Thinking Summer

I just finished filling out some summer camp registration forms, going over the summer calendar and the kicker......filling out school registration forms for next year. It must mean summer is close. Isabelle starts Kindergarten next year so it will be very strange come August 20something when she gets on the bus too.

I've posted a picture of our house just to show you the snow in Iowa. In case any of you spending time in the pool were doubting where you should be now. I'm standing across the street so it is a little distorted but you get the idea..that is our mailbox buried in the snow bank. This picture was taken before the 3 fresh inches we are receiving right now. 3rd snowiest in Cedar Rapids history. The ice is so bad they had one of those big road graders on our street this morning but it didn't do much good. We are a dead end so not a lot of traffic to wear it down. It is basketball state tournament so we should expect it this winter weather these days. Our Linn Mar girls team is playing in the State semi finals Friday. The boys made it through Sub State Tuesday night and play next Wednesday in Des Moines for the first round of State. We are going again this year. The boys team won last year and have finished in top 3 the two years before that so it has become a tradition with some of our friends (parents and kids of Josh's basketball team) to hang out and watch a whole lot of basketball. The pool time (did someone say adult beverages???) doesn't hurt. Nate is also playing in a soccer tournament in Ames that week-end so we'll be bouncing back and forth between the two cities.

Great pictures and posts everyone. I check every day to catch up!

Sara

Cake and Ice Cream

Here's a picture of the birthday boy Cody with his cousin Ethan and brother Colton. Cody is such a wonderful kid, I can only hope my kids will grow up to be as thoughtful as him. Each year we add a candle to his cake but he matures by 3 years. I can't believe he is only 11 years old. Plus, he has a great sense of humor. Cody only managed to extinguish 10 of his 11 candles. We are still trying to learn the name of his girlfriend...he denies the girlfriend but we all know the candles don't lie.


I had to stick this picture in to keep Bob honest. It's true he makes homemade ice cream and a button cake for all his grandkid's birthdays. However, the ice cream maker is electric so don't be fooled, nobodies been hand cranky ice cream for this generation.

Correction

I have been corected by Rosie that the tater salad was Jan the 3rds receipe. It is will liked by everyone. Thanks for sharing Jan

Happy Birthday!

Well it seems there were a couple of Anderson birthday's over the weekend. Leah (the newest Anderson) had a birthday yesterday on the 24th. And if you reverse the numbers on the date of her birthday, you'll know her age.

So the Sioux Falls Andersons, enjoying temperatures nearly in the 40s, feasted on brunch at Bracco's World Cafe (braccorestaurant.com/siouxfalls) and Wal-Mart chocolate cake. None of the items on the menu came from Grandma Esther's recipe box. But we enjoyed such things as Red Stripe Beer Batter Grouper, Chipotle Caramelized Onion Mashed Potatoes and Chicken Andouille Creole. A friend of Leah's (Liz) tried the Ahi Rare Tuna, but she wouldn't recommend it. Robert (my nephew) and I enjoyed the Guava BBQ pork the most. Kristin was content with a plate full of various leaves and weeds.

In case you're not subscribed to the Sioux Falls social pages, the whole group consisted of Orrin, Karen, Kristin, Robert, Leah, Tad and Liz. Leah received a bracelet, some gerber daisies (her favorite) and a book by Kim Meeder about Crystal Peaks Youth Ranch in Bend, Oregon (www.crystalpeaksyouthranch.org) where broken horses and broken kids heal together. Horses are also one of Leah's favorites.

Leah and I ended the day enjoying the movie Martian Child (www.martianchild.com) which we would recommend highly.

If you'd like to send Leah a belated Happy Birthday email, her email address is leah@midstatesaudio.com.

I forgot to take a picture yesterday. But the photo above is us celebrating our anniversary at the Bonefish Grill in Myrtle Beach last August. We still look pretty much the same - except the only thing now tanned on me is my wallet.

Our prayers are with Carol and Ron as they heal.

Tad

Ice Cream

Gizmo and I have just finished a morning walk. We did just short of 2 miles. It is icier in spots as the temp has been above 30 all weekend. It was predicted that it would snow or rain today but the windmills on buffalo ridge turned the rain south as it has done all winter. We spent the weekend in Hutchinson this weekend as it was Cody" 11th birthday party on Sat. The menu was pulled port, potato salad (Grammas A's), coleslaw, Chips and buns. After he opened his presents we had ice cream and cake. The cake was a button cake(Grammas A's) and the ice cream was home made banana. #years ago Coulton requested banana on his b-day. Rosie and I thought he was nuts but we made it and it is requested allot by the kids for there b-days. On Sun after a meal of buttermilk pancakes (Grammas A) the kids and grandkids went skiing north of Hutch near Kimble MN. We came home to Tracy. My CD camera will not charge so Angie took some pictures and will post them or send them to me for posting. Carol: Glad to hear that Milt is taking good care of you and Ron. Have a good week everyone
Bob

Janna at The Seattle Flower & Garden Show

Janna came up from Portland to spend the weekend with us. Friday we went to the Seattle Flower and Garden Show which is a huge production. I'll post a few photos of on Camp Smum later.

