Glensheen Mansion

last week i took a bunch of church ladies up to duluth. we toured the Glensheen Mansion on the shore of Lake Superior, lunched at Red Lobster, and poked around Canal Park. the weather was beautiful, and so were the ladies.;) i'm so glad we went!

just me and my jackers

july 3rd we went to the nisswa parade with the horns and schroeders. jack and i had matching tank tops. what a great way to celebrate our independence... with conformity!:)

trying to move on after papa's gone...

i know i haven't posted a lot since gramps's accident. i am sure whoever is reading this will understand. i just didn't have the heart for it. i think that i can pick up the pieces now and move along, thanks in large part to the support of allllllll my family. it was just wonderful that all the family could make it to the memorial. gram, all three of the daughters, all 9 of the grandchildren, all 21 of the great/step-great grandchildren. and, of course, tons of the extended family. we all loved grandpa so much. my sister and her family were here a lot. here is a photo of my sis, angie, and i at rafferty's pizza the day after the memorial. mom just did not feel like eating the ham she made for lunch! and i don't blame her! this was a much better idea.:)

Easter '10

jack and i dyed Easter eggs at my parent's house saturday. it's so much fun dying eggs with someone who is actually enjoying doing it with you.:) dan and andy kind of "outgrew" this activity.

sunday morning at Church my mom joined in with the orchestra with her violin. she's in the middle of the photo wearing the little white sweater. i'm so proud of her for learining the violin!

hope you had a Happy, Blessed Easter!

curious george

saw curious george at the mall a few weeks ago. jack was really shy. as soon as we went to leave, however, jack decided he wanted to hang out with george.:) well, in the grand scheme of things i suppose it was a waste of time... but jack really loves curious george. and the photos are pretty fun.:)

jack's point of view

came home from church a few weeks ago and jack took this photo of "dan" and "i" in the kitchen.:) it really amuses me. so, that's his point of view, huh? sweet.

valentine banquet '10

dan and i went to the loveliest valentine banquet at Deerwood Baptist Church again this year. romantic ambiance, delicious food, precious friends, beautiful music, and hilarious entertainment. i look forward to it for weeks before! sigh, and now it's over.:) but, spring will be here soon. the meal was catered by Maucieri's. there were appetizers and desserts, too, made by jen and served by young tweens and teens from the church. arnie played the harp and sarah b. played her cello. devon did a hilarious "ole and lena go to the opera show" poem he composed for the occasion, with arnie on harp accompaniment. then jen sang a beautiful song. then arnie and devon played a "classical piano" number.:) arnie was dressed as his character "julio", a mexican who likes soup -- specifically lizard soup his mama makes for him. crazy! anyway, it was absolutely wonderful and i can't wait to see what jen will do next year!!!

bad sweater...pretty capelet!

here is a photo of my bad sweater. i will post one of my pretty capelet soon!

sleepover at grandpa dan's and grandma brenda's!

dan went to a men's retreat friday, so jack and i took the opportunity to have a sleepover at my parent's house. jack was soooo excited.:) chick flick and popcorn, no sleep, mom's blueberry pancakes for breakfast, chinese food for lunch, "choc" in papa's pocket, and a lot of QUALITY TIME. so glad we did it. just because we live only about 5 minutes away from them doesn't mean that my parents should be denied the fun of a sleepover!

Happy New Year! welcoming in a new decade

this was jack's first decade. it was kind of cool to document it. i don't suppose my parents let me stay up until midnight in 1979.:) we had the best time!!! we went to dan's sister's house and ate appetizers (a lot) and played Wii (a lot). it was so unbelievably fun. i actually didn't want to end the night! but, my ride was leaving.:) so, here's to a new year. Happy New Year!

maryn visits

i met maryn when we were in college at pcc. she is amazing. she married a guy from the area and we get to see each other from time to time when they visit. here we are in the wal-mart parking lot. lame! i meant to take a photo at Christmas Point where we had a lovely lunch... but i forgot. this was all i could get before we parted ways until next time.

Christmas Eve at Milkovich's '09

Christmas Eve we finally got some family photos taken. it was a great night full of family, food, chocolate (jack and i should probably join a 12 step program after the holidays...) and presents.:) we are blessed with so much loving family. Merry Christmas to all!

Christmas '09 at angie's, or...i can't fit in my pants anymore

dad, mom, jack and i took a little roadtrip to be with angie and family for their first Christmas in Minot, North Dakota. it was such a blessing to be able to have the time available to do it! 5 days of fun fun fun!:)

the road trip could have been more fun. did not see a single culver's, starbucks, or caribou coffee from baxter to minot (we didn't go through bemidji, mn. there may have been signs of civilization there!). i was dying for a coffee on the way out and did find a very nice mom-n-pop joint in devils lake, no dak. on the way back it was sunday and it was closed. well, Praise the Lord and boo hoo!:) oh, and did i mention jack's blow out diaper? and the burger king that didn't have a changing table? not fun.

Christmas at angie's was fun. we had to open gifts the first night because the kids were wound up out of their minds and we were going out of ours.:) jack was as excited as predicted about his "d-tar" from auntie angie and uncle matt. jack loves to play his guitar and make up songs. the girls seemed very pleased with the headbands, and doll hats and scarves i knit them.

the Christmas food was our usual feast of naughtiness: swedish tea rings galore, huge taco dip, egg bake, homemade pancakes, french dip sandwiches...where's the veggies?! who cares?!:) ha ha! i think there were a few eaten in the five days. and some fruit. oh, and i am sure there were some diced veggies in the food the night we went out for chinese. i am sure that counted. anyway... Merry Christmas it was!

IKEA

went on a road trip with my mom and auntie lana last saturday. we went to trader joe's, a fabric warehouse, IKEA, and the albertville outlet malls. that's a lot of shopping! it was fun and exhausting. we arrived at IKEA just in time for lunch at the cafeteria. i had the stuffed salmon with sides, and a princess cake! if you know me at all...you will know that this was very very exciting for me.:) the sunny cafeteria had a view you don't get every day -- the mall of america! which we didn't even consider as a shopping destination for the day.

auntie lana hadn't even heard of trader joe's. she didn't know what the fuss was all about. but, she was a bit impressed, i think. she and mom were both very excited with the french baguettes they bought.:) i was excited about everything and i vow to bring a cooler with next time!

i am a big fan of IKEA. i started clapping with glee when we got near. which amused my auntie.:) it wasn't just IKEA that i was so excited about, or the lovely meal, it was jack's Christmas present. i had spied an easel in the catolog for only $15!!! chalkboard on one side, dry erase board on the other. it has a tray down below and i bought the roll of paper so you can use the easel to paint. i can't wait to put it all together, wrap it, and put it under the tree. there's nothing like a huge Christmas present! jack will be so excited.

FUNKY

jack and i found this old pair of dan's sunglasses in the basement. photo op!:)

snuggle time

jack had just got up from a nap. he was still groggy and wanted a snuggle. the camera was at hand. i thought i'd get in a few shots of us together. you know, so he'd know i was around.:)

holding on...

for now.:) sometimes i lay on the floor next to jack's bed when he starts a nap. sometimes i fall asleep myself...only to be awakened by the sound of my own snoring! he wanted to sleep this way with his head on my arm. once again i had my camera. don't know why, but i was so glad.