Here we are at Gretchen and Finnley's baby shower which was held Saturday at Barbara's house. Everything was wonderful including hospitality, games, foodnot to mention all those who came. Gretchen was really blessed by all those who attended and gifted Finnley Patrick. We can hardly wait for his arrival. I'm guessing at March 4th...but the actual due date is March 8. Special thanks go to Barbara for hosting, Dori and Sara for coordinating this efforts and Chrissy for her part in organizing the games and for bringing Carsten!!

"Children are an heritage of the Lord." Proverbs "The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice, and he who begets a wise son will be glad in him. Let your father and your mother be glad, and let her rejoice who gave birth to you." Proverbs 23:24, 25

Here are some more pictures of the big 5-0 guy. He looks pretty good and he is definitely happy with his new shop vac he was wishing for.

The last picture of him is a poster board of pictures of him with one, two, three, and then four kids going from left to right. That's all for now.
"Walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him." Col. 1:10

Life is a gift from God to be lived for God.

HAPPY 50TH BIRTHDAY TO YOU BERNIE, DAD, G-POP, BERN-DAWG, OR BJ!!!
WE LOVE YOU!!!!


We had an outstanding time at Bernie's 50th surprise (sort-of) birthday party. Bernie got up at 3:00 am to go to work at Kulis to plow for drill weekend. He came home unexpectedly and I told him to go take a nice nap. He said "I hope you're not planning anything because I'm dog-tired. I told him we were having a few people over but not for 2 hrs. He was so tired he slept soundly for two hrs even when people started arriving. He didn't hear a thing. That's him coming down stairs and then one by one people started to shout "Surprise" as he was peeking around the corner. He was really so happy to see everyone who came. The decorations came out great, food and cake were delicious, but most of all the fun part was to reminisce about their memories and what everyone remembered about Bernie's happiest time, funniest thing he ever did, how he played a part in their life. It was truly touching. He was blessed and said it meant so much to him.
Here he is with his Gomer Pyle lunch box his mom had saved after all these years. He got many cards and gifts and was very grateful. Thank you for all those who came.

Happy New Year 2007

O Lord, our Lord, How Majestic is thy name in all the Earth. Who hast displayed thy splendor above the heavens! Psalms 8:1


Here in Alaska we are having fun with Bernie and Angie who will be here until Jan. 14. Big Bernie is recovering quite nicely from his shoulder surgery with twice weekly visits to the physical therapist for therapy. We have had so much snow this year. It is beautiful and looks like a serious winter wonderland. It's so much to move and Bernie and Bernie have done a fantastic job of piling it neatly with the tractor, 4-wheeler, and snow-blower.

Gretchen and Phil have been visiting us daily since Bernie and Angie are home. Little Finley is growing quite nicely. Everyone will go back to work soon but Bernie and I have both commented how nice and relaxed this vacation has been.

Christmas has come and gone but we look forward to the new year and also two more grandbabies!! Finley should be here in early March and then little Renstrom will be born in June. Two more little cousins for Emme and Baby Levi to play with. God is so good to us!!!

30th Anniversary Photos

First we went on a walk from Elderberry Park in Anchorage down by the water and over to the Park Strip. We walked, enjoyed the scenery, and the brisk fall air. The leaves are so pretty.
Then we e went out for a nice celebration dinner at Simon and Seaforts Restaurant. Dad asked for a nice table by the window so we could enjoy the wonderful view. We both had great meals and reminsiced about the previous 30 years. Sometimes it seems like yesterday and other times not when you think about all that has happened. God has been so good to us and we praise Him.

The pictures of the little rabbit name "Diamond the Second" were from yesterday when we caught the little critter in our flower bed. It was so cute. We would have lubbed to give it to Emme. We're sure she would enjoy it and it makes great fertilizer!! Gretchen and I ended up taking a walk and letting Diamond go free with about 30 other rabbits on someone else's property.

PRAISE THE LORD..HIS MERCIES ARE NEW EVERY MORNING!!!

Annie and I had a fantastic trip to Fairbanks this weekend. We left on Friday morning and returned home Monday evening. We saw beautiful fall colors, gorgeous mountain scenery, and even a black bear. We went to Chena Hot Springs on Sunday and then picked blueberries in Cantwell on the way home.


We stayed with the wonderful Hirn family. Mr. and Mrs. Hirn were very gracious and hospitable. I so enjoyed the stories from Mr. Hirn's adventures of when he first came to AK in 1949 to when he met his lovely wife and married her in 1961. They have a total of eight children and many grandchildren. They have a beautiful homestead on 160 acres complete with a large vegetable garden and greenhouse that Mr. Hirn still gardens. Both Bob and Mary Hirn are awesome cooks. They live on mile 18.5 Chena Hot Springs Road. They kept us both well-fed with sourdough pancakes, homemade bread and biscuits. Now I see where Annie gets her love of cooking.

What a Fun-Filled 10 Days We Had!!!

Here are some more pictures of Emme in Alaska. She was keeping us entertained the entire time with her advanced speech and her beautiful smile. We know she LOVES the outdoors, dogs, running around with no clothes on, eating, singing, washing dishes and cooking, and being held. She is precious!!! Of course, the credit for raising this wunderkind goes to her wonderful mom and dad Bridgette and Chad who are awesome parents.

"Children are a heritage from the Lord".

BRIDGETTE AND EMME IN ALASKA - AUGUST 2006

THANK YOU LORD JESUS FOR GIVING US THE DESIRES OF OUR HEART!!

"DELIGHT THYSELF IN THE LORD AND HE SHALL GIVE THEE THE DESIRES OF THINE HEART".

We certainly have been enjoying every moment of Bridgette and Emme. They keep busy visiting family while we are at work and then we do something in the evenings together. Today we are going to the State Fair in Palmer. We are taking the motorhome for naptime and break-time for the expecting mothers. Emme loves Sophie and helping G-Pop on his projects. She loves the outdoors and especially the water puddles. More to follow...

Here are pictures of the new projects going on here at the "Kale Household". Dad has been busy with many jobs. He is now awaiting the rest of the driveway getting paved in a couple of weeks. Then we will seal the whole thing before winter sets in.

I have so much catching up to do. It has definitely been an eventful summer! With Bernie's motorcycle accident and on-going recovery to Angie's first trip to AK we have been busy. We had a wonderful visit with Angie and she even had the opportunity to work at Camp Carlquist! God is so good!!

Bernie Sr. always has a project going from pouring concrete sidewalks and steps to designing a two-fold garden/retaining wall along the house. We removed one flower garden yesterday and will plant one this week. The railing got built up to the apt. and the trim made it up onto all the windows. He has started the porch covering to keep the snow off of the deck.

Work is on-going for both of us although we did manage a few camping trips to Seward, Kenai, and even King River for blueberry picking. We have a producing garden with all the rainy weather and just planted some raspberry bushes. We do miss the sunshine though and hope and pray for it to shine before the summer is really over.

Here are some of the pictures of the new paint job and updo on our bathroom and bedroom. I painted the walls two colors called "Comforting" and Red Red Wine". It looks like a palace.