Helen also made this for me.  It is going to Germany too.  She is currently working on some other special orders for me for Christmas.

    And her items will be at the Cultural Center, in Wisconsin Rapids, Dec 13th- the end of Dec.

    

    " We can reinsert humor and joy into our lives, even though factors that deplete us of cheer can't be  changed.  Some of the "stuff" of life is mundane and draining, while other parts of life are enormous and hard.  Whatever the size of the difficulty, cheer is waiting to be discovered-sometimes unexpectedly, like a chocolate chip in the Raisin Bran." -Marilyn Meberg- God Always has a Plan B

This is a wonderful park memorial for the firefighters.

We often forget how much fire fighters and police officers risk their lives doing their everyday jobs.
The bronze statue here shows them pulling out
a fellow fire fighter, which makes you stop and think about what they actually do.  Its not as romantic as sometimes it is pictured in movies and on calendars.
       thank you for being the brave men and women that you are.

This park is often the sight of weddings and graduations.  We had our family photo taken here, and the pictures were awesome.  They were taken by Faud.   You can
check out some of his other work at ....   Images by Faud.  or if you are interested in
getting photos done his phone number is  715-865-6277.  He worked really well with
our 1 1/2 year old grandson, and we got some wonderful family photos.

While looking on the internet I found a few memorials to our police officers.  I was a bit disappointed to see that there wasn't more on-line, and I hope that there are actually more displays of our gratitude to those that protect us here at home.  And it doesn't always need to be for those that have died in the line of service, but to those men, women, k-9's, and Horses, that work for us and with us in our everyday lives to keep ups safe in our own homes, and country.
Thank you.

       I recently received this on my e-mail and thought I would pass most of it on here in my blog.
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      -You're a 19 year old kid.     You're critically wounded, dying in the jungle somewhere in the Central Highlands of Viet Nam.   It's November 11, 1967.   Your unit is outnumbered  8-1 and the enemy fire is so intense from 100 yards away, that your CO has ordered the MedEvac helicopters to stop coming in.
       You're lying there, listening to the enemy machine guns and you know you're not getting out.  Your family is half way around the world,  12,000 miles away, and you will never see them again.
      As the world starts to fade in and out, you know this is the day.   Then-over the machine gun noise-you faintly hear that sound of a helicopter.  You look up to see a Huey coming in.  There is no MedEvac markings on it.
        Captain Ed Freeman is coming in for you.  He's not a MedEvac so it's not his job, but he heard the radio call and decided he's flying his Huey down into the machine gun fire anyway.
     Even after the MedEvacs were ordered not to come.  He's coming anyway.  And he
drops it in and sits there in the machine gun fire, as they load 3 of you on board.   Then he flies you up and out through the gunfire to the doctors and nurses and safety. 
     And, he kept coming back!!!  13 more times!!!  Until all the wounded were out.  No one knew until the mission was over that the Captain had been hit 4 times in the legs and left arm.  He took 29 of you and your buddies out that day.
     Some would not have made it without the Captain and his Huey.
                Medal of Honor recipient, Captain Ed Freeman, United States Air Force, died recently at the age of 70.
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        We so often do not hear of our heroes.  Our courageous men and women.
We do hear about the bickering in the political machine, and about the shootings,
and how there are just so many bad things going on.  What about those that do
this type of job daily?  For recognition? For fame? For what?
      Because they are called to,  To do something for the benefits of others.  To go
beyond what most of us would even consider.

            I want to thank them for this.

     Everything continues to change, whether we are ready or not. Life is like art, the colors and mediums continue to evolve into new things, new ideas.  Isn't it wonderful that God has created such a variety of colors and ideas to work with.  He is truly the MASTER CREATOR.

     Fall- is the time with beautiful colored leaves adorning our trees.   Today I watched as the children played in a pile of golden colored leaves.  They threw them up and giggled as they came swirling down.   It was a delight to watch them laugh and roll around in the leaves as though they were a fine bed of gold.  What would we do without the laughter of children in this world?
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    "Laughter is the language of the young at heart and the antidote to what ails us.  No drugstore prescription is required; laughter is available to anyone at any time.  Laughter's benefits are felt immediately.  With large doses, the benefits show on our face, in our body language, and in the spring in our step.  God gave us this capacity to be tickled way deep down inside.   Giggles are as contagious as a viral disease.  And you know what?  You don't have to be happy to laugh.  You become happy because you laugh."   -Barbara Johnson-