Cyber space and gramma

I love his face, his enthusiasm for life, how he enjoys making others smile.
Not always perfectly behaved - but always enthusiastically involved in life.  I pray that he will always understand how important he is to our family.  Our only little guy so far, struggling to stay a foot among all us girls,
telling us stories to make us laugh,
pushing his momma's buttons until he is sure she is upset.
Dancing around, constant moving...
making bebop noises, sometimes not in the appropriate places...
but always trying to bring joy to people, always blessing others.
He is quiet and we wonder what is going on?
It appears as though K has a new game on his Ipod...
gramma doesn't have a clue of the game,
but I must admit I see a bonding going on between fellows...
a love that I don't understand but can not deny is there.
As I see him sit next to his friend and they build a house in cyber space...
I relax and remember I don't have to understand everything.
Sometimes it is best just to sit back and enjoy the smile.

The paper Christmas tree

She told me the story over the phone.
Going out to have coffee and conversation with a friend, she leaves her apartment with a kiss and a see you in a little while.
I imagine them getting right to work, her daddy and her.
Going to the Dollar Tree and getting some Christmas paper and tape.
When they get back home they measure, cut and tape...
we must hurry,
gotta find the lights and ornaments before momma gets home.
Finally it is ready - they plug in the long cord and it lights up the pretty paper against the white stone wall.
When she arrives home from coffee,
she closes her eyes and her baby girl takes her by the hand...
standing there in the dark,
her eyes open to the lights of a paper Christmas tree...
made totally of love,
and a few small things from the dollar store.
Merry Christmas momma...
Merry Christmas baby girl!
I think if a daddy and a little girl can always be this excited and creative...
a paper tree Christmas may be the best ever!

Retro

When it came to the matching aprons - Frieda used a "complimentary" color from the others...
and then sewed up Cassie Grace her very first ever...
"retro" apron.
Sometimes a gramma will just go out of her way to do something different...
that will hopefully be remembered for many years.
Maybe this will be something saved for Cassie's babies.
I hope some day when she opens it up and sees the apron that she will know the love in the planning and the love in each stitch!

Thanksgiving at the Johnsons, 2013

Cassandra Grace on Thanksgiving

Cassie Grace and her cousin Logan

Sometimes when you can't be together with all of those you love under one roof...
it helps to picture them with others that love them just as much as you!

Palm trees and lillies...

When I was a little girl my hair never went past the top of my ears and off we would go to the beauty shop for a "pixie".  I don't know if it was the style, the way my mom liked my hair, or if it was just easier that way... I do know I had thin, stick straight hair.  My girls all had long hair, I never did cut it until one day my mom impressed on me the fact that when Emi Jo sat down to go to the bathroom her hair reached the water in the toilet. 
Do you believe that?
Well, I did cut off her curls, they never came back.
Now the girls have their own girls.  They have all had a little baldness when they were babies... but it always fills in... 
first enough for a little palm tree...
then for a lilly on the side.

Aprons

This picture was taken on December 25th, 2013 - everyone was home for Christmas Eve together at our house.  Grams made Swedish meatballs, cheesy turkey and some luscious sweets.  Lindsey made some "zoupa" soup, and sangria's! We had mashed potatoes, artichoke dip, chips and salsa.  For one of Gramma D's gifts we bought her and the great grand-kids matching aprons.   She has always been known for her cooking and even now she continues to make the best meals around.  JaciAnna and Gramma D do baking together when ever they can, and if life permits it won't be long before the others join in!  After the opening of presents, the eating and the rest...   here they all are, about 11:00 in the morning with Gramma D, their matching aprons, Papa and Grammie Pammie too...
waiting for the day...
when the baking begins!

Cassandra Grace, 11 months old!

Said the night wind to the baby girl...
"do you hear what I hear, way up in the sky little girl?"

First born

I wonder if people really see these pictures as I see them? 
Do you see her smile and her hands?
Do you see their faces as they trust?
I wonder if anyone can love her as much as I do?
See her face and how she trusts?
Lord, I believe JaciAnna has been gifted with hands of love and help.  Please be with her as you build her confidence and show her Your ways.  As she learns where she fits in life and how to handle the struggles in the world, I pray that she we always be reminded of the gifts you have given her.  I pray peace and love to her always...
my first borns, first born!!

