Happy Halloween 2013

Waiting for Dad to come home.

Almost ready to go trick-or-treating.

 We had a great time experiencing Halloween this year with our little guy. We didn't venture out too far... just to our neighbor's house. St. Louis has a tradition that kids have to say a joke when trick-or-treating. I tried to get Enoch to say one but he just looked at me like I was crazy.

Let's go and find out what this is all about.

Although not eating solids yet, Enoch was very interested in this funny attempt of a Halloween dish.

Dinner?

Merry Christmas 2012

I enjoy reading the Christmas letters that come each year from family and friends. I love catching a glimpse of our loved one’s lives. I think to myself, I should do this, or at least send out Christmas cards, and yet the New Year comes without me writing or sending any such thing.

Here are some highlights of our happenings (mostly a travel log) this year:

 I was busy in and out of the office this year for work. I love working for the Missouri Botanical Garden especially when I am in the field collecting plants or out with my Dakota and Lakota friends learning more about their rich heritage and how plants fit into it all. I spent about 3 ½ months on the Crow Creek Indian Reservation in South Dakota this year.

Plant collecting in the grasslands of South Dakota

David is working hard at Boeing. Not only was he busy this year at work but we started a remodeling project at home that has kept him busy for several months. It all started because I wanted to paint the living and dining rooms… but it has turned out well and I am grateful for his skills, knowledge and ability to improve things. The “beekeeper’s motto” came to mind as I watched David over the course of the year… work, work, work… the three keys to success.



David taking a break. (Do you notice the game
Tikal on the table? Yah, that game has
since been banned and hidden.)



Construction zone







 Other than work, we had a busy year tripping and spending time with family. We started out the year by visiting family in Arizona. Nothing better than picking Citrus fresh off of trees and playing Dominion.

In March we headed to Utah for Liz and Don’s wedding (David’s sister). The wedding was beautiful and since the sealing was in the Salt Lake Temple it gave us time to reflect back on our own wedding day.



Liz and Don's engagement picture






Andrew and Sarah's wedding

 In June, David’s brother, Andrew, decided to get sealed in the Winter Quarter’s Temple. I picked David up in Sioux Falls and we drove down to Council Bluffs/Omaha to spend time with family as we celebrated Andrew and Sarah’s sealing in the Winter Quarter’s Temple.

After the wedding we headed to Madison, SD to celebrate Grandma Meyer’s 90th birthday party. We love family and were happy that it worked out that we could see both sides of the family in one weekend!

Mom and Geraldine

Our moms: Louise, Ellen and Peggy

We just can’t get enough of family so at the beginning of July we headed to Rexburg, Idaho for a Blunck Family Reunion. We caught up with all the cousins on their lives and happenings. One of my favorite moments was playing “Minute to Win It” games including “momify”. We have such great moms! Our moms are always great sports in all that we put them through.

Although we had a busy year with family we were not finished yet. David’s parents celebrated their 45th wedding anniversary. Amazing! They are wonderful parents and have raised their children well. To celebrate the entire family, parents, 7 children and spouses, spent 10 days in Paris, France at the end of September. (Well, mostly, we did spend a couple days in Normandy). We had a marathon of a trip seeing many historical and modern sites. Highlights our trip: David loved the architecture of the buildings and being with all of his family; I fell in love with marble. (I am still shocked that David won’t put in a marble fireplace in our home). I also learned that as beautiful as Paris was, I enjoyed and prefer the quieter life of Normandy.

Playing Pandemic

                                                                                        

Thanksgiving found us in the extreme Northern Great Plains, playing in the snow with the Edwards in Canada.

Whitney and Jarom

We both feel so blessed to have been raised in homes with great parents and siblings. We are grateful for all the love and support we have received from them and extended family throughout our lives. In August I stopped in Madison for the evening and was able to catch up with nieces and nephews on the soccer practice field. As we were walking back to the car one of my young niece asked if I get lonely at home because we don’t have any children. The comment didn’t bother me, for many reasons, but especially because I know she has been concerned for us to have a baby so we won’t be lonely and plus, then she will have more cousins to play with (can you believe she wants more cousins!). She has been praying for a long time for us to have a baby. In fact, many nieces, nephews, brothers, sisters, parents, grandma, cousins, friends, etc. have been praying for us. At times I have felt overwhelmed at the blessings that have come to us because of these prayers of loved ones. It has been a journey which has helped to remind me that we are always watched over by loved ones on both sides. We are happy to say though that there are not enough cousins in our family yet so we thought we would add one more boy cousin in May 2013.

Thank you for all your love and support!

