Everybody has a story to tell

Saturday we took the kids to Duluth overnight to visit Bentleyville tour of lights!  To be honest, I didn't even know what this was until last year... never heard of it before.  But good ol' facebook had some pics and it looked like something the kids would enjoy. We didn't tell them where we were going, so it was a fun surprise for them.  We checked in to the hotel, did some swimming (we played tag in the pool and had a blast!), had some dinner, and took the shuttle bus from the hotel to Canal Park where the lights are. 

 

We missed the 7pm shuttle by a couple mins, so we had to wait for the 7:30 bus so we stood outside for the half hour waiting and met an interesting lady at the bus stop.  Shane asked her if we were in the right location for the shuttle pick-up, and she covered her face and said "I don't have any money" in some foreign accent. After an awkward pause, she began laughing, and said "just kidding, I don't know where shuttle pick up is".  After chatting a while (sometimes with an accent), she revealed that her accent is fake and she uses it to break the ice when meeting people.  Interesting.  She had recently moved to Duluth because the Lord had told her to, but she hasn't figured out why yet.  She came from Grand Forks, but resided most of her life in California.  I told her we were from St. Cloud, and she said "I've lived there too! Well... it was only for 2 weeks but I lived there".  I consider that a vacation, but I guess she lives wherever the good Lord takes her! She had never married or had children, and her parents are gone.  She has a brother that lives in Wisconsin but when she contacted him after moving to Duluth he didn't have any interest in meeting her, after not being in contact for 40 years.  She joked that she must of done something to piss him off 40 years ago.  She reminded me of Jack Dawson from Titanic... just a free spirit set out to make the best of the cards she's been dealt.  I pray her brother finds some compassion, and maybe forgiveness, and reunites someday with her.  She may have been a little coo-coo, but we all enjoyed her company & it really is interesting when you just sit back and listen to people tell their story.  I wish I would've got her name or took a pic with her, cause she really was fascinating to me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Labors of Love

My parents have a few traditions with just the grandkids; like a yearly summer trip to the cabin, a day at the county fair, and making blankets at Christmastime to brighten someone's day.  Last year they brought them to the children at Shriner's Hospital in the cities and this year they are delivering them to the residence of a few group homes in the St. Cloud area.  So last night, we had to cut and tie all the fleece blankets, which wasn't exactly any of the kids' idea of fun, but none of them complained too much! (Owen's not complaining in the pic, he's just on break!)  I think it's a valuable lesson to them, that not everyone gets a bazillion toys/gifts for Christmas, and to make them aware of the beauty of giving!

 

 Left to Right: Ava, Madi, Owen, Sophia, Mason

 

Mason and Cassie

 

Cassie and Franklin (the oldest and the youngest of my nieces/nephews)

Finished product

 

A couple weeks ago, my mom and sisters and I did a freezer meal making day and whipped out 78 family-sized meals in about 3 hours. We each took 12 meals home, so it's been easy for me at dinner time since I'm not that much of a cook.  I mean, I CAN cook, but I just hate the clean-up, and the prep, and the mess, and the grocery shopping.  So yeah, pretty much nothing about cooking a meal is fun to me, unless eating it counts!

 

My nieces and sister made the aprons (which are hard to read here) and they were so fitting to each of us.

From left to right: "I didn't wash my hand" -because she only has one arm.

"I'm doo trunk to cook" -umm, you get it, right?!

"Bun in the oven" -she's pregnant

"Cake Boss" -she's a master cake decorator

"Fast Food" -goes with the racing gig

"Head Chef" -because she's mom!

I'M BACK!!

So the other day I was browsing the internet during naptime and thought I'd visit this ole' blog and take a stroll through various posts.  I read, and read, and couldn't stop.  Stuff I had written, so obviously it wasn't new news to me.  But it was like a good book that I just couldn't put down. (Let's be honest though, I'm not really a book reader).  So why did I keep reading, when after the first sentence I already knew what the post was going to be about?  Because it brought back memories.  Memories of Braelyn beginning to walk and crawl brought back a feeling of pride and joy, and even the times I posted about what a little trouble maker she was is brought a smile to my face. And how Mason apparently went to bed one night as a 2 year old and woke up at age 7.  Because looking back at how sweet and little he was and how grown up he is now, brings tears to my eyes that time surely does pass, and seemingly faster when watching children grow.  So why am I back?  For that.  For us to look back on and realize that even though the days come and go, life was lived.  And sometimes big events happen in life (a new house, a new job, a newborn baby, etc.), but most of the time, life is made of a million small moments and very few big ones.  I don't want to forget them.  Feel free to follow along (or don't...doesn't really matter to me! haha!)