Happy Easter and a first check in!

Hello Everyone!
There are several of you I haven't seen for quite some time, so I imagine that my life is a mystery to you all!

A quick rundown of the past year:

1. Studied Abroad in New Zealand for a semester, which I highly recommend everyone go there. I argue it is the most beautiful place in the world, many will agree. I started dating another Iowa Stater who was over there with me, her name is Megan and we have been dating a bit over a year now.

2. Still attending Iowa State, now a Junior in Mechanical Engineering. I got an internship this summer at Xcel Energy in Burnsville, MN. I also applied to Huch Tech, so I could live with my awesome cousins Mike and Mindy for the summer, but Huch didn't get back to me fast enough..

3. Just had spring break, where my Dad (Buzz) made the bunny cake, as you can see in the picture. He is very proud of it every Easter he makes it!

Well that's really it for me, very summed up.

The Family now!

Dad: Still working for the Minnesota Retailers Association, which the legislature is under way now so he is a busy dog, very late nights! Sometimes till 11 or 12 at night!
Mom: Still teaching reading recovery at 2 different schools, split halfway thought the day. She also broke her fibula, which is the smaller bone on the backside by the calf. She had a plate and 6 screws put in. She is much better now, has a bit of a hobble right now (it's still a bit swollen, probably because she started walking on it again), but that will go away. She broke it by slipping on ice when she and my dad went for a walk back in early January.
Kari: Went back to school for Elementary Ed (graduated from U of M in 2005 with a BS in Chemistry). She is much happier with the idea of being a teacher than testing chemicals all day long. She is dating a guy, Justin, somewhere over a year now I think, and he works at Boston Scientific (Lisa's rival (she works at Medtronic))
Tait: Now a freshman at Iowa State (with me!), he has no major picked out, in LA right now. He's leaning some what to ministry or missions of some sort, so now he needs to decide what he wants to specialize in. He has been dating a girl named Hillary (she is from close to home but going to school in Georgia) and they have been together for a bit less than a year now. Perhaps a couple months away.

Well that is all I have, It's great to hear what everybody is up to!
Take care and God Bless!!

Have a Blessed Easter

Jesus said . . ."I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?" John 11:25-26

The popular image of the Empty Tomb reminds us that our progressive, knowledge and science-based culture has and never will raise someone from the dead. It's only happened once in history. And because it happened, we need not fear the last moments of our life or what comes after. Because it happened, we have a cure for the sickness of sin in our lives.

Just as with Christmas, let's be intentional in celebrating the true meaning of Easter - which is life in Christ. We cannot celebrate life in possessions, life in status, life in selfish ambition or life in leisure. It all leads to emptiness. The Apostle Paul said, "all this is garbage in comparison to knowing Christ".

Perhaps you agree and know this is true in your heart - but there is no way for you to celebrate the true meaning of Easter. Maybe you're surrounded by cultural celebrations and traditions - but no Christ. May I suggest some contemplative and prayerful moments spent reading Luke chapters 23 and 24. Consider what Christ did just for you. If you had been the only one that ever needed a Savior, He still would have gone to the cross - just for you.

To my family . . . have a blessed Easter.

Happy St Urho Day

You thought I would forget. Happy St Urho Day to you all. Don't forget to wear purple and green.

Easter Lily

This time of year few things make me think of spring as much as Easter and the smell of church for Easter Sunday. I couldn't wait until Easter Sunday so after a basketball game (brutally physical for 9 and 10 year olds and a soccer game in which Nate took a shot to the head...he has a peace mark that are the seams of the soccer ball on his cheek still but came back to score a hat trick for the team after being knocked silly) shopping today I bought an Easter Lily in hopes our house would soon start to smell like church on Easter Sunday. Here is a little information on the Easter Lily for anyone interested. - Sara

Easter Lily
Lilium longiflorum, the Latin name for the Easter Lily, is native to the Ryukyu Islands of southern Japan.
The Easter Lily industry is an American success story. Prior to 1941, the majority of the Easter Lily bulbs were exported to the United States from Japan. World War II eliminated the dependence on Japanese-produced bulbs and commercial bulb production shifted to the U.S. The Japanese have never been able to regain any of their lost market share due to the superior quality of the U.S.-grown bulbs.
Today over 95% of all bulbs grown for the potted Easter Lily market are produced by just ten farms in a narrow coastal region straddling the California-Oregon border, from Smith River, California up to Brookings, Oregon.
The Easter Lily bulbs are harvested in the fall, packed and shipped to commercial greenhouses where they are planted in pots and forced under controlled conditions to bloom for the Easter holiday.
About 11.5 million Easter Lily bulbs were shipped to commercial greenhouses in the United States and Canada in 1996.
The cultivar most widely grown today for greenhouse potted Easter Lily production is called "Nellie White." This selection was made by a lily grower named James White, and was named after his wife. The cultivar "Nellie White" has large, white trumpet shaped flowers.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Easter Lilies had a wholesale value of $37.4 million in 1995. This makes the Easter Lily the fourth largest crop in wholesale value in the United Sates pot plant market, behind poinsettias, mums and azaleas. Of these four top crops, the Easter Lily has the narrowest holiday sales window, typically only 2 weeks. The poinsettia has a holiday sales window of approximately 6 weeks, and mums and azaleas are available year-round.
The states that produce the highest number of potted Easter Lilies, according to the U.S.D.A., are: 1. Michigan; 2. California; 3. Pennsylvania; and 4. Ohio. For the full story here is the link.....

