Canned Peaches

We did a lot of camping when I was young.  We had a pop-up camper for a while and then a small hard-sided pull-behind camper.  We had friends that we would camp with but sometimes we went just as a family.  The best part was around the campfire at night.  We would roast marshmallows (Mom loves her burnt black!) and Dad would tell stories.  Often we would find out information about his childhood that Mom had never heard before.  Dad's mom died when he was very young and life was tough for him.  He told us about a time when he jumped a fence and took some apples so he could eat an "apple sandwich".

What does all of this have to do with canned peaches?  Well, Dad LOVED canned peaches.  I have memories of him eating the slimy peaches with the really thick syrup from all seasons of my life.  He even asked for canned peaches when he was in the hospital.  But what I really remember about canned peaches were his stories about the "trail drive".

When we would camp (and other times as well) he would make up these big, elaborate stories about the trail drive.  He loved westerns and especially John Wayne.  He would insert himself into whatever information he learned from movies and then tell us these huge stories of life on the trail drive.  A necessity on the trail was canned peaches.  They would "pop open" a can and then leave them alongside the trail as markers for those that followed.  Jen and I believed these stories for a very, long time (or at least I did - Jen may deny it!).  We loved to hear about the adventures on the trail drive.  Opening a can of peaches would always begin another long tale of his adventures!

Don and I were in Menards on our date last week (I know, really exciting!).  I always have to go look up and down their food aisles because they often have some great clearance and sale items.  As I am perusing the aisles, I turn the corner and come face-to-face with a huge display of canned peaches.  Ugh!  The emotions and memories try to escape but I quickly push them down and continue walking.

These are the hardest times for me.  These little, unexpected moments of memories that cause a deep ache inside of me.  I long for the day when seeing a display of canned peaches causes me to smile because of the happy memories not leave me empty because I miss my Dad.

Mom is back at work and keeping herself busy but yesterday was a hard day for her.  Saturdays were their day.  If Dad had to deliver mail, she would get her stuff done in the morning, make him a sandwich for when he stopped home quick, and be ready for whatever plans they had when he was finished.  If he didn't have to work they would be off running errands or whatever.

Yesterday was Mom's first Saturday alone.  She has been here or we were there for the past few weeks. She is coming here later today but they are honoring Dad in church this morning because of Memorial Day and she didn't want to miss it.  I am so thankful for her circle of friends that have been inviting her to supper or bringing her food or just checking-in on her.  She received an invitation yesterday afternoon to spend the evening with friends which was just want she needed to make it through her tough day.  I told her about the peaches.  She had just had a conversation with a friend about how the memories will someday change from taking your breath away to making you smile.  We are both longing for that change but know that we have to walk through this tough stuff to get there.  

It has been four weeks since Dad left us for his new adventure in heaven.  I am assuming he is eating canned peaches and telling stories about the trail drive to whomever will listen!  Funny to be jealous of those who get to hear his stories now.

"I weep with sorrow; encourage me by your word."  Psalm 119:28

The Wedding

As I said in my earlier post, the main reason for our Missouri trip was the wedding of our friend, Craig.  We met Craig in Guatemala.  He has served there off and on for several years.  When we were there on our 7-month trip, he was also living there.  He kind of took Caleb under his wing.  He was a vital part of the ministry there and we had really enjoyed getting to know him.  Around the time we returned to the States, he also returned to finish up his schooling.  We were very excited when we learned that he had met a girl, Kelly. 

The wedding was held at Kelly's family's farm.  I loved this "doorway" to the ceremony.  The scripture across the top is "Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain." Psalm 127:1.  Very cool! 

These cute jars of flowers were hanging from the aisle chairs.  (We drank out of "Ball" canning jars at the reception as well.)

This is our friend, David.  He was the best man.  It was fun to see him and the few others that we knew at the wedding.  Our friend, Rachael, was also in the wedding.

Here are Kelly and Craig!  Such a cute couple.

The wedding pictures of the whole bridal party and the couple were taken between the wedding and the reception.  The guests were served "h'orderves" while we waited.  The sun was just setting as they finished up and then dinner was served.  Bethany took these shots while we were waiting.

