Life Beyond The Pictures - August 2025

Hello Steiners. I’m taking a breather between watering flowers and checking peaches to send a short note and say hello! This summer has flown by mostly because Tremont hosted a church conference and we’re hosting the extended Kaiser family Saturday and because we’ve had a lot of peaches to pick and distribute and process. And eat  

As of yesterday, the peach trees are empty and we had to take a few down because they were old and had weak trunk/branches. Sad/not sad. They were hard to pick because most lower branches were long dead and gone; high peaches are still delicious but just way harder to get. I was on a Very High Ladder a lot this summer which was a little tense but ladders are put away now and I never fell so all is good. It’s been a very hot summer and I for one am ready for fall. Kids are looking to start school soon and so life keeps going. One day at a time. Have a great fall y’all. 

Life Beyond The Pictures - June 2025

Hey from the Kaisers

We don’t have much news from our corner of the universe but I always enjoys y’all’s updates so I’ll try to come up with something even if it's a little rambly lol. 

Tim & I keep doing the same things we always do: work (more than we'd like) and relax (not as much as we'd like). For having so few kids around, I should have loads of time on my hands... but I don't. Between babysitting grandbabies and keeping the fridge stocked (but not OVERstocked because suddenly NOONE likes leftovers) and keeping the flowers watered (oh, that's new! Sarah planted a few flowers/bushes for me and I've enjoyed keeping them alive (so far)) and keeping things fairly clean around here (which shouldn't take that long because noone's here to dirty it up, right?)(WRONG)... I still don't have much time on my hands. Which is fine. I'm grateful for health and strength to just keep plugging away. I try to get at least one walk in everyday, sometimes two; because it's good for me, blah blah; and when I do have 'extra' time, I like to do a puzzle. Which hasn't happened much lately, because fruit trees are loaded and my next major task is thinning. And thinning. And thinning. I've started but have much to go. Garden looks great! Grass came in wonderful where we planted it last fall  and probably once a week we comment on how nice it looks. Tim has already made the comment about life with no fruit trees.... but we're not ready to cut them over quite yet... Oh, I did get an orphan (one) tomato plant from a neighbor and planted it in a bucket thingy but it's looking yellow and not great and it might die and I really don't even care if it does. My nephew Samuel Knapp is doing full-time farmer's market this year and I need to support him IF I decide I can't live without home grown frozen green beans or home grown potatoes or tomatoes etc. So, yeah. So far we like this kind of gardening. 

Last week Tim & I took a few days away to TN, staying in the same cabin we honeymooned in in 1992. We went there again in 2002 with 6 kids and oddly the cabin was much smaller than we had remembered it. This trip it was back to its nice spaciousness that we remembered from our honeymoon. We had a great time in TN and weren't really ready to head home... except it had poured down rain the night before we left so we knew trails would be very muddy and un-fun. But we had good weather, great hikes, saw lots of bears (one was on a remote trail which was kind of neat but kind of unsettling… by the time Tim saw it and told me, all I got to see was its tail end disappearing down the mountain which was just fine by me. I’ve always wanted to see a bear on a hike and this seemed to be the best view lol) and some elk and deer and NO snakes as well as historical pioneerish buildings which are really neat except why on earth do ppl think they have to write their names everywhere and deface these beautiful old structures??? It's crazy disrespectful and uglifies the beautiful things. Stupid ppl. 

Anyway. Back home to mowing (which Kaitlyn does (hooray) because she is done with school (for GOOD)) and watering my flowers and thinning fruit trees and babysitting etc.

Kids are doing well. Nothing much has changed except school is done for the year except for Sarah who has to take a couple summer courses in order to graduate on time (which is how ISU is set up; explain that to me, hmm?). Coreena graduated and is ready to start working next week! Jewel finished up one of her accounting classes with a solid 90.08 for the A (!!) and is working part time for 360YC (old news) and part time for Nate Koch Consulting (new news). So far I think she likes her new routine and job. Josh is working fulltime at the turkey farm again. He seems to like it... he at least likes the paycheck ha. I mean how much can anyone like caring for turkeys? They're actually rather gross things. Very smelly and messy. Anyway, Josh has also spent some time (as many of us have) hunting for arrowheads; it's an ongoing hobby that's rewarding to many. With fields now covered by crop, this hunting is almost done for the year. There's always next year though!

Horses are good. Sarah gives riding lessons a couple days a week; grandkids are always glad for rides also. Cows/calves are good. Brandi is good but she's pretty annoying sometimes. Cat population is down to four which is much more reasonable than last report of 18 or so.

 

And that's about all I can think of right now so I'm going to sign off. Time to get some thinning done before I go play with dead turkey at the good ol' TFest. 

Hope to see some of you at the reunion next month.

