Since I've seen many post Friday's favorites, I thought I would do the same. Since I have so many favorite things, I had to put some of my most favorites in a slide show. If you click on it, you'll see the captions.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Luke and Lacie
Luke and Lacie are finally starting to warm up to each other...
I swear, they really are just playing!
I swear, they really are just playing!
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
The trip of a lifetime
So that I don't miss anything, most of what I post will be taken directly from my journal that I took with me on my trip. I wrote in it every day so that I wouldn't forget a single moment.
Saturday, May 15th, 1999
And so the day finally came for us to begin our journey to Holland. I've been so excited for so many months. Brent, Kim and Jenny brought me to the airport and then I started to get nervous. I cried with every little word anyone said to me. After we boarded the plane, I instantly settled down. We flew to San Francisco with the intent of flying from there to Amsterdam. While we were waiting in line to check in, the airline asked if anyone would consider re-routing their flight. If we would, we would get a $600 flight voucher. We all agreed to take them up on their offer. We flew to Vancouver BC, then from there to Amsterdam.
Sunday May 16th
The only problem was, our arrival time in Amsterdam was two hours later. Hans called our cousin Fritz to let him know and the airline said they notified our brother Rick (Rick lives in Colorado and flew out from there). When we arrived in Amsterdam, everyone was waiting. By "everyone", I mean several of my cousins that I had never met before. The greeting was a moment I will never forget. When I saw this group of people, though I'd only met one of them before, they ALL looked so familiar to me. I had this overwhelming feeling that I was coming home.
Straight from the airport, we went to our hotel. We ate at the hotel restaurant and although I had never been one to like fish much, I decided that on this trip, I was going to be brave and try different things. So, I ordered the swordfish and I must admit, it was delicious.
The first thing my mom wanted to do was to go see her sister in law (my Tante Pietje) so after dinner, my cousin's wife Jeanaa (pronounced Shauna), her son Marco and his girlfriend picked us up and took us to the retirement center where she lives. Tante (aunt) Pietje was waiting for us by the elevator and we all recognized her except for mom. Mom had macular degeneration so her eyesight was not that great but as she passed, the woman in the chair said "Daag, mfrau" (good day, ma'am) and out of courtesy, mom repeted it back and kept walking. We all started to laugh and finally mom caught on. We visited with Tante Pietje for about an hour and a half and when we were leaving, she gave us all a little tin with snoepjes (candies).
This is one of the painting that Tante Pietje has hanging in her room. My grandfather, Friedrich Johannes Wempe,my mom's dad painted this and several others. I personally have some of his paintings hanging in my own home as well.
Saturday, May 15th, 1999
And so the day finally came for us to begin our journey to Holland. I've been so excited for so many months. Brent, Kim and Jenny brought me to the airport and then I started to get nervous. I cried with every little word anyone said to me. After we boarded the plane, I instantly settled down. We flew to San Francisco with the intent of flying from there to Amsterdam. While we were waiting in line to check in, the airline asked if anyone would consider re-routing their flight. If we would, we would get a $600 flight voucher. We all agreed to take them up on their offer. We flew to Vancouver BC, then from there to Amsterdam.
Sunday May 16th
The only problem was, our arrival time in Amsterdam was two hours later. Hans called our cousin Fritz to let him know and the airline said they notified our brother Rick (Rick lives in Colorado and flew out from there). When we arrived in Amsterdam, everyone was waiting. By "everyone", I mean several of my cousins that I had never met before. The greeting was a moment I will never forget. When I saw this group of people, though I'd only met one of them before, they ALL looked so familiar to me. I had this overwhelming feeling that I was coming home.
Straight from the airport, we went to our hotel. We ate at the hotel restaurant and although I had never been one to like fish much, I decided that on this trip, I was going to be brave and try different things. So, I ordered the swordfish and I must admit, it was delicious.
The first thing my mom wanted to do was to go see her sister in law (my Tante Pietje) so after dinner, my cousin's wife Jeanaa (pronounced Shauna), her son Marco and his girlfriend picked us up and took us to the retirement center where she lives. Tante (aunt) Pietje was waiting for us by the elevator and we all recognized her except for mom. Mom had macular degeneration so her eyesight was not that great but as she passed, the woman in the chair said "Daag, mfrau" (good day, ma'am) and out of courtesy, mom repeted it back and kept walking. We all started to laugh and finally mom caught on. We visited with Tante Pietje for about an hour and a half and when we were leaving, she gave us all a little tin with snoepjes (candies).
