Want to play with me?

Brooklyn is a really good big sister - and likes to keep close to her little brother. Here she is seeing if he wants her to play with him!

p.s. thank you John, for giving me some pointers on how to resize my photos before trying to download them to my blog. It works like a charm! I just might not be able to stop adding pictures when it goes this fast! Wow!!

Whoa, Grandma!

Ah, a look at life from the same perspective as Preston! I thought it might be nice to get down with the little guy - and the photographer was none other then little Brooklyn! She did a pretty good job taking our picture!

Adam and his boys

Quite a handful here for Adam! Here are two happy boys to see their Daddy at the end of the day. Timothy is on the left and Luke on the right. We think Adam is smiling too....

Grandma and Hannah

Ah ha! A picture! Here we go, hot off the press, we have a picture from today's visit to Grandma's!

This is little Hannah Sophia who, along with her brothers Timothy and Luke, stopped by this afternoon while their dad Adam helped his brother Daniel and dad Wally on the job site.

Just an update

Hello all, just a quick update without any photo. I often have a bit of a hard time getting a photo downloaded so I thought I'd just post a note minus the picture right now. We have been away on a great bus trip to Branson - it was good from beginning to end. We went with 3 other couples who are close friends and met more nice folks on the trip as well. The shows were great and very uplifting. The whole town was decorated for Christmas as the Christmas shows begin in November. As a Christmas addict, I loved it completely!

Now we are looking forward to a quiet Thanksgiving and a busy Christmas. Yes, I have started decorating, wrapping gifts and working on my Christmas cards. It is just one of those things I really relish. Go figure.

I will work on that photo download again but for now a wish for you all to have a Blessed and Happy Thanksgiving!

Who can wait for Christmas?

I am a Christmas fanatic. I totally love Christmas, all the shopping and all the decorating and all the lights and all the baking and all the cards, etc. etc. ( Of course, I love the Christmas message of Jesus coming to this earth to redeem us! ) This past August I shopped early for Christmas for all the grandchildren but then I couldn't wait to give them those cute clothes (so they could wear them, of course, for Christmas!) So back to more shopping! I learned that Preston didn't have an "exersaucer" so I told Meghan that Wally & I would buy that for Christmas - but who can wait?? Preston was ready NOW so.... Merry Christmas to this little honey.

Blowing out the candles!

Here I am with my helper to blow out my candles. Brooklyn thought it was pretty special to help grandma blow out the candles - though I have to say it was nice that I didn't actually have to blow out 59 candles! (Consider the expense of all those candles!) Looking on is my friend Denise and, of course, Wally, the love of my life.

We topped that angel food cake with a delicious homemade raspberry sauce (Meghan's mom's recipe...) and whipped cream. Delicious!

A Birthday dinner

I am the birthday girl this week! For my birthday Daniel & Meghan hosted a dinner for me at their home and surprised me by also inviting my close friends JoAnn & Paul and Richard & Denise. I knew that Norman & Martha were coming but I was completely surprised to have my dear friends also there to help celebrate! Meghan cooked a delicious meal; the table was set with their china, etc., and the children were as sweet as usual. It just couldn't have been nicer! Thank you, Meghan & Daniel!

Preston's first Halloween

Happy Halloween, 2006! Here is little Preston with his Daddy - as you might be able to tell, they are both in Minnesota Vikings garb. Though, I'm not sure the Vikings wear that furry hat.... at any rate, I thought folks would enjoy seeing this cute little face - and the handsome Daddy. Preston is learning to smile for the camera!

Brooklyn, the princess fairy

Time for the Halloween photos - here is Brooklyn as a "princess fairy" but since it was the end of the evening, she wasn't too keen on putting the wings back on or her princess crown and wand. She looked pretty cute, though, with her sparkly eye make-up and little fancy dress.

Berge Birthday Bash in Banff

Here we are, the old folks, gathered in our nice hotel room in the Rundlestone Lodge in Banff. (It has a really cool loft for the bedroom.) We decided to celebrate our birthdays together, complete with gifts (that we switched from person to person causing some laughter, of course) and a cake and candles. We sang Happy Birthday to us and blew out our candles! How blessed we are and we are thankful to God for our loved ones. We pray for all our family members. These Aunts & Uncles are still praying for you!

