Places We Went !

Part of the fun of a Nebraska trip is to drive by our former houses, go to favorite restaurants, 

and just visit important places from our past.  Isaac and Joshua have heard about

so many of these places from their older siblings, and have now experienced

them all first-hand!

First up was to drive by the houses we used to live in!

This is the house on Cottonwood Drive.  It's where the first three
children were brought home from St. Elizabeth's hospital! It's a beautiful corner lot, and
the garage is where Joe spent two years building his airplane!
We planted that beautiful oak tree, only it was about a six foot stick when we put it
into the ground!

The next house was our first acreage - three acres!  And it had a huge outbuilding we
called Lester.......Joe was in heaven!
We had over two hundred pine trees, and wow, have they all grown!

Then we moved to Denton, a small town outside of Lincoln, and the house
had twenty acres!  We had so many trips to Arizona during the time we lived there,
that I never really felt at home or settled in this house.
Thank you Mike and Brenda for giving us the tour!
You have turned that house into an amazing and gorgeous property!

We drove by Gere Library where the older four spent hours pouring over
library books!

In honor of Jonathan, who could always be found in the Egypt/mummy section!

We drove by the Husker stadium and the new (to us) building where the basketball team plays.

We went to the church we attended for approximately twelve years,
Grace Community Evangelical Church.  Looks just the same!

Isaac and Joshua were absolutely fascinated with an INDOOR AWANA circle!
Ours is outside because of the beautiful weather......most of the time!
Oh the memories we have of Cubbies, Sparks, and "Gray Shirts" doing games
and memorizing God's Word in this basement area!

The side yard of the church where Jonathan used to play football with the other
boys after church was over.  The massive three pine trees in the corner
came from our acreage as we were trying to thin them out!
Seeing all this green grass was a sight for our Arizona eyes!

We visited some of our favorite restaurants, of course!

First up was Runza!

Of course we went to Valentinos!
I won't mention HOW MANY TIMES Joe and the boys went there, but I
went one time.

We made sure to stop by La Paz, where we went many a Sunday after church!
Didn't look as if it had changed one bit!

We also drove up to Cedar Bluffs, Nebraska, where Joe's dad is buried.
The boys like to climb on the tank in honor of the WW 2 dead that is on display
at the football field.

It's a very peaceful little cemetery and well maintained.
I would say at least one third of the graves are Krause relatives, all the way from
those who originally immigrated from Germany.

We certainly packed a fair amount of activity during our two weeks
in Lincoln.  Next up........the Omaha Zoo!

Rental Work!

The main purpose of our Nebraska trip during July/August was to be

there during the major re-landscaping of a rental house that was having serious water

issues in the basement.

It was also a good time to weed-and-feed several lawns, trim bushes, and clean 

out the gutters.

None of which we ever do in Arizona!

Had to include a picture of this AMAZING tree art that was around the corner from the house above.
What artistic talent!

The house on "N" Street needed a major yard re-work to deal with water drainage.
The landscaper had to completely redo the slope of the backyard and side yard to get the
water to drain better and not result in water in the basement.
Joe and the boys had to check in with the progress being made each day.
By the time we left town, new seed was already sprouting in the newly sculpted yard!

People We Saw!

It's so hard to balance the rental work that had to be done, places we wanted to see, and

 coordinate getting together with old friends!

But it was so good to see the people that we did!

Deb Meter

Wow, we go back about thirty years.  She is one of the very first people I met after

Joe and I got married and started attending Grace Community Church.

We were in Bible studies together, dealt with raising children together, and participated in AWANA 

together (I still envy your blood-curdling whistle to get kids' attention, Deb!)

She even drove over to our house every weekday morning around 6:00 am so we could

walk the two mile loop together before our husbands went off to work!

Great memories and a great friend!

Sandy and Grady Strop

Pastor Grady was pastor of the church Joe went to before we got married.

I was still living in the Kansas City area, so Joe would fly Grady down for the weekend in

his airplane for pre-marital counseling!  

He married us in March of 1989, and we have checked in with

them both fairly regularly to let them know that we are still married!

Grady no longer pastors a church, but he and Sandy travel the globe, including China, ministering

to local pastors and elders.  We were so glad that they were in town and we were able 

to get together!

Bert Newell

We have known the Newell family for many years also.  Church attendance, AWANA,
and being a fellow real estate investor has made Bert a great friend, especially to Joe.
We were hoping to get together with Jan, and their daughter, Whitney, but the
schedule was just too tight.  Next time, though!!!
Both of their children were adopted from Korea, and they were both
instrumental in encouraging us during David's adoption process back in 2000-2001.

Dan and Donna Jameson

The Jamesons also went to Grace Community and I met them very early on also.
Joe and Dan had been in engineering school together at UNL and always (and still do)
talked about very lofty and complicated subjects!  Donna and I were fellow scrapbookers
in the early days as we documented every aspect of our children's lives!
They also were part of the AWANA program and we were in a mom's Bible study
together for many years.   It was great to see them again!

Paul and Nancy Morris

Joe and Paul were fellow engineers during Joe's time at Goodyear.  I still remember

both of them showing my dad the high-speed-knitter they had designed and programmed

way back when Courtney was a baby!  I taught school for a half-day the following

year after Courtney was born, and Nancy watched her along with their own little daughter, Emily.

(Terrible picture of us all, but it's the best we could do!)

Mike and Brenda McNair

Another AWANA family! In fact, Mike was the Commander during all our early

years of being involved in the AWANA program!

They also bought our house in Denton when we moved to Arizona, and they have really

fixed it up fancy!  Looks gorgeous!!

They are still involved in AWANA - at another church - after all these years!

Great memories!

Ken and Davine Renner

Ken was Joe's boss during his time at Goodyear in Lincoln.

Not only was he a great boss, but the smartest electrical engineer Joe says he has known!

It was great to see them and catch up with their family, too!

What a great time to see all these great people!

The Great Nebraska Road Trip - July 2018 - Getting There!

What a way to start a trip!

We were on the New Mexico/Colorado border when a passing motorist waved

his arms at us.  We pulled over and saw that one of our trailer tires was

absolutely shredded!

So the Krause men went to work putting on the spare.

Once we got to Pueblo (after surviving a horrible thunderstorm with hail), Joe

decided to put all new tires on the trailer.  

We were at Discount Tire at 8:00 am sharp the next morning and they had four new tires 

on in less than 30 minutes.

No matter what part of the country you are in, Discount Tire is the place to go!

Enjoying the lovely scenery and watching out for traffic.

However, we made it to Lincoln safe and sound!