May Minnesota Memories

May Day brought us to Ada, Minnesota for the wedding of my Goddaughter Rachel Fuller. The Fuller family has been an important part of my life since Rachel's mom and dad, Carolyn and Scott, arrived in Anchorage, Alaska, as the intern at Gloria Dei. Their son Scott was born in Anchorage. When he was seven days old he was on our boat in the bay by Homer while we pulled the crab and shrimp pots. I remember Scott trying to get Carolyn to feed him, as he is tucked under the life vest. Rachel and her new husband are both students at Luther Seminary. How lucky our church is to have young people like Rachel and Tim to be future Pastors for our church.
Scott joined Rick at Trinity Lutheran in Tacoma, Washington for seven wonderful years of ministry. Rachel was born while they were in Tacoma. Fast forward 25 years and here we were at her wedding.
Can you see the love between daughter and father in Rachel's face as her Dad delivers their wedding sermon?
There were people from all walks of their lives here at the wedding. They made a milepost to show where all of the people attending the wedding had come from.
Everyone looks pretty relaxed at the reception. Thank you Rachel and Tim for inviting Al and myself to be a part of your wedding.

After our time at the wedding we spent time with Grandma Kaia Emily Halvorson. She is my first husband's mother. She will celebrate her 96th bithday this July. What a grand woman she is. We celebrated Mother's Day early with her. Isn't she beautiful? How lucky we are to be a part of her family!! I loved both of these pictures, so decided to include them both. Enjoy!!

Circus Memories

When I was a little girl in Grade School, the one of the exciting times of the year was when the Shrine Circus came to Sioux Falls. I remember sleepless nights thinking about going to the circus. My parents were working, so I drove the 65 miles to Sioux Falls in my friend's parents car. I'm sure I had many treats, but the one I remember year after year was cotton candy. Still when I see cotton candy for sale, it brings back the memories of the circus. Last week Sara said they were going to the circus with Kaia and her family and asked if I would like to come along. Those old memories quickly came back. I said yes and it was wonderful day. Now I have circus memories as a Grandma.

Our day started with me going to church with Sara, Ava, and Olivia. Aren't they cute in their spring dresses?

Zach had been at a fishing weekend with his friends, but got home in time to join us for the circus. It was a beautiful day with sunshine and warm weather. We spent some time outside of the arena waiting for Kaia, Oliver, and Mae to arrive. Joe is a Shriner and was assigned to be with the Calliope. It was fun to hear the Calliope music as you wait in line to enter the arena.

Ava and Olivia spent the time skipping and playing on the big round seats in front of the arena and also with Mr. Clown.
Grandma had to have her picture taken with them also.

I love this picture of Kaia, Joe, Oliver and Mae. They had been to the circus earlier in the week, so they knew all of the fun things inside to do before the circus started. Joe was also able to get us in without standing in the long line.
Once inside the girls wanted their faces painted, Oliver wanted to slide and have a lighted sword, and all of them wanted to ride the elephant. Joe went on the elephant with them.


Grandma enjoyed having her little ones by her side as the show started. The first act was the tigers.

Two hours later we headed home with our tummy filled with cotton candy, popcorn, drinks and our heads filled with many new memories. I hope they will remember the Shrine Circus 2010 when they become Grandparents

Grandchildren's Visits

After being gone in January and March, I needed some Grandchildren time. Emily and Maia haven't been over to stay, but I have gone to several of their soccer games and we went to a musical Emily was in at her Middle School. Kaia has been working in Olympia for the past three Wednesdays and has brought Oliver and Mae with her, so they could spend the day with us. Ava and Olivia were able to come and spend the night Saturday and Sunday with us. Grandma and Grandpa have had a great time!!

Oliver got this bat and ball for his birthday and was excited to come and play ball with Grandpa.

Mae enjoyed watching and cheering when he would hit the ball.

Grandpa had to take his turn at bat as Grandma cheered.

Mae finally got into the action and pitched the ball to Oliver.

Mae spent most of her time outside just running and having fun. She always has a smile on her face.

From baseball we moved on to riding the bike. The first day they were with us, it rained, but he rode in the rain. The next two Wednesdays were sun shine and warm weather. The first day he spent most of his time looking at his feet and Grandma kept reminding him to watch where he was going. We also had a lesson on how to stop, after he went down the hill with Grandma running after. The past two weeks he has been riding , turning circles, and stopping all on his own. What fun it has been to see him learn new things.


