Christmas 2010

We spent Christmas with friends and family at or Lake Home in New London, Minnesota. There was plenty of snow and plenty of love during our holiday celebration.


Here I am ready for the winter weather.


Snow was piled high on the deck before Dick began shoveling.


Our steps from the deck were covered in snow and will last the winter, which goes into April.


Here are some of the decorations that are under the Christmas tree.


And, here are more under-tree decorations.


Judy, Connie, and Mary spent Christmas with us.


Jack, Dick, and Don also spent Christmas with us.


Mark and Elaine arrived on Christmas day. The came from Atlanta.


Here I am with Dick. You can see the snow is piling up.


Monday morning after Christmas and Elaine and Mark are on their way to catch an airplane back home. However, we stopped at a restaurant in New London for breakfast.

Touring Central Vermont

We toured through central Vermont heading to Stowe, Vermont, where the home of the von Trapp family is. From there we traveled just a few miles to the home of Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream factory.


This is a typical scene of the country side in central Vermont.


Here is Jim and Dick walking up the driveway to the von Trapp home/hotel.


Another scene of the von Trapp home.


The Ben & Jerry van that they used when first advertizing their ice cream.


The entrance of Ben & Jerry's.

A Trip to Vermont, Part #2

Having traveled in Canada all the way to Montreal, we headed south and into Vermont where we stayed at a Bed & Breakfast on an island in Lake Champlain.


Dick and Jim were discussing sports (most likely) when I snapped this picture out front of the B & B.


The evening that we stayed at the B & B, the owner's two children decided to play Yatzee with us.


The four of us decided to take a lunch cruse on Lake Champlain out of Burlington, Vermont. Dori and Jim are waiting for our boat to begin loading.


Here is Burlington taken from the tour boat.


I spotted these people rock climbing by the shore of Lake Champlain.

A Trip to Vermont, Part #1

Dick and I, along with our friends Dori & Jim Goodrum, recently took a trip to Vermont by traveling through Canada. Here is part #1 of the trip.


The first day of the trip we got as far as Flint, Michigan. The next day we crossed over into Ontario, Canada. Here is the view we saw as we entered.


We stopped along the way to see sites and among other things, to shop. While Dori and I shopped, the guys would patiently wait.


In the outskirts of Montreal, Quebec, I saw clothing hanging of clothe lines and took the pictures.


When we re-entered the U.S., we were in the northeastern corner of New York and the northern border of Lake Champlain. Dori and Jim pose for a picture at a park along side the lake.


Here is a picture of one of the lighthouses on Lake Champlain.

Saint Cloud Art Crawl

Well, it's been a while since I put any pictures on my blog site, but I just got my own laptop and I have my own Canon Camera, so I can now manage this site better.


Here I am with my hubby, the guy that bought the laptop as my birthday present.


And here is our daughter, Susan, with her husband, Jon. The four of us were just going out to celebrate Susan's birthday.


Susan is an awesome artist. She was invited to be the guest artist at the Paper Collector during the Saint Cloud Art Crawl.




Susan and Jon at the Art Crawl.


Here I am with some of Susan's art work.


Many businesses participated in the Art Crawl. Here are two young girls with their father and two other musicians. The girls would dance to the Irish tunes.


As we were walking from one Art Crawl site to another, I saw this scene and had to take the picture.

Spring in Minnesota

Dick and I were walking across the University Bridge over the Mississippi River and I saw this beautiful scene. We had to stop our walk so that I could take the picture. Once we got back home I took some of my flowers that I've included here.


Some of the buildings of the University reflected in the Mississippi River.


Here are some tulips in my flower garden in the back yard.


The Virginia Bluebells are starting to bloom.

These are Candy Tuffs in the small garden by the back door of the garage.

My one surviving cherry bush that the rabbits haven't killed.

Spring Break 2010

Dick and I decided to take a Spring Break and flew to Jacksonville, Florida, where our youngest son and his wife, Ben & Janelle, live. From there we met my two brothers and their wives and then boarded the cruise ship, Carnival Fascination, and went to Nassau in the Bahama Islands.


Our flight to Jacksonville was non-stop. While in flight, I took this shot of Dick.


We spent a couple of days with Ben and Janelle. Here is a picture of Dick riding Ben's motor scooter.


The four of us decided to eat at a restaurant near where our cruise ship would be docked. Here is Ben & Janelle.

And here is Dick and I.

We said our goodbyes to Ben and Janelle, met up with my brothers and their wives and boarded the cruise ship. This is a picture of Jacksonville taken from the ship. The ship travelled on the St. John River to the Atlantic Ocean, a distance of at most ten miles.

This is Dick and I aboard the ship. We are on deck at the rear of the ship. You can see the Atlantic in the background.

Here are the six of us at the evening meal. What a wonderful experience being with family on a luxury ocean liner.

Valentine Day

Here it is, Valentine Day. We are having a number of our friends over for dinner and conversation this Saturday evening, the day before Valentine Day.


Above is a box that I decorated. I filled it up with treats for my Salt Lake City grandchildren and sent it to them.


My table is decorated and ready for our guests.


Here is another view of the table.

The center decoration is in part some of the flowers that Dick gave to me.

A January Winter

It's already January 2010! Time goes by so fast for me. We began by having a late Christmas with Sue and Jon. They couldn't be with us on Christmas since Sue had to work.


Here is Jon and Sue at our get-together for the late Christmas.


I always like to have Christmas tea so I used my Christmas tea set when Sue and Jon came to be with us.


A few days later, Dick and I had some friends over. Here are two of my good friends, Pat and Mary.


For a couple of days, the weather was warm and moist, although it was below freezing, so the trees and bushes got a pretty coating of frost. I had to take some pictures before the frost disappeared.