Think Green!

April 27,2008 Snowman

We had about 12-15" of snow Friday to Saturday-So we made a snowman!

More Snow

April 26, 2008
Bemidji, Minnesota
Overnight there must be at least 8 inches of new snow. Right now, snow is still falling at a good clip. I know the Robins are a little mixed up-Nancy and I had already did most of the yard work and I was hoping to start tilling the garden this weekend-Not any more!

Vacation

Well, I officially went on my first vacation as a grown up by myself. I was a little bit nervous about the whole navigating through airports by myself, but I did pretty good, I didn't miss any flights and I made it home safe and sound with my luggage and everything. I went on a vacation to North Carolina for about 5 days to visit one of my friends from nursing school who moved out there. It was fun and relaxing. I had never really been out to the East Coast, so it was nice being out there. We spent a couple days on the beach and then spent the rest of the time sight seeing and just relaxing. I definitely needed to relax because I moved to a new apartment a couple days before I left on vacation. So, when I got home from vacation, I had to clean my old apartment from top to bottom and unpack all of my stuff at my new apartment. I finally finished cleaning my old apartment today and I'm slowly unpacking at my new place. My goal is to have the majority of my stuff unpacked and put away before I go back to work on Monday night. I took 36 hours of PTO and I had a total of 12 days off in a row. It's been wonderful and it will probably be hard to go back to work. But, I just thought I'd put up a lil update on my life and a couple pictures from vacation. Hope everyone is doing well. I don't know if anyone is planning on making a trip down to Rochester for Grandpa's recovery, but I'm planning on going to Rochester next Friday and staying the weekend, so hopefully I'll be able to see some of you!!

Wild Vermilion, Who Knew?

Wild Vermilion, Who Knew

In the March/April issue of Volunteer magazine, the article "Vision for Vermilion," caught me by surprise. They (DNR) are proposing a new state park on land currently owned by US Steel. The funding for the 3,000 acres is being debated in the current session of the Minnesota Legislature and time is running out because the DNR has until sometime in July to reach an agreement. The other alternative is for this shoreline to be a subdivision with approximately 150 homes.

What an opportunity for us and future outdoor enthusiastists! Log on to

www.mndnr.gov/volunteer to view the slideshow and learn more about this wonderful proposal.

I'm Back (again)

As some of you may know our computer took a dive again-but we're back in business again. When we go it backed and checked e-mail, there was a laptop on Tiger direct for $399-our repair was $250?????
Anyway it was a nice break but I am happy to be back on line.

Art Show

Morgan had her first art showing last Saturday afternoon. She made a storyteller statue in her art class with her student teacher, Mrs. Edwards. Mrs. Edwards is a student at St. Catherine's, where both Carol and Nancy S. went to school.

The storyteller is just that, a sculpture of a person telling a story.

Here's Morgan with her storyteller:

Morgan chose to mold her storyteller after her Nana. The orange and yellow areas on the sculpture are Nana's cats.



Of course, Nana and Papa Tom had to attend the opening, and we all had a great time. After the show, we went to Snuffy's Malt Shop to celebrate. Here are some of the other students' artwork we saw as well.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Star Wars

I think my favorite part of this entire video, which is great for so many reasons, is the fact that they sang the theme song through the entire thing. Great continuity!

Brooke Social Experment

Nancy was looking to buy Broke a nice little gift. I suggested we try something a bit different. I think we should open a Roth IRA (or something similar) in her name and we could all send her $$$ into this account instead of cute little outfits. Pete do you have any suggestions? How can we make her a millionaire?

How to use masking tape when you are drunk

Hoppy Easter!

Matt & I are adjusting well to parenthood and enjoying every second of it! It's hard to believe Brooke is already over 2 weeks old! We had our newborn pictures taken yesterday and she was a queen! She was wide awake and didn't even wimper once until the last picture. We can't wait to get the pictures and share them with you. We hope to make a visit to Bemidji sometime in April for you all to meet her. Hope you are all doing well! Take care,

Matt & Mandy

Introducing Brooke Adyson Saunders

2-23-08 11:40 p.m

6lbs. 15oz. 19 inches long

To Matt

lunar eclipse

Anyone venture outside tonight to view the lunar eclipse? I stepped out a few times and realized how nice it was to have clear skies.

