Saturday, November 8, 2008

Amani Grace Mutheu Kibwaa


We welcome our newest grandaughter, Amani (means Peace) Grace Mutheu (means Blessing) Kibwaa to this world! She was born October 27 and weighed in at 7 lbs 13 Oz. and was 21 inches long. She is a lovely little girl and we are enjoying her very much! Her hair is soooooo soft!

She is joining Tabitha (3) and Elijah (18 months) who love her dearly!

Enjoy the slide show!

A walk in the woods.

 
 
 
 
We have had a lovely fall and I thought that I would share a few pictures with you today.

This morning we have had a skiff of snow and since this is the first day of deer hunting, the hunters are happy. It makes the tracking easier.

We have had a new grandchild born and I will share some pictures with you on my next posting!
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Thursday, September 11, 2008

Flowers at Salol

 

 

 

 

It is wonderful to have flowers to enjoy! I though I would share some of them with you.

We are planning on spending the winter here in Northern MN as we have two new grandchildren due this winter. Joy and Sam will be having baby #3 in early November. We are rooting for a girl, but we will be happy with whoever God sends.

Jonny and Jody will be having their first baby in Febuary. No idea of which sex yet.

Life remains exciting! We had a washer misshap which resulted in our new laminate flooring getting flooded in the kitchen, hallway and into the office. Now we are in the process of replacing all of the laminate in the dining room, kitchen, hallway, front entry and the carpet in the office. All the laminate was one run, going seamlessly from one room into the other. We could no longer get the same flooring and so we needed to replace it all. We have salvaged the dining room flooring and are putting it into the office. Never a dull moment at the Haphey's place!

Until next time....Take care!
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Monday, July 28, 2008

FMCA 80th Convention, St. Paul, MN

I tried to get these pictures on the end of this post! I guess you will get the last first this time! It is hard to determine which picture is going on the post. The thumbnails that I have to choose between are so small and hard to see well. These are not the best ones, but, oh well! I hope you enjoy them anyway :-)






It was a hot and exciting time at the FMCA convention in St. Paul. We had some threatening weather that didn't show up, thank goodness, and lots of hot weather that made us determined that next time we will have electric! With everyone in the lot running their generators, the exhaust was really bad and our alarms were going off. By 11pm all generators have to be off. Then the air would clear some and we could safely get some sleep.

The seminars were, as always, helpful and informative. I wanted to take a jewelry class, but all of them were full, as were any of the other "craft" type of class. Next time we will have to get there earlier.

I did go to a class presented by "Geeks on Tour". I learned how to make this blog from them when we were in Pamona, CA at the FMCA convention last January. This time it was on "Photo Story 3" another free program from Microsoft. I haven't had the time yet to work with it. Even before I download the program I think I need to free up some space on my computer. Too many pictures! I am looking forward to trying it though!

It has been hot and busy up here in the North country! Last week we were at the Roseau County Fair two days. One evening we were at the grandstand show "Williams and Ree". Some of you may know them as "The White Man and the Indian". They were funny and fast paced. Great performers and I would recommend them to you if you get a chance to see them. Their act would most likely be a bit more "raw" if the performance were in a less "family friendly" venue. Still funny though!

This has been quite a week for us. Our washer has been having some problems. The repair man came out on Wednesday and said that a part needed to be replaced, but that if we ran just small loads we could still use it.

When he left, Rick started the washer just to rinse out some of the dirt that had been knocked into the basket. I was in the sewing room working on a baby quilt and had no idea that he had started it. Rick then proceeded to head on out to finish mowing the lawn.

An hour or so later, I heard him holler! Looking down the hallway there was water everywhere! All standing on top of our new laminate flooring and flowing, yes, flowing into the bathrooms and bedrooms! Evidently the washer had more problems than first diagnosed!

We spent hours soaking up mega gallons of water (there was also mega gallons on the floor in the basement). At the convention I purchased a "turbo towel", a super dense microfiber bath sheet size towel. Now that towel can hold lots and lots of water! I can't begin to tell you how many times I filled it and Rick squeezed it out in the mop ringer. Oh, and when you make the final sweep with the towel, just drag it on the floor and it will leave the floor water spot free.

Now, several days later, the floor is buckling in places, the office carpet is stained and smelly ( lots of water made it in there ), and we have a new washer and dryer coming tomorrow, we hope. The washer was about 20 years old and so has done it's time. I just wish it wouldn't have made such a mess. An insurance adjuster will be here in the next couple of days so we will see what the verdict is. We just finished putting the floor down last December and the carpet in the office is new too.

