HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Our beautiful daughter-in-law Morticia Tya, invited us to join their Halloween party tonight.  She greeted us in her holiday best but we almost didn't recognize her!

Their home was appropriately decorated.

Our granddaughters are the bride on the left, Jaden, and the pink princess on the right, Madison.  The other beauties are their friends.

These two little princesses are just as cute as they can be, aren't they?  Madison is on the right.

It didn't take the kids long to eat their supper and in no time they were out the door with their bags and buckets to collect candy.  Of course, plenty of parents accompanied them.  Small town it may be, but you can't be too careful.

SATURDAY ODDS AND ENDS

Good Morning!  Do I have any people left?  I haven't posted in a week in case you haven't noticed.  It's been kind of a boring week, nothing exciting happening, which in a way is good, right?

I have spent a couple of afternoons with daughter, Gail, who is looking for an apartment.  This is exciting for her because she is one year sober and is looking at the world through clear eyes with a clear brain.  I am trying to be helpful, yet not too helpful, if you know what I mean.  She has to accept the consequences of her actions, and not rely on mom and dad to make everything alright once again.  We want to help, but not enable, and there is a fine line between the two.  She did find an apartment yesterday that she likes so we'll have to see what happens.  I sure would like her to be settled in a place before it gets much colder and the snow starts to fly.  She is in a safe place right now but I don't know how long she can stay there.

The trees are almost totally bare in our little town.  We've had a lot of wind in the past few days and the ground now holds what a couple of days ago was still hanging on the trees.  Our skies have been gray except for one day this week, and we've had steady rain and drizzle, not the sunny drying days the farmers have been praying for.  The beans should be all off and the corn at least half done, but because of the cold wet weather they are far behind in their fall work.  Fields are turning black, a sign that the beans have gotten too wet and are rotting.  Corn isn't as sensitive and can wait awhile yet.

Yesterday was our youngest son's birthday, but I failed to connect with him.  I tried both the house phone and his cell phone, but got no answer.  I hope Lance and Tya were out on a family celebration with their two girls, and that I'll be able to catch up to him today.  He is a wonderful son, and we are so proud of him.  He has had a lot to overcome in his life, and he has done so with blood, sweat and tears, making us beam with pride at his accomplishments.  I'll never forget the day he was born into our family.  He and his brother were coming to live with us, and were delivered to our home by a SW.  He jumped out of her car in his too small blue plaid flannel shirt, jeans that were also too small, and tennis shoes with no laces or socks.  He bounded up the sidewalk  hand and hand with his year older brother, with his long tangled bowl cut hair sticking out in a dozen different directions, and his four top front teeth missing, and when I opened the door to invite them in, he jumped over the threshhold and straight into my heart.  Happy Birthday Lance!  We love you dearly.

And now it's November, Thanksgiving month.  I love Thanksgiving.  I love the hymns we sing on Thanksgiving.  I love having my loved ones all gathered together, giving thanks for all of our blessings.  I think I'd better get some plans made and some grocery shopping started as I want a large group around my Thanksgiving table this year.  What are your plans for Thanksgiving?  Will you serve the meal or will you go to a family gathering elsewhere?

I have a couple of gifts to make, so I'd best get to the sewing machine today.  What are your plans?

GRAY SKIES

We had gray skies all day today (shoot, all week!) until just a few minutes ago.  We were eating our squash soup when I glanced out the window and saw pink.  I grabbed my camera and ran to the back yard and snapped this photo.  By the time I got back inside, the skies were gray again, but for about 30 seconds there it looked like we maybe were going to see an end to this gloom.  The weather folks said nice tomorrow, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

THANKS CHARLIE!

I just made the most delicious squash soup!  Thanks Charlie!  My friend, Charlene, gave me some hubbard squash so I used one to make soup tonight.  It was excellent.  Of course it had shallots sauted in butter, bacon, squash, chicken broth and heavy whipping cream in it, so it was very healthy and low fat!  Ya, right!  I should get out and exercise about four hours just to work off that soup, but:

That Maxine is right on, isn't she?

GUESS WHAT I FOUND?

Look what I found at one of the local thrift shops today.  It's a moustache cup, and isn't it absolutely beautiful?  I took one look and grabbed it before anyone else could spy it.

It's mostly white, with the soft blue painted on the front and a little on the back.  The rim and handle are edged in gold.  The little white dot looking things are raised specks of paint.

This is the marking....if you enlarge it you will see that it is Royal Bavarian China, Germany.  I looked online and found the exact mark with the crown on top and the P.M. B is in the center circle.  I absolutely love i!