Life Beyond The Pictures - April 2025

 Hello Steiners 

The only news from the Kaiser corner of the world is that there will be another precious grandchild joining us soon! Jason & Kaitlyn are expecting their first little one in September; Kaitlyn will finish up her preschool teaching position in May and doesn’t plan to go back this fall. Everything else with other kids is pretty much unchanged. Tim & I enjoy blessed busy days. We’ve spent much time pruning fruit; at this point it looks like there will be peaches and apples both but we’ll not count our fruit before it’s picked. 

And that’s about it this time around. 

Life Beyond The Pictures - February 2025

I had to re-read our last contribution to see what has happened since then...really not much. Mostly just life, you know? But I enjoy reading about y'all's lives so I'll come up with a few rambles to share.

We enjoyed the routine holiday busy-ness with Thanksgiving and Christmas and New Year's plans. Hard to believe that started a couple months ago already as Tim's family Christmas was the first weekend in December. Grandpa & Grandma Kaiser always enjoy when many of their 90 kids/grands/greats get together. Thankful they are still able to get around as well as they do. Grandpa spent a couple days in the hospital last week with covid/influenza A/UTI but is home again and ready to go back to work already. Not sure that's going to happen for a few days yet but it does give him purpose and he enjoys it so hopefully he'll be back at it soon. Various people give him rides to UJerry's shop where he cuts random 2x4s into various sizes.

Not bad for an oldster! (he's 94) Mom enjoys relatively good health and keeps busy with quilting and housework and politics and various social activities at Chestnut Place. They appreciate their neighbors there.

Away kids are doing well. I could bore y'all with details about each but will sum them up this way: some have had seasonal sickness, some haven't. Some have had travels, some haven't. Some are doing house projects, some aren't. I think all are ready for spring. Grandkids are growing like wildflowers and get cuter all the time. It's pretty fun. As many of you know. We love when they come over and the house is loud and crazy and fun and messy and then we love when they leave and the house is calm and quiet and neat and boring. God is good.

Home kids are doing well. Sarah & Jewel enjoyed a trip to FL with friends last month; Tori was there at the same time with another friend (Fort Lauderdale church hosted the Tremont choir). They all enjoyed the sunshine while we froze back here. Which some of us didn't mind at all... Josh got in on some backyard hockey with friends which of course he loves. All three home kids (and some away kids) have had good ice time this winter; we even made it to the lake a few times before it warmed up again (true IL style) and turned sloppy. Looks like temps are going to drop again soon; so Josh is hoping for one last stretch of hockey before spring. And who knows? Maybe we'll get on the lake again yet too.

Anyway. Back to the girls. So Sarah & Jewel enjoyed FL; and they got home on a Friday (came home a day early to beat a winter storm (wise girls to listen to their wise dad)). They had kind of a crazy week here of catching up and preparing to leave again... to go to President Trump's inauguration with cousin Wesley Sauder. It was record low temps, so the inauguration was moved inside the Capitol One Arena which only seated 20,000 people; since 200,000 people had registered for the outdoor event, that meant a LOT of people were vying for a very few indoor seats at the arena on Inauguration Day (these three did not vie). So the actual inauguration was kind of a bust for them. But Tim & I have a classmate who is involved with the Tazewell County Republican Women organization, and Diane was able to get the kids on a list for an IL Republican reception on Saturday evening  which they thoroughly enjoyed.

Diane also helped them register to attend the Sunday afternoon rally in the Capitol One Arena which they also thoroughly enjoyed. They even got a picture with President Trump lol.

This arena is where the inauguration was shown on a Jumbotron and President Trump eventually spoke on Monday; but the line for entrance to that event started on Sunday night around 11pm so they passed on that. It was cold! They spent Monday touring Washington DC and enjoyed that in spite of the cold. At least they were moving! They also figured out which route the Presidential motorcade was going to take and were pretty happy to be 15 feet from that.

So in conclusion, even though they didn't get to see the actual inauguration, they had a great time and would do it again in a heartbeat.

And this is certainly long enough. Kudos if you've gotten this far. I have one more Very Important Happening to report. Josh turned 16 last week and is now a licensed driver! 

 And I have officially retired from driver training :)  :)  :)

And that's about it for this time around. 

Life Beyond The Pictures - October 2024

I had to look back at my last contribution to see what is new since then... and there's really not much new, except....Last week, Jacob & Natalie became first-time parents with the arrival of Rafe Daniel. He's a good little guy so far and is very loved by many. And he is adorable. We are grateful.

 

That's really about it for major news since the last Connection; everything else is pretty muchly status quo. Home kids are continuing on in school and work. There are always bumps along the way; but so far so good. Sarah didn't have class yesterday because of the midterm schedule which means this semester is half over. Which seems amazing.