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/plantanswers/publications/lily/lily.html

Winter Holiday

Greeting from Az. It looks like our Winter Holiday is coming to a close. It has been cooler than last year; but all visitors from the north have enjoyed the warmer weather than the northern temps. Mother always enjoyed visits from neices and nephews etc and now I can understand. Cooper and his parents came to visit Jan and Al and entertained the whole street. He is quite a charmer.
Dennis and I will be leaving here about April 1. Jonathan comes to visit here on March 25 then rides back to ID with us. The neighbor needs to finish the fixing on the slide our of the motor home or we will be driving down the road with the slide handing out. Sarah and Nate are coming the end of March. We haven't seen Nate since Lisa's wedding.
At this time Dennis and I are Dog Sitting as Tim and Deb went to Europe on business. Jan came up to visit the other day and we enjoyed Reuben Sandwiches from Chompies. They are VERY
BIG sandwiches from a Great Jewish Deli. After lunch we found the cosonti bells where Judy had taken us a couple years ago. Beautiful Bells made in the middle of Paradise Valley by a man named Solerano.
Dennis is in Mesa golfing with Al and others and will preach at The Resort on Palm Sunday.
Tim and Deb return on Monday and we return to the Resort in time for Corn Beef and Cabbage.
Again we feel so fortunate to have spent this time here with a great group of people especially our sister Jan and Al. People say what do you do? That is a good question. We do laugh a lot, eat, shop, excercise and etc
AND again thanks for the blog. I really enjoy it.
PS. This is one thing Mother would have really enjoyed.
Love
Middle sister, Joan

No Update

Sorry, Was going to tell you all about St Urho wife Sinikka today but I'm putting a trip togather. Must move a Truck from the cities to Mi and than a truck from there to SD. If you want to learn more on St Urho you can go to this web site. www.browielocks.com/urho.html. Happy B-Day sis, May you have many more

Bob

Happy Birthday Judy!

(that's mom & nana to some of us)

have a great day!


much love
Jayne
Patrick
Thomas
Katherine

St. Urho Day

Once upon a time , many many years ago in Finland they say there used to be wild grapes growing all over. They know this from studying the remains of bears found in the area

One season a bunch of grasshoppers with a voracious appetite for grapes happen to hop on into Finland. What to do?

Enter our great Finnish Hero, St Urho!! Waving his pitchfork and chanting "Heinasirkka, heinasirkka menetaaita Hiiten" (which in english means "grasshopper grasshopper skoot") he drove the grasshopper out of the vineyards. It is wished that he lived today to drive the mosquitoes from Minnesota.

The Finnish grape farmers were very protective of there fields because they didn't have much of a growing season. It is rumored that they injected Vodka into the grapes to give them a bigger alcohol content. This is the early version of organic farming and pest control.

Feeling so happy and greatful to Urho, they declared him a saint. He drove the grasshopper from the vineyards on March 16th the day befor St Patrick's Days (More on this later).

Every year since then, the Finnish people celebrate St Urho's Day on March 16. The offical color are purple for represent the grapes and green to represent the vines (or dead gresshoppers).

The celebration also includes singing, dancing polkas, and having Mojakkaa (fish soup pronounced like "moy-yah-kah") This is what St Urho ate to give him his strength to fight the grasshoppers.

More late on St Urho wife Sinikka and St Pats Day
Bob

It Is That Time OF Year

This is the start of many information note to you all this week. We are 7 days away from a great day for the fins. I know we are Norki and dane but we should also celibrate with the Fins. What is it and when you ask? Will send more later
Bob

You wear purple on this day.

Are Danes Really Doormats?

"Emotions against IKEA are running high in Denmark, where researchers claim the wildly popular Swedish home furnishings company only names cheap doormats and wall-to-wall carpeting after Danish towns, reserving Swedish names for its more expensive furniture. The discovery has the proud Danes itching for revenge."

Read the rest of the story here.


We've all been sick around our house. Hopefully over the worst of it and on the mend for the weekend. Being sick doesn't generate much to tell about so I'll just wish you all a happy weekend!

cheers!
jayne