The other good news I have to share is I have potentially found a new baby sitter (this has been a huge production too.) and I'm thinking she's going to be a keeper because she's from Sioux Falls! You don't met many South Dakotans out here.

News from Carol

Well its saturday and I'm not doing too bad after having my last chemo on wednesday the 2oth of Feb. It feels so good to be done. Don't have to see the Oncologist until May.
Ron is recupperating well from his by pass heart surgery.he is going to therapy and walks a mile ever day.
Danette and Gene are planning a trip up here, next week. We are suppose to get snow again so they may not have the best roads. We haven't had as much snow here as Iowa got, but it sure has been a cold one. They were able to spend January in Fl. at their condo.
Joan, Marianne Juhl and Paul Iverson were cousins. Pauls Dad and Mariannes Mother were brother and sister.
Sorry to hear about your leg Linda, happy to hear your getting along well.
I sure do enjoy reading the the posts on the blog. Milt said keep up the good work, he likes to hear the news too. Thank you Tad for creating this blog, and all your help.
Cousin Carol

More from Iowa

It has been a busy couple of weeks and that doesn't include time with the snowblower. Last week I was in Washington DC hosting 60 of our local business and government leaders. We held meetings with the staff from Senators Harkin and Grassley as well as Congressman Loebsack to present "asks" for federal funding. We also had meetings with the Senators and Congressman which are always interesting. But, I have to say it is REALLY tiring from my point keeping everyone on task and entertained during our three days in DC.

Sunday we were hit with another ice and snow storm. I will post pictures but the snow here is piled over our mailbox and the roads are still covered in ice. Many road crew workers said they hadn't seen anything like it in 25 years. It took until Thursday for Interstate 80 to clear. Our kids finally went back to school after a late start on Wednesday. Along with the Iowa City Chamber we hosted Corridor Day at the Capitol (Des Moines) on Wednesday and we had some fun making our way down the Interstate to get there. We had the new president of the University of Iowa with us and that always gets our elected officials attention. Right before lunch with 400 of our closest friends we had a meeting with Governor Culver. We also met with the Speaker of the House, Minority Leader and the leadership in the Senate. Above is my picture with our Governor. He beat out my first boss in the primary to get elected so it seems like a small world. Right after our meetings ended Wednesday I was responsible for our state association of chambers conference in West Des Moines. With almost 100 attendees over the three days of meetings and events, it ended today and to say I am very tired is an understatement. Josh has tournaments this week-end and also Gold Cup Piano Festival. Nate is in Des Moines with his new basketball team for the 3rd Grade State Boys Basketball Tournament. Isabelle is just excited to be at another basketball game.

Hope to hear from others. Just wish it warm up here but the good news is there must be an end to all of this sometime soon!

Sara

HAPPY PRESIDENTS DAY

Well it is sunny in Az staying in the high 60's.
Jan and I went to the Luverne Reunion this past Wednesday.
Ronnie Kindt and his wife sat at our table. Everything is fine with the Kindt Family. They were
back in Minnesota last summer. They live in Hemet Ca. Carol Peterson from Judy's class was there.(I don't remember her) Jans classmates were Marianna Juhl, Beverly Christianson and Marianna Juhls sister. I didn't realize that Mrs Juhl was Paul Iversons sister. ? Ananson (not Orville; but his brother) was there. Last year I'd had a nice conversation with his wife and she had a connection to Mother and Fern. She had also talked to Delorse lately as Delorse is looking for some connection the the Aanasons. A young man from Hills said he used to work for Larson Hardware and sold to Anderson Hdw. in about 1956. We talked to Carolyn Rath. I didn't realize she was related to Lois Kindt Pederson. She was in the class between Jan and myself. The oldest one there graduated in 1938 and the youngest graduated in 1982. Audrey Smiens, Lorraine Baker and Richard Mahoney were there from my class. Denny Mahoney was there talking a lot.
Dennis and I went to Tucson last week. There are still quite a few people at the church alive that we know. Its been 20 years since we left there. The present Pastor was a vicar when we were there.
This is it for now. Write soon.
#2 Joan

Spring Preview

The story is tomorrow we'll be back to rain, but at least for today it was balmy enough for Popsicles.

Password Problems?

Good to hear from Buzz & Linda. Welcome and thanks for posting. I noticed Linda's post via Jan and Al's google account and her reference to a password problem. Here's a potential fix for the problem of a forgotten or missing password or a message about there already being a password.

