November and December

Oh my goodness, so much has happened since my last post. On November 15 I drove to Duluth to visit Vanessa. On the way up I almost hit a deer, a rock broke my windshield and my blinker stopped working. Other than that, it was a great trip. No, seriously, we went out for a nice brunch with Joe and Vanessa and also their friends Matt and Sara and Sara's mom. Sara was being inducted into the National Honor Society of Nursing. Smart young woman! Vanessa and I did a little shopping and then it was time for me to head home before it got dark. Close to hunting season so lots of deer out there and I didn't want to take any chances.

Hunting Season

Steve did something this year that he hasn't done for 20+ years. He went deer hunting. So I had some quality alone time. I missed him and was happy to see him come back in one piece. No deer this year but he had fun with his peeps. Maybe next year.


Thanksgiving
We had another wonderful family Thanksgiving here at our home. All the kids and grandkids were here except Vanessa and Joe because Vannie had to work. That was why I drove to Duluth to see her because I knew she wouldn't be able to make it on Thanksgiving. Missed her - they went to Buchanans to eat. I am thankful for the health and happiness of my family

BABY!!

On December 3, Anna had a little baby boy and named him Dimitri Ivan Musatov. It was a surreal experience that I will never forget. She had a caesarean section delivery and I was present in the OR to see him enter the world. He is absolutely adorable. Mom and baby are both doing well. Baby's getting bigger, Mom's getting smaller.

Anniversary

This year Steve and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary. We didn't do anything too exciting but he bought me a beautiful ring to commemorate the occasion.

Christmas Pageant

One of the things I remember about when my children were growing up was the inevitable Christmas Program at school or church. There's something about kids singing Christmas carols that always gets me and a glistening eye is sure to be seen. We went to see Hope & April in a Christmas pageant at church this year. Hope was Joseph & Mary's donkey and April sang with her second grade class. It was very memorable and as I looked over at my daughter, Missy, I saw a familiar glisten in her eye.

Christmas Eve

We had a Mexican Fiesta this year! Missy made chicken enchiladas and beef enchiladas that were delicious. We had a build your own taco bar. Angie brought delicious taco dips. And of course we had margaritas and wine. We opened gifts and then played the dice game. And we ended the evening with a pinata rigged up in the garage. It was wonderful that this time we could all be present. Our family is 16 strong now!! We are truly blessed.

Brunch

This past Sunday we were able to meet up with some of Steve's family for brunch. We used to get together every year but since my mother in law passed, we haven't done too well with this. So the last couple of years we have gotten together for a few hours at least to try to catch up.

Well, my friends, that pretty much sums up the last 6 weeks or so. I can not believe how fast the time has gone by. This week begins the year 2010. I hope it is the best year ever for all of you.

Please, let's pray for the public servants and the people in the military that they will soon be able to come home, a job well done.

My Weekend

Well, it's Friday night of a very busy week. So I am just chillin and trying to unwind. So far it's going pretty well. After work I stopped and picked up Subway for Steve and I. We scarfed it down and then he got paged as he is on call this weekend. He just got home now and I have been watching a Criminal Minds marathon. I just can't find anything to watch on TV that holds my interest for more than a few minutes.

So thanks to Twitter, Facebook, Hotmail and Blogspot, I am keeping myself busy. I am going to go to bed pretty soon and read my new People magazine I got today. Tomorrow I am going to put up some Christmas lights, clean up the house and then in the afternoon go to a benefit for a friend with a terminal illness. So sad.

On Sunday I am going to drive up to Duluth to visit Vanessa. I hope the roads are good with no construction backups. I am looking forward to seeing her. I miss her.

Happy Halloween 2009!

Happy Halloween from the Halloween Capitol of the World. Well this Halloween was a cold and snowy day, at least in the morning. The wind was blowing and since 3 of the five grandchildren were getting over various sniffles and sinus conditions, we all decided to forego the parade in Anoka and hang out at my house. We pretty much just hung out and stayed warm. Then it was almost dusk so we got ready to go out trick or treating. We hooked up our big trailer and all went around our neighborhood. Even Ryan in his chair got to go trick or treating. It was fun for him at first but then he started getting cold, I think. We went home and dropped off the little kids (and their grandparents) and the bigger kids went back out for a while.