We wish you a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. May it be filled with love, joy and happiness as we remember the Savior during this time of year.  ----  David and Karen

     

Hand Surgery




Over the last several years David has had scar tissue build up in his hand making it contract so he can't lay it flat. A couple of weeks ago had surgery to remove what they could and make his finger straight again. Yah! Now he can wash off the counters and table again.  :)




Left: David's hand before surgery.  2. Getting ready to sleep. (I am sure he will be very pleased

when he sees that I shared this picture).  :)



Protecting the hand after surgery.

 



Stitches. Notice how straight his pinky finger is.



Creating a splint to help his finger

stay straight until healed.




After the stitches were taken out.







When you know it is Monday morning

I was putting my lunch in the break room fridge at work yesterday morning when another employee asked me if I was ready for Thursday. I stared at him without saying anything as my mind raced with these thoughts… “What is Thursday, what is he talking about, do we have a meeting that I am forgetting about?” Because of my lack of response, he continued on by saying he could see that I was not ready yet to prepare all that food. Finally, in my mind it clicked as to what was going on this Thursday.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Persimmons

Pull out your shovels: Persimmon Seeds Predict Snow 

My first experience with persimmon fruit was at a friend’s house when I was in high school. He told me to bite into it because it was delicious. All I remember is that it was one of the worse things that I have ever tried in my life. It was unripe which meant it was very astringent and it felt like my mouth was coated with something that just made me pucker, pucker and pucker some more.

A few years ago, a colleague of mine brought in persimmons he harvested. Flashbacks of my previous experience came to mind and I thought, “oh, no, not again”. Because I didn’t want to disappoint him by not trying one, I decided that I would eat one. To my delight it was sweet and delicious, and not at all like my experience years ago.

Here are some interesting things to note about the American persimmon (Diospyros virginiana):

• Native to the Eastern United States (not to be confused with the Japanese persimmon, Diospyros kaki, which is a favorite cultivated species often found in grocery stores).

• Harvest fruit in the fall after the first frost. WATCH OUT! If you eat them before they are ripe they will be very astringent and make your mouth pucker.

• It’s best if you allow the fruit to ripen and fall to the ground instead of harvesting right off the tree. (Persimmon trees can grow to 50-60 ft tall making it difficult to harvest right off the tree).

• The pulp from the persimmon fruit is made into bread, pies and pudding.

• Persimmon folklore: their seeds predict winter weather.

One of my favorite things I have learned about persimmons since living in Missouri is that they predict the upcoming winter weather. After harvesting the fruit, save the seeds in order to find out if you need to settle in for a long snowy winter by the fire or whether your shovel will have a break this season. To find out: split the persimmon seed in half and take a look. What you will see will resemble a spoon, fork or knife.

                         

Spoon: You’ll be shoveling lots of snow this winter

Fork: Winter will be mild

Knife: It will be bitter cold

Botanically when you look inside the seed, you are seeing the endosperm and cotyledon. It is the shape of the cotyledon that we are looking at to predict our winter.

What are the persimmon seeds telling us this year? SPOONS! So, for those of us in the St. Louis area, make sure your shovels are in good working condition for this winter season.

Is there a downside to Botanizing?

Botanzing is the coolest job in the world. I get to travel and collect plants from beaches to mountain ranges to alpine meadows. Honestly, being outdoors, collecting plants, soaking in the sunshine, the snow, the rain, sleet, hail, tornados... rain, snow or shine... botanizing makes it all worth it. No downside to botanizing.

I have been made fun of in the field because rain, snow or shine I usually wear a long sleeve t-shirt. Why  do I do this? Especially when it's over 100 degrees out? To protect my skin from seen and unseen oils which are famous for causing my skin to break out. Too bad I forgot my rule when I started weeding in our backyard a couple of days ago.

After going to the urgent care doctor this morning to get meds... I may have discovered a downside to botanizing.

ps. my face caught some of the action as well  :)

Hehaka Ska Win

I love working with the Dakota People from the Crow Creek Indian Reservation in South Dakota. It’s a great honor to learn from their elders. One of our projects last year was the creation of an ethnobotanical garden in the shape of a medicine wheel planted with cultural keystone plants. The medicine wheel is a vital part of the Dakota way of life and continues help teach us about the natural world around us. Our garden is named, Hehaka Ska Win after a friends mother, White Elk Woman.

Waiting to be planted last summer.

Taking a break from planting. Yum... love fry bread especially with Howdy Honey.

All day long people came to help plant our garden but we could not have gotten it done without these kids. They did not want to stop until it was done which took several hours but they were the ones who encouraged us all to finish it that afternoon. Teaching the rising generation is an important aspect to the Dakota People's heritage.

Here is a picture from a few days ago. We need to do some spring cleaning to prepare the garden for the season but below are signs of life:

Prairie smoke (Geum triflorum)

Little Bluestem (Andropogon scoparius)

Pasqueflower (Anemone patens)

The pasqueflower is one of my favorite plants. The Dakota and Lakota People sing songs honoring this flower as one of the first flowers to emerge after the snow melts.