Christmas Eve Morning

Oliver came to stay at Mormor's house while Mommy was having Baby Lucius. Oliver loves to read books or be read too. Morfar was trying to get him to calm down a little before bed after he
chased him around the kitchen for a while.

He loved to examine the ornaments on the tree. Here he is all ready in his "monkey" jammies making sure the ornaments are in the right position.

Then on Christmas Eve morning it had snowed and Morfar was out shoveling snow while Mormor was having physical therapy for her knee. Oliver decided to go join Morfar on the deck and play in the snow.

What fun to see a child's wonderment over something new.

How to wear our Morfar

The night that Oliver's little brother, Lucius, was born he came to stay at Mormor's house. As the evening wore on and it was not quite time for bed, Morfar decided it was time to play a game of chase and the fun ensued.
It's always fun to hear the laughter of a little child when they are having fun.

Fun times

Today was a wonderful day spent with my grandson and daughters. The day started early by accompanying Oliver and Margaret to Oliver's tumbling class. They have equipment for the little ones to tumble down, bounce on, roll over, climb through, throw bean bags at, and generally run around and have fun together. Oliver enjoys the time there but of course, as Margaret gets closer to delivery of the new little one it becomes harder for her to run and chase Oliver and keep him focused on the class.

Then it was off to Michelle's where we met up with Eme and Michelle to bake cookies together. We made Scotch-a-roos, Chocolate Crackles, Chewy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip, Cut out Sugar Cookies, and Spritz cookies while Oliver played with his Uncle Hung. What fun to spend time with my girls doing something that will be a benefit to all.

What a priceless blessing it was to spend the afternoon with all of you.

Thanksgiving Weekend

Our Thanksgiving started at Eme & Jon's for dinner on Thanksgiving. What a great meal and time to spend with my daughters and their husbands and Jon's mom and dad. We ate, talked, and played a little Wii. What fun we had laughing as we tried to get the hang of the different games. Then Friday, Gary and I made a trip to North Branch to the outlet. After buying several little sleepers for Baby Bon, a winter coat for Danya, and several Christmas presents, we headed home to an amazingly relaxing afternoon. Saturday we headed on over to have lunch with Jeremy and Michelle and Jeremy's parents. Again a wonderful time spent with family. Then it was home to receive Little Man O for a sleep over at Mormor's. He is such a joy to have come to the house and spend time with. He runs all over, chases the dog or Morfar whichever is willing to run around the kitchen, dining room and living room with him; climbs on Mormor on the couch and laughs uproariously. Tonight I told him that he was a "little mimic" and he repeated it as he giggled and thought he was so funny. But when he is tired, he goes right off to bed. What a great weekend. Thanks everyone for sharing time with Dad and I.

Trip to Nebraska in October

Gary and I decided that because the church junior high trip to Chicago was canceled this year over MEA that we would make a trip to Nebraska to visit with Dad and see his new "digs". We got up on Friday, October 16 and headed first to breakfast with the pastor and his wife. After breakfast Gary had a couple of jobs to do (which was a good thing since he has finally begun to get back to work after breaking his leg) and I decided to have the car washed. I found out it pays to read all of the information before you tell the carwash people to go ahead. About an hour after we had said we were going to leave we headed out on our trip.


We had decided that we would make a little side trip to Lafayette to visit my brother, Rick's grave. It had begun to rain as we pulled up but it didn't matter -- I had a rose to place on his grave and it could have been pouring cats and dogs or turtles and rabbits for all I cared. The cemetary is a Swedish Methodist cemetary and sits out away from town in a field. A beautiful small cemetary but was a time of reflection and remembering all of the wonderful times had with my brother. It has been 30 years this year since he died.

Then it was on to Connie's, my big sister, to visit with them and a place to stay. We had a great time of talking and sharing while we were there. On Saturday, Connie and I headed out on a wonderful drive to Plainview to visit my mom's grave and place some carnations on her grave. It was a beautiful fall day and was fun to be able to walk around and locate my grandparents graves, a couple of aunt and uncles graves and my aunt and uncles children's graves. Mom is buried in a Danish cemetary that was established in 1880. It's always fun to walk around and I always get to chuckling as I read all the Nielsen, Nelson, Petersen, Johnson, Johanssen names and then find the ones that in some way don't sound like they belong like Lee, Davids, Walton, and so on. It was a great time spent with Connie and being able to talk about lots of different things.



