Our computer is a DUD!!!!!!

Bless their hearts........Erin called this afternoon and said that they would come and pick up our computer tomorrow and while we are away, Derek will look at our computer and because he is so knowledgable in these machines, he will fix it and if it is too far gone, we will get another one. Do you know how frustrating it is when your computer says things to you that you don't understand, brings things up veeeerrrry slowly and then loses things for you as well. I just don't know about this technology.......makes my head spin!!!! I really like using them but I don't understand them!!!! Simple as that!!!

Two more sleeps and odds and sods!!!!!

Two more sleeps and we will be flying through the skies to sunny Minnesota.....to see our newest, littlest member of our family. What joy!!!! Laura is picking us up and taking us to the airport very early....what a friend.....and then we will see our kids at around 2:30 P.M.

These pictures are just odds and sods from summer and fall.....These pics are kind of backwards..... in Sept......Ron and Delaine at their special celebration, 50 years of wedded bliss.......Lloyd was one of the groomsmen..... they came for the party......they are sitting under the lilac tree (that I got from my mom's garden in Tiger Hills) on the "Discussion Bench"........ we went walking in Fish Creek with Lloyd and Betty and this chickadee came to visit Lloyd.....in August at our Sister reunion plus our gem we call her (Aunty Jewel).....when Larry and Irene were at our house...... in the beautiful Kananaskis....... Anthony and Kim's engagement picture that they had set up at their wedding, such a great picture, you guys.....having lunch out in our back yard....... ice cream at Turner Valley........ my flowers did so well last summer. May I say that I LOVE posting pictures!!!!!

To Be Intertwined there Forever

Love to Nanc and Wayne. We really can't express in words how we feel at the moment, so proud of you guys, so overwhelmed by God's tender care for you during Breiden's birth, so amazed at this wonderful miracle of another grandchild. I found the book (which I am going to give you now) that was given to us on your birth Nanc, from Barb and Norm and this is just an excerpt from it.......
Our journey towards joy is at an end. I can see the light at the end of the long, dark tunnel. The brilliance of the light nearly blinds me. I look up and smile. The light at the end of my tunnel is merely the spotlight over the delivery table.
The discomfort of the past hours dreamily disappears and pushes itself past my consciousness to be forgotten forever. I lie back limp and totally exhausted. Yet somehow I am encompassed by exhilaration and great pride. I have stepped over the threshold of motherhood.
Our child is born! Our child! Our child! I whisper the words again and again to my swelling heart. During these first precious moments of his life he begins to wrap himself around my soul - to be intertwined there forever. I gaze at him with fascination - his little fists waving so indignantly in the air - his brow wrinkling itself in preparation for a loud and gusty cry - his tiny round toes (a miniature replica of his daddy's) wiggling as he kicks.
Mere words cannot express his newborn beauty. It's a beauty completely alien to the word as I have always known it. A beauty that does not rest on comeliness, but in the nucleus of the entire being. A beauty reflecting the very face of God.
He is His creation.
His image.
This is the absolute of his life - the whole of his being. What total worth God has given this helpless infant! What a blanket of binding love He has tenderly wrapped around him!
I reach out to touch him for the first time. As I feel the soft, wet warmth of his skin, it seems I am touching the very breath of God. I am touching a tiny miracle of life - and the center of creation.
All of this is... OUR CHILD.......
Our child.....
Our child!

Exciting time in the Stender household!!!

Just talked to Nanc and Sue hangin' out in the hospital room with Wayne while Nanc is being induced and as of 10:30 A.M. she was having contractions so that is a good sign!! Wayne and Sue were having coffee and all three were chattin' and havin' a good time!!!! Reminded me of when Nanc and I were in with Heather and Duane when she had Jemma and Siri and we phoned Susanne. And then Nanc when she was with Sue when she had the twins. I WANNA BE THERE!!!!! But we will see them soon in less then a week. Susanne will capture the event on film of course so that is the next best thing.
God is so good and I just pray that this little person will be strong and healthy. God loves him far more than we ever can and is even now holding him in His strong arms of love. What a struggle these precious babies go through just to arrive in this world (struggle and pain for the moms as well. The hubby too as he sees his wife go through the pain) but they emerge beautiful and wonderful. I just felt so humbled when my children arrived at birth and realized again what an awesome God we have to create this way of showering us with these beautiful gifts of children. She would appreciate your prayers, I know as she goes through this exciting but painful experience!

