Happy Holidays from the Hollsteins

Hi Family,

It has been awhile since a new post so I thought I would jump in and contribute. We have been having a lovely fall here in Lincoln and have even managed a nice vacation recently. Back in September, we visited NYC for the first time. Paul and I had never been and his mother, who loves to travel, came along with us on a great trip. We feel like we saw a lot of sites in just a few days and even caught a Broadway show. Fortunately, we were ahead of the hurricane, what devastation! We are so grateful that Cassi is ok and many were able to evacuate before the storm. Here's a few pics from our trip:

 

 This sculpture was right across the street from our hotel in midtown Manhattan.

 Biking thru Central Park...

The Empire State Building

Cassi and Michael, who patiently answered all our questions about life in NYC!

The World Trade Center Memorial site--museum to open in Sept 2013.

Our only mis-adventure this fall was Paul's bike accident. He actually ran into a car that had stopped suddenly and he required some plastic surgery to get his face back in place. His co-workers were razzing him that it was a lot of drama for a little eye-lift:) This is when we're fortunate for health-insurance and bike helmets! He is doing great now with just a few minor scars to show for it.

 

For Halloween, we dressed Lily up as a hot dog again this year. She doesn't seem to mind and the trick-or-treaters love it! Almost every kid that comes to the door comments on her costume, it is pretty fun!

More recently, we went out to a tree farm just south of Lincoln and chose a tree for our living room. I love Christmas time and decorating, so we decked the halls as soon as we got the tree home. It is looking great in our large picture window. Happy Holidays and hope to see you all soon!

Love,
Kelly

BOOM! BANG!!! CRASH!!!! INCOMING!!!!

Well that can only mean it's one person...yup, you guessed it right!  Hahaha, it's Suz crashing the blog.  What up all?  Well, not much to write, well okay, tons to write, but not going to write it all.  I've got way too much to do today (fall break) and yet, I'm not doing it.  LOLOLOLOL!  Anyway, here is a quick update of what's going on.

1) Started school full time in August.  Studying Graphic Arts.  I LOVED Web Page and Web Graphics I and hopefully will take Web Page II and Web Graphics II this spring so I can get my certificate in Web Page Development.  That's one of the ultimate goals I have: creating and maintaining websites.  Any of you need sites updated or revamped???  I'm the one!!! :-D  I am REALLY enjoying my coursework (minus the stupid visual-spatial difficulties).  I REALLY like the layout and design part of it.  I have figured out that I want to do layout.  I'd love to design logos, but no can do.  My visual-spatial skills are too impaired for that.  But if I can do the layout and design and web page, I'm good :-).  I will have an Associates degree in two years.

2) Finally got a job!  I walked out on Walmart in July (long story behind that).  But I have started at Pump and Pantry at the old Byco station.  I am working my 4th day today and so far I like it.  I'm learning the register and almost running it like a pro.  It's a nice and small convenience store and not super busy, so my sensory issues won't become too much of a factor.  It's the perfect size for me and my Asperger's, so I'm good to go :-). 

3) I did another presentation relating to autism.  This time, I went to Fillmore Central High School and presented to the resource team and a mother of a freshman who is autistic.  I believe he has Asperger's.  But I got to share my experiences with transitioning from high school to college and what I found helpful, etc.  I was dubbed the "walking Rolodex" because I could spit out various names and books dealing with Aspergers.  Hehehe, but that's what you get when you have someone like me who REALLY wants to learn about my condition and how to deal with it :-D.

Not much else, that's the main things that is happening with me.  I will be in Council Bluffs on November 15th.  I'm debating on whether or not to go to the conference that has a young adult track that deals with autism and Aspergers Syndrome, but we'll see.  Either way, I will be going to my TSO concert :-).  It's an annual tradition that I go and therefore, I will be stopping in to see my grammy on the way of course...so someone warn her other than me and my mom!  LOL!  And I JUST purchased my ticket, so that's in the books :-D.  Now, if I go to the conference, I'll be missing school all day...so I'll have to look at that.

And finally, here is a link for you to go visit on YouTube.  I sang at church yesterday, and I had it recorded.  I uploaded it for someone to see, as she couldn't come in from Grand Island.  So here is the link.  Go view the video and let me know your thoughts! :-)  I gotta run, pack supper and get ready for work.  I've eaten SO unhealthy this past week :/.  Dang work and school :-P.  Talk to you all later.

