Life Beyond The Pictures - October 2026

        Well to start with, August 15-16 was a beautiful but very wet wedding weekend for Adam&Sarah. The previous week had brought record rainfall to our area; a few tweaks to the Saturday picture schedule and all was good.  They are settled in a cute little (and I mean very little) apartment in Tremont. Adam recently switched jobs; he is now employed by 360 Electric  Sarah is enjoying her morning job teaching six preschoolers at Bethel Lutheran School in Morton. Afternoon she has some babysitting days and some mowing days. We had some apple cider days (apples from our trees weren't good enough for sauce), applesauce days (Christ Orchard is convenient and reasonably priced), and now the ricer and pressure cooker are put away for another year.

        Jason started first grade and Travis started kindergarten at Solid Rock last month. Jasper started first grade, Flint started third grade, and Kiowa started fourth grade at home. Kiowa and Flint are doing well with piano lessons; I'm enjoying teaching again. It's rewarding to see their progress. Skye is doing preschool and will be four tomorrow. How can this be?! Time goes so fast.  Josh started his last semester of high school, works for Yordy's afternoons, is helping Randy harvest, often attends young group and social gatherings, and hunts for arrowheads in his free time. We don't see him much. He anticipates graduation in December and I anticipate retirement. Josh's post-graduation plans are undecided. Jesse and Lucy sold their old camper and bought a new one; their barn remodel project will result in a nice storage shed for the new camper. Tori has a new roommate; when Sarah got married, Kinsey Knapp moved in (Mike and Janet's).  They had a good road trip driving AShirley’s car to her. Rafe turned two on October 1 and is busy learning and exploring. Lennon's smiles could melt stone. Natalie is doing clinicals as she finishes up requirements for her master's degree. Jacob and Wes did a major upgrade to our basement a couple weeks ago when they replaced the old dim ceiling lights. Huge improvement. Bennett turned one in September and started walking on his birthday. His world is farming. Jason is busy harvesting and we - especially Kaitlyn - are all looking forward to meeting Little Brother in a couple of months. Teddy is cute as a button and melting hearts all around with his smiles and coos. Ben has a bathroom project going on and Coreena is back to working a couple days a week. Jewel is working at 360 while Wes finishes his senior year at BU. Tim & I enjoyed a long weekend trip to MN in September, meeting some good friends in Lanesboro and doing the bike trail again... this time with better saddles (who knew a bike seat is actually called a saddle?!) and e-bikes. Highly recommend.  One of our two friendly kittens met a sad demise in an unfortunate barn accident; poor lonely Tommy meowed around here terribly for a few weeks. But then we adopted another queen with six kittens (two of which went to Levi's), and Tommy now is busy keeping the other kittens in line. Brandi is fine. Annoying as always. Horses are good. I'm still learning to saddle and ride. Three of four cows/heifer have calved. Waiting for one more.

I've been asked how I like being an almost-empty nester. The answer -  I really don't know.  I can count on one hand the days when I'm not chasing somewhere or someone isn't stopping by for something or other. Wes/Jewel are here every evening to do horse chores - sometimes we don't see them, sometimes they stop in for a while. Sarah stops to grab something from their storage closet - in our basement (remember their little apartment?). Someone stops for something from the freezer. Kaitlyn is here to mow every week. Any girls available are invited for lunch on Wednesdays. Piano lessons. Babysitting. Chasing. I like to stop and see AB when I can. Etc. I have no complaints - no, none at all - but I haven't yet noticed the nest being that empty. If I ever get there, I'll be sure to report!

Tim's dad was released from Restmor Monday and is settled back in at Chestnut Place. Family members take turns spending time with him and Mom and so far this is working well. 

The single highlight since Adam&Sarah's wedding was definitely the Sweetwater visit with a crowd of Steiner kin. Words can't describe how much I enjoyed the trip so I won't try. Thanks again Anne and Hope for all your efforts into making this happen and to each one who made the effort to attend/participate.  Also thanks again Ben&Suzy for the house tour - your beautiful home and sweet family were another highlight.

Oh - remember my dryer which needed a repair that was Big Enough that it was going to be replaced in August? 

Well.  

I did that Big Repair. 

I. 

Me. 

Myself.

Ruth Kaiser. 

I glued the dryer drum felt gasket back into place and all it cost me was a bit (or a lot) of skin that I lost thanks to the super glue. It's been working just fine ever since.

Moral of the story - Super Glue Is Great. 

And You Can't Always Believe The Repairman.

And I think that's quite enough rambling for this time.

