Auntie Denise

 

Today I drove to Sioux Center to have lunch with a VERY special lady.  Denise has been such a special person to my Washington family .  We all feel very blessed that she has taken on the role of a special Grandma to our Washington grandkids, especially Holly.  (Sorry I noticed I used "special" three times in three sentences so hope you got the general idea.)

 

I told her we should go to Culver's since that's one of DeAnn's favorite midwestern places to go.

 

 Recently I learned from Jan that if you order the kids meal, a small scoup of ice cream comes with it.  You can also order a Snack Pak which is the same size as the kids meal but you don't get the ice cream, so just to prove how smart Denise and I are, we ordered the kids cheeseburger meal.

 Sorry, DeAnn but the ice cream of the day was "Butter Brickle" and it was wonderful.  You know, I don't really like chocolate ice cream with peanut butter cups anyway.

Thank you, Denise for spending the afternoon with me.  It's always fun to sit and visit with you.

 

We are off to Kurt and Amy's tomorrow for a couple of days.  Sure hope Amy has a list for us.

 

Have a GREAT weekend!!!

 

Love to you all,

Gramma and MOM



Happy Birthday, John boy

Just for today, this is our

#1 Family Member!!!!

 

 

Happy, Happy Birthday JOHN!!!

We're so glad and thankful that DeAnn decided to bring you into our family.  Hope your day is a good one.

Love you!!!
MOM & DAD

A Productive Week

Some people might look at this picture and see the garage next door through my kitchen window.  When I look at this picture, I see a beautiful, spotlessly clean window - so clean you can't even see the window.  Friday morning dad and I washed all of the upstairs windows, except the computer room.  I did the windows in and out (those I could reach) and dad scrubbed all the screens for me.  What a huge difference - too bad they don't get done more than once and maybe twice a year.

 When I washed my kitchen window, I took down this beautiful lace hanging.  (I put it right back up aafter the window was washed.)    My dear, dear friend Linda made it for me when we lived in North St. Paul which makes it at least 36 years old.  I have to be careful when I touch it because the lace is starting to disintegrate but I LOVE it as much now as when I received it for my birthday.  Thank you, Linda!!  I think of you often when I look through my window.

 This was my big project for the week and I have just a wee bit of stitching to do and it's finished.  I would like to get a few more patches from Minnesota, Iowa and South Dakota for Miss Katie but if I don't, then her mother will have to get them next summer.  It was a fun project to do.  One Christmas project finished but a few more swimming around in my head.

 This is my this week big project - to "fill in" my gallery wall and replace the newspaper pictures with actual pictures.  I need to paint some picture frames and even get a few more pictures enlarged.  Can't wait til it's finished.

This week is going to be a bit busy - something almost every day but all fun things or things I enjoy doing.  Monday is work at the hospital; Tuesday is spend time with Jan (even if it is a doctor appointment); Wednesday is lunch with my dear friend, Denise and then Thursday and Friday are reserved for my favorite #2 daughter and Saturday night is a birthday party.  Awesome week.  But then it's special too because it's someone's birthday on Tuesday - hopefully I can get a blog in about this special person.

Have a good, productive week!!!  Love to you all,
Gramma and MOM

Happy Tuesday

 

Really haven't much news so will put a couple of pictures of Dad's flowers on today.  I LOVE this picture with the apple tree in the foreground.  Dad says that with the hard freeze we received over the weekend, he thinks a lot of his mums were touched.  His potted plants were in the garage so they were fine.  He said this morning he's just going to put the plants out and when they freeze, they freeze.  He's tired of putting them in and out and besides, I have a "honey-do" list for him.

 This last weekend we went to Milaca to see Aunt Jennie.  Dad said he was really glad we went - she's not looking as spry as she has in the past.  She looked very tired and weaker than we've seen her in the past.  Brought her some almond patties, which she loved.  DeAnn, I bought her some peppermints at the East Grocery in Lynden and sent them to her - she was thrilled with them.  She said they "hit the spot".  It's difficult finding something to hit the spot for a 90 year old.

We stayed overnight in Milaca and woke up to this white stuff on the car.  It was VERY cold when we stepped out of the motel door.  I'm not ready for this cold and especially not for the white stuff.  Makes Arizona very appealing.  The last couple of days have been a little better - just heard on the radio that we may get some rain today - GOOD!!!

Well, that's it.  Not much but better than nothing.  DeAnn, I loved Sam's story.  Amy's right - it sounds just like Sam. 

Have a super week - I plan to work on some of my fun projects this week.  Figure I'll clean in the morning and do fun things in the afternoon.  Last night we had pizza with Eric and the rest (at least some) of the family.  Had a very nice time.  Mark's sister and brother and parts of their families were there also.

Love to you all,
Gramma and MOM

PS:  I have a book here on Alaska folklore - does it belong to either of you?

Back Home

We were home just two weeks and this lovely young lady and her mom came for two weeks.  How blessed we were that they were able to stay so long.    Miss Katie is no longer a princess, but a cowgirl.  She is such a special blessing to this Grampa and Gramma.  She said she didn't like Grampa all the much and kept saying, "Grampa's a girl,",  I don't know where she got that or exactly what it meant, but she sure liked teasing him.

 

 This is Katie and Kitty - Kitty is Uncle Kurt's baby.  Katie loved Kitty and hauled her all over.  One day we peeked in the tv room and there she is watching a movie with the kitty beside her.  However, I'm not sure if Kitty really wanted to be there but Katie's little hands were around holding her tightly.  Poor Kitty couldn't have moved if she'd wanted to.

