Tis the season to remember the "Child", the one born in a humble place in a stable, lain in a manger.  He is Christ the Lord given to us as a gift that we need to receive in our hearts.  He is our most important treasure.  "What shall I give to the Lord for all he has done for me: I will take the gift of salvation and call upon the Name of the Lord."  

Merry Christmas Everyone!

This picture is one of Fritz and I as we make our way up the slopes of Mammoth Mountain. We enjoy our time together especially in the great outdoors and God's beautiful creation all around us.  We have hiked, biked, fished and skied all over the area and always in awe of beautiful sunsets, glorious sky lines and the beauty of God's creation. 

Looking forward to some snow one of these days and perhaps a White Christmas.  

Novermber 3. Today Ryan ran a half marathon and Fritz and I walked ( quickly) a 5 K course. We are sure that if there had been a Clidesdale divistion, ( over 215) Ryan would have taken first. He ran in 2 hours and 5 minutes?? and lots of energy at the end. A fun time was had by all. With Ryan in the second picture is Lando, Chris, and Carl. Some of my friends from School are working out with Team in Training and raising money for the Lymphoma, Leukemia Cancer research. 2 weeks ago several of them ran the 1/2 marathon in San Fransisco. That race alone raised 18 million dollars for research. What a grand way to support the cancer research around the United states. I was very inspired. Many of the Team in Training members from Santa Barbara were running in this race also. So next year....... Lord Willing.... We are looking at doing the same event again and looking for sponsors also with Team in Training.

This last weekend, I had the Fall time opportunity to visit Kansas city and my special friend Marilyn. We had three and half days together while shopping like good girlfriends do, gardening, cooking and fine dining with her friend Dave. It is always a special time and a vacation for me to hangout with Marilyn.. She is one of my oldest dearest friend. We met in college our first semester 1969 and we have been friends since. Though we chat often--weekly on the phone, our opportunities to visit each other is only once maybe twice a year. So here is to you " Mon ami" . You are a very special friend always to me.

Dear Blogger family,
Today at 6:45 a.m. Fritz' father Fred Harnsberger passed away in Pasadena. We were able to visit him 2 weeks ago, and then again this last Monday. In this picture from earlier this year, Fritz had taken him for a walk in a park in Alhambra, near Fred's old home.

On Monday we stayed by the bedside with Link and Jennifer. Steve was also able to come up from Fountain Valley.
The boys were able to each say their goodbyes. Fred had been on a feeding tube since last June and on life support this last week. It has been a long time of declining health for Fred and now we know He is a better place. Last January Fritz was able to pray with Fred and share about the Lord with him in a way that he received.

The last few months Fred has been in a Presbyterian home with lots of love and care and music-- worship music. All the visitors and nurses at the home were "His favorites". He had a way of signing to the nurses that they were "Number One". He always liked to kiss the ladies hands or give the guys a very firm handshake. He was very much a part of Link and Jennifer's home, joining them for every dinner, birthday party or event.

This came from Jennifer and Link: Frederick Owen Harnsberger was born in Indianapolis, Indiana January 21st, 1927. He was always proud that when his mother married Leonard Harnsberger, his new father adopted him into the Harnsberger family. He graduated from Broadripple High School and later continued his studies at universities in Indiana and California. His first marriage to Dotty produced two fine boys, Fritz and Steven. After that marriage dissolved, he joined the United States Army and served in Europe during the Korean conflict.

He then worked for Ernie Harnsberger at Harnsberger Realty in Highland Park before meeting his second wife Therese Coscarelli at Cal State University Los Angeles where she was librarian and he was a student. In 1966 they had their only child, Link. Soon, Fred changed careers and went to work at Merrill Lynch as an account executive; a position he held for over 25 years. Fred and Therese both appreciated fine literature and music. Therese was a fine pianist and poet, and Fred enjoyed to read great literature and was also inspired to learn the piano the same time Link was learning. The house was always filled with classical music and fun conversations.

