Hark! Back! #10

 March 29, 2008

Aisles of Life

Today I captured this moment in time.

My other baby brother walking his baby daughter down the aisle.  One final walk, just the two of them, into the church and in fifteen minutes their lives are both changed.  The Bride to a new life with her Groom.  My other baby brother and his wife to an empty nest...they are all alone after twenty eight years.

I remember when Far Guy and I became empty nesters. It had its perks...the telephone is always for you and you can watch whatever you want on TV.  But it is still a change and a BIG one...

I think of all the Momma birds and how they nurture and care for their baby birds.  Then when they know the time is right they kick them out of the nest with a fly or die attitude.  They did their job in a matter of weeks.  We as parents take our jobs seriously also, it just takes years...

It was a lovely wedding.  My other baby brother looked quite handsome in his "Monkey Suit"  The Bride was beautiful and smiling, she was fairly nervous but excited to walk down the aisle and begin her new married life.

Our Grandchildren were in attendance and two of them were intrigued.  They wanted to see "The Kiss" I allowed them to stand up on the back of the pew for a better view...Adam said "Ewww, I am never doing that!" Madison said "Do you have to kiss?  I don't think my Mom ever kissed my Dad."

Oh the aisles of life these little ones have yet to walk:)

**********

Good memory of the day Megan married Frank..they now have four children and are still happily married. 

Madison (Maddie) was about 10 years old and she is now happily married with four children of her own.

Adam was 6 years old and he will be getting married this Fall. 

May Day Smiles!

All the May Baskets were delivered on May Day.  

My nieces sent me some photos of their kids!  All these children are grandchildren of my other baby brother and she who sees robins first. 

Megan and Frank's Crew

Stacey and Justin's Group

Fun to keep the May Day Tradition going! 

After supper I delivered a few May Baskets in the neighbor hood...no one was home so May Baskets were placed inside screen doors when possible.  I talked with Opie, Titus and Toots ( all dogs)...they were excited to see me. 

Late afternoon visitors were my baby brother and his bride with Smudge and Baxter.  They are back for the Summer.  Smudge and Baxter did not forget me...or the Cheerio treats they really like.

I think Far Guy has turned the corner and is gaining a bit of strength everyday.  His infusion was a two stick day...errands were accomplished and we should be set for a day or two. 

Far Side

Family History

 I have to back up a bit in our recent family history.  Back to February 24, 2024 the day of my Mother's funeral and interment.  ( Just in case someone a long time from now wonders...or wants to know because they were not there)

Mom's urn at the church was carried out by her granddaughter Rachael (aka Toots), followed by all of Mom's granddaughters...except for one who was unable to attend.

Luckily because of the warmer than normal Minnesota Winter weather we were able to go to the cemetery for the interment of ashes.  My other baby brother, Nephew Josh and a few others not sure who...dug down to the double vault that contained my Father's urn. 

The Granddaughters bringing the Urn up the hill. 

Mom's urn joins Dad's  ( he has a prayer book that he had with him in Korea on top of his urn)

Our daughter Jen dropping her flower and her sister's flower into the urn vault. 

We visited the grave this week. 

May 22, 2024 the spot that was dug up was reseeded by my baby brother.  New grass will grow there eventually.  The cemetery high on the hill is beautiful in the Spring, the green so intense this year that it almost hurts your eyes. 

Dad's Veterans foot marker is not in place yet nor is his flag holder.  Mom's date of death has not been engraved into the headstone as of yet.

It all takes time.  I for one was very thankful that we could inter Mom's ashes in February, after Dad died in December of 2022  his ashes were not interred until the end of July in 2023...it was a very long seven months for me...it was like the grieving process was halted.  I know we all grieve differently but that waiting was difficult.

Far Side

May 2nd Baskets

We gave out May Baskets two days in a row!  Our niece Meg was at her parents on Wednesday so we took the little ones baskets over there.

Teddy, Vivian and Harlow.  Harlow was having a bad day and even a May Basket wasn’t cheering him up.  He had fallen while running and hurt his finger and his hand…he had lotza bandaids.

Vivian is really cute…I love her hair!