Mae has taken 3-4 hour naps in the afternoon, after being outside all morning. Oliver on the other hand, didn't want to nap. It finally caught up with him last week and he fell asleep at the table after eating supper. His Mom had just called to say she was coming to pick them up, so I just let him sleep there. I love this picture!
Thank you Oliver and Mae for coming to visit us.

Sunday morning breakfast was pancakes and scrambled eggs. Ava was in charge of making the pancakes and Olivia was in charge of the scrambled eggs. I think she is getting the hang of cracking eggs.


They love to go into the toy closet, which is the same closet I store my fabric. Today they found the sequined fabric and made capes and ran around the house with their capes flowing behind them.

We had outside time with Ava and Olivia also. It was a beautiful day. They enjoyed having the freedom to ride their bikes on our street without the worry of cars. We live on a quiet street.

We moved from bike riding to working in the yard. Ava took one look at the birdbath and decided to clean it. It has never looked so good. We have a big rock from Montana in the bird bath, so the birds can sit on it and get a drink and Olivia decided she would clean the rock. I called their home the next day to let them know the birds really liked having a fresh drink of water when they came to the bird feeder.

We have a big evergreen tree on the corner of our lot. It is pretty close to the road and the homeowners association was wondering if we should cut it down, so it wouldn't hurt the road. We decided just to trim it up and see if that would make them happy. Both Ava and Olivia helped put the branches in a pile as Grandpa cut them. Thank you Ava and Olivia for coming to visit us!!


For me part of the joy of having the Grandchildren visit is cleaning up after they leave. I usually find some little thing out of order, which is a gentle reminder to me they have had a good visit at Grandma and Grandpa's. These are the reminders from Oliver and Mae.

Oliver likes to play the bamboo drum. I found the stick for playing the drum in the hole of the birdhouse.

Mae loves to play with her dolls, so I brought the cradle down from the attic, I had when I was a little girl. I think my Grandpa made it for me. I found Mr. Bunny tucked under the covers in the cradle.

Ava and Olivia also left reminders of their visit with us.

The basket of beads are a big hit with Ava, Olivia, and Mae. It was a surprise to find them hanging from the antique ink well.

We have a basket full of beanie babies. One of them was intertwined on the base of the table Al made. I have the toys all cleaned up now, but left this last one in place on the table as a reminder of the great visits we had and for the visits to come.

On Easter Sunday we gathered with some of our family in Seattle. Our children Kaia, Clark, Sara, and Godchild Katherine and their families gathered to celebrate the Risen Christ and also to celebrate Oliver's 3rd birthday. We missed our Son Eric and his friend Morgan, from Portland, and our daughter Marit and her family Mike, Britta, Everett, and Trina, from Waconia, Minnesota. In this picture Oliver is giving his Mom a big hug as the birthday celebration begins.



Oliver was excited when the candles were lit and tried his best to blow them out. You guessed it, they were trick candles. I don't think he ever figured out what was happening.


He is all smiles as he listens to us sing Happy Birthday to him.



Even though we wanted all eyes on the camera, there is one, who is trying to decide which cupcake he wants to eat. I love the smiles on the faces of Oliver, Ava, Hawke, Olivia, Maia, and Emily.



Maia, Jen, Emily, and Clark live in Olympia, only four miles from us.



Sara, Zach, Ava, and Olivia live in Tacoma.

Kaia, Joe, Oliver, and Mae live in Seattle.



When I was on my trip to California, I went to a quilt show and found a pattern for a flirty apron and some wonderful cupcake material. I spent the week before Easter making aprons. I made some little boy aprons for Oliver and Hawke. I didn't know Olvier was going to have cupcakes for his birthday cake, when I made the aprons.
Ava looked so cute in her little flirty apron. She is getting so tall.

When Katherine was fixing supper on Monday night, Hawke came with his apron and asked to help her cook. What fun!!

I love the smile on Oliver's face as he waits for Easter dinner. Kaia always fixes something special for all of the kids to eat.

Little Mae is enjoying one of the birthday cupcakes as she wears her apron.

Olivia always has a smile for Grandma and Grandpa and usually a song to sing to us.

I just had to include this picture. It makes me happy!! Easter Blessings!!