Greens Get To Open Christmas Gifts

Jennifer created these two beautiful quilts to give to Addie and Jasmine in their favorite colors. We traveled to the Green house to open these gifts.

Addie liked her quilt and posed underneath it for the blog.

Jazz also posed for a picture.

Stella wanted to be photographed so another picture was needed.

Alex added to his beer making equipment. He was just practing with the big glass flask. Where quality was the focus of his early attempts as brew-meister . . . quantity is now available with the larger brewing containers.

Miriam received sewing classes, but declined to be photographed, wishing instead to show off her new book. We are all expecting homemade ties and underwear for Christmas next year. Check back in 12 months for an update.

Old Folks Having Fun

Pictured above are some old folks I know having fun. Let's get together for dinner and lots of great talking and laughing. (Must also serve health food fish, rice, peas etc. ...)

Then we will break out the Sequence game and play a round or two of men against the women folk. As so often happens, the men are able to carry the night with four wins to the ladies lucky two. They were good sports about their situation.

Good Friends - Ron and Sue

Good friends, Ron and Sue, came for a visit today. They live in Livingston, IL. We became friends when we were working at Zion in Staunton, IL. We went to the Urban Flea Market (former Charlie's) where Sue found a book about Ron written some 25 years ago. What a find! Sue also got a metal table.

So much interesting stuff. The girls found more to purchase than the guys. Don't they look like they are having fun? I often see items from my youth as I walk the flea market.

Paul almost got this fur lined coat, great for our cold and snowy winter weather. Jennifer was styling in her red hat. Isn't there a group for ladies wearing red hats???

Cousin Janet

We were able to make connections with Jennifer's cousin, Janet. Janet is a school librarian in the south east part of Missouri. She was visiting her daughter, Melanie, and we met up for lunch.

This is a Lutheran sandwich. Two Lutheran surrounding a sweet Baptist girl. What fun to see relatives. We are looking for a job for Janet so that she can move to town. Anybody got openings? As you can see she is in pretty good shape for work...

Christmas in Texas

Attended Sarah and Andrew's church for their Christmas Eve Party. Here are the Texas Bakers in front of the tree.

Christmas morning the kids discover the stocking table. Oh what fun!

Let the opening begin... Lots of new things to play with...

Kitchen time... Lots of mouths to feed during our stay...

Finn and Jack are always eager to interact and explore. Not many pictures of Sawyer as he was not feeling himself this visit. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good day...

It's All Relative

Jennifer's mother, Lois, had three sisters making four Tinsley girls. When her Lois' father, Ralph died, her mother remarried to Ferdie Haas and had two more children -Jerry and Linda Haas. Ferdie had been married twice before (both wives died) and brought to the marriage 7 children. Yours, mine and ours added up to 13 sibs and step sibs. As you might imagine, this is a bit confusing for an outsider (Paul) to keep straight. Pictured above are Jennifer's cousin John with his wife Jean and their two children, Kyle and Hannah.

This is Jennifer's cousin, Alan, and his two kids and two grandkids... Alan is so much fun at a party. He is often is the bingo caller at family gatherings.

Uncle Bill, Aunt Eva and Aunt Louise are pictured here. Eva and Louise are sisters of Jennifer's mom, Lois. Is this posting clearing up for the family tree for you?

Eva and Bill have three children. You've already met their son John. Here you see their daughter JoAnn and her two kids, David on the left and Jennifer in the middle. Erica is David's girl friend. Jennifer is holding her son, Will, while Joann is holding David's son Colin.

Here is Jerry, Jennifer's uncle. His last name is Haas. Pictured also are his wife Elaine and a street urchin who was wandering the neighborhood. No, really, Hannah is pictured above with her grandfather Alan, but she loves to be photographed.

Here is Jennifer's brother Norm and his wife Sandy, and us with sweet girl, Stella... Any questions?

We all had a great time and I'm doing my best to remember everyone's name and relationship status until next year.

Traveling Home To Bountiful

Jennifer and I had the honor of traveling to Rolla to share a meal with family on her mom's side. These are part of the Tinsley/Haas group. This gets a little confusing because her dad side is also a Haas group. Really Jennifer had two sets of grandparent with the same last name Haas, however her mother and father were definitely not blood relatives. You would think she grew up in Arkansas. We took Stella because the big girls had two birthday parties to attend. Stella was great on the trip and a hit at the party.

When we returned from the Rolla party we were invited to stay for supper at the Green house along with Dan and Mary Magnus. Dan and Mary brought Christmas gifts (outfits) for the girls and here they are modeling in front of Miriam's retro Christmas tree... Ain't it great? Or as my mom would say "nuts is trump!"

What An Honor

What an honor to be named a power couple of Springfield. I am sure most people in 417 land are saying, "Who are they?" What a joy to have such a wonderful woman at my side. My ten minutes of fame are about over. I think the red sofa warms my skin tones?

