A Again

Another one of those weeks ... topped by a fabulous weekend.


Sunday night started the flu bug. It has been a very long time since I had 3 people upchucking at the same time in the same house. Yuck! Alyx first. Then Jari, Anna & Tia were sick in tandem. Brock escaped the whole experience. Not surprising .. he has been known to do that. Blayde stopped in one evening and I highly recommended he grab his stuff and leave. I never made it to the extreme the others did, just felt yucky enough to justify good long naps!


I put my brain to work once again and took an ACLS (advanced cardiac life support) class on Wednesday & Thursday. Not sure I can manage to keep any of you alive if I need to, but I can probably try a little better now! That is over with.


Friday evening Frans & Jenny came and visited. It was quite a traumatic evening. I lost a pitiful game of Settlers. Alanys must be growing or something. Haven't seen quite so many knocks on a noggin in one evening. Amazed she had a noggin left on her when they left! Amber Bratt, a young friend of our childrens', came to visit for the weekend & flew in on Friday evening.


I actually worked a Saturday. Okay. I am spoiled. I usually am scheduled Tuesday and Thursday. Someone was feeling quite envious tonite when I left work. I asked her if she'd like to switch days with me tomorrow. She can come teach Roman History and I'll go to work. She actually declined! We had sort of made plans to go to California for the weekend before I knew that it was actually Youth Camp as well. Tia chose to go to Youth Camp. My wonderful and awesome hubby came up with a great plan. He would drive with the kids (Alyx, Amber, Anna, Brock & his friend Ben) Saturday morning and I would fly in the evening after work. Marvy plan!! That's what we did. While I wiped buns at work ... they did the drive to San Diego, visited Silver Strand State Beach, went shopping, pool swimming, hot tubbing and chillin'. I was able to digest half of an awesome book while waiting for my plane and while flying. Anna must share with you her experience of valet parking ... wish I had been there to see it while the experience was still 1st day new!


Sunday we had breakfast at Denny's. The girls surprised me with a wonderful bunch of roses! Then we did some walkin'.
Oh.
My.
Gosh.
My knees still hurt!!

We toured the USS Midway which was really amazing. We strolled and strolled and strolled some more! The air was a bit chilly for these Arizona folks to be doing any swimming in the ocean, so we did other things. Went to Belmont Park again. We were there a few years back riding the same rides. I declined rides .. just enjoyed watching. I told Jari in the morning that he couldn't let me be a fuddy duddy that day. Back to the hotel to swim for an hour & on the feet again. Seaport Village was rather lifeless. Sunday evening must not be the time to be there. Should have gone there in the morning .. next time we know. I found a book called the Happy Book. Am going to post lessons for all of you. It is the 30 day plan. I'll try and do one a day. If I can't manage it, I'll double up. Was a neat book. Sunday night we were just a bit exhausted!


Monday .. the drive home. A stop at the sand dunes near Yuma where the sand was so hot that you burned your feet running in flip flops. No! Not through the bottom of the shoe! I said go for it .. I'll sit and watch. Heat is making me increasingly nauseated. I shudder to think of what my electric bill will be this summer if we have to pay one here. Is going to be massive ... I am having mental heat stroke. We picked up Tia, dropped off Ben and came home for 1 1/2 hours. Then off again. Our week for church cleaning. Off to mops, vacuums & window squeegies. Back home again to hang out and wait for Blayde to share his birthday cake. We have a 20 YEAR OLD SON!! And no, I don't feel a bit older .. just incredibly fortunate!


Another biggie this past week is that Blayde started and nearly finished the moving out project. He is sharing a rental house with 2 other guys on the other side of town. He started full time at Discount Tire several weeks ago and his job is on the other side of the world. I am going to cheat and share a photo with you. Hope he doesn't mind. He also added another special someone to HIS household. Her name is Lady and she is an absolutely adorable Boxer puppy. We all love her ... tinkles and all!


Enough of all that. Was a busy week. This week/weekend look to be a bit quieter. Not going anywhere. Having another Open House on Sunday. Keep your fingers crossed for us. Maybe I'll bake some pulla!

Happy Birthday Laurie

Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday dear Laurie,
Happy Birthday to you.

Enjoy your day!!!

