Steve and Pearl's Blog

July 4th weekend

2010-07-16T01:04:00.000-05:00

We spent the weekend of the 4th in Wisconsin.

It was great to be together for the Krisher reunion!

One problem with those reunions though....

is there is just never enough food!!

Yeah sure, like that is ever a problem!

It's always fun to hear some of their music!

Steve and his brother Brian with four of the step cousins.

They always say they claim them as cousins when they want to

and don't if they don't want to!!??!

Telling "stories" like usual!!

Steve's family that was at the reunion. His niece

Jenny and family had been there too, but left before

this picture was taken.

We had some extra "passengers" on the way home.

We took these three kittens from Uncle Fred and Aunt Elaine's

to Mike and Amanda's. They rode really well considering they

hadn't ever ridden in a vehicle before

Dane wasted no time naming them and playing with them!

The calico kitty is Rosie, the black and white kitty is Bessie

and the orange and white kitty is Sunny.

Grammy shows Nora how to play with the kittys!

We hear they are getting lots of love and attention!

Nora is Two!

2010-07-16T00:15:00.000-05:00

Ok, so we're just a little behind posting!

Our little "princess" has been 2 for a month now.

The day of her party was a beautiful summer

afternoon and we all enjoyed the sunshine!

This gift was a real hit that afternoon!

It was hard to know who was having more fun...

the little kids or the big kids!!!

The play set and playhouse got a

pretty good workout that day too!

We finally got the playhouse put back together

after it's move from the city!

It seemed much larger in that little backyard!

It seemed Dane and Nora were happy

to see the playhouse again!

Chasing bubbles is so much fun!

The family watching the parade on

Sunday afternoon in Kensington!

Dane and Nora watch Grandpa Paul go by in

his Mercury Monterey.

Dane and Nora picked up enough candy

to fill the cookie jar at home!

Ben and Jen joined us for the weekend too!

The Anderson Family with the farm in the background.

Dane and Nora love to walk on these bales.

Memorial Day Weekend

2010-06-09T23:05:00.000-05:00

We had a fun Memorial Day weekend with Mike, Amanda, Dane & Nora. Grampy & Grammy got the kids a playset and it needed to be assembled. We managed to make that project last for most of the weekend but we did take some time to enjoy a baseball game in Kensington on Saturday, a delicious buffet brunch in Alexandria Sunday noon and a hot dog and marshmallow roast over a nice fire Sunday evening.

Dane and Nora are eager to help!

Mike at bat

Mike, Mark, Amanda and Steve attaching the tube slide

Almost finished

Dane and Mommy having a picnic

All finished and ready to play

A BIG MOVE

2010-06-09T22:57:00.000-05:00

Pearl's Dad and Mom have sold sold their farmstead and have moved into a townhouse near Lisbon. We have had several "moving days" in the past month. We've worked hard, but we've had alot of fun too! Ben even made us fresh squeezed lemonade one Saturday while we were hard at it!

Danella was the "chief cook and bottle washer" !

A few views of the farm house pretty much emptied out.

Here's some pictures of Dad and Mom's townhouse.

Some important details...planting a few pots of flowers for Mom!

This is Ron, Cheryl, Caleb, Daniel, Haley and James.

This is the family that has bought Dad and Moms' farmstead.

This picture was taken by Dad and Mom's townhouse.

Haley is in love with the kittens on the farm!

Just like four little girls that lived there many years ago!

Haley and her chickens in the chicken coop at the farm...

....but she loves the chickens alot more than the four little girls did that

lived there years ago liked the chickens!

Our family is so happy to have a nice little family

with lots of activity out on the farm again!

DANE TURNED 4 IN MARCH

2010-06-09T22:52:00.000-05:00

Mommy made Dane this cute cake for his birthday.

He is growing up so fast!

Nora enjoyed Dane's cake too!

