SNOW

Yuck! For those of you in AZ who are getting toasty, come on up. Saturday was beautiful - 50 degrees - and I'd kicked the goats outside thinking spring had sprung, and for the most part, the snow had melted (except in the woods, in shaded areas, etc.) and I was dreaming of tulips coming up. Now, we are buried again. Not sure how much we got, but it's a lot (some say 2+ feet)!!!! Not fun. I didn't take pictures, but probably should have. Didn't come to work yesterday due to the snow and the mess. The ground had already begun to thaw and we had perfected our "multi faceted water reduction system" - trenches all over the yard - to drain the water, and the yard was clearing up beautifully, 'tis no longer. The positive spin: we were able to follow the trail one of the turkeys had left and found a nest with 8 eggs! Now, to see where they go next!!!! For anyone able to send a little warmth this way, we are gladly accepting it. Heard just now, that we may be pummeled again this weekend, either rain or snow depending on the temperature :(
Heather

A keeper this time I think....

The few other dogs we have tried in the past have not worked out very well. The kids were always scared to go into the back yard the whole time. They are very excited about this one and have been out walking here and playing with here since we got her. Almost two years old pure bread yellow lab. Jenny seen her on graigs list so we went to look and the girls got along well this time. Her name is lady Girl

How does her garden grow?

Have never done pickles before, but am hoping with my cumcumber patch that I can can a few jars at some point. Hadn't really thought about where all my vines were going to tangle. Guess I still have some time to think on that one! :)

Bean plants have hit 10" tall ... only lost one so far!

Window #1 with peas, beans, cukes, corn ...

Window #2 with zucchini (can you already taste the bread?), peas, beans, tomatoes, onions.

Need another trip to Wal*Mart for some more peat containers. Still have radishes, carrots and broccoli to plant. Problem ... I am going to run out of room for indoor gardening at some point here. My peas don't need to climb according to the seed packet. Plant some plants near each other and they just love to intertwine. That is good. How long do cuke and zucchini vines get? Can you just see the rail around my living room strung with greenery? Would be a hoot until the landlord came by. :) More transplanting coming your way soon!

Planning to head south this weekend to do some sightseeing. Haven't been anywhere south of Anchorage (Jari has ... not the rest of us) to see anything. Maybe take along a book to read .. swim suits for the only hotel in Seward that has an indoor pool ... eat something I haven't cooked ... and not care if the bathrooms get cleaned or not!

Grandma sent pics for me to put on...

Grandma...if i messed up on these you can add a comment...but you sure made it easy for me!

Lori Ylitalo Alajoki and Roger Alajoki Lisa Ylitalo, Lori's twin, was Maid of HonorDarwin Lake was Best Man
Roger's parents Elsa and RubenPicture of Priscilla Ylitalo didn't turn out.
Lori's maternal grandfather Hugo Johnson of Mt. Ironand some of Lori's brothers behind him

The new Menahga church taken before Ken Skoog's funeral

A wood carving in the Forbes Cemetery in one piececarved from a tree on which the top had died.

-Debbie

Looking for input

Hey all, I'm looking for any advice or suggestions. I am thinking about buying a house since the market conditions are almost perfect-being that I don't have to sell one. There are several houses on the market that are extremely well priced and it seems crazy to miss out on them. One new listing in particular caught my eye-built in 1900, rather small @940 sq. ft, average lot @ 10,000 sq. ft or so, needs a lot of work (most of which I know a guy that can do), best of all it's priced at 67,500. A few hangups are involved- I don't know yet if any liens are attached to the property, not sure of the extent of work needed as haven't viewed the property. Mostly though, there is the issue of getting the 70k from the bank. How difficult is it to get financing? What discounts etc. are there for first time homebuyers? Any tips you can offer would be appreciated, at least it'll give everyone something to post, thereby increasing volume on the blog
First things that will have to be addressed is income. My new job is going OK, but I starting on a program that gives raises 3x annually for the first 3 years until I will have reached top pay for the position. Inside of two months I'm doing twice as much work as the guy on first shift-to the point where they've actually pulled him out and he's helping others in the shop. That should deserve a raise right? The boss actually told me the other day that I'm the best guy other than himself they've ever hired for the position I'm in. Sounds encouraging right? Now I have to just screw up the courage to ask him for a $6 per hour raise, which is about what I need to get into a house and pay all the other bills (that's also equivalent to top pay). Wish me luck. Looking forward to hearing any comments. #9