More pics!

Our mini-vacation in Edmonton. Before going shopping at West Ed Mall.

In Joy and Orv's new house in Camrose. Her kitchen and dining area. Very nice house.

Kalle having fun with Grandpa!

The Danielson family on New Year's Day

It worked, Erin!!!!

Erin, I owe you one. You are an awesome teacher!!!! And right now I am patting myself on the back because even though I am almost a senior, I remembered what you taught me!!!! You CAN teach an old dog new tricks.........yeah!!!!!! Thanks a bunch!!!

This is the test!!!!

These are a little mixed up. To the far left is Christmas Day with Gramma, the next is Boxing Day (Grant, Kevin, Nat and Brent), then Kimberly, Matthew, James, Kiersti, Janessa and Emma.

The first picture is our grandchildren and the mommy. The second picture is Christmas Eve, watching a Christmas Gaither video with Gramma. Then a picture of Steven, Jehru and Jarvin. So now I am going to see if this will work.

Finally!!!!!!!!!

MY FRIEND, Erin is here and finally I am learning to post pics, yeah!!!!!!!! This is of Kalle's birthday!!!!

A picture of the Christmas program. I can't put too many on because we have to reformat our computer but I am learning. Derek will probably come over and help us with updating, etc.!!!!

Grandpa reading the Christmas story from Siri's Bible on Dec. 22 when we celebrated with Heather and Duane.

Making lefse!!!! I am doing this from a CD so the pics that I have of Bragg Creek are not on a CD yet but I promise I will put some more on. I am just so excited that I have learned this much. Until we get our computer fixed, I can't download the software from my camera!!!

Now MY FRIEND ERIN and I along with Jim are going to have tea!!!! Want to join us?

Happy Birthday to a forever friend!!

We just got home from a cozy, wonderful evening spent with our "forever friends", Art and Ardy Berge and their daughters and husbands. It happens to be Ardy's special birthday tomorrow and the girls and Art invited us, Laura and Glenn, Hannes and Margaret, Dennis and Darlene to an evening at the Steak Pit in Bragg Creek. It was a blast!!! The Steak Pit is rustic and quiet except for a pianist playing and singing. It has a fireplace and it is just so cozy!! Ardy did not know the four couples other than her family were going to be there so she was abit surprised!!!! We had such a nice time........Happy Birthday dear friend..........

ANOTHER YEAR!

Another year! Another chance
To make the golden moments dance
With zest for life and happiness;
Another quest for right success;
Another chance to recognize
The things wherein true value lies.

Another year for doing good;
For living love and brotherhood;
To aid world peace by starting here
To conquer prejudice and fear.
Another chance - that the ideal
May come, through us, to be the real!

Another year to feast the more
On God's great beauty at our door;
Another year, unto the end,
To qualify as someone's friend,
Farewell, old year! We leave you here.
New faith........new hopes........another year!

Dear Lord, give me courage to walk quietly into this new year.
Give me wisdom, Lord.....that I may see, the hidden path you have for me.
Give me patience and quiet grace, to run with Your strength, this earthly race.
Give me compassion and a loving heart
And words of comfort that I can impart
To a soul that is hurting and bowed with care,
That you, dear Lord will always be there.
And when each day ends, let me humbly see,
How tenderly and lovingly, you have cared for me!

Happy New Year!

I am now sitting downstairs with Nate and while he watches Dora, I thought I would do a quick blog. The rest of the Danielson clan except for Nate and Kalle went to see "Charlotte's Web" this afternoon. Kalle is having her afternoon nap. Heather and Duane came for brunch before going to the movie as did Pastor Anthony and Kim. We had "Christmas Croissant" brunch dish, orange juice, fresh fruit and I made risegrot for Heather. Pastor Anthony also likes it and Kim tried it as well. Mmmmm, good! Pastor Anthony got the almond only it was a pecan so he got a box of chocolates. I had also made a ham, egg, tater tot and cheese dish mainly for the kids because they don't like mushrooms as well as we do. I usually have salsa on the table when I serve this breakfast menu. It was so fun to have them all here with us! The only down side of this day is that I have to work tonight. O well, such is life and I must be thankful!!!!!!
Happy New Year to you all.

