Ryan's truck broke down the day before the wedding while Amber was on her way to Anchorage to pick up the wedding flowers. Thank goodness it was an easy fix. Amber said, "just go ahead and do rehearsal without us". I have been to quite a few wedding rehearsals in my "short" life and this is the first time I've seen it run through only once. Organized girl that Amber we know and love!



Amber with Jenna and two of her sisters. The pictures were done and we were waiting for a 4:00 wedding to start at 2:45. Wow!!

Camera lessons ... camera just didn't agree with either one of us!

Welcome to the family. Laulainen family goes through the receiving line.


Lilacs! Oh, I miss the scent of those.
These other flowers were everywhere growing in the wild.

Jari river fishing with his catch of what I believe is red salmon.





View coming down the river. Jari & I passed by the river rafting trip. I counted bodies and I counted boats ... then decided I would come back some other day! Jari's parents went on the trip as did Jen. Never say you are too old ... lousy excuse. I believe Pekka & Laina (tho' a bit chilly on the ride) will talk about this trip for the rest of their lives.















A bonfire the evening of the wedding. It is probably 12:30 at night and the sun is still shining. Kids (big & little) were shooting off fireworks ... just a bit hard to see their brilliance in the sunshine!
This is a coffee stand. They are absolutely everywhere. You are driving down some heavily wooded road and there will be another one. Not kidding ... probably 1 every 2 miles at least ... sometimes more frequently. Might be just the place for a coffee drinker like me!

Ryan & Amber wedding pics

Just a few pictures to share with y'all of Ryan & Amber's wedding.





















These pictures I borrowed from the Marjanen blog. Amber just posted these herself.

Missing Anita

Sorry that we could not make it up north to see Anita before she left, hazards of being a sod farmer I guess. We just can't seem to beat the heat and with no rain it is impossible to keep grass green! You will all have to let me know how the Mines and Pines event went. There may still be a slim (very slim) chance that we drive up north on Saturday morning for the day but it's not looking good. The plan was that the guys were going to go fishing so if we do get to sneak away it will be without the boat as there would not be enough time to fit fishing in to the day. Hopefully we can surprise everyone but it is highly doubtful. Beginning to know what it is like living in Phoenix but with a ton of humidity on top of the heat. So uncomfortable, you just don't seem to dry off after a shower.
Hope everyone has a great weekend!
Farmington Jo

Problems in Blog Photo World

Okay ... the oldest Kuoppala offspring tried to get the Brainerd Kuoppala household educated in posting photos on the Blog. Well ... after several attempts, we have admitted defeat for the moment. Not permanently, just for the moment. Becky, hurry up and post some pics so we know how long we have to wait over here for pics to upload to Blogger! Jody, do you have high speed or dial up internet? When you posted pics did it take a long time to upload. The green bar just never seems to go away and let us continue on to the post. HELP!!!!!!!!!
-anita
-grandpa & grandma

Lindula's

I hope everyone is doing well.

I just thought I'd give an update on our weekend here. We had the opportunity to spend time with Brock, Anna, and Tia while Anita was in Alaska. I don't know that the kids want to come and stay with us again anytime soon.

Thursday night we went to Elbow Creek Ranch. All 3 kids got to ride horses (Tia for the first time) and loved it.

Friday: I had the day off of work, so we went fishing. I don't actually know how many times my line got wet. We were fishing off a dock, so there were many hooks to change, baiting of the hooks, and untangling of the line. Then, we feasted on McDonald's. Anna called Liz and Liz brought us root beer floats, but being as there was an hour, the kids helped me weed the flower bed. (I only lost a few flowers - they didn't realize they weren't weeds) Friday night, all 3 got to experience hay making. They were working hard rolling, throwing bales, and scratching. Total bales put up on Friday night was 700 or 750. They didn't have a problem sleeping that night. The comment heard most often was "I don't feel right". I'm still not sure if it was wanting to vomit, sore muscles, or what.

Saturday, we went to my boss's home and fished there. They got the experience of bating their own hooks and much to my amazement, Brock actually touched a leech and put it on his hook. I didn't think he ever would; he claimed that he wouldn't. We caught 28 blue gills and 1 bass. Then, they got to swim, eat Poor Gary's Pizza, kayak, canoe, and cover me in Lilly Pads. After all the fun, it was back to work. More hay. Total that night was 500. Once again they didn't have a problem sleeping at night.

Sunday, we went to church, played games, then they went w/ Laurie for a while. Sunday night we had a fish fry and ate all the fish they had caught the day prior. Brock was very excited to miss the rest of the picking up of hay bales. Everyone else was tired of it, so Shawn and I finished the last 80-100 bales.

