My Gardens

As many may know, when I moved in with Mark, we created several new gardens. I think my favorite is our perenial garden, which after three summers is finally starting to fill out and take shape. I love the colors of the flowers in it. There seems to always be surprises as burst of color bloom out of the green plants. We plan to add a rocks around the edge. We are going to get the rocks from the farm where Mark grew up. That will be a nice touch, as some of the flowers I got from his sister Mary, originally came from their mother's garden. Here are a few pictures of the recent flowers blooming around our home.

A Weekend with the Grandkids

Well, as some of you may know, my teaching position is year round. We ended school last Wenesday, on July 25th. I now have about 4 1/2 weeks off. I met Jennifer in St. Cloud on Thursday and picked up Emma and Braiden I brought them back with me to spend a few days with their Nana & Mark, and to give Jennifer & Josh a weekend to themselves. We had fun. Of course Nana had to make her famous 'shakes' every day. We went to the zoo, the park, the county fair and did some projects at my house. On Saturday Sheena moved, so we babysat little Ella for the day.

That made Emma very happy. Ella was napping and Emma kept asking, "When is Ella going to get up?" She kept wanting to check on her. Finally, Ella woke up and we went outside to play for awhile. It was hot, but we found a place in the shade and had a great time.

We grilled out that night and had sweet corn. The kids had showers and off to bed. Now it's Sunday, and we're getting ready to meet their mom and dad in St. Cloud and return them. It was a fun weekend, one that I hope will build great memories for them.

MOA (MAll of America) Trip

A couple of weekends ago, we took a weekend off and headed to Bloomington. We began our day by touring the Mall of America. Mark had never been there. We had fun walking (and walking) as we tryied to see all levels. It's fun to check out some of the unique stores there. We ate lunch at the Rainforest Cafe, which is must if you visit MOA. It is decorated like a rainforest complete with thunder and lightning and even rain! Here are a few of the pictures from the MOA.

Here are a couple of shots of Megan & Shantel one in front of the Rainforest Cafe and then a couple of them inside the Cafe. One with the famous Rainforest Frog. Aren't they cute? Another one of them at our booth 'striking a pose' in their new sungalsses.

We also visited Lego Land. Here's one of Mark and me in front of a giant shoe. Also have some granchildren that REALLY like Sponge Bob, so had to snap a picture of Sponge Bob made from Legos.

After the MOA we went the stay the the Grand Lodge which houses the Water Park of America. It was a fun and relaxing time. We floated around the lazy river, went down a couple of tube slides and then climbed ten stories to go down the family tube slide. On that one, four people get into a really large float with a floor in it and handles on the side. You sit on the floor and HANG ON! With a push we were off. We had watched the floats going down the very large tube, and it didn't look like they were going that fast, but riding in one is quite a different story. You go around the curves and slide up one side, down and up the other. I went down the whole thing backwards! It was a bit scary but we safely landed. It was fun.

Here are a couple of pictures of Megan and Shantel floating around the river.

The following morning we got up and went to IKEA. It was fun to walk around the showrooms. We bought a couple of things including a wine rack for the basement. All in all, it was a very fun weekend!

Our little get away

At the end of May, I had some time off. Mark & I planned to do something over that break. We ended up taking a couple of days to just enjoy Minnesota. First of all, we headed up to Nisswa, just north of Brainerd. It has some little shops that are fun to look around in. Here's a self photo I took of us. It was a cool day at the end of May. What I wouldn't give for one of those cool days now!

After Nisswa we headed up to Milacs and went to the Grand Casino where we spent the night and played the machines a bit and came out a bit ahead.

We also headed up to Duluth and went to visit Canal Park. It was a windy day, but nice and sunny. Here we are in front of a statue of a fisherman.

We walked around, watched the boats come and go and just enjoyed time to ourselves. It's not often I get Mark away from the shop on weekdays. We walked through the information center and then ate at Grandma's. After we ate, we walked around some more, checked out the shops, watched them make fudge and just had a good time. Here are some pictures from our little excursion.

Here's a ship that is docked in Duluth. It's huge. Look at the size of the chain compared to Mark's hand!

Here are a couple shots I took. One of the lift bridge as it was being lifted for a ship to pass. The other is of the light house with Mark standing on the step.

Here are a couple of fun shots we took in the museum. You can see on the left that Mark is charting out our course and on the right, that's me steering the ship. (Look out!) Sort of a scary thought isn't it.

Finally, here's a shot I took for my sister. My sister lives out of state in Wyoming so I don't get to see her often enough. When we were walking through the stores in Nisswa, I found one called Sisters. I had Mark take my picture by the sign, of course you will note that I am a bit short on one end, so my head and the sign are a bit apart. But anyone who has a sister will understand why I needed this picture. No matter how close or how far apart you may live from your sister, she is always close in thought and ALWAYS in your heart. So I dedicate this pictute to my sister, Trishy. Love ya kid!