Mini-vacation!!

Jim and I just got back from a little mini-vacation up to Edmonton and Camrose. It was so fun and relaxing! We started out on Wed., got out of Calgary before the freezing rain started and made it to the hotel at about 12:30 P.M. and was able to get our stuff into the hotel right away. Then we hit the mall (West Ed) and shopped til we dropped!!! Ran into Carol and her three girls shopping for a wedding they are going to have in June. Kaele's boyfriend, Roger and Michael stayed home and bonded. Thursday afternoon we started out for Camrose, stopped by Dale and Sally's and had coffee with them and then went to Joy and Orville's for supper. What a gorgeous home they have and we just can't believe how they can hold down two full-time jobs and then paint these houses and get them ready for occupancy on the side. Amazing amount of work. It would boggle my mind to try to co-ordinate colors and rugs and hardwood and trim and what kind of windows and doors to put in, so many details and yet it all comes together so beautifully. And besides that Joy can get some awesome deals on things, she loves it. It was fun visiting with them. After supper, we had a great game of scrabble (they have scrabble nights with friends every once in awhile, instead of Mexican train which is the game of choice in Calgary, it is scrabble) Got home around 4:00 P.M. Friday (after a slow drive on slippery roads from Camrose) and then got ready to go out to Heather and Duane's and visited with Miles, Arlene and Brittany. They live two doors down from Heather's. What a nice evening!
Today, we are relaxing in front of the fire. Going to do abit of shopping later on.

Olson Get-together!!!

Just got back from the church. We had an Olson get-together this afternoon and of course it was fun to see everyone. Particularly Steven and his new wife and three-month old baby son named Jarvin. First time meeting his beautiful Ethiopian wife named Jeruselem (they call her Jeru) and is she ever a sweetheart. Jarvin is such a handsome baby too with big dark eyes and a dimple when he smiles. Vivian was here as well, came with Grant and Debbie so it was fun to see her. She is doing well. Ron and Delaine with some of their crew, Brent and Tanya and four kids, Kevin, Luke and Zane, Jarle and Judy, Cherie and Dave and all their kids except for Jarod, Patty and Darryl and their four, Lisa, Alicia, James and Emma, Nat, Tim and Melissa and their three. Jim and I went up this morning and set it all up and decorated the basement, had candles and Christmas table cloths, napkins and plates, made a cranberry punch, had goodies and finger food. I took lefse which was a hit and made some double date cookies like Gramma Olson used to make especially for Ron. Then had butter tarts, shortbread, lemon bars, no bake bars and another type of gooey yummy squares with cherries and nuts in it. Everyone brought something so it turned out great. I guess we were there about 4 hours. Heather and Duane didn't make it back from Camrose in time to see everyone. They came just as Jim and I were finishing cleaning up.
Grant and Debbie will be leaving for Mexico on the 17th of Jan. to attend the wedding of their youngest daughter so they are looking forward to that. And I guess they will have a reception for them sometime in March in Innesfail so hopefully we will be able to go.
Gramma was able to attend the Candlelight service on Christmas Eve. O how she enjoyed that and everyone was happy to see her. Denise, her friend who plays scrabble with her and is a care-giver to some of the residents came with us too. After the service we went up to Gramma's room and watched with her the DVD we gave her (Gaithers in South Africa), had tea and lefse, then came home to open our gifts. Christmas Day she was able to come to our house and have koomla, ham and risegrot so she enjoyed that. She did pretty good. She finds it harder now to transfer from the wheelchair to the car.
And now I am going to go watch a movie and besides that I have rambled on and on.............

MAKING LEFSE!!!!!!

Guess what my hubby and I have been doing this morning????? Making LEFSE!!!! We had two grills going.....I rolled out the dough and he turned the lefse!!!! To my daughters....next time you all come home, we have to have lefse making party. It is so fun, flour all over, sometimes there are holes in the lefse but no matter, it is all good. And this is not the potato lefse I am talking about, it is the "krotekake" with the whipping cream and butter filling......very rich, lots of calories but so, so tasty. Very, very Norwegian!! I made "No bake bars" (the bars you made at Nanc's baby shower, Sue) and lemon bars as well this morning. And then I am making a rice, curried salad for the party at Laura's where we construct gingerbread houses and we see who can be the most creative!!!! And we eat and eat and eat!!!!!
We had a great time at Heather's last night and we will post some pics!!! It was kind've crazy, you know the type of crazy where you have two hyper grandparents, two parents who have been working all day making it nice for us (bless their hearts) and 4 excited kids (Kalle loved the paper) so we didn't even turn the computer on. But we will!!! It will have to go on Heather's blog.

