2015 Review

As 2015 draws to a close, I am returning to my blog to review the year. I have not been as faithful to blog this year. One reason is that my computer has had problems, but the other is that I just haven't felt like putting my thoughts into words.

2015 has been a good year. Some highlights include:

Craig started the year driving over the road for Versatile Transport. I was able to go along on one trip to Alabama. Craig often took Percy along, and Percy is a great traveler.

We had 3 camping trips - Itasca State Park in May, Father Hennepin Park with Carrie, Mardo and Micah in June, and Two Harbors in August with friends from church.

We were able to go to Northfield one weekend to watch both Jake and Drew play baseball.

Carrie, Mardo and Micah visited the cabin a lot. Now that they live here in Minnesota, they've come up to visit often. Micah loves all of Bubba's vehicles (truck, tractor, moto, bicycle, etc), playing in the sandbox, and throwing stones in the 'agua'.

Brenton and the kids came up for Emily Day. It was fun to watch the kids try tubing and water skiing using a special board Craig borrowed from a friend. Izzy and I had fun doing some crafts together.

Aaron and his girlfriend came up 3 times this summer. Jeff and Whitney came a couple of times too. We always enjoy when any of the kids come up - it's so nice to spend time visiting, playing games, etc.

Craig and I also enjoyed several motorcycle rides during the summer.

This summer we finished the window seat in the bump-out in the family room. It now has drawers and a trundle bed. It's awesome! Craig also finished the trim on the family room windows.

Craig has made a lot of progress on his 1963 Hendrickson. He really wants to get it finished this year so that he can drive it to truck shows next summer.

Jeff and Whitney got married in September. Brenton officiated the ceremony, Aaron was Jeff's best man, Carrie was a bridesmaid, Mardo played the piano, Micah was the ring bearer, Izzy and Stephanie were Micah's "babysitters" while Mardo and Carrie were busy.... it was a real family affair. The weather was perfect, and the wedding and reception were perfect too. Welcome to the Balvin family, Whitney!

Northland Community Schools, where I work, passed their referendum this fall. That means that by 2018 we will have a whole new building for our schools. I signed a two year contract with the district. I am thankful to have a job.

Craig helped a builder add a portico to the cabin. We now have a beautiful entry that we just love.

We celebrated Thanksgiving down in Northfield at Brenton and Stephanie's house. I just so enjoy having all the kids and grandkids together.

Maybe the best highlight of all was the birth of our new grandson, Isaiah David, born 12/17/15 to Mardo and Carrie and big brother Micah.

As you can see, most of my highlights include being with family and friends. They are truly blessings!

I hope you've had a good year too.

Merry Christmas!

Summertime!

It's finally summer. We've been waiting and waiting for warm summer days so we can be on the lake, grilling meals on the Weber, and enjoying lots of visits from family and friends. While spring came fairly early this year, summer has been slower to arrive. I'm not complaining - I loved the cooler spring days and nights, when there weren't any mosquitoes or deer flies. But now it's July - time for summer!

I'm reminded of a song from "You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown" where Snoopy sings

It's suppertime. (click to hear the song on YouTube)
Yeah, it's suppertime.
Oh, it's sup-sup suppertime very best time of day.


Br-r-ing on the dog food, bring on the boneBring on the barrel and roll me home'Cause it's supperSupper, supper, supperSupperSuper, pepper upperSupperSuper duper suppertime


But in my mind I hear these lyrics:
It's summertime,
Yeah, it's summertime.
Oh, it's sum-sum-summertime very best time of year.

Bring on the boating, bring on the sun,
Bring all the grandkids, it's fun, fun, fun!
'Cause it's summer,
Summer, summer, summer,
Summer,
The best time ever!
Summer
Sum - sum Summertime!

Enjoy a few pictures of our summer so far.

Minnesota State Parks - Camping 2015 - Trip #2

For our second camping trip of the summer we headed south to Father Hennepin State Park. This weekend we brought two campers - because we had company this weekend - our daughter, son-in-law and grandson.

We had two campsites that backed up to each other in the Maple Grove campground. The sites were very private and very large. There was a pretty little path that went from one site to the other.

