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The Elneri Foundation

An eclectic family collection

Welcome to the Elneri Foundation, for the promotion of the Jacobson family and enjoyment of our friends and relatives.

The boys have a new cousin!

Photo of newborn Alexis

Alexis Jean
November 26, 2006

We welcome this cute little bundle into the world and hope to see her soon!


Older updates:

In Loving Memory: Kenneth J Cupps

I’ve been putting off making this post…as if that would somehow alter events, or at least delay the impact of their reality. But it is time.

My father, Kenneth Cupps, died on Tuesday, May 30, 2006 at 3:20pm.

He’d had a long fight with cancer, and kept beating the odds and pushing back the clock. He had been declared terminal early in 2005 and given three months by the doctors. He kept going, not defiant, but determined to get as much life out of his body as he could.

We’ve considered that year a blessing.

Everyone who knew and loved him had a chance to talk with him, and say their goodbyes, so when he died there were no regrets, no ‘if onlys’.

He was able to see my boys grow up a bit more, especially Ander, who he watched grow from a cooing baby to a tootsieroll-toting toddler (Dad’s candy of choice). He got a glimpse of the men my boys would grow up to be.

He was around to witness the birth of Samuel, my brother Dan’s first child.

He was aware and although weak and tired from the drugs, vital and ‘Dad’, living at home until the week before his death, when he grew fragile to the point where we needed to place him in Hospice in Ames. There they respected his dignity, and cared for him as the great man he was.

Dad was well-known for turning every moment into a teaching moment. He shared a final lesson with us a few minutes before he passed that I would like to share.

His breathing had become weak and staggered-each time he’d stop we’d pause at his bedside, wondering if this was his last, then he would take another breath. Finally, he stopped and didn’t resume after what we’d come to consider the normal delay. We all sighed and through tears, my sister signaled for the nurse to come. Then Dad took another breath. Out of nowhere we all burst out laughing…the nurses entered and wondered what was going on….we just laughed some more.

A few moments later, Dad finally passed, but he left us with one final, joy-filled moment with him that has a very simple, yet very profound message: Treasure every moment. Even in the darkest times you can find something to laugh and be joyful about, and that will help pull you through.

I love you, Dad. I know I’ll see you again, but until then say ‘hi’ to the family over there, and I’ll enjoy the moments I have here until we meet again. I hope I’ll have some wonderful lessons-learned to share.

We hate spam too!

Yesterday an attempt was made to hack our contact script to send out spam. It appears unsuccessful, but to ensure we would not be aiding the unscrupulous we've disabled out email until we can double-check our scripts for exploits.

Tonight, we received a notice of a blocked email that appeared to come from one of our domain names. This email was not sent from our servers-the spammer forged our domain name in the header information. The originating ip was: (c-69-246-152-227.hsd1.tn.comcast.net [69.246.152.227])

Please be assured that we did not send this and do not condone spam in any way. Unfortunately, we have no control over this, as the spammer is forging our address, but sending it from his own servers.

We very sincerely apologize if you received an email that appeared to be originating from one of our domains.

Home sweet Home.

We moved to a new host, so bear with me while I reorganise

How to help the hurricane victims.

There are scammers out there already, trying to profit off the tragedy. Don't fall for mass emails or phone calls, even if they seem to come from legitimate sources. Here are links to legitimate sites for disaster relief where you can get the real contact info (I won't post that contact info here because, hey, I might be a scammer :) - go to the source).

I will add more sites as I find and verify that they are legit.

Red Cross - redcross.org
The official site for the Red Cross.
StormAid.com
A site put together by Clear Channel Radio. They lists ways you can help, as well as events local stations are having to raise funds. There is a link to listen to their New Orleans radio station via the web.
ShareYourHome.org
This site was cleared through the Red Cross here in Des Moines as a clearinghouse for people offering and seeking housing. It's based out of Baton Rouge, so bear with them if there are outages, but they are local so hopefully can reach more victims.

School has started, the nights are cool, and each day I marvel at how big my 'little guys' have gotten. Kenny stands here, reading as I type; Noah is writing, filling out a paper for school, Ian is doing his best monkey imitation, climbing all over furniture. Ander, following Ian's lead, has discovered he can now reach the top of the recliner, thus disabling Daddy's clever system for keeping him off the stairs.

JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes - March 5, 2005

My thanks to the following who helped me raise funds for this worthwile cause

For more information on this walk, to make a donation through the JDRF website, and to find out how you can help find a cure, visit JDRF.org.