At the end of August Tim & I and our kids did a getaway to a beautiful lodge in Missouri for a few days. We really had a nice time and made precious memories. Tim & I have done a couple of getaways also. As empty as our nest is, with just Sarah, Jewel, and Josh at home (and even they're not home all that much), we find that if we're here there is always something to do. We're trying to change that somewhat though. Tim's been doing some improvements to the bovine operation which have made it more efficient; and as of right now, Josh has the sprinkler on a lovely new patch of grass... which happens to be right where the garden used to be. Yes, you read that right. I am now officially garden-less. There is an old horse trough out back that I might want to fill with dirt and plant a few tomato plants in next spring.... but then again, I might not. Tremont and Morton both have farmer's markets that I just might have to check out next year... time will tell. Our apple trees have produced like crazy this year. To date we've done about 27 bushels into cider and shared about 36 bushels with various family and friends. We're down to about four trees left; and of those, two are Fuji which will keep for a month or so on the tree yet and then will store for awhile longer in a cold garage. We're going through them quickly though - they're just so good! Our garage usually has apples in it that are waiting to be eaten, cidered, or distributed; the garage smells amazing.  Pictured is part of the tree that was kind of hard to pick because it was so pretty... it's a Red Delicious. And btw, if you've never had an orchard RD, give one a try from your local orchard. They don't taste anything like a store RD. I don't know why, but they just don't. So these apples were falling and bruising and we don't love that; so we had to pick the tree clean and it's not so pretty anymore. But we do have a deliciously aromatic garage now, so there's that…

Don't know if I ever mentioned that we now have three horses. A friend gave Kaitlyn a horse (Zip) which we were going to keep for the summer and then this winter he would move to Jason & Kaitlyn's place somewhere... but when it came right down to it, Kaitlyn works full time, and Zip gets ridden quite a bit here with Diamond and Skeet. Sarah is giving riding lessons to a little girl (Marty & Karla Rollins' granddaughter Rayna), and Jewel has been asked to give a few lessons as well... not sure how that's all going to shake out yet though. At any rate, the horses are never lacking for attention and we are glad Zip gets to stay awhile yet. 

One more thing. Our cat population is about out of control. If anyone wants a good healthy barn cat, please let me know. We love to share. 

And that's about all I know and it's time to keep moving here. I always enjoy hearing from y'all.

Life Beyond The Pictures - August 2024

 Was good to see many of you at the reunion last month!

Summer's almost over and it was a fast one. We didn't have a big garden this year. Mostly we raised a nice collection of weeds although I did get all the beans, onions, etc. I wanted. Next year's garden might not be. I don't enjoy it, and we don't have any kids around to help... or eat the produce... so... why? 

Josh worked full-time this summer for a neighboring turkey farm. He did everything from walking through turkey barns to check turkeys, to power washing equipment, to mowing yards, to walking beans, and a whole lot of other things that farmers need help with. Once school starts up again he looks forward to working there afternoons. It's been so nice because he takes the 4w to work and zips home for lunch. 

So Tim had a list of summer projects for Josh to do, such as painting the house and some sheds, and of course weekly mowing. Since it turned out that Josh wasn't around much, we were so thankful Kaitlyn was willing to fill in... and she did a great job. 

Throw in a few lake days, grandkid days, errand days, rainy days, apple days, bean days, corn days...and yeah. It was a fast summer. 

Sarah did a few summer classes and did her same landscaping job that she's done for the last few years plus some babysitting now and then. Jewel worked at 360 again and worked with her horses when she could. Sarah will continue studying towards her BS in early childhood education at ISU next week; and Jewel is pursuing a bookkeeping certificate at ICC. Sarah & Jewel and a couple more friends had a great trip to AZ last month; Josh went on his first Current River camping trip with the Tremont Young Group and Bible class guys and also had a great time. Thankful all were safe on all trips. And that's about it for the home kids.

And there's so much going on with the away kids that it kind of makes my head spin. I'll stick to the most important happening lately: Jesse & Lucy welcomed Emily Marie on April 20. She is the cutest little chub with the most precious smile ever. 

If you want more px or details, check out our blog... I don't update as much as I'd like to, but there's just a lot more going on now than there ever used to be. Kind of makes my head spin, you know? Oh wait, I already said that…

Have a safe fall everyone. I enjoy y'all's updates.

Life Beyond The Pictures - June 2024

 

Our only real news is that Emily Marie was born to Jesse & Lucy on Saturday, April 20. She is a sweetheart and very very loved. 

Also new is a summer job for Josh - he's been working for Yordy turkey farm which is just up the road from us. Thankful he can ride the 4w which works out well. Because of the risk of disease contamination, we got rid of our chickens. ALL of them. This is a happy day for me. I don't miss them a bit (surprise surprise). 