Heather and Shawn

Happy Birthday Blayde

Hey Blayde! Thinking of you and sending warm birthday wishes your way from me and my boss! Hope your day is all that you want it to be and more!
~jen and Charlie~

Happy Mother's Day

I meant to post this on Friday, but couldn't, so it's late:

Happy Mother's Day to all of the Mothers
(Mom, Anita, Becky, Machelle, Jody, Jenny, and Laurie)

I hope all of you had a wonderful Mother's Day!!!

There are angels God puts on this earth who care for us and guide us.

You can feel their love and gentleness as they walk through life beside us.

God blessed me with a person like that she loves me more than any other.

And I'm thankful I'm the lucky one who gets to call her MOTHER. Anonymous

Heather and Shawn

Ivan and Missi

Wow! I don't think I have posted on this new blog yet. This looks different. Well, it has been a long time since I have read the blog. I just read all the way back to February!! You all have such exciting lives. If I tried to blog that often I would have you all sleeping at the computer. But here is a brief overview of what has been happening here.

The wedding plans are going great. Now I am at the point where I have to wait, wait and wait some more. There isn't really anything to do right now. The next big thing is to get the invites started. I have finished the party favors and Ivan has picked out the tuxs. We meet with the pastor at the church this Wednesday to talk about the ceremony. That meeting will help me determine what time to have the ceremony start, which will then allow me to start the invites. By the way, Ivan and I did find a scripture that we like. We shortened one the church recommended. Thanks to all who gave their ideas! By the way, Jenny, did you get the picture I mailed you?

At work I am down to two girls again. I had a baby girl for four months, but her dad transfered his job to Belgium. They left this past Wednesday night. I was so sad to see her go, but it has been nice to only have the four and six year old again. I have more time to play and more time to clean. Now starting May 21st I will have an 8 month old boy Mon, Wed, and every-other Fri.

Ivan is doing a lot of side jobs while not working. He is also enjoying his free time on the golf course!!!! I went one time this spring, but I just drove the cart. That is fun, more fun than the whole golfing thing.

Fire

I'm putting in an article from the Mesabi Daily News:

Wildfire in Cherry 200 acres burn as firefighters respond
Charles RamsayLast updated: Thursday, May 10th, 2007 11:12:47 PM

CHERRY — About 212 acres of forest, grassland and brush in Cherry Township were burned Thursday during a “red flag’’ day of ideal burning conditions — stronger winds and dry, dry materials.
No houses had been burned, although some were threatened, and six were evacuated along Tamminen Road between Allavus Road and Iron Junction. A residence on Allavus Road sustained roof damage and a storage building with two snowmobiles burned. Residents were allowed to return by 8:30 p.m., the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Department said Thursday evening.
No one was injured through the evening, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources spokesman Gene Mannelin said at 9:30 p.m. at the Eveleth DNR office, which was the command post Thursday.
But the fire, reported at about 1 p.m., centered along Allavus Road two miles north of Cherry School, got plenty of attention during the afternoon, with two CL-215 water bombers, several helicopters dumping fire retardant, several bulldozers and other tracked vehicles, and many local fire departments pitching in. About 50 or so firefighters were helping combat the blaze, he said.
“The fire departments and the DNR did a heck of a job,’’ he said.
The fire teams had lines around the fire, and a Minnesota Interagency Fire Center incident management team was to take over at 7 a.m. today. Forecast for today included a 20 percent chance of rain, less wind, and cooler temperatures.
At one point, the fire leaped across County Road 137, but the aircraft dumped retardant and dozers plowed some lines, which stopped it, Mannelin said.
The Cherry fire advanced quickly, as “due to the dry conditions, it’s been traveling much faster,’’ she said.
A “red flag’’ day means the DNR staffs all of its stations as much as possible as conditions develop. But “we’re stretched really thin because of the Ham Lake fire,’’ Mannelin said.
Departments helping out were from Cherry, Clinton, McDavitt, Biwabik, Biwabik Township, Buhl, Central Lakes, Chisholm, Colvin, Eveleth, Fayal, Gilbert, Hibbing, Kinney, Lakeland, Makinen, Virginia, Ellsberg and Silica, the DNR, State Patrol, Sheriff’s Office, county Rescue Squad, and county emergency management.