Valentines and Presidents Day Weekend

2010-02-25T21:35:00.001-06:00

We both had President's Day off, so we took advantage of it and spent the weekend with some special people. We took care of Dane and Nora on Friday nite with G'pa and G'ma Anderson, while their mommy and daddy enjoyed a nite away. In the morning we joined them in at the Arrowwood and the kiddos played in the waterpark. Then we went on to Gary and Diane's on Saturday. Went to a nice potluck with their friends that evening. Sunday, we and Gary and Diane went down to the cities and joined Ben and Jen and Chad and Sasha for a Valentines dinner theater. Spent Sunday nite back at Gary and Diane's and stopped back at Mike and Amanda's Monday afternoon before returning home.

We're sorry we didn't take more pictures!

Cruisin'

2010-02-25T21:28:00.000-06:00

It already seems like a long time ago that we enjoyed a fun trip with four other couples...here we are ready to board the Carnival Sensation at Port Canaveral. We had a great four day cruise to Freeport and Nassau Bahamas. We laughed and ate ourselves sick!! We have wonderful memories of an awesome week together!

Brian had his birthday on the cruise....of course we celebrated!

We enjoyed a formal dinner each night in the dining room.

Returning home to cooking again is a rude awakening!

Here is a view of Paradise Island at Nassau.

Bruce and Rhonda and we braved it and ate conch salad and fritters

at this roof top cafe in Nassau.

"Lovely Ladies"

(I won't say lovely young ladies)

Merna and Julie enjoying the beautiful sunny day on the deck.

Mark and Brian enjoy the sun!

Some of us visited the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse the day we got off the ship.

Most of us spent a day at Epcot Center in Orlando before we came home.

Events of January

2010-01-25T19:51:00.000-06:00

January is almost gone. It's been a month with cold weather and nice weather...snow and rain. We've been working, relaxing and overall just enjoying the month!!

We had a great weekend when Mike, Amanda, Dane and Nora and Ben and Jen came to visit. With the Anderson's living closer we look forward to more opportunities to spend time together as a family.

Nora is helping Grammy make caramel rolls!

Little Miss Sugar Face with those beautiful blue eyes....The sugar and cinnamon

on the caramel rolls tastes good!

Just hangin' out....

Grammy had found this awesome little starter guitar recently

and Dane thinks it is great to play with Uncle Benny.

Dane shared his little guitar with Jen.

Grampy enjoying some time with the little snuggle bug.

Nora just loves to snuggle!

The weekend after Pearl turned 50 her sweet hubby spoiled her and took her to a lodge. It was very relaxing including a wonderful massage at the spa!

Our wonderful friends Bruce and Rhonda also spent a night at the lodge.

A Godiva chocolate basket from them to console the 50 year old!

We had the renewal spa room which had a whirlpool tub and fireplace.

Both felt fantastic on that cold weekend.

There was even live music Saturday evening in the lobby/sitting area.

This is the mean thing that happened on Pearl's 50th birthday. While visiting a patient in her home, the neighbor backed out of his driveway and ran into the Jetta! Never mind that Pearl is old now and didn't see that she was parked in a "no parking zone." It was a stormy blustery day and really no options of where to park, but honestly didn't see the no parking sign. Our body man will soon have the Jetta looking as good as new!

Wonder what it would take to fix up Pearl's 50 year old body?!!!

This is how 2010 greeted us....BRRRRRR!

Brian and Julie spent New Years weekend with us.

We decided to celebrate at home with steak and lobster.

Brian was a pro at preparing the lobster tails.

Lobster tails ready to broil.

Yummy!!

December Fun with Family

2009-12-30T18:49:00.000-06:00

We were able to get together at Christmas at a motel in Bismarck....we thought for a couple days we may not all be able to make it, but we were fortunate to all get there during the "window of opportunity". It was fun to all be together again and we all had a safe journey home too!

Pearl's sisters thought this the perfect time to celebrate an upcoming milestone birthday

"Excuse me, but I prefer my own glasses! "

Those "coke bottle" glasses look much cuter on Dane!

I guess Grandpa was hungry...it had likely been all of four hours since we had last eaten!

Time for some swimming!

Nora found a friend in Linnea to play in the pool!

Nora loved the pool and wanted her swimsuit on the first thing in the morning. She went to breakfast in her swimsuit both mornings!

Of course, there has to be time to play games!

The girls were kind enough to let the "little people" play on the bed while they visited.