Take care each of you and Happy Fall, Y'all

September Finale

 Happy 96th Grandpa!

 Sunday 9.27

Monday 9.28

FarmerBaby is completely mesmerized by anything farm💙

Tuesday 9.29

Steiner Piano Extravaganza

 Well so that's one name for it. Another way to look at it - it was a Steiner Reunion at the Sweetwater music store in Fort Wayne, IN. And it was definitely another highlight of the year for me... which is saying a lot considering that two weddings and two new babies and two trips to Lanesboro were also highlights... it's been quite a year and it's only October.

Anyway. Back to March. 

Yes. That would be six months ago.

My cousin Hope shared on our cousins/aunts chat a video of her and her mom, my AKaren, playing two pianos. It was very sweet, especially so since AKaren has dementia. But with all her memory loss and cognitive decline - she can still play the piano beautifully...and her joy is touching. So, on the chat, Hope then shared her dream of a dozen pianos in a room with all the Steiner pianists pounding out hymns together (her words, not mine lol)(accurate, nevertheless). This led to another cousin, Anne, calling the Sweetwater store in Fort Wayne, IN, and asking and receiving permission for a crowd of us to play their pianos in their showroom for an hour before closing. Fast forward six months - including much planning and preparation, especially by Anne and Hope - and it actually happened. And - 

it. was. amazing.

From the beginning of our trip with seven in our van heading east to the last group picture of all 43 of us outside the Sweetwater store - there were so many precious memories to cherish. These pictures cannot do justice, and I cannot explain the joy of being part of 17 pianos praising God at one time. Words can't express how amazing it was. It's overwhelming to be part of a family that has interest and talent in doing this AND two wonderful cousins who put time and time and time and time into pulling this together and making it happen.

I could keep rambling but I'll stop and get to a few pictures.

Friday, September 25

Reunion time💗

Delicious lunch from the Crescendo Cafe and the Downbeat Diner😊🎝

Then we wandered the store - which was set up like a mall. All behind glass walls/doors were the piano room, the acoustic guitar room, the percussion room, etc. First stop - of course - the piano room. Behind and to the left of UHarold and ACarol, Sales Engineer Clete was discussing a piano purchase with customers. So no, we did not have freedom to just play whenever whatever we wanted. We tried to be discreet and respectful so we didn't abuse our privilege as we patiently waited for 6:00.

This was in the doorway of the piano room. Across the mall was the acoustic guitar room where a Yamaha representative was doing a demonstration. He was good - not as good as Anne's Nate or my Ben. But maybe we're prejudiced ha.

More kin in the mall area. The place was massive. Check out the website for particulars but for a start - 40000+ square feet!

Denay demonstrated the slide😊

The second floor balcony led to the medical center, the health club, and the beauty salon for the store's 2500 employees.

View of the game/arcade area from the balcony.

Special ladies💖

sorry, Idr who gets photo creds for that one. Clearly it wasn't me

Downstairs again - games

puzzles and talk

arcade

and more!

By 5:30 we were in the piano room. ready or not! 

This particular piano was my favorite. It was digital, with beautiful sound in the headphones; at the touch of a button it was a traditional acoustic piano. The thing was, even the digital didn't sound/feel digital. I've never been a fan of digital pianos/keyboards because they don't have the sound/feel of an acoustic one - this was an exception. It was pretty much the same for both. Not that I speak in respect of want 👀- but it was a really really nice instrument.

Waiting...

*creative ceiling*

News reporter interviewed Hope and Anne! Exciting stuff.

Pretty special to have four generations of Steiners participating. UHarold&AKaren, UCloyce&ACarol, AShirley, and AVelma were first generation. We cousins - 16 of 25 - were seconds. Ben&Suzy, Brittany, and others were third generation. And Gabe, Isaac, and others were fourth generation. Very cool.

This is about where the piano party started and I stopped taking pictures because I was rather busy. It was really, really fun. 

If you ever get such a chance - by all means take it...and let me know. I just might crash the party😊

The store closed at 7:00; we were diligent to be out of the store by then so the employees could close up.  A quick picture of all 43 of us (one non-Steiner but who's counting?!) and our van was heading back west. 

Thanks again Anne and Hope and all kin who participated. I'd do it again in a heartbeat. As I'm playing various hymns/gospel songs at home now I keep thinking, "This would be a good one for next time!" I don't know if any of my cousins will even see this - but if you do - that's my vote. 

Lets do it again!

#blessed #family #memories #musicalheritage #thankful