praise God from whom all blessings flow~

 

AMAZING FACT:

NOV. 25TH  IS THE DAY MY GRANDMA IRENE WAS BORN.

 

 100 YEARS AGO TODAY!

 

SHE BECAME MY MOM AFTER MINE DIED WHEN I WAS 7.

LOVED THAT WOMAN. SHE ALWAYS SAID THAT MY SISTER

AND I WERE A BLESSING TO HER AND MY GRAMPS~

 THAT WE KEPT THEM YOUNG.

 

THANK YOU GRAM for being my second mom  AND HAPPY 100TH BIRTHDAY IN HEAVEN.

 

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HAPPY THANKSGIVING WEEK

 

in honor of this most wonderful holiday, here's a collection

of gorgeous tables, set and ready for company.

 

if you're entertaining, do you love to set the table?

make it pretty?

i have a friend who knocks table décor out of the park.

girlfriend puts a lot of time and effort into the

table centerpiece when she entertains.

she could have her own blog about it. :  )

 

she inspires everyone lucky enough to be

invited into her home and she's having a

party for our book club again this year.

(can't wait!)

 

 

here we go~

i love these rich jewel tones that represent  fall

this one looks like a lot of work, but wouldn't it be fun?

probably can't live in minnesota and realistically plan
to eat outdoors though~just too darned cold here- (like in the 20's  right now).


i'll leave you with this one.  oh "fur" cute~

 

 

 

one of the nicest things about thanksgiving is the

pure simplicity of it. it's a holiday that

only asks that you look around and

count your blessings.

 

oh yeah and eat.

 

 

*our dessert will be pumpkin pie cheesecake from

Costco.

 we are celebrating our first ever holiday all

together at the lodge and

we're pretty darned excited about it . being 30 minutes

from the closest grocer means we have to haul a lot of

coolers and totes of food when we go-but it's so worth it

to be nestled deep in the woods.

 

we will hopefully trek to the

 woods after dinner to cut our

Christmas tree.

we probably have 40 acres of evergreen trees to choose from

~a blessing for sure~

 

 

*******************

but for now, let's get our sweat pants ready

and start dreaming of the pumpkin pie.

 

 

what a heap of blessings it is to have you in my life,

xox...beth

 

 

oh one more thing...which of the tables was your favorite? which one

would you most like to enjoy a meal at?

mine is the one with the gorgeous horse print behind it.

 

* all the photos above were from pinterest. 

 



so fresh from God~

well family and friends, here he is~

 

this is the sweet baby our family has

been so eagerly anticipating.

 

i'd like to introduce you to 

barrett nyland sommers.

 

his parents have already nicknamed him Bear.  :  )

 

barrett's middle name is in honor of his great grandfather

& it was his great great grandmother's maiden name.

the nyland family were boat makers in Norway way back.

they still are in fact.

 

it's a good strong name.

 

 

 

meeting him last fri. and taking these photos 

when he was 6 days old, was a highlight of my year.

(there's something about a baby that just softens the

hard edges of life~  don't you think?)

 not much cuter than a newborn yawn

this precious baby is my brother's first grandchild. todd bought this snuggle

bear for his daughter on the day she was born and now here's

 his grandson with it. 

i'm in love with this little burrito baby already and I don't think

his chubby cheeks and sweet little face could be any cuter!

 my sister in law and brother are "over the moon" in love with this baby.

 

 

 

 

 

the only bummer of the trip to visit them,

was that barrett's daddy had to go back to work

the day i was there.

 

i promised matt that the next time we're together, we're doing a photo session

with just he and his son.

 

 

 

my niece ashley and her baby.

(aren't they beautiful?) 

 



 

 

 

well... sigh....... this has been fun.

i don't know if there is anything more miraculous,

 than the soft skin, sweet smell and

tiny feet~ of a brand new baby.

 

welcome to the world little one,

I cannot wait to watch your life unfold.

 

 

 

hugs and kisses and so much love.

xo, auntie

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

stay warm~

 

 

 

today i've got a bunch of random stuff to share with you-

 

first off, here is that darling little chandelier i scored at a sale for less

 than 20 bucks a couple weeks ago. it's found it's home at the lodge.