The eclipse was pretty cool, in my opinion. The moon had an orange-ish tint to it as the sunlight was bent through the Earth's atmosphere.

Grandpa Bryce-FYI

Dad got out of the hospital today-Don came to town and brought him home on Saturday-Good news!

To be posted VERY LOW on the refrigerator door - pet nose height.

To be posted VERY LOW on the refrigerator door - pet nose height. Dear Dogs and/or Cats: The dishes with the paw prints are yours and contain your food. The other dishes are mine and contain my food. Please note, placing a paw print in the middle of my plate and food does not stake a claim for it becoming your food and dish, nor do I find that aesthetically pleasing in the slightest. The stairway was not designed by NASCAR and is not a racetrack. Beating me to the bottom is not the object. Tripping me doesn't help because I fall faster than you can run. I cannot buy anything bigger than a king sized bed. I am very sorry about this. Do not think I will continue sleeping on the couch to ensure your comfort. Dogs and cats can actually curl up in a ball when they sleep. It is not necessary to sleep perpendicular to each other stretched out to the fullest extent possible. I also know that sticking tails straight out and having tongues hanging out the other end to maximize space is nothing but sarcasm. For the last time, there is no secret exit from the bathroom. If by some miracle I beat you there and manage to get the door shut, it is not necessary to claw, whine, meow, try to turn the knob or get your paw under the edge and try to pull the door open. I must exit through the same door I entered. Also, I have been using the bathroom for years --canine or feline attendance is not required. The proper order is kiss me, then go smell the other dog or cat's butt. I cannot stress this enough! To pacify you, my dear pets, I have posted the following message on our front door: To All Non-Pet Owners Who Visit & Like to Complain About Our Pets: 1. They live here. You don't. 2. If you don't want their hair on your clothes, stay off the furniture. That's why they call it "fur"niture. 3. I like my pets a lot better than I like most people. 4. To you, they are an animal. To me, he/she is an adopted son/daughter who is short, hairy, walks on all fours and doesn't speak clearly. Remember: Dogs and cats are better than kids because they: 1. Eat less 2. Don't ask for money all the time 3 Are easier to train 4. Normally come when called 5. Never ask to drive the car 6. Don't hang out with drug-using friends 7. Don't smoke or drink 8. Don't have to buy the latest fashions 9. Don't want to wear your clothes 10. Don't need a gazillion dollars for college, and... 11. If they get pregnant, you can sell their children.

Late Winter

I always liked February for a couple of reasons. You can see spring from here and the sun gets a bit higher each day and stays out a little longer. It feels like there may be some heat in the sun again. In the last few days its been a bit colder but there was at least 30 degrees difference from the time I got up to the mid afternoon. I was scraping some snow off my roof on Sunday and by the time I got some scraped off-there was snow melting and water dripping off my roof.
The fish houses have got to come off in sometime Feburary too...and then breakup...I like late winter because I really like spring, summer and fall!

Emma & Morgan's 1st Motorcycle Ride

Back in September 2007 the girls enjoyed their first motorcycle ride with Uncle Matt. Here's the video of them enjoying their rides! (I hope I'm doing this right. This is the first time I've uploaded video!)

Tubing

Here's a quick little video of me tubing in Kimball, MN. Enjoy!

