doctor Weaver Olson

Our family celebrated cousin Nathan Weaver-Olsons graduation from the U of M with his doctorate in history. Congratulations Nate and so much fun hanging out with you at the Old Spaghetti Factory!

nature awakening!

On Friday, our class then took a walking field trip to Kinni Clay Works downtown River Falls. They created tiles inspired by the burgeoning nature around us. Later in the afternoon, we took a walk down by the Kinni for our traditional exploration of nature. Ahhhh God is good.

back to the circus

On Thursday, I accompanied my class to a field trip the Minnesota Children's Theater presentation of Frog and Toad...amazing!

At night, Katie and I went to see one of my students performing in a real circus...pretty cool.

new home for Dad

Dad was transferred from St. Mary's to the Pleasantview Nursing Home in St. James on Thursday. Mom and Dad spent some time in the morning reading devotions.The passage was about a wife devoted to her husband while visiting him at a nursing home. Remarkable symbolism.

day 6

On Tuesday evening, I drove home and so did Kurt and Mom. I think Mom needed some time at home to relax and get some laundry done and just be normal. I got to sleep with my 6 year old snuggle bug and check in how Betty was doing with the kids--totally awesome by the way. Dad had a good day on Wednesday after taking several walks and visiting with a great Speech Language practitioner. After the day on Wednesday, I drove home to stay in River Falls.

nice day

Tuesday was a nice day with a great Chaplin who came in to visit with Dad. She really seemed to connect well with him as he was wondering why God had done this and why he was suffering so. She had wonderful connections to Psalms...so powerful.

home for a day

I spent Monday at home doing some laundry and getting ready for a substitute on Tuesday and Wednesday. It was nice to get back to Rochester and spend the night with Mom and Kurt. We had a room for three nights at the Kahler Hotel.

a walk in the park

Trenton Anders

Katie and Trenton in a tree, not k i s s i n g

While Dad was resting on Sunday afternoon, I took some of the kids who came to visit over to a park to enjoy the absolutely beautiful weather. It was a longer walk than the kids liked, but we climbed some trees and played in the sand. 

papa

My Dad had a really scary medial experience and is currently dealing with the changes incurred after the incident. He fell from his recliner early on the morning on April 18. On Thursday, the 20th, he had a severe headache all day and self medicated with Tylenol. On Friday morning, Mom called his doctor to arrange an appointment with his doctor. The nurse urged Mom to bring Dad to the emergency room where it was quickly determined that Dad needed a helicopter ride to Rochester. He took the trip while Mom and Kurt drove to Rochester. The rest of his children drove from their homes and gathered at Rochester Friday night. All that were there were: Mom, Dad, Kent, Kurt, Jenna, Cody, Kyle, Kim, Cory, Joan, Anders and I. Dad was very confused and was wearing a collar at the time to keep his spine in alignment. He knew all our names and seemed happy to see us, but then apologized that we had to take time out of our lives to come see him.

The entrance that Anders and I went through to visit was absolutely stunning with the beautiful tulips...

Praise the Lord for family and for medical personnel who genuinely want my Dad to be comfortable and well.

last sock hop for the Olson family

Our 5th grader is headed to her final sock hop of her elementary career! Have fun KGO, I think this may be your 9th sock hop of your 11 years of life.

culture fair

Our school culture fair happened last night--so much attention and work put into their projects! Way to go kids. I traveled from Hawaii, to Egypt, to Brazil, to China, to Mexico, to New Zealand, to Mongolia, to the Inuit culture, to many other countries I can't recall. It was a fun evening.

throw back

Today I started walking home from school with my little spring jacket...wishing I had a stocking cap and a scarf. Then my knight in shining armor...Bradley CO called and asked if I wanted a ride home. I love that man.

retro day coming!

Our school is looking forward to Retro Day on the 28th of April...SUPER PUMPED.

happy anniversary Cory and Joan!

24 year ago, a beautiful family was started when my big brother Cory married the lovely Joan Lee. Thank you for being a part of our lives!

He is risen Indeed!

Our family attended two moving services of Easter in the past two days. Last night, Ned Schneebly (A's play about Shadrach, Meeshack and Abednigo) performed at our Easter vigil service. This morning, the Olson's went to church after finding Easter baskets and heard a fabulous message and our daughter who now partakes in the Eucharist got a chance to have her 3rd meal...

