Steve and Pearl's Blog

Our Family Invades Hawaii

noreply@blogger.com (Stvnprl) — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 04:23:00 +0000

Many of our family (22 at one point) vacationed in Kauai and Oahu in February. The 10 days we spent there were wonderful...a welcome break from the snow and cold weather!

This is the front of the eight bedroom home we rented for a week

at Anahola Bay on Kauai.

It worked out really well for our group!

This is looking up to the back of the house from the beach.

The little geckos that inhabit this house were nice enough to share it with us.....

and they seemed to come out to socialize if they heard music!!

Great wide open space in the living area for socializing, eating, cooking!

This is a view from the back of the house looking down to the beach!

Literally a hop, skip and a jump!

We were up before sunrise the first morning. Not usual for most of our family, but the four hour time difference had us confused...and it was beautiful to watch the sunrise down at the beach!

This picture was taken of Ben and Jen, 24 hours after he

proposed to her on the beach at sunrise....we are so happy for them!

They are hoping for a September wedding.

The beautiful sunrise brought out the romantic side in

John and Anita...

Alissa, Jackson and Laura playing in the waves.

Jackson is in the wave if you look hard enough.

The four sisters....

Anita, Pearl, Eileen, Diane

A bunch of us headed out for a hike

Gary and Diane made the hike!

Ben and Jen taken on the peak.

They were on "top of the world".

The four of us girls with Dad and Mom at Waimea Canyon on Kauai.

Alissa, Anita, John, Jackson and Laura

Carissa and Ed

We visited this coffee plantation.

Wailua Falls

Grammy and Nora

Kilauea Lighthouse on the north shore of Kauai

Danella, Eileen and Calvin

Mom and Dad

Dad got wet to his knees shortly after this picture when a huge wave broke!

Dane and Nora add lots of life to our family!

We spent a day down at Poipu.

Mom and Diane strolling through Allerton Gardens.

We learned that Eileen is the same age age these trees

that you see the roots of in this picture at Allerton Gardens.

We loaded up kayaks and went up the Wailua River and then hiked up to the beautiful Secret Falls

Our fearless leader Ed helping everybody across the river as we hiked!

Great Grandpa and Grandma with Dane and Nora, waiting to ride

the train at the Kilohana Plantation in Lihue.

Dane and Nora love train rides.

This picture was taken one morning at the home we rented

on Laniloa Point near Laie on the north shore of Oahu. We were still waking early enough to watch the beautiful sunrises.

Great Grandpa and Grandma and Dane sitting in the

shade on the beach

Nora posing with Dane in Grampy's hat!

Taking another train ride on the Pineapple Express

at the Dole Pineapple Plantation

Sunrise at Honolulu as we were hiking up the Diamond Head trail.

Steve at the top of the Diamond Head Trail

overlooking Waikiki Beach.

USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor

Dad and Mom, Gary and Diane, Ed and Carissa

at Pearl Harbor.

We had great times and have wonderful memories of our time together!

Winter Happenings

noreply@blogger.com (Stvnprl) — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 05:51:00 +0000

Here are some random pictures of the past couple of months. Winter has been full force, but we have managed to get around and have some company part of the time!

Last weekend we went down to Minneapolis. Ben had a project that he wanted a little help with from his Dad.

Here's Memphis...he greets Ben and Jen at the back door and wants some attention.

Memphis seems to really like "his new home."

Ben and his dad enjoying a cup of coffee and a visit!

Ben's home owner's insurance required his front step have a second railing, so the guys spent quite a lot of the daylight hours working on that project. Luckily, it wasn't -20 that weekend! They did a great job!

We didn't get to spend time with Mike, Amanda, Dane and Nora during Christmas

and New Years, but they came to visit the weekend after New Years.

Here's our beautiful daughter and grand daughter!!

Grampy reading bed time stories to Dane and Nora....

Dane had asked for a red barn, so here's Mike and Grampy putting

together his red barn.