Ground Hogs Day Feb 2nd

What does a sleepy, furry marmot have to do with seasonal change? According to fans of Punxsutawney Phil, everything! Their enthusiasm for Groundhog Day is undeniable, but to discover how it all fits together, we'll have to do a little digging.
Groundhog Day is a direct descendent of Candlemas, which, for early Christians, was a day to bless and distribute candles—a hot commodity in the days before electric light, especially during the cold, dark winter. Seasonal Affective Disorder notwithstanding, the early Christians found a way to make the dismal season a bit cheerier: they decided that clear skies on Candlemas Day meant a longer winter. There may have been some wagering; there was probably a certain amount of partying. By the time this tradition reached Germany, the groundhog and his shadow had entered the story. When the Germans came to Pennsylvania, they brought their traditions—including the marmot—with them. The quirky fun developed into what we now celebrate as Groundhog Day. But where does Punxsutawney Phil fit in?
In 1887, a spirited group of groundhog hunters from Punxsutawney dubbed themselves "The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club." One member of the club was an editor of Punxsutawney's newspaper. Using his editorial clout, he proclaimed Punxsutawney Phil, the local groundhog, to be the one and only official weather prognosticating groundhog. He issued this proclamation on, appropriately enough, Groundhog Day. Punxsutawney Phil's fame began to spread, and newspapers from around the globe began to report Punxsutawney Phil's Groundhog Day predictions. Today, 20,000 fans come to Punxsutawney on Groundhog Day to experience this unique—and fun—tradition. For more information about the evolution of Groundhog Day and the story of Punxsutawney Phil, visit Punxsutawney's official Groundhog site
And by the way-6 more weeks of winter-(Dah-we live in Northern Minnesota!

Font Size

Since it is hard for me to read the blog well due to my eyesight-I am asking that you enlarge the font when posting on the blog. To do that just click on the two Ts next to the font button and select a bigger size.
Thanks for your help!
GM Hildur

Grandma Says

Hi everyone-
I went to the doctor and they took some pictures and found an golf ball sized gall stone-I'll have to get it mounted-Once I get stronger I will have it removed-I will be seeing the surgeon on the 12th of Feb-I will keep you posted!

Star Sightings in LA

Randee asked me to give you all an update on her star sighting-Hellen Hun and Dustin Hoffman-She even got one of the stars e-mail address-to send them updates on an artist. Pretty Cool!

No Way Dude

Sightings at the LA ART SHOW-Miranda left us a voice mail...

Patricia Heaton
Owen Wilson
William Shatner (Denny Crane) Carol-eat your heart out!

Emma and Morgan are selling cookies

Hi, this is Emma and Morgan. We're selling girl scout cookies! would anyone like to buy any? They make great gifts! If you don't want any you can donate to the girl soldier our Brownie troop has adopted in Iraq. And they're really yummy too!!!!!!!We are selling through feb. 3 and the cookies will come march 1. The cookies are $3.50 a box, and there are 8 kinds. Mom says we'll drive to Bamidgey to visit and give you your cookies!

Thanks! You can pay when you get your cookies! (OUr favorites are tagalongs and lemon challet creams.)

Emma and Morgan

Updated E-mail Addresses Please....

The countdown begins and exactly a month from tomorrow, our little one is due! It is really starting to get exciting and I must say if she comes a couple of weeks early -- that would be just fine with me (as long as it's after the 10th of Feb. as Carol would say).

We're trying to update all of our e-mail addresses as St. Johns, where I'll be delivering, now has wireless access so we plan to bring the laptop and download her first photos to share with everyone.

Please let us know what your current e-mail addresses are (and if you know of those who don't frequent the family blog - send those too) so we can send you all an e-mail when she arrives. You can either e-mail us directly at mmsaunders02@comcast.net or just post them on the blog.

Looking forward to planning a visit this spring so everyone can meet her!

Mandy

Los Angeles Art Show

In case you don't have anything to do next weekend you can visit Miranda at this show. She will be attending this show! See pictures below to see people who have gone before!
http://www.laartshow.com/gala.html

