garage where I commented that it was the cleanest and whitest garage I'd ever seen. (It's all finished out with white drywall and is larger than our first house). 

      This evening we went on a Brookdale tour of Christmas Lights at homes in Seward. They just seem to get more special every year. Our weather has been great for putting out lights and decoration but will likely change before time to take them down.

Microsoft Word

Jon was able to come back out and spend some time with us again tonight after having spent the day working with people in Lincoln. He will fly back to Washington, D.C. tomorrow. His visit here was very timely in helping me learn some of the "tricks" in the WORD program. Just a few minutes ago he showed me how to "search by date" through trash, which would have saved me having to redo a file yesterday. This updated version of Word provides for the computer doing some of the thinking for you. I am typing up our "Highlights of the Year 2018" and am doing it by the Month and Date. It assumed that I wanted the dates listed consecutively instead of the date when something happened that I wanted to list. Trying to just delete the consecutive date and manually enter the desired one was almost impossible until Jon showed me a way to get around it. There were 2-3 other examples of the computer trying to help and Jon was able to show me how to overcome its help. I will do more work on it tomorrow before I forget the "tricks" even though I made notes. Kids in school and people working in Office settings don't realize how lucky they are to be able to ask a fellow student or worker about their problems.

P.S. I am so lucky to have a Dad that, at his age, works so hard and persistently to continue to fine-tune his computer skills. It is my pleasure to share my knowledge of computers with him. Gives us Father-Son bonding times. (Jon)

Jon surprised us.

Swapping Stories and Telling Tales

Spending a wonderful evening with Mom and Dad. Started out interesting. I surprised them while they were enjoying the Ki-Tones.

We reconvened in their apartment and have been swapping family stories and tales ever since. Also a good time looking at photographs that Dad has scanned and learning who everyone is.

My journey to track my Irish ancestry continues and it is always a pleasure to talk genealogy with my Mom. The trials and tribulations that our emigrants went through to make it across the ocean and then establish themselves in America fascinates me. Everyday I learn something new about what they had to go through.

Finished Scanning 2001 pictures

I finished up scanning 125 of my 2001 pictures today and this is one of the favorites among the group. A lot happened during that year including 9-11. This was a "siblings" lunch where sister Vivian and husband Eddy, brother Don and wife Gladys, and Elaine & I, would get together and have lunch in Lincoln nearly every month. Since Eddy and Vivian have passed on we haven't been that regular and rely more on telephone conversations. Don will be having a birthday tomorrow and we had a good visit within the last week. He is 4 1/2 years younger than me and still playing golf when the weather permits. He and Gladys have an outstanding family. Don recently sent us a list of the birthdates of their extended family which helps me keep track  when on Facebook. The Nebraska men's basketball team just beat Oklahoma State 79-56 for their first win over a Big-12 team since joining the Big-10.

It's Beginning to Look Like Christmas

'Twas 10 days before Christmas and out in the hall,

the stockings were hung for the residents, all.

One of my gifts was delivered today,

for recording events that come into play.

It will let me keep up a long standing tradition,

of entering happenings in a daily edition.

It started with a 5-year Diary when I was fifteen,

and filled 7 before switching to a Journal so keen.

I'd be lost without this duley recorded bit

of what happened, when, and able to find it.

Apologies to my friend  and poet, Ted Kooser for taking some liberties with  his and other poet's skills and abilities.

Nebraska Volleyball in Championship Game

I didn't get a blog page written last evening with having watched the Nebraska-Illinois volleyball final four game in Minneapolis. Stanford had swept BYU in the earlier game. Nebraska got off to a good start and led 14-11 before Illinois went on a 7-2 run and won the first set 25-22. It was the first set that the Huskers lost since Nov. 16 at Purdue. The Illini jumped to a 6-0 lead at the beginning of the second set when Coach Cook used up both of his time-outs. They came back to get to 19-15 but lost the set 25-16. At this point, I was about ready to give up and accept defeat. Mikaela Foecke got going in the 3rd set with 7 kills on 16 swings  for a 25-23 win despite 6 service errors. Nebraska's Sun had 6 kills in the 4th set. Her 4th kill stalled and Illini run and another kill gave the Huskers a 20-18 lead. They went on to win the set 25-20 and tie the game. Illinois came back to lead 7-6.  With Nebraska back in the lead 12-11, Foecke's attempted kill went out of bounds making the score 12-12. In what was probably the biggest play of the game, Coach Cook challenged the call. After a lengthy discussion it was determined without doubt that Foecke's kill was finger touched by an Illini defender. The score was reset to 13-11 with Foecke getting 1 of her 4 kills in the set to win 15-11 and the game 3-2. I was probably as excited watching the last hour of the match of any volleyball game I remember. Stanford will be tough tomorrow night in defending our National Title.