Other than that, nothing much has changed from our last newsletter submission...besides school being out and garden being in and lake days happening. That's really about it!

Hope to see some of you at the reunion next month.

Life Beyond The Pictures - February 2024

We had a nice Christmas season although Christmas Eve was unusual with Mom passing away; and planning her funeral and emptying her room at Restmor on Christmas Day was certainly unique also. Memorable for sure. And what a blessing that Mom spent Christmas with Jesus. I can only imagine! We are so thankful for her victory and for the peace that she had when she died. Thanks for all your prayers and texts and for coming to support us during her visitation/funeral. Was nice to see so many of you.

On the day after Mom's funeral, some of us headed south for a week in FL. Not the best weather, but certainly not the worst; with our house close to the beach, I enjoyed the gorgeous sunrises every morning. Also we were glad to spend a day with AShirley although we missed UDan. Wow, so many reasons to look forward to heaven. Won't that be something?!

The rest of January zipped by in a blur of catchup, school, ice, snow, and frostbite; and then the last weekend of January, my siblings and I (minus Sandy who was sick) spent a nice weekend together in IA.

The following Sunday then, Kaitlyn's engagement to Jason Baer was announced! We are excited and happy for them and are in the thick of wedding planning. So far it's going well.

And... Josh is in Driver's Ed right now and hoping to get his driver's permit on Friday. Oh yikes. Not sure I'm ready for this!

Oh - and the frostbite - that was Josh. Out ice skating in sub-zero weather with skates that were maybe laced too tight, and ignoring the pain ("I didn't feel my toes at all after awhile"), he spent a while that night (morning actually) soaking his feet in cool water. Now this week, about 3 weeks later, his almost-back-to-normal (still a bit numb) toes are peeling and peeling and peeling. I've never seen the like. Hopefully this was a good lesson...frostbite (or maybe it was just frostnip?) is real and it is painful!
Well that's enough news for one time and it's time to call it a day so THE END. Looking forward to hearing from y'all!

Life Beyond The Pictures - December 2023

It's been a good fall and a mild winter so far. We didn't have apples from our trees so haven't been drying them and saucing them and cidering them like last year. Life should be a little slower, right? Not. Time marches on and days are full and blessed and that's all good.  Tim's jobs with 360YC and CIT keep him adequately challenged. Sarah and Jewel have finished their ICC semesters and are enjoying a little free time in between their jobs and helping me. Sarah started working at the Pekin Memorial Ice Rink as a skate guard which means she's there even more than before (she skates for free) and often somehow manages to get her friends/siblings there too (they don't). It's a good gig and she enjoys it. She also has random babysitting jobs so keeps busy. Jewel still works at 360 in accounting; she's there 25-30 hours a week and seems to enjoy it. After work she manages to find time for her horses and piano. Josh has a few days left of school before Christmas break and he is ready. He's had an excellent semester academic-wise; he's also spent quite a few days working for various employers. URandy appreciates his help cleaning hog buildings and moving hogs, as does URandy's cousin Brett. Also Lucas Baer is a local farmer who also runs a tiling business; Josh has occasionally been helping Lucas with tiling. On the weeks when he is working, Josh crams all his school into his not-working days; he's doing great at all jobs and is learning valuable time management skills as well. Christmas gifts are all wrapped (!!wow!!), cards are out the door (finally), and we enjoyed Kaiser Christmas a few weeks ago and Steiner Christmas this past weekend. This weekend is our family Christmas and then BLINK it's almost 2024😳. Not much is new with other kids. Some have had travels; most haven't.  We learned today that Baby Kaiser is a girl which is very exciting for her oldest cousin Kiowa. So as I work on my latest comforter, I now know who it's for😍. 

And that's about enough for this time around.

Life Beyond The Pictures - October 2023

 Hello Steiners from the Kaisers.

Time keeps marching on and now it's October and harvest is in full swing and so is school. We've enjoyed these cooler days. I love summer while it's here but around this time of year I'm glad to see it go. Bring on the cool days and wiener roasts!  Kids keep doing their jobs and school. Tim & I keep doing our jobs and learning as we go. I have only a couple of real newsy events to share this time around. First event was that Ben&Coreena moved out of Chestnut Place into their new home on Washington Street. For those who remember, they moved a few houses down from where U.Dan's used to live. To be precise, it was Nancy Koch's home years ago. Some of you may remember ACYF and TYG events held there; in addition, it was featured in the locally produced 1987 film "Lifesavers". It's a lovely first home for them and we're glad to see them settled in before the snow flies. Our only other update is that Jesse&Lucy shared some exciting news with us this past weekend: Travis is going to be a big brother in April! Other than that, not much has changed. Josh has passed up Jewel in height to his great pleasure and starts drivers ed in January. The Last Time. I'm quite sure I'll survive but I'll admit I don't look forward to it. That's about all I know for now. Take care y'all and enjoy fall!

