I'm Back!

It's been awhile since I have blogged. About three years. Way too long! So I have decided to gat back into it. As I look back over by blog, I found it fun to read. It is also a bit of a legacy that I can leave for my family. I am sure that someday the grandkids will get a huge kick out of reading it. So I am making a pledge to blog at least a couple of times a month so be sure t check back. It's almost 10:30 on Sunday night and I have to get up early tomorrow, so I won't post much today.

'Where were you when the world stopped turning on that September day?' I wanted to post something to remember a day that will forever be on our minds and in our hearts, 9-11-01. It was a day that many of us watched the television in dis-belief of what we saw. That morning I was at school at New Visions Charter School in Minneapolis. I had a room off the library and I remember when our media teacher came in and told me a plane had just flown into the World Trade Center. We turned on the television and soon found out a second plane had also hit it. Then we knew it wasn't an accident. Later we learned about the plane that crashed into the Pentagon and the one that those heroic passengers crashed in Pennsylvania.

I remember calling my daughter that morning, I needed to connect with her. We could not believe what we were seeing on the television. I was torn that morning, part of me wanted to race out of school, get in my car and drive out to her, but I also had a commitment at the school. It was a strange day. We went into a security mood at school. We had a very secure building with Honeywell security system that kept all doors locked and only opened with a special key card or with a buzzer in the office. Even with that security, we posted adults at all three doors that day. The IDS Tower in Minneapolis was evacuated that morning, and we at school tried to keep the day as normal as possible.

Later that night I went to my daughter's and the gas stations were busy! Everyone was filling up with gas. No one knew what would happen next. I think many just went through the motions of their normal activities. We all watched the television with horror as we saw people jumping from the Twin Towers and as we watched the video of the collapse of those two buildings. That night everyone held their children a little bit closer for a little bit longer.

Out of that day arose a new surge in patriotism in our country. At parades after that day, people began to applaud as the American Legion and Veterns of Foriegn Wars carried our nations flags at the beginning of parades. Many young people felt the desire to join the arm forces and we saw more American flags being flown across this great country. We also saw more credit being given to our men and women who have and are serving our country. Since that day, too many of our soldiers have lost their lives in the fight against terrorism, but the fight continues. So as I go to bed tonight, join me in saying a prayer that those serving on foreign lands will return safely to American soil.

Too long!!

It's been much too long since I have posted on my blog. I vow to try to not let that happen again. Sometimes I do not know where time goes as it constantly slips away from me moment by moment. I have been very blessed lately to have my sister spending time with me. It has been very wonderful. Time to cry over despairs, time to laugh over memories and time to remember times that have past. A sister must be one of God's greatest gifts for she is always non-judgemental and can laugh and cry at the same points you do no matter if it's your story or hers.

We have had lots of fun even though it's only been 3 days since she arrived. Of course we have gone shopping, and we plan to do more. We have even taken a mini road trip to visit our brother and his summer campsite. Of course it was an adventure. First of all we missed out turn. We ended up by thisa GIGANTIC sture of some Indian Chief (Oh excuse me, I mean Native Americian). We did the standard arm strectch and took a self portrait. Then my sister, Trich decided she would attempt to scale the giant statue to have her picture taken. We laughed so hard, but it was worth it.

Then after our visit with our brother and his wife ws oer, we headed south.......of course we were hoping form more great hoto opportunities. Boy were we happy when we happened upon Vinning and found the 'big foot statue. We took several pictures and headed down the frontage road. Little did we know we would hit the mother load. We had fun taking our pictures and thend we headed home.

Past Summer

Well, I know it's been awhile. Let me start with the past summer, seems like a good place to start on a cold November evening. Well, the summer was great, of course it went by too fast. I attended training for a week for my new position at STRIDE as the Reading Coach. It was intense, but good and has been very helpful to my job.

