Happy Birthday Sara!

Happy 28th birthday Sara Marie! Her sister-in-law, Julie, offered to babysit for Sara & Jon for the day. They went to try finish their shopping in Fargo. Good Luck! Hope you enjoyed your day and hope you took many "rests". It wouldn't be good to go in labor while in Fargo!

The Party

Okay, here you go. This is for all you relatives that couldn't make the family party. As usual, it was a lot of fun!


There wasn't a Santa this year so Kaitlin is reading out the names for the kids presents.Must be quite the story Fred is telling!
Just a milling around......
Lots of converstaion.......
A couple of Linda & Joe's cute grandkids.

More cousin bonding.......
Sorry, Linda, I thought this was a nice picture of you......

Three little cousins (once removed) Jill, Jeanie & Jackie
No posing here......

Judy gets Christmas pajamas!Shannon & Katrina Little Molly
Grandpa Mark!

Hanging Out at Home

Dad was playing with his camera.

The Wooden Bowl

(My brother Bruce sent this to me. I've been thinking about it all day.) Unfortunately I don't know who the author is.

The Wooden Bowl

I guarantee you will remember the tale of the Wooden Bowl
tomorrow, a week from now, a month from now, a year from now.

A frail old man went to live with his son, daughter-in-law,

and four-year - old grandson.

The old man's hands trembled, his eyesight was blurred,

and his step faltered.

The family ate together at the table.

But the elderly grandfather's shaky hands and

failing sight made eating difficult.

Peas rolled off his spoon onto the floor.

When he grasped the glass, milk spilled on the tablecloth. The son

and daughter-in-law became irritated with the mess. "We must do

something about father," said the son.

"I've had enough of his spilled milk, noisy eating,

and food on the floor." So the husband and wife set a small table

in the corner.

There, Grandfather ate alone while

the rest of the family enjoyed dinner.

Since Grandfather had broken a dish or two,

his food was served in a wooden bowl. When the family glanced in

Grandfather's direction,

sometimes he had a tear in his eye as he sat alone.

Still, the only words the couple had for him were sharp admonitions

when he dropped a fork or spilled food. The four-year-old watched

it all in silence.

One evening before supper, the father noticed

his son playing with wood scraps on the floor.

He asked the child sweetly, "What are you making?"

Just as sweetly, the boy responded,

"Oh, I am making a little bowl for you and

Mama to eat your food in when I grow up.

" The four-year-old smiled and went back to work.The words so

struck the parents so that they were speechless.

Then tears started to stream down their cheeks.

Though no word was spoken, both knew what must be done. That

evening the husband took Grandfather's hand and gently led him

back to the family table.

For the remainder of his days he ate every meal with the family.

And for some reason, neither husband nor wife seemed

to care any longer when a fork was dropped, milk spilled,

or the tablecloth soiled. On a positive note, I've learned that, no

matter what happens,

how bad it seems today, life does go on,

and it will be better tomorrow. I've learned that you can tell a

lot about a person by the way he/she handles four things:

a rainy day, the elderly, lost luggage,

and tangled Christmas tree lights. I've learned that, regardless of

your relationship with your parents,

you'll miss them when they're gone from your life. I've learned

that making a "living"

is not the same thing as making a "life.."I've learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance.I've learned that you shouldn't

go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands.

You need to be able to throw something back

I've learned that if you pursue happiness, it will elude you

But, if you focus on your family, your friends, the needs of

others,
your work and doing the very best you can, happiness will find you

I've learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart,

I usually make the right decision.I've learned that even when I

have pains, I don't have to be one.I've learned that every day,

you should reach out and touch someone. People love that human

touch -- holding hands, a warm hug,

or just a friendly pat on the back.I've learned that I still have a

lot to learn.

FIRE!!!

I was frying pancakes for supper last night and all of a sudden I hear a hooten and hollering and some crackling noise going on. I turned around to see the Christmas tree branches in the centerpiece in flames! You never saw so many people move so fast! Molly grabbed the water pitcher and Fred jumped up and blew out the flames. I grabbed the pitcher from Molly before she flooded the whole table which still had the days mail and Christmas cards on it. I drizzled water on the embers left on the tree branches! This box which still held MY Christmas cards and some fabric I just bought caught the flames also! Jeanie said she was ready to run out the back door! Gretchen was on her way to run out the front door!! Danny said he almost called 911! Talk about excitement!

Brad's Birthday Celebration

The birthday pose. Matt had left before we had cake. I was disappointed to have to miss Mandi H's baby shower this morning. Gretch had to work at 11:00 and Jeanie has soccer at 12:30 so it wasn't worth it to run out to it for less than an hour. Brad is planning on cutting up his deer today. Yay! I can hardly wait! Maybe he'll give us some......NOT!