 The park is not big, but very pretty, with nice hiking trails, and a wonderful sandy beach. There were also two boat landings and several fishing piers, but we didn't bring a boat or fishing tackle this trip. we mostly enjoyed being together, and especially watching Micah explore the great outdoors.

Our grandson loved camping. He loves being outside all the time anyways, so campng was almost like heaven to him. He spent lots of time playing in the sand, throwing rocks in the water, playing in the water at the beach, and doing anything else he could find to do. 

This picture shows how he would splash the water, and when it would splash on his face he would say, "Ouch!" then laugh and do it again.

Father Hennepin State Park is a great park for family or group camping. The other campround in the park, called Lakeview Campground  had sites that were more open, perfect for groups. There is also a special group campground. The state park would also be great for people who want to camp and go fishing on Lake Mille Lacs.

Family Weekend

At the end of my Spring Break week was the best weekend ever - time spent with our kids and grandkids! We spent Friday afternoon and evening with our daughter,Carrie, and our grandson, Micah. On Saturday we picked them up and went to a robotics competition where my son-in-law (Carrie's husband, Mardo) was a coach. 

The robotics competition was so interesting! Teams of high school students had designed, built and programmed robots to perform the tasks necessary for the competition. Then the teams made alliances with other teams so that both could score more points during competition. Finally, with 3 teams on each side of the "ring" the robots (with the students directing them by remote control) raced against time to score as many points as possible. When the teams weren't competing they were in the "Pit", working on their robot or talking with spectators.  It sure was fun to see it all!

When we left the competition, Carrie took us to the Midtown Global Market for lunch. 

There was quite a bit to see at the market, and it reminded me of Antigua, Guatemala. 

I fell in love with this giraffe...

.....while Craig really liked this gas pump.

But the we both loved the food. After looking at all the food booths, we decided to eat Mexican. Carrie said that Mardo gave this place his "stamp of approval" when they had eaten here a few weeks earlier. He said that the food tasted like authentic Mexican food.

I decided to order the enchilada platter. Craig ordered the torta, a Mexican style sandwich. Everything was delicious!

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Later that afternoon we went to our meet our boys and their girlfriends for supper and a MN Wild hockey game on TV. We met them at our son's (Aaron) house and had a super evening.

Sunday was Easter. We started off the day by visiting our oldest son's church.  Brenton and Stephanie met us there. Brenton and his son, Andrew,  were volunteering in the nursery - so Micah stayed in there with them. Stephanie had gone to the earlier service, so after saying hello to us she, Jacob and Isabelle went home to start lunch. After church we all went back to their home - and Aaron, Jeff and their girlfriends met us there. We had a wonderful lunch - but the best part was having the whole family together. It was fun watching Isabelle give Micah an Easter egg hunt. It was great watching Jacob and Andrew play outside. It was so nice to see the "girls" - Stephanie, Carrie, Whitney, and Jamie- talk as they got the food ready, and to see Brenton, Aaron, Jeff and Mardo hanging out together. 

I just love being with my grown up children (and their spouses/girlfriends.) I am so thankful for the adults they've become. I appreciate their advice, enjoy their humor, love the fact that they care about each other, and most of all, I am so happy that they all are believers. They trust God, they pray and they believe in the power of prayer, and they are working at being the men and women that God wants them to be.

I  also love my grandchildren. They are beautiful kids, they are talented, they are loving, and they have great relationships with their parents.  

We ended the afternoon with a walk around Brenton and Stephanie's neighborhood. It was nice to be able to be outside together without needing boots, gloves, snow pants, etc. 

The perfect weekend after a perfect week. I am sorry it's over - but I have great memories because I have a great family! I am already looking forward to our next family gathering.... maybe on the 4th of July?

Homemade Christmas

Kenny Rogers sang a song called Kentucky Homemade Christmas. For our Christmas this year I rewrote the chorus, and read it to our kids before giving them their presents...

"It's just another homemade Christmas at Lake Emily,
            Just odds and ends we fashioned with our hearts and with 
                    our hands.
It's just another homemade Christmas at Lake Emily,
           Our fine and fancy homemade love, 
           God's precious gift from up above,
Make up the homemade Christmas of this poor Minnesota home."

Craig and I decided to make most of our gifts this year. We had such fun planning them, and working on some of them together, and we hoped that the kids would like these gifts from our hearts - and they did!

