Giants vs. Packers at Lambeau

Alex and I joined my cousin Jon Wunrow and his son Seth in attending the Packers home game against the New York football Giants on the frozen tundra of Lambeau field. It was a beautiful sunny day with temps in the low 20's at kick off. Jon parked his pick up in the Onieda gate lot and had perfect spot for us to tailgate. We enjoyed beer brats and soaked up the atmosphere and scenery. Our seats were 9th row on the 40 yard line right behind the Packers bench. The game was pretty close in the first half, but the Packers really took control of the game in the second half. The crowd was full of energy and the team was really fired up. Aaron Rogers in his first game back from his concussion was almost perfect, throwing for 4 touchdowns and no interceptions. John Kuhn was a huge crowd favorite, coming up with big play after big play. The defense really took control of the game in the second half. A really great game! After the game we walked over to Brett Favre's steak house and had a nice meal while we waited for the traffic to die down. Our plan worked perfectly and by the time we got on the road the traffic was easy. All four of us had a great time.

For more pictures from the game click the Game Link

Christmas Letter 2010

Minutes to hours, hours to days, days to weeks and weeks to months. We spend our time chasing minutes, as days and weeks fly past. It’s the time of year for us all to sit down and slow down. Enjoy all the wonder that surrounds us. Appreciate all the loved ones that make our lives special. As we enter this Holiday Season my hope is that you are surrounded by family and friends. For that is the true measure of happiness and success.

As I settle in to write this years letter we are in the midst of a full scale winter storm. So far we have 10 inches of fresh white powdery snow with strong winds and near white out conditions. If this doesn’t get us in the Christmas spirit then nothing will! I can’t believe this is our 5th Christmas here in Minnesota. It’s been another memorable year.

Our youngest, Cathryn is now a Sophomore at at Minnetonka High School. After a year at a Charter Dance school she made the very mature decision that as much as she loves dance the school was not her best option to prepare her for College and her future. We are very proud of her. She has quickly made friends and is now also taking up the family legacy of distance running participating on girls Cross-Country team. She is also still very much into Ballroom Dance and is training at a new school in Edina. We’re looking forward to watching her compete again this winter.

Alex is now in his second year at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, studying for a degree in Journalism. He is in his second year working at the campus satirical paper “The Daily’er Nebraskan” where he is the associate editor. He has had many great opportunities to build and manage a creative team, negotiate with University leaders and continue to craft his writing style. This year he moved off campus and is sharing a house with 3 other guys. He is also a huge fan of the Cornhusker football team, attending all their home games. Go Big Red!

Our Oldest Nik had a big year. He turned 21 in January, sharing his first beer with his Dad (a Guinness of course!). In June he graduated from his Transitions Plus post High School program. In early September

he started college at Hennipen County Tech. studying to earn a degree as a Computer Service Technician. Later that month he achieved one of his life long goals by earning his drivers licence. He can now be seen on the streets of the Twin Cities in his little black Ford Focus.

Chris and I are so proud of all our children. It has been such a joy to watch them achieve and accomplish on their life’s journey. We have enjoyed many challenges in our jobs. She as Chef’s assistant at Black Sheep Cafe and me in my nearly life long adventure at Quad/Graphics. Our family had a fun road trip this summer on the south shore of Lake Superior in both Upper Michigan and Wisconsin. I was also blessed by my wife and family with a surprise 50th birthday party the day after Thanksgiving.

It has been a year of blessings. We thank God daily for the blessings of Faith, Family, Friends and work that we continue to receive. Thank you to all the family and friends that have found the time to visit us in our Excelsior home this year. You know who you are and we are so gratefully that you made visiting us a priority.

From all of us, we wish you a blessed Christmas and a healthy and happy New Year.