Life Beyond The Pictures - August 2023

     Hello Steiners. I forgot some important news last issue. Back in May, Natalie graduated from Saint Francis Medical Center College of Nursing AND she passed her NCLEX in June so she is now officially a nurse! She is working in the OSF Emergency Department and we are very thankful to finally have a nurse in the family!

    It was good to see many of you at the reunion in July. I always appreciate catching up with those who are able to come. 

Tim & I and all our kids/grandkids had a beautiful time in Colorado the last week of July. In spite of the higher altitude (higher than Estes Park, that is) and a few headaches and lots of being out of breath, no one had any *major* altitude sickness and we had a wonderful week. Lots of hikes, Leadville railroad (super fun), Arapahoe Ski Resort (unlimited lift rides!), huge hot tub at our cabin, games, puzzles, books, sunset walks etc. Many sweet moments and memories.

We came home to apples to thin, peaches to pick (not huge amounts - just enough for fresh), tomatoes to pick and tomato juice to can, sweet corn to freeze.... it was a busy week! Last week was a *little* slower; now this week school starts which means I need to start thinking about curriculum for Josh as a freshman. Jewel is signed up for two ICC classes which will also count toward her high school graduation requirements; so officially I'm done homeschooling her even though she won't technically graduate until May. So I have one (1) student this year and he will be pretty independent so my homeschooling career is almost done which is weird but good. Very good. 

That said, can I look forward to slower days? Maybe, maybe not. Days just seem to fill up, so much so that I'll be scrambling to get Skye's comforter done before her first birthday in October. I'm making progress on it and I do enjoy such basic sewing. Sarah has asked for a comforter too, so yeah, days are slower but I still find plenty to do. Seems like there's always someone who can use a batch of cookies or bread or pizza casserole. Thankful for health and strength to do what I need/want to do.

Tim is busy with work and farm projects. Sarah is starting back at ICC soon also, continuing her studies towards a degree in early childhood education. And that's it for news about those under this roof! For the kids who are out of the nest ... nothing new (except a nurse) and various and sundry house projects and home improvements (Jesse, Tori, Jacob) and kittens (Jesse). Was fun to have Kaitlyn around some this summer as she did landscaping some days and took off other days just because she could. I think she came to most of our Wednesday lake days. She starts teaching again soon - same school, same classroom, some same kids. Also Ben and Coreena both had nice long breaks from school and start back soon. 

Grandkids are doing well. Growing like wildflowers and cute as can be. Kiowa lost her first tooth awhile ago (!!!) and will start first grade soon (!!!). Jason started Sunday school (!!!). How can time even go so quickly? And how can summer be over already??

I'm rambling. Time to end this. Wishing you all a blessed fall.

Life Beyond The Pictures - June 2023

 Hello Steiner Family.

      We have some important news. Our old Juno email (since 1998) will be retiring soon (too many ads - like 15/day. It's RIDICULOUS). Please update our info to our new email address: ************
      It's been hot and dry. We've been watering the garden which works. We've spent time at Dave's Lake which works. Josh has been helping a local hog farmer some; in between he always has a list of things to do around here. He does well. Jewel is still at 360, doing accounting; she also does the summer yard work there. Sarah wrapped up another semester at ICC and is doing a summer class now which seems to be pretty easy so far. She also babysits a little boy, Tritt, a couple days a week; those days she usually lands at Dave's Lake at some point. She also does all the mowing and yard work at one of the properties Tim manages; this is a 4 days/week or so job as it's a big property.
      We've had a few travels. Sarah spent a great week in AZ with a few friends in May. She and Jewel enjoyed a weekend with TYG to the Ark Encounter. This past week Tim and I spent a few days in Southern Illinois. Had a great short trip and glad to be back. You can see our blog if you want more details but I won't bore you here. Tori and Kaitlyn leave next week with Tess and ASarah for a while in AK (that's Alaska, not Arkansas). Then next month we (all 21 of us) are going to CO for a week so we're getting pretty excited for that.
      Other than that - - - not much is new. Hope to see many of you at the reunion next month!
      Love, the Kaisers

Life Beyond The Pictures - April 2023

 Hello Steiner Family,

Hope y'all are enjoying the taste of summer as much as we have! Next week might be tough when we go back to more normal temperatures but we've loved the gift of these early lake days - - yes kids have been in the water a lot even though it's probably 70d if that! Weird, yes I know. 

