Cove Point on Lake Superior

 We just returned from a 5 day, 4 night vacation at one of our favorite spots - Lake Superior.

 We enjoyed the beautiful views of Split Rock Lighthouse.

 Our home away from home was a wonderful cottage at Cove Point.

 THIS was our view from our deck.  Morning coffee never was better!

 And inside or outside, the lake was the focal point.

 Our eldest son and two of our grandsons joined us while we hiked and enjoyed the fresh air and fabulous vistas.

 This little fella has the happiest personality! Of course, riding on top of his daddy's shoulders was tons of fun!

 This busy 4 year old just loved the fun of hiking on these big rocks.

In the distance you can see Split Rock lighthouse.  It was a lovely little vacation. Can't wait until next time!!

MInnesota+sunshine+family=wonderful

 We had a wonderful and busy weekend in beautiful Minnesota and North Dakota!  We started the weekend on Friday evening in Fargo with an adorable grandson having an adorable birthday party - the theme was "chickens" and the food, the pinata, the cake pops - and even a giant yellow chicken - all added to the fun of the party!  Happy 5th birthday to Josiah!

 Then on Saturday we gathered at a local park in our town to enjoy spending time with two of our grown nephews and their families, who were both visiting from out of town.  The second cousins had fun getting to know each other and play together.  We celebrated the 7th birthday of a sweet great- niece (visiting from Canada).  The weather was perfect, the Berge men played rook, the food delicious, the company lots of fun...

Blessed with another day of sunshine and lovely temperatures, we enjoyed a morning of worship in church and then an afternoon of relaxation on one of our favorite lakes.  We put our pontoon in the water and off we all went to enjoy the day!  Yes, it was a perfect Minnesota weekend!



Little Girls

Grandma had two little girls over to play yesterday.  Two little grand-daughters to keep busy.  We played with toys, played with playdough, played in the sandbox, played on the swings, played in the hammock... oh yes, we played the day away. 

A good time was had by all. 

Adam's Amazing Playset

Our handy and creative son Adam built an amazing playset in his backyard for his growing family.

I think he created it as he built it....

 Swings, slide, exercise bars, little playhouses, a catwalk, a climbing wall, a cargo net..

 There are a few sets of  exercise bars. This high set, as you can see, and there is a lower set out of sight underneath the catwalk.

And then there is this Adam-designed pole system for extra challenge and strength building.

A cargo net and sundry challenges all for fun!  Fresh air, exercise and childhood dreams!



Big girl

This past week one of our darling grandchildren celebrated a birthday.  She turned TWO!

She was all fancy for her party but thought the addition of grandma's sandals might make her outfit complete.  I thought this was a cute picture. 

Sweet tower of delight

This past week I helped host a bridal shower for a lovely young woman in our church.  We decided it would be great fun to serve delicious and fancy looking cupcakes.  Along with that I talked my willing husband to build us a tower on which we could display our cupcakes.  It was a big success!  Doesn't this look like fun?  It was.. and there were four kinds of cupcakes (yes, all homemade - chocolate, mocha, raspberry/vanilla and lemon).  YUM. 

Oh, for sweet....

Today I decided to bake a sweet treat called a "nanaimo bar" - made famous by a housewife that lived close to Nanaimo, British Columbia.  Most Canadian's are well-aware of this delicious layered bar but not many American's known its name - just that it is delicious.  I have never made them before and so I gave it a whirl.  I must admit, it is very sweet, but anything with chocolate is always a good thing.  So, here's to all my Canadian family!  Sweets for a sweet family.

Starting young

This little grandson was very interested in his Daddy's coffee.  

The Look

 The look of concentration...

 The look of defeat...

 The look of celebration...

 The look of joy....

The look of silly...

The look of impishness...

The look of determination....

 The look of carefree...

 The look of athleticism.....

The look of courage.....

 The look of confidence.......

The look of cuteness.....

Moving closer

Let the good times roll!  These five grandchildren have just moved closer - they are only an short one hour drive from us instead of a 6+ hour drive! We look forward to lots more quality time with them now!

Their dad set right to work designing and building a fairly large play structure for them!  Isn't he a good dad?  We sure think so. I wonder if there is going to be a swing for grandma....

 (They had to leave a great play structure when they moved but now they are getting an even larger one!)

Family ties

 We just returned from a trip to Chicago to join with other relatives to enjoy the start of another family - the wedding of our great-nephew to his lovely bride.  The day was full of joy and celebration - and wonderful visiting amongst the family members we don't see as often as we wish.

Following the wedding many family members gathered at the home of Wally's brother for more visiting and eating.  I love the eating, but I really love the visiting and getting to know our neices/nephews and their families face to face (facebook is good, but face to face is much better!) Here is a nice picture we took of some of my husband's siblings and hubby and me. 

 (Missing two more of his siblings and their spouses.)



Turning six

 Today this grandson turned six!

 His newest passion is fishing and he was happy to add some fishing supplies to his tackle box!

He had expressed a desire to go on an overnight fishing trip for his birthday.  This was our idea of where to camp.... 

 We even had a campfire and made some s'mores...   but when bedtime came, two little boys decided to sleep in the house with grandpa and grandma while dad and big sister camped outside.  But last night and today they are fishing in the river off our property.  So it's still a pretty good "fishing trip."

Happy 6th birthday!

Good to the last drop...

It was a hot summer day here - in the 90's - and nice and sunny.  A great Saturday for a kiddie pool and some time at grandma and grandpa's house.  This grandson had the fun of bring the center of our attention today.  Oh, he was a happy boy.  I didn't take many pictures as we were busy playing but I snapped a few while he was having fun with the hose and the kiddie pool - and the drips from his hair, which he enjoyed getting wet and then letting the drips travel down his face...  here he is, getting some refreshment from the drips.  Good to the last drop.

Thank you, too, for the many of you that may be remembering my friend's son/grandson, Isaiah.  He is recuperating from his surgery and doing well.  He has a long road yet ahead of him, but we know he is the hands of His redeemer! 

Praying for Isaiah today

On Thursday, June 7th, this little fella is going to face surgery to remove a cancerous tumor.  His mom and his grandma are good friends of mine.  He has been such a brave little boy during his chemo treatments and his heart is so tender and his assurance of Jesus love for him is so real.  The surgery is scheduled for 8 a.m. and if you read this during his day of surgery, your prayers are coveted. http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/isaiahlawson

They grow up so fast...

This spunky, adorable grandson graduated from the first of many graduation ceremonies throughout his life.  I hope he is this excited with each one!  I think his Dad and Mom look like proud parents, don't you think?   Well done, Josiah!!

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. 

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.... 

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?