petals and thistles

Extreme Makeover Kitchen Edition

2012-02-09T18:31:00.000-08:00

Gosh, it has been a LONG time since I posted on here. Life gets crazy I guess. I get lazy I guess. Plus, I discovered Peggle.

I will have to do some backtracking but the most exciting thing in our world lately is a new kitchen, from scratch. The only thing that is the same is the sink, not the faucet, just the sink. And the refrigerator is a couple years old I guess. We weren't planning on replacing everything but that's the thing about do-it-yourself projects, they always get to be more time, more money, more work than you plan for. I mean, how hard could it be to replace a few basic cabinets? Two to three weeks max, right?

Here's the before pictures......

(Our new stove is in the before photo).

Started out painting the ceiling in living, dining, kitchen and entry. Possibly the least favorite part of the whole thing. : /

Then tearing out all the old cabinets.

Bare naked.

Installing the new cabinets after painting the walls.

With a little help from some friends.

Ended up having to rip out the vinyl and parquet floor under that because the tallest cabinet wouldn't slide under the soffet and the old vinyl ripped so guess what, a new floor too!

I think this was just before we discovered that long countertop piece was a few inches too short. !@#*

Not a happy moment---we had to re-order and pay for a new one and wait another couple weeks for it to come. Grrrr. This looks like a smile but it is really a Grrrr...

Getting the new counter top together... this was just after Bill was ready to take a gun to Menards because it didn't seem to be fitting together right. But we talked him down. It did fit.

And Wah~lah! It's done! Only two and a half months and a few thousand dollars later. Complete with a dishwasher. After living 47 years without a dishwasher-it's hard to get used to. I like it though, I like it a lot.

We are now experts in cabinet and countertop installation so call us when you plan you to re-do your kitchen. On second thought, you should call professionals. Trust me.

Wow!

2011-10-01T10:04:00.000-07:00

That's the word that comes to mind when you go outside right now. Wow! Last night was a perfect evening for a walk at Lake Bemidji State Park.

Those lights across the lake in the photo below are the football stadium where the Bemidji Lumberjacks were playing their Homecoming game- they won! We thought about going to the game but I'm glad we went for a walk instead!

Happy Fall! :)

Oakes Reunion 2011

2011-09-29T18:48:00.000-07:00

Most of the Oakes bunch gathered in Bemidji on the weekend of July 4th. Okay, so I am a little slow in posting. I would have sooner but I lost all but 2 of my photos of the whole weekend !#$%*(darn it). I don't know how- they disappeared out of My Pictures folder and before I realized it I had erased my SD camera card to make more room on it. !#$%*(drat). It was one of those very thistley moments. Grrrr.

Thankfully, some others took photos too, so thank you, Dave, for sending me yours!

We met the first evening at our house for fruit pizza, CHOCOLATE, visiting, card playing, and making reunion t-shirts!

Saturday morning some of us paddled the Schoolcraft River in canoes. I had some great photos. Had. Grrr. That afternoon we met at Oak Hills for more visiting, swimming, and a picnic.

Sunday we met for a Kentucky Fried lunch at Bryce and Heather's before heading downtown (in our reunion t-shirts) to watch the annual 4th of July parade in front of Chocolates Plus. That is a great store by the way. :)

Then that afternoon we all met at Chris and Janel's for more relaxing, visiting, swimming, good food, a bonfire and even some fireworks! I am not sure why these next photos got so small and I can't fer the life of me figure out how to enlarge them. Sorry.

It was a fun weekend with all those crazy Oakies and plans for the next one were already being made before we said goodbye. The only thing that would have made the weekend better is if Mike and Julie and their boys could have been with us-- we missed them :(

Smitten with the Mitten

2011-09-08T16:48:00.000-07:00

Bill and I decided to take the northern route home from Grand Rapids and we discovered that the state of Michigan is awfully beautiful. Lush, green hardwood trees and they have jet black squirrels!

The Mackinaw Bridge was impressive too. I didn't realize it is the longest suspended bridge in the Western Hemisphere.

Of course one can't travel through the U P without having a pastie! I like dipping it in the gravy myself.

One place we stayed was Escanaba and had a room overlooking a bay of Lake Superior with a door out to our own little veranda.

They had a nice boardwalk along the lake.

Spent the last night in Duluth, did some window shopping at antique stores (like) and made a stop at the Amazing Bread Co and the Chocolate Factory of course (like, like:)

Walked down by the lake a little bit.

Lunch at Olive Garden~ YUM. I had a parmesan crusted, cheese stuffed lasagna noodle thing topped with marina and it was delish. Their breadsticks are heavenly. Why oh why can't we have an Olive Garden in Bemidji??

And then home sweet home. It was a long, long trip- we put over 1,600 miles on the van, but it was sure nice to just get away and spend some time together.

It's goodbye again.

2011-09-06T19:28:00.000-07:00

After packing up the van with all of Landon's worldly possessions we said goodbye to Leanne and headed down the road to Grand Rapids, MI, to bring Landon to Calvin College.

We made a stop in Eau Claire, WI, to have lunch with my brother, Dave, at Heckler's. Can't believe we ate at a cheese head place.

Took a break in Wisconsin Dells. We went for a stroll down the walk by the river and of course had some cheese curds and Swiss chocolate. Of course.

After spending a night in Madison and then doing some shopping near Chicago we finally arrived in Grand Rapids. We tried an Italian restaurant that evening called Pietro's- it was quite good.

Next morning it was off to Calvin.

Getting moved in... Landon's roommate didn't arrive until a couple days later so we didn't get to meet him :( But the two of them have a great suite, usually shared by four people, so they have one room for their beds and clothes and one room for their desks and living space and a good sized bathroom in between.

He's all set.

We were wowed by the huge campus, nice facilities with everything you can imagine, very friendly staff, good food, and absolutely beautiful grounds. We met a couple of the philosophy professors and toured the classrooms and lounge in the philosophy department, which is what Landon is studying.

Bill and I attended a service in the chapel with a massive pipe organ. I shed all my tears during this service so I wouldn't have to be a blubbering mess when we said goodbye.

The last part of parent/first-year/transfer student orientation day was a big picnic on the commons lawn. It was a LOT of people! Calvin has I think approximately 3,800 students.

Okay, so I was a little sad. We won't see him until Christmas. Wah! But after almost a year and half of working towards this we know he is in the right place. And if he doesn't absolutely love it he is crazy.

FREEEEEEEEEEDOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!

2011-08-22T19:54:00.000-07:00

I think that is what our kids are yelling lately, at least to themselves. But for me it's more like SAAAAAAAADNEEEEEEESS! Letting go of your kids is one of those thistles in life that ya gotta do but gosh it is painful, mixed in with exciting, and a roller coaster of emotions for this momma.

Last week Leanne passed her driver's test.
Here she is-- one happy girl! one nervous momma.

Right after she passed her test we went to the airport to say goodbye to Landon who flew to Florida. without his momma. to visit his new girlfriend. !?

And then I drove Landon's car and followed Leanne in the van as she took her first solo drive. by herself. without her momma. About half way home I burst into tears and bawled. It hit me hard~ my kids don't need me anymore : '( Sob, sob. I pulled myself together before we got home.

Then today we helped Brian move into the West Hall at Oak Hills Christian College. It was just 29 years ago that I moved into the East Hall there and 26 years ago that Bill moved into West Hall. It still looks the same!

I made sure he had a photo of us so he doesn't forget his family :).

Here he is with his new roommate- himself. For now he has his own room. Good thing because with his keyboard, guitar, banjo, accordian and organ there won't be room for anyone else.

