Abigail's First Birthday & Storm Update

Since the ice storm last Thursday evening, hundreds of thousands of homes in this area have been without power. Please pray for all of the electricity, cable, and phone workers who are doing repairs... along with the many families who are trying to keep warm. Thankfully, little by little, power is being restored.

Jeff, Tracy, Tressa and Abigail came over to my house on Friday to stay over since they had no electricity (therefore, no heat) at their home. The challenge? Abigail's first birthday party and brunch was scheduled to be held at their home the very next morning. The solution? Since their power still wasn't restored by then, everyone was called and asked to come on over to my house.

Abi is very funny, and her eyes are so expressive. You can usually tell what she's feeling with just one glance. She's becoming better and better with using sign language for food, milk, all done, more, etc. And, she is cuter than ever! We can't wait until she says more words. Abi's life basically centers around being amused by her family (especially her sister, Tressa) and eating (and yelling for) CHEERIOS! So, Jeff and Tracy thought that Cheerios would be a great party theme for this first birthday! We think all of the church folks, the children and their parents had a fun time!

Here's the birthday girl who is getting ready to devour her cake. What a cutie!
Tracy is soooo good at decorating cakes. This one is quite plain compared to most of her creations, but we think this expressed the theme very well. This was a very delicious half yellow, half chocolate cake. And, yes...(because I know most of you must be wondering), that bowl is made out of cake. It is covered with red icing, the milk part is white icing, the cheerios were thrown on top, and Abi's spoon was inserted for the final touch. Pip pip cheerio, Abigail!

This is definitely the "AFTER" shot. Abi sure LOVED that icing!! YUMMY!

After the party wrapped up, we had an enjoyable day resting around the house, trying to stay warm, and watching movies. Because our church building was without power on Sunday, we met at a local funeral home (right by our pastor's house) for worship and heard a great sermon on the responsibilities of a father and husband. We weren't able to hold our usual noon "potluck" meal because most of the members still didn't have power to be able to cook, so we drove to Highland to enjoy a delicious lunch together at Farmer's Restaurant. You should have seen how many tables were strewn together. What a bunch! Jeff and Tracy were relieved to discover that their power was restored, so they left my house. It was kind of sad for me as I enjoyed having the company for a few days, but I know they were relieved to finally go home. We also received the good news that Sister Elaine and Brother Tom, Sister Wandena and family, and Sister Barb and Brother Paul all received their power back late Saturday or late Sunday. We're still praying for Brother Alan and his parents, my boss Phillip and his wife Shelley, and so many others we know from church, from work, and around the area who don't have power.

Easton Farm Memories

We lived on a farm outside Easton, IL from the time I was 4 until I was almost 8. Dad was a farmhand, and we lived in the big farmhouse on the farm. I always remember that time fondly, and I often miss country life.
























It seems I started out being a pet lover at a very early age. By this time, I had already known our dogs Jasper (our Pekingese), Moe, and Sparky (our black lab) - along with the many cats and ducks I had in pens and in the barn. Here is a picture of Snowball and me sitting on the back steps of the farmhouse. (And, yes, those are socks with sandals!)

Here's another picture taken right around the same time, and this was my first day of attending school. I remember it clearly, and I love this picture of my brother and me. Mom had us pose on the porch while we waited for the bus. And, often Mom and Aaron would wave at me from the front porch or the front window while I entered or exited the bus. It was always so nice to have them sending me off and greeting me when I came back home each afternoon. I loved school, but I always missed Mom, Dad, and Aaron when I was there. (Ahhh... more socks with sandals!)

Here's one more. I always thought Aaron was such an adorable little boy! Seeing this picture make me smile. We are sitting in the big recliner at the house of our neighbors, Paul and Norma Sebade, and they were always so kind to look after us on the rare occasion that Mom needed to go somewhere. Mr. and Mrs. Sebade raised pigs at the farm across the road from us. The pigs were always fun to see and play with, but the smell wasn't that great! Aaron and I would have fun visiting with the Sebades and their children. (Too bad we can't see my feet in these pictures. But, we can see some of Aaron's cute clothes: the Snoopy shirt!)

Last, but not least: the formal picture. Doesn't it look like we love each other SO MUCH? Aaron...again, adorable. It seems we must have had some sort of wholesale contact for these "bow barrettes" so that we'd have them in bulk in every color. WOW! (Anyone want to take a guess on what I was probably wearing on my feet? If I were a bettin' woman, I'd go with white socks and white sandals.) See, this is the same look that I had for the first day of school, sans the pigtails. The back of my picture says that Aaron is 2 years and 2 months old here, so I'd be 5 and 1/2 years old in March of 1979. I believe Aaron is sportin' the look of one of Mom's very own custom hair cuts.

Storm Scenes from Strem's Place, Part One

Here are some of the shots from down the street and around my neighborhood. All through the night, I could hear the limbs cracking, ice crashing, and power lines going down. I live in one of the oldest sections of Edwardsville, so we have very old and very tall trees. Little by little, power went out section by section all around me. You'll see a picture of a young tree in my neighbor's yard. It was a beautiful tree with maroon leaves...they called it a plum tree. But, it looks like it might be a total loss. Some of my neighbors have so much clean-up to do...and have lost some beautiful trees. (Click or double click on any picture to see a larger version.)



































At about 4:30 a.m., the fire trucks started going around the neighborhoods to assess the damage and try to move limbs, if possible. So, there is yellow tape all over my neighborhood. I had to find a route out of it. And, I had to wait until some men came out of their houses so that they could help me move limbs out of the road. Most of them were trying to stay inside their houses to save their heat - since they had no power.

Storm Scenes from Strem's Place, Part Two

Here's a picture of my bridal wreath bush. It usually looks almost exactly like my forsythia bush (directly below)...which stands next to it.





Despite all of the damage to the homes, yards, and trees, there is a lot of beauty too. Here are some pictures of my neighbor's Japanese maple tree, the sweet gum balls on my sweet gum tree in my back yard, and the power line right in front of my house.

Storm Scenes from Strem's Place, Part Three

Even though everyone around me was affected, I was blessed in retaining power...and I am very thankful. It did go off and on several times throughout the night. However, I was the only one in a four block radius that seemed to have power this morning. Hopefully, it will still be on when I get back home this evening, and I hope my neighbors will have their power restored. Either that, or I will need to be making them hot cocoa throughout the night.