Anyone that knows my daughters and myself know that DeAnn is the organizer of the group; Amy and I are both a bit more lax about things.  We are also savers while DeAnn is not as much.  She always says if you LOVE it, keep it.  Otherwise think about donating it to someone else.

Here DeAnn and Amy are "going through" boxes that Amy had not opened since she moved to the farm.  We all spent a couple of days up at the farm working.  Amy did an awesome job of going through and purging.

 One of my two favorite sons-in-law is showing us how to dry dishes.  There was a big discussion going on between DeAnn who was washing and Kurt as to whether you use cold or hot water to rinse dishes and why?  Any comments?

 On Saturday morning, we had to stop working for a bit to go watch #64.  I still don't understand anything about football but it's fun to see Chase "do his thing".  I do not like it, however, when he's opposite some big kid and that kid is running into him.  He says, it's OK, Gramma, they're supposed to do that.  It doesn't hurt.  Yeah, right!!

 These two stopped on their way home from their first "retired" vacation out west to stay the night with us.  It's amazing how with good friends, you can always pick up right where you've left off visiting and talking.  Gary & Nancy, we loved having you visit - come back again soon!!

 Couldn't resist putting in a picture of dad's flowers by the deck.  They are drop-dead beautiful.  He put these mums in this spring and they are one mass of color.  I'm afraid with the temperatures we're supposed to have this weekend that most of his flowers will not survive - good thing that mums are so hardy.

That's all for today.  My 16x20 picture of our family by the barn arrived yesterday and it is nice!!!!
Thank you, DeAnn, for arranging to have them taken.  Now, I just need to get it hung up on my newspaper gallery wall.

Have a good weekend.  Love to you all,
Gramma and MOM

The end of our "Going Home Trip"

The last night out of our trip we spent with these two great people.  We got to Del & Judy's in time for spaghetti casserole lunch which began a LOT of conversation with very good friends.  After lunch we took a long drive - went out to the lake home they built and sold before moving into Crookston, then we had a dinner at a little country restaurant and took a driving tour of Crookston.  Del showed us the sugarbeet museum where he spends a lot of his time.  They were going to be having a sugarbeet festival in a couple weeks so they were busy getting their museum ready.  I would love to go some year - sounds like a fun thing to do.  Back to their home for lots of good conversation, coffee and ice cream and finally off to bed.  Judy cooked us oatmeal for breakfast and we left - Judy was off to her volunteer job at the hospital and who knows where Del was going.  It was a wonderful visit and yet we could have visited another day, at least.  Thank you to Del & Judy for being such great hosts!!!!

After leaving Crookston, we went to Waupaton, ND/Breckenridge, MN - two towns across the river from each other.  Had lunch with nephew Ben at his college and then spent a half hour driving through the campus and area.  I didn't take my camera in to the restaurant so missed getting Ben's picture.  His hair has gotten a bit longer and soooooooooo cute - it's curly like his dad's was before it all fell out.

 

Back on the road down Highway 75 in Minnesota - did lots of stopping to see interesting little areas, such as this old gas station and this old country school.  Amazing what tickles our fancy.  I know you girls wouldn't appreciate all of these things but dad and I remember them well.  I went to a school very similar to this one for the first 5 1/2 years of my schooling.  In fact, I was so smart and the country school was so good that I did not go to Kindergarten - started right off in first grade when I was just five years old.

 Since Highway 75 goes right through Pipestone, our last stop of the trip was to see this handsome young football player.  He even gave his Gramma a big hug - actually a big sweaty hug.  It was another amazing trip home with my very favorite man!!!

 Hate to end on a sad note today, but I must.  Mr. Tiger is gone.  He just kinda melted away in the wind and rain and snow of the last couple of years.  My tree is so lonely without him sitting up there.  I may have to find a new friend.  Sam, I put Mr. Tiger up in the tree for you a couple of years ago and he has protected Grampa and Gramma well. 

That's it for today, folks.  See you next week.
Love to you all,
Gramma and MOM

North Dakota

Greetings, my dear family.  I decided that I hadn't quite finished telling you about our trip home from Washington and I wanted to document it in my blog so you will have to put up with two more days of travel pictures.

 

This is a refinery just east of Williston, ND.  I talked to Paul and he said that some of the refineries have these fires on the ground and others have a smokestack with the fire coming out the top.  They are apparently "burning off" some gasses that come up with the oil.

 In western North Dakota, they have what they call "Man Cities" - various types of housing for the men who work in the oil industry.  Most of them look very new, which they are.  Some look like tractor-trailers with holes cut in the sides for windows.  One of the camps looked like the storage containers that you see on trains - they just stacked them one on top of the other, added some steps and a couple of windows and wala - a house.

 Saw lots of these trucks on the road hauling oil.

I have always wanted to see a field of sunflowers.  North Dakota had lots of them.  Wish we could have seen them a month earlier when they were still yellow.  Most of them were pretty dried up.  Very interesting crop.

We were driving through a small town in North Dakota (I think it was Stanley) and we passed by a cemetery.  I had seen this monument and told dad we needed to stop and investigate it because it looked like it had two sky scrapers on it.  Upon inspecting it a little closer, it was for a victim of the World Trade bombings.  Very unique - had the poem below on the other side.  Very interesting what you see when you're just looking out the window.

That's about it for North Dakota.  We stopped about midway through the state and visited with a friend from Arizona.  Had a great time with him (his wife was in Oregon with their granddaughter).  Ended the night in Grand Forks, ND.  Off to see Del and Judy in the morning.

 

 I have loved looking back on the pictures of our trip.  Maybe I'll even do another book for dad about "our trip home".  He really liked the last one I did - he says it jogs his memory about the fun times we had.

 

Have a GREAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT Week!!!

 

Love, Gramma and MOM