This is one of the painting that Tante Pietje has hanging in her room. My grandfather, Friedrich Johannes Wempe,my mom's dad painted this and several others. I personally have some of his paintings hanging in my own home as well.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Why Holland?
For my readers that are not of my birth family, I thought I should let you know a little of my family history before I post anymore about my trip to Holland.
Back in 1952, my parents, Johannes Schippers and Gerda Wempe Schippers immigrated from the Netherlands to the United States of America along with their four children; Johannes Jr (Hans- age 6), Ronald (age 5), Edward (age 3) and Linda (age 6 months). This move, as my dad had told me, was to give a better future with more opportunities to his children. They came by boat into Ellis Island, NY
Back in 1952, my parents, Johannes Schippers and Gerda Wempe Schippers immigrated from the Netherlands to the United States of America along with their four children; Johannes Jr (Hans- age 6), Ronald (age 5), Edward (age 3) and Linda (age 6 months). This move, as my dad had told me, was to give a better future with more opportunities to his children. They came by boat into Ellis Island, NY
Ship's Manifest
and took the train to Pocatello Idaho where their sponser family lived. My dad spoke very little English, my mother and the children spoke none at all. From the stories my mom has told me, I believe it was within three weeks and my oldest two brothers were practically fluent in the American language. They were the ones that taught my mother how to speak the language. My mom also told me that listening to music all the time helped as well. My parent's philosophy was that if one lives in America, you must learn like the Americans and they did. 
Mom, pregnant with Rick, Dad, Eddie, Linda, Hans and Ron
After my brother Richard was born (in Pocatello), the family moved to Utah where my brother Glen and I were born. Utah became our "home" and this is where we now all reside, except for Rick who moved to Colorado several years ago.
The dedication page in my scrapbook that I started (and will eventually finish) reads:
"Holland - May 15th to 29th- 1999
The trip of a lifetime! Dad and Mom immigrated from the Netherlands in 1952 ad a few years ago, dad decided he wanted to take his children and their spouses to visit his homeland. Unfortunately, his health did not permit it. Dad passed away March 29, 1998 but his dream didn't die. My brothers, Hans and Glen announced on Christmas eve, 1998 that they were planning that trip. They expressed their concern for mom's eyesight and believed that if we waited much longer, she wouldn't enjoy the trip if she couldn't see well enough. They encouraged everyone who could, to join them. Because of financial issues, I hesitated, What's more important? In all, seven of us went. Hans and Penny, Glen and Michelle, Mom, Rick and Me. Our journey, the trip of a lifetime will last in my memory forever."
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Keukenhof, Netherlands 1999
I made a calendar last year for all my siblings to give them for Christmas. I asked those that had been to Holland to please share some of their favorite photos they had taken while there. Some photos are just scenic and some have family members in them. All are special to the individual that took them and I am sure there is a story behind each one.
My dear sister Linda, commented a couple of posts ago about this calendar and the photo for September. This photo was taken by me of our mother. While in Holland, back in 1999, we went to the flower gardens there, Keukenhof. (Forgive my ignorance of the geography in Holland but I can't seem to find if Keukenhof is just the name of the gardens or if it is the town. I have a book that refers to the town Lisse and says "the property Keukenhof near Lisse..." so I just don't know.)
My dear sister Linda, commented a couple of posts ago about this calendar and the photo for September. This photo was taken by me of our mother. While in Holland, back in 1999, we went to the flower gardens there, Keukenhof. (Forgive my ignorance of the geography in Holland but I can't seem to find if Keukenhof is just the name of the gardens or if it is the town. I have a book that refers to the town Lisse and says "the property Keukenhof near Lisse..." so I just don't know.)
The gardens were absolutely beautiful and the aroma was heavenly and while the guide book said to plan on a three hour tour, we were there for over 5 hours and still didn't see the entire garden.
My brother Rick with mom
My sister in law, Penny
Me, trying to fill some pretty big shoes
Me wishing I had room in my front or backyard to have a garden like this, scaled down to size of course.
