Today Was A Good Day

After nap today, even though Charlie had a low grade temp, we put your suits on. You now know what that means, and as you can see Lilly got real excited.

No hesitation you jump right in

You find a cool spot in the gross heat and watch your dad sweat while mowing the lawn.

I find a way to stay cool as well...

Then I get company when the yard work is done.

As Ice Cube would say.... "Today Was A Good Day"

We got a TON of cleaning and organizing done today. With the help of your hard working daddy, we have a rearranged upstairs and downstairs living room. I am caught up on laundry, dishes are done, dishwasher empty, clean toilets, clean bathroom floors, new pictures hung, garbage is out on the curb, upstairs is vacuumed...Life is good. Happy Wife, Happy Life.

Happy 86th Birthday Grandma Lilly

Tomorrow is your birthday, Grandma. I would love to post this tomorrow, but with our weekend plans I can't promise you that would happen so I hope this OK. Tomorrow you would of been 86 years old. You haven't been gone a whole year yet, but I sure miss driving down HWY 8 approaching the beautiful "TF" (Taylor's Falls) You never called it Taylor's Falls. You called it "TF" Driving down the bluffs, and having to pop your ears when we approached the Gas Station on our left and River Boat on our right.

I am sure you and Harold are having a blast up there. He waited a long time for you to join him, and I am sure you guys are having a blast dancing up a storm to all the polka music you want. Whenever I hear the slightest hint of polka music or see an accordion I will always think of you. So pretty much at any wedding dance when they play the trusty "Roll Out The Barrel" , if you look down at me you will see a sparkle in my eye, and a grin on my face. Pretty good chance I will be tossing one of the twins around on the dance floor as well.

This picture above I took with my cell phone on 3-9-2008. It was down in your apartment in Taylor's Falls. I think it is one of the best pictures of you, before the "Big A" set in. You never said the word....you called it the BIG A. (Alzheimer's)

The kids are doing great, but I sure wish they would of come a bit earlier in life to experience your cooking and HUGE yard on the farm. They would run themselves right to sleep out there, and then sleep like rocks in porch listenening to Semi's fly by on HWY 95. Pretty sure that's what Erick and I did. They would of eaten pints of Rice Pudding and links of Swedish Sausuage. We could of even tried Lutefisk on thier dinner plates this Christmas.

I am happy you did get to meet Ms. Lilly Jean before you passed. I have sang the Twins the Pickelo Pete Song, too. They get a kick out of it.
The fact that Lilly is starting to resemble me and sometimes you at times, Grandma melts my heart. Her humor would make you do your contagious belly laugh that is for sure. This picture above is from Memorial Weekend this year. It is almost spooky how much she looks like you as a kid here.

You are so missed, Grandma. Never forgotten though. I think of you often and that will never change.

Lycklig Födelsedag (Happy Birthday in Swedish)

**Readers if you have sound you can listen to "How Great Thou Art" as well. This was played at Lilly's funeral on 9-21-2010.

Thursday Thought

Wordless Wednesday

Hand Me Downs

Hand me downs are a great gift and concept. It is crazy how much $$ adds up for this kind of stuff. It is also hard to buy nice stuff for them at this age, as they love to get dirty and wreck things. I have fallen in love with SHOUT stain treater. When I see spaghetti sauce on a favorite shirt of theirs, I no longer get "bummed" as I know it will be gone with the help of my SHOUT bottle! I have one placed upstairs and one in the laundry room for quick access.
Auntie Angie showered us with 3 tubs of Regan hand me downs. Lots of new jammies in there (which we needed) I found one pair that wasn't girly and guess who got that :) Charlie...he loves the ducks and frogs on them.

Lilly looks very excited about them here, too. Her "owie" on her forehead happened today at daycare. She tried scaling a retaining wall, and it ended in disaster. It looks worse than it really is, and Gma Nellie was surprised that she really didn't even cry.

Hail Storm

This past Sunday Afternoon we were hit with a nice mid summer hail fall. Not really any damage though .....

Jealous Much?

