Back at home an old truck sat on one of the corners on the way to town. One day in early December I stopped and took a photo. They have more snow now.
Far Guy and I ran errands yesterday, the weather is above zero...and that is a real treat. Our high yesterday was 15 F or -9 C eh!
I have been catching up on my sleep and yesterday was one of the first days that I have felt almost normal in a couple of weeks.
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I usually pick a one word intention to be my focus for the New Year...well now the buzz word is nudge...pick a nudge word? Well alrighty then.
Discover that is my nudge word. I am discovering that I like one word intention better than nudge word.
I discovered that I had an intention back in 2016 ( perhaps blogging is a double edged sword) that was forgotten. I intended to print out photos of the grands...well it is a project that I am going forward with this winter. In the process I am discovering that I have beautiful/handsome grands that I am re discovering as they grow up before my camera lens.
When Far Guy asked me what I wanted for Christmas I replied "Five photo albums all in different colors." The Grands picked their colors...Savannah Green, Maddie Purple, Noah Black, Adam Red and that left Paige with Blue. Paige was not here at Christmas because her elderly kitty Bailey was very sick. She reports that Bailey is much better after some antibiotics.
Here goes with the notable things that happened this year.
Trica is living in Duluth Minnesota.
Jen and Andy are in East Grand Forks, Minnesota. Still teaching and they purchased another Air B & B so now they have two of them to keep them real busy....along with Sadie and Little Elvis.
Savannah graduated from College this year and has her own Lash Extension Business and is doing great!
Maddie and her husband Brenton moved from Michigan to Grand Forks ND where Maddie is a Dental Assistant and Brenton works for Bobcat. Hey Mikey is five years old and will turn six in 2023, he started Kindergarten last fall. Little Miss Cee Cee is now two and will be three in 2023. They will be joined by a baby sister due in July...another Great Granddaughter and we are thrilled.
Paige will graduate in the spring of 2023 as a Dental Hygienist..the job market looks good for her.
Noah moved out of the busy Air B & B into his own place recently, he is a Chemist at Simplot and enjoys his job.
Adam just graduated from Northland Technical College and moved into his own apartment yesterday.
We are thankful for all of our Children, Grandchildren and Great Grandchildren.
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2022 was also a year when we had to say some very hard goodbyes.
My Cousin Sam's wife Kathy died at the age of 58 on March 18th.
Far Guy's sister Jan died at the age of 76 on April 21st.
Long time friend Tom died at the age of 71 on April 23rd.
Son in Law Andy's father died at the age of 68 on April 25th.
My Father Jake died at the age of 96 on December 19th.
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Not sure what 2023 has in store for us...
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So many cards and notes from people who attended my Dad’s funeral. My sister opened all the cards, my Mom read them out loud and then I recorded them, my sister wrote the thank you notes and addressed envelopes. I searched for addresses. A tip for you all out there, please put your address somewhere on the card, we practically cheered when people did that for us.
The church was full, the Pastor said that it was the most well attended funeral in a long time. ( I have lots of cousins)
The cards are as complete as they can be, more are in the mail everyday.
So life goes on. I will head Up North soon.
My parents yard a few years ago.
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Taking care of a few things before going back Up North where Far Guy is…Jen and Sadie are keeping one eye on him and will get him to his Infusion today. I still need a few days here to make sure my Mother has the medications that she needs…the past few weeks before my Dad died she was not sleeping or taking all of her medications. I have taken her to the Doctor and all of her health complaints have been addressed and new medications ordered. I figured out a medication system that may work for her.. I hope. My Mother has a blood clot in her left leg, it is getting better slowly. She is very tired and falls asleep sitting up. She is missing my Dad. I can do nothing about that because I miss him too.
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My Dad took a selfie before selfies were an "in" thing.
He took this with my Mom's old brownie camera. It makes me smile.
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Today is the day we celebrate my Fathers long life. 96 years!
Gone from My Sight by Henry Van Dyke
I am standing upon the seashore. A ship, at my side,
spreads her white sails to the moving breeze and starts
for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength.
I stand and watch her until, at length, she hangs like a speck
of white cloud just where the sea and sky come to mingle with each other.
Then, someone at my side says, "There, she is gone."
Gone where?
Gone from my sight. That is all. She is just as large in mast,
hull and spar as she was when she left my side.
And, she is just as able to bear her load of living freight to her destined port.
Her diminished size is in me -- not in her.
And, just at the moment when someone says, "There, she is gone,"
there are other eyes watching her coming, and other voices
ready to take up the glad shout, "Here she comes!"
And that is dying...
The little kids had a blast! They opened a few gifts here... a dollhouse and race cars...imagine that!
They both have Christmas Stockings made by Auntie Jen.
They had to inspect the tree!
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I hope you are having a wonderful Christmas Day!
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Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a son is given: And the government will be upon his shoulder. And his name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
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A Christmas tree from a long time ago...sometime in the early 1950's.