When you go to The Andersonian blog, click on the SIGN IN link in the upper right hand corner. Try signing in with just your email address and no password or an incorrect password. The next screen that will appear should resemble the one above.

Next click on the FORGOT YOUR PASSWORD? link. Follow what the screen tells you to do and you can set a new password. Google will send you an email with a link in it. This is a security measure so that nobody can get your password. Open the email and click on the link. This will take you to a screen where you can type in a new password. THEN YOU CAN POST ON THE ANDERSONIAN!

HooRAY! Isn't the web cool? As always, feel free to contact Tad for problems with posting to the blog.

Buzz and Linda's e-mail to Jan

Hi,
Thanks for the address. Hope Al had a great birthday! Buzz and I went to a movie tonight for Valentine's Day. : ) We went to "27 Dresses" -- Buzz's suggestion -- can you believe it?? But we both enjoyed it. It's a romantic comedy with lots of chuckles. Kari provided dessert for us -- mini chocolate turtle cakes. Yum!!

My leg is doing pretty well. I have an appt. on the 26th so will see how the x-ray looks then. I'm getting pretty skilled at the crutches! And I have one pretty beefy leg to show for it! : )

Tait came back to go with the local Young Life group to go snowboarding in Montana for the weekend. They left today and will return Monday night. (Young Life is a non-denomination Christian fellowship group for high school youth. Tait is going as a counselor this year.)

I've got to talk to the kids about help with getting on the blog. I went to get a google account and it said we already have one but I don't know the password. Probably the kids set it up a long time ago and hopefully one of them know it. Will get on that soon.

That's about it for now. Happy Valentine's Day!
Love,
Linda

Happy Valentine's Day

Things are always crazy at our house. We could probably thank Lauren (2 1/2) for 90% of that. She has the Anderson genes, she doesn't sleep much, stays up late and talks, talks, talks. What doesn't help is when Grandma and Grandpa visit, give her candy first thing in the morning and then leave. Happy Valentine's Day to Angela! Ethan (7) and Sammy (5) are not as high maintenance, both just finished ski lessons and are ready for a break from activities. Sam also takes ballet/tap and violin lessons. Spud is still selling steel and I spend the day at home with Lauren.

Dad and Mom (Bob and Rose) were up in the cities for a few days while Dad had some tests. During our dinner last night, I learned of the lesser known pet "Mary Poppins". Most of the conversation was about Porky and how he was feared by all the dogs in town.

late Sunday evening

Welcome Carol and Bob .....
Bob....wondering how your tests came out this weekend. Either e-mail us or get on the blog.....anxious to hear.
Went golfing on Saturday afternoon...I know, we finally reached the 70's...and it was beautiful...anyway, Al and I saw Orrin's double....unbelieveable....I finally went up to him on the 2nd hole....(the play was VERY slow)...and talked to him.
This gentleman was from North Dakota...but his mannerism and all were you Orrin.
Carol....glad to hear things are getting better at your house....only 3 Chemo's left!
Sounds like the weather is so cold you don't want to be outside anyway.
Jaynie.....I remember the days of dying for some adult conversation....and
interaction...wish we could be there to spell you out.....
Happy Birthday this month to Cooper, Jayne, Al, Tim and Gretchen .....and have some ice cream on the 23rd in memory or our Dad....Missed wishing you Happy Birthday in January, Mike. Are you reading the blog? IF YOU ARE WE ARE WAITING TO HEAR FROM YOU......
Happy Valentine's Day....
Jan...the third

CONGRADULATIONS

We have added two more writters. I think it is great. Carol, it good to hear you are doing ok.
Aunt Fern used to say the Drs told her getting nausated was all in her head. She finally got so she could make it ok the first day; but got sick the next.
It is still cool here in Az. When we lived here I loved this weather;but the motor home is getting very small plus Dennis and I have had the flu. Dennis is traveling the next three weekends Seattle, Portland and Spokane. He said his flight to Seattle was very rough. We are going to Tucson next week. Coeur d' Alene has broken a snow record set in 1915. I believe it is now 127 inches. Will write soon. Joan

I think I finally made it

I have been working on this for awhile, finally remembered the password that Matt put on for me.
We are doing well, had some pain a couple days after chemo, but will be ready for my next chemo the 20th. Then I will have the 3 treatments that the Dr. wants me to have. Milt does a wonderful job of taking care of me so have no complaints.
Ron is doing well also, he goes to therapy 3 days a week now. He said its so nice to be able to walk without having pain in his back.
I so enjoy reading the letters from all of you. Talk to Orrin and Karen quite often. Sure enjoy the emails I've gotten from all of you.
Hope I get this posted. From Carol

We are off

I been setting here at the screen waiting for someone to ans my note. It has been 3 1/2 hours so I gess no one is going to ans. It is time to load the car and head to the cities. Have a good weekend and we will be back to try again

Did I make it

With some more help from Tad we hope we are getting to the blog (Andersonian). All is quite in southwest MN. Did a 1.7 mi walk this morning with Gizmo and getting ready to go to Angie's . See a Dr tomorrow in St Paul. Need to have a stress test as I have not had one for 3 + years. Again hope this makes the blog and you all got the e-mail on the history of Norski lobster.
Bob

Oh No!

