Weekend with Aurelia

La, la, la, la

She loved driving our grocery cart.

Peder opening her little bag of fish crackers outside the restaurant.

Saturday morning Peder and Sarah brought Aurelia to stay with me. I love it when she comes - - running into my home, proclaiming, "Hi, Grandma D!" After giving me a big hug, she ran to see Peppi. Then she was off to play my piano - another ritual of hers. :-)

I love it that she looks around when she's at my house, especially when we're eating at my kitchen table. I have five Dutch tiles under my kitchen window - next to the table. She loves reciting the images on the tiles - church organ; house; church; kitchen; dining room. She also loves repeating the names of her cousins whose photos grace my refrigerator. I remember once when Josiah stayed with me one. He was sitting in the same chair as Aurelia. While eating, and studying everything on my walls, he said to me, "Grandma, I like your plates." If you know me at all, you know that pleased me!

In the afternoon, we had a wonderful time at Target, where we had a photo shoot together, and did a little shopping. It was fun going through all of the Christmas decoration aisles and looking at this and that. She loves the trees and snowmen.

Sunday we went to church. This time she went to the nursery and I was told she was a very good girl (I knew she would be). Following this we went out to eat with Peder and Sarah in celebration of their birthdays - Sarah's on Friday; Peder's on Saturday.

Here's Rosy!

Rosy is in the center of fellow 3rd grade students.

Rosy's mother and sister, Katie.

Rosy's mother, Katie and Rosy

Rosy and yours truly. She's growing up so quickly!

Last night I attended a musical program at Rosy's school. I got to sit next to her mother and little sister, Katie. Rosy and her family are such a delight!

I wonder . . .

Last night while on "Facebook," I noticed my daughter was also "on line." I decided to chat with her and was happy she responded. We must have "chatted" 15 or 20 minutes, and I learned that Marshall had come down with a cold; he was playing with his toys; and Heidi wasn't feeling too well either. We sent short little messages back and forth . A couple of times while waiting for her response, I began to wonder what it would be like if my mother were still alive (she died when I was 14 years old). Would she be a modern woman? Have a computer? Be on Facebook? Would she and I chat now and then? It's not too hard for me to imagine this since both of her sisters are computer literate, and both are on Facebook! Would she give me encouragement when I was tired or feeling down? Would she have a blog? My Aunt Liz has one!

I think I started thinking about this a couple of weeks ago while attending the birthday of my dear friend, Bonnie, and her mother, Lillian. Lillian is an amazing woman. She worked in retail nearly all of her adult life, retiring three years ago from Macy's, at age 87! That's right. She had careers of being the buyer for several departments at Power's and Dayton's. Her last 25 years were spent in the handbags department at the downtown store. Dayton's respected her so much, they told her, "We would love it if you would continue to work for us. Just pick the hours you would like to work." Lillian chose to work Friday's from 10 to 3. Customers knew her hours and would make a point to come in when they knew she would be there. Lillian just celebrated her 90th birthday - and that's exactly how old my mother would be if she were still living. Lillian swims every day. She still drives, attends Bible studies, and knows her way around a computer. It makes me wonder . . .

Nice Surprise!

Here I sit in my cottage, watching the Vikings playing the Tigers, waiting for my dinner which is baking in the oven. The scents are wonderful - Swiss steak, squash, and baked potato (I love fall meals!). After checking my email account, family blogs, and Facebook, I decided to Google one of my favorite restaurants, "The Original Pancake House." I guess the reason is because I heard, and I've had it confirmed by one of the waitresses there, that Visanthe Shiancoe and Brett Favre eat there about once a week. Actually, she told me Visanthe eats there every week. Brett and his wife usually eat there once a week. She went on to tell me one day someone took a photo of her, some of the other waitress and the Favres which appeared on a Monday night football game. Anyway, to my surprise, I discovered this restaurant not only is present in the twin cities, but is national! There is one in Seattle, several in the Chicago area, and many other areas around the US. So, if you click on The Original Pancake House, you can see a picture of my favorite dish: the apple pancake. Then you can check to see if there's a restaurant near you where you can taste it for yourself.

Happy 1st Birthday, Marshall!

Today is Marshall's first birthday. Wow, this past year has flown by! I've seen him when he was only a couple of weeks old, when he was eight months old, and again at eleven months. Each time has been very sweet for me. Oh, how I would have loved to have gotten to go to Seattle for this special day, but it didn't work out.

Heidi and Chad, I am very proud of you for the great job you have done this past year in nurturing Marshall. Brian, you've been a good friend to him. Marshall is blessed to have been born into such a loving family. Happy, happy birthday, Marshall. I love you!

Veterans' Day

Happy Veterans' Day to Lieutenant Commander Hans
De For, my son, plus my brother Jerry, retired US Navy; my Uncle Allan, US Navy; cousin Wayne (deceased), US Navy;son-in-law Chad, US Air Force; nephew Keith, US Navy; cousin Pudge (Pat's husband), US Air Force; cousin Charlie (Kari's husband), retired US Air Force; Pete, Rachel's father, US Air Force; Ken, Sarah's father, US Air Force; Sarah's brother Ryan, US Coast Guard.

I'm extremely proud of all of you!

This wouldn't be complete without recognizing Rachel, Josiah, Annika and Will for the support they give Hans each and every day. They sacrifice a lot by being away from family and friends, and often Hans, and I'm so proud to have them in my family!

Happy 40th Birthday, Sesame Street

My kids grew up on Sesame Street. Back when they were little, living in Joliet, Illinois, there was no such thing as cable TV, Direct TV, satellite dish, etc. We had the major three networks, a few Chicago stations, plus Public TV. Oh, there may have been others, but I can't recall what they were.

Early on, Hans loved to sit and watch TV. I could trust him to stay in the living room and not even move when the TV was on. He really liked Sesame Street, Mr. Rogers, Electric Company and Spider Man. I don't know his or Peder's favorite Sesame Street character, but for Heidi, I know she loved (still does) the Muppets. Mine has always been Big Bird.

One year on the day after Thanksgiving, Heidi, Steve and I were one of the first to enter Target so that Heidi could get a Tickle Me Elmo doll. At the time, she was a student at UND.

A few weeks ago I took Aurelia to church with me. The introduction to the sermon started with a picture of one of the Sesame Street characters on our video screens. Aurelia announced, "There's Oscar the Grouch! There's Oscar the Grouch!" Indeed, she was right. So this is now a favorite program including the third generation of our family.

Today marks the 40th anniversary of Sesame Street. "A realm of sunny days where everything's A-OK, the series starts its new season with episode 4187, which features the letter H and, naturally, the number 40. With it and the 25 new hours that follow, 'Sesame Street' will continue to explore its chosen habitat - and experiment with how it does the job."