More Christmas

lindsey bakes gramma's cookies

Christmas day, Cassie in her new apron

Christmas tree at Cassie's house

Cassie reading a pre Christmas story with penguins

The Harren clan with Santa 2013

Lindsey and Cassie in Raunaby

Jaci Anna at Nola Jeans house, the rest of us went to Raunaby with Santa

I have a few more Christmas pictures, and then will have a few more...

whenever I get my pretty little birthday present camera figured out!

The hunt

no women allowed!

where it all begins... with a good breakfast

"The hunting crew"

27th year of hunting together!!

dew on the "lambs ear"

Grandpa, 2013/ 85 years old

I haven't ever been invited to "the hunt", but I remember well the first one.  It was in November of 1986.  We had just moved in to our house on Baker Street and I was pregnant with Lacey.  Curt and his dad went to Nimrod, Mn to find them selves some deer... to feed the family!
They had such a wonderful time that the tradition has continued every November sense then.  It is called the deer hunting opener, and is usually the first or second week-end in November.
Different people have joined them through the years, but none could compare to the years that the "son-in-laws" started coming along.  K found his first hunt to be in November of 2012.  They all had such a wonderful time and K's ears were fresh to the many stories that Grandpa would tell, he is such a good listener!  Then in 2013 Chris came along also!  More ears for listening, more hands for the work, another to add to the sound of laughter.  Each one of them "bagged" a buck and the excitement in Curt as he told me about it...
was blessed.
A man with all girls in his life has certainly ended up with a whole lot of boys!!  Hopefully Josh will go with for a few days in 2014 - completing the crew!

dandelions

I have always loved a dandelion, the color against the green grass, the perfect way it turns to a intricate globe of seeds on a stem.  If you cut the stems in half and open them length wise they will curl when in a jar of water.  I hope when people remember me, or parts of my story... they will see that it was painted slowly.
The portrait of my life,
one brush stroke at a time,
different colors and types of paint for each part. 
I hope I will be able to continue to paint it for a long time, I so love the detail.
and as I go through life, focusing on my mission, on what God wants me to learn -
I pray there will always be days like this in between the every day labors of love, and building of relationships...
where I can watch them run free through the grass carrying a perfect dandelion that has gone to seed.
And before my life is over I would pray each of those seeds be planted deep in the hearts of those I leave behind.

Christmas card 2011

1997 one hour photo Mankato

As long as I was going through photo's ...
I found all of them from 2011 so wanted to post them here together.  I also found a dandy from 1997 to add!

Christmas Cards

Where did the tradition begin...
the one of sending out a card, praying for peace on earth?
I remember crimping my little girls hair, putting on their matching outfits and clicking the camera.  I sent out cards with pictures some times.  It helped the receiver know my family.
I don't know where the tradition began.
But,
I do see where it happened in 2013!
Who would have ever thought?

1988 Baker Street

The Lord of the Dance

Here are a couple of pictures from Emma Krumbee's...
"Lyndon Peterson's one man band".
He is hired by the orchard to provide entertainment for the children, and to allow them to be a part of it.
I read that sometimes when you need answers to life's big questions that you should walk the rows of an orchard...
and listen.
I listened this day to the sounds of music.
I watched feet leave the ground, and the steps of a learning ballerina teaching the routine to others.
I watched a big sister have fun and yet keep a careful eye on all the little ones.
And I saw a big brother take center stage.
If I could I would scoop them all up and walk the rows of the orchard.
We would listen for the answers. 
And when we are unable to find all the answers, we would sing and dance with the Lord of the dance.
"dance then wherever you may go, I am the Lord of the dance said He, and I'll lead you all wherever you may go, and I'll lead you all in the dance said He.

