Happy Holidays & Nykerk Family Pics From the 1950's

Carol and I had a fun day at Dad's house going over boxes of old pictures from the "good old days."  I brought along a small hand-held scanner that I used to scan in some of our favorites.  Many fun memories were shared, and good laughs along the way.  We sat around the kitchen table, and Dad joined us for several hours - he finally started to nod off, and returned to his chair, but not after amazing us, as usual, for his recall of events that happened during his military days and later, when we kids were little.  I'll share just a few here, but there are more if you're interested.  I wanted to be sure to digitally save these pictures, so that we can pass them to the next generation of the family.  Enjoy!

Quite the bathing beauty, or at least she thinks she is....

Mom looking beautiful in her high school graduation picture.  Did you know that it only took Dad a few months of dating mom before he asked her to marry him?  From the time they met, to the wedding itself was less than one year.  Guess he knew what he wanted!

Dad looking extra dapper; Billy and Jeanie sitting along with mom and dad on the front steps of the family home.....

This picture of Bill cracks me up!  I call him the "Great Hunter, along with his intrepid helper, Carol the Wonder Girl.  And then, of course, there's baby Jimmie. 

 

Why was it always so crowded in the Nykerk family pool?

Thanksgiving, Christmas Decorating, and More...

I couldn't resist - I'm such a sucker for nostalgia - I picked up these Christmas candles at an antique store while I was in Omaha - they're from the 1940's.

It's been 2 months since my last post - where in the world does the time go?  In a nutshell, it's been busy at the Hamberg's - with the help of Carol and Katie, (and Scott, for putting up the tree and lights!), I actually have our Christmas tree up ealier than ever this year!  It's a good feeling to decorate the house a little earlier than usual, in order to make time for other Christmas events.  We spent a nice Thanksgiving with Scott's family, but of course missed seeing all of you!  If you haven't heard the word yet, we'd like to invite you to our house for the Nykerk family Christmas this year - Pictionary and bingo will definitely be on the agenda, but stay tuned for more info once I get it figured out!  (Would welcome any of your thoughts or suggestions, too....)

I think I'll post some pictures at the end of this post, but before that, here are just a few things that have been happening lately.....

1)  Katie's landlords defaulted on their loan and have to sell the apartment she and Justin are living in.  They had until yesterday to find a new apartment; after lots of looking, they've decided to take the 3-bedroom apartment on the 3rd floor of the same building they're living in, and they're moving this weekend!  In other big news related to that, Dan will be their 3rd roommate!  Katie is looking forward to welcoming him to Chicago.

2)  Dave, Rachel and Ally spent the week of Thanksgiving in Conifer, Colorado visiting with Dave's folks.  They enjoyed a "huge" Thanksgiving dinner, and a couple of side trips around the nearby area.  Two of Dave's friends live close by, and they were able to see them, too.

3)  I attended a great crafts weekend in Omaha, NE a few weeks ago, called "Silver Bella", but unfortunately Carol got ill just before she was supposed to join me there.  I still had a good time (considering everything), but as you all know by now, a couple of days after I got home from that, Rachel and I flew to Portland to visit Carol.  We are so happy that she is doing much better, and looking forward to even better health for her this coming year.

4)  Scott is swamped at work, and some huge project there is taking most of his time.  Let's just say he is looking forward to retirement.  Speaking of working, it looks like I will be looking for part-time work after the first of the year, if you hear of anybody who needs a brilliant retiree who is very gifted in many areas; or, if they don't take her, maybe they'll consider me - haha!

5)  So looking forward to having all of the kids home for Christmas this year; Scott and I are greeters at the Christmas Eve service, so our clan hopes to see you there.  It's my favorite service of the year.

More to come on Christmas plans; in the meantime, enjoy some pics below.....

Katie was home for Thanksgiving week; it was great fun having her and Bella around....







My two elf helpers...



The Hamberg Thanksgiving - Shelley's daughter Megan, Mom Hamberg and Mark's wife Julie (sorry some of these pics are out of order; too much trouble to fix.....)



Seeing this one come off the plane in Michigan was a bit scary for children under 12.  Haha.



Candles from pic above, plus an old antique nutcup/brush tree Christmas assemblage and postcard from the 30's.  They make me smile.



While Katie was in town, she attended our "Hamberg Cooking School" - haha, don't laugh, she made a lot of very tasty dishes!  One nite, we invited Carol over to sample a wonderful pasta dish that Kate made; and afterwards, Carol stayed to help decorate our Christmas tree....

  

This and That.....

