Pictures of life on the 'range

Rob and Amy came over with the girls. Shawn was discussing house plans with them, so the girls and I headed outside with Heidi. The girls were so funny. Olivia didn't mind that we ate ham for dinner, she just didn't want the sow to hear that we had eaten its baby :)

I was attempting to put a bunch of other pictures on here but it didn't work, so maybe next week. I have a client coming in soon.

Where is everybody?

How is everyone doing? Any updates on life? Enjoying spring?

We are enjoying the beautiful and early spring! The grass is already full of dandelions and it is only mid April! I don't remember that happening before. Nor do I remember pulling out shorts and flip flops in April before. With warm weather, green grass, and no bugs, we are getting some fresh air. Tennis is the latest thing at our house. There is a court near the elementary school that is usually empty, so we can play our amateur ball without worry of annoying other players :).

School is still in full swing, both for the kids and for me. Genetics is fascinating, but continuing to give me a good mental workout! Hopefully twenty years from now I will be able to say it was the toughest course I have ever taken.     ...One last push and the end of the semester will be here. My last final is May 15. It would be nice to go through the summer too, but there is enough action around here that I will probably wait until fall to hit it again.

Hope to hear from everyone soon. Happy Spring!
-b

Happy Birthday Charlie

Happy Birthday!  On Frans' birthday I mentioned a few things that accident prone son
has done.  You are not exactly accident free!  I brought you to Dr. Bol the chiropractor
for injuries from falling out of a tree but found out years later that you had been bull
riding in our pasture!        Then you fell asleep at the wheel, hit a guard rail and flipped
the car onto it's roof.  They say seat belts save lives but in this case not wearing one
probably saved yours as you were thrown into the back seat and the front compressed so if you had been belted in perhaps history would have been written differently.  Then
last but not least your flip off your bike at Elko and airlifted to Robbinsdale. 

That's enough Charlie.  No more accidents.  Happy Birthday and enjoy being Healthy.
Love, Mom and Isä

Happy Birthday Frans

Wishing you a Happy Birthday and a good 38th year.  Last night at Haps we were talking accident prone sons.  Gladys Ruonavaara had a picture on her cell phone of
her son Jasons leg bone poking through his skin.  She had many more stories of their
Jason.  Then I had to add stories of Frans: aiming at deer (without a gun) from on top
of a load of bales at Takalas with Shawn driving the tractor and Frans ended up with a
broken leg (good thing he was able to manuver or would have landed on his head); trapping and having to get recasted several times because the cast got wet (and stinky),
getting pushed 300 yards by a train and working on firewood when David hollered that
a tree was coming down and you glanced back to see where Ivan was and the tree
glanced off your head and did a permanent dent into the tractor steering wheel.  Then
when the doctor gave you a list of things to watch for in head injuries and you told the
doctor you have several of those sheets at home!  It's been quite a life.  Perhaps more
things are happening in Arizona of which we aren't aware and probably better for my
blood pressure!  Happy Birthday from Ma and Pa.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

happy birthday to you, 
happy birthday to you, 
happy birthday dear.. 
Mom, Frans, and Charlie...
happy birthday to you! =]

well a few days late for mom but i told her on the day so that counts right? :)
I just love the month of April!

Medical Missionary speaks to No. MN Retirees Thurs.

I thought the beater she is holding looks like the one Anita got from Martta's stash.  They roll it between their hands as shown and it can beat up eggs or whatever faster than an electric mixer.  Though she has gone to other 3rd world countries she thinks
Tanzania is the poorest of the poor. She is an RN who helps medical doctors.  They pay their own way, costing her about $3500 + for each trip.  A hyena had ripped out the side of a man's face.  He wanted something done so the food wouldn't fall out of his
mouth.  After 3 surgeries by a plastic surgeon he was able to keep food in his mouth.
She and other staff members wash their hands, first in soapy water, clear water to rinse
out soap and then in a chlorine water.  None of the staff has gotten sick.  They eat only
fruit with a hard peel, so no apples or tomatoes.  Operating rooms have dirt floors, poor lighting.  They bring more medical supplies each time they go.  She has a grand
daughter saving money so she can go on one of grandma's trips.  Very interesting.  dk

I know that MN and AZ have been warm lately ...

we haven't made it there quite yet in AK.

We do have rhubarb waking up tho'.

Daylight is not just creeping up on us anymore, it is coming by leaps and bounds. Love it!! The lights are no longer on lighting the driveway. The day has sprung when the kids hit the bus at 6:35 a.m. The sun is peaking at the peak of the mountain when I'm driving to work at nearly 8 a.m. And the sun is warm. Love the warmth of the sun!

Daylight is lasting longer as well. At it's darkest, I leave work in the dark at 4:30 pm. Now, if you look at the horizons as 9 and 3 on the clock, the sun is at about 1:30ish in the sky when I leave. Soon there will be setting in the west, no rising in the east. It will just spin circles and dip in the north. It is truly amazing. This passing of time. This passing of seasons. This coming of yet another spring and summer.

Then there are the jokes that nature plays on us. This morning our world is sprinkled white again. I love to watch the surprise on a face. Tia was mid brush stroke with the toothbrush when she noticed there was snow. Immediate pause. Anna was on her way out the door to the bus and did the pull up short and "whoa!" thing. It'll be gone this morning. There isn't much of it. It'll water the rhubarb and the strawberry plants.

Happy Spring!

Howdy!

Hi all!  Hope everyone is enjoying spring!  I sure am at work, we go for walks almost every day.  Yesterday I took my two youngest to the Como Zoo with my sister and her two girls she watches.  My two oldest girls are in DC with their mom.  I bet they are having a blast!  The mom just closed on a project out there to build apartments/studios for dancers, so the girls are going to get to see the site and what their mom has been working on so hard for the last 3 years!  At home I have been planning out my gardens and impatiently waiting for planting time.

Ivan has been working hard on the house, as always!  He has installed the hardwood flooring in the kitchen and dining room.  Of course, inorder to get the flooring down we had to move the cupboards.  Now the sink is in the middle of the kitchen (not working), the oven is in the living room (not working), and the fridge is in the laundry room (working :-)).  I started sanding/staining/varnishing the flooring where the sink cupboard belong, and Ivan started building the sink cupboard.  Did anyone know that he is very particular?  We want to be able to stain the cupboards the color we want, but the unfinished cupboards at HomeDepot and Menards are not up to his standards, so he gets to make them!  This weekend he hopes to get the cupboard finished, put into place and the sink hooked back up.  I can't wait!

And I can't forget Duchess!  She is still adorible and fun.  She was spayed three weeks ago, and I am still waiting for her to mellow out!  She loves to chew on my feet and shoelaces.  We found out she loves to go into the front porch and smell the fresh air until a noisy truck goes by, then she runs back into the house.

Well, got to go.  Have a great spring!

~MISSI~ and Ivan

P.S.  Anyone who is Ivan's friend on Facebook, I should probably tell you it is not him.  It is me.  I created his account so I could make him a farm on Farmville and send myself the gifts I need/want!  So don't expect him to comment, because he told me he wouldn't.

Happy Easter

Hoping everyone has a wonderful Easter!

Birthday wishes!

Won't be on a computer until next week, so thought I would send some birthday wishes out a day early! Becky and Shawn may your day be filled with sunshine! Wishing you both a wonderful and happy birthday!
love,
jen