The Premier Art Party Of The Year
The Honorable Antonio R. Villaraigosa Mayor, City of Los Angeles
Honorary Chair
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
An evening of fine art, food, wine, and music, the Los Angeles Art Show Opening Night Gala launches the LA Art Show’s four day weekend at the Barker Hangar.
Chaired by Mayor Villaraigosa, the Gala brings together art lovers, artists, collectors, and dealers from across the globe. Proceeds from the gala benefit the ArtMuseum Council and the Prints andDrawing Council of LACMA.
Patron Donor Reception6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Opening Night Gala7:00 PM - 10:00
PM$200.00 in advance$250.00 at the door
Substantial hors d’oeuvres provided by LA’s finest restaurants and caterers
Complimentary wine, beer and select cocktails / Live Music / Festive Attire
125 gallery openings inone space, in one night
Opening Gala tickets available from theArt Museum CouncilInformation: 323.857.6149Tickets: 323.857.6501
PATRON DONOR SPONSORSHIP LEVELS
Diamond Sponsor $25,000.00
Platinum Sponsor $10,000.00
Emerald Sponsor $5,000.00
Gold Sponsor $2,500.00
Silver Sponsor $1,000.00
Bronze Sponsor $500.00

Stay in Bed Weekend

Just in case you have nothing to do-or don't want to do anything...
Its stay in bed weekend! at LMN (Lifetime Movie Network) or what I like to call the Ladies Movie Network! Click on the link on the title to see a quick commercial on Youtube.

Hot Tub Weather

Bemidji Waetherbug at 5:45 am Saturday Morning

WEATHER ALERT!
F-25.0 Current

Hi: -7° Todays High

Lo: -23° F Todays Low

Forecast
Sunny. Highs 5 to 10 below. West winds around 10 mph. Wi. more...



• Forecast• Radar• News• Cameras

Update on Carol

I just talked to my mom tonight from St. Joe's Hospital, and she asked if I would give everybody an update. A brief history for anybody who is not aware: Saturday morning while having coffee Carol had some pain in her chest that didn't go away. She ended up going to the emergency room, and after about 24 hours of tests and observations the doctors determined that she had had a small heart attack.

They did an angiogram this morning and found two small blockages in small coronary arteries. So the angiogram turned into an angioplasty procedure. The doctors widened both of the blockages, and from all reports this should help matters. Mom will be meeting with the doctor tomorrow to discuss what he saw and what it means long term in more detail, so I don't have a lot more info to share at the moment. But the news sounds good, and other than being a little crabby from lying flat on her back for 8 hours (required after an angiogram) she sounded pretty positive.

Right now the plan is that she'll be staying at St. Joe's tonight and tomorrow, and then will get to go home on Wednesday. St. Joe's has a feature similar to the Bemidji hospital where you can email a patient, and that functionality can be found here. So if you have a minute or two send an email, I'm sure Carol would enjoy receiving and reading them.

I'm Back

Did you miss me?
My HD crashed again before Christmas-and I am just now getting the computer back and running-
This time I have learned my lesson (I'm pretty hardheaded) and now I have a jump drive to back up stuff-I am also going to pick up a external HD and do an auto back up-
It was kind of a nice break...not to be the computer

White Christmas

Here in Central Wisconsin, we are definitely going to have a white Christmas. Saturday night we got hit with about 9 inches of fresh snow along with winds gusting up to 40 mph. Good thing I went grocery shopping on Saturday morning before it hit. I've attempted to leave my apartment, but there is a 3 foot snow drift right outside my door. I do have a shovel, so I could shovel myself out except the fact that it's in my garage which is on the other side of the building. It is nice not to have to shovel because I live in an apartment complex, but it's not much fun having to rely on others to shovel me out. Hopefully they will come plow me out soon because my parents and Nathan and Katie are coming over here for supper tonight before Christmas Eve service at church. Then, we'll be heading out to my parents house. Nathan and Katie are bringing the dogs with them, so it will be good to see them as well once again. Tomorrow we will be having Christmas for my mom's side of the family at our home. I was supposed to go to my mom and dad's house yesterday to make lefse for the festivities, but I was stuck at my apartment. Merry Christmas everyone!!! Hope everyone's holiday is wonderful!

Christmas Season has started

We look forward to Christmas each year. A time to reconnect with our families. This year we were short one of our family members-Miranda. She started a new job recently and felt she could not come home- And we miss her.
Our family has chosen to draw names for gifts. This is the 2nd time we did this and I am so glad we did. It is so nice no to have to worry about buying tons of stuff which most of us don't need (or maybe want) anyway. We are in Duluth and we had our Christmas yesterday. We had loads of fun, playing games, eating a great vegan meal and enjoying some drinks. We just enjoyed each other...its nice to give stuff but its so much better to just give a bit of time and spend time with our families.
I hope you all can enjoy your Christmas with your own families and I hope to see some of you over the holidays.
Merry Christmas to All!