Even though I haven't been working all summer, it seems like I've been busier than ever!  As you know, Scott and I have been traveling quite a bit, starting with our trip to California to pick up our Pleasure Way RV.  Let me tell you, that was QUITE the experience!  Although we love the van, we had a few challenges on the way home - haha.  Turns out that someone put on the wrong shocks (which we didn't know until later), and about midway through our trip, we noticed that we seemed to be bouncing around quite a bit (understatement)!  At one point I was in the back of the van, laying down on the bed, and I bounced so high that I almost hit my head on the ceiling!  You should have seen us when we stopped in Chicago on the way home to show the kids the van.  We bounced our way in, and then picked them up and stopped in a Wendy's parking lot for a quick chat, before heading home.  (It's hard enough to drive in Chicago, but in a malfunctioning van, it was quite the experience - Scott did a good job getting us to Holland.)  Long story short, after some repairs and numerous telephone calls, now all is well, and we've taken the "P-Mobile" on a couple of more trips.  The trip back from California itself was wonderful - we just loved Sedona, AZ and of course the Grand Canyon, and then we went to Santa Fe and Taos, New Mexico; followed by a short stop in Denver, Colorado to see Cousin Dave, Mary, and even our cousins Nancy and Laila (Dave's sisters).  I hadn't seen Laila in like 40 years!  Great fun - I think she looks just like Aunt Lu - what do you think (she's in the purple shirt)?

 Here's just a couple more pictures from that trip, but if you'd like to see them all, I have loaded all them on my Facebook page:  RVing Out West

Below:  The P-Mobile near Sedona, Arizona - Red Rock country....beautiful!

What can you say about the Grand Canyon?  Absolutely breathtaking....

Then came our trip to Tuscany - are you KIDDING me?  Beyond gorgeous!  (only downside for me:  the driving!  We have many stories to share, including some driving escapades, at our upcoming Italian night - stay tuned for date and time....)

Here are my wonderful traveling buddies - we're visiting Cortona, an utterly charming hill town, where the film "Under the Tuscan Sun" was filmed....

Another shot of Cortona:

The Duomo (main church) in Florence:

Our last night.....(ahhhhhh, Rach, not sure what's up with that expression, haha.....)  Guess it was a long day...

We had a wonderful time - can't wait to show you all of our pics on "Italian Night" at the Hamberg's!  (If you want a sneak peek, mine are also posted on Facebook:  Tuscany

Stay tuned for more in a couple of  days, but for now......that's it! 

Visit to Colon a Delight!

Brenda, Sis and I had a super fun day in Colon yesterday!  It was so good to meet sweet little Taylie, and to see Jen, Jason, Macey and Kelsey, too!  We enjoyed going to the Amish store and picking up some bargains, and then out for ice cream - I have NEVER seen such BIG helpings in all my life!  The girls were delightful as ever, and brought many smiles to our faces throughout the day.  I am in awe of new mom, Jen, who looks like she just spent the day at the spa, and who balances her care of all three girls with humor, love and patience.  It was a wonderful day!

"Aunt" Jean was delighted to meet darling little Taylie.  I think she liked me!

Playing Memory with Aunt Brenda (see her legs?) and Aunt Sis.

Macey had such a pretty smile for the camera!

Kelsey is talking SO much more - she is a total trip.

Those pretty eyes are just starting to open up....

Macey and Kelsey love their new baby sister SO much.  I saw a lot of kisses all day.  Here, Macey wants you to see how she just gave Taylie a big kiss, and, not to be left out......

...so did Kelsey! 

 Jen, with her gigantic ice cream cone - all this for a little over $2.00!

 Mace and Kels shared a bowl....

 Bren - what did they call this concoction again?  I remember that it had peanut butter, fudge and bananas, and obviously just a little whipped cream - all for like $2.50.

 Back at Jen and Jason's, "Spice" dropped by with her new baby girl, Eliza - so cute!  Here are Sis and Jen holding both cuties...

"Bren, the phone just rang.  Can you answer it please?" Ha ha... 

 Here's where you can see that Taylie still has a bit of jaundice.  She looks like Eliza's new friend who just returned from her Florida vacation.....

Jen put both girls together in a bouncy seat while they were napping.  Need I say more?  Cutest thing ever!

So innocent....I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship!..

Kels and her upside-down sunglasses.  She is too funny for words.  What a complete delight!

On our way out of town, we stopped for gas at the same place we got ice cream earlier in the day.  I asked Brenda to take this picture, where the sign verifies that they are indeed "home of the big ice cream cone."  No kidding!

Thanks, Jen, Jason, Macey, Kelsey, Taylie, Brenda and Sis, for making this such a great day!  Love you all....

The Doobies + Check Out Our Italian Villa!

I have to admit, I'm pretty psyched about the upcoming trip to Italy that Carol, Rachel N., Jean H. and I will be taking - it's only about 6 weeks away!  Can't believe it.  Thought you might enjoy seeing the villa where we'll be staying - it's called "Fattoria Degli Usignoli", and here's the link:  http://www.usignoli.it/EN/index.php  (click on "ENG" on the right to see English version).

Last weekend while in Chicago we attended a Doobies Brothers and Chicago concert on Friday evening.  It turned out to be a perfect night weather-wise (so glad we didn't go this weekend!)  The two groups were fantastic, and the outdoor venue was awesome - had SUCH a great time!  Below are some pics of the concert, followed by a couple of pics from our trip to the dog beach the following day, and then breakfast at Rachel & Dave's on Sunday morning (where the doggies enjoyed getting blueberries and grapes out of the kiddie pool), just prior to our leaving for home.  It was a wonderful weekend - thanks for everything, kids!

Dinner at Moonshine's, near D/R's condo, prior to the concert on Friday eveing.

Charter One Pavillion on Northerly Island, near the museums