Monday, they had to be at my house by themselves. The night before, we came up with a plan for them. Anna and Tia came up with their own list of chores they were going to work on. The greatest part is the list (scrub toaster, scrub coffee pot, clean Jen's room, etc.). They didn't do anything on the list (Remember, I didn't make the list, they did. My only request was that my house be in one piece when I got home and that Anna put the dinner in the oven. I asked them to play games, sleep, play outside, whatever). They did all that. I got an emergency call that one of my horses was out and going down the driveway. I cruised home and my horse was out, but standing right by the fence next to the others. We worked on fence. I hate being shocked and am not interested in touching the fence to see if it works. Tia didn't mind, so was the official fence toucher. She was crazy. Anna got shocked without realizing that it was going to happen. Brock convinced Tia to put one hand in the horse water and touch the fence with the other. She did and admitted that she really hurt right around the proximity of her heart. They were really enjoying themselves. Monday night, they went to ride horses again at Elbow Creek Ranch. Laurie said that they were laughing and giggling and really enjoying themselves.

Now, Shawn and I are ready to hit our recliners and listen to our clocks tick again. It was a lot of fun and we are hoping that it can happen again another time but maybe not tomorrow.

Heather

alanys here wishing you a happy week

dog days of summer

When I got home Jenny was going through pictures and this is the only picture I have of patchs but I thought I'd put it here.

more lake pics

Not long after we stopped at this island to eat lunch and swim, the storm rolled in, (notice the dark skies) and it got really windy, so we had to pack up fast and get going. There were four foot waves and it was quite the rocky ride!! Scary!! I wish I had gotten a picture of Frans sitting in the back getting sprayed every five seconds!! It was pretty funny...All the rocking lulled Alanys to sleep in minutes, so I took off her jacket, and laid her down in the house! A fun time was had by all....thanks Jari and Anita!

Jenny

Last Sunday we spent the afternoon at the lake with Jari and Anita and clan and had a great time! It was my first time at the lake in probably six years! Hopefully we can spend a few more days their before summer ends, and maybe even bring the tent trailer and camp there one weekend! Here is a picture of Frans on the wakeboard for the first time in about 7 years, and he got up first try!! Surprised us all!


Anna is holding Alanys who didn't really know what to think of the boat. Anita, did you get a picture of Alanys in her life jacket? If you did, can I get a copy?

















Lindsey woke up in the morning saying she didn't know if she really wanted to go to the lake to go for a scary ride in Jari's boat...but once we got there and got going, she was ok! The last time she was in a boat, was last summer in Jari's bass boat, and she did not like it! We explained to her that this boat is a little bigger, and it has a house you can go into if you get scared!! It is awesome! Here is a picture of Jari and Anna hugging their new 'baby'! I have more pictures, but can only do five per post....so more to follow.
Anita leaves today for MN....have a safe trip, and tons of fun!!!
Jenny

Collecting Dust

Wow-the blog has been very quiet the past couple of weeks so I thought I would simply say hi to all!
Hope everyone has a fun and safe 4th of July weekend. Dave and I are driving down to my 30 year (gosh) class reunion this weekend. Should be fun!
Happy 4th all!
Jody

Kuoppala Grand Kids

Kuoppala Grand Kids

Lake Powell

Just a few pics from Lake Powell this past weekend. The weather was beautiful (got a bit toasty at times), the water very "refreshing" ... and no sunburn from the bottom of the swimsuit lines up this time. At least ... very minimal. Forgot to sunscreen the legs though! Oops!

Happy Fathers day

To all the fathers....hope you all have a nice, relaxing, enjoyable fathers day :)
Jenny

News from Texas

Your father spoke with his brother last evening. They will not
be coming this year. But next year, June perhaps, they will
come with the motor home. Coming with them will be Melanie, Willie and Milly. Melanie and Willie want to come to
Minnesota so best come with the motor home. Willie had some
surgery to his shoulder; has it pinned now. Lauri wasn't
exactly sure what surgery but it has given him some problems
for some time so needed it done. dk