Dog saves woman's life in house fire

The house that burned down is just one street over from where we live!

 

EAGAN, Minn. (AP) - Woman's best friend? A dog who saves her from a fire.

Cathy Minnig was exercising on her basement treadmill Wednesday night, wearing music headphones, when her Labrador puppy began jumping on and off the couch and otherwise acting strange.

Fire Chief Mike Scott said Minnig took off her headphones to hear fire alarms. She ran upstairs to find her living room engulfed in flames. Minnig grabbed the dog and ran outside, Scott said.

Both woman and dog were OK. Minnig's two sons weren't home at the time.

 

You can read the full story here:  Dog's warning credited with saving Eagan, Minn., woman from house fire

 

quilts

grandma saysi just had to show off my latest quilt. gary was here yesterday -took the pictures an put them on the blog. the colors do not show up real good but they are several shades of purple. there is a little green in the flowered part. i am using it on our bed as a soread
i finally finished my baking. i am sure all of you are only interested in the "burner" cookies.

My New Quilt

Car 54, where are you?

I found this amusing!

MAPLEWOOD, Minn. (AP) - A woman suspected in a burglary found a convenient getaway: the squad car of the officers who arrested her.

McKenzie Schafer, 27, of Minneapolis was arrested and handuffed Sunday by officers investigating the theft of a laptop from the North St. Paul Athletic Association building. Court papers say when officers went back into the building after putting Schafer in the back of their squad, she got into the front and drove away.

She was later caught in front of a sandwich shop by officers in another squad car. Schafer told police she took the squad to help look for the men who burglarized the building.

She was charged in Ramsey County District Court with two counts of burglary and one count of escaping from custody.

 

Here's a link to the story if you're interested.

They're baaack!

In the movie Poltergeist the little girl looks into the TV screen and says in a really eerie voice, "They're heeereee!"  In the not nearly as scary and not nearly as good Poltergeist II the little girl looks into the screen and says in a similarly eerie voice, "They're baaaack!"  We're never fully sure who "they" are, since she's looking at a tv screen that's all snow when she says the line.  It's hard to imagine something that would be "baaaack" and cause more fright than a poltergeist.

 

Unless it's zubaz.

 

Next thing you know, they'll revive the old American Gladiator TV show.  Wouldn't that be scary!

Links and posting

Earlier last week Gary wrote a post about a website called SparkPeople.com that he uses to track calories and weight related items.  He asked me if I could add a link to the Family Blog so it would be easy for him and anybody else to easily remember where it is.  I finally got around to doing that this evening.  I put a header in there too, creatively titled "Links".  So if anybody else has websites that they think the family blog should link to, let me know and I can easily add them.

Also, this post was made via email.  I've got the blog set up so I can go into whatever email client I'm using, send an email and it will magically transform itself into a blog post.  Pretty neat, eh?  I know some of you might be interested in a feature like this so I decided to play around with it.  It's really easy to do.  So if you want me to try to set things up so you can do the same, let me know.

I hope everybody had a nice Thanksgiving and is enjoying the snow we've had so far.  It's made biking pretty difficult this past week, but that's what makes life interesting.  Ciao!

Streaker

Lets Say Thanks

I know some of us have been directly afftected by the war, some of us have been there, others have had someone very close to you who has been involved.
I figure this is something we can all do to show appreciation to those of you who have served and for those who are there now!
Thanks to all who have been there, who are there now and who are going!

We would not be here without you!!!!!

Something cool that Xerox is doing.