I didn't even blubber or sniffle or cry when we said goodbye, I was so proud of myself.! Nevermind that he's only about eight miles away from home. I miss him already. Sob, sob. Next week we bring Landon to college in Michigan, oof dah, how much can one momma take? I won't think about that. yet.

Little Church on the Prairie

2011-08-17T17:33:00.000-07:00

Because I was alone and could stop whenever and wherever I wanted on my trip through North Dakota, I turned down a few country roads to look at the old country churches which I LOVE. They are such a rich part of our heritage and sadly they are disappearing along with the old barns.

As I stopped at each one, I couldn't help but notice the lawns were all mowed and I also couldn't help but think of all the history and memories in each church, all of life's major events~ baptisms, Sunday School lessons, confirmation, weddings, anniversaries, festivals, and funerals, etc. that have taken place there. The millions of prayers and songs of worship lifted up within those walls. The faith and hope of many strengthened and renewed each Sunday.

The doors that welcome.

The bell that calls to worship.

My favorite part of the old country church is the steeple and the bell. The steeples drew me across the prairie as they did our pioneer ancestors. They didn't have GPS or google, they just scanned the horizon for the steeple.

Of course, the church that holds the fondest memories and sentiment for me is the one below that I grew up attending~ Zion Lutheran Church, built in 1915 by my Grandfather, Einar Roness, and my Great Grandfather, Michael Glasoe, and others.

To my delight the door was unlocked so I was able to go inside. They still have services here occasionally. I was paid $10 a Sunday to play piano when I was in high school and thought that was pretty sweet. Our family sat about four rows up from the back on the left side. We took up a whole pew and more sometimes.

The beautiful stained glass window in the front of the church of Jesus praying in the garden.

I took some time to visit my Mom's grave.

Thanks for visiting these old churches with me~ maybe next time you are on a road trip you will notice a steeple here or there and will feel it drawing you as well. Perhaps?

Little Hotel on the Prairie

2011-07-30T06:52:00.000-07:00

While back home we had to check out the progress of my sister and brother-in-law's project of restoring the old Traveller's Hotel in Noonan. They have made some progress since the last time we saw it in December, including replacing most of the windows. Here's just a few shots:

These rounded windows on the side of the building will be next to replace.

The tin ceilings will be awesome once they are repaired and painted.

This chair was originally in the lobby of the hotel and was recently donated back to them.

One of the guest rooms, the doors and trim will all be the original.

My Dad coming up the cool old staircase from the lobby up to the guest rooms.

The ceiling and trim in the lobby are black.

When taking up the old floors they discovered this layer of insulation- buffalo hair between sheets of paper!!

One the front of the building the bricks are a little soft and many people have carved their names in them over the years. I don't remember doing it but I found my name plain as day!

In two spots even, there's only one LKZ so it had to be me, and right underneath was my boyfriend's name.(!)

Restoring this place is still a massive project but they are making great progress and I admire them for taking it on. We decided the next time we are together for a reunion (hopefully next summer) we will meet again back home and it will be a work weekend!

North Dakota~ Land of 10,000 Lakes

2011-07-25T19:10:00.000-07:00

Oops, thats Minnesota~ Land of 10,000 Lakes, no wait..... it IS North Dakota. I've seen it with my own eyes. Water everywhere. I travelled home to the farm recently and filled up my "farm girl" tank. O how I miss ND in the summer... winter not so much, but summer there is amazing! I made the trip by myself this time since everyone else had work or camp. It was a long drive as usual but I enjoyed the time to myself and being able to stop wherever and whenever I darn well pleased, right!

Here's the Mouse (Souris) River where it crosses Hwy 2, just East of Minot. Water on all sides as far as you could see.

Here's an aerial photo of a neighbor's farm just a couple miles from my Dad's- his farm would be in the upper left corner, just out of view. It is photo of a photo I took when we ran into this neighbor at the Threshing Bee. The road to town has been under water for many, many weeks. Something like only 20% of the crops were able to be planted in Divide Co. this spring. :( Dad says in all his years he has never seen anything like it, and he's been around 89 years now!

We celebrated Rollie's 89th birthday and suprised him with a golf cart so he can tool around the farm to get the mail and out to his garden and shop, etc. I think he likes it :)

All my siblings were able to be there- Yay!
Here we are youngest to oldest....

Besides having a Zimmerman Reunion, the main event of the weekend was a Roness Reunion (my Mom's side) in Noonan and had over a hundred there. Over a hundred people I mean, but the temperature was almost that too! It was great to catch up with aunts and uncles and cousins, some I haven't seen for 30 years.

My sister put together an awesome slideshow of the Roness family back to my Great-grandparents, Anton Godtfred Gunderson Roness and Maren Anna Nilsen Roness. One relative put together a huge family tree complete with pictures that must have taken her massive hours but was so helpful to see all the descendents down to the newest, a 6-week old baby who attended.

We had some good food and visiting and even did a little karaoke- here's some of my sisters and a cousin and I singing Come to the Church in the Wildwood. Wow. Can't wait to do that again, not. Let's just say you won't be seeing us in concert any time soon.

Other things may change us, but we start and end with the family. ~Anthony Brandt

Another One Flew the Cuckoo's Nest

2011-07-07T14:32:00.000-07:00

Brian graduated! Craziness.

It was just yesterday he was a sweet little pudgy guy only interested in bugs and legos and super heros. He's still mostly sweet but certainly not little or pudgy and now is focused on things like college and music and work and friends.

Brian's Grandpa Roland on the left- I was thrilled he was able to come that weekend.

And Gp's on the other side, Kathy and Rich.

We had a great party with tons of friends and I tried to get a picture of everyone that came but I won't post all of them, just the important ones :).

So he graduated, we partied, and now he's off on his own great adventures. Ya know, this sort of reminds me of that little birdie in the last post. We spend the first little while just feeding and protecting them and then the next little while teaching them how to fly and survive on their own. Then, poof!, they're gone--they take off and leave us with an empty nest! Meanwhile, I am left with a mixture of excitement and sadness.

The Little Birdie Who Was Rescued

2011-07-07T14:29:00.000-07:00

One must be careful when pruning shrubs. Once upon a time, I got a little wild trimming the arborvitae shrub next to my flower garden and apparently knocked a little baby Chipping Sparrow out of its nest. I didn't see it fall but began looking around after the momma starting chirping very (for such a little bird!) loudly at me and trying desperately to distract me the in other direction. I found him and put him back in the nest.

Then I checked on him after a couple days and he seemed fine. Yay!

And momma's happy too,

but I don't think she trusts me with the pruning shears anymore.

Meanwhile, this bee was busy slurping juice from a lupine.

The End.

Actually, I checked again in a few days and Poof! the little birdie was gone, the nest was empty. Off on his own great adventures I presume. Yay!

The End.

<------- Backing Up A Little <--------

2011-07-04T13:20:00.000-07:00

Hi there! ~ It's been awhile!

I don't think there are any rules about this on Blogspot but I feel as though I shouldn't post about current things until I have gotten caught up on all that has happened since I last posted, which was I don't know about three months ago?! So here goes with a quick scrapbooking snapshot of a pretty busy spring.........all revolving around our kids of course, which is all good stuff because as much as I might feeling like complaining at times, I am truly enjoying this stage of life.

The show choir season ended on a "high note" as Leanne was asked to fill in and sing the opening solo at their last performance. She did just fine! Really fine, actually. Her mom and dad were very nervous as they had never heard her sing out loud before really and then when she nailed it mom and dad were pretty much bursting with pride... and relief. Oofda.

She also made great strides :)! in track this spring doing the hurdles.

Brian turned 19 and grajeated from hischool! More on that later.

After quite an ordeal finding the green striped tie,

Landon was an usher for his good friend/cousin, Josh,

who married Lindsey in a beautiful outdoor wedding.