Then it was off to Norfolk and a visit with Dad. He is currently living at the Meadows and seemed to be fitting in quite nicely. He mentioned several times that he was feeling better and was enjoying being in a comfortable location. It's always fun to be able to sit and chat with dad and learn things that I never knew before. What a treasure to have a dad that still remembers so much and loves to share the stories with us.

Sisters Night

So Melanie and I have decided that Mondays this fall will be a time for us to get together for "sisters" night. We decided that we would spend time together doing whatever we felt like doing. So tonight was the big premier event!! And Oh What an Eventful evening it was. Melanie gets off of work at 2 and I get off at 3, and we are co-managers of lockers at school. So here was the agenda -- work on lockers for about an hour or less, head off to dinner, and then back to my house for a little Wii Resort action. Sound good? Did to us too.

Well, here is how God stepped in and took over and showed us how to really have fun. Took about 45 minutes and spun the lockers (we accomplished the first step -- next week we clean out and check combos); then I had to leave for a dentist appointment (which should have been about 30 minutes to 45 minutes -- not so much -- more like an hour and fifteen minutes); then as I was heading home I received a phone call from Eme -- she was having a nosebleed that wouldn't stop, could I take her to urgent care; phone call to Melanie to tell her to meet me at my house so we could go to get Eme. We meet and head over to Eme's to take her to urgent care. We get pick her up (by this time her nose had pretty much stopped bleeding); we get her to urgent care to wait for about an hour (along with several coughy sick, crying babies and adults). She goes in and the doctor tells her it is just because she has had a cold and probably her house is too dry. Okay, so now it's about 8 pm (if you hadn't noticed yet, we have yet to have dinner) and we take Eme home and decide to go to Red Robin for a burger before Melanie drops me off and heads home. We have our burgers and get flashed (well, not really but he did forget to zip his pants -- just a good thing he had a flannel shirt on to cover up) by a guy coming in to eat.

Now we head to my house to drop me off so Mel can head home. Whew!! What an adventure. We are just too darn excited to see what our adventure will be next week. Thanks Eme for helping to make our first "sister's" night exciting and special.

Things you wonder as your kids grow up . . .

Over the past few years, I often wondered what kind of things that my daughters remember doing, hearing, or participating in. As they raise their own children, I have often wondered if there is anything that struck them as worth filing in their memory banks for later. Well, this week I discovered that there are things that they remember.

When I was talking to Laura this past week after she and Danya dropped off the gift for the NICU in Hawaii, she said to me that she most vividly remembers buying a gift to give to another kid at Christmas time (i.e. Operation Christmas Child or Toys for Tots). She told me that she wants to instill this love of giving in her daughter so not only did they drop off the outfits for the NICU but they had purchased a gift to be given to a little girl who was hospitalized. She wasn't sure if they would be able to deliver it themselves but thought if nothing else they could drop it off. Well, they did get to drop it off and she said she hopes that as Danya gets older she herself will be the one to initiate the gift giving.

Then I read Margaret's blog and she adds a note at the end of the blog about her dad praying with them at night when they had all been tucked into bed. She now has begun that same thing with her Little Man O.

It is so fun and heartwarming to listen to my daughters talk about what they learned from their dad and I and how they are putting them into practice. I can't wait to hear more as their kids grow and then to hear what Michelle and Eme would offer as well. I am certain there are a few things that they will choose not to do with their kids and that's okay. I just pray that all the things that I tried to do with my girls will somehow come in handy for them.

I love all my girls and their husbands and children and children-to-come.

School (meaning work)

After the first week of school (work) things are finally settling into a sort of routine. We have fewer students but seems to be students who want to be at Arlington. Those that wanted them, have received a very nice messenger bag to carry their books in and I have begun to absorb jobs that were currently done by another clerk whose job was cut because of budget. Hopefully, with fewer students things will not be as busy. But, as always, time will tell.

The one thing I know for sure is that I am very much missing my time with Oliver. I enjoyed the time we spent together this summer and can't wait until next summer when we can do it again.