Party tonight!!!

We are going to party at Heather's tonight. It is going to be our Christmas Eve with them a couple days early because they are heading up to Camrose on Sunday so we get to watch the kids open some of their gifts. It is a beautiful, sunny day today, unlike Colorado. We talked to Larry and Irene last night and Larry had been out shoveling all day, Stephan's flight was cancelled (he was supposed to fly out today). He did get another one on Sunday afternoon so hopefully he will get there then. Julene (she had gone down early) and Irene couldn't go Christmas shopping because of the snow!!! Snow, snow and more snow but apparently is moving east today. Larry said they have a huge drift in their backyard so when the grandkids come, they will have fun building a fort. Remember Nanc a few years ago when we had all that snow and we spent the afternoon outside. It was so much fun. You made an awesome fort even with shelves inside where you put candles and lit them.....so cozy. Then we spread our huge Canadian flag over the top and took some pics. It is rather brown around our city now, not too much of the white stuff here. So I can really sing, "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas!!" We are also planning a get-together with all the cousins, aunts and uncles, brothers and sisters on Boxing Day at the church to meet Jarle and Judy's new little grandson born in Ethiopia, little Jarvin. Also Aunty Vivian will be coming down as well from Grant and Debbie's. It will be fun to see everyone. So now I must go and get my salad ready to take out to Heather's so bye for this time..........

Joy and sorrow....

Another day of joy and sorrow has come and gone......Yesterday we came to church to listen to the children's program and found out as we walked in that our dear Helen had gone "Home" that morning about 6:oo A.M. Joy because we know she is not suffering anymore but sorrow because we are going to miss her so much. A truly gracious, fun-loving, warm and compassionate lovely lady. Our angel we called her. How appropriate that the little ones were dressed as angels and we can imagine Helen seeing angels for the first time but much more important, she got to see her Savior and was probably singing....how she loved to sing! Not too long ago, the praise and worship group went up to see her and here she was, in her bed just loving every minute and we sang and sang and sang. She did not need words, she knew the words of the hymns off by heart. We got such a chuckle that night because she still managed to get her eye on AJ (our youth leader) and tell him how handsome he was. She asked Bev, "Where is your honey? Oh there he is". She loved Jesus with all her heart, she loved her honey as she called Mark, she loved her children and grandchildren and she just loved people. She would often go to the Care homes and visit and bring cheer and love. She had also a fun-loving nature and a sense of humor that I just loved. She was the only one I knew that felt honored when the young people from the youth group came and toilet papered their shrubs and trees one night......she invited them in for goodies........ she was the only one I knew that at 80 yrs. of age could still dance up a storm and wear a bikini in Hawaii and look good......always ready to hug, encourage and just have fun!!! Janet said yesterday, they are at Peace because this little lady invited them.....we won't know til we reach Heaven how many people she impacted by her life. Our dear Helen.......

Yeah, the Christmas letter is on its way!!!

Finally, the letter is out of my head and into the mail!!! I still have to address some but the bulk of it is done. It is short and sweet this year. That is a huge job done and now the baking will start!! Jim will help me roll out the dough for the lefse and flatbread. It is always so much more fun to work together.
We had a busy Sat. First thing this morning, I addressed envelopes, then babysat Kalle and Nathan while Heather, Siri and Jemma had a practise for the Christmas program tomorrow morning at church. Heather had to make some costumes, like three pine trees the same height as Jemma, and a cardboard boat. Then when the kids went, Jim and I drove out to Millerville to Don and Karen's open house. The day was absolutely so sunny and clear so we got a wonderful view of our beautiful Rockies!! That in itself would have made my day! The mountains sometimes takes my breath away! Of course, the host and hostess made us feel so welcome and their home is so cozy. We came home about 5:00 P.M. and I went right away over to Father Lacombe home where a group of "young adults" from our church did some Christmas caroling for the residents, then over to the Beverly where we walked up and down the halls singing, gathering people as we went. Gramma just loved it. Kim's gramma too. Then we all gathered at Lisa and Andre's house for chili and salads and yummy appetizers! Lisa had made that artichoke dip we had at Nanc's shower. So, so good! And played the gift exchange game where we can steal if we like someone else's gift better. Always a good time!!! Now it is time for bed and how wonderful it is to think that I can sleep allllll night!!!! Yahooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Good-bye, Carol and Rob!