Landon also turned 21 in June on our anniversary,

and omygosh all I can do is shake my head in disbelief.

That means 22 years of marriage for the old guy and me.

I came home from work one day and caught the kids in a rare moment- playing a game of Catan just the three of them! Priceless. The look on their faces is more of disgust and not pricelessness but a picture had to be taken nonetheless.

Meistro Brian performing at his piano recital.

Leanne getting her cartilage pierced at Walmart with
her friend, Laura. It really wasn't that bad.

Leanne started her first real job at Lueken's grocery store, where both of her brothers also work! So if you shop at Lueken's you are likely to see one or more of them there!

And now....moving on....!

Easter Cancelled!

2011-04-25T17:27:00.000-07:00

I know, sad, isn't it!?

Someone sent this to Bill on Easter morning.

I'm glad he didn't show it to any small children.

I say THANK GOD there is

more to Easter than the Easter bunny and eggs!

What we celebrate on Easter Sunday is the resurrection of Jesus Christ who rose from the dead for you and me. He made the one and only sacrifice for our sins. Jesus says, "I am the resurrection and the life; he that believes in me, though he were dead in sin, yet shall he live." John 11:25.

Jesus truly is alive and promises, "Because I live, you shall live also." John 14:19.

Only through him can we have eternal life. "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6.

What I love about Easter is that it is full of HOPE!

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living HOPE through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade- kept in heaven for you.." I Peter 1:3-4

Yay!!!!

So....that being said, bring on the sweet, soft, adorable
bunnies and chicks and jelly beans and colored eggs! ;)

HaPpY EaSteR!!!

It's a jungle out there!

2011-04-03T10:41:00.000-07:00

WOW! It's been over a month since I looked at this blog. I feel a lot has gone on in my world since. I got our Christmas tree taken down and put away, for real. It appears spring might be coming, not here yet, but coming! Glory Hallelujah!! My kids are growing up for pete's sake and making big people choices and it doesn't seem to matter if I am ready for it or not or even a part of it or not, uffdah!? I left the country for two weeks and decided to come back! Or at least the plane ticket had been purchased for me to come back, not sure I wanted to. I am realizing more and more what is important in life and what is not so important, though it is still hard to pursue the important and not be distracted by all the rest of the "stuff". Getting out of your own little bubble and seeing how life works for people in another part of the world gives you a different perspective and way of looking at things. I am incredibly grateful for this experience!

Leanne and I spent 13 days with a group of 14 other teens and adults in Ecuador on a missions trip. Our main purpose was to encourage and support the several missionaries who live and work there by helping them with needed projects. I have a new appreciation for those who choose full-time ministry, especially in cultures so different from what they are accustomed to. It takes a real commitment and steadfastness and quite often self-sacrifice. Not sure I would have the patience and perseverance for that over the long haul.

I was sooo glad that I could share the experience with Leanne and know it was an amazing time for her, eye-opening and heart tugging. I hope that it has changed her too and that she will treasure the memories and the impressions made on her for years to come.

Because I have already spent oodles of time getting photos of our trip into an album on Facebook, instead of posting them all again here I am inviting you to check out the album:

https://www.facebook.com/album.php?id=826219797&aid=296759

I don't think you have to be my "friend" to see them but if so I would be glad to accept you as my friend :) I hope it works even if you are not a facebooker but let me know if it doesn't.

from me to you

2011-02-15T14:53:00.000-08:00

A belated wish..............

And from all the Oakeses...........
(click to enlarge)

To Packer Land and back.....

2011-02-10T16:56:00.000-08:00

It was risky, but we ventured into Wisconsin during Super Bowl

weekend. We survived. Actually, we had a great time. We went

to Leanne's Show Choir competition and bummer but I didn't get

any photos because they don't let you use flash photography during

the competitions. Each group's show is only about 20 minutes long

but they pack an amazing amount of music and talent and energy into

that 20 minutes. Incredible!

Friday night we hung out with our friends, the Mills, who are now

Wisconsinites and enjoyed catching up with them. I miss them.

Brian stayed the weekend with Lane doing guy stuff like airsoft

gun wars and video games and who knows what else.

Bill and I stayed with brother Dave and sis-in-law Chris, who were

great hosts, and it was really nice to catch up with them too.

Bill and Dave discovered a common interest and completely

exhausted the topic or maybe just scratched the surface,

I'm not sure. !?

We enjoyed a cozy fire in the fireplace and a glass of their home-

made Elderberry wine. It was very good.

I was very happy when on the way out of Eau Claire we made a wrong

turn and had to drive several miles on a county road. Barns every few

feet, I loved it!! Wisconsin is beautiful.

And all those Packer Backers, I guess they're not so bad either.

I'm trying to be happy for them.

~here's to Isabelle~

2011-01-29T12:01:00.000-08:00

Isabelle, the cat. Friendliest cat ever. She is a Maine Coon

and Leanne bought her with most of her own money from the

Humane Society after we found her former cat, Sissy, all stiff

under a pile of wood one day.

Leanne taking a nap on the patio with Isabelle.

Isabelle lived at our house for quite a few years but disappeared this

last fall and we haven't seen her since. :(

I think Isabelle grew up a house cat but she had to stay outside

at our house. Every chance she had she would try to come in,

it only took her a minute to get comfy in this chair before I had

to throw her out again.

I think R.J. misses her the most. They were BFF.

They shared.

They ~~fought~~ played.

The posed.

Now look left.

Now look apart.

Now look at me.

A few years ago we had a renter in our apartment who also really

liked Isabelle. So much so that he offered a couple hundred dollars

for her. He would have taken her with him back to Pennsylvania.

Leanne carefully considered the offer but decided no, she wanted

to keep her cat. I was proud of her.

She might be regretting that decision now.

Canadianz, curlerz and more curlerz....

2011-01-24T18:12:00.000-08:00

We enjoyed having zome of Landon'z friendz from Canada

here lazt weekend. They didn't even zay eh. Nice boyz.

They had great time talking philozophy, bowling, drinking

coffee, eating zwedish pancakez, taking zaunaz, and a friendly

game of global domination. (Yez, that iz my Chriztmaz tree
ztill up on January 24, zo what.)

On Zaturday, Bill and I took a road trip to Grand Rapidz, MN.

Brian's Team Epic curled in the Itazca Junior Bonzpiel there.

They were undefeated until the lazt game and took

2nd place, winning the zilver medal! :) Good job boyz!!

To celebrate we went to Zorbaz for pizza. We zat on an actual

pontoon! The table waz HUGE! The pizza waz good.

We might have a Zorbaz coming to Bemidji if the city and

county can agree on a 2 a.m. bar clozing. We'll zee about that.

Itz Zhow Choir Zeazon for Leanne and that meanz lotz of

curlerz in the hair to make the Zhow Choir Do.

All I wanted waz a nice pic of the do but zhe wouldn't cooperate.

Zhe was tired after four perfomancez thiz weekend at the Dinner Zhow.

Here'z a little better one without the do.

Here'z the 2011 La Voce Ballo choir.

A couple shotz from lazt year.

More picturez to come from thiz yearz zhow!

Truffle Tragedy

2011-01-18T17:02:00.000-08:00

Do you want to hear a sad story?

I have had a $20 gift certificate for Chocolate's Plus

burning a hole in my purse for a few weeks. I finally

got there yesterday and spent several minutes drooling on

the glass case and picking out which truffles and treats I

wanted as the gal put them in a big box for me. I shared

a couple with Bill on the way home just so you don't think

I am too stingy. However, I did not want anyone else in the

house to know I had chocolate, so I hid them in my

bedroom on the bottom shelf of my bedside table.

