Christmas #3 in Western ND

On Dec 28th we traveled to Western ND to visit and celebrate Christmas/New Years with our youngest daughter and family. Most of the roads were dry and great driving except for about 1 hour with snow and sleet causing icy roads and slower traffic. I just couldn't blog about Western ND without a picture of the most frequent, recent landmarks, a oil well.
Wed evening we enjoyed the "gift opening" one at a time so we each got to see what everyone got.
Melissa looking through her many seed packets and gardening stuff. She was excited and especialy loved the old "Kraft Cheese wooden boxes."
I enjoyed seeing yet another beautiful Christmas tree.

Many cross's and angels adorned this tree.

Ansir had no idea what would be in his packages since He really didn't know what he wanted. He was excited about a new fleece vest, also the rocket with 3 engines.


Tim with his digital tire gauge from Grandma and Grandpa Hanssen. Below Melissa with her new scissors from Grandma and Grandpa Hanssen.

As many of you know, Tim and Melissa are Foster parents and for the past 3 months they have generously cared for and loved 3 precious little girls under the age of 3 1/2 yr. I loved the way she turned the room into a cute little girls room with many colorful flowers from the teacher store and a stapler. Below are two of the gifts we brought for the girls. Pretty pink play dishes and silverware and a set of play pots and pans. I have many memorable pictures of our foster grandchildren but will not post them here! We love them dearly and will always be able to include them in our prayers. We thank God for bringing them into our lives and the lives of Melissa, Tim and Ansir. It is a special joy and blessing in our lives.

Jeff with his gift of Computer lap holder/cooler. It has already been in use and so nice.

Below, I show off my Mary Kay Satin Hands. It has a beautiful soft peach sent and certainly works wonders on my dry old woman hands! LOL. Melissa has recently started her own business as a Mary Kay Beauty Consultant. I wish her much luck in this adventure.

Ansir thinks this nice thick warm hooded sweat shirt is just the thing for the nice 40 - 50 degree weather they have been having. It will also be nice under his coat when the temps hit -30 degrees. This was his gift from Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Hanssen.
Thursday Tim prepared a wonderful Christmas/New Years feast. You can see the pictures and almost smell and taste the PRIME RIB!

It was cooked to perfection.

Even the three dogs enjoyed licking the platter

for their Christmas treat.

We all enjoyed listening to both Melissa and her dad, Jeff serenade us with guitar music and Christmas carols and hymn's. This is Jeff's guitar of many years that he recently gave to Melissa when they were visiting us over Thanksgiving. She has done a great job of learning to play and we all know she can sing! We had a great time and treasure the memories of our three Christmas celebrations at three separate places. We put on over 1860 miles on our new Chev Impala over the two weeks time. We are thankful for the good weather and roads and we especially Thank God for a loving caring family he has given us.

Happy Blessed New Year 2012 to all of you!

I just had to leave a good taste in your mouth with pictures of these delicious deserts. ENJOY!

Niagara Christmas celebration #2

We arrived at Niagara on Christmas Eve late afternoon. We enjoyed attending the Children s program and candlelight service that evening at St Andrew Lutheran Church. That is the church where I grew up, and attended until 2 years after I had married Jeff and moved to Montana with the Air Force. After the Church service our family gathered at my parents home to unwrap gifts and enjoy some family time and treats.
I enjoyed snapping many pictures of the family, especially the twin girls (my nieces children) who were such a cute age at 9 months. After all, how often do I get the opportunity to take pictures of twin girls and their brother.




I know its a lot of pictures of this lovely family but honestly, each one is just a bit different.

It was fun watching the 3 children open and enjoy their gifts.

Here Jeff, (Papa Jeffy) is helping one patient little man get his toy truck out of the box. That can be quite the task with the way these toy's are boxed.
My 93 yr old dad holding his great granddaughter and below with my 90 yr old mother holding one of the great granddaughters.

I painted on rocks for both my nieces and my Nephew. The logo for Sioux will no longer be available after the New Year. (I think.)
I also wrapped up an old 1st or 2nd grade school book of their father, Dale, for each of them. Me and my husband had brought them home from the old house many years ago when my parents moved into their new house. Jeff found them in a box and came up with the gift idea. I think they enjoyed looking through the books and comparing them.


My Nephew Jamie was thrilled to get a (LEG LAMP) It was a fun gift!
Almost every year for the past 15 years, there has been a Christmas picture of all three of my brother and Kathy's children. So this year I took a picture to stay with the tradition.
One very happy boy who enjoyed his new Christmas toy's.
Christmas day after attending the Christmas worship service at St Andrew Lutheran Church, we all gathered at Niece Angel and her husband Davids home for a delicious meal of Ham and many other wonderful foods. Above My mother enjoys time with one of the twins.
Jeff had teased, all he wanted was beans, so guess what his Nieces wrapped up for him, YEP! Pinto beans. and he was thrilled. I am sure we will be cooking up a big pot of beans very soon.
These two pictures are of the twins who are not identical but still look very much alike.

Grandma Kathy has her turn to hold and treasure time with her granddaughter.
Great Grandpa teases and playing with his great grandson.
Brayden finally sitting still enough for a nice side view.

Christmas is such an exciting time for children.
Angels trees were absolutely beautiful. This is just one of her trees. She loves Christmas and dose a very good job decorating their home.
This is a gift from her husband. By the look of her smile she is thrilled with the Nativity Angel.
Nephew Jamie got a nice hooded sweat shirt that will be just the thing for riding his Harley.
My mother again with her Great granddaughter.
Jamie gets something he needed and can really use, a chain!
Above my father plays peek with the twins and below you can see how it really worked so I could get some cute pictures of the both of them.
These are the dresses I gave them when they were born. They are almost too small, who would have ever guessed that twin girls would be that big at 9 months. The dresses are size 12 months.
Here the girls are watching their older brother with a fun noisy toy. further down you will see what the toy is.


This church belonged to my Grandmother Hanssen. I always remember it at her house at Christmas season. It was always so pretty with the light inside and the music box plays"SILENT NIGHT" My brother had this since my grandmother past away and now it has been given to his oldest child , Angel. Her husband got the music box to work again and as you can see this church adds to the many beautiful decorations in their home.

Here is Jeff with his BUDDY! This is Angels and Davids dog Buddy. Below you can see the guys out flying their toy helicopters, gifts from "SANTA"!

Before we left my parents, my dear Uncle Ed came over to visit and share a few Christmas songs with us. It was a nice sing along and always fun to see him when we get to Niagara.