Is anyone frustrated or embarrassed by unsightly blog naiveté.

I would be happy to help you post to The Andersonian. Just send me an email at anderson@therunwaycompany.com or call me at 605-261-0647. I know I'm supposed to get ahold of Carol Schaal. And Bob has been having some difficulties as well. But keep trying and contact me if I can help. The business has been all-encompassing in January, so I haven't had much time. Haven't been good about follow-up. But if you call or send an email, I have an easier time following up.

C'mon. Be a blogger. Be an Andersonian blogger. You know you want to. It's almost just like sitting at that big table in Hardwick (or Luverne) enjoying some chicken and mashed potatoes that Grandma Esther made.

Buenos noches for now. Sioux Falls signing off . . .

SX FALL

Yes we are
staying as busy as I want to be. Days go by fast.
The weather has been somewhat limiting. We get very
cold days followed by some in the high 30 s, but not
many. We still have the snow we received the weekend
of the Mankato Trip. Erick was home at Christmas, but
Tad was in Fl with Leah's family. Erick will be home
this weekend for three days. A former room mate in
college and high school friend took his life. He and
others are gathering for the services which we think
will be Monday. Karen and I have been spending quite
a bit of time with another friend and his wife. He,
Dick Pruitt, had a lung transplant in July and is
recovering slowly. Try to spend at least an afternoon
a week with him. Another good friend of Karens' and
her son a friend of Erick is terminal so Karen tries
to time her visits as regular as possible. Makes you
count your blessings. Tad and Leah stay busy, Kristin
has been doing a lot of substitue teaching in the SF
System. Erick works and continues in classes at Santa
Monica College. He says this will be a very busy
semester. Josh is in his last semester in his
Robotics study and Tafney started back in school in
Jan. Robert is in 2nd grade. I spend Friday
afternoons in his classroom. Interesting and fun.
Haven't been sking yet, but want to get out for a few
days. If not I will need to be satisfied with the
local hill. Hope things are going well in AZ.

Orrin

Rain

So as I sit housebound with my two small fry wathcing it pour rain, reflecting on Sara's snow, I am wondering what do people in the midwest do with their kids when they can't go outside for days....weeks even? Of course you folks have the appropriate gear no doubt. But how do you not strangle them when the cabin fever sets in?

Oh and because P. and I lived in Indiana for three years I feel entitled to say, can you believe Bobby Knight quit? How weird was that? What a very peculiar individual.



And not to be competitive or anything, but I just made my 1000th post on Camp Smum. Granted Patrick and I got a head start (2004), but still.......

Snow

7-12 more inches of snow today and tonight for Cedar Rapids. I bet all of you wish you were here! The average snowfall for our area is 30 inches a year. We are currently at 37 and that is without what is falling now. Enjoy the warm weather all you snowbirds!

Lisa, where is that picture of Cooper's birthday from yesterday?

Sara

Super Bowl Sunday

Well, the Giants did it.....guess everyone at our party wanted the Giants...
thanks to Randy Moss.....If Green Bay had been playing we would have been minus 2 couples.....they bleed Green and Yellow....and watch the game at their own place.
Tad, get on you Mom and Dad and have them send some news from 1915 Main or maybe Kristen can help them.....
Bob, are you having any more luck getting on? How about you Buzz and you Judy!
Buzzy, Waiting to hear about your Birthday with the neighbors....
Starting to rain......and the wind is really blowing but hopefully it will bring in some warm weather.
Hugs to all.....Jan the Third

From Iowa

We are at almost 30 degrees in Iowa today and people are excited. Even if it did snow this morning. My boys are at the Iowa/Ohio State game for the evening so Isabelle and I are off to have some girl time once we bring our neighbor girl home. Seriously, the snow here in Iowa is getting really old.

I have been at the Capitol the last few weeks as Iowa's Legislative session began. Lots of fun and games. We leave on the 11th for Washington DC. Each year I bring 50+ local business leaders and government officials out to DC to lobby for our local projects. This year I will be blogging from DC for our newspaper coverage so thank you Tad for getting this started so I can practice.

With busy schedules we are trying to figure out when to get to Arizona to visit everyone there. Hopefully the end of March will work out!

It would be great to hear from the rest of you who are signed on but haven't posted!

Sara