When I got home from work today I was so looking forward

to enjoying a truffle. AAaacck! The box was on the floor,

and the little brown papers were scattered around!?!

R.J.! :-[

The dog ate my truffles! !BAD DOG!

I was mad. If I wasn't such a nice, well-mannered

person I would have used expletives and maybe even

kicked the dog. I was mad.

I'll be he didn't even enjoy them.

And he didn't get sick either, not yet anyway.

He should at least feel bad, real bad. But no,

he seems fine. And I am truffleless.
Waaa!

P.S. A little plug for Chocolate's Plus...

it is owned by Bill's cousin's wife, Janel, and they

have some great stuff there!

http://www.chocplus.com/

Back to Bemidji

2011-01-14T13:10:00.000-08:00

Just before we left for home.

Dad in his spiffy new western shirt and wool vest.

The twinsters, Swede and Chink.

The first hundred miles were interesting.

See that drift in front of us?

Ah, North Dakota.

There's a road under there somewhere. We actually

felt a little queasy for awhile staring at this and watching

for drifts and other vehicles.

By Minot it had cleared up a bit and we stopped for lunch.

If you've never been to Kroll's you ought to try it!

German Nefla soup! Mmm, mmm.

and love that fried bread!

Billy Bob.

A 8-hour drive always brings out the best in everyone.

And a quick stop at Cabela's before getting home.

Home sweet Home.

Over break.

2011-01-08T13:08:00.000-08:00

During the Christmas break I was able to take a few days

off of work and LOVED having a few days at home.

We spent some time with Bill's family just hanging out.

Leanne had some friends over and celebrated her birthday again.

Snow angels in the snow after a sauna! It is hard to get a good

photo as they are moving very fast!

Ethan relaxing in the snow. :) Word is he spent more time out

in the snow than in the sauna and was dubbed Sauna King.

Brian and Team Epic spent four days participating in the State

Junior Championship Bonspiel. His team did REALLY well but

two other Bemidji teams took 1st and 2nd place and will be going

to Alaska for the National Championship the end of this month.

Maybe next year??

Bill spent a LOT of time getting our yard cleared so we could get

in and out. The snow just kept coming and coming. It kept

his sister, Julie, and family from coming.

New Years Eve at B & H's.

Holding sweet little Braeden.

One of our favorite games... Settlers of Catan...

I won this time!!

Bill's pretty excited about New Years. He actually feel asleep

while waiting for the ball to drop.

Uncle Steve.

Opening some presents!

Another game of Catan!

Wild Bill grillin.

It was a good time of food and family and friends,

and farts and giggles and blizzards.

Restoring the Traveler's Hotel

2011-01-02T09:39:00.000-08:00

One of the other things we did while back home for Christmas was
check out the progress of my sister, Karen, and David's project in
Noonan. They have purchased the old Traveler's Hotel and the
adjacent old bank building and are in the process of restoring the
hotel and restaurant. Here is what the building looked like when it
first opened in 1910 on main street in Noonan.
It was quite the place!

It was a hotel and restaurant from the time it opened until the 1970's

when it was converted to a bar. It closed for business in 2002

and Karen purchased the buildings in 2009. She applied for inclusion

in the National Register of Historic Places and the hotel was placed on

the register in July 2010. They have the early registry books for the

hotel and some of the names in the books inlcude Cromwell Dixon,

Annie Oakley (although this has not been verified), James J. Hill- the

railroad "Empire Builder," and it is rumored Al Capone may have

stayed there. This is what it looks like today.

Well, not today today but last summer.

Here's Karen in the upstairs where there were 14 guest rooms.

They have kept all the wide, dark trim around the doors and windows
and will reuse that. The next step is replacing the windows, which will
arrive shortly, and then they can start to heat the place.

Linda and I on the old, ornate staircase, which is as solid as ever.

Entrance to the bank building connected to the hotel.
It also housed the Post Office for a time.

The original tin ceiling that has been covered up by a suspended

ceiling for many years. There are some spots that will need repair but
for the most part it is in good shape.

Diane checking out the rooms for rent.

This is a massive project and I admire David and Karen for taking it on,
I know they have a ton of support and it will be beautiful when it is
done! We have been encouraging Karen to start a blog and she has!!
You can check it out at http://travelershotel.blogspot.com/
or click on the link under blogs I follow. It is very interesting!

Content New Year!!

2011-01-01T08:55:00.000-08:00

Instead of happy, I prefer contentedness.

What is contentment?

It is freedom from the tyrany of your circumstantces that allows

perspective on your life. Never losing sight of God and guarding

against unrealistic expectations and the lure of novelty and newness.

It may be a new year, but we will experience the same old, same old

challenges and thistles that threaten to discourage and choke.
In order to experience true happiness and contentment we

must develop in ourselves the habit of a grateful heart.
A way of looking at the world with an attitude of appreciation for
life in general and being aware of our daily blessings despite
disappointments and unsatisfied wants.
I am ever so slowly learning this.

Here's my prayer for 2011:

"A new year is unfolding~ like a blossom with petals curled tightly,

concealing the beauty within.

Lord, let this year be filled with things that are truly good~

with the comfort of warmth in our relationships,

with the strength to help those who need our help

and the humility and openess to accept help from others.

As we make our resolutions for the year ahead,

let us go forward with great hope that all things can

be possible~ with Your help and guidance."

~ Annonymous

Down the road a ways.....

2010-12-30T19:09:00.000-08:00

Sister, Linda, and family are planning to move back to
the country in the spring so we took a drive to see the property
they have made a down payment on. It is just a few miles from the
Zimmerman farm. It was beautiful and snowy but the wind was brutally cold.

There's a great old farmhouse on the property.

A welcoming porch.

The kitchen and pantry.

Greg and Linda in their new old house!

Pausing for a second on the porch.

They are not sure if the house is able to be restored

but wouldn't it be awesome?

I love it!

Big changes and challenges and adventure

are in their future and I can't wait to go

back and visit next summer.

More Christmas on the Farm

2010-12-29T10:58:00.000-08:00

It was great to be home for Christmas!
We went to the Christmas Eve Candlelight service in Noonan

and out to eat at the new Mexican restaurant there called Uno Mas.

We were the only ones there but that was okay with us.

And we were okay with not having to cook and wash dishes

that night because that meant we could get to the present opening quicker!!

Dale's vintage lamp that doubles as a Christmas tree!

Landon opening up his favorite gift.

Leanne opening up an accessory to her favorite gift.

Brian opening up his favorite gift.

Bill got a huge remote- Brian thought if it was this big he wouldn't

lose it so easily and we won't spend as much time searching

the house for it. We'll see if it works. ;)

Grandpa Roland trying out his new face mask.

Linda and her jewelry from Darla.

Dale and some of his stuff.

R.J. in his sweater.

My Dad loves black licorice and got a kick
out of this gift from my sister.
It has a kick let me tell you.

Sister Karen and two of her boys.

Sister Diane and Sam.

Brian trying out one of my brother Dale's guitars from his

collection. Not sure but he probably has twenty or more guitars!

Yikes! It's the jolly green giant abominable snowman!

Ho! Ho! Ho!

I didn't have any outdoor stuff with me so my Dad brought up

this classic Arctic Cat snowmobile suit from the basement

for me to wear. Groovy.

Christmas on the Farm

2010-12-28T18:39:00.000-08:00

It was truly a White Christmas!

Everything was covered in sparkling white frostiness.

I love old churches and had to get a photo

of this one along our drive across North Dakota.

Ye old dinner bell.

Ye old slough behind the shop.

Ye old chicken coop.

Leanne and cousins.

Another old church along the way home. Love it.

One Sweet Night

2010-12-17T17:56:00.000-08:00

Winter Formal 2010 at the New City Ballroom in Bemidji.