An anxiety provoking night. Shawn and I made sure that Randy's house was safe, the fire was west of him. The wind was blowing south and a little east, so he seemed safe. Went to Rob and Amy's and helped to load up some irreplaceable items into vehicles, move things around and hosed down the trees, sheds, house, etc. The smoke got worse and the ash got bigger. It hit their field, but was stopped there. The fire crossed the Taminen road by going under the bridge along the little river there. I was so amazed at the quick reactions and the coordination. It was amazing. Thankfully, everyone's houses are fine. Some of Steve and Sandy's woods was burned and he has new trails made as there were 10 crawlers out making fire breaks and more on standby.
The positive is there will be some blueberry picking next spring and some wood ticks have been cleaned out. Right now the air around here stinks for smoke. I could smell it outside at my house. I think a culmination of the Ham Lake fire at the BWCA and the fire in Cherry.

I hope things are going well for everyone.
Heather

Happy Anniversary

Mom and Isa:

Happy Anniversary!!!

A comment heard from an individual who was in one of the groups you faciliated:
"It was great that your parents facilited the group. Not only were they excellent facilitators, but to have two people who raised 10 children and are still married. Not only are they still married, they even seem happy to be together still. What great role models".

Wishing you both a HAPPY ANNIVERSARY and many more years together!

Heather and Shawn

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday dear BRIAN,
Happy Birthday to you!!

Hope you have a great birthday!!

Heather and Shawn

The Pebble and the Stream

God created both the pebble and the stream.
The stream may start as only a pool of water,
shining and shimmering.
Rains fall on the mountains far up high and joins
The pool of water, just as God intended.
The pool overflows and a stream begins to flow.
At times it pauses and is still,
at other times a storm forces it to move.
Its path may be changed during those storms,
and it winds a new path around the obstacles in its way.
What if we then are the stream?
Our path is not known to us, but only to God.
The stream in the mountain wouldn’t chart a new course
but for the Creator who sent the storm.
As people we try to chart our own course.
Sometimes we have pebbles thrust in front of us and
we are able to climb over those pebbles, continuing the path.
God sends the pebbles, lest the journey be too easy and
we not appreciate the smooth flow of the stream.
Sometimes the way is marked with larger stones.
As a stream, we work our way through the stones, picking our way.
What then happens when one’s stream has been
steadily heading down that mountain
The view of peaceful valley is in the distance
and the goal is within reach.
As it nears that place it has dreamed of,
it finds a field of boulders, not pebbles.
Every turn it takes leads to yet another boulder.
They are not pebbles now, or even stones.
A wall of boulders stands in front of the stream.
They weren’t there before.
They are new.
They have recently appeared.
The path is blocked.
Does the stream then forge ahead to cut a path through the boulder?
There are many paths leading from the place
where the stream pauses.
The stream is bubbling and anxious.
It is ready to wind its way
It is anxious to see new sights, smell new aromas, touch new things.
The stream can start to pound at the boulder blocking its path
Or.
The stream can silently and patiently wait.
It knows, and has always known, that God knows its path.
The Heavens will send a message
The path will become clear.
Perhaps it will lead to that valley it was yearning to reach
Or.
Perhaps God has a different plan.
Perhaps the gifts this stream brings are needed in another valley.
The stream must be patient.
It must sit quietly and wait for God to send his message.
Only then can it follow the plan that God has made for it.

-a

Lake Powell

This is our campsight on the lower left...great spot!

Here are a few pictures from our Lake Powell trip last weekend with Jari and Anita. Other people there were Riita, Rhonda, Bruce and Jodi Barber, Dave and Amanda Barber, Steve Moll, and Fred. It was mine and Frans' first time since we've been married ever going over night somewhere without our kids! We had a lot of fun, and took plenty of pictures!

Sunrise on Sunday morning....Frans went for quite the walk to get a good picture!

And this last picture is on our walk through Antelope canyon....We probably walked in about a mile.

Happy Birthday Jen

Happy Birthday to You!
Happy Birthday to You!
Happy Birthday dear Jennifer,
Happy Birthday to you.

Hope it's happy!!

