Happy 90th, John!

          We celebrated a very special birthday on November 21st!  Steve and I traveled to Illinois for his Dad's 90th birthday....a birthday that Hallmark celebrates with only one choice of a "Happy 90th" card!  I guess that means it's a rare occasion in one's life.

           John Addler is one of those "rare" people.  He is an amazing person.  He was born in 1920, one of 4 kids to Mabel & John Sr.  He graduated from Manual High School in Peoria IL in 1938. 

This is a bicycle he made with a friend!

          He went to work at Caterpillar, leaving for a period to join forces in the Navy during the war.  He and his brother, Bill, were both in the service, which must have been a very tough time for his Mom. 

Bill & John 1944

          They came home from the war and John returned to Caterpillar, where he retired in 1979.  We always tell the story of our son, John, when he was very young, asking Grandpa if he ever worked!  Our John never knew Grandpa John with a job...he thought he was just made to fish and golf!  And he has fulfilled those "retirement" occupations well.  He plays golf every single day that he can...and he plays like a pro!  Our oldest, Max, grew up to be a golf pro and I can't help but think that his grandpa had some influence over him!  And Sam is not afraid to tackle any repair job, big or small, so we just know grandpa had a hand in that confidence!  Sam followed Grandpa around at the resort when he was only 8, watching him fix whatever needed fixing!

          We bought our resort in 1987 and John has been here every single spring and fall since then.  In our early years at the resort, he came to work in the spring...with my Dad.  One spring, Steve assigned them both the job of painting the pool.  I only wish I had pictures of that day!  We laughed so hard.  The old pool had a very steep slope from the shallow end to the deep end...so those crazy guys tied themselves to each other and painted...we all knew that if one fell, the other one would follow...but it was just funny watching them paint, thinking they were both "safe and secure" with that flimsy rope!  The next spring neither one of them showed up early enough to paint the pool...I guess we burned them out in one year!  They both quickly learned their jobs...John called my Dad "Sparky", because he did all the electric work, priding himself on not turning the power off...and getting shocked good a time or 2!  My Dad called John "Plumb", because he was the water guy...taking care of dripping sinks every spring and fixing water leaks...they worked well together for several years!

            We've had some great stories from Grandpa John over the years.  A few years ago, Grandpa made this comment that we've shared many times since then.  He said, "I always thought computers were going to be a fad; but, then again, I thought that about cars too!"  Our kids never laughed so hard when he told them that!  Several years ago, a friend of Grandpa's cancelled his week, but called from the hospital to re-book the cabin for the following year...this guy, Perce, was approaching 90 at the time.  Steve was amazed that he was concerned about his cabin at his age...when Grandpa commented, "At my age, I won't even buy green bananas!"  The stories just never end!

           The blessings we have had with this man in our lives for so many years is that all of our grandkids,

his great-grandkids, know him very well.  Even Jill, who's 20 months old, sees his picture and says "grandpa addler".  What a delight!    He has taken his great-grandsons fishing, just like he did with his grandsons...and granddaughter...many times. 

 This fall, John had some great fishing stories...and these pictures prove it!

These pictures are 2 of my favorites...these little guys love their Grandpa "ADD"eler, as they call him...

We think Nathan & Great-Grandpa look so much alike with their glasses on!

Ben and Great-Grandpa at the beach

He also became the Master at "playhouse" building...reading the instructions for this playhouse and becoming the "Head Contractor" for building this popular attraction at the resort this summer!

          How can I say enough about this wonderful man??  He's a gift from God that we have been blessed with...and we can all only strive to be like him!  He takes such good care of himself, but he knows these physical bodies don't last forever.  He knows where he's going and he's not afraid.  His faith is an example to his entire family.  We all love him and his kids all got to share his 90th birthday cake with him!  And it was a yummy Dairy Queen cake...

The John Addler family - November 21, 2010

Happy Birthday, Dad!  We think you'll be celebrating with many more

Dairy Queen cakes!

We love you!

