2015... It was a good year!

Come January, I like to reflect and look back on my photo's as I

flip the page of time and begin a new chapter!

One of our favorite places to be....lake Superior

It's very hard to pick and choose the photo's that I want to display, 

there are just too many things to be thankful for

We had a great year,

 full of blessings,

 good health,

 amazing family, and 

precious grandchildren.

 

I have a truly amazing husband who  enriches my life daily! 

I cant say enough about this man and how he has helped shaped my life, 

he encourages me, and has led our marriage by example,

with Christian values as our foundation.

I am blessed to be his and I thank God everyday for this unmerited gift!

We had many little "road trips" this year as Rick and I love to explore Minnesota

 Lanesboro Dam

Grand Marias 

Milwaukee

 we even ventured into Wisconsin to visited our nieces and nephews.

We spent precious time with family throughout the year

4th of July with my family 

Christmas celebration with Rick's family

Summer time hangouts

Our kids, 

(minus Chris who was working)

We are not perfect, I'ts sometimes hard being the parents of adult children

 but we continue to love each other and grow in our relationships.

 

and then there's these 3.... 

have I ever mentioned how wonderful it is to be a grandparent... 

our hearts are bursting with love for these precious little ones.

We can hardly contain ourselves, I've said it before and I'll say it again

Grandparenting is a great gig!!!

And then there are friends...

I have me some amazing co-workers, we are pretty tight and really care deeply for each other.

We play and have fun outside of work, this year we made lefse together.

More friends....

 We go way back, friends from church...

we meet once a month to laugh, share our lives, (the good and the bad) 

and support each other as we grow old together. 

 We become empty-nesters this year, not sure I'm thrilled about it. 

  I know that it's suppose to happen.... I just don't have to like it.

Our health is good...

Just a little knee fixer-upper in July.

Oh we have aches and pains but we still try to get to the gym a few times a week, 

and hike when we can

New life....

We were blessed with 2 new Grand Nephews this year, 

Eli

Leo

We have 4 grand nieces & nephews...lucky us!

Last,  but not least we bought a cabin, the desire to be a cabin owner 

has been in Rick's head & heart for a long time, here's what I said to him one day this spring....

I said,

 "Honey, let's not be in our 60's someday and say to each other", 

"Why didn't we just do it"?

 and the rest is history.....

September 2015

For now it's ours... 

on the Lake we love in Northern Minnesota!

We know life happens in ways you don't expect sometimes, it presents itself with ups & downs.

All around us we see hurt, unexpected illness, accidents and major life changes, 

we know we are not exempt from these things, but we will live for today, and

 enjoy the many gifts we have received.

We are not perfect, so....

 we are thankful for God's grace, His love for us despite our flaws, and

 His mercies that are new everyday.

We will continue to keep God first, humbly asking for ongoing blessings of good health, a happy marriage, a loving family and many fond memories in our sweet cabin.

We are looking forward to new adventures in 2016, 

We hope you have a wonderful year as well.

God Blessings to  you and  yours!!!

They don't call us Norwegian for nothin'...

Lefse 

Thin, Unleavened bread of Norwegian origin, 

traditionally made of a potato-based dough and baked on a griddle.

Truth be told, making Lefse can be pure chaos .

The sticky, gooey dough is a mess to handle, until it's gotten to the "just right" consistency. 

Then comes the rolling-out of the lefse... that's considered a fine art.

and lets talk countertops....

 it's as if a slew of toddlers blew through the kitchen, playing in flour and starting a food fight.

These days, with the abundance of commercial lefse available, it's the 

rare family that makes their own lefse.

Probably for a good reason....

Being the 1/2 Norwegian girl that I am, it's in my blood to carry on the tradition of lefse making, I have all the equipment, and I really do enjoy the challenge of making a perfect piece of lefse. 

 This year I was invited to a Lefse making party with a group of friends from work, 

We crafted our lefse in a huge shed just outside of Blooming Prairie. 

  

My Friend, and co-worker Mary (front black t-shirt) was the host. 

There is equipment involved, 

Pastry clothes, grooved rolling pins, lefse turning sticks, griddles, pasty socks and the all important... 