Just wanna be a homebody

Anyone have any suggestions on how I can just stay at home? I'll bet when I get older I'll be wanting my rocking chair and Jari will be itching to go, go, go ... just like his dad. Did stay home yesterday morning and cleaned .. that felt good. Just need to do some baking!! Anna & Tia can' t sleep in no matter how much they'd like to. They signed up for summer school. Goes from 8 to 11:15 every day. They have a blast ... good way to burn up part of the day & learn at the same time. They come home, straight to the pool (another one with a blow up ring on top ... short term stay dog chewed the one from last year), then crash. Wake up and do whatever. Yesterday it was swim suit searching. I do not like shopping. I like to browse crafty/antique/housewares type of stores. I do not like to "browse" and "hunt" for clothing. I go the store to find a black shirt and I buy a black shirt. Or ... flip through Walmart racks on my way through the store. Well we went searching ... still didn't find a suit for the one who desperately needs one. Oh for annoying. In the evening we delivered a truck for someone and got to visit some very dear friends for a while ... Ben & Jeanette Wuollet & clan. That isn't part of my not leaving the house problem, they are a joy. I just wish they lived closer. Girls came home and cleaned their room until at least 11:00. I don't know what bug bit their behinds, but thanks to the bug ... the room looks awesome! Now I need to try and rouse them .... this ought to be fun! Brock is gone & needs to be picked up at 10 this morning. He gets to come home and do placement testing for home schooling next year. Can you believe I am going to do this?? He is willing & ready ... will take some adjustments to this schedule of mine. This weekend we will be running again ... I work Friday ... so after that we're free! Will let you know which direction we end up running when the weekend is over. Jari is getting just a little "peer pressure" in the weekend department ... amazing how that somehow never ends ... is actually a hoot!

Have a great day all of you!
Anita

Swallowing Coins

I have learned so much about the facts of swallowing coins and what to look for. Mitchell swallowed a penny on Monday night and we were not real panicked about it but I did call my ER doctor to ask a few questions. Did you know that if it is a dime, nickel or quarter the concern is less? Since it was a penny the concern was much higher, did not know this. If the penny was dated 1984 or earlier it would have been ok but if it is dated 1984-2006 the pennies are made mostly of zinc, not copper and when introduced to stomach fluids it reacts like battery acid in a childs stomach and can cause ulcers if it does not come out the way it is suppose to. So an x-ray was recommended and low and behold we found the penny in Mitchell's stomach which is where they were hoping it was. It took one more day to pass (what mother's have to go through to find a childs discarded items). The penny was almost green, amazing what stomach fluids will do in a very short time. So I am passing my experience on to others. First of all, why kids have to put things in their mouth is beyond me and secondly if they swallow a quarter it does not come out 2 dimes and a nickel. (smiles)
Jody

Congratulations to Ivan and Missy!!

Frans

While I am sitting here waiting for video going into my computer I sit here and read the blog and I notice that some one, some where said to post more pics from our trip so I went and put a couple on a page and here they are. now there is a incorrect but long sentence.

Home on the Range

We went to the Iron Range yesterday; Ruth came with us.
Services were at Julia's. Next to the Elbow Creek Ranch
and Elizabeth was already there. Took pictures of Tristan,
flowers and horses. Took some meat. Next to Heather &
Shawn's for supper. Jen had encouraged her to enlarge her
flower bed which she had done. She isn't making the same
mistake I made the first time and planting too close together.
Looks nice.

Had told Jan Takala when the milking parlor was done that
I'd like to see it sometime. She had said anytime. Yesterday
was the day. We were lucky in that Jan was giving hay to
calves in the "old barn" and she gave us a tour of the new.
Some cows were leaving through doors and through
other doors cows were coming in to be milked. They looked
content, chewing their cud. We watched the washing,
drying and putting on of milkers. They milk over 100 cows
but can't remember exactly. Will have more details in the
Newsletter, perhaps even the number. Fun day. dk

Jenny

Hello!
I just got done going thruogh CD's of pictures from our trip....Frans spent a lot of time at Gary's dumping pictures from our cards to Cd's....well, he didn't write on the CD itself what was all on the cd, so I just had the lovely job of going through them all!! Total number of pictures taken: 1,127!! And at Gary's alone, Frans took582!! (I took about 50 of them) So I think Frans spent enough time behind the lens! Next trip we will have to cut that number waaayyyy down!! What does a person do with that many photos?
Jenny

What's a mother to do?

Tanner's skateboard has now become a third seat in my Tahoe, permanently! Told him he will never get it back.
He broke his LEFT arm this time. Spent all day yesterday at the hospital. Dave and I told him he is done with the skateboarding thing and that he needs to take up dancing or something. He is very depressed about the whole thing but what is a mother suppose to do? I don't want him to become a crippled young man or even worse, hit his head one of these times (even though they are required to wear helmets).
So Tanner is facing a bummer of a summer with another 8 weeks of casting on his arm that goes from wrist to shoulder. If anyone can come up with some new hobbies for him, pass them on!!!
As long as it does not involve me having to wrap him in bubble wrap, I'm all for it!
Am I being to hard on him? Do I have the right to take away something that he loves so much? He is getting to the advanced stages of his skateboarding that requires higher jumps and faster speeds so if you miss once, it can be very dangerous. He wants to compete again, took 3rd last year. So I am torn. Maybe he will give it up on his own without a fight, he hates wearing a cast!
Time will tell!