This pretty cup was marked $1.00 but today was seniors day......25% off.  So I paid 75 cents for this gem!

WE WILL SERVE THE LORD

Forty-five years ago today these words were spoken in our church by our pastor.  Actually, all of Joshua 24:15 was read:  Choose you this day whom you will serve:........as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.  It was the marriage ceremony of a young (21) Airman in full dress blue uniform, and a young (20....too young!) woman in a beautiful white dress made by her grandmother.  These words had also been spoken twenty three years earlier at the marriage of this woman's parents, and would also be read exactly twenty years later at the marriage of the couple's daughter.

I was the young bride, Ernie the Airman.  We had a small wedding party, just my sister and his brother, and our honeymoon was our drive to Spokane, Washington where he was stationed with the Air Force.  Two months later he received orders for Bangor, Maine, all the way across the United States from Spokane!  While in Maine we were blessed with two children, then a move back across the USA again, to Marysville, California.  While in California our third child was born.  The next move was only half way across the states, to upper Michigan.  Then from there to Grand Forks, North Dakota where we completed our family with the adoption of a sibling group of four kids.  We retired back home to Minnesota  and  then both worked at the college until we retired again in 2006. 

We have had a great forty five years, have been blessed with seven kids and fifteen grandkids and one grand son-in-law.  We have our health and have been able to do some traveling.  And I can't wait to see what the future holds for us!  One thing is certain, the Lord will be in our lives just as He has been in the past.  And we will continue to serve Him. 

Thank you dear heavenly Father for the blessings of marriage and family.  Continue to be with us and keep us strong in our faith  and in our bodies, so we may continue to serve You.  In Christ's saving name.  Amen. 

CAMPING TRIP PART 3

What is this?  Again?  Yup.  It's the second snow of our camping trip, the first being at Glacial Lakes S.P.  This time we are at Sibley S.P., which is the park where my brother is the park manager.  They have some new camping cabins, so part of the group made use of them while Ernie and I, and my sister Ruth and her husband stayed in our campers.  Then during the meal times we made use of the shelter house and the fireplace! 

Not exactly what we wanted for our campout, but it sure was pretty!

Another Dutch Oven meal, this one was a mountain man breakfast, featuring anything you want to put in it and adding eggs and cheese.  This one had potatoes, onions, carrots, sausage, bacon, and no fat or cholesterol!

The last morning we went on a short hike through a lovely stand of maples. 

I love all the vertical lines in this scene.

And finally, a stop at another state park, Monson.  I'd never been to this park before, and found a delightful little park nestled in the woods along a small lake.  We will be back!

I don't know the name of this fungus growth, but I like the way it looks like petals on a flower.

CAMPING TRIP PART 2

We had one really sunny, super nice day.  We of course got in another good hike.  We spied these beautiful white birches way across the field, so had to try for a shot of them. 

The sky was blue, with lots of pretty white clouds, and the rolling hills made for a very pleasant hike at Glacial Lakes S.P.

Aren't these hills pretty?  When I see this type of landscape I always think of the Native Americans riding their ponys across the distant horizan.

It sure was a pleasant drive that day.

This was our campspot at Maplewood S.P.  We woke up to frost thickly covering the ground, but it turned into a lovely day after the sun came up.

The prettiest trees in the park were right by the entrance.

These colors were absolutely beautiful.

Dutch Oven or cast iron pot cooking.  This was a mac and cheese dish that my sister made for us.  It was nummy!

CAMPING TRIP PART 1

We had a good camping trip with my sister, even though we experienced every single type of weather that Minnesota had to throw at us.  We were a little disappointed in the colors, too, as they were certainly not as brilliant as they usually are.  This shot is a boat landing in Maplewood S.P.  

Cooking hobo dinners, foil wrapped potatoes, carrots, onions, and sausage.  Top with plenty of butter and a bit of salt and pepper, and you have a meal in a foil packet.  Num num!

This was a rainy cloudy day, and the oranges and golds were very blah,

At our campsite (we were the only campers in the park!) we did have some pretty trees, but overall the colors were not what we are used to in Minnesota.

We found these red bushes on our hike at Lac qui Parle S.P.  It rain the two days were were there except for a couple of hours when we hurried out on a hike before it started again.

Rain drops on red berries at Lac qui Parle.

The trees along this dirt road were still pretty green, but we enjoyed our hike and the sounds of the honking geese overhead. 

