Thursday, May 31, 2012

Our personal aviary

 We are most fortunate to have an amazing number of birds at our feeders this year especially. From goldfinches, house finches,  cardinals, blue jays, woodpeckers, chickadees, nuthatches, sparrows.. oh, the list goes on and on!  I spend too much time taking pictures of them - it is hard to get any other work done these days.  So here are a few recent captures in our little aviary..   above you can identify a hummingbird..
 This is an indigo bunting.  They are a private bird and we do not see them often, so when we do, we are giddy with excitement!
 This is a rare sighting of a male orchid oriole.  We have quite a few northern orioles but to see this fellow is unusual.  The last time we saw him was 4 years ago.  For some reason, this is a great season for lots of species of birds.
 We have an abundance of woodpeckers year round.  Here is a red-bellied woodpecker, though the belly doesn't look very red here.  We also have downy ones, hairy ones,  yellow-bellied sapsuckers and the giant pileated woodpecker and once in a while the dramatic red-headed woodpecker.
 This is only our second time seeing this yellow-bellied flycatcher. 
 This is "first year" male orchard oriole.  He will look much different next year.
 Our hummingbirds often perch on this feeder to enjoy their meal.  So fun.
Here is a tennessee warbler.  I wonder if he is glad to be in Minnesota. 
I hope you enjoyed seeing some of our birds.  I might have to post more pictures of the ones I mentioned that I didn't picture here. 

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

No pain, no gain

Our little grandson has been frustrated when he gets up on all fours, wanting to get moving but not really figuring it out - until right now.  He was up and wanting momma to come help when he began crawling forward.  We were cheering and clapping, which didn't seem to go over all that well with him!  He was crawling forward and crying at the same time, not at all understanding the magnitude of the moment!  Of course, I grabbed my camera to capture the moment!  No pain, no gain! Now the pressure is on to make sure I keep the floors clean throughout this next phase.... 

Monday, May 21, 2012

New boys on the block

 I got some really sweet pictures lately of the new grandsons that I thought I'd share.  It is so delightful to see babies develop their little personalities.  The handsome fellow pictured above is 7 months old.We are incredibly thankful and humbly blessed to have our many precious grandchildren!  And there is always room for more....

And here is our youngest grandchild, 5 months old. Isn't he a honey too? 

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Graduation Day

 A week ago our youngest son graduated from seminary with his Masters in Divinity.  What an accomplishment!
 It was a three year program and three years ago it seemed like graduation was a long way off - but the day arrived in swift fashion, it seems!
 Here he is receiving his "hood" to signify his degree.  Next stop is a Ph.D.  I wonder how many blog posts will happen before that day?
 We were priviledged to host a reception at our home for Daniel and his wife and children.
 It was perfect evening for company too!
 The weather was perfect for sitting outside enjoying our rare beautiful weather.
 The evening ended with a quiet fire, taking the chill off the air.
Our boy.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Canal Park Mini Vacation

 It's time for me to catch up here on my blog!  I have been remiss about posting here and I don't want to have a blog that just "sits" there.   So I am going to back track a bit and post about a little "mini-vacation" we took last month to one of our favorite spots - Canal Park in Duluth, Minnesota.  We go here often, it's only a 4 hour drive from our home, and we find it so relaxing.  We always stay in a motel right down in the Canal Park area close to the aerial lift bridge, trendy shops and good restaurants. 
 Our room had a great view of the magnificent, large Lake Superior.
 On our second night there we had company!  Our son John and his family joined us; we had booked a nice two room suite, and it was perfect.  Grandpa and grandson enjoyed some reading time.
Here is our youngest grandchild with his momma.
Not far from Duluth, going up the "north shore" are so many opportunities to enjoy the outdoors.  One popular spot is Gooseberry Falls State Park.  We recommend it!