Then there were the ususal summertime activities like parades and activities. Emma was in the Monticello parade for her dance group. Here's a picture of the little sweetie. She's back in dance this fall and has moved into the competition group, so looking forward to that. So glad she's doing so well. For those who don't know, she was diagnozed with epilepsy last February, but is on medication and all seems to be going well for her. She's back to her usual 'diva' self.

We also did the usual Platte River Day (Yes it is only a 1-day celebration) right here in Royalton. We had Shannon & Jeff visiting from Michigan so it was great to have all our kids and grandkids here for the day. Of course Mark grilled some good food. Here's a few pics of the grandkids partaking in all the fun activities for the day.

That's Micheal doing the water balloon toss. A favorite of all the kiddos. Then next are Emma and Grace in the petting zoo. Kiara and Braiden waiting to face each other off in the water balloon toss. Kiara taking aim with her squirt gun and Emma using hers to cool off. Finally Braiden waiting for the parade to come by.

Be sure to come back as I'll post some more and read as I tell all about losing a bunch of precious pictures.

CAKES, CAKES AND YET MORE CAKES!

When my daughter was growing up and having those yearly birthday parties, I made many of her birthday cakes. When I lived in Wyoming, I had a good friend named Mary and she got me strarted decorating cakes. We made my daughter a Cabbage Patch Kid cake from a form. It had SO many stars on it that our hands cramped! But it was very cute and she enjoyed it, making it so worthwhile. I continued to make decorated cakes when she was younger, then as she grew, German Chocolate Cakes became her favorite. Over the past year I have started decorating cakes again. I even took a cake decorating class at Royalton Community School last fall and have been decorating more cakes this year. Hey, I even did my first cake for profit! So here are a few of the cakes I've made for birthdays for the grandkids this year.

First to have a birthday is Braiden. He turned nine this past February. He was happy with his transformer B-Day Cake. Of course the frosting is the 'bomb'.

Next to have a birthday was Ella. She turned one in February. I used the theme from the napkins and plates to decorate her cake. Of course she had a little cake all to herself.

Next was Kiara who also turned nine this year in April. Kiara likes the Bratz, so I tried to make a Bratz cake for her. The eyes were a bit tricky, but what the heck, those dolls have lots of makeup on anyhow.

Latest one the have a birthday living in around here was Emma. She turned six in May, and YES! she is into Hannah Montana, so she had a Rockin' Hannah Montana Cake.

Mark's other two grandchildren live in Michigan, so they'll have to wait for their cakes till they come at the end of July. Michael just turned 12 last week and Grace will turn 9 in July.

Well, here are a few samples of some of the other cakes I have made, (and took a picute of). These were cakes made for people at work. The one on the left was for one of our kindergarten teachers whose husband took a job promotion and they moved to New York this month. It was a big move for them and their two teenage daughters, but they are looking forward to it. The cake on the right was my first cake for profit. One of the gals I work with ordered it for her husband's 50th birthday. He is a dectective in St. Cloud.

Garden

Over the Memorial Day weekend, Mark and I worked on our gardens. Mark decided to move his tomato garden, so we turned the old tomato garden into a 'Rose Garden'. We put a fountain in the middle. I plan to make some mosaic stepping stones for the center of the garden and may possibly add some potted plants at the corners. I can hardly wait for the roses to bloom. Guess you can say the old song isn't true for me, you know "I beg you're pardon, I never promised you a rose garden", because I got mine!


My tulips are in full bloom, and they are starting to fill in nicely this year. They look so pretty and I think it means the spring is finally here in Minnesota. We go from 80 degrees yesterday to 50 degrees today, so it's hard to tell. I'm looking forward to my perenial garden this year, as it is really starting to fill in nicely. I'm going out to the farm that Mark grew up on to collect some rocks to edge the garden. Then I'm going to buy a nice swing and plan to spend many afternoons enjoying the flowers and the sound of the water as I sip a nice cool beverage of my choice. Maybe you'll have to come over and join me some afternoon!