We left at about 9 pm to drive back to KC.  Everyone was in bed by 1 am and then we were up and headed home by 9 am the next morning.  The kids had to be back for a choir concert in the afternoon.  It was a lot of driving but it was good to get away as a family and we were so glad we were able to share in Craig and Kelly's day.  May the Lord bless them and their marriage.

Missouri Trip

Last Thursday, our family left on a trip to Missouri.  We spent most of our time in Kansas City but the main reason we were going was for a wedding near St. Louis.  

We headed straight to the zoo when we arrived in KC.  We like the zoo there because everything is so spread out and the enclosures are more "wild-like".  We decided to take the tram to "Africa".

We did see a few different animals from the Omaha zoo.  This is a red river hog which we have in Omaha but we have never seen the babies close-up.  They look like striped gophers to us.  They were cute in an "ugly" sort of way.  They were fun to watch as they tried to get their mama to roll over!

The hippos were our favorite.  We stood and watch these two swim for a really long time.  They are absolutely huge.  The pictures don't do them justice.

After the zoo, we checked into our hotel and then met Don's brother and wife for supper.  It was a fun, long day!  On Friday, we spent much of the day at the hotel.  After our free breakfast, some of us ventured to the exercise room while most of us swam . . . and swam . . . and swam!  Then Don and I decided to surprise the kids with a movie - The Avengers in 3-D.  They were soooo excited (Don most of all!).  

On Saturday, we headed to St. Louis (after our free breakfast, of course!).  We are studying American history this year and are in the mid-1800's.  We discovered that Missouri was ranked third for number of battles during the Civil War.  We stopped in Lexington, MO to tour one battlefield and then headed to the capitol of Missouri, Jefferson City.  The capitol building was quite impressive.

Here are our kids with "Thomas Jefferson" in front of the capitol.  We specifically stopped at the capitol because they had a temporary Civil War exhibit.  It was very good and informative (lots of guns!)  Living in the "North", we found it very interesting to hear about the war from the "South" point-of-view.

From Jefferson City, we headed to the wedding.  I will continue that part of our trip in another post!

A couple pictures

A few people posted pictures to the funeral home website.  Mom and I decided that we wanted to share them here as well. 

Mom doesn't remember why they were doing this is but they were at the clinic in Elk Point "messing" around.  Dad served on the clinic board for many years. 

 

My cousin Rodney shared this picture.  At ALL family reunions, the entire Kooiman clan could be found on the go-cart track at some point.  The most dangerous drivers were Dad and his brothers because "rubbing is racing". 

 Dad was a substitute mail carrier during his "retirement".  This is his little friend Cianna.  She would stand in the window and watch for "her friend Jim" and the mail.  The other day we stopped by their house and Mom noticed Cianna in the window watching.  It was a difficult moment for her.  The memories are so sweet yet they make our hearts ache. 

The Remembrance Service

Dad's service yesterday was beautiful.  We are guessing that more than 300 people were there.  Everyone did a great job - Pastor Dave, the praise team, the ladies in the kitchen etc. etc. 

We had a great time of sharing memories and singing some of Dad's favorite songs.  We laughed and cried and did a lot of hugging! 

Once the service was over, everyone had to clear out so that tables could be set up for the lunch.  Here are couple pictures of everyone outside.

Here is a picture of one of the tables once we were all back inside.
















We were so blessed by all of the friends and family that came.  Thank you all for your encouragement and support and prayers over the past 2 months.   

Distraction

We decided to take Mom to the zoo last week.  It had been a hard week of dealing with all that happened with Dad and we thought we could all use a distraction.  

We started in the IMAX for a 3D movie.

We saw some animals . .  including a cute baby zebra

And a baby goat.

We saw more animals.

We walked around a lot.

And then some more.

 Then we had to rescue Samuel. . . 

. . . and Caleb.

It was a nice distraction and a fun time with friends.

Tomorrow is the Remembrance Service for Dad.  We will all be in Elk Point tonight.  We are leaning on the Lord to get through these next couple days.  

Dad's Obituary

Here is a link to Dad's obituary.

http://www.koberfuneralhome.com/pages/show_content.php?siteid=30&siteid=30&action=1&value=12&menuitem=119&obituaries_action=2&obituaryid=119995