Heather and Shawn

spring

spring is here and summer now around the corner, the buds of trees are popping out...

today our windows were started and they look SO nice, my room is already almost done! Pool is up and running, it truly feels like summer is coming, it cools down to about 60 still at night but its beautiful! during the day today an average 80 with a nice small breeze, very nice! have a nice day all. -debbie

Hi there!

Charlie is standing over my shoulder, teaching me how to use this. Now that I know how to do it, he is going to be getting an update everyday on what's new on the blog. Any news for him to know?


~j~
Charlie's secretary

New York City

Not sure why Ms. Liberty insists on laying down in this picture - please be assured she's standing tall and proud in New York's harbor.

I was in NYC last week to hobnob with the rich and famous and a $25,000/table event (i got in for free, but did don a sparkly new shirt for the occassion) - i was there to get some money for some political training i want to do up here for women interested in running for local office.

While there i got in a bit of site-seeing, including Ellis Island (which is this other picture).

Abbu the cat wanted me to post his pic as well.

Fancy schmancy house you've got there Anita. I love the announcer's voice in the virtual tour - i want to learn to talk like that.

e.

Hello from da Range

I just wanted to post to see what's going on:

Anita & Jari: How is the sale of the house going, many people looking at it? Any expressed interest?

Charlie & Machelle: Where have you been, what's been going on?

Dave & Jody: what is going on around your house?

Liz: Haven't heard from you on the blog.

Haven't heard from Gary - don't know that he has access to it.

Laurie - haven't heard from you in a while.

Ivan & Missi - how are the wedding plans coming? Ivan - are you back out on the golf course yet?

Jen: Where have you been? Would be nice to hear from you on here as well. Do you have access now working for Charlie?

Here's a Heather update:
I went to an auction on Saturday, no llama for me. Shawn doesn't want me to get one, I'm going to, but have to fence in more land first. Will try to find one around here so it will be easier to haul. I did buy 3 more goats. The sad part is that one of them looked sickly last night and was dead this morning. I guess sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. The rest of the goats seem to be healthy. Will be trying to buy more soon. Am possibly going to be putting 2 of the goats in an auction soon and see what they go for.

We are getting 100 chickens tomorrow, so worked this weekend on cleaning out the chicken coop. Have to insulate it and put more plywood on to finish up the inside tonight. Then, on Wednesday, we get 20 more chickens, but those will be laying, so we can proudly hang a sign at the end of the driveway - "fresh eggs for sale". We were talking to a guy the other day who's theory I agree with. There is no money in any one animal unless you have a lot of money to make it huge. We don't. So, he says, you need to have a little of everything. We are working on it: cattle, horses, goats, chickens (butcher and laying), and we will see what comes next. Probably get a couple pigs this summer to raise for a month and then butcher to sell.

Is anyone interested in buying pork? Beef? chicken? Let me know as we will be taking orders

I've also begun biking again. Last week on Monday I went 6 miles, Wednesday - 15 miles, Friday 16 miles. Didn't go over the weekend due to the auction and rainy weather. Am hoping to leave work early today to get to Hibbing to buy a bike and then go for a bike ride tonight. Probably can't go for too long, but at least do some miles.

Anyone have any big plans for the summer? Are Lauri and Elsie coming? If so, when? Should I try to rent Kaleva Hall for a get together?

Take care everyone!!

Heather

Frans' Birthday bash on the bus

What started out as a nice quiet relaxing bus ride down to jari and anita's with our family....soon turned out to be quite the ordeal! The girls and I kept this a secret from Frans for over a week, and they couldn't wait for the big day to ride the city bus! Frans was surprised, and thought it was a great idea, since this is what he has always wanted to do. And it was cheap too...$1.25 a person but kids under 8 are free...so it was a whoppin $2.50 for our whole family! My kind of birthday!
Frans was totally surprised when all our guests boarded the bus and like Anita said...we had a hoot of a good time!!

Spring

Yesterday and today have been VERY nice, a little chilly but thats spring, and toay we have clouds coming and going about a half hour ago it was sunny and clear and now it looks as though it may storm. but any way, yesterday was shiny and beautiful so i went outside and took some pictures of the 4 little girls, and of our tulips that are poking through the ground here are a few...