The Many Adventures of Mormor & Oliver

This summer has been a fun time to hang out with my grandson, Oliver. He has been a joy to have around and play with. I have been able to watch him grow and hear his vocabulary increase. I only wish I could have Danya close so we could do the same. Summers always seem so short when August gets here and I know that in a few short weeks I will have to return to work. But I thought I would share a little glimpse of what Oliver and I have been doing this summer. Enjoy the little slideshow presentation.

Gary Update

Thought all would like to know how he is doing. He went in to see the doctor at the beginning of July and the doctor said that his bone was healing right on schedule and that he could begin to put partial weight on the leg beginning on August 1. In the meantime he is lifting weights with his leg, using an exercise bike, and working on an "as needed" basis. He still cannot get out and go by himself as he is not allowed to drive yet but it will come. He is anxious to get going and get back to doing what he likes to do -- be around people and work at his business.

His favorite statement lately is: "I can do everything that I could do a month ago, only better!"

Has it really been?

30 years ago today, Gary and I welcomed into our lives two baby girls.



Cute story alert!!

While we were at the hospital Laura was staying at her Nana's house (my mom & dad's). My dad was out of town at the time so when he called in the evening to talk with mom, she put Laura on the phone to tell her Papa about the babies (they had been to the hospital earlier to see them). Her words to my dad were: "Papa, Papa my mommy had two baby girls and one of them is in a box!" (To explain -- Michelle was in an incubator because of some issues when she was born but she was fine, it was merely precautionary.) Needless to say my dad immediately asked to talk to my mom who explained the situation.

Happy 30th Birthday Margaret and Michelle! We love you!!

Weekend with Jocelyn

This past weekend Gary and I took Jocelyn (Candise's daughter) with us to the trailer to play and spend some time with us. Jocelyn was enamored with being out of doors and sleeping in the trailer. We spent the time either sitting on the deck, playing on the playground, walking Kleo, swimming, cooking on the fire and eating s'mores. We all enjoyed the weekend but I had forgotten how much work a 4 year old can be. It was fun to get a glimpse of what I have to look forward to with my grandkids. Enjoy the few pictures from the weekend.

Weekend adventures

This weekend was a fun and busy weekend. Friday night Oliver came to spend the night so that Marmee could get some rest. Saturday morning Oliver got up and had breakfast and then we read some books. He loves to pick up the books and have me "read" to him (it's more like I turn a few pages and then he closes the book) but we love to cuddle together no matter how many pages it is. With a smile as cute as this one, how can anyone resist holding him on your lap to read. After we read the books he discovered an empty paper bag that was fun to carry around and put things into. What fun to look at the world through the eyes of a child.

Sunday, my first iris of the season bloomed and before the end of the day I had two full blooms and a third on the way with many more to follow. Thanks to Bob Reed, I have a wonderful bunch of iris plants at the end of my driveway and I love to watch each year as they bloom.


Gary went to church this morning and discovered that it was a lot of work to visit with so many who wanted to wish him well. He is doing amazingly well getting around the house, so Saturday we decided to go out to the park for a while for a family picnic. He is finding that the little jaunts seem a bit overwhelming and tiring. He is glad for the time to come home and rest after being out but enjoys being outside for a bit.

He's home

Gary's Home from the hospital and getting adjusted to not lying in a bed all day. He now feels he can recover in style. It's gonna be a long haul but we are praying for a full recovery.

Surgery

Today, bright and early (we had to be at the hospital at 7:30 am) Gary and I headed to Regions Hospital for his surgery to repair the break in his leg. We arrived and went into pre-op very quickly. Gary's sense of humor kept all of the pre-op staff helping him laughing and enjoying the morning. When the Dr. came in to sign Gary's leg and talk to him; we were told that the surgery would be between 3 and 4 hours long. Gary was taken into surgery at 8:55. I went to the waiting room to wait out the long procedure. After about an hour I decided to leave the surgery waiting area and venture to the gift shop and found a coffee shop that served Starbuck's coffee in the hospital -- Woo Hoo!! After returning to the surgery waiting area with my coffee, I was paged to the desk to find out that the surgery was finished after only 1 1/2 hours and that I had missed the opportunity to talk with the Dr. They paged him and he talked with me on the phone to say that Gary's surgery went quicker than expected and that he was able to fix the break with a minimally invasive procedure (Praise God!!).

