MOM’S MEMOIRS – IRENE LOUISE (NEE KUCKKAN) MUELLER
(Continued)

Mom’s Autobiography – Chapter 79 – In Book, Page 190

Two Babies To Be Born – Jenny’s and Julia’s, Visit to Titanic Exhibit and Dinner Out, Family Get-Together – January 1, 2009, Susie’s 49th Birthday, St. Mark’s Students in Finished Facility, Wedding of Brian Weiland and Jessica Blume, Birth of Lacy Ann Joecks

DECEMBER 25, 2008 – A CHRISTMAS SURPRISE – TWO BABIES TO BE BORN!

We were invited to Sue and Tim’s for Christmas dinner and opening of gifts. Of course, the dinner was delicious, and wonderful gifts opened. But surprise! There in my album are Julie and Tom’s very happy faces, and what are they holding – baby clothes! There is a card from Jenny which both Julie and Jenny (sisters) are holding which says: “Roses are red, Violets are blue, There’s a bun in your oven, And one in mine too!” Wow, what a surprise – two more great grandbabies on the way! All of us rejoiced with them. It reminded Dick and me of the time when our daughter, Stephanie, announced during our family Christmas dinner years ago in Waunakee, Wisconsin, that she was expecting a baby. Many beautiful cards and gifts were opened, but none compared with the announcement of the two babies to be born in 2009, God willing.

ANOTHER CHRISTMAS SURPRISE – TITANIC EXHIBIT AND DINNER OUT

Sue, Tim, and family presented us with another surprise, but it was not another baby. It was a card which said, “A Special Christmas Gift For You – A day of fun with the two of you, Jerry and Joanne, and both of us, Tim and Sue, A trip to the Milwaukee Museum & The Titanic Exhibition & Dinner out.” Wow! What a great thing to look forward to. We all plan to go on February 2, 2009.

JANUARY 1, 2009 – A NEW YEAR’S FAMILY GET-TOGETHER

Sue, Jim, Laura, Melody, Steve, and everyone in the Sue, Tim Mueller family gathered at Sue and Tim’s home. Everyone was happy and had a great time.

JANUARY 17, 2009 – CELEBRATING SUSIE’S 49TH BIRTHDAY

It was great to be in Sue and Jim’s home in Merrill, Wisconsin, too. Sue, Jim, Jimmy, Karen, Brian, Jessica, Becky, Patrick, Gabriel, and Laura were there, too. Oh, I have an obnoxious picture of the big boa constrictor (name ?) which is in Sue and Jim’s living room in a huge cage. Please don’t ask me to touch it – ugh! Dick had fun putting a puzzle together with 4-year old Gabriel, Becky and Patrick’s son. Laura had to show me, her Grandma, how tidy her room was. Whenever we go to Merrill, I ask Laura how her room is, ever since quite a few years ago, her room was a mess with everything all over the place – the floor (even under the bed), the closet, books, etc. She now knows, I hope, what “organization” is all about. I hope.

JANUARY 17, 2009 – ST. MARK’S STUDENTS START SEMESTER IN FINISHED FACILITY

The above headline was in the Watertown Daily Times. The addition to St. Mark’s School “includes a new regulation sized gymnasium, music room, computer room, kitchen, commons area, administration offices, bathrooms, and eight classrooms. The renovation includes a new heating ventilation and air conditioning system, entirely new plumbing, electrical work, and windows. The $4.3 million renovation and addition project to St. Mark’s Lutheran School began in the summer of 2008, and is now getting its finishing touches this week.” Please refer to Album Number 78 to read the whole Daily Times article. The addition also has a very impressive Jones Street entrance.

The St. Mark’s school which I attended (from 1936-1944) was built in 1914. It was a big square building. Our “gym” was the playgrounds on both sides of the school and in the barricaded street. We children played a lot of baseball, and if I do say so myself, I could really hit the ball a long way. According to “150 Years Living The Word – A History of St. Mark’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, Watertown, Wisconsin, 1854-2004”, this school building served our congregation for sixty years, and was attended by many generations of St. Mark’s members”. I loved school, learning about Jesus’ death on the cross to save us all from our sins, mission work in foreign countries (which probably had an influence on me to go to Africa with Dick as missionaries), and studying “reading, writing, and arithmetic”, as they say. When Dick and I got to St. Mark’s after the removal of my old school building, all that was left for us to make our own was a slab of concrete which had been a part of the school building wall. It is at the bottom of the wooden stairs leading up to the deck of our park model trailer at Pioneer Park, Lake Delton, Wisconsin. Thought that some of you readers, who are family historians, would like to know that.