Her Grandma fed her some chocolate and she had fun with the plastic grass.  She looks a lot like her Aunt Katie…I think it is the blue eyes and blonde hair. (Vivian’s mama Meg has brown eyes and brown hair)

It is always fun to see these kids.  Teddy gave Far Guy the whole story about how Harlow fell and hurt his hand.  When asked how he got a mark on his nose, we were ignored….he didn’t want to talk about it.  Turns out Harlow hit him with a plastic hammer.  Our niece Meg has her hands full!

We asked Teddy if he got any other May Baskets…nope just one.

The box I kept the baskets in is now empty.  Kinda sad…oh well there is always next year.

Flat Bread

I cooked, Far Guy played sous chef.  Two crock pots of chili almost disapeared.  My brothers and their brides and my parents came for supper.  Mom made Apricot Crisp and Cherry Crisp.

I had my doubts about the flat bread, cause my yeast is a little old and I forgot exactly how many cups of flour I had used…must of been okay as the bread was delicious.

The recipe for the flat bread came from my niece Megan.  The original recipe is larger and makes six loaves…three loaves is plenty for us.

Flat Bread

3 cups milk

1 package rapid rise yeast activated in 1/4 cup warm water

6 cups flour (sometimes I use half white flour and half wheat flour)

3 Tablespoons sugar

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

4 Tablespoons melted shortening or olive oil

1. Warm the milk, the old recipe says scald the milk. (If the milk is straight from the cow you might have to do that) I just warm it a little in a pan on the stove.

2. I put the 1/4 cup of hot water in my mixing bowl and then add a package of yeast.  If you don’t have packets use 2 1/4 teaspoons of other yeast. ( I buy yeast in a brown jar and keep it in the fridge.) I gently stir the yeast a bit to dissolve the yeast and make bubbles.

3. Add warm milk and olive oil.

4. Add sugar, salt and flour.

5. Knead for five minutes with a mixer with a dough hook or by yourself…hard work.

6. Divide dough into thirds.  Put a bit of olive oil on a couple of cookie sheets. I form the ovals in my hands or on a bread board, flipping the dough back and forth.  Flatten dough onto the cookie sheet and prick with a fork.  Cover with a towel in a warm place to rise.

7. Bake at 325 degrees until golden brown (about 25 minutes), when it comes out of the oven put some butter on the top.

Enjoy!

I love the smell of bread baking.  Far Guy must too when he got up from his nap he said “Are we having fresh bread with peanut butter for lunch?”  Hint Hint!

Vivian and her brothers

I got to meet my Great Niece Miss Vivian yesterday.  She is beautiful.  She slept the entire time I held her, oh the smell of baby lotion brings back so many memories of babies long ago.

She is 11 days old.  She had a few rocky days after her birth but was monitored closely in the NICU and came home last Friday.

She almost opened her eyes once and didn’t seem at all disturbed by her brothers.  One is two and one is four.   My niece Megan is a busy Mom!

Harlow is two!  I love little ones at two, their personality is emerging and they are oh so curious about the world around them.

Teddy is four and takes his role of big brother quite seriously. 

These small children are all grandchildren of my other baby brother and she who sees robins first who live next door to us. Vivian is number 13 and broke the boy/girl tie in that family…girls rule!

What a joy it is to watch these little ones grow up!

New Great Niece

Our Niece Megan gave birth yesterday to Vivian Irene, my other baby brother and she who sees robins first now have thirteen grands.  When I meet her I will take a photo so you can see what a pretty little thing she is. She weighed 9 pounds and 8 ounces.

She joins her two big brothers (two years and four years old) so that will be a busy family!  My other baby brother, Jody stopped by to show me the photos of her….and to tell us that the baby started coming real fast on the way to the hospital…they had to call 911 and be diverted to a different hospital complete with police escort with paramedics and six nurses waiting…it was a bit of excitement in Perham Minnesota early Sunday morning.  There was a Doctor in the ER that was not real thrilled about delivering a baby when the OB Doc showed up. Twenty minutes after arriving Vivian was born.  Many of the little hospitals in Minnesota do not have Labor and Delivery rooms anymore.  They were headed for a hospital 55 miles away and ended up in a brand new hospital 35 miles from their home with labor and delivery facilities.  Thankfully mother and baby are fine and Frank didn’t have to deliver the baby along the side of the road!

Vivian is named after her Mother, her Grandmother and her Great Grandmother…they all share the middle name Irene.

I am excited to meet her!

Birth of a sunflower!