Past Peaceful Times

This is one of the many pictures that I came across today in scanning Advantix pictures taken in 2000. This one in the backyard of our house is of school teacher Carolyn and college student Julie along with Elaine and I. We missed having Julie around since she had just moved into a Dorm down at UN-L. We had a busy day so I didn't spend my normal amount of "picture" time but enjoyed the other activity. It included a visit from a dear friend from the church that brought up a neat little floral gift. Some folks who moved to Brookdale from Arizona a few months ago invited us to their unit for coffee and cookies to get better acquainted. They were from Wisconsin originally and have family here in the area. We were pleased to strengthen our friendship and look forward to future discussions. On our way back to our unit, we met friends who were going to a "Sing with Eli" session in the Dining Rm. so we joined them. We sang Christmas songs and told Christmas stories and received small treats. I was able to get a short nap before going to a good Supper with Chocolate Pudding dessert.  Then my brother Don called me this evening with interesting news about their future living plans. The National political news also took some time, but all-in-all, it was a great day.

Joyfully Sing

The "Joyfully Sing" ladies entertained us this evening with a Christmas Program in the Dining room at Brookdale. The 10 women were lead by Cindy Navis and put on a good show. The group began as a Trio at St. John's Church here is Seward some 25 years ago. I'm sure that Cindy has had a lot to do with the size and quality that they are today. We have known Cindy who led the Kitones at one time when I  was singing with them. Her parents were instrumental in getting the Kitones started some 50 years ago and continued to lead and provide accompaniment for many years. These are all local ladies with the one at the right end being the owner of the Beauty Shop that Elaine patronizes. There was a nice sized crowd that really seemed to appreciate and enjoy the singing. The audience was even asked to join in the singing of several of the old favorites with words on the hand-out program. It was a most inspiring program which we thoroughly enjoyed.

Heavy Snow in 2000

We finished the scanning of our 1999 pictures today and got set-up to move into 2000. This is one of the pictures from that year and looks a lot like we are seeing on TV in Virginia and North Carolina. We talked with son Verlon this morning and he reported at least 11 inches of snow in Richmond. We've seen several pictures of Boone, NC with a heavy amount of snow. It is the location where Carolyn got her BA from Appalachian State University and a community in western North Carolina where we became pretty familiar. I have mixed emotions looking at this picture of me with the snow blower. I'm thankful to have "moved on" and don't have to be concerned about moving snow anymore but their is something nostalgic about my physical condition at that time and the satisfaction of having the equipment to do a good job cleaning off the driveway.

Importance of Words

This is one of the pictures that I came across this afternoon while finishing the scanning of our 1999 pictures. It was taken down at Cattle Bank with me as part of their Halloween exhibit. I blended in pretty well with the rest of the characters but didn't really plan to use it on my blog page. However, as I've written before, we don't miss watching Rev. James Keck of First Plymouth Church  on Sunday mornings. His message today was on the History of the English Bible. He took us from the original Hebrew 3,000BC years ago through the translation to the Greek in 2,300BC and the first English translation by John Wycliffe in the 1360's. The original "King James version" was released in 1611 with numerous translations along the way to the "Revised Standard Version" in 1990. According to Rev. Keck the word "Behold" was taken out of that late revision. He feels like "We become what we Behold" and is a vital word in our understanding of the original intent of the scriptures. I also followed up with the computer on this subject but still questioned if I had sufficient knowledge to tackle such a subject so tossed in the Halloween bit.

