Hoven's Celebration

My grandchildren, Ryan De Joode is seated left of the head table while my grandson, Joshua Klein is seated to the right. My parents, Rev. Clarence and Agnes Hoven are seated in the middle.

There were about 100 people at the celebration of my parent’s 65th anniversary in Albia, Iowa on August 19. I asked several people what they thought of the party. People liked “the cake,” “visiting with relatives from Michigan,” and playing with cousins but Mark Klein said it best. “It was good, just what the grandparents wanted. It was their day and they celebrated it like they wanted.”

Their song, “Life is Like a Mountain Railroad,” which was sung at their wedding was beautifully sung on Saturday by granddaughter, Meagan Block. Posters depicted their life with the poem, With God’s Help, They Moved On.

All their surviving 6 children, and the grandchildren who live in Iowa, and most of the 35 great-grandchildren and 2 of their 5 great-great grandchildren were present. Dad’s sister, Etta De Groot and her son Calvin Geers and wife Kathy and daughter Lisa came from Michigan. Bill and Donna Hoven brought Jean and Bern Vander Veen from Michigan. Ray and Ann Hoven came from Michigan with their two grandchildren. Granddaughter Gerilyn and Blake Ahrens came from the St. Louis area with their two children. Granddaughter Tina and Jonathon Main came from Kansas City with their son.

Food included mints, cake, punch, coffee and sandwiches. When dad was asked what he wanted served, he said that he wanted “bologna on hamburger buns”. He received his sandwich of choice. We ate rolls with ham or turkey plus condiments.

Mom sent a notice to the Oskaloosa Herald about the event. She stated that Terry and I were from Alaska. If your home is located “where you are from”, she was right. Our RV was located in Eagle River, Alaska.

I visited my son’s church on Sunday. He sat with the choir. His wife, Connie was in the nursery so I sat by the three teenage grandchildren. The minister asked for members to introduce their guests by name and tell where they are from. My thirteen-year-old grandson, Joshua said, “This is my grandma and she is from wherever she wants to be.”

I'd Rather RV

I have safely arrived back to Anchorage but I don’t mind telling you that I would rather travel by RV. On August 10, I arrived at the Anchorage airport two hours early as requested by the airlines. I stood in line to get my boarding pass. All of the things that I was not sure I could take in my carry on, such as lipstick, make up and my cell phone; I dumped in the stowed luggage. I stood in line to go through the x-ray machine and went to the gate for my flight to Minneapolis and then to Des Moines. There were huge waste baskets where the TSA (Transportation Security Agents) were disposing of toothpaste, lotions, distilled water for CPAP machines, make up, and medicines not in the prescription boxes such as nasal mists. I went to the gate to sit and wait. I stood in line because the TSA personal made a corral of chairs and set up tables to search through our carry ons again. The plane was delayed 53 minutes and then another hour while we sat in the corral. I saw a woman go to the guard and ask permission to go to the bathroom. They searched her again when she returned to her seat.

We arrived in Minneapolis about eleven thirty on August 10. Since we missed our connecting flights, we stood in line to receive vouchers. Then we stood in line to go to register for the shuttle. I stood in line to get on the shuttle. I stood in line to register at the Hotel in St. Paul. I was told to phone for the shuttle in the morning from my room. They said that I needed a 4:30 or 4:45 am shuttle to reach the airport in time for my 7: 10 am flight to Des Moines. My room had a king sized bed that had a control for making the mattress hard or soft which, because of the schedule, I was able to use for three and a half hours. I arrived in Des Moines about 8:30 am but my luggage was missing. I stood in line to report it but did not know my daughter’s address on Highway G71 or her phone number since that information was in the missing luggage. My sister gave them mom’s phone number and address.

The airline personal phoned mom at 6 pm to say they were delivering the luggage that night. My eighty-six-year old mother waited up for it until it was delivered at 10:15 p.m.