If you go to this web site, www.LetsSayThanks.com you can pick out a thank you card and Xerox will print it and it will be sent to a soldier that is currently serving in Iraq . You can't pick out who gets it, but it will go to some member of the armed services. How AMAZING it would be if we could get everyone we know to send one!!!This is a great site. Please send a card. It is FREE and it only takes a second.Wouldn't it be wonderful if the soldiers received a bunch of these? Whether you are for or against the war, our guys and gals over there need to know we are behind them.

Remember Pearl Harbor Day!!

Nursery Project

Daddy's hard work sure did pay off! The nursery is complete (minus a couple of things to hang on the walls!) Sure, we're pretty partial but we just LOVE it!

Mountain Swooping

This video is simply amazing.



I'm not sure if I would puke, lose control of my bodily functions or completely relax and enjoy the ride. Maybe all three!

Just a few winter pictures after about 8" of snow fell in a 12-18 hour period. We had already cleaned off these areas about 5pm last night so this is what fell into the evening and overnight.

Wost Christmas Decorations Picture Contest

I would like everyone to keep your cameras ready and see who can capture and post the worst, most gaudy decorations this year.

You know what I am talking about...those plastic nativity scenes (made in china)...those foux snowmen...the blow ups...on and on and one and on....

I bet I win. Already I have see the blow ups comming out-you know those giant ugly blow up figures of balloons with a santa inside. We sure have a bunch of those around town. On my way to Red Lake, I found a house with at least 10 of these around the house. I will try to get a picture and post it soon.

I bet it should be easy around Mpls and Duluth to find these winners...

I just hope you do not have to take the picture in your own front yards to win this contest.

Spark People

I have been a member of this site for quite some time. Its called Spark People. It's a healthy lifestyle type site that helps with tracking diet and exercise and provides tips and articles about healthy choices. Anyway since using this site I have gotten my blood pressure back to my recommended ranges. No meds.

I am confident my high cholesterol has reduced (350 at the highest) as well because of diet changes but I have not verified that lately. With meds I had it down to about 250 but for the last year or so I have been life choices that help reduce cholesterol.

Anyway please take a look and take a bit of time on this site and see if you could benefit as well. I was hoping that Carol and Anna could preview this and give some feedback as well.

I have also asked Peter to put a link on the home page for a quick access.

Best of all, its free.

Winter Wonderland

I don't know about the rest of you, but we definitely got quite the snowstorm yesterday. I left my apartment at about 10:30 to go to a baby shower about an hour away and it wasn't snowing yet. I finally got home at 5 and we had gotten about 7 inches of snow. Days like that I really wish I had a truck. I barely made it into my apartment complex's driveway. To top it off, we got some freezing rain on top of all the snow overnight. I'm just happy I don't have anywhere to go until I have to go to work at 7 pm tonight. Hopefully the snow will be cleared by then. Hope everyone had a good weekend!

Theo

Most of you have met our dog Theo, either because you've visited us and been subjected to his overzealous greetings. Or you may have met him at the annual camping trip or when we packed him into the back of the van for a trip to Bemidji and other towns where family resides.

Theo died over the Thanksgiving weekend. We spent the weekend with Nancy's folks out in Lamberton, and sometime on Friday Theo disappeared. After an hour or two I went out in the car looking for him, and talked to a few of the neighbors. When Nancy got home from a shopping trip with her mom, she and Morgan went out again looking (Emma would have gone, but wasn't feeling well), but came home when it got too dark to see. Around 6:30 or so Theo just showed up at the back door, looking all happy and fine. He ate a little bit, but not much. We were up late that night playing Risk, and let the dogs out around 1:30 in the morning and everything seemed normal. But when Nancy's dad woke up the next morning he found Theo. It looks like he just died in his sleep.

He had a pretty good run, all in all, and I think it's easier to have him go this way than it would have been to decide to put him down. We're still finding clumps of his hair around the house and missing him. Bailey seems especially sad, so much so that she's not even all that excited about food. And with Bailey that's saying a lot! The kids think we should get another dog, but we're going to wait until after the holidays before deciding if we get another one.

2007 Thanksgiving at the Saunders'

Here's the happy little group that gathered around the Thanksgiving table at our house last week. Can you see the little Buddha just waiting to join our family next year?