The Hurt and the Healer Video

suz

Our little fence pictures

At our last trip to the dog park, the kids were climbing on the fence which I happened to notice looked very similar to the one from the previous posts.  So I snapped a quick pic!  Here's our little fence picture.  We'll see lots of you at Zac and Stephanie's wedding soon and hopefully we'll make it to family picnic.  


Quick update...back in February I moved from my full-time position to a part-time position at Johnson County Community College (working in a very similar capacity, just with less responsibility, yea!) and now have decided to resign all together to order to stay home full-time with the kids.  I'm very excited about my new adventure and being able to spend even more time with Taylor and Xander.  -Elissa & Matt Bright

Xander and Taylor hanging out at the dog park

More comments on the fence....from Mary Jo

Thanks to those of you who posted.  Just a comment from my historical perspective:  I know the first picture was taken in the summer of 1984.  Alex is the baby in the picture.  Suzanne wasn't on the scene yet.  She was born in the summer of '84, but didn't arrive here until October of that year, and since Andrew is in the picture, I know we were at the picnic.  The last picture Janice posted was staged to be the same kids in the same positions as they were in the first picture.  There is another picture from that day, too, that was taken immediately afterwards, that included all of the kids that had joined the family in the intervening 11 years.  I do remember that was taken in 1995, because Andrew had just graduated from high school and I was feeling sentimental because he was leaving the next day for his first full-time job...traveling around the state with an electronics company pulling cable to wire schools for the internet!  Wow, talk about "historical" times.

Fence picture saga continues, from Janice

Since we are waxing nostalgic about the fence pictures, I thought I would post these that I ran across while going through old pics for the wedding in July (growing up video). 

 The first two are 'fence picture preparation'.   (Look at all those slender backsides and long legs. Way to go young moms!)

Next appears to be 'fence picture dismount'.

And, lastly, we have a reenactment.  Not sure of the year on this one.  I would guess possibly 1994 or 1995.

Love,

Janice

p.s.  Ed added some pics on Zac's wedding post also.

The Fence Picture

June 23, 2012....  Happy Anniversary to us today, by the way!!  Postscript to my post below about the 'fences picture".. It's not perfect, but I was able to work a little electronic magic with the old picture of the kids on the fence..(1984).  Maybe it was just a dry summer..everything is still pretty brown, compared to pretty greens of this year.  It looks like the 'then' and 'now' was taken in almost exactly the same spot.. we were just guessing.

Have a great picture; too inept to post it!

I have a great picture of the kids, circa 1984 or so, and also 1995, or so.  I think it would involve scanning the print and then whatever convolutions that would get it on the blog.  Perhaps this HOT, WINDY, NASTY DAY, I will try to figure it out.  I just got a Supartz injection in my knee, so I won't be squatting to pick peas today anyway!  I still have some cartilage in my joint and the doctor thought it would be a good time to do it.  It hurt!!! but now feels good.  Maybe I can stand 4 more.

Am feeling envious of Geneva's nice rain.  We got two separate .50" rains, that is barely enough to keep things alive until we get the pipe laid.  We don't have a center pivot, so our seed laid there awhile waiting for rain to germinate it! (Then we had to wait for it to get big enough to cultivate it and then hill it before pipe could be laid.)   And today my nearly 70-year-old husband is over loading out the wheat from a bin.  (When you are certified organic, you contract the sale and whenever the buyer wants it, he sends the truck and you need to be ready).  Wouldn't be the ideal day to be working in a grain bin, but the next crop is ready to harvest, so the timing is good.  He has a good hard working 25-year old helping him today, which is good.  I hope he knows CPR....not funny, and not really a joke. 

I also envy those of you who can make summer travel plans.  Those of you going to Illinois, please post some pictures!

If I figure out the pictures, I'll make another posting.    Mary Jo

Speaking of the picnic...Sue

The Warrens and Stamps went on one of our little Saturday night drives a couple weeks ago, and we decided to eat in Louisville and check out Platte River State Park and Mahoney too. At Platte River, we had a good time finding the fence we lined the kids up on for that famous photo, probably about 26 years ago. So, we had to take our picture. I had the camera, Steve had the expertise, and Suki was the only one of us limber enough to pull it off. This is how it went....