Here is Ryan "Superman" Hedberg.

I'm not sure if this is Tinkerbell or Ally Musatov.




Dave came in and "thrilled" the kids.

April was a diva. For real or just a costume?

Angie or Devil Woman?

There's no place like home, there's no place like home, there's no place like home!

Mrs. Captain Jack Sparrow?

Fall Colors, Pumpkins and Campfires

Without being redundant, I wanted to show pics of our trip this past weekend to Jay Cooke State Park. I know my last post contained a fall color pic but I can't resist sharing the ones that I took this weekend. Friday night Steve and I and Anna and Ally went to Hinckley and we "camped" in the motor home in the wind and the rain. Saturday morning we swam in the hotel pool and then headed to Jay Cooke State Park in Carlton. They have a suspension bridge there that spans across the St. Louis River. There is so much history there and the view is breathtaking. I have never been there during any other time of the year other than Fall and so I don't know what it would be like there in the spring or summer but I do look forward to the view every year. It was fun to have Anna & Ally with us this time so they could see nature at its best as well. Hope you enjoy the pics.

Autumn

When I was a girl, autumn was a great time of the year. Some of my favorite Fall memories: Wearing wool sweaters, wool shorts, knee highs to football games (high school). Now that I actually wrote that down, it sounds a little weird. Anyway, I would rake leaves with my dad, get blisters on my hands and then pile them up and jump in them (the leaves, not my hands). Then bag them and I don't know what happened to them after that. That might not sound like such a big deal and at the time I have to admit that it was more of a pain in the butt than anything else. But during those moments you really never know that you will look back and think of those times as some of the best of your life. One of the things that I did with my Dad.

So now we are in the season again. This Sunday is the Harvest Moon and I can't wait to see it. Even though I wish winter didn't come next, I guess we need it to keep the mosquitoes down next spring.

So enjoy the Fall - rake some leaves (or hire someone to rake them), put them in a big pile, jump into them and try to remember that this simple little thing can be one of your best memories to share with your family.

What a great weekend!

We had such a nice weekend. Friday after work we met our friends, Mike & Deb, for a burger and a beer. We hadn't seen them all summer so it was very nice to spend a little time with them to catch up. Everybody is so busy with kids, grandkids, etc., we don't get to see them enough.

Later Friday night we took off and ended up at Treasure Island Casino.

When we got there, we watched a little TV and went to bed. Saturday morning we got up and had a bite to eat and went off to Red Wing for lunch and a little exploring. We had lunch at a quaint restaurant in the bottom of a building and it was very "retro". It was called Marie's and we had the salad bar - everything was homemade including

the dressings, the salads, etc. Yum.

We found a nice campground with a marina on the Big Muddy that we might have to check out one of these days.

We proceeded down to Lake City and stopped at a little place overlooking Lake Pepin for a "break" and saw a paddleboat docking after it had been out for an afternoon cruise. The Red Hat Ladies sure looked like they were having fun. Heading out down the road, we decided to stop at Frontenac State Park and saw lots of wildflowers and a breathtaking view of sailboats on Lake Pepin.

When we got back to Treasure Island, we decided to go up to the Casino to do a little dancing and who should we run into on the shuttle bus from the RV Park but Steve's cousin, Steve Rolland. I am serious, they have the same name. This morning (Sunday) we went down to the marina to visit them and when we got there, they were gone up to the casino to eat breakfast. We walked the dock and looked at the beautiful boats until Steve & Linda returned to their fabulous boat and then had a tour of their boat and had a chance to do some visiting. We watched them leave the dock and then we came home.

Well, that is the end of our weekend. Tomorrow is the start of another work week. But we have some wonderful memories from our weekend.

Hopefully I will have another post next week with some pictures of the Fall Colors. We are going to Jay Cooke State Park for another interesting weekend. Hope you have a great week and that you enjoyed my post.

Summer felt like Fall, Fall feels like Summer

This past summer made some special memories in the Summer, 2009 chapter of my life book. Among them are the following milestones: My granddaughter, Hope, made her First Holy Communion. We had a nice brunch here at our home on Mothers Day. Steve and I went to the Foreigner concert. Especially memorable was our daughter's graduation from college.