There were 74 students attending.

Our theme was.....

This is what I am talking about with the blogger photo uploader rotating all my photos that I take portrait.

Soooo irritating!*! If you have a simple fix for this let me know.

I have tried several things.

So you'll just have to kink your neck a little for these!

We had a delicious pasta buffet dinner.

Leanne wasn't too thrilled that her Mom and Dad were there all night but she was a good sport about it and humored her Dad by dancing with him a couple times.

Bill has some moves let me tell you!

I was very unhappy with the few photos I took and want to blame the camera and dark conditions.

Or it could be I need to learn how to use the camera to get better shots. Hmmm...

Some of the guys..........

The limbo.....!

Leanne's pretty good at it but another gal beat her this time.

It was a fun evening of beautiful dresses, fine dining, loud music, and lots of dancing.

One Sweet Daughter

2010-12-12T16:00:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday, the 4th, was Leanne's sweet sixteenth birthday.

It was a busy day because I was helping get set up for the Winter Formal dance that night. Leanne spent most of the day with her friends, Laura and Shaleah, and they were nice enough to make a cake for her!

Happy Birtday, Leanne! :)

Then the girls got ready for the dance...but more on that later.....

Wow~ my baby is sixteen- can that be?

She was just born yesterday. I remember it very well. It was a cold night. The labor started in the evening but when we called about 3 a.m. they told us to stay home as long as possible as they wouldn't call the on-call doc until after 6 a.m.

Here's me just before getting into the van to go in, about 5:50 a.m.

Bill wanted to know if he had time to take a shower. I said "No! Does it LOOK like you have time to take a shower? NO!" Thank God I said no.

Bill dropped me off at 6 a.m. at the ER doors and went to park. When he came in they already had me upstairs to the birthing room. The nurse gave me gown to put on and said she would be back to check me. The moment I laid on the bed my water broke and I may have yelled something like, "HELP ME!" The nurses came running. They called the ER doctor. He had never delivered a baby before- Bill said he was shaking like a leaf. After two pushes Leanne popped out and said "I'm here!!! Ready or not!!". It was 6:12 a.m. Wow! Bill told me, "It's a girl!" I said, "Are you SURE?" I cried.

I could be wrong but I am pretty sure she was the sweetest,

most adorable baby girl ever to be born on this earth.

Her big brudders thought she was "gorgeous".

And then the parties started--

I can't imagine our family without Leanne, she is sugar and spice!

She is adventurous, honest, creative, determined, athletic, ambitious.

She is growing in her faith and self-confidence and discovering her strengths and passions.

I am sooo thankful God blessed us with privilege/challenge of raising her!

Here's one of my favorite photos of Leanne.

She was busted after sneaking a kitten into her bed.

I didn't have the heart to get upset. Kittens melt me too.

So Happy Sweet Sixteen, Leanne, I love you!!

~Mom

I'm Ba-ack!

2010-12-11T06:52:00.000-08:00

Well kinda, sorta, maybe, we'll see.

It's before 8 am on Saturday....... Brian just left to go and take his ACT test and I am eating the truffles from the favor bag that I brought home from the Ladies Christmas Tea last night. :) I can eat truffles for breakfast if I want to, so there. The house is quiet and the computer was available for once. All three kids have had English Composition courses this semester so that makes for lots of computer time, especially since Landon's laptop was stolen a few weeks ago but I won't bring that up because it makes me grumpy. :(

Well, I have been a "lame" blogger, using one of Leanne's favorite words, since I haven't been on here since October. Actually, I did write a post on Thanksgiving Day but didn't publish it yet. For some reason the blogger photo uploader will not let me upload some photos, and rotates the ones that are portrait, it is soooooo frustrating, but let's not talk about that because it makes me grumpy. But what fun is a scrapbook without photos???

The last six weeks or so have been a little stressful for me because of being short-handed in the billing department where I work after my co-worker left her position. I have had to put in extra hours and be in the office every day instead of working from home. The work load and pressure have brought me to tears a few times and caused some sleepless nights. I have no idea how full-time working moms do this long term- and what is frustrating is that there is no energy left for what is most important, my husband, my kids, and friends, (and blogging?) not to mention getting a dinner meal made occasionally and keeping the dirty laundry from overtaking the whole house. Makes a person grumpy. And when mom ain't happy.....

I'm told that a decision will be made this next week and someone hired- then hopefully after a few weeks of training I can get back to my old schedule. Yay!

So anyway, I better get working on those mountains of laundry, pay some bills, decorate the tree, make a grocery list etcetera.

I like this photo that I took last summer of the huge, nasty thistle bush that looks daunting but quite beautiful against the soft, mellow background of the tall grass and pretty sky. The one helps me to appreciate the other more, and so in life as well.

Some stuff.

2010-10-23T18:15:00.000-07:00

Well, I got out my turtlenecks. It's time.

The neighbors harvested the corn field.

Now I feel rather exposed on the south side and it sends a shiver.

But it is still warmer than usual and I am not complaining.

Cut down some dead trees for wood for the sauna

and Landon had a big bonfire with some friends.

My favorite shrubs are the barberry bushes with their

variegated colors and bright red berries in the fall. So cool!

But why is it that some of the most beautiful

things in life also have the biggest thorns?

Note to self: next time do not plant barberry bushes under the windows.

Some sweet roses for no apparent reason :)

Note to self: never need a reason, just say thank you.

Probably the last bike ride to town.

I tagged along with Brian and friend Sarah and we biked

to the Dairy Queen and back. Or most of the way back.

We had Brian ride ahead to get the van because

it was getting dark on us.

Note to self: leave earlier than 5 pm when biking to town and back.

Cheering on Leanne at her last XC meet of the season!

It's been a long but good week.

Except for the skunks.

And the keys being locked in the van. R.J. locked us out!

Note to self: next time take the keys out when you leave the dog in the van.

Happy Trails.

2010-10-17T19:41:00.000-07:00

Can hardly believe the awesome warm weather we are experiencing!

Handsome and I went for a bike/run on the trail near us.

He runs and I bike. Works for me.

Someone got a special message on the trail!

I love the variety of landscape; open fields, woods, ponds.

Why can't it just stay like this forever?

Moving Miss Amy

2010-10-06T15:31:00.000-07:00

Last weekend a large number of Oakeses, including in-laws and out-laws and most of the grands and greats gathered at the farm for some heavy lifting and some reminiscing. We moved Bill's Grandmother, Amy, from her farmhouse where she has lived for 69 years (!) into a cozy little apartment down the road a ways.

Above is a photo of the Oakes farm taken in 1984
when the farming was still going strong. Percy and Amy's house
is in the middle and the house in the upper left is where Bill grew up,

just a hop, skip and a jump away from Grandma's amazing
peanut butter and jelly sandwiches,

which Bill claims no one will ever be able to duplicate.

There's a dike between the two houses now,

so it's over the dike and through the woods
to Grandmother's house we go.

Here's Amy sitting in her kitchen amidst the chaos of moving stuff out.

She was a good sport and cheerful as always.

Cousins!

Some of the group taking a break for lunch.

We are standing next to the Oak Tree

planted in memory of Percy after he passed away in 1989.

Getting ready to unload at the new apartment.

The guys hauled the stuff, the ladies put it away.

Trying out the new arrangement.

Here's Amy coming to see her new place all ready for her-

she seemed very pleased! Did I mention she is 92 years old?

Even though the weekend was about Amy,

there was another someone who got lots of attention.

Meet the youngest twig of the Oakes tree, Braedon Richard.

He's only 3 1/2 weeks old. He's about the sweetest thing ever.

So there are lots of changes happening within the Oakes clan!