Potato ricer

Here my friends Sarah & Mary are putting together the recipe

Potato's, oil, flour, salt and sugar.... and more flour. 

My friend Renee rolled her dough into cute little balls

She's a little "type A"

My group....logs, which we then cut into 10 smaller pieces

Now there's a thinly rolled out piece, ready for the griddle.
Lots of flour was worked into the round pasty cloth and the pastry sock on the roller
to prevent any sticking of the dough.

It only takes about 1 minute of cook time on each side 

Notice my "flipping technique"

Fun facts: There were 10 of us gathered to make lefse, We had 4 lefse grills fired up, we used 40 pounds of Potato's, and made 21 dozen slices of Lefse.
WOWZA!

Production line

Finished product

all bagged up

These are the 6 girls that I work with, we have so much fun together, 

Our skills are precise, from carefully guiding needles into peoples backs to collect spinal fluid, 

to rolling delicate dough into paper thin circles....ha

I feel quite blessed to have this close relationship with my co-workers.  

We are hoping to keep this a tradition, lot's of fun was had by all!

The Ambiance of Christmastime

I look so forward to.....and delight in the ambiance of Christmastime!

I usually have all the decorations in their appropriate places

 by the weekend after Thanksgiving.

From one of my oldest, vintage accordion santa's that Lines the staircase shelf,

 and the lighted ceramic house that my MIL made for me in our early years of marriage...

to my newest purchase....

a lighted (twinkling) Christmas scene on canvas.

I just LOVE this!!!

I also love the soft glow in the house from the
 lighted candles and decorations

and then there's the Reason for the Season.... baby Jesus (with Mary & Joseph).

Also new this year, a winter scene snow globe with a birch tree bottom, 

gifted to me from my dear friend Valerie. 

This one may end up at the cabin.

The Stockings

The tree

My desk hutch in the dining room

Chair in the corner

Tiny Tim and Scrooge, this one is also a favorite from my in-laws

Love this book, we've had it since the kids were little.

This candle is the best... Fresh Balsam from Bath and Bodyworks.
makes the house smell like "Christmas"....you know that smell  :)

Are you all decorated, do you have a favorite piece,
I would love to hear about it!!!

I have to admit I have a bathroom yet to decorate....
maybe tomorrow  :)

Our adventure continues....

 Another beautiful day on the North Shore.

Sunny temps in the 50's, very little wind.... so lovely!

It's hard to believe that it's already November 9th, 

we really have stretched this mild fall out to the max!

 Rick and I decided to take a drive this morning after Breakfast. 

We really didn't know where we were going, just wanted to soak up 

the beauty of the forest, lakes and anything else we happened upon.

So many pine trees, here looking up toward the dark blue sky.... 

 and here looking straight into the forest, either way I love them!

Twice we were surprised by huge fallen branches in the middle of these remote roads

 Just glad our car wasn't driving under these trees when the branches gave way.

 We drove for what seemed like forever, the road was narrow and 

climbed up into the higher altitudes of the Saw-tooth Mountains

 (Minnesota mountains...but still mountains) 

rarely did we see any clues of human existence.

 Then this.....

  my eye captured snow on the side of the hills.

I was a little giddy and made Rick stop so I could get out and see it up close.

As we drove we saw a sign that said, "White Pine Lake" 5 miles.

We were right on it....

There is a sweet little campground for hikers, right before you get to the lake. 

The Superior trail crosses here.

As we got closer the water got bluer (no filter)

The thing that I was most taken back by was the "silence"

Absolute silence... 

I can not remember the last time I stood somewhere and heard nothing.

I just couldn't stop talking about it..... it was almost spooky. 

 Set the camera up on the deck ledge and snapped a selfie 

 We stayed a bit and gazed at the flawless lake, not a ripple... not a sound!

We eventually made it back to our place to have lunch and a little rest.

The rest of the afternoon involved a 4 mile power-walk for Rick,

  then some hiking for the both of us at Temperance River State Park.

We did some rock picking, and rock skipping here, 

this is such a fun little area to hangout and walk along the beach. 

Earlier, while Rick was on his walk, 

I hung out down on the big rocks below our place

I could sit here for hours, it's very mesmerizing!!!

Back to this morning and the start of our day....

The view from our window.... God's artwork in the sky  :)