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johnny bill


johnny bill
Originally uploaded by The Gulde Family.

For the last two and a half years, my uncle Johnny had been fighting colon cancer. He died last Sunday morning.

From his obituary:

“Mr. Hermesmeyer was one of seven children born to Frank and Nell Ruyle Hermesmeyer. He grew up loving the great outdoors on the Hermesmeyer Brothers Ranch at Jericho. He was an expert horseman, breaking and training horses at a young age. He worked along with his brother, Hunk, helping local ranchers round up and ship cattle when he was young. He enjoyed sports, especially football, which he played in high school.

“He served in the U.S. Army in the signal corps at Fort Gordon, Ga., during the Korean conflict. He returned home to Jericho to operate the ranch, and also worked for Montie Johnson and Les Darcy. He was active in community services and served as a director of the Clarendon Outdoor Entertainment Association since 1964. He was a member of Southwest Cattle Raisers Association for many years.”

Last September, during a trip home to Texas, we introduced Francis to Hunk and
Johnny. Here’s a picture that pretty much sums it up. There is such strength and gentleness in these men – my ancestors.

November 9, 2005 - 9:53 pm

Kristen - Guldes, we're so sad to hear the news of your loss. Thanks for sharing the story of his life with us.

November 10, 2005 - 2:48 am

Steve and Amy Lou - Dear Matt,

Your Uncle sounded like an incredible man! You are blessed to be part of such a line of men as your ancestors. So sorry to hear about your loss!

Amy

November 10, 2005 - 9:49 pm

The Olson Family - Beautiful family history that I'm proud to be part of. Great pics…Will miss my uncle dearly….Jen

Rube Goldberg at Honda

Sometimes when the topic of careers comes up, people ask me why I studied engineering in college. My answer varies from “I was interested in a lot of things, and engineering was the only one I couldn’t switch into midstream” (I’ll explain that logic if necessary) to “it’s what my dad did.”

From now on, when asked that question, I would love to point people to this video. If you don’t get fired up about this, then you shouldn’t be in engineering.

For those who are interested, Wikipedia has a great entry on the namesake of such devices.

November 8, 2005 - 7:40 pm

Anonymous - So Francis can be as quirky as her father, and as creative as her mother…

http://pbskids.org/zoom/games/goldburgertogo/game.html

November 13, 2005 - 5:38 am

Fulmer Fam - Hey, that is so cool, i sent it to my husband in Iraq, who is an engineer coincidentally.

Happy Halloween!


Chewbacca Halloween
Originally uploaded by The Gulde Family.

As you can see Francis dressed up as Chewbacca this year. She was so funny…she loved it. She trotted all over the house this afternoon and evening struting her brown fuzziness. She also really enjoyed all of the visitors we had. She would stand in the doorway and throw candy over the baby gate at them. It’s 11:35pm and I’ve got a bunch of design work to finish up so I’m going to keep this short. I’ll revise this tomorrow hopefully and give you more details…but I just didn’t think the photos could wait!

November 2, 2005 - 3:11 am

Drew, Amber and Megan - I just finished using flickr for all of our photos from the past week. I clicked on yours to see the latest. I cannot believe that costume. That is THE funniest thing I have ever seen. She looked hilarious. I especially loved seeing her walking around town with Matt.

November 7, 2005 - 8:54 pm

Fulmer Fam - I know this is the cutest, funniest, picture yet other than the dog asleep on her lap in the car. Such a personality you are in for a wild ride when she becomes a tween!

November 26, 2005 - 10:45 pm

Alexia - the cutest thing I've ever seen!!!!

Get Your Laws Off My Dog!


dog park
Originally uploaded by The Gulde Family.

One thing that Scout misses about living in the city is the opportunity to spend time with his dog friends. About fifty yards from our old condo was a blacktop that provided communal space for all the neighborhood dogs. It wasn’t exactly legal to let them off the leash, but the area was gated, and off-leash dogs were common. The off-leash factor was the lure of the place, really.

In Oak Park, such de facto dog parks had sprung up over the years. Early on Saturday mornings, dogs ran free in Ridgeland Commons. Even though it wasn’t exactly legal to let dogs off the leash, the village had agreed to look the other way.

Cook County finally cracked down on this practice. As Scout’s terrible luck would have it, the crackdown happened on one of the few days we actually made it over there early enough to play.

A Chicago Tribune photographer was there to record Scout’s disappointment. So when we opened the paper this morning, this picture was on the Metro page. Here’s the story, if you’re interested. We’re not quoted, which is probably a good thing, given the choice words Francis had for the County.

Girls Day Out


Girls Day Out
Originally uploaded by The Gulde Family.

Last Saturday Matt and Brian Breit went to the ND/BYU game. In order to make the day pass a little faster, Lauren and I huddled up and went to Oak Brook mall for the afternoon. Francis got to take a stroll in a “double wide” stroller for the first time and was hand fed raisins by Noah throughout the day. You can’t ask for much more than that! Well, I guess the ND victory was pretty nice too. 😉