He also had a passion for golf, which carried him to many championships including Merrill Lynch tournaments and even the club championship at the Almansor Men's Golf Club in Alhambra. Whether he was the MC at a dinner dance or saying grace at home, he had a wonderful sense of humor and a wonderful speaking voice. He enjoyed public speaking, and his most cherished trophy was his Toastmaster's trophy from a meeting early in his life.

In 2001, Therese became ill and died suddenly. This was devastating to Fred and Link. Fred then began to suffer small strokes and his health began a gradual decline. During the last few years of his life, he spent a lot of time with his son Link as well as Link's family that included Fred's three granddaughters. As his health declined, he became unable to walk, swallow and talk, all of which was very difficult for such a strong-willed, independent-minded person. During his last few days, he was able to witness the reunion of his three sons, Fritz, Steven and Link.

Fred died on September 26th, 2007 at 6:45 AM. He is survived by three sons, nine grandchildren and one great-grandchild.


A Memorial Mass will be next Tuesday Oct 2 at the Holy Family church in Pasadena at 10:30. Following will be the buriel at the Calvary Cemetary in EAST LA. Afterwards we will then congregate at Link and Jennifer Harnsberger's home in Pasadena for lunch and to share memories.

Hello all out there in Blogger land. It has been a busy week and a busy month for all of Us. Rachel came out last Thursday night and we drove up to Tahoe for another Wedding-- My cousin Laurie's wedding! Rachel and I did the flowers again, and it seemed to come out very nicely. We had a nice visit with Family while we were there. Here is a picture with my Dad at the reception. Instead of " Charlie''s angels" we are "LOU'S Angels". We made the very long drive back on Monday. then Rachel was off to San Diego and to pick up her Johan also. They were attending a wedding in San Diego this weekend. On top of all this. Phil came back from Nicaragua on Sunday night. He was there just after Hurricane Felix hit the northern part of the country. He was in the southern part. They recieved a whole lot of rain, and we saw video clips of Phil driving a truck across a swollen river. Scarey! Never try this again. Ryan came back from Indonesia. They had an earthquake and tsunami warnings. He was in Padang the week before the earhquake. He also endured lots of rain by way of the typhoon in the area when he was flying out of Tiapawe. He had quite and adventure later in Bali and returned safely home. What a relief. I hope to post the pictures I have of Ryan at some point on my .Mac photo pages. By the way, Apple computers are the bomb!! I love it!. It is the best.

July/August 2007
This last week we had a Schirm Family and Scribe family reunion in Tahoe. Included in this time was Bonnie and Ricky's wedding, my niece and nephew. Our family was able to be altogether on Sunday July 29th. Phil and Rachel drove up from SB /LaX area and Fritz drove up with Ryan Sunday morning after another friends wedding on Saturday the 28th. Soooooo busy that weekend. Anyway, it was special to be together and celebrate as a family with all the Brierley friends also. Papa Bear enjoyed watching all the fun and conversations of everyone around him. It was great to stay in Camp Richardson, a very good place for a family reunion.

Hello Blogger Buddies, I am back finally in California. Its Wednesday morning and I was up by 5:30 with the birds chirping outside the bedroom. I flew back from Boston where I missed my connecting flight from Paris. Luckily Rachel lives there and I had a good night sleep before getting up at 3:30 am Boston time to fly with Rachel to California. It all worked out well, though I was very lacking on sleep for the 2 days of travel.
I went to Belgium with my Uncle Rene and Aunt Phyllis to the city of Ghent, my mother's birth place. We had a wonderful walk around town and a great time visiting our relatives and friends in the area. Afterwards we went to the northern coast of France and drove along the coast to the town of HonFleur and then on the way to the airport, we went to Giverny, the artist colony made famous by Monet. I was able to practice my French and take a ton of pictures for future paintings that I will do.
Now my next chore will be to create a slide show to quickly display the adventure. (and here it is finally)

Merci infiniment à nos amis de la Belgique Deni et Colette, Francois et Anne d'être les centres serveurs délicieux en notre voyage.Et merci Rene et Phyllis de m'inclure dans leurs aventures de la semaine. Je suis dans votre dette.