Yesterday Rick and I decide to have some relaxing fun and spent the better part of the day on Lake of the Woods. Just for kicks and giggles, we wet our fishing lines and pretended that we knew what we were doing. As expected, we had no luck except for Rick's tackle snagging on the bottom a few times. Just as we were thinking of wrapping it up, Rick caught another "snag". Not this time! He had a very large Northern on his line! He played it in for maybe 20 min. There was no way it could be contained in our net and we didn't know how we were going to get it in the boat.

After taking many pictures, I put my camera down to try to help Rick get it in the boat so we could unhook it and release back into the lake. As I was angling to get into a helpful position, the fish rolled over, bent both hooks and got free! It was an exciting night on the lake for us! I never did get a bite, but got lots of good pictures!

That's all for now. I will try to get a couple of pictures to upload so you can get a look at the lunker. We think it was close to three feet long, and maybe 15 pounds.

Saturday, July 12, 2008

We have had a busy and fun filled week at Salol, MN. Paul and Doddie Bunz with their three kids, Shawn and Janet with thier three and Joy and Sam with their two spent a few days with us. It was noisy and busy and a good time was had by all.

Why, oh why, do we bother to buy expensive toys for kids?! The favorite plaything, by far, was a set of four tires that the kids had a blast rolling all over the yard. Including rolling over my poor peonies! And they were just starting to bloom well! Ah, well. Maybe the roots will just grow stronger this way!

On July 13th we will be celebrating my dad, Arvid Gravdahl's, 93rd birthday! Most of us will be here at the farm ( by the way, Dad was born here on this farm) as well as several of Dad's nieces and nephews and a bunch of grandkids and great grandkids, maybe even a great, great grandchild. It will be a great time for all of us!

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

We have been busy beavers for the last several weeks! We have helped Joy and Sam move all their belongings from Toccoa, GA to Brainerd, MN, spent about 10 days in Salol, MN during which Rick's father in law passed away, and are now in Pequot Lakes for the 4th of July celebrations! The gas stations should give us frequent user privileges! Sam and the kids have been spending time in Winnipeg with his family while Joy has been helping us with some projects. They will once again be joining forces here in the Pequot area, tomorrow. Joy will be very happy to be with her hubby and little ones again!
Our trip from Georgia was fairly uncomplicated until we got to the Wisconsin border and learned that the major highway we wanted to use was closed due to flooding and the possibility of a dam breaking! Thanks to our friend, Hope (love those cell phones!), who went on line and told us what roads were closed, Rick was able to update our travel plans and we had no more road closings to deal with. We did see some flooding and our hearts go out to all those folks who have sustained damages and loss.
We are looking forward to spending time with lots of family this week and hope you enjoy your celebrations in safety and make lots of great memories.

Thursday, June 5, 2008

He is finally here! Yippie! My Rickie is here!!!

Friday, May 30, 2008




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Tallulah Gorge

Yesterday we went to the Tallulah Gorge State Park. It was a pleasantly warm day with low humidity. Good thing, after going up and down 1062 steps to the bottom of the gorge we were really warm! Tabitha walked almost all the way down and up again. Elijah got to ride on Daddy's back. Lucky little boy!

Rick will be here next Wednesday! Hooray, hooray!!!!

By the way, Tabitha choses her own clothing, we did not put the outfit together!! She loves her tights and bright colors, whether or not they go together :-))!!!

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Tocca, GA

I have been here in Toccoa for a couple of weeks now. Joy and Sam are done with finals and today are watching some of their friends graduate. Lots of changes are in the wind for them and their family.

We have started packing up the house to move everything back to Minnesota. They are leaving some of their furniture here for friends to have and are going to take only what fits into the u-haul truck they are renting. Rick is flying down here on the 4th of June to help drive the truck back. I can hardly wait for him to get here! The longest we have been apart since we were married is one or two nights! It will be about six weeks by the time he gets here.

The weather is great today for grad. It is sunny and cool, about 65 just now at 10:20 am. Joy is off to the graduation ceremonies and I am taking care of Tabz and Elijah. Elijah is almost walking. He goes 6-7 steps between people or furniture and stands up in the middle of the room without any help. He is such a sweet baby!

Tabitha (Tabz, Tabby, Tabitha Lorrayne!) is a busy and talkative little girl with wild hair! She is fun and almost three. Keeping up with these two is a challenge for this grandma. I don't know how Joy and Sam will keep up with three once the new baby Kibwaa arrives in November! I know now why God give YOUNG people babies!

Hope you are all well. We'll talk later!

Monday, May 5, 2008


Tommy is Nine Years Old!!!
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The boys at the carnival!


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Update 5-5-08

Today is the last full day I will be here in Louisianan. Tomorrow Janet will drive me to Houston where I will catch a flight for Atlanta. Joy will meet me there and I will be spending time with them until it is time to drive back to MN with them and all their stuff.