This Sunday was Rob and Carol's last Sunday before they move to Martensville tomorrow. It is sad, we will miss them terribly but on the other hand, it is exciting for them. And we know that they will bless others there as they have blessed us here. Carol is a dear, dear friend as is Rob to both Jim and I and we have had many times of sharing - laughter and tears. How good God is to allow people like these two to come into our lives to enrich and bless. We just pray God's protection, love and guidance as they continue their lives in another province and home.
We love you guys.

"It's beginning to look alot like Christmas"

Yup, it is around here - the tree is up with it's pretty white lights, the Christmas music plays constantly, the rest of the house has decorations all over, the lights are on outside, the advent box has little goodies for the grandchildren when they come over inside each door and they can take one for each day of Dec., the Christmas letter is still in my head but eventually will make it onto the paper and out in the mail, the baking will have to start as well one of these days. We have Norwegian Christmas traditions like lefse, koomla, ham and risegrot on Christmas Eve for our meal, very rich but oh so good, plus the Christmas Eve Service at the church which we all just love, then it is home to a fire in the fireplace, candles lit, singing of carols (we so miss Grandpa Archibald's reading of the Christmas story) and the opening of most of the gifts and usually we open one at a time, from youngest to oldest (it takes forever but how fun) This year it will be quiet as the kids are at their in-laws (we will celebrate either before or after and of course Sue and family and Nanc and Wayne will stay in Fergus) so we are hoping Gramma will feel well enough to come over and perhaps stay overnight. Christmas morning we have the opening of the stockings first thing and when our kids were younger, I would have a treasure hunt for their one last big gift, then breakfast (Norwegian style) in the living-room, again in front of the fireplace eating manderin oranges, Norwegian pancakes (Nanc would usually be the pancake maker) and fried koomla (what could be better!!!!), and we would relax. Christmas dinner is around 4:00 so it is not so rushed. And I never know who might sit at our Christmas table, it just is wonderful to share our Christmas meal with family and friends. I love this season.....and on that note, I just want to wish you all a very Happy and blessed Christmas.

Back to work!!!

What a downer to go back to work after having a fun time on the weekend. Yes, it was busy but how we enjoy being with the grandkids, seeing their imaginations go to work, reading them stories before they go to bed at night, singing with them and just chatting about things. I especially love the mornings when they all four jump into bed with us and we watch "Treehouse"!!! Watching Kalle - she is learning to walk - she falls- she picks herself up and tries again and again and then when she does get the hang of it, looks at us with a very satisfied grin on her face!!!!!! Nathan who at the moment has a favorite book called "No, David!" and I had to read it about 6 times at one sitting! It is about a little boy who gets into all kinds of trouble like 'writing on the walls, overflowing the bathtub, climbing up on a stool to put his hand in the cookie jar, running down the street "butt-naked", playing with a ball and a bat in the house, ultimately breaking a vase and having a time out in the corner, and in each situation his mommy saying, "No, David, no, no David!" but then at the end, she says, "Come here, Davey" and you turn the last page and she has him in her arms saying tenderly, "I love you, Davey!" Nathan perhaps could relate to him abit. It almost seemed like he would breath a sigh of relief when I turned to the last page - he would get a twinkle in his eye and a big smile on his face!!! How important it is for these precious little ones that their parents and grandparents love them unconditionally even when they have been naughty. To give them positive reinforcement instead of telling them how naughty they are, yes they have to have consequences too but so, so important to build their self-esteem, rather than tearing them down by our comments and even by our tone of voice or look on our face or in our eyes and we can do that so easily it seems. Dr. Dobson says it takes 9 positive comments to cancel 1 negative one when dealing with children. And sad to say we hear or read about the negative comments all too often. I just pray that God will give us wisdom, patience and Christ's love when we are dealing with our children or grandchildren.