Crazy Minnesota

I think every Minnesotan would agree that this has been a really strange summer and fall. Summer temps were very cool, and then suddenly we had a gorgeous September with warm, sunny days and no rain. Then October hit and it was cloudy almost eveyday, and we had four snowstorms (well, not really storms, but snow on four different occasions). Now it's November and the temps have warmed up and it's beautiful again! It's been in the 60's the last few days, with clear skies and bright sunshine. I had a chance to get out and finish up some yard work this afternoon, and discovered my last geranium is in bloom, and it has buds all over it! I haven't watered it since September, and I've never brought it inside or covered it to protect it from the nighttime frosts and snow. Go figure.

Looks good, doesn't it?

Look at those buds!

Just had to try out my zoom!
I wonder how much longer it will last?

As I was cleaning up the garden beds, I found this plant in bloom, too. The one right next to it was laying on the ground, totally dead from the frost. Very strange!

Lake Pepin in November

Chuck and I took our annual fall drive to Lake Pepin on Sunday. We've been waiting for weeks to get a sunny, warm, weekend afternoon, and it finally arrived on Nov. 1. It could have been a bit warmer, but at least it was partly sunny. We visited an apple orchard/winery/cidery just south of Maidenrock, and then headed on to The Pickle Factory in Pepin. We were disappointed to find it closed for the winter so had to return to Stockholm for our onion rings and Bloody Mary's. Mmmmmm!

We missed the beginning of the Vikings game, but because of the 3:15 start, we returned home in plenty of time to watch the Vikings beat Green Bay. Yeah, VIKES!!

Happy Birthday, Maddox!

Maddox turned 3 today!

It was so much fun to help him celebate! Since Maddox loves to dress up, Corey and Heidi have planned costume parties the last two years, and we all join in the fun. It was almost cancelled when he was feeling a bit under the weather yesterday, but he rallied and the party was on!

This year, Maddox was Buzz Lightyear. Corey had to assemble the wings and add batteries for sound.

Almost done. He didn't want me to take a picture of the finished costume, and then he got tired of the whole costume thing and wanted to take it off. Oh well. I'll try again on Halloween.

Kyle just came as himself, and Corey was a basketball player. That's Princess Fiona (Grandma Michelle) in the background.

Jenna and Andy wore masks that Andy got in New Orleans - they're all set for Mardi Gras. We thought they should be going out on the town after the party, but they were just heading home to crash after all the party excitement :-).

Here's Corey in his mask. That's a full basketball on his head - pretty funny.

I was a dalmation and Chuck was a deer hunter. I think he should have been a fireman!

Grandpa Rob came as Shrek. I was busy cutting up fruit when everyone arrived so I missed all the photo ops of everyone else, but the costumes were awesome and Maddox had so much fun checking out all the characters!

Maddox got to talk to Phebe, although it was a pretty short conversation. The presents were calling his name!

He got some really cool gifts! We went with a car/truck theme this year and got him this city/road mat and some vehicles to go with it.

Kyle got him a video game system that has old-time games on it.

This Tonka fire truck was the only "noise toy" - gee, I wonder who got that one? Blame it on Grandpa Chuck!

It didn't take Corey long to hook up the video game system. I think Kyle and Corey were definitely more excited to see PacMan than Maddox! He figured out the joy-stick right away. Must be a guy thing....

Time for cake! Heidi and Angie decorated Halloween cupcakes.

Maddox had a ghost.

Mmmmmmmm! Good!

Jenna and I ended the evening with a rip-roaring game of Candyland while Andy helped Maddox assemble a Legos vehicle.

Happy Birthday, Maddox!

Fall in Minnesota

We have a beautiful maple tree in our back yard, and when it turns red, my whole kitchen picks up the rosy glow.

This year, it turned a bit earlier than usual, and then...

I woke up to this! We've already had 3 mini-snowstorms this fall, and we're only half-way through October! What will January be like??

Family Golf

We had our 3rd annual family golf tournament on Sunday, which is a guarantee for a cold, damp Sunday. It rained the first year, but stopped long enough for us to golf, the second year was a total wash-out, although a few of the guys went out regardless, and yesterday was dry, but cloudy and COLD! Chuck, Ted, Pat, and Maddox stayed home to watch the end of the Twins game (and nap), while the rest of us headed to the executive course at Gopher Hills. With just six of us golfing, we decided to do best-ball with 3 teams, and we all went out together (it helps when there's no one else on the course!).