OUT OF MANY, ONE FAMILY

I recently read an excellent book. It is Bart and Claudia Fletcher's book, Out of Many, One Family: How Two Adults Claimed Twelve Children through Adoption. Claudia is my daughter Kari's friend, and I call her my friend, too, as there is always a connection between adoptive families, especially those who have adopted from the foster care system. Bart and Claudia have adopted 12 children, 10 boys and two girls, and this is the story of how they found each child and made them their family. At the end of each chapter Claudia tells what they learned from that adoption. I think it would be a very helpful book for anyone just starting on their adoption journey, and a must read for those adopting from the foster care system.  If you are interested, you may contact Claudia here.

WE'RE BACK

Good Morning.  No, I did not fall off the face of the earth.  But I did go nine days without computer access.  I tried hooking up to my phone a couple of times, but the signal was too low.  I now have a week and a half worh of camping stories and photos to post.   Right now I am drowning in laundry and have a mess to put away, but by this evening I hope to be able to put something together to post.  See you then.

MINNESOTA STATE PARKS AND THE VIKINGS

Good morning!  In two hours I need to pick up  my sister, Lois, for a late season camping trip.  When we went to Alaska this summer, we promised her we'd take her out for a weeks vacation when we came back, and this is the first her schedule and our schedules have permitted the trip.  We are going to four different Minnesota State Parks for two nights at each of them.  I don't know if I'll be able to update, although if my cell works I should be able to post. 

Do any of you  folks keep track of Minnesota sports?  What a weeked we've had!  Saturday our Gophers met the Badgers in the border battle (Minnesota/Wisconsin).  The Gophers lost, but this game always generates a lot of excitement.  Then yesterday our wonderful Twins beat Kansas City to cause a playoff game with Detroit for the title.  The Twins have come from behind in a late season flurry of wins and have caused much excitement!  Go Twins!

Then today is the game of games.  The Minnesota Vikings meet their biggest rivals, the Green Bay Packers.  This is always the biggest game of the season, made much bigger this year by St. Favre leaving the Packers and going to the Vikings.  The media has been hyping this game for days now, and I just heard that the pre-game show starts at 4:30 for a 7:30 game! 

Okay.  Back to the first paragraph of this post and you'll see we will be camping!  I was expecting hubby to cancel the trip, or at least postpone our departure for a day, when he realized that this was the big game on Monday night football.   But he fooled me!  We recently switched from cable to dish.......and he bought an extra dish so he could be portable.  Do you think he was planning ahead to this game?  So he plans to be all set up in the campground, ready for his 6  hours in front of the TV watching St. Favre meet his old team for the first time.  Should be fun, even if it's going to be cold and rainey.    

NOW THE DAY IS OVER

Now the day is over, Night is drawing nigh, Shadows of the evening, Steal across the sky.

Jesus, give the weary, Calm and sweet repose; With Thy tenderest blessing,  May our eyelids close.

Comfort every sufferer, Watching late in pain; Those who plan some evil , From their sins restrain.

Through the long night-watches, May Thine angels spread, Their white wings above me, Watching 'round my bed.

 

When the morning wakens, Then may I arise, Pure and fresh and sinless, In Thy holy eyes.

RECENT PICTURES

Big number 64 below is our grandson Nicolas who is playing in the 4th grade football league.  We attended his game last Saturday, but it was raining this morning so we didn't venture out.  Nicolas has beautiful red hair! He is the son of our son Chuck and his wife Thea.

Below is our son Lance who has recently completed the course to become a part time policeman.  He loves it!  He is a very calm, cool. level headed young man, so I'm sure he will do a wonderful job.

The cutie below is Jaden, Lance and Tya's oldest daughter.  She is in 6th grade this year, being bused to a neighboring town for school, and having to change rooms for every class.  They grow up too fast!

And this is Madison with their new dog, Chance.  Madison is in 2nd grade.

THE HONEYMOON IS OVER!

Now I know that Anna is truly comfortable with me. She went into her normal everyday nasty mood this morning. I guess she figures grandma has been around long enough now that she doesn't have to be good anymore! And she gave it to me good. And I'm sorry to say I raised my voice......no, I'll admit it.....I yelled at her! Me, a 65 year old grandma of 15, veteran of raising 7 kids, let this little 7 year old push my buttons big time this morning!

I asked Anna to hurry because it was raining and we had to bring Adam to his school. So she switched to putting one cheerio on her spoon at a time and letting her hair almost hang into the cereal bowl, then flicking it back like a super model on the runway. I yelled at her.