My friend, Lori, turned 50 and had a fabulous party at her home. My main contribution was the orange and cherry jello shot which was quite a hit. My niece, Chelsey, graduated from high school. Our friends, the Peyers, were our gracious hosts over July 4 weekend. We attended the Anoka County Fair, ate heart-stopping food, listened to The Law, one of our favorite bands.

We went to Moondance Jam in Walker, MN and heard some great music from Sheryl Crow, Journey, Asia, Yes and many many more. My friend, Kathy and I, went on a girls weekend to her cabin up on Big Sandy Lake in McGregor. One of our best memories is from our family vacation at Rosenthals Resort in Danbury, WI. It was so much fun and I ALWAYS enjoy spending time with my family. Steve and I went to the State Fair and ate more heart-stopping food and just last weekend went to the Renaissance with Vanessa & Joe for more mean cuisine. Hey, am I recapping my bad diet or my fun summer? Both, I guess. We did lots of boating and camping.

I attended a couple of college graduation parties, a wedding, and as Fall comes upon us, I have Fall colors to look forward to as well as Halloween, one of my favorite Holidays.

My grandchildren

OK I hate to brag (not really) but I have 5 wonderful grandchildren and I'd like to share some pics of them with you.

Ryan




April







Hope






Tyler







Ally (yellow shirt)

To be announced: Baby Boy Musatov. Check back here in 3 months.

Renaissance 2009

HUZZAH!!!! This is what they say at the Renaissance Festival - it's a cheer to the King. Anyway today Steve and I and Vanessa and Joe went to the Renaissance Festival and it was hot and humid walking around there. Luckily we brought the RV so we could go there and take a break and cool off. Had some water, changed our shoes, and got ready for round 2. It was alot of fun and I will look forward to another turkey drumstick next year. Here are a few random photos of some of the weird stuff you see there.

Lucas' Wedding

My ex-husband's stepson (complicated, I know) got married yesterday. Steve and I and Vannie & Joe were invited to the festivities along with the Hedberg family and we were honored to have been included. Everything was lovely. The wedding was at Central Park in Woodbury and was very nice. The groomsmen were resplendent in their gray suits, pink ties and white shoes. And Katie....ah, Katie. She was more beautiful than usual and they make a wonderful couple. The reception was held aboard the Grand Duchess out of Hudson, WI and the food was a culinary delight. A very nice evening. CHEERS!!

Daffodil

We got our new kitty tonight. Her name is Daffodil. We are debating whether to call her Daffy or Dilly. No pics yet but she is a very sweet cat. She hissed at Pierce right off the bat so he is steering clear right now. She is in the basement keeping the Christmas decorations company. She'll come up when she needs some petting I'm sure. I think this will be a long and happy relationship.

Larson's Barn

I forgot to mention in my other post about Larson's Barn in Mcgregor. We went there over the weekend and listened to Jack Knife & the Sharps. It was tons of fun, especially being able to see our old friends, the Larsons. We haven't seen them in many years so it was nice to reconnect. We went there with Peyers. We all managed to cut up the rug.

Grand Rapids

On Sunday we packed up and left McGregor. We decided to head to Grand Rapids and Pokegama Lake which we have never had our boat on but have always wanted to do so. That is such a huge lake - over 15,000 acres. We played on the lake and went to dinner at Sawmill Inn in Grand Rapids for a very nice dinner. We headed out on Monday morning to go back towards home before the traffic got too bad.

Back to work tomorrow - can't wait.

Wild Rice Days in McGregor

The parade at Wild Rice Days was very nice. They threw out lots of candy and there was alot of great food. Who needs the state fair? They had cheese curds, deep fried pickles, oreos, twinkies, etc. and of course, plenty of beer. The weather was awesome so it was great fun.

Labor Day 2009

We had a very lovely Labor Day weekend. We rented this little cabin up near Garrison on Miller Lake. We only stayed here one night and then headed up to McGregor for Wild Rice Days and another wonderful stay at the cabin of our friends, the Peyers.

Pretty Bird

This bird was hanging out on a plant outside the office window at my house. I thought it was a nice picture. I think you'll see alot of my posts will be of random pictures that I have taken. Hope it's not too boring.

Piercey's new do

Well, I'm new at this whole blogging thing but thought I would give it a try. Mostly I want to share information with family and friends that I don't get to see very often. So what better photo to start with than the family dog?