 Of course, eating is always a big part of vacationing.  Our favorite spot is the Lake Avenue Cafe.  Wow, the chef there is amazing! Everything is unique and most delicious.
 In front of our hotel is the lake, as I already mentioned.  What could be more fun then throwing rocks into the lake?  Here is grandpa and Tobias doing just that. 
When I got home I pulled out a photo album from 1985 when we first started to visit this area and I found this picture of Wally and sons throwing rocks into Lake Superior in the same spot.  I loved the fact that Wally was enjoying his sons in 1985 and the next generation in 2012. 

Tuesday, May 01, 2012

It's just a cookie

 Last weekend I taught a little class on decorating cookies.  Since I had extra cookies and icing ready for decorating, I thought some grandchildren would enjoy decorating some cookies any way they wanted.
 It was fun to see them all get into it - and fun to let them do it their own way.
 I love the fact that this sweet granddaughter is so adept at this.
 She is very creative and made lots of different designs.
One of her brothers had his own idea on how to squeeze icing onto his cookie.
As I told the class I was teaching "remember - it's JUST a cookie" - don't fret about it being perfect.
Yup.  It's just a cookie. 

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Thud Thud Thud




For hours today this aggressive robin continued to fly into our living room windows as he was determined to protect HIS territory from the "robin" he saw in the reflection of said windows. Thud.


No matter how many times I tried to scare him, going outside also, in an effort to send him elsewhere, thus preserving his little head... it was to no avail. Back he would come .. slamming into the window again and again. Thud.


I felt like we were hosting the "stupid robin convention."

Thud

Thud

Thud

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Sweet saturday evening

The weather was calm and the temperature was perfect.

The evening was just calling for a cookout and a campfire.
There is nothing better then sharing the warmth of a fire.. and the warmth of family...



Someone loves to swing!


While someone loves the magic of fire..


And someone loves to watch.

He doesn't miss a thing these day...

Sunday, April 08, 2012

Oh, the cuteness..

Seriously, isn't this just super cute? This is our second to youngest grandchild (number 11, if you are counting) - and he was looking quite dapper today for Easter Sunday! I just had to share it!

Happy Easter!

He is Risen! He is risen, indeed!

Sunday, April 01, 2012

Birthdays x3

Three of our wonderful grandchildren celebrated their birthdays - the three of them have their birthdays within 10 days of each other. When they visited recently, we enjoyed celebrating all three birthdays at once! Efficient! Happy Birthdays!

Saturday, March 24, 2012

the 12 of '12

Finally - our first time together with all 12 sweet grandchildren.

Fun times ahead.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Welcome spring!

Welcome spring! Winter is past (we hope...) and spring temperatures have arrived much earlier then in the past. Everyone seems to have a smile on their face these days. I had to add some color on my blog today - these pictures are not current, but from last year. I look forward to seeing more bright colors in our world now that spring has arrived!
This picture is a reminder of the colors soon to be part of our everyday world! This is just a treat for the eye and refreshment for the soul when I walk into our local garden center! I can't wait to go there again in a few short weeks....!!

Sunday, March 18, 2012

The River Room

You may have noticed or heard us refer to our "river room" - it is our made-up name for the all-season porch that hubby built onto the back of our home a few years ago. We just didn't know what we wanted to call that new room and because this is our view from the large windows...
we decided to refer to it as the "river room." (The river that flows past our property, however, is really only visable to us during the months that the trees have no leaves. Once the leaves are full and lush, we feel more like we are in a tree house.) Notice the cute gazebo hubby built down by the river... we are remiss in making good use of it though! Maybe this year we will take more time to relax in it with the soft sound of the moving river...


There is a sweet path to walk down to the river. We have two light posts to guide us and sometimes it reminds me of the lamp posts in "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" because they seem to just appear in the woods as you walk to the river. (the other light post, not in this picture, especially has that feeling.)



While looking through my lens, I spyed this interesting tree - full of hollowed-out "apartments" for many of natures little friends.. this time of year is really quite interesting once you take the time to look around! Happy Spring! (almost)