DON'T FAINT

I realize I am long over due for participating on the blog. I do not have any excuses either now that the painting is done and the carpets are all shampooed and the closets and drawers are all cleaned. Amazing what you can find to keep you busy when you are not working. I did find that we had a large number of hidden pets in our house called "dust bunnies" that I never knew we had. The funny part is that if you walked in to my house right now you would never know that I have spent hours cleaning like I have never cleaned before.
Good news is that I am going back to work soon. Cabin fever no more! My kids find it alarming that I am begging to go back to work. haha
My boss does not predict a monumental year by no means and things will start out very slow but work is work!
I had a thought the other day that I wanted to share with you. We have several Kuoppala's turning a new decade this year. Susan and Mitchell will be 10, Denise will be 20, Jennifer will be 30, Charlie will be 40, and I will be (cough cough) 50. I thought it would be cool to get a picture of all of us together and then take another photo 10 years from now. We can see how much we change in 10 years. Hopefully we can all get together some day soon and do this, thought it would be fun!
I love all of the photos that have been posted and spent several moments reading back through the archives...I will try and not be a stranger on here.
Take Care All!
Farmington Jo

Gardening at Marjanens

Just a few pictures of my "gardening" in March! Must take more pictures this week, but they seem to be growing nicely. Must have given one bean plant too much water as it sort of wilted on me! Had some plants down in basement windows and they start wilting. Moved them up to living room windows and they perked right up. Maybe they need to hear human conversation or something. Will be challenging finding large containers for transplanting when they are ready ... but I'm up for the challenge! Looking forward to cucumbers, zucchini, onions, tomatoes, peas, beans, corn and more! Should I manage to harvest one vegetable ... you are all welcome for lunch! My gardening abilities have never been of the harvest variety.

Birthday wishes

Happy Birthday Becky! May your day be filled with sunshine, laughter and love! Wishing you the best today and everyday!

~jen~

New additions...

On Saturday, Shawn and I went to an auction to add to our collection of animals to fit the theme : "ol' Shawn Lindula had a farm"...We have 7 ducks - all different types....

Shawn really wanted the mallard pair and we got them...

4 more geese - we are now up to 6! These ones are different with the big bumps on their heads. Our other goose is laying eggs, so we can only hope these ones do as well. Would be fun to have baby geese..... (okay, I know... gosling)

I may take credit for some of the others, but this is all Shawn's doing. He bought Highlanders. Here are the 2 young ones. Will have to get pictures of the other ones on here.....

They are so ugly, they are kind of cute!!!!

More to folllow, but my battery had died and I couldn't get the rest of the pictures. Will have to post again later!

Glimpse of Easter

Easter snuck up quickly this year. Not only is there snow on the ground still, but Easter morning brought fresh snow. ...I guess that's ok. The white blanket is beautiful.

Hope you all enjoyed the day.

More of T

Here's a couple more of T....instead of sitting on the sit and spin he dips into Daddy's "extreme" genes and decides it's more interesting to "stand and spin!"

First time skating.......He did well.

Goggles just being goofy....does stuff like that all the time. Dipping into Mommy's genes on that one!??

And Debbie (i think) or Denise maybe took this beautiful picture of Shelby! Need to paint that one!! ; ) Have a great Tuesday evening! : )

: )

Catching up with T

Well here we go! Finally. But only 15 minutes of break, so gotta hurry and formatting may be a little goofy! T is growing by leaps and bounds and learning so much so quickly! : )

The pirate pictures was from an event in Duluth called "Pirates and Princesses" put on by a group called the Ladies of the Nile.....(something like Jobs daughters, etc.) He made his own pirate hat and treasure map! Loved the stickers and the treasure map!

He always puts on my winter hats and goes barrelling around the house. I do manage to stop him and get a cute picture every once and awhile. : )

And he is licky the chocolate chip cookie dough off the mixer things AFTER we were done mixing of course! He loves helping mom with cooking and baking! : )

I have TONS more pictures and hope to pay Frans and Jenny to make one of those nifty CDs sometime soon! : ) Have a GREAT weekend! : )

...

Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday dear Anita,
Happy Birthday to youuuuu!!!!
Cha cha Cha!