Time for a Southwest Update

I have discovered the most amazing thing! I have had issues with doing any close handwork for the past year. Cross stitch became nearly impossible to do with over 40 eyeballs. Too cheap to pay for a nice pair of reader lenses, and not knowing if they would work, I found a pair in the Target cheap bin one day. I CAN SEE!! May spring for a sportier pair of better quality sometime soon. This is the LAST Christmas stocking I need to complete for my kiddos ... and am actually getting it done now that I can see.

Becky posted such nice family Easter photos. My "day before Easter" photos are of kids with water in the backyard. The pool is long gone ... we are down to plastic. They had a whopping good time ... it was rather warm outside. Dad & Mom sat around and practiced with Brock's blow dart gun ... could get quite time consuming when your nature is to get the middle of the target and you won't stop until you do!
This past week all of our kids had state mandated AIMS testing. You can no longer graduate high school in this state unless you can pass this test. Because Brock is schooled at home using a public online school, we traveled to a hotel conference room every day for testing. It got Mom a week of vacation from work ... got to bring the kiddo. Before and after AIMS, we worked on science all week ... made good progress if I say so myself! This evening we were working on an acid/base experiment. Difficult to get started doing these things, but quite a hoot when you get going. Really wish Auntie Liz lived a little closer. : (

Our house has been up for Sale By Owner for about 4 weeks.
Long. Enough.
Tuesday evening we signed a contract with a realtor who has sold several houses for "almost" family members. She is one go-getter! She has been here about 4 times since then, added things to the bottom of this sign, dropped off info, etc. Sunday she is holding an Open House, Tuesday they come in with video equipment and do a virtual tour for the internet. There are a lot of houses on the market in our neighborhood. Apparently things are not moving by owner ... I see some more signs by realtor going up. If it can be done, we have great confidence that she will do an awesome job.

Along with moving a house out of our hands & into someone elses ... there are all the little things we are working on to get our move moving along. I have been working with a recruiter for a travel nursing job that will be in Anchorage. The benefits of that kind of position outweigh by far being hired on as regular staff at a hospital. I have a 2-day ACLS class that I am scheduled to take the beginning of May. Other than that, am now waiting for an interview call in the next several weeks. Should this house go into escrow, Jari will leave again to go find us something to live in up there ... and open that p.o. box! This past week I also got new tires/wheels on my rig. We should be good for the trip up there now. Topper is ordered for the truck to keep Duke enclosed and bad weather free for the trip. May also keep him somewhere safe while we stop for nights on the road.

Last night was an absolute hoot!! Frans & Jenny will post much better photos I am sure, but for a taste ... here are a few. Frans has always wanted to ride the city bus down to our house ... so Jenny & I came up with a plan. They hop on the bus with the girls up around their house. Then we invite all kids of hoodlums to join along the bus route. The bus was a bit early and we ended up in only 2 groups at 2 bus stops, but it was a hoot. Quite a first bus ride for the birthday boy. We did have a few moments where we were really wondering what to do. A gentleman rider asked if he could join the party. He was invited by a few folks. Being a bit naive in the way of "public parties" we assumed he was kidding. He wasn't. He was all set to join us. After much discussion and whispering among folks who were too nervous to tell him otherwise, the Brave Birthday Boy kindly suggested he not join us. Whew!! I believe that we had about 22 adults here, 8 teenage boys ... and heaven only knows how many little kids. (Jenny can probably figure that one out!) Cracks me up. Was listening to a realtor the other day saying that she has a house that has been on the market for over a year. Beautiful home in a gated community. Just kind of small. It would work for 1 child, but you couldn't really have more than that in the house. The house was about the same size as ours!!! I was nice ... I didn't say a word ... we still manage to have a hoot of a good time over here with our tiny house!

That is about enough from me for the day. Should probably get dressed. This house has to be ready to show at a 30 minute notice. Yeah. Right!!!

Happy Birthday!

Debbie,
Happy belated birthday. I hope your birthday was wonderful!
Heather and Shawn

Happy Birthday!!

Happy Birthday Charlie.
Hope you have a wonderful birthday.

Heather and Shawn

The new floor...

