Almost Summer

Here it is almost summer and our turn to write again.
Needless to say I don't like the hot weather but we had
some beautiful spring days with fun things going on.

Some of you haven't seen our new pet.  His name
is Max.  He is an interesting fellow and seems to be
adjusting to his new home quite well.  Loves to sit on the
back of the couch and check out the neighborhood when
he isn't looking after Grandpa and I.

Pam and I have a little garden again.  We put up a plastic fence
early so no critters would eat it but the rabbits decided to chew their
way in.  Now we have added wire and it seems to be safe.

For Mothers Day we went to the Zoo here in Hutch.  I still love
going to the zoo.  It was a fun evening ending with supper here.

An early Fathers Day supper and fishing at the pasture had to be
moved here because of the heat and high winds.  Maybe in the
fall we will try again to go fishing.

Happy Summer to everyone

The Social Givan’s –Unheard of…..

Yes, it seems that we have actually been socializing in the past few weeks.  In early May, Judi (Tim’s sister) was in town followed by a couple weeks later her daughter Rachel.  Of course, we had the Janssen reunion which is great fun.

  In a rare move of nostalgia I attended my 35 College reunion at St John’s campus.  There were only 5 of us from the class of 1982 but 40 from the class of 1967.  The oldest class represented was from 1947.  I soon realized why I hung out with those that weren’t in my class.  I think I want to be adopted by the class of ’67.  They were having a great time.

Meyer Hall Chapel

A shot of the balcony.  It seems strange not to see Oscar the Organ up there.

Chatting with Wally Behorst- I think he knew who I was.

Baden Hall-home to Handbell Choir

In between the above, Jeni came through 3 times as she is moving her mom to an assisted living facility.  It is always good to see her.  She will probably be back a couple of more times this summer and hopes to have Rusty along.

Up next is a visit from Tim’s other sister, Jane.

And if I’m ever feeling lonely, there is always the 20+ counselors I’m scheduling at work.  I’ll just schedule them to come in for a chat if I get lonely.  

Sometime soon, Pamey and I will be bringing back the puppets to use at the new Early Learning Center (ELC) at church.  One character will be Elcee (named for the ELC) and she sees things.  Our other character is ORaL Rabbit for (Our Redeemer Lutheran or ORL).  Here’s a sneak preview:

My name is Elcee and I see you and you and you.

My name is Elcee and God loves you and you and you.

So shout Amen and clap your hands

And know God’s love is grand.

Have a super summer.

Hello from the Shooks

We are glad to have finished the school year.  Tim is completing missed piano lessons for his students, making the final preparations for the Southwestern summer camp and doing employee searches for 2 positions for the fall.  There is one in the theater area and they were granted a new "facilities manager" to oversee scheduling and upkeep for the various performing spaces.

Vicki continues to work at the insurance office, does an occasional evening at the Community Crises Center, play the organ, and tend the yard.  I have no vegetable garden this year.  It needs to be moved to a more sunny area. We did have very pretty iris again.

Samuel continues to play for shows with a couple of different bands.  He has good days and bad days but more good than bad:)  He did well staying by himself and watching the animals while we went to Chicago.

Speaking of Chicago😊Our biggest news is being grandparents.  Hopefully Andrew and Katie don't mind us posting a picture!

A note for Erik.  He is still working at the YMCA in ElDorado.  And doing Ultimate two nights a week.  The summer league plays in Derby on Thursdays.  The Wichita club team is called IMPACT and they practice on Tuesday nights.  Erik is one of the captains for both organizations.

Have a great summer!

A Long Day's Journey into this post

Hello Kinast clan!

This posting is unfortunately long over due. It would seem that I have lost my ability to multitask successfully. I promise to do my best to make up for that in this post.

Nate and I have been supremely busy since November of 2016. As a matter of fact, we didn't really take a break until our trip May 12 to 15, 2017. The escape to Chicago was much needed. More on that later.

Nate began a new job in December with Data Center, Inc. in Hutchinson. He seems to be enjoying the position, though there are days when the new job bug bites pretty hard. He's continuing to explore options that he never had before and finding time for friends and family that never really was an option for him previously. He continues to enjoy exercising at either Planet Fitness or the YMCA. And he's starting to think long term in terms of what he wants to do with his life. An exciting journey for sure.

I began my 4th season at Stage 9 in January. We've already had a very good season full of good audiences and artful productions. Our first two productions completely sold out. I was pleased to take on a new challenge in doing a reading of Our Town as I had never done a staged reading. I finally got to produce The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee in April and I consider it to be one of Stage 9's greatest artistic successes. I've had a bit of a break but am about to ramp up productions of The Laramie Project and Godspell. Additionally, we will be adding another staff person at Stage 9 which I am very excited about. It's looking to be a great rest of the year and 2018 is going to be very special for Stage 9.

As I said earlier, Nate and I took a trip to Chicago. I've includes pictures from the trip. We took Amtrak from Hutchinson and flew home on Southwest. It was a short trip but we accomplished a lot. We visited Navy Pier, took a ride on a speedboat, visited the Alder Planetarium, Shedd Aquarium, Field Museum, John Hancock Tower Observatory and the Art Institute of Chicago and finally took in a performance of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (Playing Brahms' Symphony 3 and 4) and The Blue Man Group.  We also got to visit with Katie and Andrew pre-Theo at a cute restaurant near their neighborhood.

 A View from the Speedboat Adventure

 Beluga's at the Shedd Aquarium

 Symphony Center - Home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra

 Irony at the Field Museum

 Sunset at the John Hancock Observatory - Chicago 360

 More from Chicago 360

 Art Institute of Chicago

 Charles contemplating Monet

 Charles and Nate in front of O'Keeffe

 Nate in front of a target...unknown artist

 Nate in front of modern art...unknown artist

 Charles in front of modern jazz art...unknown artist

 Nate in front of modern jazz art...unknown artist

Overall, it was a fantastic trip.

We're looking forward to seeing all of you at various family events in the coming months.  

All for now,

Nate and Charles