Life here took a major turn for hyper-speed back in February when we were asked to keep four children, ages 4, 7, 9, 11, for a while. It's been a very busy season - interpret: blessed - as well as challenging. God is good all the time, and His faithfulness is great. He has sustained us at every level; and next week the kids will move with their mom to a new home, so this season is drawing to a close. Meanwhile, Tim's been busy pruning fruit trees. Wonder of wonders, peach trees have blossoms again! This is the third year in a row, although we won't count our peaches until they're picked. Before 2021, they produced about every 4 years... so we are baffled but thankful for this new pattern. Apple trees look to have blossoms also. Spinach and onions are planted; today I hope to get tomatoes in. Ino it's early; I plan to cover each plant with a milk jug to protect it from the coming cooler temps and winds. Will be interesting to see how this goes. Jewel's been getting horses out to pasture. Several barn cats are looking plump. Josh is starting to wrap up school and is planning to do a full send mowing today. So yeah. Summer is definitely on the way! 

Most of y'all know our biggest change since our last Connection contribution which is that there is another Mrs. Kaiser. Ben & Coreena were married on a beautiful Sunday in March and are pretty settled in their new apartment at Chestnut Place (our church retirement congregate living facility!). It's been such a blessing to have Coreena join our family. Besides the extra spring work here, Josh has been helping Sarah with the landscaping at Encore and doing hog farm work for URandy some. Jewel is also wrapping up school, working 20ish hours/week for Tori at 360YC, and starts doing the mowing today at 360. Sarah is wrapping up her second semester at ICC, babysitting a small crowd on her Fridays with no class, and firing up the landscaping at the Encore property she took care of last summer. Tim keeps busy with 360YC, CIT (truss plant), and farm and orchard projects around home. I spend most of my days with my feet up drinking raspberry iced tea studying how to juggle. 

Take care y'all! I always look forward to hearing from many of you.

Life Beyond The Pictures - October 2022

 Hello Steiners,

Not much new here, just the same pace of busyness that y’all have. Garden did well and all freezing/canning is done from that. Peaches are done. Apples are not. We’re picking and sorting and saucing and cidering and enjoying it all. Tim did a great job spraying all fruit trees and fruit is beautiful and plentiful. Home kids are busy with their various jobs and schools. Harvest is in full swing and we’re thankful for safety for all. Everyone has gotten their fill of combine, tractor, and semi rides; we’ve had perfect weather with some beautiful days. Not much is new with non-home kids except Levi’s basement which they are enjoying very much. Tim & I & Jewel & Josh enjoyed a few days in Omaha last month; we had beautiful weather and got to see lots of sights at the Henry Doorly Zoo and the Strategic Air Command Museum. We also checked out a couple of state parks and just had a good time traveling and chain-listening to Adventures in Odyssey. Was good to go and good to be home. With shorter days and cooler temperatures I for one am enjoying all things fall: hot chocolate, puzzles, slower evenings, turtlenecks, dried apples, and s’mores around the fireburner. Looking forward to an even slower pace when apples are all picked which won’t be long now.

Life Beyond The Pictures - August 2022

 Hello Steiners.

Was great to see many of you at the reunion last month. Was a super nice day, and those who missed were missed. It’s been a really busy season here so this will be short. Brandi’s puppies are gone a couple weeks already and we don’t miss them… but they were sure fun while it lasted and we’ve talked about getting another puppy in a few years and starting over. We’ll see. Levi’s house project is moving right along. Jesse started a new job at Precision Planting a while back which he is enjoying. Not much is new with Tori and Jacob&Natalie. Kaitlyn has been getting her preschool classroom ready for students next week. She’ll be teaching preschool at the Preschool Family Education Center in Pekin and is looking forward to meeting her little students soon. Ben is currently bt semesters and hiking in CO with some friends; nothing else is new with him. Sarah’s books are here now and she’s (kind of) ready to start her full-time college career at ICC pretty soon. Jewel & Josh keep busy with chores here and various jobs elsewhere; they’ve done some bean walking and Josh helped the block layers at Levi’s for a few days. Nothing’s new with Tim and me. We’ve been blessed with a lot of peaches again which we’ve thoroughly enjoyed. Freezers are filling up with various produce; we’ve also found some time to spend at the lake now and then. Not as much as I’d like but owell. There will be slower summers sometime!

Life Beyond The Pictures - June 2022

 

Hello Steiners from the Kaisers.