Good News

We had an enjoyable visit with Julie, John, Sadie and Jack this afternoon. Jack hadn't pulled out his Texaco trucks at the time of this picture and looks a bit bewildered by the puzzles. Sadie has really matured during this year with being in school 5 days a week. Jack just goes to preschool on Tuesdays & Thursday. He continues to amaze us with his vocabulary. While enjoying the kids, it is always good to get caught up on what's going on in the Owens world. John and I even sneaked in a bit of business discussion and will be giving me a call next week. Julie's "Red Wing" boots were a topic of discussion. She remembered my having a pair with a small patch on the toe. It seemed that I had snagged it with the chain saw and had the local "shoe repair shop" put on a patch. She remembered being with me in getting the repair. I had   another new pair after that which went to EtCetra when we moved up here to Brookdale. Carolyn took us up to see the progress in their new house yesterday. She is real proud of the stones on the fireplace. The builders are down to the finishing details.  Everything seems to have worked out well so far, and it should be all finished before Christmas.

We had good phone calls today from Tim and Jon. Tim continues to be busy writing "briefs" for his Social Security Disability court cases. His avocation of announcing HS basketball games gives him a lot of satisfaction. Jon's activities are a "world apart" from Tim's as he works at the Department level in USDA and is currently involved in a task force looking at tracking the many steps in the certification of environmentally produced food products. He continues to be involved in the planning of a Hugh Hammond Bennett memorial. We enjoyed switching channels to see the Duke basketball team outscore Yale 91-58 and  Nebraska beat Creighton 94-75. Even more exciting is the Nebraska Women's Volleyball team sweeping Oregon tonight and will play Illinois Thursday in the Final Four at the Target Center in Minneapolis.

A Date which will Live in Infamy.

The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Territory, on the morning of December 7, 1941. The attack, also known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor, led to the United States' entry into World War II. This will be the first Anniversary of the attack when there is no longer a single survivor of the Battleship Arizona. It has been 77 years which indicates that only those in or beyond their 80's would have a personal memory of the event. I certainly do and also have the memory of seeing the draft of President Roosevelt's speech where he crossed out the word "forever" and inserted "in infamy".
"President Franklin D. Roosevelt: Yesterday, December 7, 1941—a date which will live in infamy."

Elaine and I had an opportunity to visit Hyde Park and the FDR Museum, which has since been destroyed by fire, and saw the draft under glass.  My Webster's Dictionary defines the word "Infamy" as: "shameful notoriety, wickedness" What a great choice of words. 

President George H. W. Bush, RIP

We continued to watch the funeral services today for President George H. W. Bush. We missed James Baker's Eulogy this noon but were able to pick it up tonight on C-SPAN. It was obvious from his comments and emotion, that the President and his Chief of Staff were very close, and long time "Friends". We are now enjoying comments from George P Bush, Texas Land Commissioner, son of Jeb and 41's eldest Grandson. He concluded his comments by saying that "George Herbert Walker Bush was the most generous, decent man, he had ever met." It was very fitting that the Grandchildren were involved in the Service extolling the virtues of Christian Love. Rev. Russell Levenson, Rector of Saint Martin's Episcopal Church in Houston, TX added to the dignity of the service in his sermon with bits of humor. As we watched the train ride from Houston up to College Station, Elaine and I were reminded of the trip we had made over that route. We traveled from Seward with my sister Vivian and her husband who was doctoring at the M. D. Anderson Clinic in Houston. It was on the 4th of July 2001 that we stopped by and toured the President George H.W. Library on the campus of Texas A & M. I remember seeing an exhibit that depicted the President's Oval Office which was an excellent duplicate of the real thing. We went on to visit the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, saw the Houston Astro's win a game in Enron Field while admiring the train, and went on down to Donna & Soucek's Park Model before heading home.

Jon Meacham Eulogy

The funeral of President George H. W. Bush has been outstanding and will continue to be down at College Station, TX. There have been many notable comments made during the past couple days. I believe that the Eulogy given by Jon Meacham, the President's biographer, was tops. I listened to it again this evening and felt that every word was perfect. Meacham obviously knew the details of Bush's life and had the professional ability to choose just the right words for his message. I understand that Meacham read it to H.W. some time ago and it's no wonder that #41 responded by saying, "That's a lot about me". The selection of each subject and every word was chosen for a purpose. It is  admirable for someone to provide an example that is so different than what President Trump does in his tweets. I can only hope that our current President learned some things today from Meacham and others. The TV coverage was excellent today and will become a historic memory for millions of people around the world. The front row of past Presidents and Trumps was impressive.

