Just HAD to share this...

 
This is our 21-mo old Grandaughter, Olive Rose, enjoying life!
She was at China Beach (northwestern San Francisco), Sunday Feb17...

...and yes, that's the Golden Gate Bridge in background.

SAN FRANCISCO VISIT
 

Highlighting our week's visit to San Francisco was our time with our Grandchildren, which gives us the excuse to ask:

 

"...By the way, have we shown you pictures of our grandkids...?"

Here are Calvin (left, age 6) and Jason (age 4)
wearing shirts of their favorite baseball team.

Here, Calvin shows off his very own Baseball Mitt he got for Christmas...

did we tell you that he starts Little League this summer?

While he may be half-Chinese, Jason loves to eat Mexican quesadillas!

 

During our visit, Karen took grandaughter Olive Rose (age, not-quite two years) to a playground in Golden Gate Park.

Her parents live within walking distance of the Park. Now, isn't that cool?
(note San Francisco Victorian townhouses in the background)

At the Park, Olive loves to drink from the water fountain...

Here, Olive clutches two votive candles that she loved to smell...

(Karen brought them for her mama, but Olive claimed them immediately...)

As you can tell, we loved our week in San Francisco!

SNOW! (actually, Hail)  ...Part 2

 

 

Here is a picture taken out the window by our dining table today.

 

Just thought you might like to see it....

 



Check out the "Park Sierra" heading in the lower right corner...

SNOW! (actually, Hail...)

Today, Thurs, Jan 10, a big dark cloud came over and HAIL poured down in sheets for nearly a half-hour! ...Hailstones the size of mothballs. First, it melted as it hit, but eventually it began to "stick'.

I took these photos right after it stopped, thinking it would quickly melt. However, it's now a couple hours later, and it still is on the ground. While it may appear as a snowfall, it is actually slushy hailstones.

Presently, it's 38deg F. It's predicted to get cold -- staying down in the 20's & low 30's for a couple days.

This our shed where Ed has his model work-table set up ...his "Man-Cave"(?)

So it might just be a real hazard getting around for awhile! Our Motorhome, while cozy and heated, does not have an abundance of insulation (which expains why over half the Park Sierra residents have left for southern, warmer climes).

Still, we are stocked up on blankets, groceries, etc., and we just "cuddle-in" more! So "no worries."

Here are our 2 dogs "cuddling in", staying warm on Karen's lap!

We realize that compared to other parts of the U.S., we have it pretty mild, but we are in California, after all!

We Hear Profound Sharing about 9/11

Here's Ed last Sunday in front of Los Gatos United Methodist Church, our local "church home" while in the Saratoga, CA area.

This past Sunday, our pastor invited a member of the church to share. Photo below shows Alice H. speaking in front of the congregation....
You see, Alice's grown son was aboard United Flight 93 on that fateful day- 9/11/2001. Of course, everyone on the plane perished when it crashed into a field in Somerset County, Pennsylvania.

He was one of the men who rushed the cockpit while the flight was enroute to Washington DC.

Alice's sharing was emotional, but profound. She included some insights that I pass along....

"I am grieved that every anniversary of 9/11 has been marked with rhetoric that has divided Americans.

This year was no exception: ...a pastor in Florida saying he would burn copies of the Koran, ...New Yorkers and others fighting over placing an Islamic Center near the site of the Twin Towers.

"I am sick of religion. I'm sick how people draw from their own religions reasons to hate and kill other people...."

Needless to say, this gives us all much to ponder... much to do...

Thoughtfully yours,

-Ed & Karen

Meeting People from Around the World!

Living in Parks gives us occasion to meet interesting people from ALL OVER this great land, even from abroad. We meet some profound & amazinging folks!

(1)
In the photo above, you see us with Jack and Els- - - Originally natives of The Netherlands, Jack & Els emigrated to California years ago where he worked for Motorola Corp as an engineering executive.

(2)
A couple weeks after they left, we could hear a family camped across from us speaking German with the children ...Turns out that “Opa” and "Oma” (Grandpa & Grandma) had brought their grandchildren here for a week-long time together.

Werner and Heidi emigrated here 40+ yrs ago and raised their family in near-by San Jose.

Two years ago, their son moved his family from Germany to California where he now works.

So now the grandchildren have become bi-lingual (German & English), and Werner and Heidi get to see their grandchildren more!
Here is grandaughter Mika with brother Moritz.

We found Mika to be one very strong 10-yr old young woman!

...She organized all the games for the week and helped the two boys settle their potential disputes.

She is going to go far in life…!

(3)
Our third family are Michael & Silke, and their children Caroline, Josephine, and Colin... they just left us yesterday morning. Natives of Heidelberg, Germany, they planned to camp here 4 nights while visiting nearby San Francisco. However, their departure was delayed... Someone broke into their rental car and stole a satchel with a laptop-computer ...AND their wallet ...AND passports (!!!).

Upon first discovering the break-in, the ONLY person on the street willing to stop with a cell (so they could call the police & credit card companies) was “a huge, sweaty tattooed black man in a ‘muscle shirt’” (God sends ‘angels’ in all guises, eh?).

God gave us the opportunity to reach out to them during the crisis and we became friends. We helped with dishes and provided a phone for their frustrating calls to the local German Consulate (slow government bureaucracies are a multi-national thing). They finally did receive temp passports after 2-1/2 wearisome and costly days.

Our dogs, Mollie & Shoshone, even had a ‘ministry’ with the three children, who soon ‘adopted’ them. Here are Josephine (age 8) and Colin (age 6) with our ‘pups’ - - -



We just LOVE how God brings these special persons into our lives!

More later----

Love,

Ed & Karen

Ed goes off to Chicago!

A couple weeks ago Ed flew out to "Chi-Town"
where he got to be with LOTS of PURKEYS!

As some may know, Ed is a native of the Midwest who transplanted himself to the West Coast while still in college. Consequently, all his own 'kinfolk' are too far away to see very often.

This summer, his cousin's daughter living in Chicago got married--- and asked him to fly out to perform the wedding!

Needless to say, he jumped (or should it be flew?) at the chance!

It was SO good to see uncles, cousins, etc. that he hadn't seen literally for decades...
Here is his 1st Cousin & Father-of-the-Bride, Bob Purkey (left), bride-to-be Susan Purkey, and groom-to-be Greg Gibson. Susan is a professional in interior design and Greg, an architect. ...Ed was especially glad to visit with his Uncle Glenn - age 94.

The Wedding was outdoors (Ed's favorite wedding venue ever since serving in National Parks), in a City Park on the shores of Lake Michigan...

However, bride Susan broke her ankle(!) just weeks before the ceremony. She used a fashionable clear lucite cane to come down the aisle, and as you see in the photo below, a crutch during the reception- - -
Her left hand displays her white gold wedding ring, and on her right hand is the historic "PURKEY RING".

This Gold band was given by her forebear Jacob Purkey to his bride, Agnes at their wedding in 1829(!). She wore it until her death 57 yrs later. It has since been worn by various "Purkey brides" at their respective weddings for years (including Karen when she & Ed were married in 1969).

BTW-- The scene of our Rehearsal Dinner is of some "Movie Fame"- - - It has been in numerous feature films including "The Untouchables", where it served as Sean Connery's character's apartment bulding.
More later!

--Ed & Karen