Someone once told me that Twins don't get as jealous when parents hold other babies, due to the fact that they are used to sharing their attention from day 1. I don't remember the source of this knowledge but I wish they could of been at our house on 7-16-2011, when we babysat baby Max. (2 months tomorrow) Although they did get used to him, they were sure right there by us when we were giving 1:1 attention to this little peanut.

We don't see a "3rd" baby joining our clan at anytime soon or possibly ever at this moment in time. In the meantime I get my fix out of spoiling other people's babies.

TGIF Blog World!

Murphy's Law

Murphy's law is an adage or epigram that is typically stated as: "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong".

If you know our Aunt Jen, you know this Law is something that applies to her everyday life. I could write a lot of funny stories about her Luck..or Lack Of. On the way up north on HWY 10, she got a flat. She was about an hour away from her destination (Park Rapids). Luckily my Mom and Glen were letting her follow them, so they were quick to turn around and help a lady out.

Glen got her a new tire at the local Wal Mart the following day, but before the new tire was put on, we had some fun with it.

"When Life Gives You Lemons.... Make Lemonade"


I think Charlie could be the next model for Michelin Tires...

Rewind A Minute

Remember my 4th of July post that consisted of me beating myself up over NOT taking one picture on the actual 4th of July? Well thanks to Mary Lee Mergen and facebook I was able to locate the "Matching Family Photo." Yes, I am that girl now...


This picture goes with this post.

Back To The Grind

These are all pics from Auntie Karrie's AWESOME CAMERA! She took a total of 700 pics last week...yes 700.

Just like her Mamma...loves the water!

Lilly loves to face dunk/eat sand...

What a great Crew, huh!

Hanging at the pool was fun, too!

Home Sweet Home

We are home... we have been since NOON yesterday. We are tan, peeling, tired, bleached out hair,sandy, and behind on laundry. We did however have a GREAT week with over 20 members of our family. Great Gma and Great Gpa Brekke even came from Tuesday til Saturday. What a treat! I had to nap while the twins napped today in preparation for the "normal grind" that starts in 12 hours. I am sure I will have witty blogs about different pictures taken last week over the next month or so, stay tuned.

It's The Final Countdown

It is that time of year, kids.....


When we spend hours in the sand
Play games at night




Do whatever we want...

When we want..

Be ready to hit the road Saturday in our PACKED TO THE GILLS MINIVAN!

I'm Still Hear..

So last Friday I was so excited for the fun filled weekend,ahead and oh boy it was fun. I had lots of trips, and activities planned. We went to Spicer, The Beach, BBq'd, PlayDate, Alexandria....etc. We dressed alike on the the 4th even...and guess what. This bad Mom did NOT take 1 picture on the 4th of July. I am so mad at myself. I know Mary Lee Mergen took some family photos of us, so when I see her post them on Facebook I will pirate them (steal them) and put them up for you all to see.

Everyone came out of the busy weekend alive but I am not gonna lie. Monday night I was so tired I felt "sick." Yesterday was the longest workday ever but today is better. I was going to blog yesterday but I knew my state of mind and mood would make me come off as a snotty person.

Prior to Monday though we did get some great photos(see collage above). I would love to have a cute, witty, blog about each and every photo but with the amount of photos I plan to take next week on vacation I know I would get way over my head.

We leave this coming Saturday for 1 week. I will not blog, or use my cell phone the whole week. I am bringing my laptop so I am sure I will be on facebook here and there, but not "working." I can't wait to relax and enjoy my family time! If you need me, I will be back on the 16th.

Take a Break

OK, so no post about babies...but something just as beautiful... Flowers. The bright orange Lillie's are are in full bloom in the back yard! My goal is to get a picture of my "Lilly" in front of these before they die. However stopping my little girl to pose in front of flowers is just not as easy as it was last year during "The Annual Lillie Bloom"



Ok I lied. Gonna put a picture of a baby in this post. This picture was taken last 4th of July at Gma Nellie's house.


It is Sunday night, and the weekend is not over yet... Busy weekend but you guys are holding up great. Tomorrow at 9 am we are heading up to Alexandria. More pics to come! Happy 4th to all!

Sign Sealed Delivered..I'm Yours!

Happy Friday To Everyone! Enjoy the LONG Weekend!