Gary has a 2 or 3 day stay in the hospital and then comes home to begin the recuperation time. He will not be able to bear weight on his leg for 10 weeks (possibly 8 if he heals quick). But along with that comes the fact that he won't be able to work either. We are praying for his dealers to be understanding during this time and that God will be good to us and provide what we will need. He is a great God and I know that he cares for us even when we don't see how that is possible.

Thanks to all who have been praying for Gary and if ever you want to stop by -- he would love to sit and chat and play a little cribbage.

Yep, it's broken! AND surgery is necessary.

Gary has a plateau tibia fracture. We found out today that he will need surgery to repair the bone. It will be a 3-4 hour surgery and then 6 weeks of recuperation. We are praying that all will go well and he will heal very quickly.

What do you do on the weekend?

Okay, so Gary and I headed up to the trailer Friday evening for our weekly camping time. It was raining on the way up but we went with the hope the weatherman was correct and it would clear up and be nice the remainder of the weekend. About 9 pm, after sitting the trailer listening to the rain, it stopped, stars came out and we ventured outside to sit by the fair and cook S'mores. What a great start to the weekend.

Saturday, dawned chilly but sunny. I was to join the youth group at Alpine Slide and Gary was to putter around the trailer, checking things and maybe go to a movie with his friend, Steven. I headed out for my part of the adventure, leaving Gary building a fire and reading a book. About 1 pm, I called Gary to see if he was going to a movie only to be told that he had fallen and hurt himself but he thought he would be okay, just call in 20 minutes. I continued playing with the kids at Alpine and called after 20 minutes to be asked to "please return to the trailer".

When I returned, I found him inside the trailer with his leg elevated, campground staff putting things away for him, and the dog whimpering by his side. They helped him to the car, I finished the close-up of the trailer and we headed back home to urgent care to check out what was wrong. Urgent care ended up not to be the place for him so Gary was transported to the ER by a medical transport and I followed in the car. After 10 hours in the ER we discovered Gary had broken his tibia and would require surgery to fix it. Needless to say -- it was an incredibly long day and one that I don't soon want to repeat.

Home Away from Home

This last weekend was our first weekend at the trailer. We have our trailer on a seasonal site at Kozy Oaks Kamp near North Branch. April 15th is the start of the season at the campground, so we headed up to open the trailer and get settled in for a great weekend.

Friday was sunny and we arrived to find leaves covering the ground. After opening the trailer and making the bed we headed out to do a little raking. This is the pile we had when we finished. Just a few leaves wouldn't you say. Saturday dawned bright and sunny with promise of warm weather. Breakfast was delicious (my husband is a great chef).

After breakfast we headed over to Don & Jen's site (next to ours are friends that we have camped with for many years) and helped them out with their new trailer, including raking more leaves. You can kind of see their pile of leaves in the background of this picture.

Then it was time for a much needed rest by the campfire. Put your feet up and drink pop, that's our motto when we are up there. If you can't find us at home, this is probably where we are, enjoying the time outside chatting with friends or reading a good book.

Christ the Lord is Risen!!

Easter is a time to celebrate what Christ did for us on the cross. Alleluia!!

Time spent with family is especially fun on this wonderful day. The sky is blue and the sun is shining. Michelle found all but two of the 65 eggs that I hid for her inside the house and out in the yard. She so enjoys this tradition that today before we had lunch with J's parents, she began the hunt for the eggs. It is so fun to see her get excited about something so simple to do. There were no big surprises of candy in the eggs this year. Instead I filled them with words of encouragement. Hopefully she and J will read through them and receive the blessing that is meant for them to receive.

Yesterday was spent at J and Michelle's house with Eme and Jon with Eko (their puppy); Melanie and her girls; Mary and her girls and grandkids; along with J's cousin Scott and his little boy. After lunch the kids went on a hunt for the eggs that Michelle had Ashley and Kylee hide in the yard and house. When the little ones were finished a couple of the adults went to find the ones left behind. What fun to spend time with family.

Happy Easter to all family and friends both near and far.

Re-ignited Passions

So, with all of my daughters so talented and crafty, I thought I would do something that I used to do when my daughters were little and that is sew some dresses for Danya for Easter. This weekend I finished them and just in time as it takes about 4 days for a box to arrive in Hawaii from here. They turned out toooo cute and I wanted to share my accomplishments. Hopefully, once they arrive in Hawaii, Laura will post pictures of Danya wearing them. My next project -- several different little vests for Oliver. I'm soooooo excited to begin and see how they turn out.