Mom is at work today but wanted these pictures put on of redoing our floors.

all of the stuff is in the living room, no where to walk! like mom said, it doesn't seem like you have a lot, until you start moving it, the stove and refrigerator are in the garage. the picture above was taken after sanding but before the staining, i wish that we left it that color and clear coated it but others didn't.

you can see how much they changed by looking at the table, there isn't a huge contrast between the two now. The main entry way floors.

family on Easter. the girls!

Happy Birthday FRANS

Happy Birthday to you.
Happy Birthday to you.
Happy Birthday dear FRANS
Happy Birthday to you.

Hope you have a wonderful birthday!!

Heather and Shawn

This, that, and a lot of blah, blah,blah...

How was everyone's Easter? What did others do?

I do read the blog spot consistently, but haven't had anything exciting going on in life, but being as it has been so quiet...

I got sick last week, so didn't want to do much this weekend. Thanks for the invite to Brainder though - we will come again soon. I've missed too much work and just wanted to start feeling better. So, Friday we got off early from work - just a treat from the top dog. He does that occassionally. Went home and slept for a while, then Shawn and I went to Taco John's. It was very bad food.

Saturday, I worked on cleaning some while Shawn went to a horse sale. Not sure why he needed to go, but I declined the offer of going with as I don't want anymore horses. He gets home and says he has to go back on Sunday to pick them up. He bought 4 for us and 1 for Loy and Mindy.

So, Sunday, he left early to get horses. I meanwhile am still not supporting this decision. We now have - in a corral - 4 horses (3 are young), 11 calves who are growing more and more everyday, and 3 goats. Our own little petting zoo. Walter agrees that being as Shawn got 4 horses, it's time for me to get the llama. I'm going to find out when the next exotic auction sale is and am going to try and get me a llama. Oh yeah, we have 100 chickens coming in a couple weeks and plans to get pheasants.
So, while he was picking them up, I went to church, then home to continuing organizing things and Laurie came over for a while. I clipped a bunch of recipes and am going to put them into a folder/album. It is so hard to use a recipe box unless you know what you are looking for. If you just want to try out new recipes, it would be nice to see them.
What do others do for their recipes? I'm going to try and get a folder and then put in protected sheets that have slots that would fit recipe cards. That way, you can see them easy, flip the page and see the back side of the recipe card. It will be so easy to add in new pages too, when I find more recipes. Well, Shawn got home, we took the horses out of the trailer he borrowed, loaded Mindy's back in and put ours in our trailer. Then, to deliver Mindy's horse. We had to drive out to Markham to return the trailer. Someone out there is feeding deer. No joke, I counted 25 deer in their yard and I know I didn't get all of them counted. Would be nice for deer hunting =). Anyway... We returned to our home, put the horses into the corral - the cows are intimidated, the goats don't care, and the horses are curious. No fighting, kicking, or biting though. I always get so nervous about that. Maybe these are too young to really kick it out to show who's boss. Walter and Sylvia then came over to see the horses and Randy came later. So, the planned nice quiet Easter was very nice, just not so quiet.

Interesting point from a discussion we had last night:
Did you know that when you die, someone has to file your taxes for the year? If Shawn and I die together, I sympathize with whoever is stuck with that tedious task =(. I'd say forget the filing and then what? What could they do if we are both dead? 2 things that are sure in life, death and taxes - neither of which eliminate the other - interesting.

Have a wonderful week!!!!

Heather

Hope everyone has a HAPPY EASTER!!!!!
Love, The AZ Kuoppala's

just pictures....

hey everyone... I probly should be on the kuoppala grandkidz blog but i dont know... Well here are two pictures from Sunday. The Marjanen family went over to the kuoppalaz and us kids went swimming... mind you itz what? APRIL! WOW!! That water was cold! But yeah hereis a picture of alanys...

" But anna... do i have to? "

"yes, come on alanys"

"NOOOOO...."

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to you,
Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday dear Becky and Shawn,
Happy birthday to you!

Hope you are both having or have had a great day!!
I was just going to call you Becky, but since you are
two hours ahead, decided to wait till tomorrow!

Where are all the Kuoppala's??!?! Did everyone quit reading the blog?????
Jenny

Where is Everyone?

I know that the abc's consist of a b c d e f g h i and j along with ma & pa. Where is everyone? Am thinking that I am going to have to post some oldy moldy photos here to liven things up a bit. (If I can find them. ; ))