Did you know it takes 14 bites to eat one teaspoon of applesauce with meds hidden in it? Or a couple dozen fake swallows to get the three teaspoons of antibiotic down, even if it is flavored with that stinky grape stuff? I hollered at her.

Then I threatened to leave her at home with sister Katie while Ben and I went to buy a balloon to welcome her mom and dad home from Washington DC. She didn't care.

The honeymoon is over and she was in total control this morning! Her mom probably won't leave me in charge again!

DAY 4 OF GRANDPA AND GRANDMA'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE

Just a short note to report that Anna is feeling better. Her rash is already improved after just two applications of the teeny tiny tube of cream that we had to get from the alternate pharmacy. I'm so glad she was happy and excited to go to school today......it was Twins Day at the elementary school where Ben and Anna attend. The students were allowed to wear a cap or T-shirt promoting the Minnesota Twins. Anna thought we should rush out to buy her a shirt, but sister Katie said she had a Twins cap that she could loan to Anna. So both Ben and Anna jumped out of the van this morning and ran to the school door, shouldering their back-packs with one hand and holding their caps on with their other hand.

(Kari and Mike should skip the following paragraph)

I don't know what I'm in for this afternoon, though. I mentioned that we should have a surprise for mom and dad when they come home tomorrow. I'm thinking a sign that reads welcome home and maybe a balloon or two. I think the kids have grander plans and I'm almost afraid to see how much their ideas cost! They have been so good for us, so I guess we can spring for a little extra for their plans to welcome mom and dad home.

News from DC: This morning Kari was interviewed on a live feed to our local radio station. We didn't know about it until later, so we didn't hear it. But we found out that she had another interview that was filmed for our local TV station. So we'll be watching the six and the ten o'clock news, hoping to see her. They are having fun, but have sore legs and feet from all the walking they've done trying to see as much as possible in between the scheduled events. And she reported after yesterday's luncheon that Hillary is a great speaker, passionate about adoption and foster care, and that she is prettier in person than on the TV screen.

MOM AND DAD ARE GONE SO ANNA GETS SICK

This was Anna the last time Kari and Mike left town. I didn't take a picture of her tonight because she didn't want anyone to see her face, but she has a huge rash on the left cheek, on her nose, and chin a bit, and it's starting on the right cheek. It was very slight this morning, and she said it itched so we put her lotion on it. However, the rash spread during the day and we decided we'd best get it checked out.

Well, first of all, when you go to Urgent Care if you aren't sick when you get there, you will be before you leave! The place was packed with sick kids, sick parents, sick older people.......boy, did we make use of the hand sanitizer! We sat as far away from everyone else as we could, and because Anna had insisted on bringing along a whole bag of books, we had something to do for the hour that we waited, and we didn't have to look at any of the books all the other kids had touched.

After waiting an hour, the nurse came out and asked us to go to a different department because they were really overrun in Urgent Care. We got into the other doctor almost immediately. He thinks the rash is an infection from the slight runny nose Anna has, and the picking she does on her nose when it's irritated. He prescribed an antibiotic and a cream for the rash.

Off to the pharmacy that Kari and Mike use. I got to sit and wait there, too. Then the aide called me up to tell me they didn't have the cream but would fill the antibiotic. They told me that the cream is very expensive, $50 for a tiny tube, so they don't stock it very often. But we could go to XYZ Pharmacy because they have it all the time.

So we went off to the other pharmacy where all the sick people from the Urgent Care Clinic must have been waiting for their meds! I just dropped the prescription off and said I'd return to pick it up after supper. BAD idea. When I got back there at seven I was number six in line, and within a minute there were six more behind me. And there was a twelve year old all alone behind the counter! I don't think the young man had even completed junior high school! And he was having a tough time handling all the people in line by himself, especially when he got to the gal in front of me. She had two insurance cards, neither of which worked in the system. But she just knew one of them was the right card. He tried again, and neither would work again. She shook her long blond hair out of her eyes and asked if he could look it up under her dad's name. The young man went off for about five minutes and came back and tried another number, which worked. Yeah! Then she had to dig through her bottomless bag to find her debit card. FINALLY it was my turn. I stepped up, gave Anna's name, he handed me the bag with her cream and I was off through the grumbling crowd that had gathered in the line behind me during the more than FIFTEEN minutes that it took the gal in front of me to complete her purchase. Ohhhhhh, I was flustered!

Anna has also been coughing a bit, so we'll watch her closely to make sure she doesn't do what she did the last time Kari and Mike left town. Hopefully we can get her back to 100% quickly. The doctor said the germs don't jump off the patient and on to other people, so she isn't contagious in that way, but if she picked her sores and then touched someone she could pass it on. So I'll see how she's looking and acting in the morning. Hope I don't have to keep her home from school! I need those hours to rest up! Anna is exhausting to say the least.