Tim Javorsky at Brookdale

Tim Javorsky entertained this afternoon at the Brookdale Facility here in Seward, NE. He played Saxophone (3 of them) and sang songs of the Season for a solid hour. He is a very good musician and his voice is of the Bee-Bob order which makes for interesting entertainment. He is from Lincoln and travels throughout Nebraska with as many as 3-gigs/day. He has an electronic accompaniment which provides background for his singing and rhythm for his music. It is all scripted and programed to where he goes from on song directly to the next. I didn't realize that there were as many seasonal songs as what he sang. Of course there were several that I had never heard before. "When the Reindeer ran over Grandma" was one of them. But with all respects he included many of the old favorites.  Elaine and I both enjoyed it and look forward  to seeing him back before too long.

President George H.W. Bush, RIP

The Body and Family of President George H.W. Bus were flown to Washington DC today where #41 lies in state in the rotunda of the Capitol. The family delegation was led by George W. Bush #43. The news coverage today was great. What a reminder of the great service that President Bush provided to this Country throughout his long life. It was not only his experience in international relations but also his sense of decency, his respect for the Office of President, and for others that set him apart. I believe our Founders must have recognized that the criteria for being President changes over time with the varying conditions that exist within this Country and throughout the World. My personal memory includes 11 Presidents and President George H.W. Bush brought to the Office, the highest level of general qualifications of any of them, in my opinion.

Christ the King

Days like today remind us of how fortunate we are to be living here in Brookdale. After over an inch of rain and snow flurries yesterday, we woke up with a covering of snow, strong winds, and temperatures in the low 20's. We have become regular Sunday morning listeners to Rev. Jim Keck's sermons from First Plymouth in Lincoln on TV. He reminded us that this is "Christ the King Sunday" and that it was  Instituted by Pope Pius XI in 1925 when "Nationalism" became a concern.  Keck reminded us that "Christ is Love" and God is King. And, that if you want to have a good life, "have friends".

It was a real pleasure to sit in my big chair  with the chocolate milk that Elaine had prepared and watch the Nebraska men's basketball team beat Illinois 75-60. We also continued to enjoy the many tributes to President George H.W. Bush. He certainly had many personal qualities and a wealth of experience in positions to qualify him to be President. 

We had the pleasure of telephone calls today with Carolyn, Verlon, Tim and was unable to get in touch with Jon. It was a good day, Elaine even helped me finish up my work on scanning 1996 pictures.

Family Picture

This is a group picture taken at the Florence and Anton Vrana family reunion at Mahoney Park in early July of 1996. I apologize to the girl at the left end of kids setting in the front row. We don't have names but recognize most of them. Some of you may recognize yourself and see some changes during the 22 years. We have had a busy evening of TV sports with Duke beating Stetson in Cameron 113-49. The Nebraska girls volleyball team swept Missouri and will move on in the NCAA Tourney. We are now watching Ohio State lead Northwestern 24-14 with 11 minutes to go in the 3rd quarter for the Big 10 Championship. I put in several hours scanning '96 pictures while listening to the George H.W. Bush tributes and local weather reports of wind, rain and snow.

Family

In scanning our old pictures, I find that we saved the pictured Christmas greetings along with our regular ones. Here is Gina Jo Vercellino. Next comes the Goodwin family with Thomas, Emily and Phillip. While these 4 pictures do not include all of the Florence and Tony, Great-Grandchildren in 1995, these are the ones for which we have Holiday pictures. The nest picture is of Ethan and Anthony McWilliams.  And, the final picture is of Kristine and Mathew Deseck. It helps us to realize how time flies when we think of all the great things these Children are doing today. I didn't check the group picture of our family reunion at Mahoney in

1995, but I would hope that this generation would be able to keep some family connections. Though families are located further apart, we have technology to help span that distance. I follow some of my Grand Nieces and Nephews and enjoy the many things they are doing. These pictures will be included along with our regular December 1995 ones that I will put on a flash drive for the use of future generations.