"let there be light"

 

 

 

 

 

 

out this same window by daylight, I love watching the birds at

the feeder. I will stand for long periods of time trying to get a

good photo. when my arms start to shake i have to call it quits.  :  )

 

sunflower seeds keep chickadees fed and warm.

the addition of this wood stove up north made the living room a favorite place

to hang out. although there is in-floor heating, there's nothing

like coming in from the cold and huddling up to a wood fire. 

one more warm fall photo

next up, here's a little project i did. i am seeing all kinds of

these hand warmers for sale. i decided to try and make some

with supplies i had on hand. (no pun intended).

i had some cuffs left from an ivory sweater i'd cut up for a pillow.

i cut thumb holes and then zig zagged around the raw edges.

 

next i layered on a row from blue jeans.

then for a finale i used some stretchy brown velor left from the pumpkins

i made in October. the 2 photos below are the cuffs inside out.

there's never anyone around when i need my photo taken, so

here's a self portrait in the mirror wearing the hand warmers.

 what do you think? have you had a pair of these yet?

do they keep your hands warm enough?

when you are always taking pictures-even in the winter- you

need your fingers free- so they're great!



duke hasn't made the blog for quiet a while, so here he is.

modeling a hat i made.

(try holding a hat on a dog and taking a photo at the same time.

you gotta be quick. and doesn't he look like he's about

8 ft. long from this angle?) 

 



 

 

i think he liked the scarf better than the hat.

you know how some dogs look like they're smiling?

well not this pup. he's a happy dude-really he is and he

makes us all happy too- but he has a sober face. even

when someone isn't dressing him up, he has a handsome,

but somber face.

he looks warm though don't you agree?  :  )

so there was a bunch of ideas for staying warm in chilly minnesota. 

there's a beautiful full moon tonight and i'm snug in my

big chair watching the voice. i had my yearly physical complete

with a mammogram and flu shot this morning- always such a relief

to be done with all that stuff.

 

i can't wait to do a post with some of the

beautiful photos i took of little barrett last friday, he's

one of those babies that are going to stop people in their

tracks. (baby gap are you listening?)

 see you

in a few!

 

xo, beth

girl's weekend

last weekend was a girls weekend in redwood falls.

this is the 3rd annual and we were all sooo

excited to see each other and start the fun!

 

my cousin sue hosts the event and we already

have long standing traditions and a

plan for how the weekend will play out.

 

friday evening we go to the rusty bucket for dinner

then head to the nearby casino for about an hour

of wild, reckless gambling- throwing

around pennies and nickels like they

grow on trees!

 

i'm proud to report that I was the big winner this

year~walking away with $20 more than i walked in with.

 

 

here's the six oldest girls in the group- there are

also two in their 20's and they add so much spice to the pot~

 

we bring each other bed prizes and these fun sodas were part of the

goodies barb brought each of us.



settle down, these are candy cigarettes

suz decided to plan her meals around our grama irene's recipes.

here she begins a tutorial for her nieces on how to make

homemade egg noodles.

chicken and noodles is one of my favorite meals-so

i was stoked.



these 2 funsters surprised us with a ceremony that

included queen like sashes for all. it was hilarious and will

be remembered for a long time. there was a story that went

with each presentation.

 

(thanks girls!)

Saturday we go shopping and one of the stops is the

one local thrift shop. we have a $5 limit and we each buy something

to give one of the other girls. this year sue had us draw

names so we knew who we were buying for.
***the ladies at the thrift shop even remember us from

year to year and help us hide and quickly check out with

our prizes.

maddie got this lighted village from dawn and she

was genuinely excited as she's getting married in the

coming year and is just starting to collect Christmas décor. 

kim had a carefully thought out story

about each of the prizes she bought for her

little sister sue.   :  )

 

my sister and i.    nuff said

 

 

sue is an elementary teacher. she has a lot

of fun kid-like stuff in the bedroom i always

sleep in. this hat is an example.

every single year i have come home from this

weekend so tired i feel physically ill.

that's the true marker of a great weekend with

friends or relatives. you've laughed till your

stomach hurts, eaten way to much, slept too little

and have a bunch of new favorite memories to

store away.

 

thanks sue for a great time!

 

 

i'm minutes away from leaving to meet my nieces

new baby.

pretty sure she'll allow me to do a post

with photos so you can all see how

stinking cute he is!

 

happy almost weekend!!!!!!!!!!

 

xo, beth