And thank you so Fritz for making this possible for me in the first place. Avec amour, Lorette

Hello Blogger buddies. I am here in Boston right now. I am on my way back from a trip to Belgium with my Uncle Rene and Aunt Phyllis. I had a very nice time. I am sleep deprived right now though. I flew in late to Boston and didn't make my connection flight. I have a flight at 7:45 this morning. Rachel is also flying home for the week for a Birthday/vacation break. Her flight was at 5:00 am so here I am back at the airport. It will be good to be home a

Happy Mother's Day to all my Blogger buddies. I hope you had a nice time with your Mom or with your children. We enjoyed a very nice visit with Fritz' Mom Dottie and his brother Steve this last weekend. After a nice dinner with the boys on Saturday night, we attend church on Sunday all together. That is always a treat. Then we took Grandma up to Santa Ynez for a glider ride. This lady is always up for a new adventure. I have added some pictures from the weekend. Enjoy!

Mother's Day 2007

Hi Blogger Buds,
Last week we had a nice visit with Fred Harnsberger, who hasn't been doing very well. He was at Huntington Memorial Hospital and now is in a care home. He is pretty much bedbound now and on feeding tubes. He can't swallow or drink anything anymore. We took this picture on a visit last January. Thought I would share it.

Hello Blogger buddies.
This last week Fritz and I were up in Mammoth for a ski week. It was great! We drove up on Sunday and skied Monday through yesterday. Monday looked a little sketchy. We did ski though up near the main lodge in Spring ski conditions. Then it snowed a foot that night and the next day. On Tuesday we had weather that changed every 15 minutes. Snow, wind, clouds, whiteout and sun. It was great fun though. Wednesday was a fresh powder day and Thursday was excellent also. WE only skied 2 hours though and then drove home last night. The added blessing was skiing with an old friend for Orange County named Bill Robertson. Fritz and Bill worked together at Ford Aerospace back in the 70s, when we first moved down there. Bill was up with a bunch of retired friends. They invited us to dine with them which was a nice change from our quiet nights in the cabin. We enjoyed new friendships and great meals provided by the gourmet chep Donna. Donna, I do need your pie recipe for sure!
Thank you to Donna, Don, Jack, Richard, and Bill for your warm hospitality. And thank you Bill for your friendship over all these years.

Check these out!

Boston- February 2007

Hello everyone in Blogger land. Fritz and I were on the east coast for President's weekend. We visited Rachel in Boston and had a grand time. We took a redeye to Boston from LAX. We arrived with a coat of white snow on the ground and beautiful clear weather for 4 days! What wonderful timing. It was cold!!! 4 degrees up to maybe 28 at best?? No Problem though, as long as there wasn't any wind! We arrived at the Marriot at 8 am and we had requested early arrival. We were given the best room ever. Top floor, corner room with a view of the St. Charles river. Unbelievable views!! it was grand!!
Anyway, we toured around Friday the sights of Boston and then went down to Boston University to see Rachel and her new stomping grounds. From there we visited more sites and had wonderful dinners out on the town.
On Saturday we went to the Boston Library, the first American Library. Then we met Rachel to go to the Museum of fine arts and check out the Fashion exibit and all the wonderful Art collections there. that night we went to the Boston Symphony, home to the Boston Pops!!. Sunday, while Rachel caught up on Homework, we visited the Museum of science. It was fabulous. the best I have ever seen. Then we met Rachel at her church, the historic Park st. church. From there we ate dinner with many of her friends from Boston.
On Monday, Fritz and I went for the rest of the Freedom trail that we hadn't seen. It was about 4 degrees out and we trundged through evering thing. Then we caught the Metro back down to Rachel's and had a tour of Boston University with her. We finished our 4 day trip with a lovely evening sunset dinner on the top floor of the prudential building. We had 360 degree views of Boston. It was wonderful to see Rachel and get a glimpse of the challenges of her Graduate program. She is enjoying the rigers of the program. I hope to put up a slide show this week. LINK