Sometimes those changes are hard but we adjust and grow and hopefully learn to find balance in appreciating the memories of yesterday, making the most of today, and looking forward with hope and anticipation to tomorrow.

We were able to bring a few things home with us from the farm including a couple more pieces of furniture
to an antique bedroom set that belonged to Bill's great Aunt,
a cute hat that Amy used to wear,
two tea cups and saucers,
and we also brought home with us..........

Bill's Great Grandparents..........

and more Great Grandparents........

and the Great-Great Grandparents too!

I have no idea where they will all stay!

Soaking up the sun and drinking in the color!

2010-09-30T17:50:00.000-07:00

Fall in Minnesota~
has to be one of the big reasons people choose to live in this state.

It's been absolutely beautiful the last couple of days.

I even mustered up gumption (sp?) to wash a few windows yesterday.
It's always a good feeling to have that done.
Well, four of them are done anyway.

Crispy critter who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

R.J. and Isabelle wrestling, they do this all the time.

She'll finally get irritated and swat him.

Then she will get up and nuzzle against him!?

I broke up this fight and said let's go for a walk.

It was even nice enough for shorts today

but the mosquitos were brutal- DIE ALREADY for pete's sake.

Rosehips!

Thistles!

Aww......

The colors are just vibrant right now and gorgeous!

The neighbors corn is 12 feet tall and ready to harvest.

The only lonely flower still blooming at my house,

but she's sure perty.

So ends our walk. Happy Fall!

beautiful and dead things

2010-09-23T15:12:00.000-07:00

Wow- do the butterflies, moths, flies and bees
go crazy over the sedum this time of year,

they are constantly covered with winged creatures!

This poor guy had some trouble with his right wing.

Two bees in a pod.

This is a very handsome feller.

This huge monarch is actually dead,

we found him on the road during one of our walks.

This poor little guy is dead, too.

Met his demise like many other critters that have littered the sidewalks this summer.

Isabelle has to have some fun too.

Eat, Drink and be Married!

2010-09-19T20:00:00.000-07:00

We took a road trip yesterday to a wedding. It was at the Wilderness Golf Course on Lake Vermillion next to the Fortune Bay Casino. We had the pleasure of traveling with Bryce and Heather. It was a double date! About half way there Heather and I decided we needed some dark chocolate so the guys had Harmin the Garmin take us to the nearest chocolate shop, otherwise we would have gotten cranky. On the counter they had this sign about the health benefits of dark chocolate and the cashier offered to make a copy of it for us. We each had these huge bear claws with carmel and pecans, it was heavenly........

The golf course and clubhouse were absolutely beautiful. I wish I would have gotten a photo of the golf course before it got dark.

The groom, Mike, is Bill's best friend from college, he was the best man at our wedding. We are very happy for him to have found this great woman, Gretchen.

The ceremony was short and sweet, like 20 minutes maybe, and then we had a wonderful prime rib dinner. For dessert they had German Chocolate Cake and Norwegian Danish because Mike is German and Gretchen is Norwegian. Here's some other old friends that we got to catch up with.

Heather and Bryce enjoying some time away from their kids.......

Us old fogies, we didn't really care what our kids were doing, we were only gone 12 hours, how much trouble could they get into?

Running in the Rain

2010-09-11T18:07:00.000-07:00

Leanne had her second Cross Country meet yesterday. Good for us it was in town at Greenwood Golf Course. Unfortunately, it poured rain all day long and was windy and cold. But there was no lightening so the meet went on. Here's the start of the girls race.

Pushing it at the end.

She's been working hard to train and has endured problems with knees, achilles, blisters, etc. but she has determination and is improving her time each race. She's also a great team player.

You go girl!!

Back to School- Ready or Not

2010-09-10T18:07:00.000-07:00

It was just yesterday

that we watched Landon get on the bus for his first day of Kindergarten

and we bawled all the way back to the house,

well, some of us did anyway.

And then the next day it was Brian. More bawling.

And then the next day it was Leanne.

A few sniffles, but no bawling.

Having the house to myself for a few hours was awesome!

Then I went back to school myself.

Can our oldest possibly be in his second year of college?

He is at Bemidji State University this semester

and living at home, yes, at home, much to our dismay AND delight.

Mostly delight.

I tried to get a picture of him on his first day

but he wouldn't cooperate.

"Mom, I'm not in elementary school,

you don't need to take my picture anymore."

Brian's a big 'ol senior in high school this year.

He still cooperates.

Leanne's a sophmore.

She loves any opportunity for a photo shoot.

Alas, where does the time go?

Bill and I certainly aren't getting old as quickly as our kids are.

Are we?

More bawling.

Rock Ridge Part 2

2010-08-29T16:14:00.000-07:00

Sunday morning was misty over the lake...

We made one more trip to Ely for a paddle and some pop

for the boys, who we hoped would be returning that day.

And then we waited....sorta.

Leanne doing some acrobatics.

Working on one last sunburn.

About noon we saw them coming in the distance.

Their plan was to be back by 3 so they surprised us.

Da boys are back!!!

I admit a feeling a relief to see them paddling in.

And they all looked good and happy.

The worst thing that happened was the syrup spilled in the pack.

They quickly unloaded the canoes and jumped in the lake....

Landon going in the lake after a sauna....

Joey king of the dock!

Carrying the canoes back up the hill.

Lunch before heading home.

After we got back to our house and sorted out all the stuff,

the E's went to leave and R.J. jumped in their van.

He had such a great time with Jack, he didn't want it to end. BFF

But vacations always have to come to an end,

just the memories we keep.

Rock Ridge and beyond!

2010-08-28T07:18:00.000-07:00

We were able to squeeze in one last camping trip for the summer

with the whole family last weekend with some very good friends.

Loaded up and heading out...

No trip ever goes as planned, at least not for us,

we had to stop an hour down the road to have a nail taken out of a tire.

But it didn't take long and we were back on the road.

Had to stop at DQ of course.

Our destination was Rock Ridge Camp, near Ely, MN,

just on the edge of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area.

The camp is pretty rustic and built into the side of a huge hill,

very rocky and lots of steps to get down to the

cabins and waterfront area.

We beefed up our leg muscles let me tell ya.

The guys in front of their pad.

The building on the left is a sauna with ramp into the lake. Sweet!

The first morning we had a big breakfast of pancakes and bacon.

We were able to use the camp's kitchen but brought our own food.

After breakfast, we sent the six boys out on their canoe trip

for three days and two nights,

a 17-mile loop with lots of portaging.

Here's the dudes ready to head out....

Da boys.

We sang and waved as they departed...

nah, nah, nah, nah.......nah, nah, nah, nah......hey, hey, hey.... goodbye........

Would they be okay? Would they find their way back by Sunday afternoon?

Would they get attacked by bears or mountain lions or wolves?

Or get giardia from drinking the lake water?

Would we ever see them again? :-/

I only fretted a couple minutes and then was fine. They'd be fine.

We decided to party on without them!

We went to town and did some shopping.

Relaxed on the deck with coffee, chocolate and a book....

We were able to use all their waterfront stuff.

Hung out in the game room....

Had a campfire with smores....

Ate a lot of food....

We went out on a day trip on Saturday.

Filled up our water bottles with cool, clean water

at a natural spring not too far from camp.

Hiked a good jaunt to a place where there was a waterfall.

It was quite refreshing!

The girls did some serious rock jumping. Like for an hour straight.

On the way back we stopped at a rope swing near the camp....

Leanne.

Anna.

Bill.

Splash. Great fun.

After we got back we had an awesome steak dinner.

And a sauna.

It was a good day.

Cooling Off

2010-08-12T17:44:00.000-07:00

It got a little warm this last week.

The basement became a popular place to be.

