Some other life at our house

We have some calves that we are bucket feeding...

and 17 more from our own cows

A deer came visitingFlowers were blooming... my peonies bloomed for the first time. I'm happy to report that the pigs did not eat All of my flowers, just some of them

Not sure how the cat thinks he can get a mouse on the ground, but is most likely trying to get a bird

My co-worker had me count all of our animals today and the number is up to 208 and that doesn't count any fish in a fish tank.... they are all animals that are moving about outside.

Miss Heidi is growing like a weed

She really likes to help Mommy clean and is very good at soaking the floors!!!

Heidi loves her chickens... they tend to follow her around the yard! Tonight, she headed out the door and right into the meat bird chicken coop. Not a fear in the world for her!She isn't happy ALL the time. She is prone to her temper tantrums

Daddy taught her to dip her food in Ketchup!

Heidi likes to help Mommy in the flower bed

And then drink warm refreshing bathwater

hike up the mountain

http://2rememberstudio.typepad.com/2remember_studio/2010/06/the-hike-was-awesome.html   Jenny and I went up the hill to fetch a...

Carts, Cars and Storms...

Grandma asked after hearing my eventful story to post it for you all to read! :) So I'm sure you all have heard and or experienced the storms that have been coming through Minnesota recently..Friday's storm was the first one that had actually bothered me..Paul and I had gone to Buffalo to pick up some parts to work on his car, on the way home it started raining, as it got worse it became harder and harder to see..it started coming down so hard we had to pull into the target parking lot to wait for it to pass some..we parked and not 5 minutes later, a shopping cart comes barreling out of a cart corral towards my car and smashes into it, flips up over the hood, and lands upside-down smack next to my car door, 2 wheels busted off! an what do you know, 2 more carts come flying, hit the curb right next to my car and landed in a heap along with the first cart, 1 more wheel busted! while this was going on, golf ball sized hail was pounding down all over, We waited for the rain to calm down to a steady downpour instead of the flash-flood-like rain and hail mix, then climbed out to take a look. the grill of my car..gone! the hood...popped and buckled, dents along the whole front! the radiator...pushed back towards the engine, along with the latch for the hood! what a mess! :) 

i guess i didn't know a shopping cart could do so much damage! -Debbie

Happy Father's Day

Here's a blurb out of an essay i'm working on about the influences i had growing up that led me to public service:

While Mom was township clerk, Dad served as a volunteer fire fighter. From him, we learned never to let the gas gauge get below ¼ tank; you never knew where you might need to rush off to and running out of gas was unnecessary. We parked the car backed in, so he could take off in a hurry in the middle of the night. We made sure our piles of coats and boots and mittens and hats and scarves didn’t cover up his fire boots in the porch. We all learned as soon as we were old enough to dial the phone how the phone tree worked; we’d get a call from a fire fighter’s wife and send Dad off while we called down the line the numbers marked for Mom. It was important when we took the message to know whether the guys who lived closer to the fire hall got the trucks and if Dad needed to get a truck or just meet them at the fire. He’d grab the helmet and coat and boots from the porch and screech his way out of the driveway. Dad would come home exhausted hours later and tell us about the suspected arson or about the Christmas tree that had gotten too dry or about the chimney fire or about how unsafe trailer houses are once a fire gets started.



Dad also served as a minister, Sunday School teacher, sewer inspector, and grave digger, on top of being a father of ten and a full-time millwright in the mines. He ran for school board one year and was beaten badly but continued to serve on school committees to push his view that spending money on classroom instruction was more important than school athletics.

Thanks, Isa, for being a great role model!
 
e.

Yikes. They're on Strike!

It isn't just a threat anymore. The nurses walked out at 7am for a 24 hour strike. Not sure how much movement a 24 hour strike can generate in contract negotiations, so we might be in this mess for awhile. 12,000 nurses in the metro are out. About 3,000 replacement nurses are covering.

Latest from In Motion Therapy

Have been going to In Motion Therapy 3 days a week, for about an hour each time.  My results as of today are 106° flexion and has to get to 120!  The extension is -5° so
it's that close to being straight.  Someone at the Manor asked if the therapist is going
to come to the Manor!  So many kinds of equipment he uses that it wouldn't work to
come to the Manor.