It was blizzarding on Christmas Day, but we were able to make it far enough to have a Christmas buffet dinner.

Dane and Nora came and spent the weekend before Christmas with Grampy and Grammy. It is so wonderful having them close enough to do this.

Bedtime stories with Grampy!

Bathtime is always so much fun....

Playing in the little park by Grampy and Grammy's.

Dane likes the "vintage slide" in the little park!

Nora loves to swing! Big smiles for Grampy!

Making sugar cookies with Grammy....Nora liked to eat the dough!

Helping Grammy decorate the cookies is fun ....

.....but eating them is the best part!

Thanksgiving Weekend

2009-12-28T22:19:00.001-06:00

Chad and Sasha hosted a great Thanksgiving dinner and weekend at

their home. The pressure is on Chad as he has an audience

watching him carve the turkey!

He gets a little advice from his dear old dad, Gary.

Here is all of Gary and Diane's family along with Grandpa and Grandma.

Jen got Grandma to do some bowling on the Wii....

....and Grandpa too!

All eyes are on Steve now!

Here's the gang that spent Saturday after Thanksgiving at Chad and Sasha's.

Fun times playing games!

And tipping the furniture upside down to find lost cards!

Ben's buddy Dane!!

Dane likes Ed too...and I think Ed likes Dane!!

Dane liked the Wii too and here he gets some instruction on tennis from Chad.

Not sure who is teaching who on this one!?!

Maybe Nora is getting some lessons.

Thanks to Chad and Sasha for a fun time!

One last trip to Vegas to visit the "kids"...

2009-11-21T19:42:00.003-06:00

A couple weeks ago we made a trip to LasVegas...very likely our last for a long time! We are so thrilled that the "kids" are moving back closer to us. It will just be a two hour drive now...just a "hop, skip and a jump!" Dane and Nora are both growing up so fast and it will be wonderful to get to see them more often.

Dane helps Grampy disassemble the playhouse to be moved to Minnesota.

Oh this park....lots of wonderful walks through the desert to get to the park. It was about a mile and a half and they frequented it nearly every day. A great place for the kids to wear off some energy!

We will all miss the park, but it will be awesome when they, including Teddy, can run and play on the farm!

Nora toots her horn!

2009-08-17T21:57:00.004-05:00

Nora thought she was pretty clever when she could make this horn toot!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4DtZFINGHY

Another weekend trip and more family

2009-08-16T13:35:00.005-05:00

We went to Al and Pam's in Winona, MN last weekend. Their oldest son Lee and his two children were visiting from California. We got to see their two daughters and their families, too. Sabrina and Jenny live closer to Al and Pam. Steve's brother Doug, his wife Brenda and daughter Karlee also came for the day. Two of Pam's sisters and two brothers were also there so it was a big family gathering! We spent Friday night at Ben's house in Richfield and he and Jenn also drove to Winona for the day.

Lee had baked and was decorating a delicious carrot cake.

It was a hot day, but a perfect evening to sit and visit on the front porch at Al and Pam's.

Jerry and Sabrina's oldest child, Jaina, acted as our maid and served us cake on the front porch.

It was Jerry and Sabrina's 17th wedding anniversary!

Sunday Jerry and Sabrina had us all out for a yummy grilled pork loin for lunch.

A Busy Weekend with Family and Friends

2009-08-15T19:50:00.006-05:00

We enjoyed having Mike, Amanda, Dane and Nora home for a few days the first of August. We had some potlucks while they were home so that they had a chance to see family and friends. It looks like Grammy is more excited to see Nora than Nora is to see Grammy! I think she had some exploring of these new surroundings on her mind.

Several of the family joined us for a picnic at Dead Colt Creek Recreation Area on Saturday evening. It turned out to be a beautiful evening, even though the day started out rather chilly.

Dane and Cade became "buddies" at the picnic on Saturday evening.

Sunday we had a potluck at our house for lunch. Unfortunately, I guess we were too busy to take many pictures! Dane and Payton are just 8 days apart in age....they were having a blast wrestling!

Sedric, Shar, Levi and Emily came to visit us at the campground on Sunday evening. Second cousins, Dane and Levi, are really concentrating on their construction work!