A Day at the Little Falls Zoo

Well, it was a beautiful day today in Minnesota. The humidity fianlly dropped some. I had Braiden and Emma spending the weekend with me, so we took a drive up to Little Falls to visit their little zoo. It's small, but it makes for a fun afternoon and some good camera shots.

Last year the zoo put in a new bear exhibit. The bears use to be kept in cages far back from the public. Then with funds received they built a new place for the bears. They now have lots of room to roam around and each area has a pool. Here's one of the cubs playing in the water.

Here is a picture of Emma and Braiden in front of the Tiger's cage. At one time the tiger was really close. It would of made for a great picture. I told Braiden and Emma to stand and face me and I'd take their picture.

Emma was a bit apprehensive. She kept looking over her shoulder and moving awary for the railing, which is actually about 6 feet from the fence the cages the tiger in. It was a big tiger and I guess it did look pretty scary to her. At least I got this picture of them.

We had a nice time. After the zoo we went to the park and the kids played for awhile. It is one of the only parks I know that still has a merry go 'round. The kids held on tight as I gave it a good push. Funny how some things that were so simple from our past can excite kids yet today. Actually, merry go 'rounds are good for kids. The spinning action helps them develop their brains. Enought with that, heck it's just good clean fun!

Time is so precious. We should all take time to enjoy the little things in life. As the saying goes, 'Take time to smell the roses.' We should take time to appreciate all those around us. We should take time to savor each moment, for we will never get that moment back again. With that thought in mind, I leave you my final picture from today. (I won't make you look at all 109 I took). I think this picture says it all. It reminds me of me and my big brother. It also reminds me of a show we use to watch that had the theme song with lyrics that went like this- Happy Trails to you, until we meet again.'

And speaking of birthdays.....

Last Friday was another big day for a member of our family. You see, my husband, Mark turned a year older. He keeps teasing me that he's trying to catch up to me. Funny Mark! Well here are a few pictures of the 'Birthday Boy' as Emma called him.

First of all, Emma and Braiden gave Mark a little gift bag filled with Tootsie Rolls. You see Mark likes Tootsie Rolls. Of course in Minnesota June and July it is parade time. Emma and Braiden were busy gathering all the Tootsie Rolls they could at the parades for Mark. Also, Emma painted Mark a picture. She spent a week on it. Jennifer said she would get the painting out each day and

worked on it for the week. Finally, on Friday she said, "Okay, I'm done with Mark's picture."

Well, here's another picture of Mark with a shirt Jennifer found for him. You see, ever since I met Mark, he's had a joke he'd tell whenever anyone ever brought up the topic of losing weight or getting into shape. He'd say, "My doctor told me I need to get into shape. I told him ROUND is a shape." Jennifer & Shantel loved that one. They'd always try to get him to tell it. I think he finally caught on to them. We love you Mark! Well, anyhow, Jennifer found the perfect shirt for Mark, it says, "I'm in shape - Round is a shape". How perfect!

We had a fun evening. Grilled steaks and potatoes, went bowling, played Phase 10 and had a few drinks. Great times. On Friday night Mark's kids came over for a Mexican Fiesta to celebrate his day. It's something we all love and it didn't involve grilling, so I knew I could give Mark the night off from cooking. Of course, we all ate too much, but it was sooooooo good!

I'm Back!!

I haven't posted for some time. I was having problems with my camera. It had to be sent in, luckily it was covered by the warranty. I got it back a couple of weeks ago. I have been taking pictures, so have a lot of blogging to catch up on.

Well, I'll start by going back to May. We celebrated Sheena's birthday with dinner and a cake. I made and decorated the cake. It's my new thing this year. I use to decorate cakes when Jennifer was little, but hadn't done one for a few years. I started again this year. It's lots of fun and the frosting is so good!!! Sheena loves stars and the colors of lavender, green and yellow, so you guessed it. She got a cake covered with stars. It looks like Ella is ready to dive right in. She's saying, "I can't wait till I turn a year old and Nana makes me a cake."

Another big event in May was Emma's graduation from preschool. She was so excited about her graduation. They had a cute little program, then they received their diplomas. After pictures we enjoyed cake and punch. Emma is so excited about starting kindergaren in the fall. She's already plainning her wardrobe for the first day. It's really important to wear the right thing on your first day of kindergarten!

The kids grow up so fast. I hope everyone with young ones enjoys each and every day with them. The moments you share with your children are very precious. Be sure to listen to their stories with real interest, laugh at their jokes, console them when hurt. You will turn around one day, and wonder where the years went. I hope you will have good memories of those moments.