One night we had an offer we couldn't refuse,

and headed to a lake place owned by some friends of friends

to cool off a bit.

The highlight was the jet ski. Brian's getting some instructions.

And then he took off.

And I cried out loud, "Slow down fer crying out loud!"

Then it was Leanne's turn, but not by herself yet.

Here's Leanne saying "Can we get one of these, please, please?"

We also enjoyed the kayak.

Ladder golf or whatever that game is called.

Tire swing. My what white legs you have.

A great meal and visiting.

A beautiful sunset.

Some friendly King of the Hill on the floating dock.

Thanks friends for the cool invite!

One hot ride!

2010-08-09T18:23:00.000-07:00

The day after paddling a few of us biked with the youth group on the awesome newly paved trail that goes from Bemidji to at least Walker and I don't even know how far it goes but a long ways. We can get on about 3 miles from our house so the boys bike to town quite often, about 8 miles each way. I've only biked to town once so far but we use the trail a lot, Bill and Leanne run and I bike or roller blade.

We did about 22 miles with the temp in the low 90's. Smart, huh?

We drank a LOT of water.

Here's the group before we took off:

I had a good time visiting with Fiona along the way.

To our good fortune we stopped midway and Stacy brought us ice cream!!

We were really glad to see her.

Really glad.

We dug in!!

Dan can't believe he's going to eat the whole thing!

It's hitting the spot!

Oh yeah!

P.J.

Playing tag on the jungle gym.

One last photo before getting on our bikes for the last leg of the trip.

A Good Time was had by all,

except for the gallons of sweat we poured from our bodies

and the blisters some got on the jungle gym!?

Dragon Boating

2010-08-09T17:43:00.000-07:00

The 5th annual Lake Bemidji Dragon Boat Festival
was this last weekend.

Bill and Leanne and I were recruited to paddle with the Zea Dawgz!

It was a blast. 69 teams participated.

All the teams had tents set up in the Team Village.

Some were very creative. Here's our pad...

Leanne and her friend, Nickel.

Some of our team relaxing...

We considered jumping ship to join the Rowin' Oaks

since the name fit better. Just kidding!

We had several friends on the Oak Hills team.

Leaving the dock for our first race.

Moving out to get in place for the start.

Our drummer, Howie Zetah, the big dawg.

Four boats raced in each heat.

We were racing in the Contractor's Cup.

And the race is on!

We're in boat 3.

Crossing the finish line- we are neck and neck with boat 4.

Like one-hundreth of a second behind them. We took third place.

Phew!

We are exhausted after 2.28.92 minutes of intense paddling.

We improved our time to 2.28.72 in our second race.

Go Zea Dawgz!! Woot woot!

We ended up placing 19th out of 69 teams-- not too shabby!

If you're interested in seeing more photos of the event check out

bemidjidragonboat.com

Yellowstone and Beartooth Pass

2010-08-04T18:05:00.000-07:00

After our great rafting adventure we decided to drive through Yellowstone since it was so close and Landon wasn't with us two years ago when we were there so he really wanted to. We just did the short upper loop and out the east entrance but we saw a few cool things.

Checking out the Upper and Lower Falls.

I couldn't get close enough to the edge to get good photos,

the fear of heights thing torments me.

There is a big brown bear in the middle of this photo, really there is.

Saw lots of buffalo of course.

Some pretty close.

Real close.

Beautiful scenery.

Took the Beartooth Highway, an amazing drive up and down the mountain pass. You definitely should put this on your list of places to see!

Here's the three amigos sitting on the top of the mountain,

it was chilly and quite a bit of snow here and there.

Not too bad of Bill but I look like I am about to cry or pee my pants.

I was cold and there were a gazillion mosquitos

biting my legs (who knew they lived at 10,000+ ft?!?!)

A short distance later on the way down

we came upon a herd of mountain goats.

We were able to get really close to them.

The little ones were so cute,

they were butting heads and jumping all over.

Leanne dancing and singing "The Hills are Alive"

The sun setting on a great day in Montana.

Stayed in Red Lodge at the Chateau Rouge.

Not as fancy as the name sounds but comfy.

We enjoyed the hot tub and pool to ourselves after a long day.

Next day we hit the road again, stopped in Medora for ice cream,

it was 103 degrees.

Stayed with Bill's aunt and uncle and cousin in Bismarck.

We stopped in Moorhead for a another visit with Bill's family and then headed for home in a major thunderstorm.

It was a great vacation but there's nothing like home.

And our dog missed us.

Miles put on the van- 2,000

Rafting the waves of white- $44.00 each

Spending seven really pleasant days with the family-- priceless!!!!!

Rafting Fools

2010-08-01T15:54:00.000-07:00

Day four of the Zimmerman reunion we met for breakfast at the

Wheat Montana Bakery/Deli just down the road from our campground.

Dad liked this place. He felt at home here.

Here we said goodbye to some who had to head home

and some of us brave souls headed towards an uncertain future

on the whitewater the of Gallatin River.

At Montanta Whitewater .

Getting geared up.

Rafting Rollie having one last puff on pipe before getting on the bus.

Getting instructions on what to do

when you get thrown out of the raft.

Panic first. Pray second. Or what is the other way around?

Let's do this thing!

In this raft: Dave, LeRoy, Karen, Mitch, Darla, Diane and Kyle

and their guide, Robert.

In this raft: Landon, Bill, Brian, Leanne, Laurie, Roland

and our guide, Cyrus.

They got hung up on a rock!?

Does this look fun or what?

They call the last part of the trip The Mad Mile,

and all the rapids have names:

Screaming Left, Killer Fang Falls, Snaggletooth, Barb's Revenge, Thumper,

you get the idea,

and they all have a stories behind them.

Here's our raft coming up on the one called House Rock,

any guesses why it is called that??

Getting a little spooky here- are we SUPPOSED to be going sideways??

Are we SUPPOSED to be doing this backwards??

Umm...Cyrus where are you?

Oh good our guide is still with us but umm...where is the raft??

Is this where we all fall out and die a slow,

painful death as we bounce on the rocks down the Mad Mile?

We made it!!! We are all looking to see if Dad is still with us.

He was just leaning back enjoying the scenery.

Our guide helping Dad out of the raft at the end.

Thanks to Sam for taking the photos of us!

Back up the bank to the bus.

Dad has just earned the name Rafting Rollie or

Wave Runner as some might call him.

Did I mention he's 88?

He did great! It was incredibly fun--you definitely ought to try it!!!

Nevada City

2010-07-31T07:56:00.000-07:00

On the third day of the Zimmerman Reunion we traveled a few more miles down the road to Virginia City, one of the best preserved gold mining towns. Next to that is Nevada City, a town of historic buildings, some original, some moved there from across Montana. It was a step into the past.

Most of the buildings we could go in but some we had to just look through the windows.

Dave and Karen and great-neice Ramona.

This guy was trying to sell us a chamber pot at the General Store.

Connie in her element- the fabric shop!

Learning about tanning hides.

Chris at the barber shop that says C Hoffman on the window,

kinda kool since her maiden name is Hoffman!

The Fire Station.

This lady showing us how to weave,

at one house a lady served us stew she was cooking on her wood stove

and another lady let us taste Elk meat she was cooking.

Kayla in the school house.

The teacher's desk.

Leane relaxing on the porch.

This was my favorite!

It was beautifully decorated inside.

The Saloon.

I guess this has been used a few times in filming some western movies.

The saloon proprieter teaching my boys the finer points of gambling.

Steve at the Post Office. He's a postmaster in Idaho.

A Norwegian double-decker outhouse- how cool is that?

Had a great lunch at the Star Bakery and Restaurant.

Connie.

Diane, Sam, Karen and Dave.