Here are the gifts we made:

Pillows for the gals - I stenciled the tops using patterns I designed and cut out with my Silhouette. Then I sewed them and stuffed them.

Plaques for some of the guys, and for someone at work - I made the design for each plaque on the computer. For this first one I just printed it, glued it to card stock and slid it into the clear plastic holder. Then I used a glue gun to glue on two cornstalk buttons.

For this next one I used my Silhouette to cut the letters out of vinyl and put them on top of the plastic holder. I glued on some jewels in the middle of the stars and put a patterned card stock inside the holder.

For this last one I used my Silhouette to cut the design out of white card stock. Then I cut colored card stock to fit behind the words. I added a full piece of card stock on the back and stickers on the front before sliding the whole thing into the plastic holder.

These next projects are made out of cork, which I bought already cut as coasters and trivets.

I created the designs on the computer in Silhouette Studio. Then I made a stencil by having the Silhouette cut out the design. I stenciled the designs onto the cork by using a stain marker.

Carrie and I found this mini calendar at a craft sale in Crosslake this fall. I bought this one to use as a sample, and made two more to give to my daughter-in-laws.

Carrie saw this pegboard box on Pinterest and asked us if we could make one some time. This box could be used as a gift wrapping station. You can put the rolls of paper, gift bags and tissue paper in the box. You can hang ribbon, tape and scissors from hooks on the outside. I think there are other things this box could be used for too, maybe for scrapbooking or craft materials? 

Maybe jewelry on the outside and magazines inside the box?

Craig and I made the box together. Craig spray painted the box white. Then I cut stencils for the words and feathers out using my Silhouette, and then painted them on the box. The words go all the way around. There are smaller feathers of the same style on the back. The only thing I wish I would have done was to "lace up" the corners using ribbon or shoe laces. Wouldn't that look cool?

For our boys Craig and I made these hockey stick coat racks. I found directions about how to do it online. We had the sticks from years ago when our boys played hockey. We got pucks from our oldest son, and we bought hooks and screwed everhything together. It was a little tricky to get the sticks upright and the pucks level.

(Aren't these boys  men handsome?)

For family and co-workers I made these Santa ornaments. I had seen one at a craft show in the cities, and I bought it to use as a pattern. I bought 2 inch wooden brushes and spray painted them red. I had some fuzzy white yarn that is wrapped around the brush before hot gluing wiggly eyes, a red bead for a nose, paper holly leaves and jingle bells onto the brush. For some of the noses I used wooden "buttons" that I purchased from the hardware store and painted red. Then I used ribbon/fabric for the hanger.

I also gave some of my coworkers this really good Party Mix. If you make this, beware! It's so good it's almost addicting :)

These are the gifts we made for Christmas 2014 - gifts of love. And that's what Christmas is really all about isn't it? Love - love for one another, but most of all the love that God showed the world when He sent His only Son to this world to save everyone who believes in Him. (John 3:16) 

If you want to know more about this love, you can read about it in the Bible, and you can pray and ask God to show you His love. He loves to show people just how much He loves them.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Time's a comin!

Up north here there's a radio station that plays Christmas music every day from Thanksgiving through Christmas Day - and every night they do a special called "This Is Christmas." They feature Christmas songs from different years, and they tell some of the highlights of the year. One night I heard Christmas Time's A Comin' by Johnny Cash.
I started to think about what I like most about Christmas, about memories of Christmases past, what I'm doing now to prepare for Christmas, and what I'm looking forward to this year.

I love lots of things about Christmas:

• Music - last weekend we went to hear John Berry sing, and he sang My Heart is Bethlehem. It's a great song - the message is something we need to remember all year long. We need to invite Jesus to come in to our hearts.  Of course, there are lots and lots of Christmas songs that I love. I love singing Christmas carols at church, and humming to songs on the radio.
  
• Lights - I've always loved driving around on a winter night, looking at houses decorated with lights for Christmas. I remember riding with my mom and dad to look at the houses on "the Drive" and there was always this one house that had music playing and lots of lights and decorations. When I was little I loved to fall asleep in the living room with the Christmas all lit up. And my own kids always slept in the living room on Christmas Eve, with the tree lit.
  