I found this photo when I was going through old photos. Look at all the Christmas cards hung above the tree!
Happy Christmas Eve!
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It is so cold. I managed to get Far Guy to his Infusion appointment and I ran errands. It was forty something below zero windchills and getting colder by the hour...it was dangerous out there.
I went out to take a photo of the newly decorated sled and told Jen that if I didn't come back in right away then come and look for me!
We could be florists! It was a fun project!
The dogs make quick trips outside to do their duties and Sadie is part snow plow.
We made soup yesterday...everyone pitched in to prepare the vegetables; parsnips, rutabaga, carrots, cabbage, potatoes and tomatoes joined beef that was roasted...it warmed us on a cold day.
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Short days and long nights but we will be gaining daylight now... it is the bitterly cold time of year here in Minnesota.
This was the view on Monday morning, the road was pretty good compared to our return trip.
I thought it would be too cold to snow this morning...but the flakes still fell out of the air at -17 F. The windchill was horrible.
It can stop snowing anytime now.
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Monday morning my Dad died. He was 96 years old. He finally got his wish to go to heaven. He has been wanting to go for such a long time. I am so happy for him but a bit sad for myself...I will miss seeing his familiar face even when he couldn't remember who I was. Having a family member with Dementia is hard.
A few years ago Dad got a glimpse into heaven when he had an episode with an irregular heartbeat and was in the emergency room. He said "My body just floated up and I was above the bed and there was the most beautiful light, the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. Then the light went away and I was back in the bed." That was the night that they shocked him numerous times to get his heart back in rhythm. Since that time he has welcomed death...but it took its sweet time coming.
My Mother is doing as well as can be expected. She is very tired as she has spent so much time caring for Dad the past couple of weeks...he was somewhat calmer when she was around. Mom needs a few days of rest.
I am getting old photos together for the funeral next week. Music and Bible verses, obituaries and so many details to take care of. My siblings are doing an awesome job maneuvering Mom through the details.
Far Guy, Jen and I made a trip to the funeral home for a final goodbye to my Dads body before cremation. We will all go back a few days before the funeral.
I am thankful for the 71 years I got to spend with my Dad and I am thankful that his heavenly journey has begun. He was the remnant...all of his brothers and sisters have preceded him in death.
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53! Happy Anniversary to us!
We have been puzzling.
It was a fun puzzle and we finished it in just a few days! It was a Christmas gift from my best friend Susie.
It is very cold here...bitterly cold the high yesterday was 4 F or -15 C. With the wind chill it was thirty something below zero. Brrrrr
Roads are still icy and snow covered.
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There is a saying here Up North. It's really cold, but at least it's windy. In the summer it's really hot but at least it's windy. It seems to be windy just about every day.
There is a huge snow drift in the driveway. I am not going anyplace anyway. People are starting to shovel out even though it will just drift in again. The sound of snow blowers and plow trucks is almost constant.
Andy has returned safely. A five hour drive back home was an eleven hour icy road trip.
Jen and I ventured out to the Air B&B that they have in Grand Forks...the roads are either ice covered or snow covered. You have to watch out for yourself and everyone else.
Noah is settling into his new apartment, and Adam is working on the application for his third floor walk up apartment. Soon both grandboys will be living on their own. Adulting is an adventure.
I finally put the fence up around the tree as someone kept stealing ornaments. Someone that wags her tail and growls softly when she has something in her mouth.
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We now have about 16 inches of snow total from this storm and it is blowing around and still snowing. Good day to stay in and start a puzzle...so we did.
Noah had a cold day to move into his new apartment. We hear that his dog Aurora is whining about the whole situation.
Adam is at work, Andy is at a Vex Tournament in Mankato, MN and Jen is keeping one eye on the old folks, she is on break between semesters. It is a busy household.
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Yessiree it snowed again. Noah was on snow removal duty yesterday.
We got a couple more inches of snow and it got windy.
I managed to get Far Guy over to the Hospital for his Infusion. There wasn't much traffic, we went out for Breakfast after his appointment...Perkins is kitty corner from the hospital. Far Guy had lab work and had to fast...so he was very hungry by 12:30 when his infusion was over. Usually I run errands ( go to Hobby Lobby) while he is getting his infusion...but the roads were iffy so I sat with him and then we went to Wally World before heading back home. We are now staying put for the duration of the storm.
Usual snow fall amounts for the entire winter are right around 40 inches of snow...in the last few days we have over 1/4 of that snow total.
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We got quite a dump of snow.
Looks to be about 12 inches.
I took a photo through the window yesterday morning.
Far Guy had a Doctors appointment...so Andy took him since he has a four wheel drive pickup.
Jen and Andy both worked at snow removal for quite some time...Andy snow blowed paths for Sadie and Elvis in the back yard. Phoebe ( Adam's cat) went out in the snow...Sadie pounced on her and buried her in the snow...the kitty was kinda wet.
We are expecting round two of this winter storm today...the wind is supposed to come up and we are supposed to get more snow.
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