Friends Over the Years

Sometimes people come into our lives and never leave. They contniue to be an important part of our lives as the years go by. These friends are the ones that we feel the close ties to. They are the ones that we can always talk to and it seems that no matter how far we may drift apart, we can always pick up where ever we left off that last time we were with them. I am fortunate to have a friend like that. Her name is Mary. I met her back when I was just out of high school. I went to St. Cloud Business College for legal secretary. I had wanted to be a beautician, but my mom thought being on my feet all day would be too hard. So off I went to become a secretary. Mary also had chosen the same school. Mary was from Wayzata. The city girl met the country girl. We immediately hit it off and soon we were sharing a room. The joke around the dorm when we couldn't be found, was that we were probably out somewhere sharing a coke. Needless to say, Mary and I had many fun and crazy times in St. Cloud.

As the years went by, we were always there to support each other in good and bad times. Of course there was both. As I think back, I'm not sure which made us stronger. We were there for each other's weddings, birth of children, and get togethers every summer after I had moved to Wyoming. Mary and her step-son Kurt and daughter Jessica even visited us in Wyoming. We have the kind of friendship that never judged, often gave advice, and where the other was always there when a shoulder to lean on was needed. Neither of us is perfect, nor do we claim to be, but we really appreciate the friendship we have had over the decades. Now we get together to share stories of our grandchildren and to catch up on how our kids are doing. We still laugh about some of the good times from our past, often wonder what happened to some of the people we knew back then, and most of all truly appreciate the great friendship we have.

In December, Mary's son Shane was married. Mark and I traveled to the cities to attend the wedding. It was the weekend after the snowstorm, and the trees around the cities looked like something from a winter wonderland picture. They glistened and sparkled with snow and ice. We had a wonderful time at the reception as we danced to songs from our younger days. Mary and I got together for a picture, remembering one from our younger days when we attended a wedding for a friend. It's amazing how our friendship withstood so much. Maybe it was what our friendship withstood that made it grow so strong. I hope everyone has at least one friend that is as special to you as Mary is to me.

Here's a couple pictures of the two of us with our 'guys'. Mary and Doug and Me and Mark. We're lucky to have these two great guys in our lives today.

Hands-on Math Lesson

The day before we left for winter break (previously known as Christmas break, but trying to be politically correct), my kids in math class had an assignment to follow a recipe. We used a no-bake cookie recipe. Being we have so many kids in school with peanut allergies, I had to find a recipe without peanut butter in it. It was a bit tough, but I did find one. So we made our recipe and then served our cookies to staff arond the building. We had lots of fun. Of course the kids loved the cookies with chocolate and sugar in them.


Here's a pic of me and the kids. The other is of Val, who teaches with me, and one of the whole gang.
Here are some more pics of the kids. Here are some pics from our morning reading group. We sort deviated from our regular routine and read stories about making snowmen and then the middle school kids came a caroling. They also brought hot chocolate and candy canes to the kids. Our parent group, PATHS, Parents and Teachers Helping Students sponsered it. The Paths also gave all staff members a $10.00 gift card to Target. Very nice!

Our students made their own snowman using marshmallows, pretzels and raisins. Everyone had fun. This last picture I just have to share with you is one of Val's socks. She truly was in the Christmas spirit!

First Post for 2008

Yes, I am still alive and kicking in Minnesota. I just checked my blog and couldn't believe that I hadn't blogged since October! Boy that's pretty bad. Guess I have a lot of catching up to do. First off, it should be easy for me to blog now, no more excuses. You see my hubby bought me a laptop computer for Christmas. He remembered when we first met that I would bring my computer from school at the time to work on over the weekend and that I liked the ease of being able to do that. So he got me my very own. He's a sweetie. Guess I'll keep him.
Here's a picture from Christmas Eve when I opened my new computer. I don't know if the picture caught my true surprise or not, but I WAS NOT expecting to get a computer. Now I have to learn how to do everything it can do. It's a wireless, so I can sit anywhere in the house and use it. Hmm, I wonder how far I can go outside and still use it? Haven't tried that yet, it's been a bit too cold in Minnesota to do anything outsied lately. But then this is Minnesota.