So here is the promised picture of Danya in the dress. It fit and she looks so cute in it.

It's all about the bears!

A couple of weeks ago, I had Oliver for the day and he discovered Mormor's many teddy bears on her headboard. This week I am on spring break and Oliver has come to share a couple of days with me. Although he doesn't say many words his communication skills with signing are incredible. He stands in the living room pointing down the hall to my bedroom and signs please. When I follow him he leads me to my room, points to the bed (which is where he can see the bears best) and signs please. Of course, Mormor lifts him up on the bed to look at the bears. On Wednesday, we even took one of the bears for a walk out of the bedroom through the kitchen and back to the spot where the bear was. It was so cute as he was jabbering the entire time. Although I'm not sure if he actually said the words at one point he dropped something and I heard him say "I'll get it", well at least that's what it sounded like.

What fun it has been to enjoy his company on this cold spring break. I can't wait for the fun we will have on Friday as we are also puppy sitting for Eme & Jon's dog, Eko.

Spring . . . Where is it?

Somewhere I am sure it is spring like. It just doesn't feel like it here in Minnesota. St Paul Public Schools is now on "spring break" for the next week. Looking at the forcast for this week -- you could fool me that it is spring.

But really spring comes in many forms -- bed springs, spring in your step, flowers spring up, spring in your ink pen, spring colors, springs on your car, and so on. But here is what Wikipedia says the definition of spring is:

Meteorologists generally define 4 seasons in many climatic areas, Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn (or Fall). These are demarcated by the values of their average temperatures on a monthly basis, with each season lasting 3 months. The 3 warmest months are by definition Summer, the 3 coldest months are Winter, and the intervening gaps are Spring and Autumn. As such, Spring when defined in this manner and when begining on a monthly basis, rather than a specific date, can vary per region. In the vast majority of northerly hemisphere locations Spring occurs during the months of March, April and May. (Summer is June, July, August; Autumn is September, October, November; Winter is December, January, February.) The vast majority of Southern Hemisphere locations will have opposing seasons. ^[1]

According to the astronomical definition, spring begins on the Vernal Equinox (usually March 20 in the Northern Hemisphere, and September 22 in the Southern Hemisphere), and lasts until the summer solstice (usually June 21 in the Northern Hemisphere and December 21 in the Southern Hemisphere). In 2009, spring fell on March 20 in the Northern Hemisphere. According to this definition, therefore, the day called Midsummer's Day in some traditions is the first day of Summer.

According to the Celtic tradition, which is based solely on daylight and the strength of the noon sun, spring begins in early February (near Imbolc or Candlemas) and continues until early May (Beltane).

Unlike the other three seasons, people in relatively cool climates are likely to use the astronomical definition for the beginning of spring in popular jargon but retain the meteorological definition for the other three seasonal turning points.

The phenological definition of spring relates to indicators, the blossoming of a range of plant species, and the activities of animals, or the special smell of soil that has reached the temperature for micro flora to flourish. The first swallow to arrive for the flowering of lilac may be the indicator of spring. It therefore varies according to the climate and according to the specific weather of a particular year.

Okay, so it's more information than I wanted to know. But spring will come and with it warmer, sunnier weather and the "Hope" of summer.

Simple Fun

Discovery is the name of the game for Oliver. On Monday when he arrived he again noticed Momor's collection of bears on her headboard and wanted to explore. He is fascinated by their many colors, sizes and kinds. Below are few of the pictures I captured while he was checking them out.

Where is this one from Mormor? (Iceland) Can I touch them?

Look Mormor, there are so many to choose from. Not the monkey, that one!



Then it was out to the deck to enjoy the sunshine and wonder, what is Kleo doing down there.
We also heard and saw a cardinal high up in the tree next door.
Can spring be far away?

Oliver amazes me with his many signs and how easy it really is to communicate with him. Here he is signing "bed". You can't see he has placed his blanket and bunny on my lap and is asking to go take a nap. Pretty smart little fellow he is.

After nap it was time to take a spin in our "Bob" to the park. After several times down the slide he stood at the bottom as if to say "what are those guys doing over there?" (There were some other boys playing in the puddle under the swings).

It was a beautiful day to spend out of doors with my grandson.
Thanks Oliver for spending time with Mormor.