The Saviors hand

We are all at a last minuet gathering at the Emma Krumbee apple orchard.  It was a beautiful fall day, so warm you needed to take your jackets off and leave them lay.  Cassie can't make it because of the last minute decision to go but she is with us in our hearts.  It is December now...
but,
I remember the warmth of the day...
and I remember this moment.
They were inside a climbing train, running, jumping, playing with a little boy.  Jordyn the younger by 6 months, but diffidently the more experienced with brothers...
giggles and runs... "I'm not a boy, if I'm a boy, then your a girl, girl"
and so it goes for quite some time.
Nola sits down on the train, and her best friend, her cousin, sits next to her;
They believe they have escaped the chaos for a moment...
no one knows where they are, not even the little boy whom Jordyn has called girl.
but,
I hear her say "Do you want to hold my hand Jordyn?"
Jordyn takes her hand, they wrap up with pinkie and for this moment in time...
they are free to love each other, to trust each other.
When they get older and all the junk of the world seeps in,
all the stuff that tells us who we are and who others should be..
I pray that they will be able to remember these moments when it was just little girls and God.
When He gave them the space and time to just be...
I pray that all  will know who they are in Christ Jesus, and that after a tiring run of chaos and noise they will be able to sit and rest...
and take the Saviors hand.

A Christmas tree skirt

Sometimes, friendship can not be explained in words written to page...
It was a busy Saturday afternoon in which I needed to go to Gibbon to get some organic cow meat that we had ordered...
Jeff and I leave Arlington, loaded down with my latest project.  I just needed to stop by her house, just to see what she would think, and to get the final okay that what I was about to do would work.
I have no time schedule, it seems so odd...
we pick up the meat and load it in to the trunk.
Stop at Dairy Queen and get Jeff some fries.
We take a left out of Winthrop on to 15 and then a right in to Lafyette.
I have this excitement building inside me as we drive and I think about the skirt.
When I arrive she shows me some things she has purchased and we talk about boots and boot jewelry.
I talk to her about the top she has on and how much I love it, wishing she would always be able to shop for me too.  I give her back her newsprint jacket that she thinks Duey wishes I would just keep forever - she puts it on and looks as pretty as a picture, I warn her of some of the things people will say when she wears it...
Now, we take out the project and I talk to her about it.  I tell her what I am thinking about for the words of the skit, I tell her how I would like these two vintage Christmas tree skirts to become a costume for the skit.
Not only does she listen to my idea, but, now she has me put the skirt on and gets out the pins and the scissors.
We will need to make a fast trip to NewUlm as we need one more skirt or something for the top the costume.  We head to the MRCI thrift and as we are getting ready to leave...
there it is!!
One more perfect little vintage felt tree skirt!
We head back home and finish the pinning...
and I think to myself how blessed I am to have someone who will help me here on earth to figure out how to put my visions into reality!
Thank you my friend!

Arli-Dazzle 2013

Plans have been being made for months and months...
The Arli-Dazzle took place on December 7th, 2013.
Last year it was so beautiful and everyone had so much fun that this year we decided to make sure everyone was invited and the gathering spot would be here at the house.
Finally it is here, the temperatures...
unlike last years 50 degrees at 6:00...
are dangerously cold, the temperature on the bank clock shows 10 below zero, without the wind factored in! 

(I had been to "Two Old Goats" - the best "junk" sale in all the land.
I found this precious vintage sled with a red sleigh made on it.  I got some lights and a matching Christmas blanket and had it all ready for us to pull our little Cassie Grace up to the parade. )

I get a txt from Lacey on Friday night "we may just come anyway, will drive slow, need to do laundry".
"YAY"
I thought it was just to dangerous and didn't want any of the kids to think they had to come, but, was quite happy that Nola Jean's daddy was able to drive a long and the roads were a little better on Saturday.
So, we fix up the vintage sleigh, bundle up our Nola Jean, and away her and daddy, momma and papa go up to Main Street.
The rest of us stay here where it is warm and just dream of all that is going on up there...
dream of little girls bundled up in layers and layers,
reaching down as the floats throw out candy...
storing the bags, and goods under her blanket in the handy little sleigh.  When her little cheeks turn bright red (the only skin that was exposed) - they decide to walk back home...
although reluctant to leave the rest of the floats coming down the road...
she hops in her sleigh
and daddy pulls her home!