Siblings in Las Vegas, NV

This was one of the more amusing pictures that I came across while scanning 1995 pictures. This was taken during the summer when Vivian and Ed, Don and Gladys, Elaine and I, flew to Las Vegas and met Janice and Larry to spend a few days together. Among the many things we did was visit the Antique Auto Show at Cesar's Palace. Souceks were in the front seat with Sorges in the back. I was elected to crank it and Elaine took the picture. Don and Gladys may have been in the Casino where he had a streak of luck. Each of us couples gave him $5. to "invest" for us. While we played on our own, we never had the luck that Don did. He returned $100. to each of us for our $5. Eddy did well at the Black Jack table and walked out with $60. as we were checking out to go home. Jerry and Sondra were not able to join us on this "sibling" get-to-gather" but we certainly had a great time. It was well that we did so many things when we were able. While we enjoyed them at the time, we can now enjoy the happy memories.

Family Ties

Bob and DeEtta Vrana were out from Lincoln to visit this afternoon and we had a great time. Bob is shown here looking at an "Ancestry" book that Elaine has put together. When DeEtta and Elaine were looking at it they even found pictures of Bob with brown hair. She missed getting to see Tiffany who was here at the time DeEtta was the head of this facility back in the mid 1980's. She did have a great reunion with Jackie who was also here at that time. Bob retired a few years ago as a Lt. Colonel in the Nebraska National Guard with previous service in the U.S. Air Force. He is still kept busy with volunteer activities. DeEtta was in Kiwanis during the time she worked here in Seward and works part-time now in a mortuary. Bob's Grandfather Joseph and my Dad Anton were brothers and first generation Czechs. Bob spent some service time in the Czech Republic where he was able to find some family history. While the family had Reunions every summer for many years, it has dwindled down to a quarterly newsletter. While we enjoyed our family history discussion today, we also covered current events and concerns about the future of the many changes that are taking place in this country today.

Accomplishments

This was one of our coldest days so far this winter. It was in single digits this morning and never got out of the 20's. I wasn't anxious about taking Elaine to a 2:00pm  appointment at SHEAR Reflections so she got a ride down with Ken in the Brookdale vehicle. It's a great service since he was right there to also bring her home. She got it cut as well as the "wash and set". We will probably utilize the service more often in the future.

Elaine also helped me this morning in working with the Lincoln Journal Star in renewing our subscription for 1 year. We were able to get it for the same price that we paid a year ago. It is a somewhat lower price than normally quoted. We didn't get the paper today which made me realize how much it is part of our daily routine. We do a pretty good job of sharing here in Brookdale with passing on our Omaha World Herald to Marv and he brought us his Lincoln paper. He also brings us the Wall Street Journal which is passed to him. It is really a great paper. While it goes into great detail on financial matters, it also has very broad coverage. Much more detail than most of us ever take the time to read. The future of Daily Newspapers has been discussed, but to those of us who grew up with one, it would be very difficult to do without. How else would I have learned that Duke is going to host Indiana tonight at 8:30 CST on ESPN. Having finished my reading for the day, I'm planning to watch it.

Christmas Decorations

Carolyn, Julie, Sadie and Jack were up this afternoon to put up decorations and "trim" the Christmas Tree. Carolyn had kept our small nativity scene, NOEL, tree ornaments, etc. in a big "tub" at her house since cleaning out ours for the sale. The tree looks real nice this evening as we got it moved in front of the Patio Door drapes. It wasn't all done without a certain amount of folly. Jack seems to have a knack of seeing an opportunity for having some fun in everything that he does. He put up the NOEL angles as his Mother directed him. It will take another year or two for him to move them around to spell "LEON" as was always secretly done when our kids were growing up.

The stocking cap must have come from a Santa Claus at sometime, but it was in the tub and Jack was able to keep it on his head long enough to get his picture taken. It didn't take long for Jack to get in the tub once all the decorations were out. Sadie was tempted to put the lid on it but was warned that could be dangerous. They had a great time doing the decorations and we will think about them as we further strengthen our "Spirit of Christmas". This we will do each time we glance at them between now and the day of Jesus' Birthday. There has never been a time within my memory, when the love of fellow man and goodwill to all was needed any more than it is today.