Getting To Decorate Sugar Cookies With My Cousins and Grandma

I have never gone to my grandma’s to decorate cookies. It was a tradition for the younger cousins (on my mom’s side) to go to Grandma Marge’s house and decorate cookies.

But I think the tradition started while was in college or while I was living/working in Greeley, so I’d never actually gone to Grandma’s to join my cousins in this activity.

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Watching The Lunar Eclipse From Venango, Nebraska

Carrie and I had gone to Venango, Nebraska (just east of Holyoke, Colorado) to spend time with Carrie’s mom and Larry, on Larry’s farm.

While we were there, we heard that there was going to be an eclipse. It was going to be early in the morning, but one of the nice things about this part of Colorado/Nebraska is that it is exceptionally flat, which means that you can see the sun and moon all the way to the horizon.

This makes for some incredible sunrises and sunsets, and also meant that we could see the eclipse of the moon, unimpeded.

Here are the pictures I took of the eclipse as the sun was coming up.

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Touch Screen Everything

- Coming home to Touch Screen Everything -

3 years ago when I got my tablet PC (before we left on our travels), I was one of only two people I knew who had a tablet PC.

Coming home, we’ve found that everyone’s cell phones are touch screens, that everyone is talking about apps, iPads, and Android tablets, and some game called “Angry Birds”.

Carrie asked my aunt something at Thanksgiving.  A conversation happened, and she told Carrie she would just text it to her.  But Carrie doesn’t have a cell phone set up in the US yet.  It’s assumed that she would have a cell phone with a texting plan.  Further, everyone texting just touches their screens to type the message.

When we left America over 2 years ago, it was not this way.

Two years ago, people asked us for help for how to use their cell phones, because they didn’t know how to use them.

Two years ago, my tablet PC was a bit of a novelty.

It’s not that I feel slighted or like I need to have the latest and greatest devices.

It’s just that I am absolutely amazed at how rapidly touch screen technology has become the daily life of the vast majority of the people with whom we have spent time since returning to the US. 

I am also reminded (although it was this way when we left) at how ubiquitously accepted and expected it is that you will be carrying around an electronic appendage all the time (otherwise known as a cell phone).

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Enjoying Colorado (in Photographs)

I grew up in a beautiful place in a beautiful state.

I’ve known this since I was little, and it’s been nice to have so many reminders since coming back home.

It’s also amazing to return home with new photographic skills and a new interest in photography. 

It gives me a different eye for appreciating all I’m seeing around me.

Here are some photographic impressions of what I’ve been seeing since returning to Colorado.

Owl

Deer

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A Farewell to Dustyn Kraft: Someone Who Made Me Laugh

My cousin Dustyn passed on from this life 6 days ago.

He was 33.

He died of a heart aneurysm, in his sleep.

I hadn’t made the time to spend much time with him in the past few years.

But when we were little kids, our parents made sure we got to spend some good times together.

One memory I have most vivid of Dustyn includes an evening when my brothers and I, and Dustyn and our cousin Landon, were all at my Oma’s apartment, while our parents went to see Phantom of the Opera at the Denver Center For The Performing Arts..

5 growing boys stayed with Grandma for 1 evening.

We not only ate the meal she prepared, but also everything else she had in her house.

Everything.

The TV dinners in the fridge, the crackers in the pantry, everything right down to the last piece of bread slathered with peanut butter and jelly.

Dustyn had a great sense of humor and a great work ethic.

I’m sorry that I didn’t make the time to spend more time with him and get to know him better as an adult.

Rest In Peace Dustyn. You will be missed.

——————————-

From The Grand Junction Sentinel on November 24, 2011:

Birth:  Aug. 27, 1978
Grand Junction
Mesa County
Colorado, USA

Death:  Nov. 21, 2011

Dustyn Kraft was born in Grand Junction on August 27, 1978 and passed away November 21, 2011 of natural causes.

Dustyn is sadly missed by all who knew him. He was the most remarkable father, a son who would make anyone proud, a best friend to his brother, a loving husband, and a friend many counted on in good times and bad.

Dustyn and Shayla Cox were married on June 26, 2011 and welcomed their beautiful daughter, Kaylee on January 11, 2006. Shayla and Kaylee survive Dustyn. Dustyn is also survived by his brother, Landon Kraft; mother, Lorri Wesson; father, Guy Kraft; grandmother, Shirley Wesson; grandfather, Gene Kraft; numerous nieces and nephews, aunts, uncles, and cousins, and his beloved dog Rugby.

He was preceded in death by his grandfather, Charles Wesson and grandmother, Hilda Smith.

Dustyn lived in the Grand Junction area his entire life. He graduated from Fruita Monument High School and attended Mesa State College. His chosen work was as a General Contractor and he founded and owned Kraftsman Construction.

Dustyn loved to fish, hunt, golf, and camp. After a brief period as a Raider fan he became a dedicated Denver Bronco fan.

Memorial contributions may be made to The Western Rockies Federal Credit Union in C/O Kaylee Kraft.

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Returning To Roots At The Bad Zwischenahn Baumschule

At some point about 120 years ago, there was a man with two sons.
(Yes, there were many…)

One of those sons stayed in Germany near a town called Bad Zwischenahn.

The other son came to America.

