Decade 3

1979-1989 (Pat and Maureen)
Pat:
It was during these years that Francis kids started graduating from SSP High School and Kay and Mary started sending kids off to College… while still taking care of toddlers and elementary school kids at home!! A second and third trip to California took place to attend the Schlichting Weddings. The path between the Peta and Francis households continued to be worn several times a day! Especially when Kay would arrived home through one door, and 5 or 6 peta kids would scurry out another door and make tracks home! Kids in the neighborhood didn’t like to let Kay Francis discover that there were more than 11 kids in his own house- it never went over very well back then…

Reen:
Those were also the years where we spent late nights eating day old kfc chicken from a garbage bag that dawn brought home from work and they were also the years where we learned how to properly answer the phone! “Maureen speaking”
Pat:
“Patrick speaking”

Reen:
Long distance phone calls were a VERY BIG luxury… if we got a call from Uncle Fred or Aunt Muriel… we would have to literally sprint to the phone, while dad held the timer, and have about 30 seconds to say HI to maybe ONE person!
I remember when the second crew of us went to California for cousin Anne’s wedding... Dad Mom, Me, Fred and Sal..... Dad called home to check on the teenagers back in minnesota... KIP answered and, instead of answering properly, he said "What's Happenin Dude"
(this was also in the day before caller i.d.) All we could hear Kay say was: "I'll TELL you 'WHAT'S HAPPENING DUDE" ... I'm going to hang up... and call back... and YOU are going to answer the phone the correct way"!!!! Dad called back and what he heard was a sheepish .. "Christopher speaking"

Pat:
Who could forget the year that ALL the Schlichting family surprised us on Christmas eve? For the first time EVER, we had a LIVE Santa clause show up at our house and personally hand us presents!.. but the big gift was the schlichtings parading in to surprise us!! I think that was also the year of the BEER couch!!! That’s another story and if you don’t know it… ask one of us later and you’re sure to get about 13 different renditions of the famous BEER couch!
Of course there are stories about kids getting in trouble… here’s one I remember:

Dad told Matt and Kip to go to the river and get some corn to feed the pigeons in the back yard. He specifically told them to simply pick up the excess corn which had fallen off the railroad cars and landed near the tracks. Instead, Kip and Matt discovered a rail car which was FULL of corn!! Subsequently, they got busted by the railroad police filling up a 55 gal drum DIRECTLY out of the grain rail car. Kay picked them up from the ssp jail house! We’re not sure what explanation Kay gave the ssp law enforcement personnel!

During this decade, we added to the family with the first 2 marriages (Matt and Kelly, Kip and LaVonne) and the first 2 grandchildren (Brittany and Lydia) The beginning of big family celebrations in the form of groom’s dinners, weddings, and wedding dances!