Heritage
It started with my new dear friend Diana, when she suggested in my last post that I should post about my trip to Holland. Then I got an email from her and she stressed her point even more. Last night, I went to one of those home demo/sales things for an online scrapbook service called Heritage Makers. Some of the questions and comments that were brought up and some of the things my girls mentioned... then, today, I open my blog and there are two more comments on my last post from my big sis and my cute nephew Kevin. All of these comments, I am sure, are messages from "above".
My personality dictates that everything I do must be in chronological order. This is something that is very difficult for me to overcome but if I try to tell my story from the beginning, I will probably lose interest and so will my readers, whoever you are (hopefully, my friends and my children and grandchildren and so on). From this point on, I am committing myself to write something at least once a week about me, my story; where I came from, what I know about my parents and other things that are important. I hope that anyone who is a part of my family will leave comments as appropriate with mamories they have of any events that we share so that anyone who reads this in 50 years, will have an even better insight to the things I am talking about.
My personality dictates that everything I do must be in chronological order. This is something that is very difficult for me to overcome but if I try to tell my story from the beginning, I will probably lose interest and so will my readers, whoever you are (hopefully, my friends and my children and grandchildren and so on). From this point on, I am committing myself to write something at least once a week about me, my story; where I came from, what I know about my parents and other things that are important. I hope that anyone who is a part of my family will leave comments as appropriate with mamories they have of any events that we share so that anyone who reads this in 50 years, will have an even better insight to the things I am talking about.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Gerda, The little Dutch Girl
This coming Saturday, 9/19, marks the 8th anniversary of my mom's passing. Since my life is all about doll clothes right now, I wanted to make something in her memory. I have some little dutch dolls that she has given to me and my girls that and it also helped that I was able to find a pattern on the web that was nearly identical to the little dolls I'd been given as well as a picture of my mom and me we had taken while in Volendam, Holland, 10 years ago.
Yes, she even has real wooden shoes that I found at the Dutch Store. I had to sand them out a little with my Dremmel tool but they fit now. I want to paint them as well.
Yes, she even has real wooden shoes that I found at the Dutch Store. I had to sand them out a little with my Dremmel tool but they fit now. I want to paint them as well.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Burnin' Down the House
How long does it take to melt a half gallon container of honey that has crystalized? Now, I'm talking MELT the entire half gallon CONTAINER, contents and all?!
It takes approximately 2 hours. At least that's how long it took me to finally realize that it wasn't someone's dinner cooking. How could it be dinner cooking? My windows are all shut. I can't smell the neighbor's cooking from my basement and it's only 3pm. No one's cooking dinner this early. Where is that smell coming from? OH SHIT. The entire upstairs is filled with smoke, the kitchen, the bedrooms, everywhere upstairs. I made my way through the smoke to the stove and turned off the boiling honey and plastic. Grabbed a hot pad and took the pan outside to finish smoking and then opened all the windows. Boy, what a mess honey makes when it boils over. At least it disolves easily with water. My pan? Not so sure about that one. I haven't attempted to clean it yet but at least I got it all off my stove.
That white stuff in the pan is what's left of the plastic half gallon container
And it wasn't just this section of the stove. My entire stove was covered in honey. This is just where it got cooked on and was harder to clean.
So you're wondering what started all this? Well, I made a peanutbutter and honey sandwich for lunch today and because I am a thrifty shopper, I buy the giant container of honey from Costco and before I can use it all, it crystalizes. So, to make is pourable, I melt it down. I put the container in a pot of water and turned on the stove to LOW then went to my room to eat my sandwich and watch my soap. After that was over, I went back down to my office to work. Totally forgetting about the honey. The stupidest thing about all this is as I turned on the stove, I thought to myself, "Now, don't forget about this". Yeah, right.
It takes approximately 2 hours. At least that's how long it took me to finally realize that it wasn't someone's dinner cooking. How could it be dinner cooking? My windows are all shut. I can't smell the neighbor's cooking from my basement and it's only 3pm. No one's cooking dinner this early. Where is that smell coming from? OH SHIT. The entire upstairs is filled with smoke, the kitchen, the bedrooms, everywhere upstairs. I made my way through the smoke to the stove and turned off the boiling honey and plastic. Grabbed a hot pad and took the pan outside to finish smoking and then opened all the windows. Boy, what a mess honey makes when it boils over. At least it disolves easily with water. My pan? Not so sure about that one. I haven't attempted to clean it yet but at least I got it all off my stove.