GRANDMA'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE

Twenty nine hours and I'm still alive and kicking.........and so are the kids! The grandkid sitting has gone well so far. I hope and pray it continues! But when Kari says she is tired at the end of the day, she isn't telling the half of it. Oh, my, goodness! I have not been so physically exhausted since I had seven teenagers at home and I was running in 49 different directions! I guess being 65 and having FMS could be a part of it, but I ached from head to toe last night when I dropped into bed. However, I am happy to report that I slept well, only awake every hour or so but able to fall right back asleep each time I awoke and I bounded out of bed at 6:15 this morning, ready for day two of grandma and grandpa's excellent adventure. (Don't know why I'm including grandpa as he pretty much held down the recliner all day yesterday. The Vikings won again, due to his constant presence in front of the TV. Priorities, you know.)

This morning as we pulled away from the house for school deliveries I mentioned to Ben that I hadn't seen him take his meds, but he assured me that he had taken them. When we got home I saw the pill container still on the counter, and the morning meds still in the slot. So I called the school and talked to his teacher to tell her, and then quickly headed back to school with said pills in a baggie. When I got to school I found that Ben wasn't talking to anyone this morning and he was just sitting in a bean bag pouting. I rushed right up to him and said "Ben! I forgot to give you my phone number so you could call me if you wanted to. I know you call your mom sometimes so thought maybe you'd want to call me, too." There was a little flicker of a grin almost appearing in the corners of his mouth and he seemed pleased to get the little piece of paper with my cell number written on it and he quickly pocketed it. Then I mentioned that I also found the pills on the counter and he must have forgotten to take them. Not so much of a smile appeared then, so I pulled out the big ammunition and said "and your mom has pictures of their first night in DC on the blog, and there's a picture of your dad in a diner with a sign behind him that says 'Bill eats here.' Do you think that's Bill Clinton?" A big giant smile appeared and Ben started talking to me! His special, wonderful teacher then stepped in and said they could look at the pictures on the smartboard in the classroom. I hope we defused a meltdown and that his day in school will go well.

As to Anna, well, she was energetic (not a strong enough word to describe her morning, but I'm too exhausted to think of another) and we got the meds in, cinnamon toast and milk in, and hair brushed, jacket on and out the door only about 4 minutes later than the ideal time! I was impressed with us!

I promised the kids if it wasn't raining we could go to the park after school. Now I hope I can remember to pick them up on time!

Blogger still won't let me link anything. Don't know if it's my computer or what. I see others are linking, so it must be my problem but I have no idea what's up So to read about their adventure in DC, go to http://www.thoughtspreserved.blogspot.com/.

THE BIG ADVENTURE AHEAD

Tomorrow morning we will get up at 3:30 to begin our great adventure. Ernie will drop me off at Kari and Mike's house, and he'll pick them up and head to the airport where they will board a place for Washington DC. Not Ernie! He'd best be coming back to help me with the kids! We will be in charge of three of their kids from Sunday until they return on Thursday afternoon. The older three kids all live in town, so if we run into troubles, we will call them for help! But I'm sure things will go well. Adam is 14, a freshman in high school, a new cell phone owner, and we've lived with him before so I doubt we'll have any problems. (He spent the summer with us in Alaska in 2006.) Ben is 11 and is the resident computer genius so I expect he'll be helpful to have around. And Anna is 7, and is......well, Anna is.....um....Anna is Anna! And I love her dearly. We are going to have a great time!

But if that plane is late coming home on Thursday, you may hear me screaming!

BIRTHDAY PARTY WITH JESUS

Many, many times in the past 27 years since we moved to this town, I have spent time on this day, September 23, at The Lighthouse, a Christian bookstore. I did so today, too. Only my visit there today was not the same as it was in the past. You see, today was my mom's birthday and tomorrow is my oldest daughter's birthday. Each year, on this day, I would go to the bookstore in search of the perfect birthday cards for them.

Today I did find the perfect birthday card for my daughter. The daughter cards were there in the rack, right next to the mother birthday cards. As I decided on a card for Kari, I felt a lump rise up in my throat and tears form in my eyes. I could see the beautiful mother birthday cards, but I only needed one card today. Mom has been gone over a year now, and is celebrating her second birthday in Heaven.

And then the thought came to me that she wouldn't even want a card from me today! What could be better than having a birthday party with Jesus!