Hope this finds you all well and planning to come to Tremont soon for the reunion! I always enjoying seeing everyone. News from the Kaisers is a bit sparse so this will be short. Main happening lately is Brandi had 6 puppies about 2.5 weeks ago. Their eyes just opened, they are starting to walk around some, and they are getting really big. On Monday they’ll start eating puppy food mash; now the fun starts. Two are sold so far, and Ino Tori has someone coming to look at them tonight and lots of interest so that’s good. She helps with the managing, etc. but Jewel and Josh are technically in charge of the feeding/cleaning up which will start soon… and that’s when the heavier work starts. So far Brandi has done everything and kids have had it easy but that’ll change after this weekend. Garden’s going good. Peach trees have peaches again! Wonder of wonders, we’ve never had a peach crop two years in a row. As the bottoms of the trees are slowly dying off (which is how peach trees do, so I’m told), most peaches are higher this year… meaning a ladder is necessary for thinning and pruning and picking. Thankfully they don’t need much thinning, unlike last year when they went crazy. There are sufficient apples again too. We won’t count them until they’re picked though. Of course. We have a mess of a yard with new grass planted in several places after an electrical service update. Exciting stuff, you know? Horses are fine, cows are fine, cats/kittens are everywhere, and oh yes – I’ve started chicken chores. Josh is doing so much other stuff around the farm – hauling manure, weed-whipping fence lines, watering new grass, etc – and I thought I had time to collect eggs and feed/water the layers. Turns out I do have time but then it only takes about 10m so it’s not a big deal. Also turns out I hate it. It’s stinky and messy. Idk how long my chicken career will last, but probably not much past summer… our new layers will be laying by then, and this batch will get sold. And I’ll be out of a job before winter hits, how convenient is that? 😊 In other news, Josh gave his heart to the Lord in repentance in May and we are so thankful to see him seeking Jesus. We also have our seventh high school graduate; Sarah plans to attend ICC in the fall, studying early childhood education. Also, Kaitlyn graduated from ISU with a BS in early childhood education. She’s pretty glad to be done with school and is looking forward to being on the opposite side of the classroom this fall. That’s about all that’s new around here so I’ll sign off.

 

Life Beyond The Pictures - April 2022

Hello Steiner Kin.

We don’t have much news to report around here – almost everything is the same as our last Connection in February! Our only real new news - Levi’s are gearing up for a couple house additions – one being a baby to join them in October, Lord willing! The other house addition is a basement, which will be quite a project for them this summer – IF the rain ever stops, ha. Jesse’s been working from home occasionally so is working on a new office which will hopefully keep his fan club (of one right now but will be two when Travis starts walking) at bay when he is working. Grandkids are a joy and growing like wildflowers. Tori enjoyed a weekend trip to see Rob & Leah in Rockville with A. Sarah. She also has a new housemate, Charity Koch. Jacob & Natalie have been doing some yard work on the nice days when they’re not at work or school. Kaitlyn is wrapping up her student teaching – only a couple weeks yet. I got to visit her classroom a couple of times; that was pretty fun. She’s a great teacher and plans to graduate from ISU in May. Ben continues taking electrical classes at ICC and working full time at 360. In between, he spends time with friends, Tremont young group, and ICC/BU young group. Sarah’s ICC classes are winding down too which is good as her lawncare job is winding up. She continues to work at 360 also, as does Jewel. They both enjoy the TYG which is primarily a high school crowd. Jewel and Josh are also both winding down their school year and keep busy keeping things going around here. Tim has been cutting some dead trees down from various places; there seems to be a lot of wood for the kids to stack. Gotta prepare firewood for next winter, y’know?  Tim keeps busy at his various jobs – he’s never bored, that’s for sure. Neither am I. You’d think with only 4 grown kids at home things would slow down some, and true there are slower times when I sneak in a puzzle or play the piano… but those times don’t happen as much as I’d like! Thankful for health and energy to keep up (kind of!). Brandi the Farm Dog has been bred and is looking pudgy so we’re hopeful for puppies in a couple months. Time will tell. It’s been far too wet to think about garden and it won’t be a big one anyways. Cows, steers, horses, cats, and chickens are all fine. And really that’s all I know!

 

Life Beyond The Pictures - February 2022

 Hello Steiners.

Our main news isn’t really news anymore, but it hasn’t been reported in a Connection yet so guess I better do that. There’s another Mrs. Kaiser in town as Jacob & Natalie were married on December 19. We love having Natalie in the family although with her busy schedule we don’t see much of her or Jacob. That will change with time though so for now we’re just glad she can continue pursuing her nursing degree and we’ll enjoy being with her when it works out. Kaitlyn is enjoying her student teaching in Morton and looking forward to graduation in May. Thankful that so far she’s having a good experience. Not much is new with the rest of the family. Kids are busy with jobs and school; grandkids are busy being cute and growing like wildflowers; and Tim & I are busy with work, here and at 360. Because Jake & Natalie were on their honeymoon over Christmas, we had our Christmas in January; then a few days later some of us left for a week in FL. Good time as usual but also glad to be back home as usual. Main thing since then has been ice skating. Sometimes it’s afternoons, sometimes it’s evenings, and sometimes it’s both; but the three littles have had a great skating season. There were a couple days when they skated five hours. That seems like kind of a lot but hey it’s good exercise when there’s just not much else going on. Sometimes it’s at Wesley’s backyard rink, sometimes it’s at Kochs’ backyard rink, and sometimes it was on the lake (no more of that though, as the lake is toast). It’s been a really good skating year, about the best skating weather I can remember for a few years. And of course every Friday they still do the homeschool skate at the Pekin Rink which has again been thoroughly enjoyed. And that’s about all I know this time around.

