Yes, spring is really coming!!

Yes, it's true - spring does exist and we expect it will eventually arrive in Minnesota! Here we are in Branson enjoying blossoms, sunshine and outdoor walks! (Meanwhile, it was snowing in Minnesota... we sure timed that right!!)

This is a view of the trees in blossom - and the building our condo was in. It was a very nice place. There were quite a few buildings just like ours on the property.

This picture is specifically for my brother John! Here I am in front of the RFD TV building. There were just opening that day and starting to assemble their collection of old tractors. We came back in the evening to attend a concert by country singer Penny Gilley - we had front row seats right on the aisle and when she came off the stage to shake hands she came right to us to shake our hands. If only my brother John had been with us at that time!!

Vacation again

Hi folks, Candis is on vacation for a week. We're going to Branson so it will be quiet here for a while. See ya when we get back! Happy Easter.

Happy Sean Patrick Day!

Today we celebrate our Irish grandbaby Sean Patrick - it's good to branch out from our Scandinanvian roots, eh? Actually, today Sean Patrick is 3 months and since it is also St. Patrick's day, I thought he could headline this post. Isn't he growing? And check out his cousin next...

Here is Josiah at 6 1/2 months! He is a delightful baby; contented and smiling most of the time. What a honey!

Sean is catching up on Josiah - here is the latest comparison picture. Now compare it to the end of December in the next picture...

Big difference as Sean Patrick was only a few weeks old and Josiah was 3 months. This time next year they will be great little buddies and probably quite close in size.

The birthday girl

Today is Meghan's birthday! We had dinner at our home along with Meghan's Mom, Dad, sister Julia, brother Patrick and her Aunt, Uncle and 3 cousins. It was great fun! Julia and Brooklyn had the big task of putting ALL those candles on the cake!

And Brooklyn & Preston helped mommy blow out her candles. (That's Meghan's brother Patrick holding Preston.)

I couldn't resist showing a picture of the checkerboard cake that I made. It was such fun to take out that first piece and have it both chocolate and vanilla! I told Brooklyn & Julia that I just couldn't remember what kind of cake I baked - was it chocolate or was it vanilla?? They were guessing, but they didn't guess checkerboard! I have a checkerboard cake pan set; it is sort of a messy thing to make; and I have to admit, though I was pleased with how the cake looked, the cake itself (from scratch, mind you!) was way too dry. Bummer. But the icing was delicious! yum ! And a good scoop of vanilla ice cream offset the dry cake... hopefully... At any rate, Happy Birthday, Meghan!

Seven happy grandkids...

Okay, okay, here's a reality check... not ALL of my picture-taking efforts are welcomed by the grandkiddies... but I did think the opportunity to get a picture of Wally and me with the seven grandkiddies would be a good idea. They didn't necessarily agree, however.

Ah, such happy, smiling grandchildren. I actually love this picture. It totally makes me crack up each time I see it!

Ah yes, this is better. But not as funny, right?

Winter in Minnesota means find a waterpark!

Cold weather just won't quit this year here in Minnesota, so we headed off to a waterpark with Daniel, Meghan, Brooklyn, Preston and Sean Patrick. What fun! It was snowing outside and we were slashing in the water inside! Yeah!

There were lots of places just right for little boys to walk and play!

And Brooklyn had a friend from her preschool come to the same waterpark, so they enjoyed the hot tub together. (Well, we ALL enjoyed the hot tub!)

Sean Patrick didn't get any water action this year but he enjoyed a good nap with all the water noise in the background.

We had to improvise a table for our pizza party in our motel room. It worked just great!

Good friends last forever

One highlight of our trip to Arizona was a stop in Tucson to see my dear friend Elizabeth!

Time doesn't erase the bond we share. How wonderful.

We could have talked all afternoon. Time flew by!

Now we look forward to Elizabeth coming to Minnesota to enjoy our fabulous summer weather. (Of course, if she wants to get a good dose of winter weather, that's okay too!)

Thanks for the visit, Elizabeth.

More reasons to visit Sedona...

Just a few more reasons to put "visit Sedona" on your "to do" list...

Dear friends - with an interesting twist...