Grampy and our little farmer Dane playing with his new grain bin set up.

Nora sitting on the counter having a snack. There are the

beautiful roses I got from my hubby for my birthday!

Dane and Mike spent alot of the day Saturday "skiing."

Yep, that's right....Mike is pulling Dane behind the bike!!

Snow and icicles

We thought we had alot of snow when this picture was taken,

but we have more now!!

The next few pictures were taken at Mike and Amanda's on Thanksgiving weekend.

Grammy reading Nora bedtime stories.

Mike and Amanda had Mike's sister's kittens at their place for the weekend.

Here they are all snuggled up on Nora's bed. Don't they look cozy?

Nora really loved the kittens!

So did Jen! They were at such a fun, playful stage!

Dane and Grampy have matching winter coats. Totally unplanned!

There is alot more snow than this now at the Anderson farm!

We hope everyone is staying warm and having a good winter!!

Veterans Day Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (Stvnprl) — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 23:16:00 +0000

It had been a few years since we had been to Pearl's sister Anita's house near Lumsden, SK. We took advantage of the Veterans Day holiday and payed John & Anita and family a visit. They have such a beautiful place! We also got our first taste of winter 2010/2011

The great view from their living room window.

Friday, Jackson went goose hunting with his cousins Jeff and Jayden. They had some success.

In the evening, we all enjoyed a delicious dinner at Jodi & Jeff's house.

John & Anita got their patio finished. We decided that we'll have to go back in the summertime and enjoy it :-)

Saturday, the kids decided to try the snowboard behind the four-wheeler (or "quad" as our northern friends and family say). I think Maggie is encouraging Jackson to be careful.

Laura is taking guitar lessons. She asked Uncle Steve to help her put some new strings on her guitar.

Sunday morning brought this beautiful sunrise as seen through the frosty trees.

Meet Murphy! We picked up this adorable puppy from some friends of John & Anita on Sunday evening. Maggie wasn't sure what to think about her new little brother.

Grammy & Grampy Time

noreply@blogger.com (Stvnprl) — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 21:27:00 +0000

The first weekend of November, we enjoyed having Dane & Nora stay with us on Friday night while Mommy & Daddy enjoyed a little getaway to celebrate Amanda's birthday. The kids (especially Dane) had a lot of fun building with Lincoln Logs.

Dane was pretty proud of his house design.

Of course Grampy got to join the fun :-)

Nora loves to help Grammy in the kitchen. She's making bread here.

The weather outside was just beautiful! We enjoyed playing in the park, walking with Ralph and doing a little "driveway farming".

Mike & Amanda spent Saturday evening & night with us.

"Daddy, I can eat this brownie with my itty bitty spoon myself, ok?"

Is it really November?

noreply@blogger.com (Stvnprl) — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 03:23:00 +0000

It's been months since we have posted on here and we have so many pictures that we don't know where to start....but we'll give you just a brief update of recent happenings!

The picture below is Ben's living room in the home he is buying in South Minneapolis

It has recently been renovated and should make him a nice first home!

We had a good crew helping him get moved in on Halloween weekend. Here are Randy and Laurie (Jen's mom and dad) and Steve installing blinds under the supervision of Ben!!

Ben and Jen making some breakfast on Saturday morning in his nice kitchen.

Saturday evening we had lots of visitors, including 6 week old Ava. She is Ben's cousin Chad's little girl. Glad they could come over for a little while so we could meet their little dolly!

Here we are at Ben's place that he rented for four years....having a delicious meal in the screened porch. He and Jen cooked for us as we were coming through the cities after a late September weekend in Wisconsin to visit Steve's brother Delmar.

Here we are with Delmar and Mike, Amanda, Dane and Nora.

We had a five day trip to Paris the first week of September. We went with our good friends Bruce and Rhonda and had a wonderful time!! We could bore you for hours with pictures from that trip!