The son who came to America was Carrie’s great-great-great-grandfather.

The families stayed in touch over the past 100+ years, and today, Carrie and I are about the same ages as Joern and Sabine.

Joern is Carrie’s 16th cousin-twice-removed (or something like that).

Joern and Sabine now run the family Baumschule in Northern Germany.

Baumschule = Nursery (for plants)

Baum = Tree
Schule = School

I like the idea that the word for nursery (in German) is the place where trees go to school. I think that’s fun.

But I digress…

We came to Bad Zwischenahn while on our honeymoon 4 years ago.

While driving from the Baumschule in Bad Zwischenahn to the

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Top 10 things I learned from my mom

Happy Mother’s Day Mom! I’m sorry not to be there to celebrate with you. So, I wrote this for you instead.

Top 10 things I learned from my mom

1. Drive
I mean this literally and figuratively. You taught me how to drive when I was…young, really young. I’ll always remember the first time I drove alone and the sheriff followed me home. I was 13.

You have a huge sense of drive in all that you do. You set your mind to something and doesn’t stop until you have it.

2. Reading
Every night when growing up, you would read to Jamie and me. You told us that you read to us to put us to sleep, but I know better. You read to put yourself to sleep. And you know, I do that now too.

3. Taste
From blue cheese to olives to sauerkraut, some of your favorites are some of mine too.

4. Strength
You taught me what being strong is all about. You are the definition of a strong, independent woman, and you taught that by example.

5. Hard work
No one I know works harder than you. You are always doing something, and never idle.

6. Character
It’s your character that is most important. Not your looks, not your clothes, but how you treat others when they aren’t looking.

7. Independence
You want me to be independent and experience the things I want to experience. You always encouraged me to go out and do what I wanted to do, even if it was / is against the “normal” flow.

8. Grammar
My obsession with English grammar probably started with you. I remember you correcting my dangling participle before I even knew what that meant.

And you still correct our blog posts. Thank you!

9. Faith
Faith in God, other people, and ourselves.

10. Fearlessness
You have this. I’m still learning it, and I look to you as an example.

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10 Lessons and Skills I Learned From My Mom

Be A Good Listener
Listening is a skill. It’s something you can practice and get good at.
I learned a lot of my listening skills from my mom, who was always willing to listen to whatever I had to say, no matter how trivial or insignificant some of the topics must have seemed.

Dusting
During the school year, we had a cleaning service that would come to clean the house 1 time every two weeks. We did all the other cleaning in-between “deep” cleanings.
However, during the summer, in order to earn money for school clothes, my brothers and I became the cleaning service. Mom held the money she would have spent on professional house cleaning to pay us instead. Each of us got a job. Adam got bathrooms, Brian got floors (all of the vacuuming and mopping), and I got dusting.
I’m sure it was difficult at first for Mom to have to go back through and teach us about all the things we missed or needed to clean.
I DREADED that after I got done dusting, Mom would find something I had missed, because I didn’t want to be corrected, and because I didn’t want to disappoint Mom.
But because she took the time to point out the things I had missed, I learned to be thorough and to pay attention to details.

Always Be Everywhere All the Time
I don’t know how, but one or both of my parents was always at every soccer game, football game, lacrosse game, baseball game, awards banquet, OM Competition, theatrical performance, choir concert, etc. Knowing they were there watching, encouraging and loving, made all the difference in my life.
Thank-you Mom for always being there.

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What’s the Secret That Lets Us Travel the World

My brother Adam has really been making some incredible videos over the past few years.

Adam, with another friend of ours named Patrick Shaw, just launched the first in a series of three full-length videos.

You can access them at Bridge The Gap

These videos will ultimately promote a system for accomplishing everything you want in life.

But for a short time, they’re freely available online.

The system is one that Carrie and I first learned from Mr. Shaw over 6 years ago.

In the past 4 years, we’ve
- Traveled to 6 continents
- Lived on 5 continents
- Built a successful business
- Deepened our relationship with eachother… and
- Maintained great personal and business relationships around the world.

Our massive sinkhole of debt now looks like a gopher hole…

(The gopher has moved out, and we’re happily planting seeds for fruit trees.)

In short, this system works.

You CAN get everything you want from your life.

It takes time and effort, but less time than you might imagine.

5 years passes quickly.

As a result, I’m giving these videos and this system my highest recommendation.

If there’s a “secret” to how we do what we do, this system is a big part of it.

Open disclosure: Patrick’s a friend, and a valuable mentor.

Even if you decide not to get the system they are ultimately going to talk to you about, make sure you watch the free videos while they are available.

(They will be taken down at some point in the not too distant future.)

The production quality on the videos is Hollywood quality, and you’ll learn a lot about what it takes to get the life you want to live.

Bridge The Gap

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Family Memories of Gordon Nuttall

Here are some of the family’s collected memories of the man they knew as their dad and grandpa.

J.T. Rooney (Cousin)
After Grandpa Gordon passed away [...] the family gathered to talk about his life.

I learned more that night about him than I ever had before, and the new information has allowed me to look back on previous memories more fondly.

Finding out he played string bass was amazing and led me to play bass later on, which in turn affected all of my musical choices and experiences afterwards.

Abby Kelleher (Cousin)
My favorite memory of Grandpa Gordon is

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