We miss you, and wish we could be there to have cake with you!!!!
Hope your day is as wonderful as you are:)

Much love from the AZ Kuoppala's

Hiking with my honey

Just a few proof of exercise pictures! I think I must have said at least 10 times .. "I am not a mountain goat". What a dreamy view. This is where I would have loved to build a house. There were a few flatter areas than this hillside, but the property has one very big problem. The road at the top is going to be rerouted ... may be 1 year and it may be 10 ... and I'd have yellow stripes going through the middle of my kitchen and living room ... suburus and trucks going back and forth on either side. Might make for some uncomfortable living!

Iditarod Restart in Willow last weekend

Sorry for taking so long to get these pictures on here Laurie!
For those of you who aren't in the Bebo Land ... the kids and I went to the Restart of the Iditarod in Willow last weekend. We took a shuttle from a high school ... the way to go. :) Although next year I think it would be fun to go out on snow machines. There were even small planes landing on a runway on the ice! We got there early enough that we could have gone to see dogs and teams, but didn't. I'm use to Phoenix crowds where you get your spot and don't wiggle out of it lest you lose it. We were halfway down the line and I couldn't hear anything the announcer was saying so headed up to the Start Line. I think we may have stayed through about 20 some teams leaving .. there were 97 I believe. The day was beautiful and sunny. The bus driver was warning us about sunburn on the way out there. "Face your backs to the sun ..." Alyx and I looked at each other like "are you nuts??? ....bring it on!" It was a fun day ... next year I know where to catch the start of the Junior Iditarod as well. This lake is not the place it has always been. It used to leave from Wasilla, but I think with traffic .. and this years ice and open water ... the Junior one left from this same place. Learn something new all the time! I also have a tip as where to go in Anchorage for awesome viewing ... so welcome next year and we'll do both days!

Some of what we saw or did

Trip to AZ went well. Drove through Sedona but didn't stop as street re-construction all the way
through town. Stopped at Matazuma Castle; took pictures; spoke to a couple who lived in Hibbing while he was teaching and now retired to our neighboring town of Crosy! Their
daughter is married to Tom & Jare Klabchek's son but not the one Anita used to baby sit.
No parking places in close proximity to art galaries so didn't stop. Night at Diane Barber's in
Prescott.

Seniors' Camp was the largest to date, about 90. Interesting presentations.

Spent AZ time at Frans and Jennys. The 5 girls are so cute. Trina is too young to be shy and
she loves to smile and talk. On President's Day we drove to Lake Havasu City to see the London
bridge that I had seen in London in 1957. Toni and Alanys were at a sitters.

I was sick during most of Winter Services. Urgent Care on Sat. Pneumonia! One 400 mg.
pill really perked me up so went to church Sat. evening and Sunday.

Monday we left AZ. Frans gave a tip to drive in the carpool lane so we did good time. It went
right on to I-10. In Midland, TX, we toured the childhood home of Pres. George W. Bush.

The MN Twins went fishing on the Sabine but water was so muddy from recent rains that they
didn't have any luck fishing. Didn't have to clean fish :). Elsie did her usual of cooking up a
storm and haven't dared to step on a scale yet!

On the way home we stopped at the Dealy Plaza in Dallas. Last time there was in 1976. They
have a beautiful display now on the 6th floor of the School Book Depository but no pictures
allowed. Next to Oklahoma City. We hadn't taken time to go into the museum last time we
were through. We had thoroughly enjoyed the outside display but we missed lots by not going
into the museum. A tear jerker. No pictures allowed.

Drove through some very heavy rain leaving Oklahoma City. One 18 wheeler on it's side.

Home happy, tired, lots to catch up on but it will get done. dk

Dogsledding in Ely

Michelle and I went to Wintergreen Lodge on Sunday for a day of dogsledding. So here are a few pictures of a fun filled day!



One of the new additions to Wintergreen! There were four pups that were four days old.



O'Ryan, Thor, Dixie, Knud and Ellwood took us approx 20 miles.

Whether it was going across the frozen lake or over bumps in the swamp and the beaver dams or ducking trees in the woods, laughter rang out clearly and loudly. All muscles in the body were worked and were sore for several days after, but the gut hurt the worst because of all the laughing. A beautiful day, in the higher 20's and clear skies, so when taking a lunch break we just had to walk around and take some pictures of the beauty of nature. This pic was taken right outside of the lodge where we ate and where we later relaxed before heading home.

~jen~