We camped at the park on Sunday evening and enjoyed some time there on Monday.
Dane picked "Momma" some flowers while he and Daddy were out walking.

Great Grandma entertains Nora with a little "Quiet Book" that Great Auntie Diane made for Nora's mommy when she was about the age Nora is now.

Medora and the Beautiful North Dakota Badlands

2009-08-15T18:34:00.006-05:00

We met Calvin and Eileen at Medora for a couple nights of camping one weekend during the middle of July. We enjoyed the Medora Musical, Pitchfork Fondue and the beautiful scenery. We had beautiful weather and enjoyed our time there.

We saw lots of wildlife out in Theodore Roosevelt National Park. We saw some wild horses up close and personal.....

....and lots of buffalo.

Some of them were up close and personal too, but not in this photo.

We saw several elk. These looked so majestic up on the ridge.

A beautiful sunset over Wind Canyon.

Danella was working at Medora this summer. She went out into the park with us Sunday evening to do a little hiking.

A picnic supper. Danella's cousin Kristina worked at Medora this summer too.

Lael

2009-08-15T18:29:00.006-05:00

Steve's Dad's cousin Lael from Washington has been traveling this summer to visit friends and family in the midwest. We were very privileged to have him spend a few days with us!

Alaska

2009-07-03T23:09:00.007-05:00

So...Let's see. What's new with us? Oh yes! we enjoyed an Alaskan cruise last week!! There were actually 28 of us, mostly relatives and family. We all met in Vancouver, BC and boarded the ship MS Statendam on Sunday June 21 for a week. We sailed up the west coast with stops in Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway. We also cruised through Glacier Bay and College Fjord. Words, or even photos for that matter, cannot begin to capture the incredible scenery. We flew into Vancouver on Friday the 19th and had a chance to tour the city on Saturday. It is a beautiful city and there is much to see so we only touched on a few highlights.

A view of downtown from a park across the bay. As you can see, the tide was out.

A park near the hotel where we stayed.

On Sunday afternoon we boarded the ship. We found our accommodations to be quite nice.

Our group after dinner one evening.

Our ship: The MS Statendam with Holland America Cruise Lines

Another view of the ship from Mt. Roberts in Juneau

The atrium

The Van Gogh Theater

The Rotterdam Dining Room

"High Tea" in the afternoon

Dessert Extravaganza!

We and Gary & Diane decided to get up early Monday morning and watch for Orca whales as Diane had been reading that this passage was the place to see them. We didn't see any but by 5:00 a.m. the sun was coming up

On Tuesday, we arrived at Ketchikan, AK. We were told that it rains 360 days a year. The odds of a sunny day weren't in our favor. We had about 8 hours there and spent a good share of our time just walking and shopping. Yes, it was rainy.

We arrived in Juneau at about 7:00 a.m. on Wednesday. The weather was beautiful. Highlights for us were whale watching and hiking.

The first excursion of the day was a wildlife and whale watching tour.

The scenery was beautiful.

Along the way, we spotted these Stellar Sea Lions sunning themselves. They are somehow able to climb virtually straight up the side of those rocks.

We encountered these humpback whales doing what is known as "bubble feeding" where one whale locates a school of herring and signals the others before forming a circle of bubbles around the herring. This traps the fish inside the circle of bubbles so the rest can come up through and have lunch.

"Spouting"

A show of tails.

In the afternoon, we and Gary & Diane rode the tram up Mt. Roberts and then hiked. The views were amazing. That's Juneau below!

Looking the opposite direction.

Thursday morning, we arrived at Skagway. We spent some time shopping and looking around in the morning.

In the afternoon, we boarded the White Pass Rail for a 28 mile journey into the mountains that took us to Fraser, BC.

There, we got off the train and grabbed bicycles for the ride back down on the Klondike Highway.

We caught a few glimpses of the train as we wound our way back down.

A huge glacier in College Fjord.

A close view of Marjerie Glacier in Glacier Bay

This glacier actually has a waterfall under it.

More beautiful scenery our last evening on the ship in College Fjord.

Midnight sun.