On my return trip to Memphis, Minneapolis, and Anchorage was on August 24. At Memphis, the accordion pleated cover from the gate to the airport would not open. We stood in line for 15 minutes to disembark. A portable ramp was brought to the plane to descend to the concrete and another portable ramp was placed to the covered entrance of the gate. I had plenty of time to make my next connection and proceeded to Minneapolis and to my next connection to Anchorage. The flight to Anchorage was delayed one hour because we waited on board for passengers to arrive from another flight and it was stormy. Although the flight to Anchorage was around storms, the pilot skillfully guided the plane with a minimum of bumps. When I arrived in Anchorage, my luggage was there. I am safe but I would rather travel by RV.

My Parent's 65th Wedding Anniversary

I am flying to Iowa on August 10 to visit with family. The occasion is the 65th wedding anniversary of my parents. Pictured is the family in September 2005 at the celebration of
Dad’s 85th birthday. Left to right is Clare Hoven, Angie Rheuport, Clara Klein, Darlene Miller, Joy Block, and Jim Hoven. Clarence and Agnes Hoven are seated in the front row. Mom and dad live in their house in Iowa in the summer and have a mobile home in Mesa, Arizona where they live in the winter. If anyone wishes to send them a card, they would love it. Their address is:

Rev. Clarence and Agnes Hoven
1484 310th Street
Eddyville, Iowa 52553

I will continue with the blogspot when I return from Iowa.

Booksignings in Alaska Bookstores

Dr. Carol Weishampel and I had booksignings on August 4 and 5 and plan another on August 9. Carol will then return to Texas to help her aunt who will receive chemo treatments for cancer. I am scheduled for book signings at Shalom Book Store in the mall in Wasilla on August 26 from 3 to 5pm. And Tidal Wave Book Store on Sept. 7, in Anchorage.

These bookstores are totally different. The Cook Inlet Book Company is in downtown Anchorage and caters mostly to tourists from the nearby hotels. At the booksigning on Friday night, we met people from all over the world. Several were from Switzerland, one woman was from the Netherlands, several were from the lower forty- eight, another couple was from Yorkville, Illinois, which is a few miles from where Terry lived. They reported that they were glad to be on land. The waves were high and the cruise ship felt rocky.

The Greatland Christian Cache is in Eagle River. It is the largest Christian Book Store in the Anchorage area. A gourmet coffee shop and gift center have separate franchises and are located in among the books.

The Fireside Book Store is in the old section of Palmer across from the old train depot.
It will be interesting to see whom we will meet there.

The Tidal Wave Books is the largest bookstore in Alaska. It is an activity center with art and books and meeting places. I have met with ten to twelve authors who read their work and have the rest of us critique it. There are friendly and very talented writers. (One writer, Michele Quau, will meet me for lunch on Tuesday. We have become friends and plan to continue to email each other.) The booksigning here will be a reading before the booksigning.

One thing all of these book stores have in common is that they all have used books as well as new books.

The Down Side of Living in Alaska

You might hit a moose.

A sign on the Glenn Highway about 10 miles from here says that there were 207 moose that died from motor vehicle accidents during the last year. We were driving south of Anchorage when we came upon an accident scene. The moose calf was crying and wandering in circles to and from the cow moose, which was dead and lying on the highway.

You might be in an earthquake.

About a week ago was the first time that I’ve felt an earthquake. It happened about 5:15 am while we were sleeping. The epicenter was in Anchorage in or around the Cook Inlet, which is about 15 to 25 miles from here depending on where it was centered. The tremor shook the RV. The earthquake measured 4.9.

Terry woke up startled and shouted “What was that?”

I answered, “Someone just hit the RV or we are in an earthquake .” Since we are parked close to the road, I dressed and went out to check the RV but could see no damage.

You need to adjust to 20 to 24 hours of sunlight in the summer.

We have adjusted to it being light when we go to bed. Terry has made styrofoam insulation sheets into window covers to block out the light. We go to bed later because it seems to still be early in the day. I do not think that I would adjust to 15 to 20 hours of darkness in the winter. However, now it is nice to drive without being in the dark. I stayed at a friend’s place longer than I planned so I called Terry and told him, “ I