Here are two pictures of dear friends of ours from our days in Westchester county, New York in the early to mid-1970's. Both couples are now living in Phoenix and we enjoyed our visit with them. The picture above is of our friends Sonja and Astor; the picture below is of our friends Magny and Sverre. (For the record, Astor and Magny are brother and sister.) We learned something quite interesting during our visit - and that was that both Sonja and Wally had traveled to Norway in the summer of 1947 on the ship Stavangerfjord as children. Could it have been the same time? Sonja remembered that they arrived in Norway on the King's birthday and there were lots of flags. Well, I came home and looked through family items to discover an old photo album Wally's sister Irene had kept of this family trip and it said "arrived in Norway on the King's birthday - lots of flags!" They were on the same ship in 1947 for the long voyage!!! But wait...

wait, there is more! I also found a passenger ship list booklet for the return voyage in July of 1948. I read through the whole list of names looking to see if perhaps Sonja was on the return voyage as she had come back with her family the following year like Wally and his family. No, no Sonja on that ship but ..... there was MAGNY! Wally and Magny were on the same ship (again, the Stavangerfjord) sailing out of Oslo on July 16, 1948 (via Kristiansand, Stavanger & Bergen.) If you were on this ship, let us know!! You just never know! To think we've been friends since the 1970's and just know realized how close their paths crossed in 1947 & 1948.

p.s. Many thanks to both Astor & Sonja and Sverre & Magny for the nice visits!

Tea in Tucson

Many of you know how much I love tea - and all the things along with tea, like a good scone. Well, how lucky we were to go to a Tea Room in Tucson and enjoy a delicious (and properly brewed) pot of tea and a scone! (Though I'm not so sure about those tea bags being so proper!)

The best part of tea time, though, was enjoying it with loved ones. Here we are with Norman, Martha, Ardy and Art. (Wally was the photographer which is why he isn't in the picture!)

This is what it's all about...

As great as the warm weather was, as great as the location, accommodations and food was, nothing was better then being with family. Here is a great picture of the Berge siblings together.
And then we add the spouses. We treasure all the great times we have together!! Where is the next vacation? It's time to get the next generations along too... anyone have any great ideas of when and where?

Hiking and smiling

It was a short hike to a great view of Cathedral rock...

Ardy and Hope relaxing in the sunshine....

Betty Jo and Martha - what's with the glasses in their shirts? Clever....

WHAT? Judy and Candis in the snow??? Yup, we drove up to the top of Oak Creek canyon for a great view, but brrrr.... good thing some of us had jackets in the trunk!

Not everyone had jackets - but they were smart enough to find a blanket to share!

Bonding over food....

We did a lot of eating together! This was breakfast at "The Coffee Pot"..

And lunch in Jerome at "The Asylum" ( it had been one, once!)...

And breakfast in the condo.... this table was exclusively the Berge siblings!....

And this Valentine's meal at Shugrue's in Sedona - what a view! (and the food and service was tremendous!)

And every kitchen has its cooks.... but this little kitchen had LOTS of cooks! From left to right is Mrs. Berge, Mrs. Berge, Mrs. Berge, Mrs. Berge, Mrs. Berge and Mrs. Berge-Olson!

Sedona condo

What a sweet condo! Jarle did great securing for us a 3 bedroom, den, living room/dining area condo for 4 couples. Jarle & Judy had a 2 bedroom condo for themselves and another couple, in the same complex, so we were all close together.

Everything was fabulous; this is the view from our grand bathroom into our bedroom. There were 3 bathrooms like this in the condo. Each one had a wonderful jacuzzi tub along with a fine shower.

Here's a view from the kitchen to the dining area and the living room. There was a balcony on the front and on the back side of the condo.

Here is the living room area; it had a nice flat tv - and so did each bedroom room and the den, for a total of 5 large flat tv's.

Ah... this needs no explanation!

Sedona scenes

It's hard to describe the beauty of Sedona - these few pictures don't come close to capturing the majesty of the rock formations. (Not to mention the nice temperatures!) Here I am in front of Cathedral rock, a very famous formation. It was a wonderful vacation and these are just a few of the pictures for now...

This picture is also Cathedral rock, only from the other side (and taken on a different day.) Apparently, this is one of the most photographed spots in America.

I took this picture of Cathedral rock capturing the reflection in this still pool of water.

Here's another scene of Cathedral rock that I thought came out great.

More pictures to follow tomorrow.