It has been a good time here, with Janet and Shawn and the boys. I am glad that they will be heading to MN in July for a vacation. The boys are changing so fast and I want to keep up.

Seeing Tabitha and Elijah for the first time since October will be great though. As well as Joy and Sam, of course. I don't know if Elijah is walking now or not! I'll find out soon!

Rick is in Salol, MN now. When I talked with him yesterday he said it was snowing...again! Will winter never give up it's hold in MINNESOTA!? This is getting ridiculous! There is still so much ice on the lakes that they can't get the docks in and opening fishing is this next weekend!

Well, projects to do, things to accomplish. Have a good day, Ya"ll

Saturday, April 26, 2008

Evie
Chris
Jared
Tommy and Chris
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At Fort Polk, LA

Well, I am here at Janet and Shawn's and Rick is back in Minnesota. I miss him!!! I will be here for a couple of weeks as Janet has just had radiation for Thyroid Cancer. We hope and pray that it will NEVER come back again! Soon she will be able to go back on her thyroid meds and her energy levels should come back up.

My plans are to be here to help out until after Tommy's 9th birthday on May 3 ,and then head on over to Joy and Sam's in Georgia. They have finals week coming up and could use some help with their little ones through that time. Then I am going HOME! I have MN grandkids that I didn't get to see in the one day I was there, and lots of work to do!

Shawn and I are keeping busy this weekend with five kids in the house. Janet had a weekend planned with her womens group and really needed the time away. One of the other gals husband's been deployed for a short time and so we have her two also. They get along quite well together.

I should be getting some kids into bed, Shawn did it last night. I hope they will settle in quickly and get more sleep tonight than last night when they were still up after 10:00.

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Some shots of the Daffodil Parade
in Tacoma,Wa which I attended with a friend and her grandson.
,j


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Corps of Engineers Campground, La Page, OR in these two pictures. Great spot! $18 a night for full hookups!

Decepiton Pass area in Skagit Valley, WA area. A great place to visit. Wonderful fish and chips too!
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Almost to Minnesota!

As I write this little missive we are parked at an Iowa roadside rest. This wonderful state has free wifi that will reach our HOW (home on wheels) so we can finally get caught up on our email, banking ,etc.

Our itinerary for the next few weeks-or months- is a bit up in the air right now. My daughter in LA ( the state, not the city) is going to have a treatment for thyroid cancer that will keep her from needing a night light for a week or so ( as in she will glow in the dark) so I am going to head there to help out with the kids for a while.

Rick will be following me down there in a week or so with the HOW (home on wheels). He has some business stuff to finish up in MN and will make a trip to Salol to check out the house and see the family up there. Janet's treatment starts on Tuesday so I need to get there as soon as I can. I'm sure she won't be feeling very good for a bit and can use the extra pair of hands, especially since she isn't to be handling food prep for a week or so. I guess no one else needs to glow in the dark either!

While in LA, grandson Tommy will turn nine and we are looking forward to celebrating this last birthday of the single digits with him. Am I really old enough to have a grandchild who is NINE? Must be!

After the birthday celebration we plan on heading to GA to watch two more of the grands while their parents deal with finals week at college. This family is heading back to MN and we will be hauling some of their stuff back with us.

I am hoping that for most of the summer we will be in MN enjoying family and friends and working our tails off emptying out two houses, painting the garage, mowing the lawn, having huge, did I say HUGE, garage sales and finishing off some other projects.

So, what are your plans for the summer? Exciting I hope!

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Tulips, Tulips, Tulips!

We have been traveling in Oregon and Washington these last couple of weeks. It has been a wonderful time visiting with friends and family.

I have sent this one picture of the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. If you want to see more just click on to my picassa web albums.

More later. Out of battery power!

Tulip Festival

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Thursday, April 3, 2008

Rick on the beach
At our Pacific City
Thousand Trails
Campground.
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April 3, 2008

Today finds us at TT Pacific City, Ca, a wonderful campground that we intend to come back to again and again. Our site is up on the higher part of the campground where we have a tiny sliver of a view of the ocean, just above the treetops.

We took a hike down to the ocean yesterday and the wind was blowing hard and cold. Rick took shelter in the cleft of a big rock while I walked the beach a bit. I had my whole winter coat on and he just had his liner. The wind was cutting through his liner like a hot knife through butter. Maybe we can get back to the beach later today.

Sunday, March 30, 2008

oops

I have been trying to get this photo uploaded for our profile section. Instead it landed here (operator error I am sure) and I can't just move it from one place to the other.
It was taken at Yosemite at the base of the Upper Yosemite Falls. Someday I may get most of this figured out!
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