My knee is still warm and swollen.  When I haven't walked for awhile it feels like there is
a band around my knee.  Before going in this morning I did some exercises at home to
limber the joint so that then I get some benefit from the moves he has me do.  First thing each time is to pedal a bike type of thing where the pedal goes all the way around.  First it's almost impossible but eventually I get it to go around.  Also stepping onto a stool is o.k. when good knee leads but when the left leg leads it is very difficult.  Pa was going to call the Dr. re redness and swelling and heat in operated joint.  Ryan said it is
normal to have that heat and swelling at this point.                   Mom

Happy Memorial Day Greetings from Alaska ...

where part of the Marjanen crew explored the town of Valdez over the weekend ... along with the long drive to and from!

From passes covered in snow ....

to the old town site of Valdez ...

the luscious green of nature and it's abundant lakes ....

and finally fields of ice like the Matanuska Glacier.

Hoping your weekend was safe and healthy ... full of fun barbeque and all the fixins'!

Home sweet Home

Been home for a week now and therapy is continueing at In Motion Therapy here in Brainerd.  Pain med every 4 hours and an ice pack on the knee helps do away with the pain most of the time. Pep is lacking, sleep is more welcome.  Face Book etc will have to come later.  Perhaps the pain meds helps bring on the tiredness. "Scrubs" are more comfortable than other street clothes.  They will come in handy for traveling.

Mothers Saturday in hosptital

"I have had my lunch and they said I can go home at 1:30.  I'm ready, lets go."

Friday 21st for Mother

Lets try walking through some obstructions. Lift the walker over and then step over into the next box.  In the background is a carpet that has bumps and unlevel surface to walk on.  To the left is some stairs.  Learn to use that walker.  This is the last day of therapy in the hospital.

Happy Birthday Dave!

Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday dear David

Happy Birthday to you!

I found a piece and had one ... just for you!!

With best wishes from the Marjanens

Hi all!  Thought I'd share a few pictures of our new dog and Alanys birthday.  She turned five yesterday...I think turning five is the best birthday...it is definately the most anticipated!  Now she is old enough for Kindergarten:)
We had pizza at the park with my mom and dad.

We picked up a new dog on Saturday.  While garage saling I saw some people put out a sign that said "free puppies"....so when I asked the girls, of course they said they wanted one!  As if I wasn't already busy enough, now I'm adding a puppy to the mix!  She is six weeks old and is part German Shephard, american bull dog, and black lab, and her name is Lulu.  And the girls love her!  She is pretty cute!

How is recovery going Diane?  Keep working hard, and you'll be running in no time!

How is everyone else doing?  Our kids are out of school on Thursday....only two more days of quite days!!  Tonight is Toni's kindergarten end of the year program at school.  They will be singing all the songs they have learned this year....it is always such a cute program!

Happy Tuesday to everyone!

A day on the river

John had an opportunity (with some of his class) to join a group paddling down the Mississippi. The group has been on the river for nearly a month, even paddling on the days we had snow. The group has invited schools to join them for parts of the trip. Wayne was able to take the day off to go with John. They started in Monticello and ended in Dayton (a river trip our kids paddle often in the summer), stopping in Otsego for lunch and lessons. The day started off with sprinkles, but got better as the day went on.  Like Steven said, "why can't all the field trips be like this?"

Earlier on Wednesday

Hospital scrubs are more comfortable. Work that knee, get it to bend.  The bend today measures 88 degree.  They like it to be 90 before going home. Care conference on Thursday to see if she should go home on Friday or maybe Saturday. Medical, Physical therapy ad Occupational therapy will be checking and discussing progress. Walking the hallways at will without aid today.  Looking better each day.

Wednesday evening

A scrabble game, without keeping score, ends Wednesday.  Mother is feeling  some nausea.  Doctor is aware and thinking it may be brought on by meds.

Monday

Poke the finger for a look at sugar.  Looks good. Tuesday Becky was at the hospital and I stayed home.  Something caused the supper to all come back up a couple hours after eating.

