Maroon & Gold

My high school Alma mater's school colors, JHS Panthers, were maroon and gold. My college the NSC (now NSU) Wolves was also maroon and gold. Now the college team we follow, University of Minnesota, our daughter's Alma mater, is also maroon and gold. I can't get away from the maroon and gold I guess. Here is some of the pageantry and color from the Saturday football game of the Minnesota Gophers.

By the way, I did watch the game. The Gophers scored 44 points to the 7 scored by University of New Hampshire. It was a good day to be a Gopher fan.

More weekend photos later in the week. 

Family Weekend

Last weekend was a very busy weekend for us. Saturday was a wedding in Aberdeen on hubby's side of the family. It was a lovely wedding and a wonderful opportunity to visit with sisters and their husbands, nieces and nephews, cousins, etc. The weather was hot, but AC helped us all survive.

On Sunday the vehicle headed north to Fargo for a cousin's 40th wedding anniversary. This day was my relatives. Another warm day, but the winds from hurricane Issac helped make the afternoon bearable. It was great to see aunts and uncles, cousins and their children. Another lovely day with family.

Then on Monday we headed south to Sioux Falls so my mother could meet her newest great grandchild. Another fun afternoon of visiting and playing with the next generation.

 And who is this, he asks

 Marek cooing to Great-Grandma

 He is giving her a very serious look

 Keep talking to me and bouncing me, he says

 Willa playing with her new musical book

Thank you Great-Grandma for the book

 Listen to this one, Great-Grandma

Marek is great-grandchild #13

10 grandchildren

Monday was the "frosting on the cake", 

a wonderful weekend with family!

Tree Trimming Man

The beautiful aged silver maple trees in our yard need attention every now and then. The strong winds over the weekend threw some of the dead branches to the ground, but a more serious look this morning revealed a large dead branch that could cause some serious damage if it landed on a person or vehicle.



Tree Trimming Man to the rescue...
We have a discussion every time he wants to climb the trees

 Really, he just wanted to have an excuse to use his Little Giant Ladder...
but at least his ladder is more stable and reliable. I would hate to show you the set-up contraption he used the last time!

I hold my breath and the ladder...

And he begins sawing away on the dead branch... 

And I held my breath some more as he continuously changed positions while perched in the maple.

 It is down...well sort of...it is off but is caught in the branches of the other maple tree...

 Some ingenuity and it is finally laying on the ground...

 ready for cutting into fire pit size lengths.

These branches were a few of the ones downed by the winds. They are all cleaned up now until the next strong winds come blowing through the trees.

Willa Cooks For Us

It was almost time to begin dinner Monday. Willa wanted to help G'ma, so she got dressed for the kitchen and found her cooking tools.

Then she began cooking for us.

She set her fruits and veggies on the couch

asked for some extra bowls and a spoon

G'Pa got a mushroom and garlic

She gave Mommy the leek, but Mommy suggested she cut it up as it was so big

Willa laid the burp cloth on the table (cutting board), 

took the wooden spoon and pretended to slice the leek.

Oh, so dang Cute and Smart!

I am not sure if I am downloading the videos correctly, 

so here is the same video downloaded another time.

Marek's Solo Performance

Marek is awake for longer periods of time and beginning to track voices and movement since we last saw him. I was able to get some photos of just him during our Monday visit.

 Look at those big eyes

I'm paying attention, G'ma

 Mommy & Marek hanging out

Sleeping in the swing during dinner 

 The camera flash woke him up

Time to say good-bye


Two videos posted two different ways...