        

The Construction Continues....and Winter Arrives!

      I find myself taking pictures of the cabin progress...and then can't find the time to update the blog! 

So....here's a progression of pictures that should show the cabin is getting done!  And it's going to be awesome!  This week the carpenters have fought the weather...we've really been fortunate this fall with warm weather, but winter is finally coming.  We had snow flurries today and some slick roads....ugh!  Now it will be a long time before we see spring...

      But....we get to varnish and decorate a cabin this winter...that will be fun!

Here's the progress photos....

You can see the design of the cabin...2 story, open ceiling...

Here's Wrigley checking out the upstairs of the cabin...one giant bedroom!

And here's the cool "log" beam in the living room...

This photo is for Jennifer Seidel...we put windows back into the back of

the cabin...like the original cabin had!  She requested this!

This picture was taken today...shingles, carport, windows, door...progress!

Picture taken from stairway...white area will be large windows in living/dining area!

So...the cabin construction is going well...we're hoping the heavy snow holds off until

we get most of the work done!

Check back for more pictures....

and Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Birthday to John...and his Mom...

      27 years ago, this Mom had a baby....a 10 pound baby!  He was supposed to be a girl, according to his 10 year old sister....his 8 yr. old and 5 yr. old brothers really didn't have an opinion.  But that big sister thought 2 brothers was enough for any girl and she ordered a girl and she thought that's exactly what God would give her!  Well, her Mommy told her that at least it wouldn't be 6 brothers like the Mommy had!  And gee, I love em all...and I did finally get a sister after 4 brothers...but when this 10 pound baby arrived in our house, we decided we probably wouldn't hit that "6 boys & 2 girls" status that my parents had accomplished!
      So....the 10 year old sister went back to sleep the morning that she was told by phone that she had another brother...but let me tell you, when we brought that darling baby boy home the next day, she became his big sister and his other mommy...and life was good!  Enjoy these memories...I sure did!

John Kenneth (about 24 hours old)

Max & Jen excited about their new brother...

Sam loved to climb in the crib with his baby brother...

Our family picture 1984...not one of us aware of what God had planned for us

just 3 years later....

And yes, this 4th baby was born on his Mother's birthday...so from that point on, he got to choose the cake,

he got the glory each November 9th....but isn't that what any Mom would let their cute baby boy do??

Happy Birthday, John...you will never forget your Mother's birthday, will you!

Birthdays...a New Cabin...and a Haircut!

Birthdays...

Well, the wonderful guy I live with turned 60 last week!  We were invited to dinner at the Bloomquist house and Papa got a birthday hat, a homemade apple pie and even candles!  It was exciting...much more exciting than celebrating by ourselves!

Then we traveled to Shakopee and celebrated this little guy's birthday...

Lucien turned 3 just one day after Papa's birthday!  We celebrated with cousins and aunts and uncles, grandpas and grandmas and friends too!  He had an exciting day!

Then Papa and I drove to Brainerd for our 3 day resort conference.  We had a great time seeing all our resort owner friends, listening to stories from the summer and gathering a wealth of information to help us all be better resort owners.  Steve was the conference chairman and he did a wonderful job...and we were glad when the conference was over and we could come home to this....

a new cabin #7 being built!!

                                                       

Steve and Wrigley are checking out the work done while we were gone....it was just a concrete slab 4 days ago!

The steps leading to the second story...a giant bedroom and second bathroom for the cabin!

These pictures were taken yesterday...and now the guys worked all day today

 and have even more done...

(more photos to come later)

And....even the dog looked different when we picked her up at the kennel....

She got a new haircut and even got a bath!  Katie takes very good care of her there!

Thanks Katie!!

Wrigley loves the kennel because Katie is there...she lives across the road from us

and Wrigley has known her forever!

And the weather...well, this fall will be remembered as one of the warmest!  We've had

frost a couple of times, but we're still enjoying warm days!  Hope it lasts so we can get

the cabin finished before winter gets here!!