Steve is trying to get the self timer running and the shot set up..

still working on that shot, while I take their picture

Suki was called into action to make the final adjustment

the final product!

  I wanted to post the original, but was disappointed  to find the color has dramatically faded on mine..maybe someone still has a good one of the kids we could post and share.


and this of course is Steve & John ignoring the sign..

Good afternoon, Bull Family!
I'm still basking in the glow of the rain we got Thursday night--3.5 inches--that came over many hours without wind or hail, just impressive lightning.  What a blessing!  I remember dad calling a much needed rain "a million dollar" rain.  Given the price of corn these days, that description needs to be increased by many $$$$. 
As Mary Jo said, we are planning to host the Bull family picnic this summer and the date is Sunday, August 12.  We'll plan to eat at 12:30, but the coffee will be on for anyone who wants to arrive before then.  There will be invitations with more details coming so that we have something to put into the photo albums.  Speaking of those, we left early last year so I don't have a lot of pictures.  Could anyone who took pictures send them to my email address--snmeyer@windstream.net?  Thanks.
We have another event to celebrate this year--Michael and Rene's baby--and Connie had the great idea of having a shower so that's what we'll do.  Don't we love it when the Bull family grows!?!
Stan and I are leaving tomorrow for our annual trek to Breckenridge.  I go to meetings and Stan plays golf, rides the ski lift, reads his book on the deck that looks at the mountains, etc. etc.  We do spend evenings together with friends who attend from Nebraska, so it's not all work.  This year, we're going a couple of days early and will do some touristy things together--Pikes Peak, Garden of the Gods, Air Force Academy.  Can't wait....
We've made our arrangements for Zac's wedding and are looking forward to that.  Thanks to Ed for putting the info on the blog. 
Looking forward to seeing everyone in Illinois and/or Geneva!
Nancy

Family Picnic, 2012

Dear Family,

The Meyers and Swansons will be co-hosting the 2012 Family Picnic/Reunion this year.  It will be held sometime in August at the Meyer home in Geneva.  Nancy and I talked and decided as we start the new cycle of hosting, it's appropriate to try something a little different.  We invite all who follow us to team up with fellow cousins, multi-generations, or whatever works for you as your turn comes up.  Stan and Nancy will chose the date, and more details will follow as the time approaches.  We decided with Zac and Stephanie's wedding in July, and Paul tied up with irrigation at our farm, the later date would suit us better.  Mary Jo

Zac & Stephanie Wedding - lodging & site-seeing

Zac Wiles & Stephanie Greiff wedding website:  http://greiffandwiles.ourwedding.com/

                                  

The Ceremony and Reception will be at Starved Rock State Park.  Starved Rock is located 3 miles south of I-80 (Utica exit #81) on Route 178 near LaSalle/Peru & Ottawa.  It is about 1.5 hours west of Chicago.

http://www.starvedrocklodge.com/index.cfm?pageID=20 

GPS coordinates:  N 41.31671, W 88.99415

The wedding ceremony will be outdoors at the Sunrise Shelter on the East side of the Main Lodge at 5 pm and the reception will be in the main lodge immediately following.

There are one and two room Pioneer cabins surrounding this East area which are in the reserved block for Saturday & Sunday nights.   Two large four-room Deluxe cabins rented as individual rooms are located on the west side near the indoor pool and are also reserved as part of the block for Saturday and Sunday (see attached graphic).

Rooms are also in the reserved block in the Main Lodge & Hotel for both Saturday and Sunday nights.  http://www.starvedrocklodge.com/

The lodge and cabins are fairly close together and an easy walk between sites.

Please make individual room reservations by calling  (800)-868-7625 (ROCK) to book rooms before June 21 for either Saturday-Sunday (7/21 & 22) or Sunday only (7/22/12), otherwise the block of rooms will be released.  Reservations must be done by calling, not online.  Rooms can be cancelled up to 72 hours before stay.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Additional lodging can also be found just outside the park in Utica & Ottawa and of course along I-80:

Starved Rock Inn is a rustic eight-room country motel in Utica.