Well, stay tuned and check back, as I will do some more blogging to catch you up on what I have been up to. Oh, by the way, Happy New Year to everyone. I hope 2008 brings you happiness, good health and many wonderful memories.

The Alumni Dance

Well, as many of you may know Mark and I met through the St. Cloud Singles Club. I was secretary when he showed up for the first time at our monthly meeting. He says he noticed me right away. Later he showed up at Baker's Square where a group of us had gathered. I remember thinking he was a bit of a smart ass, but thought, 'Well, maybe he'll have some friends.' Little did I know back then.

So, it didn't take long before I was swept off my feet by Mark, who was funny, sweet and liked to buy jewelry and flowers. The two things I think every lady deserves. Besides that, he was kind, considerate and a good father to his children. Hard to believe two years have past since our wedding.

Just several weeks ago we were invited to the St. Cloud Singles Alumni Dance. Once a year they always invite back the couples who got married. It's always fun to see our friends back where we met and our relationship grew. We had a good time. They had hired BLT to play, one of the local bands we like. BLT is mostly country, but play a little rock and roll too.

Here are some pictures of some of our friends that also met throught the club and got married within the past couple of years. We wish them many more years of happiness.

These are some of our single friends. I still get to see many of the gals. Us married gals get together with some of the single gals for dinner once a month. it keeps us in touch.

These people were such an important part of our life, and it is important that we stay in touch. Sometimes life gets so busy, and we seem to run out of time. If we really try, we can find the time, and I will work hard to do that. Friends new or old, are a valuable commodity.

Laughter and Meeting The Man that Made Us Laugh

Well, this was the "Big Bill Engvall" weekend. Mark & I had gotten tickets for us and Jennifer & Josh to go see Bill at Grand Casino in Mille Lacs back in July. We were so excited, you see, we had FRONT ROW tickets, just slightly to the right of center stage. We had gotten our tickets nearly 2 months earlier and had also reserved two rooms. We all got up to the hotel around 4:00 pm, checked in and took the kids to the arcade and then went to eat at the prime rib buffet. It was good! After that, we took the kids to the pool.

At the pool, Jennifer and I nearly had a heart attack. All of a sudden, we didn't see Braiden. Jennifer started to walk around one side of the pool, and I the other. Then she asked Emma where he was and Emma said he went to the hot tub. Sure enough, there he was talking to some old guy. Well, the kids played in the pool for a little more and then we headed up to the room to get them ready for bed and the adults had a couple of drinks and got ready for the 9:00 show.

Well, let me tell you, the concert was so great! We laughed so hard. It's so great to laugh at someone telling jokes without using any profanity, just making fun of all the ordinary things that can happen to all of us. Of course Bill did some of his famous, "Here's your sign" jokes and before your knew it, and hour and a half had passed and it was all over. We went back upstairs to check on the kids, and have a drink before going back to the casino to play for a bit. As Jennifer & I walked into the casino, we walked right past Bill Engvall. Yep, we walked right past him, never said anything to him, just giggled like school girls. Jennifer really kicked herself that night and the next morning for not saying anything to Bill.

Well, Sunday we took the kids back to the arcade. Jennifer and Josh had gone to get a coffee, Shantel and her friend Katie were up in the room getting ready and Mark had headed to the bathroom. All of a sudden the fire alarm went off. I looked at the attendant in the arcade, she wasn't doing anything. No one was. I took the kids and starting walking towards the door and met their parents. Then Mark came up and I asked him if he had heard anything from Shantel, and just then my phone rang. They had come down and were just outside the arcade, so we all went out there to avoid the annoying fire alarm.

Well, we were standing there, when we look over and lo' and behold, there is Mark talking to Bill Engvall. So we all went over and got a few pictures taken. Jennifer was sure glad! Here are the pics of us with the funny man himself, Bill Engvall.

Here's one of Josh and one of Jennifer with Bill. She was a bit giggly.