Canadian Rockies

What a perfect day - so crystal clear and the air so fresh! This picture says it all. We (Wally & Candis) enjoyed two nights at the Rundlestone Lodge in Banff, Alberta, Canada along with Art & Ardy, Ken & Hope, Norman & Martha and Judy & Jarle. On Tuesday (the day I took this picture) we all hiked up Johnson Canyon - a nice hike of about 3 miles, round trip, to two different waterfalls. What an invigorating walk! This picture was taken on the ride back to the town of Banff. Every direction had a fabulous view.

Family Bowling in Canada

Imagine having a bowling alley filled with family from lane to lane - well that is what we did in Okotoks, Alberta (south of Calgary) last weekend. Dave & Cherie (Olson) Robinson, owners of the bowling alley (and relatives), are so nice to let us invade the lanes! Almost everyone in this picture is family - how many can you identify? The Berge siblings (the old folks) got together for a few days - first in Okotoks and then on to Banff. We missed Phil & Betty Jo, and, of course, really felt the absence of Alice. I only bowled one game because I just couldn't take the time away from visiting with my neices & nephews and their children! Notice the smaller bowling balls - this is Canadian bowling; smaller balls without the finger holes and only 5 pins instead of 10. It is really fun - I like it better then 10 pins though I am not good at either one!

Fall Family Fun

Last weekend we gathered together at a motel for some good family time. We had not been all together since March and I wanted to take a family picture for a Christmas card now that we have two more babies to add to the family. Happily, we got our picture, enjoyed some shopping, swimming at the motel and playing games, a visit to an apple orchard and a visit to Como Zoo. Here we are having a "fast food" picnic. One has to learn to be flexible with planning when there are 5 young children but we did it and had a wonderful time.

Apple Cider Day!

I love fall, don't you? We have had a pretty fall so far and our two apple trees (a macintosh and a golden delicious) have produced lots of apples. They are referred to as "Wally's apple trees" since Wally is known for his interest in fruit and berries. (If you go outdoors with Wally you will learn this as he has a way of always finding berries somewhere!) Well, we were fortunate to be able to borrow a wonderful apple cider press from a friend and we made many gallons of apple cider yesterday. It was really slick (and tasty)! Here is a picture of the apple juice running into the bucket. Come on over for a taste!

Down the Aisle

I had the honor of being the wedding coordinator last evening for my friend Maralee. This is the view I get each wedding as wedding coordinator that I think is so special! I love seeing the crosses above the bride as she makes the walk towards her soon-to-be husband. I thought you might like to see it too! Best wishes, Maralee & Eric! Your wedding was just lovely!

The Ballerina cooks too!

Yesterday Brooklyn and Preston came over to Grandma's for a visit. That made Grandma very happy because now someone can help bake cookies, right? If you can tell from the picture, this little ballerina likes to sprinkle the colored sugar on her cookies. Can you tell her favorite color? And, in case you didn't guess, Brooklyn likes to choose her own clothes each day - often her favorite is this cute little ballerina dress. Daniel liked to wear the same thing too when he was a little boy, only it was a blue dinosaur sweatshirt. Day after day after day.

Preston is 3 months old!

Three months ago this little fellow was born - and here he is now all smiles with so much personality in just this short amount of time. Isn't it amazing to watch a little child learn and grow? He looks pretty grown up in his little navy vest, don't you think? What a honey. (That's his proud mommy holding him.)

State Fair

Today was the last day of the Minnesota State Fair - and the weather was perfect so we (John & Sara and Wally & I) thought we'd join the throngs of folks enjoying what is known here as "the great Minnesota get-togther!" Everything you can think of is available to eat, most of it on a stick, and some things you would never have thought of to eat is also available! Here Sara and I are standing in front of Ole & Lena's "hotdish on a stick" food stand. I think it was tater-tots and meatballs on a stick and cream of mushroom soup available for dipping. Who comes up with these ideas? What a great day we had at the fair!

Baked Apple Dumplings!

Sara is a wonderful cook - and she loves to bake delicious food when we come for a visit. It works out so well; John likes to prepare a good part of the entree and Sara makes us fabulous desserts. This time Sara made some really melt-in-your-mouth apple dumplings. In fact, they were so good we were glad there were enough to have for breakfast Monday morning!