frans

A couple more pics from our trip

Anita

Another weekend ... went from terrifying to quite tranquil and relaxing ... ending with a bit of "oh shoot!". We rented a cabin through the Forest Service up near Williams AZ. We had all the toys/food/clothes/junk food/more junk food ready to go. Asked Brock to haul out the last of the garbage to the dumpster in the alley. The small gate wouldn't open nicely, so he picked up a car battery that was parked next to the fence and tried using it as a mallet to open the gate. Battery dropped, acid splashed, and he couldn't see a thing! Am ever so grateful that Anna was outside, because he could not see. It splashed his right eye, but with one eye burning to beat the bands, the other eye wasn't going to open either. We got him in the house and started rinsing. Called the ER .. "we cannot dispense medical advice" ... the pediatrician "I am sure he would tell you to go to the ER or call poison control". Duh!!! When the kids were tiny tots, I always had that number plastered all over the fridge. Now I didn't even think of it!! So a call to poison control had us washing for another 10 minutes, then applying a wet cool washcloth over the eye. Looked much better and we hit the road. PC called to see how he was doing after we had already left.

At 2 pm we got to our little slice of Heaven. We had a cabin that included shower/bathroom and a fully stocked kitchen .. everything but the food. Heater (which we did not need), 1 queen bed and 5 twin beds, games and perhaps 100 rolls of toilet paper. Here I had brought extra with me in case the group of us needed more than they provided! Needn't have. We also had the use of the bunk house, which had a full size futon & another 5 twin beds. Folks sort of joined us through the day & evening, some even on Saturday. We had 3 atvs, 1 mini rail, and 1 dirt bike up there ... and enough dust to keep Brock's poor wounded eye looking quite red all weekend! Thank goodness for Fred's supply of Visine. The crowd of us included Heini w/kids & finn boy, Keilah & Dean w/kids, Charisee & Charlie w/Demetrius, Jeff & Mona & kids, Fred Kako & 2 dogs. We all had a great time ... especially after some awesome guys discovered what the stench in the porch was. It smelled like cat urine when we got there and got worse by the hour. Behind the water heater they discovered a trap w/a nonliving mouse in it. Actually, am going to assume it was a mouse ... any other alternative sounds too disgusting! Pine cone wars, riding & more riding, badmitton with the little things always getting stuck in the pine trees, grilling all our food (the gas stove had a severe stinky gas leak), showers when needed .... awesome visiting and dreaming of moving to places where the thermometer isn't hitting 111 in the middle of the afternoon. In an atv ride that lasted less than 45 minutes, I saw 9 elk and 4 deer. Didn't see the skunk family that supposedly has a residence under the porch ... was sort of hoping to smell them at some point ... just not up TOO close. Bees, bees & more bees ... but the air was warm, the breeze cool and the air so refreshing! Sunday it was back to reality ... Duke really needed to use the side of the road on the way home ... and we didn't know it. Quite a mess to clean up in the back of the truck and off his paws when we got home. Then ... Jari went outside at about 10:30 last night. Our big freezer is in the carport. I think that when we hauled bags of ice out of it before we left, the door was never closed all the way. It swings shut by itself, but something must have been in the way. All the albacore that I've been complaining about (it does taste good tho') is no longer edible. I dare not add up the poundage of steak and pork chops/kabobs that are going to hit the dumpster tonight. Ugh!! Oh well ... have been wanting to clean it as it seriously needed defrosting and am ready to fill it with salmon! Look on the sunny side of things! Will definately go again. Would love to spend a week up there & do things like visit the Grand Canyon 1 day, Montezumas Castle another day, etc. There are other cabins around the state which I aim to visit as well. Some a bit more primitive, others with streams running behind them. What a find it was!

Have a great day all!

Jenny

Hello everyone!
I have a few minutes to spare, so thought I would post a few pictures of our trip! We had an awesome time up there! Thank you Dave and Jody, Wayne and Becky, and Gary and Laurie for having our crew!! Thank you Becky for taking our family pictures while we were there.....we love them!! We enjoyed all our stays, the girls had tons of fun, and thank you Mithchell, Denise, Michelle, and Debbie for giving us your rooms!! Heather, I was going to buy some of your rags....I foregot! We got back at about 2:30 on Wednesday morning, and the girls were smiling in their sleep as we carried them from the van to their beds!! Finally out of the car...yay!! We stopped in Wheatland, Wyoming at the super 8 at about 7:00 Monday night, and hit the road again at about 10 in the morning. We drove through bear country, which was pretty cool, (thanks gary!) and to Mt. Rushmore. All the way home, Lindsey kept saying she can't wait to get home and play with her dress up clothes.....well 7:00a.m. (Wednesday) she is standing by my side of the bed in her wedding dress, veil, and is hitting me with her flowers to wake me up!! I think she was a little excited to be home!
Well, I will post more pictures later.....Frans went snap happy, so we have more pictures then we know what to do with!!
Right now, I gotta go get ready to go do wedding pictures. Will write more later.....
Jenny