Great form, Corey!

My 4 layers of clothes made it pretty tough to get in my "groove."


Looking good, Jenna!

Smack it, Andy!

Go for it, Joyce!

Way to go, Paul!

High-five after an awesome putt.

Corey had a couple of great, long putts, too.

Team 1 - Joyce and Paul

Team 2 - Jenna and Andy

And the winner is ....Team 3 - Corey and Jane - with a score of 35 (4 pars and 5 bogies)!
My goal was to at least contribute with a few shots, which I did, but most of the credit for that score goes to Corey. He did admit that it helped to watch what my putts did before hitting his own, so I guess I was good for something! :-)

Some year, we'll get a beautiful, fall afternoon, but actually, the weather doesn't matter. It's just fun to get together. Someone suggested maybe we should try a winter bowling tournament. What do you think?

60 Years Young

Our good friends from the "olden days," Sally and Dick, are celebrating their 60th birthdays this year along with Chuck and me. Sally and I graduated from Augsburg together, a loooooong time ago!

We went to an open house in their honor on a beautiful Sunday afternoon in September.
What fun to celebrate growing old together!

1949 was a good year!

End-of-Summer Happenings

The remainder of summer seemed to fly by once we returned from Italy. I really can't believe the first week of school is over already. Actually, since our school was under construction all summer, we couldn't get back to work in our classrooms until 2 days before workshops started. Banning elementary teachers from school in August is pretty stressful! I usually spend a few days setting up my classroom in early August and then relax for the rest of the month. Not so, this summer. It was a real marathon getting everything done in time for the first day of school, but I made it! I really wish I had taken some before and after pictures. The change in less than 2 weeks time was amazing!

Following are a few pics of the events leading up to the school marathon.

First, we got together with my siblings on a Sunday afternoon for some pickle making. I arrived after the process was well underway since St. Ansgar's was celebrating 140 years as a congregation that day, and I had a few extra services to play for.

Chuck, Paul, Joyce, and Ted were already busy stuffing the ingredients into jars when I got there.

Chuck decided the dill reminded him of mistle-toe.

Joyce replenished the cuke supply for more jar stuffing.

Pat tended to the brine and filled the jars after we stuffed them.

Chuck did a great job of labeling the jars - 2009!
We still have several jars remaining from 2007, which is a good thing since these won't be ready until after Thanksgiving.


Here's the whole crew, with some of our supplies.

We celebrated our 36th anniversary on the 25th by going to Norton's in Red Wing for a delicious dinner.

I spent the last few days in August at Diane's cabin on Lower Hay Lake on the Whitefish Chain. We had the most gorgeous weather and the lake was as smooth as glass the whole time. We actually kayaked around the whole lake! The opening across the lake is the channel to Whitefish Lake.

I also had a chance to do a little babysitting for Maddox.

His current favorite toy is Syd, a character from the movie "Ice Age."

Daddy has big feet!

Maddox was a little "glazed doughnut" - his nose never stopped running all day, and I think he was trying to catch the drips in his bottom lip in this picture. Silly boy!

Maddox loves his well-worn blanket!

Kyle's birthday is September 6, so we usually end up celebrating it around Labor Day. This year we went to Cowboy Slim's in Uptown - mmmm, good!
One of their specialties is tater tot hotdish, served in an iron skillet. If you eat the whole thing, you get a free dessert, which Kyle was determined to do. The dessert was a whole pie. We all thought he should share it with the rest of us, but he took the whole thing home to eat during the week. Oh well, it was his birthday.

Maddox was "napless", so Jenna and Corey were kept busy entertaining him.

I can't believe Kyle is 32! Seems like just yesterday that he was Maddox's age! Time definitely flies! On Labor Day , we got up really early, picked up Kyle, and headed for the Fair. It was nice and cool, and very uncrowded, at 8:00 in the morning! We hung out until about 1:00, and then left just when it was getting hot and crowded. No pictures, though.
So much for summer!