That white stuff in the pan is what's left of the plastic half gallon container
And it wasn't just this section of the stove. My entire stove was covered in honey. This is just where it got cooked on and was harder to clean.
So you're wondering what started all this? Well, I made a peanutbutter and honey sandwich for lunch today and because I am a thrifty shopper, I buy the giant container of honey from Costco and before I can use it all, it crystalizes. So, to make is pourable, I melt it down. I put the container in a pot of water and turned on the stove to LOW then went to my room to eat my sandwich and watch my soap. After that was over, I went back down to my office to work. Totally forgetting about the honey. The stupidest thing about all this is as I turned on the stove, I thought to myself, "Now, don't forget about this". Yeah, right.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Say ChEEEEsey Bread!
One of the advantages of being an Oma is that I get to enjoy spending time with my grandkids while their momma's and daddy's do their own thing. Friday night, I got to spend time with my cute grandson Jase. When his daddy dropped him off, we were just about to have some pizza from Papa Murphy's. I also purchased an order of their cheese bread. Jase must not have been hungry because he didn't want anything to do with either... until about 9pm. I found him in the kitchen eating the old left-over piece from his plate that I had not cleaned up. It had gotten a little hard but he found some soft parts and was eating his way around it. I broke off a fresh piece from the nearly 3/4 round that was left and handed that to him and gave him some milk. He had it almost all gobbled up when he decided to get down off the chair. No sooner had he stepped foot onto the floor when our new puppy had stolen it right out of his hand. I gave him another piece and that one seemed to be safe for a while. I walked out of the kitchen and a few minutes later, Brent called up to me. "Honey, did you really give this all to Jase?"
Well, NO, I didn't. (I had put it in a ziplock bag on the counter) but he seems to be enjoying it and now that he's got it under his arm, we'll just let him eat what he wants. I grabbed the camera to get this shot but three seconds later, guess who stole the bread right out from under Jase's arm? Yep, the new devil dog herself. (Sorry, didn't get a photo of that because she kept running to hide like she does everytime she knows she has something she wants but shouldn't have like a mouth full of kitty litter stuff but that's another story).
Well, NO, I didn't. (I had put it in a ziplock bag on the counter) but he seems to be enjoying it and now that he's got it under his arm, we'll just let him eat what he wants. I grabbed the camera to get this shot but three seconds later, guess who stole the bread right out from under Jase's arm? Yep, the new devil dog herself. (Sorry, didn't get a photo of that because she kept running to hide like she does everytime she knows she has something she wants but shouldn't have like a mouth full of kitty litter stuff but that's another story).
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Back to earth
The last few days have been a bit foggy. As I mentioned several posts back, I have tremors. aka; benign essential tremors, aka; familial tremors. What ever you want to cal it, it's just an annoying thing to have. I have complained to my doctor for a couple of years about this and he wouldn't do anything. Finally, he gave me some beta blockers. This, as mentioned in a previous post is basically a blood pressure medication. My BP was 110 over 70. Very normal. After taking the beta blockers for one month with no relief, I went back to the doc for a follow up and my BP was 90 over 67. Hum, how much lower do you go before it's dangerous? I don't know but it was only a 2mg tab and the doc said because it was such a low dose, that's probably why it didn't help so... he sent me to a neurologist.
This guy was creepy.
He appeared to be in his late 60's, perhaps early 70's. He spoke so quietly (and stupid me, forgot to put in my hearing aide) but he also spoke with his head down so it was difficult for me to understand him. But, the thing I disliked most about this man was that everythinhg I said, he would come back with a comment to make me feel absolutely stupid. He continually referenced Katherine Hepburn and that my shakes are not nearly like hers and that some people thought it was a wonderful characteristic of hers... blah, blah, blah. I wanted so badly to scream, "Listen doc! I don't want mhy tremors to become as bad as Katherine Hepburns, that's why I am here NOW". He just kept telling me that there hasn't been any studies on this "genetic syndrome" since the 70's because it's juszt not that big of a deal. So here I am sitting in his office, there for some help and he starts to ask me if I have any other pains or issues.