Here's one of Mark and myself with Bill and one of Shantel with him. She had her eyes closed, but there weren't any retakes as the all clear was sounded and Bill headed back to his room. It was really nice of him to allow people to take pictures. So, the girls went up to finish getting ready, Mark checked us out of the hotel and we headed back for Sunday Brunch Buffet. Little need to eat anything else for rest of the day. Well, it was a great weekend, beautiful weather, fun times, laughter and a photo op we never expected.

If it's fall, It must be...........

Time for those fall tractor and threshing shows! Yes that's right. For the past two weekends, Mark has been at tractor shows. Over the weekend of the 8th, we went up to Dalton, Minnesota. It was an interesting weekend. Friday was a nice day, and then on Saturday it RAINED! We had purchased a portable DVD player on Friday, so on Saturday we sat in the Trailblazer watching a movie between customers. It did clear up for awhile during the BIG TRACTOR PARADE. Yes I said tractor parade. I am totally amazed by those tractor parades. It amazes me that a hundred years ago, before anyone had engineering degrees, that someone could create massive machines that ran on steam, were relatively quiet, and are still working today. Here are a few pictures of some of those tractors.

A couple of the big tractors. They are so amazing!

The John Deere really interested me. I had never seen a tractor with the wheels covered like that. This is a tractor that is used in the orchards. The wheels are covered so they won't damage any of the fruit. The Farmall is like the one my daddy had on the farm. I drove it in the fields during haying season. I pulled the wagon while my brother, Tom and his friend Larry loaded the hay bales. I rememeber my brother yelling at me, seems I didn't get close enough to the hay bales. I also remember popping the clutch and killing the engine. I didn't really like driving the tractor, I didn't think it was a very 'girly' thing to do at the time.

This past weekend, Mark was at the show in Albany, It was HUGE! So many people, and a big flea market. Mark did well both weekends. I think he drummed up a LOT of new business. That will keep him and Shaun busy for awhile! On Sunday, Josh and Jennifer came to Albany with Braiden and Emma. I have postings from last year when Mark & I had the kids for the weekend and brought them to the Albany Threshing Show. They really enjoyed it, so they came back again this year. They like watching the big tractors drive by.

A great way to spend a fall day, watching all the tractors go by!

Live Each Moment

Life can be short. We never know what is waiting for us around the next corner or over the next hill. Life should be lived to the fullest and along with that, we should always take time to appreciate those around us. Family and friends are two of the most valueable gifts we are given by God. As you all know, Minneapolis experienced a major tragedy a month ago with the collapse of the 35W bridge over the Mississippi. On Sunday, Mark and I drove down to the U of M, parked and walked over to the recently reopened 10th street bridge.

We stood and looked at massive concrete slabs, concrete pillars, and large steel frames that had been left in a heap of junk. The steel looked like those cheap clothes hangers you get from the drycleaner that can be twisted with ease by a 5 year old. One of the concrete pillars had been moved by the impact and the steel beams had dug a groove into the pillar. They had begun to remove some of the concrete, but you could still see evidence of where the cars had been by the bright pink spray paint. On the pieces remaining, you could still see the construction barrels that had closed off lanes and the sheets of plastic that covered the work the workers had been working on that day. You could even see the port-a-potty that sat between the two sections that was there for the workers. The pictures on the news do not compare with what you see when you stand before it. I am still amazed and thankful that the death count wasn't higher. It was eerie seeing the signs laying in the rubble and the twisted steel still in the river.

So, I want to share these pictures with you and ask you to never take a moment for granted. To remember to tell you spouse, children, parents, sibling, friends, coworkers or whoever how important they are to you, and that you love them everyday. That they all bring something special into your life and that you appreciate them all. Remember to take a little time to enjoy a sunset, or the pitter patter of rain, to take in the quiet moments when you can and to cherish the noise also. I ask you to remember that everything happens for a purpose.

If you happen to be reading this, that means you are special to me, either a friend or family. I want to let you know that you are important to me. My life is better because I have you in it.

Please remember those involved in this tragedy in your prayers.