This inn is not included in the wedding block of rooms, but is associated with Starved Rock State Park:

http://www.starvedrockstatepark.org/index.cfm?pageID=190

Grizzly Jack’s Grand Bear Resort with a kids waterpark located one mile south of Starved Rock State Park entrance:

http://www.grizzlyjacksresort.com/ 

More lodging in the immediate area can be found at:

http://www.enjoylasallecounty.com/lodging.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Great Sightseeing:

Hiking trails are abundant, with waterfalls and eagle viewing.  Walking shoes recommended.

     




        

Check out all the things to see on their website:

http://www.starvedrockstatepark.org/ 

There is a really neat lock & dam on the Illinois River next to the State Park with a great visitor center for viewing barge traffic.

http://www.johnweeks.com/river_illinois/pages/illLD3.html 

http://jove.geol.niu.edu/faculty/fischer/429_info/429trips/starvedrock/lock.html

Illinois-Michigan (I&M) Canal Boat ride: http://www.lasallecanalboat.org/ 

More things to do in LaSalle County: http://www.enjoylasallecounty.com/ 

Ottawa is nice town to the east of Starved Rock State Park and has some shopping, mansion tour, lodging, and other amenities: http://www.experienceottawa.com/ 

Illinois Riverboat tours, boat & canoe rentals are available:

http://www.belleoftherock.com/tourBoat.htm

http://www.starvedrockadventures.com/

If you are approaching from the West (Nebraska folks), then you might want to check out John Deere’s home, museum & factory tours:

http://www.deere.com/wps/dcom/en_US/corporate/our_company/fans_visitors/tours_attractions/index.page?

Everything from the 1,400 acre world headquarters in Moline, Illinois & factory tours (48 hour notice needed) to the blacksmith shop of John Deere in Dixon, Illinois where it all began.

If you are feeling really adventuresome, you can even jump out of a perfectly good airplane at Skydive Chicago, just north of Ottawa.  Zac, Kelly & I can personally recommend it.

http://www.skydivechicago.com/ 

And of course, if you get bored with all of that, the City of Chicago is only about 1.5 hours east of Starved Rock State Park.

We are getting excited to see all the family & friends for the celebration of the wedding for Zac & Stephanie at 5pm on Sunday, July 22nd, 2012.

Come early - stay late and most of all have fun!   
                                                      Ed & Janice
                                                   Zac & Stephanie

AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! IT HAS ARRIVED!!!!!!!

well, okay, so that was a catchy subject eh?  lol!  you're probably wondering what has arrived.  the answer?  NOTHING!  hehehe.  i'm just bored and needed an attention grabber.  but i DO have WONDERFUL news to post on here.  so without further ado, here i go!

1) let's see how long it takes mom BEFORE she reads this.  and no, i don't talk much to her or dad...just been hiding and staying in my comfy hidey-hole :).  in other words, my apt when i'm NOT at school or working.  hehehe...BUT, i've been named Associate of the Month at work.  my name gets to go on a plaque at work and my pic is displayed (ugh!) and i get a $25 bonus!  woo hoo!!!!  NOT EVEN three whole months in the lab and BAM!  a SUPER recognition for me :D.  sooooo glad i got out of security!!!!!  this is a MUCH better fit for me, my passion for photography AND my ability to be VERY detail oriented and editing customers' photos for them :D.  <3 my job! 

2) i have FINALLY figured out what to do with life...i think...since professional singing isn't going to happen (or i HIGHLY doubt it!), i'm going to do graphic design :D.  my MAIN goal is to do web page/multimedia web design, but advertising would work too! :)  i am VERY good at being creative, writing and thinking outside the box...oh and detail oriented!  sooooo graphic design career--here i come!!!!

3) i have been so busy with school and work, i don't have time to be on this blog..but i'm progressing slowly, but steady in life and figuring things out, and continuously growing :).  it's nice to FINALLY get to that point :).  man, i've been hiding all along and finally starting to come out of my shell :D.