Doc: Does your back hurt?
me: No.
Doc: Does your neck hurt?
Me: yes.
Doc: How long has it been hurting?
Me: oh, about 10 years
Doc: Why does it hurt?
Me: I don't know, mahybe stress.
Doc: does it ever make grinding noises?
Me: Yes
Doc: Well, we better get an MRI done then.
Me: So you think that has something to do with my tremors?
Doc: NO, I never said that. Just because you neck hurts, doesn't mean your head will shake. Most people come to me with a list of 8-10 oomplaints. You only came to me with this one and there's not mujch we can do about that one. But here's a prescription for Primidone. It's a drug from the 70's that they used back then to treat tremors but we need to get an MRI done on that neck of yours.
Me: Umm,OK
Doc: Come back in a couple weeks.
So, I went out to the receptionist. She called and scheduled me an MRI. It was for the following day I didn't go. I didn't get my prescription filled until a week later. Tuesday of this week, that is. The prescription was to take one pill, three times a day. I took my first pill that night. I woke up at 4am, my usual time, attempted to get up to go to the bathroom and I couldn't walk. I had no balance and no sense of control. After starting to come to my senses around noon but with my head still fuzzy, I figured that maybe if I take just one pill, in the middle of the day, maybe the timing of the effects will be worse while I am sleeping so that I can concentrate at work. I knew that taking three pills a day was out of the question. Taking them in the middle of the day made me extremely sleepy and I felt like I was very drunk. I just wanted to sleep all the time.
So, after all of this, I have come to the conclusion that my tremors are just going to be a characteristic of mine. (me and Katherine Hepburn). I've decided that having the tremors is better than being high all the time.
This guy was creepy.
He appeared to be in his late 60's, perhaps early 70's. He spoke so quietly (and stupid me, forgot to put in my hearing aide) but he also spoke with his head down so it was difficult for me to understand him. But, the thing I disliked most about this man was that everythinhg I said, he would come back with a comment to make me feel absolutely stupid. He continually referenced Katherine Hepburn and that my shakes are not nearly like hers and that some people thought it was a wonderful characteristic of hers... blah, blah, blah. I wanted so badly to scream, "Listen doc! I don't want mhy tremors to become as bad as Katherine Hepburns, that's why I am here NOW". He just kept telling me that there hasn't been any studies on this "genetic syndrome" since the 70's because it's juszt not that big of a deal. So here I am sitting in his office, there for some help and he starts to ask me if I have any other pains or issues.Doc: Does your back hurt?
me: No.
Doc: Does your neck hurt?
Me: yes.
Doc: How long has it been hurting?
Me: oh, about 10 years
Doc: Why does it hurt?
Me: I don't know, mahybe stress.
Doc: does it ever make grinding noises?
Me: Yes
Doc: Well, we better get an MRI done then.
Me: So you think that has something to do with my tremors?
Doc: NO, I never said that. Just because you neck hurts, doesn't mean your head will shake. Most people come to me with a list of 8-10 oomplaints. You only came to me with this one and there's not mujch we can do about that one. But here's a prescription for Primidone. It's a drug from the 70's that they used back then to treat tremors but we need to get an MRI done on that neck of yours.
Me: Umm,OK
Doc: Come back in a couple weeks.
So, I went out to the receptionist. She called and scheduled me an MRI. It was for the following day I didn't go. I didn't get my prescription filled until a week later. Tuesday of this week, that is. The prescription was to take one pill, three times a day. I took my first pill that night. I woke up at 4am, my usual time, attempted to get up to go to the bathroom and I couldn't walk. I had no balance and no sense of control. After starting to come to my senses around noon but with my head still fuzzy, I figured that maybe if I take just one pill, in the middle of the day, maybe the timing of the effects will be worse while I am sleeping so that I can concentrate at work. I knew that taking three pills a day was out of the question. Taking them in the middle of the day made me extremely sleepy and I felt like I was very drunk. I just wanted to sleep all the time.
So, after all of this, I have come to the conclusion that my tremors are just going to be a characteristic of mine. (me and Katherine Hepburn). I've decided that having the tremors is better than being high all the time.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
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