We are still alive and well!

2009-05-26T14:51:00.005-05:00

It's been so long since we've posted. Bet you can guess we haven't seen the grandkids lately! There's been more than one day I've been tempted to hop on a plane and fly to LasVegas to warmer, sunnier weather and especially to see Dane and Nora. Oh Mike and Amanda too! Seems that we have had alot of cool, windy weather this spring, but luckily we get a nice day here and there. We haven't done anything spectacular this spring...like running in the Fargo Marathon. Guess maybe we could consider getting Pearl's cousin Hank married off in April a spectacular event! Hank and Beatta were married at the Spectacular Events Center in Isanti, MN! We are so happy for them and wish them many wonderful years together!

There's the simple pleasures in life to enjoy like feeding the birds....

...and running our dog Ralph.

Yesterday was not exactly predictable weather for doing any outdoor activities, so we decided to take a little drive to see how our friends, Ron and Jodi's campground is looking. Now these people have been working hard getting this place up and running. We hope to take our camper sometime and go over and stay at Sheyenne Oaks Horse Campground and RV Park . We aren't into horses, but it would also be a great place to relax and do some hiking and enjoy the quiet and peaceful setting.
We are now looking forward to our Alaskan Cruise with family and friends towards the end of June. It will be here before we know it! Hope you are all enjoying a great spring!

An eventful week in March......

2009-03-28T21:49:00.003-05:00

Ben and his friend Jenn made a quick trip home Friday nite and spent the nite with us. We enjoyed a nice early supper together before they headed home on Saturday evening.

Ben brought Memphis along...this is what he thinks of our dog Ralph. This is his first time to actually have an encounter with Ralph...not sure who was more afraid. Memphis seemed to gain Ralph's respect!

The trees on the golf course have "icicle skirts" on them. You can see the water in Milnor has gone down significantly.

The golf club house still looks flooded though, even though the water has receded alot. We "missed out" on the sandbagging in town while we were gone. We sure appreciate the efforts of many who spent hours keeping ahead of the water. Our house was just fine when we arrived home.

This is a couple shots of the water south of Fargo!

It was quite cloudy as we flew in to Fargo, so we weren't able to get very good pictures, but on this one you can see pretty well how swollen the Red River is.

We enjoyed a fun week with Mike, Amanda, Dane and Nora. We celebrated Dane's 3rd birthday while we were there. Amanda has several pictures of his birthday on her blog. That meant Dane got several new toys. From the assortment of pictures you may not be able to tell who was having more fun...Grampy and Grammy, Mommy and Daddy or Dane and Nora! Thanks for a great time and we miss you all!

President's Day Weekend

2009-02-21T21:09:00.003-06:00

We had a relaxing weekend at Steve's brother Al and his lovely wife Pam's. They live in a beautiful old home in Winona that could easily be a bed and breakfast. Pam also makes a wonderful breakfast. We also were happy to spend some time with both of their girls and their families on Sunday. We spent some time with their boys when we were in Tahoe in January, so we feel "in touch" with their family now!

We enjoyed a delicious Valentines dinner at the

"Signatures" restaurant in Winona on Saturday evening.

Jerry, Sabrina, Jaina, Leanne, Emily and Chet

John, Jenny, Rebecca, Joel and Clayton

Lake Tahoe

2009-02-01T19:58:00.002-06:00

We enjoyed a getaway with the family to Lake Tahoe. It was a combination of skiing, relaxing and babysitting. Our condo was directly below the gondola leading up to Heavenly.

Dane insisted Grampy have a birthday cake there too.

It was fun to have Lee and his kids and Jared visit us.

Sledding on Sunday afternoon before Lee, Selina, Peyton and Jared had to leave.

We took a stroll through Heavenly Village Sunday eve.

Dane loves to help Uncle Benny play the guitar...

He has some big shoes to fill!!

We enjoyed the beautiful scenery of Lake Tahoe from the mountain

Dane gets some ski lessons from Daddy.

Cheering from the sidelines. Here are couple of his greatest cheerleaders.

Ready to ride the gondola up to where the pros ski.