Saturday

On the re-hab floor, patients wear their own clothes during the day. Occupational therapy helps them so they can clean themselves and dress themselves.  Mother has gone for a short walk in the hallway, gets out of bed and into chair with a therapist present and helping a little. She gets both physical and occupational therapy twice a day which is very beneficial.  She said food is tasteing better and appitite is also improving.

More on Saturday

The degree of ben is adjusted to how much the patient can tolerate.  It is here set at 70 degree and the knee needs to bend at 90 degree for the patient to go home.  This machine is put on twice a day for an hour each time.  Mother says it feels relaxing

Mothers Friday

Day starts in 528 with some Physical Therapy and knee movements with the machine. But today it is suggested she have "in house" rehab/therapy which is on 8th floor.  Sometime today she will be transfered as this seems better than going home and having rehab 3 times a week.  At this point, she is reminded that she could not even get into a car.  So, in the afternoon, she gets transfered.

Mothers Thursday

Thursday saw a tired patient in room 528.  Knee was worked but walking was very limited.  Hemoglobin was low so she was given 2 units of blood to make her feel better.
Also give oxygen which was a little low

Mothers second day in hospital

The view from Mothers new room which is 525.  In the other room were two beds and she was not by a window and if she would have been, she could have counted bricks on the nearby wall and nothing else.  I'm sure the other room was suitable for the two beds before all the new equipment which takes so much space. 

This is in room 522.  Real crowded.  Another room became available accross the hall and one door down, so they had her walk there using a walker.  Is she texting or calling?  She is alone in her new room which is 525

Mother goes to hospital

All preped and ready for surgery

Surgery is complete. Doctor says all went well but Ma says, "I hope so, I'm sore."  Now begans the exercises to keep the knee from getting stiff.  The surgery was to be at 11:30 am but she did not get into surgery til about 1:30 or 2:00.  Then about an hour in recovery before getting to her room at about 5:00.   That is room 522W at St. Lukes hospital in Duluth.  She may get out on Friday or Saturday depending on how well she can move the knee.  Then begins the therapy in Brainerd. (She has her cell phone with her.)

Happy Mothers Day

Happy Mothers Day to all of the moms today!!  I was just chuckling when sometime during the middle of the night I heard my phone say "new message from Reino and Diane Cell"!  text came in  at 3:12 a.m!  I was obviously tired tho, because it didn't dawn on me that it could be an emergency and get up and check.  I just kept on snoozin!  :)  Frans is working on a side job yesterday and today, so he won't be home until around 1:00 or so.  I'm not complaining tho, work is good!  So we skipped church today because I didn't want to brave it alone with all the kiddos and a late night last night.  We'll go to the park this afternoon with my family....but not until late afternoon....it's supposed to be 98 degrees today!!
What are everyone else's plans for today?  Whatever they are, hopefully the day is nice and relaxing for all the ladies!

Jenny

Pictures from Brainerd

Picture #1 is our greenhouse in the garage.  Has grow lights and regular bulbs for heat
controlled with a thermostat.  One bulb visible on the left.  One squash, 4 bell peppers,
and 4 mini bell peppers plus 4 different varieties of tomatoes.  Will plant outside when
danger of frost is over.  The garden already has one row of early red potatoes and one
row of Superior white potatoes and one row of bush beans, 3/4 row of beets, some
carrots and a small amount of lettuce, some Swiss chard, some cukes and some giant
sunflower already planted.  Another area has some sick looking asparagus, couple of
rhubarb plants and Polano raspberries.

The next picture was taken in the bathroom to show the other side of bouquet in the
mirror.  Ten red roses for our 10 children and 46 daisies for 46 years of marriage and
both are celebrated on Sunday, May 9th.  Isä will bring them to the hospital on Wed. as
no use leaving them in the car on Tuesday until I get transferred to my room.  Surgery is
scheduled for 11:30 unless they come up with a different time on Monday when they
call.

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday, dear Jen,
Happy Birthday to you!

Hoping your day was a happy one!!

Lots of love your way from the Alaska crew!

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