HERE I GO AGAIN – VACILLATING BETWEEN THE PAST AND PRESENT (IT’S BECAUSE I AM EXCITED AND HAPPY, AND HAVE TO TELL ABOUT IT WHILE IT IS STILL FRESH IN MY MIND)

JULY 3, 2010 – WEDDING OF JESSICA NICOLE BLUME AND BRIAN DONALD WEILAND

After seven years of waiting to get married, Jessica and Brian wedding date finally arrived. We are so happy for them. So we left our home before 9:00 a.m. in Watertown, we traveled to St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin. When we arrived at the church, we were awestruck by the spaciousness and beauty of it. Jimmy was already there, decked out very handsomely in a tuxedo. There was also an older man who called himself the “wedding (or funeral) host” who directed the people in the wedding party where to go. We arrived early, so not many people were there yet. They began to trickle in. They were carrying their fine wedding attire, planning to change clothes in the church. What a magnificent makeover!!!!! They all looked great! A beautiful orchid corsage was pinned on to my dress. Our Susie, the mother of the bridegroom, had on a beautiful blue dress with silver decoration. The wedding guests started to arrive, too.

We were all ushered in. Jessica and Brian asked Dick, Brian’s grandfather, to read the Scripture Readings: 1 John 4:7-16 and 1 Corinthians 13:1-7. When he read them, he also applied them to their lives. Jim, the father of the bridegroom, preached the sermonette. It was based on Psalm 127:1 – “Let The Lord Build Your House.” Jim remembered that when Dick married Sue and him, Dick quoted from Psalm 127:5 – “Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them (children – like arrows in a quiver). There was a little chuckle throughout the congregation. Jimmy, Brian’s brother, was the Best Man. Karen, Jimmy’s wife, was a Bridesmaid. Becky Kluck, Brian’s sister, was a Bridesmaid. Patrick Kluck, Becky’s husband, was a Groomsman. Gabriel Kluck, Becky and Patrick’s son, was a Ring Bearer. Laura, Brian’s sister, was asked to be a vocalist. She sang beautifully in that big church. The names of all the others who were in the wedding party are listed in the wedding bulletin, copies of which are in Album Number 78.

After the beautiful wedding, the guests visited in the spacious narthex (which we were told was once a gym) of the church while the wedding pictures were taken. When Jessica and Brian came out of the narthex, the guests had been given sparklers which were lit. The beautiful bride and handsome groom walked out between them. That is the second time Dick and I saw that. The first time was at Travis and Jenna’s wedding. In our day the guests threw rice. After that it was birdseed. It seemed to me that the bride and groom were “sparkly” enough without the sparklers.

Everyone then drove to the Ramada Inn in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, for the Reception and overnight stay. We ate a delicious pork dinner, complete with potatoes, dressing, and peas. Many wonderful speeches were made, including one by our Susie, which (according to a letter which Dick wrote to Sue and Jim on July 10th) “was very thoughtful. We know that Deb has a “gift of gab”, but we were not aware that you have it, too. You did a great job – and Mom and I are very, very proud of you”. Dick, my husband, joked about what Jim had said in his sermonette, about the quiver being full of arrows. Then he grabbed me and said, “I’ll show you how it’s done!” He bent me backwards, almost taking me off my feet, and really, I mean really, kissed me! Everyone thought it was great and cheered!!!!!! Sadly, no one got a picture of it.

After the dinner, there were pictures of Jessica and Brian’s lives shown, and there was Karaoke. Quite a few of our family (Glen, Susie, Steve) went up there and sang. They really can “belt it out”. Then it was time to retire to our lovely suite which Susie had reserved for us. Thank you so much for that, Sue and Jim. The next morning we joined many of the other guests in eating a delicious Continental breakfast. Many of the Weiland family were there, so we had a chance to visit with them, too. There was a magnificent big swimming pool. We didn’t go in swimming, but Debbie, Glen, Nicki, Dave, Cassie, Caleb, Mark, Jamie, and little baby Aubrey did! I took a picture of Debbie with her cute little granddaughter, Aubrey, in the water. All of us went to the meeting room then for the Opening of Gifts by Jessica and Brian. They received many lovely gifts. We had a very happy and blessed time with everyone! Also, after the Opening of Gifts, we went out to eat with Debbie, and had a nice visit with her while we ate lunch at McDonalds.

JULY 3, 2010 – LACY ANN JOECKS IS BORN

Melody and Steve were unable to attend Jessica and Brian’s beautiful wedding, but they were able to get to the reception. They had a blessed announcement to make. Brent (Melody’s son) and his wife, Karen, are the proud parents of a little girl. Her name is “Lacy Ann Joecks”. She weighed 7 lbs. 6 oz., and was 20 in. long at birth. Steve said she is very tiny. Now we are waiting for a picture of Lacy. We are thankful to our loving Lord for this wonderful blessing.