Phil and Mary Come to Town

Phil and Mary, Jennifer's sister and brother-in-law, stopped by for a quick Christmas visit today. We wanted to have them experience some of Springfield's finest, so we had lunch as the Gastro Bistro Pub and then visited Obelisk--a furniture design store owned and operated by one of the Power Couples. Above you can see Phil, Mary and Jennifer at Gastro Bistro and below you will find Nathan, Jennifer, Mary and Phil at Obelisk.

We were privileged to get a tour of the furniture display space, as well as to receive an excellent explanation by Nathan of the entire design process. It was fascinating, even for someone like me.

Surprise Visit to See Santa

I was minding my own business at the school on Saturday morning when Ms. Carter call and said,"Bring your girls over to the Forest Clinic - We have Santa here and not many kids have showed up." I checked with Alex who said the girls were available but he was cooking for a party. So Papa loaded up the three muskrats and headed over to see Santa. Cross paths with the Wanners while there. The twins wanted very little to do with Santa and Stella wanted nothing to do with the "man". Maybe next year.

A Beautiful Walk Along South Creek

I can not tell you how nice our fall has been. The weather has been brilliant for so many weekends... Today was no exception. I took this picture to share the beauty of our walking area. We are so blessed...

Dinner with Friends - Steve and Berna

We were invited to attend a special get-to-gether for couples who had received assistance at the Crisis Pregnancy Care Center in Springfield. Steve and Berna taught many of the couples a relationship smarts class during the last year and the dinner was to celebrate the arrival of their little babies. The room was full of babies... Great evening.

Church With the Girls

What fun to take the girls to church early so their parents can get ready and join us. Nana is so good at providing fun things to do... Some of the most fun is after the "big man" quits talking and we head to the gym for a donut...All of this makes church such fun.

Some Of My Favorite People

Ran across this picture over the weekend. It includes some of my favorite people. Can you quess who they are? Little A, Albert and Meme. Year must be about 1979 or so... Love that yellow, white and red shirt... A little walk down memory lane...

Out and About in Springfield

Another fun day in the Ozarks. After church and a great lunch of eggplant, J and I headed to the Festival at the Japanese Gardens. We walked and looked at many interesting items. Above is Jennifer lingering by the pond.

Paul sat for a moment to rest his tired body. These gardens are designed to provide rest to the weary souls... I found mine.

Wickman's also was having a special day. We drove over so I could get my free popcorn... It was delicious and worth every penny of the free price.

Dawn's House Warming

Ended the day by attending a house warming for Dawn and Ellie. They recently moved into their new house in Rogersville. Met lots of fun people. Talked to a couple of sweet young ladies who are open to a dating relationship. Give me a call and I will work my magic. Happy new house Dawn and Ellie. Like what you have done to the place...

Beautiful Day for a Ride

It was the most beautiful day on Saturday. To celebrate God's goodness the Bakers decided to take a bike ride on the South Creek Trail that runs just behind our house. Jennifer looked great in her Glacier t-shirt. Wish she would have smiled for the photo. She is really a babe on a bike...

We rode to Close Memorial Park and Jennifer took this picture of Paul. He is just a biking machine. Nice legs huh? We were surprised to see car after car enter the park. It was the Japanese Fall Festival at the Japanese Garden. Lots of people.

The gardens are beautiful, just like the picture above. We are waiting for the opening of the new Botanical Garden building. It will happen sometime in October. Pictures will be forthcoming.

On our bike ride, we also met C. Major Close. He was hoeing some weeds in a new planting area. He is connected to the money given to purchase and start Close Memorial Park. We enjoyed talking with Major and told him we had a Minor in our family. He really liked Jennifer. He has been married for 53 years and didn't get married until he was 27. Do the math.

Volleyball Fun

Got to attend a high school volleyball game featuring former students. What a great joy to watch these young people continue to grow in their character and skills as time goes on. The Mostrom girls, Gabi and Danielle, played for Parkview and Oliva Brand played for Glendale. I saw some old friends, Joe and Joy, who were watching their daughter, Kate compete and the Carters who were also in attendance. Glendale ended up winning the match. Both sides played well...

Happy Birthday Nana

While lunch was being prepared the girls tried out some new markers sent from Texas by Aunt Sarah. Even Stella gave it a try... Took Miriam a little effort to get them all looking at the same time... This was JB's birthday lunch. Salmon, salad and a delicious chickpea salad (Miriam the health food girl - Didn't see it coming when she was a kid).

Hiking In Oregon

What has Jennifer been doing the last few days you ask? She traveled to the west coast with friend, Mary Magnus, to so some hiking and sight seeing in Oregon. Pictured about is the hiking group. These ladies come from across the nation to spend time and see new places.

Here, Jennifer and Mary are at Crater Lake. It is 1900 feet deep and thus very blue. It is some of the cleanest water in the United States.

Notice the jackets on everyone. While putting up with some of the hottest weather of the summer in Springfield, Paul, had to hear tales of cold and windy on the west coast.

Jennifer loves her morning pancakes. These small platter sized cakes kept her going all morning. This hiking is hard work. Jennifer landed just past midnight early Monday morning and then had to board a plane for Washington less that nine hours later. I am posting some pictures without her supervision and proof reading. Please excuse any grammer or spelling mistakes. She returns on Thursday to begin again caring for her man.