There's nothing like our wonderful summer walks along the shore of Storm Lake in Milnor with our good ol' friend Ralph.....he's been with us since he adopted us 12 years ago.

Gorgeous sunset over Storm Lake!

We were to Minnesota in August to celebrate Steve's brother Alan and his wife Pam's anniversary. She has been his beautiful bride for 40 years!!

Here they are with their four children and nine grandchildren.

Our children and grandchildren were there too!

Couldn't resist posting this picture of the girls with all of their cute aprons that Sabrina and Jenny sewed!

After Amanda saw those cute aprons, she had Sabrina sew these matching aprons for her and Nora! Now they can cook up a storm!

In the Good Ol' Summertime

noreply@blogger.com (Stvnprl) — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 18:56:00 +0000

A couple weeks ago Mike, Amanda, Dane and Nora and Ben and Jen were home. It was Milnor's All Class Reunion, so Amanda and Ben went to some of those events. It was good, hot summer weather. Dane and Nora enjoyed the little pool we set up in the yard. Grampy and Grammy took them swimming in the big pool too,which they really liked too, but unfortunately we didn't take any pictures there.

It's been 10 years since Ben graduated from high school. He's

the guy in the white shirt on the front of this trailer with

those from Milnor High School Class of 2000

This is just a fraction of the candy we collected during the parade.

We sat at the end of the parade route and I think everybody just

threw the remainder of the candy they had left at us when they saw our

adorable grandkids! (no conceit there, huh? ) Glad we could

divide it out amongst all of us, Mike and Amanda and Ben and Jen.

Here is Dane with his "prize" from the parade. One of the class floats decided to throw this graduate bird off for him. Not sure where he ended up once they took him home, but Dane was sure he should go home with them!

After the parade Miss Nora was hot and exhausted and ready for snuggles and a nap. Not sure if Jen or Nora was enjoying the snuggles the most here?!

Ben soon decided it was a great time to snuggle and nap too!

Just give Nora a pen and paper and she will stay busy "writing" for a long time. Just be careful what clothes she has on or what might be around her because she will write on more than the paper sometimes! Oh, and she will give herself tatoos sometimes too! So be sure you have some good soap.

Nora gets "up close and personal" with Memphis (Ben's cat). He tolerates her

for a little bit. He looks so much like Dane and Nora's kitty Sunny.

Sunny is so very tolerant of all of Nora's love, so I think she is

a little confused as to why Memphis behaves quite differently.

Sunday was a beautiful day so we took advantage of it and

visited the Chahinkapa Zoo in Wahpeton on Sunday afternoon when

the 'kids" were all on their way back home.

Watching the camels....

The otters look like they are having so much

fun as they glide through the water....

Nora isn't so sure she wants the donkey

to eat from her hands.

You can't go to the Chahinkapa Zoo without taking

a ride on the beautiful carousel.

It was a fun weekend....

we hope they all come back again soon!

July 4th weekend

noreply@blogger.com (Stvnprl) — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 06:04:00 +0000

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!

noreply@blogger.com (Stvnprl) — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 05:15:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Stvnprl) — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 04:05:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Stvnprl) — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 03:57:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Stvnprl) — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 03:52:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Stvnprl) — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 03:35:00 +0000

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'

noreply@blogger.com (Stvnprl) — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 03:28:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Stvnprl) — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 01:51:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Stvnprl) — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 00:49:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Stvnprl) — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 04:19:00 +0000

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"...

noreply@blogger.com (Stvnprl) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 01:42:00 +0000

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!

noreply@blogger.com (Stvnprl) — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 02:57:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Stvnprl) — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 18:35:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Stvnprl) — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 00:50:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Stvnprl) — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 23:34:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Stvnprl) — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 23:29:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Stvnprl) — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 04:09:00 +0000

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!

noreply@blogger.com (Stvnprl) — Tue, 26 May 2009 19:51:00 +0000

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......

noreply@blogger.com (Stvnprl) — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 02:49:00 +0000

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!