• Christmas cookies - my mom and I always made Melting Moments. We usually just made powdered sugar frosting (powdered sugar and milk) and colored the frosting pink and mint green. My daughter, Carrie, and I have continued the tradition. We've also had fun trying new recipes too. There were several years where I joined a group of women to bake cookies together. It was a cookie exchange with the added fun of spending an evening together making and decorating cookies.
  
• Family - one of the best things about Christmas is just being together with family. When I was growing up  we'd wait and wait on Christmas Eve for my dad to come home from work so that we could open our presents. He'd finally get home.... but then we'd have to wait some more until he got his presents wrapped. We'd read the Christmas story from the Bible, and I'd play a song on the piano. Then we could open presents. Afterwards we'd drive over  to my grandma and grandpa's house  for supper and the evening. My cousins would be there, as well as some great aunts and uncles. It seemed like my grandma used every dish in her house for supper, and of course the dishes needed to be washed before we could open gifts! But it would finally be time, and one of us kids got to hand out gifts. We'd take turns opening so that everyone could watch what others were getting. There were silly gifts from Santa (really from my grandma) and homemade gifts. My grandma and aunts brought out treats - pecan pie, fudge, Christmas cookies of all kinds, divinity, and much more. Then we'd gather around the piano, my Aunt Lorraine would play Christmas music, and we'd all sing. When my grandma got sick and couldn't host Christmas any more I took over. By this time I was married and had kids of my own. The traditions have changed over the years, but the good feeling of spending the day with family has remained to this day. In fact, my kids have said this year that some of their best memories are having the whole family around the table for dinner, sharing food and stories and laughter and love.

• Games - for a lot of years we'd go over to Craig's parents' house for Christmas day. My mother-in-law would spend a lot of time choosing and wrapping gifts for the Dice Game. Our kids loved trying to win the 2-liter bottles of pop. It was a fun Christmas tradition. A couple of years ago the boys brought out a new card game called Wizard and we all had fun learning to play it. Last year my oldest son got a John Deere board game, Through the years we've played lots of games at Christmas time - pictionary, cranium, banangrams, to name just a few. I wonder what games we'll play this year?
  
• Christmas Stockings - when I was little my mom bought me a stocking made by a neighbor lady. It's a knitted stocking with Santa on it. My brother got one too and we used them every year. When I married Craig he got a matching stocking - made by the same lady - and as our family grew, each of our kids got one. Those stockings have seen a lot of use. Some are getting pretty tattered but each year when I get them out they bring back a flood of good memories. My daughter is especially fond of the Christmas stocking tradition - and she's starting it with her own family.

But the very best thing about Christmas is - Christ!  

John 1:14 says,

"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."

Jesus came to earth because God loves us so much. (John 3:16) He loves you and He loves me. Jesus came to earth and the angels rejoiced. Jesus came to earth, and died and rose again to save us from our sins, to restore our relationship with God, to offer us eternal life with Him. All we need to do is accept His gift - give up our lives so that we can truly live. 

Don't miss the best part of Christmas this year, the best gift you can ever, ever, ever receive. Is you heart Bethlehem today?

My Heart Is Bethlehem - John Berry

Eternity stepped into time,
And drew a mortal breath.
Mystery so clearly seen
The world could not forget
That in the town of Bethlehem,
In the most unlikely place,
God, the father wore
A child's face.

There's something in the heart of God,
So purely meek and mild
That finds its best expression in
The longings of a child.

For every child's heart is hungry,
To be found and loved and known
A someone who would make their heart a home.

My heart is Bethlehem
I will make room for him.
This humble dwelling place
Made worthy by his grace.

This child is still adored,
Because he still is born
Deep in the hearts of men,
(To love and not condemn)
My heart is Bethlehem

I wish for you this Christmas Eve,
That you would find true peace.
But silent nights are holy nights
And wonders never cease.

There's no remembering,
The ghost of Christmas past
For God's forgiveness finds your heart at last.

An Apple Orchard Today...

An Apple Orchard today was good medicine.  Since a picture is worth a thousand words, here's our day in pictures.

Sweet Tango Trail

Don't you just love this little fox? (Our grandson, Micah)

Thanks, Carrie and Mardo, for letting me use some of your pictures in this post, and for coming with us to the orchard.