4) OOHHHH!!!!  i got a NEW camera!!!!  well, i've had it for awhile now. buuuuut i was rummaging around in our bins in the back one day and found a nikon s8200 on clearance for $229!!!  retailed originally for $329.  soooooo i used my tax money (oops, should have paid bills--hehe) and bought it!  i'm in LOVE with my camera!  not ONLY does it take GREAT photos, but it takes full HD video!!!!  has a GREAT mic for audio too!!!!  i have managed to get some AWESOME shots AND i made a video of the sandhill cranes at the blinds AND i have also made a video of me singing!  a GREAT compact long zoom camera and DEFINITELY worth the $$$!!!!  now, who wants to fork over $429 so i can buy me my nikon p510 i sell at work?  it's a 42x zoom, 16.1 megapixel, full hd movie mode and a GREAT camera!  any takers?  i could use a longer zoom for some pics ;).  hehehehe. 

hmm, what else should i write?  oh i uploaded my video of me singing to both youtube and facebook.  speaking of facebook, if you are on there, PLEASE let me know on here so i can go hunting for you and add you.  i found one person tonight, and in turn, found a bunch of relatives to add (the second cousins), but still, could use a LOT more of you...it's funny how i forget to add my distant relatives...but yes, really, if you're on there, let me know.  you can follow me a LOT easier than on here...i keep forgetting to get on here and blog.

i thnk that's it.  i'll upload a video of me singing.  oh i'm singing this song next sunday at church.  somebody got roped into offertory.  hehe, well no, i volunteered.  tomorrow is worship assistant.  marty suggested i do offertory the 15th and i obliged.  but i was debating between singing this one again or point of grace's the great divide.  hence, i chose this song--laura story's blessings.  i absolutely LOVE the song!  but i MIGHT upload a photo or two from my s8200 to show how much i LOVE the camera too!  and yes, i LOVE photography :D.

 scout (a friend's cat) drinks uphill!!!!

ike is terrified because i made him try to lay by mike and he wanted to escape.  hehehe.

 mike is demoralized by the camera.  hehe.

okay, i was up until 3:35 am last night trying to get the video to work, but tonight i hope to be in bed within the next hour.  sooo i'll sign off here and again, please let me know if you're on facebook!  catch you all on the flip side!

Valentine Love from Great-Grandma & Grandpa Stamp

This is the Valentine's Day card Taylor got from Great-Grandma & Grandpa Stamp (Xander got one too, but is harder to 'pose' for pictures :)  which she loves!  She thought the card was hilarious because it has a puppy on it with candy all around it.  We have it up on the fridge and she talks about it all the time on how it's so silly because "puppies don't eat candy, only dog food!"  She has an amazing memory and was talking about her vday card the other day in the car and I asked her, 

"oh, the one you got from great-grandma?"  

"No," she said, "from great-mimi! not great-grandma!"

"Ok," I replied, "because it's mimi's mom, right?"

"Yes," she stressed (I think with an eye-roll possibly), "great-MIMI."

She's always called my mom "Mimi" and I guess I hadn't noticed she'd been paying close attention to how we're all related, but now I know!  And apparently she believes I'm an idiot for not realizing great-grandma is Mimi's mom, so of course she should be great-Mimi!  

Also, when Matt returned home from work and inquired who Mommy was talking to on the phone, Taylor replied, "Mommy's talking to Mimi.  That's her mom."  Like, just for your information, Daddy, now you know :)

Love to all!  -Elissa, Matt, Taylor and Xander Bright

Hello from Mary Jo

I have tried for a very long time to figure out how to send this picture...I hope I can make it go; but if I can't figure out a better way to do this, this may be a one-time attempt.

I was so pleased to get this, although the lighting and background could be better.  I have showed several people the picture, and am proud to tell them this was taken at my mother's 90th birthday, and that her siblings are 87 and 83 and 3/4...that my uncle and aunt still have spouses in good condition, too, and that they are still in their own homes, walking under their own power, etc, etc.  We are very blessed.  I'm crossing my fingers are going to try to send this!

Marge's Birthday Party

Thanks to everyone who was able to join us to celebrate Grandma's 90th Birthday! She had a wonderful time and it just keeps on going and going!  At last count, she had received almost 90 cards!  We sent all the flowers and the photo board home with her, so it's like the party never ended!  Enjoy a few pictures from the day....
 

A big thank you to Niki for doing the invitations and the table tents we had up. They turned out great!  Suzanne had to work that day, and Keeley is in Argentina for a few months, so Suzanne created this awesome photo out of a snapshot taken months earlier..