Life Beyond The Pictures - December 2021

Well, we don't do a Steiner Connection in December, but I've really appreciated the written journal records of life lately from the other updates I've copied here from the SC so decided to do a quick update to keep the pattern consistent. Here goes.

I don't think I can say life has slowed down any; but since applesauce and dried apples are finally done, things have seemed a bit calmer. Wedding planning is pretty much done; good thing because the action starts tomorrow morning. Wedding showers were nice but five showers in ten days made for a busy season.  House is ready for the newlyweds, and Jacob's basement bedroom is almost empty. Clothes are ironed and ready for px tomorrow. Everything's ready for the rehearsal dinner except final setup which we're doing tonight. I've had some time to do Christmas shopping and wrapping; I'm waiting on a few more gifts to arrive then I can cross that off the list too. I've been cutting squares for my next denim comforter, and I've been playing piano a little more, and I've done a couple puzzles. So has life slowed down? Well, yes and no. Seems like there's not as much pressure as there used to be; but there is still plenty to do. I'm never bored. The list is still endless; but instead of apples that will spoil, it's Oreo Balls and cheesecake that I *really* don't need anyway. Especially with kids/grandkids bopping in every other day or so, days just fly. I love it. I love the busy days, and I love the quiet days of Josh & me when everyone else is gone working at 360. Yep, you read that right. Everyone here is employed at 360 except for Josh and me. It's a good place to work and I'm glad they all enjoy their jobs. School is going well. College kids got all A's (I think). Levi is way busy at CIT, and Jesse is way busy at Rheo. Tori is busy with the rest of the 360 crew. Jacob - well - he's getting married in two days and is more than ready. It's been a super busy engagement and he's been drinking too much Mt. Dew. Kaitlyn is D.O.N.E. with the classroom/lecture/professor/assignment/campus part of college and excited to start student teaching in January. I'm pretty excited for her too. It's been a challenging journey for her and I couldn't be more glad for her. Ben finished his last college exam and headed for FL for a week; he got home this morning, went to bed, and I haven't seen him yet. SJJ (otherwise known as The Three Littles) just keep on keepin' on with school, jobs, and things around here. Sarah got an A in her first college class and is technically done with HS as she's only doing ICC next semester (dual credit). All animals are well, although Diamond is getting older and her days are numbered. That will be a sad day which we won't think too much about yet. Brandi is winter fat and lazy. Tim & I are thankful for each day together, for each of our kids/grandkids, for the blessings of friends/extended family, and for health, strength, and energy (sometimes lacking) to do all God asks us to do.

And that's that for this time around. Time to move on.

Life Beyond The Pictures - October 2021

 

Hello Steiners,

Things are busier here than I like but it’s all good stuff so that’s that.

Last Sunday, Jacob’s engagement to Natalie Meiss was announced, and our already-busy life got busier. I don’t even like to write that as it’s so mundane, but it’s true. With wedding clothes to find, showers to schedule, and rehearsal dinner to plan, I find my mind sometimes in a muddle. Make lists and delegate, that’s the key.

Other than wedding talk filling the air, life goes on as normal. Thankful for a safe harvest so far. We had lots of combine and semi and truck rides. School goes. Good most days, not-so-good some days. Ben switched from mechanical engineering to electrical; as in, he is now a novice electrician for 360 Electric, working fulltime and attending ICC towards his associates in electrical technology. Kaitlyn learned last week that she’ll be student teaching in a first grade classroom at Grundy school in Morton which is very convenient. She’s there now helping out in a K classroom so knows the routines and other teachers some. It’s a nice school. We don’t see Tori much as she teaches piano lessons most evenings and is busy with various aspects of being a homeowner. Jacob is engaged and looking for a place to live. Not much new with Levi’s and Jesse’s; kids are growing like wildflowers and are just cute as can be. Sarah has pretty well wrapped up mowing for the year and now keeps busy with lots of babysitting which she loves and school which she doesn’t love. Jewel is working at 360 twice a week and whips out her schoolwork on her home days. Josh still doesn’t enjoy school but he does ok; he’s Tim’s right-hand man and does about everything the older kids did around the farm…. except that Josh is usually doing everything solo. He does well. Tim & I keep getting older and wishing we were wiser.

And that’s about all I know so I’ll sign off.