Happy Easter and may you enjoy the promise of the Risen Lord Jesus!

time to clean house

Today is a housecleaning day...the dust from burning wood, the hardwood floors that need a good scrubbing...great activities for a rainy Saturday.

When we're doing with that, we will dye Easter eggs and attend the Easter vigil service where our two eldest men in our family are acting in a skit.

st. james

On Friday, I headed straight southwest to see my beautiful parents, Clarence and Vivian. Dad is really struggling with edema in his lower extremities and is in so much pain. Mom is being the devoted caregiver. We visited, had lunch, shopped for Mom's Easter entertaining and visited some more.

I really have such loving and caring parents. I am blessed.

i heart the 90s!

I met my very special friends, Julie and Ivy (total surprise that Ivy was there) in Mankato and we rocked out to several artists who were big in the 90s...here are some photos.

first communion

Our sweet 11 year old received her first communion and read the gospel lesson on Maundy Thursday 2017.

Here is our lovely lass...

prom 2017

Liana Marie went to prom on Saturday night. I had no idea she was headed to prom, but I saw a photo of her Sunday morning looking quite lovely with a date I now know as Slade.

Kind of interesting that I had a dream Saturday night with Liana in her prom dress (not the one I saw in her 2017 photo, but in a prom dress none the less. Kind of cool!

snow flies

Tonight our 11 year old and I went to the library and were greeted by white flakes falling from heaven...we knew it was a possibility, but reality gently landed on our heads...

visiting cousins during the Bluegrass Festival

The Weaver-Olsons spent Saturday afternoon with our family and we went to a little bit of the River Falls Blue Grass festival. They also got to see the awards ceremony and play a fair amount of Nerf gun wars.

over the rainbow

The River Ramblers 4-H club enjoyed their 4th turn of being the Champion act at the Pierce County Performing Arts Extravaganza. Our Dorothy made us very proud! Grandma and Grandpa Betty and Bud, Ibby, Joe, Henry and Dehlia drove down from Grantsburg for the performance.

good day sunshine

On Friday afternoon, our classes went out for a lovely nature walk. I got to wear my sweet 1980s shades and enjoy an afternoon sans jacket. Good way to start off the weekend!

day home with Dad

Today was Kindergarten registration. Our sweet little OJO was home with Brad today. Here is what he reports that he did: watched YouTube, played with Legos, played with guys and had a wonderful day.

tax season

Tax season is upon us and we are reviewing things that we can deduct. I typically spend some extra money on classroom materials every year. I'm thankful for Amazon and the way I can review all the orders I placed in the year and see what I bought. We were able to pair that with our Chase account statement and make some good deductions.

It was amazing to see our spending trends too...I was surprised to see that December was one of lower months for expenses. I would have thought it was bigger, but I did most of my shopping early this year.

happy birthday Joan Lee!

Wonderful, kind, immaculate, beautiful, patient and friendly Joan Lee is celebrating 47 years of life today. Wishing you peace, love and happiness today and always.

thinking of you Ross Isaac

April 2, 1998...getting ready for becoming a newly wedded wife and much of southern MN cleaning up after the Comfrey/St. Peter tornado. Also the day precious Ross Isaac Blomgren was born. His Dad and my wonderful brother Kurt had this lovely tribute to RIB on his birthday...

Happy heavenly 19th birthday today to my dear son Ross. This photo captured him during his State Fair Arts-In encampment, to which he later wrote having the time of his life, by writing an essay entitled "I Lived". The song "I Lived" by One Republic was his favorite and really shows us why he was so happy and smiling all the time. I take peace knowing his moments now are even beyond our imagination beautiful and joyous.

last night of Faith Connections

Brad and I have been going to a weekly bible study at our church on Sunday evenings called Faith Connections. Our children have helped clean up after a 45 minute dinner while we go and discuss the scripture from the Sunday sermon. There are so many people that have a vast knowledge of the bible and who made the experience wonderful for both of us.

no foolin

I didn't even attempt to fool anyone on April Fools Day but the weather was 2nd to none! K and I enjoyed Mommy Daughter day as we had a yummy french toast brunch, shopped at Shopko, went to Girls in Science, went to a chicken fry and also went to the late show of Beauty and the Beast.

gorgeous end to March

What a beautiful beautiful way to end the month of March.

found a bug on our nature walk on Friday

child as a guide

One of my very favorite evenings of the school year is our Child As a Guide. Children lead their parents through the classroom and teach them some of their favorite lessons from the year.