Jordan, Kayla, Greg, and Linda.

Here's what I had- a grilled chicken salad and a strawberry smoothie- YUM!

It was an interesting, fun time,

and then we headed back to the camp for some relaxing

and swimming to cool off.

Kayla!

In the Belly of the Mountain

2010-07-30T20:11:00.000-07:00

Sister Diane planned a couple day trips during our Zimmerman Reunion, the first was to explore the Lewis and Clark Caverns State Park, aprox. 20 miles SW of the interstate at Three Forks.

A bit of history (per google):
It is one of the largest cave complexes in the NW with fantastical "speleothems" or cave formations – stalagmites and stalactites, dripstone columns, flowstone ribbons and helictites. The entrance to this stunning cave sits about 1,400 feet above the Jefferson River, which the famed leaders (Lewis and Clark) of the "Corps of Discovery" paddled in 1805, unaware of the nearby wonder. Native Americans knew of the cave, but non-natives didn't discover it until 1882. In 1892, two hunters rediscovered it, returning six years later to explore. A local miner, Dan Morrison, developed the caverns for the public around 1900, building 2,000 wooden stairs inside (since replaced with concrete by the CCC), and named it "Limespur Cave." Shortly thereafter, however, the railroad laid claim to the land only to pass it to the U.S. government in 1908, whereupon President Theodore Roosevelt declared it the nation's 15th national monument and named it after the explorers. In 1937, the land was transferred to Montana's State Park System to become Montana’s first state park.

It was a long, hot, steep hike up the mountain to get to the entrance, about a half mile.

Great views though.

At the entrance resting and listening to our guide.

We're goin' in!

We couldn't take any photos for the first few caverns

lest we disturb all the bats and their babies.

We did disturb one, however,

who had some fun with us. You should have seen Bill.

Well, it was amazing.

Lots of stooping, bending, and navigating...

Some tight spaces, one place were we had to slide down on our butts

and then waddle like a duck to get through.

The temperature in the cave is a constant 50 degrees.

Lots of going down...

Incredible.

Lots of going up....

I don't remember the lights being colored,

it is the cave that had lots of variation. Wow!

We were in there two hours, and hiked two miles through the caves.

We had to be careful of the cave rats that liked to nip at our shoes.

We learned to kick them away. Just kidding! There were no rats.

Just bats.

These are only a few of our photos but you get the idea.

Here we are in the tunnel to the exit and saying goodbye to our guide.

Back on the outside of the mountain!

It was awesome and you should definitely put this on your list of places to see!

Best field trip ever for all ages- our tour group had a 6-7 month old baby

strapped onto her daddy and my Dad who is 88.

The lame vacation that turned out to be not so lame after all.

2010-07-29T18:49:00.000-07:00

Westward Ho!

R.J. is ready to go!

Little does he know he's only going a few miles down the road to stay.

Poor doggie, he would have LOVED it.

Thank you B, H, E and G.G. for taking good care of him for us!

It was just a few hours down the road and I had to nip it in the bud.

I said, "Listen, not to burst your bubble or anything but this vacation is not about you.

I have been looking forward to this for two years and I am planning on having a great time.

So I don't want to hear one more word of complaining. You got me??"

I think they got me. :-)

First stop, Moorhead, to have lunch at M, J, E and D's, Bill's sister and family.

Thanks for the yummy tacos Julie!

Next stop, Bismarck, to say hi to Bill's aunt and uncle,

cousin and kids, and his folks who just happened to be visting them at the same time!

Third stop, Glendive, MT, for the night at a Super 8 and let me tell you it was a dive!

Fourth stop, Pompey's Pillar, near Billings,

named after Sacajawea's son whose nickname was Pompy,

where you can see William Clark's signature carved into a big rock.

Right above my head is Clark's signature which has been encased behind bullet-proof glass.

We look like a happy family don't we? Of course, this is only day two.

Here's a close up, this is a replica in the visitor's center.

A view from the pillar.

On to Three Forks, just west of Bozeman,

to a campground and our home for three days. Cozy.

And then the best part~ seeing all the Zimmerman's! Woot woot!

And there's lots of them.

Dad on the left and then in order of age-

I'm ahead of Linda becuz I am 11 minutes older don'tcha know!

We miss Mom, though :(

How many Norwegians does it take to unhook a trailer?

Here's the whole group...

well, minus the dozen or more nieces and nephews that couldn't be there.

Be serious now.

It was a great time of re-connecting, eating, laughing,

reminiscing, eating some more, swimming, and some very fun activities.

The campground had a swimming pool to cool off in-

(and ice cream in the lodge)

Here's Bill doing the cannon ball---nice form, honey.

We celebrated Dad's birthday.

Leanne decorated the shirt for him that says Lookin' great at 88!

Party On Dude!!

To be continued.....

Eighty-eight and doin' great!

2010-07-19T11:57:00.000-07:00

He was born Roland Philip Zimmerman
on July 19, 1922.

With his Mom and Dad and sister outside the porch of the farmhouse.

Graduated from Noonan High School in 1941. Handsome feller.

Married our Mom in 1952.

This was in 1968. He had taken over the family cattle/grain farm

and they had popped out eight kids.

I love this photo taken in 1979.

I guess Mom thought it was pretty funny too to see him in his underwear and boots and got out the camera.

He's got his pipe in his mouth and balancing the ash tray with his knee. In the corner behind him was our extra refrigerator- one wasn't enough with that many mouths to feed. The handle was broken so we had to prop the door shut with a box wedged between it and the book stand there. The box says Mason Shoes on it. That was where we ordered our shoes from- every fall before school we got to look through the catalog and pick out new shoes. On top of that shelf are some Conklin Products- Dad was a distributor for Conklin. Above the refrigerator is a photo of the farm and a display frame with all of Dad's medals earned in Rifle Association. Above the desk is that cool old black telephone with the rotary dial and party line. Above the phone is a poster that says "Insanity is hereditary: you get it from your children." On top of the desk is the Citizens Band Radio of course. Remember those? 10-4! Like a party line walkie-talkie from home base to the vehicles! I'm trying to remember Dad's handle. I think Dale's was Zimco Kid. Besides farming, Dad had a semi truck (Zimco Trucking) and hauled grain and lumber and shingles, etc. that he sold from the farm. He later had a crane put on the semi and did jobs for hire with that. I can't seem to find any photos of that.

The farm in 1983.

A better part of his days have been spent on the seat of a tractor!

A statement about farming that Linda found
and made copies for the rest of us....
you can enlarge by clicking on it to read it better.

About 10 years ago in Montana at a family reunion......

we're heading back that way tomorrow

for another Zimmerman reunion

(our second without Mom, :( sniff) and will celebrate Dad's birthday there! Yee Haw!

Happy Birthday, Dad, I love you! See you soon!

"Can I please, please?"

2010-07-13T19:19:00.000-07:00

Earlier this week it was "Can we get one, please, please??"

Referring to the adorable schnoodle puppies for sale on a corner in town.

They were definitely cuteness to the max.

But NO we can't get one!

Then later at Target it was "Can you buy it for me please, please?"

It was a cute shirt, but NO I won't buy it.

Today Leanne took the test for her driver's permit.

I was secretly praying she wouldn't pass. jk

She passed.

Then she asked "Can I drive please, please?"

I could feel the hairs on my head turning gray even as she asked the question.

I let her drive home from in town.

She looks serious in this photo but she giggled and jabbered the whole time.

I just hung on. And prayed for any and all available angels.

She did okay, actually,

but I think having a new puppy in the house would be less stressful!

BTW, I got a new camera. Yey!!!!

Bill and I were in Target a few days ago and you know what I asked him-

"Can I get it please, please?" :)