(For more photos, see Mike & Amanda's Blog )

The beach of Lake Tahoe at sunset.

More 50th Birthday Bash

2009-02-01T19:47:00.002-06:00

On Steve's birthday, this is what he was greeted with as he arrived at the front door of the bank. Pearl acted so innocent that but one would have to think that those pictures didn't just come out of his employee file. Anyway, it was a fun day with lots of "ribbing" from staff and customers.

Wonderful times over the holidays!

2009-01-04T20:08:00.003-06:00

It was wonderful to have Ben home for the Christmas weekend. He brought his kitten, Memphis, home with him and Memphis just made himself to home. Memphis is helping Ben write a song on this picture.

We had a nice gathering of family at Dave and Becky's on Christmas day. We had fun doing a Chinese gift exchange. It took Uncle Bob about a half hour to unwrap this gift...it contained much paper and several boxes! Nobody "stole" the gift from him though!

Ben thought he had hit the "jackpot" when he got to steal all this Jacques stuff!

We had a great New Years weekend with alot of our family around. Dad and Mom, Gary and Diane, Lydia and Brandon, Calvin and Eileen, Alex and Kelsey, Danella, John and Anita, Linnea, Alissa, Jackson and Laura. We sure missed the "cousins" that weren't able to be here. Lots of fun playing games and of course eating!!!

This is Max. He was happy to have his blanket, so he could just relax and take a nap! He's getting to be an old dog now!

Here is Poppy. She is Brandon and Lydia's puppy and lives in Texas. She wasn't so sure she likes our cold weather. The wedding ring you see here on this picture was lost in a ditch full of snow the next evening! With the use of a metal detector Saturday morning, the ring was found! The guys lost some snowmobile time searching for a wedding ring, but we were happy we could send Brandon and Lydia back home to Texas with his wedding band on his hand!

Somebody we know is turning 50 later this month, so of course we had to get a jump on that and celebrate while so much of the family was here! Here he is in his office at work, after we all went up to "escort" him home!

Weekend Fun

2008-12-21T20:43:00.003-06:00

So much for spending weekends at home in December! We have enjoyed the last two weekends with Gary & Diane. They had arranged to use their annual timeshare at two different resorts in MN and asked us if we would like to join them. We spent the weekend of Dec 13-14 at Lake Carlos Villas near Alexandria, MN. Pearl's cousin Megan came from Fergus Falls to visit us on Saturday. We knew they were forecasting a winter storm but decided it wouldn't be all bad if we got stranded in a cozy condo by the fireplace : ) As it turned out, we did get a significant storm. Steve was scheduled to work on Monday so we headed for home Sunday afternoon. We had phoned in for a road report and they didn't report any closures so we felt we would be ok. When we got to the Interstate, they had it closed so we started to pick our way home via backroads. By the time we got to Fergus Falls, they had given up on clearing the roads and there was no way for us to get home. Pearl phoned Megan and Dana and we ended up spending an enjoyable evening and night with them! We finally got back to Milnor at about 10:30 Monday morning.

By Saturday evening, the snow had begun to fall and by Sunday morning, we had very little visibility and the temps went from +32 F to -10 in a matter of a few hours.

This was our view from our bedroom window across Lake Carlos. It's a large lake but you really wouldn't know by this!

This weekend, Dec. 20-21, we met Gary & Diane and Dave & Becky at the "Eagles Nest Resort" in Breezy Point, MN. Once again, it was a cold, snowy weekend but we relaxed and enjoyed our time by the cozy fireplace. This time, the weather had moderated by Sunday afternoon so we had an uneventful trip home.

Saturday evening, we stayed in by the fire and enjoyed lasagna and salad thanks to Becky. Thanks too, Gary and Diane for sharing your timeshare with us!

Meeting Memphis

2008-12-01T21:58:00.004-06:00

A couple weeks ago we went to spend a couple nights with Gary and Diane at St Cloud. We are so happy to have them closer to us now....we can actually get together for a weekend! The four of us went to Minneapolis on Saturday. We met Ben's kitty, Memphis. We also went out to eat in downtown Minneapolis at Taste of Thailand with Ben and his friend Sarah and Chad and Sasha.