Jeff, Chris, Nik, Alex and Catie (Cookie and Lola too)

Suprise Party

My 50th birthday is next Saturday December 4th. The day after Thanksgiving Chris, the kids and I headed to The Black Sheep Cafe for her company holiday party. On the way to the party I was coaching Catie and Nik on importance of making a good impression on Chris' boss. We were running lake so we arrived about 15 minutes after the party started. I remember walking up to the front door and looking through the glass window at the full house of guests and thinking that one of Chris' co-workers bore a striking resemblance to a friend of mine, Kevin Cooper. We walked in the front door and as one the entire crowd turned to me and yelled "Surprise!"followed by Happy Birthday. As I looked around, the crowd of over 60 came into focus. Brothers, Sisters, Uncles, Aunts, Cousins and Friends. Unbelievable, my loving wife had been able to coordinate this huge event and I had no clue.

The staff at Black Sheep prepared a delicious meal of roasted veggies, salad, Lasagna, Pizza, and the largest Snowball cake in the world. My brother Dave was in charge of the beer and the selection was amazing. Our friend Poul made the Snow Ball cake, and had a bid hand in all the prep. Chris' boss Cathy was so gracious is allowing us to us the cafe and she and the Sheep staff did a great job. Chris hired a magician to work the crowd. He was really good and everyone loved his act. My sisters Jenny and Debbie worked with all the quests to compile a memory book of quotes, memories and photos. My Dad did any wonderful slide show of family photos from my 50 years on earth.

Thank you to all that took the time out of your busy holiday weekend to be a part of this memorable event. Words can't express how much your presence meant to me. I feel so incredibly blessed to have so many loving and caring people in my life. God Bless you all.

I can't thank Chris enough for putting together such an incredible party for me. She is the love of my life.

Packer Fan Humor

A friend from work shared this with me after the Packers crushed the Vikings on Sunday, for the second game in a row sending a head coach to the unemployment line.

The Minnesota Highway Patrol is cracking down on speeders heading into Minneapolis. For the first offense, they give you 2 Vikings tickets. If you get stopped a second time, they make you use them.

Q. What do you call 47 millionaires around a TV watching the Super Bowl?
A. The Minnesota Vikings

Q. What do the Vikings and Billy Graham have in common?
A. They both can make 70,000 people stand up and yell "Jesus Christ".

Q. How do you keep a Minnesota Viking out of your yard?
A. Put up a goal post.

Q. What do you call a Minnesota Viking with a Super Bowl ring?
A. An Imposter.

Q. What's the difference between the Minnesota Viking and a dollar bill?
A. You can still get four quarters out of a dollar bill.

Q. How many Minnesota Vikings does it take to win a Super Bowl?
A. Nobody Knows

Fall Snow or Snow Fall?

Woke up this morning to a couple inches of snow on the ground and big flakes still falling. The tree's are all coated with a thick mantel of white. Its really a wonderful scene, kind of like living in a big snow globe! The weather forecast is calling for snow to fall most of the day today with expected accumulations of between 6 and 9 inches by tomorrow morning. Doesn't really matter how much we get, I'm going to enjoy this little winter gift today. Chris and I are getting ready to take Lola out for a walk in the first snow of the season. Fun! Hope all my Minnesota friends and family stay safe and warm today. Get out and play in the snow if you can!

Perks of the Job

I really love my job but every now and then it has some really nice unexpected surprises! Take for instance the opportunity I had last week to take a new customer prospect to Lambeau field to see the Packers take on the Vikings. This was the first regular season game I've ever had the chance to witness at Lambeau. And it was shaping up to be a very important game for both teams hopes of making it to the playoffs. Oh, and don't for get it would be a chance for the Packers to avenge the home loss they suffered at the hands of Brett Favre in last years game.

We arrived at the stadium for tailgating at Brett Favre's steak house around4:30. Had a nice time with the client soaking up the atmosphere and getting to know each other. We then headed over to the stadium and located our seats, 33 rows up from the field right on North end zone goal line. The atmosphere was electric as the Packers where introduced. The last player introduced....At Quarterback....from California.....AARON RODGERS! the crown erupted. I get goosebumps just thinking about it.

The game itself was everything I hoped it would be. It was close and hard fought. Our side of the field had lots of excitement. Andrew Quarless scored his first NFL touchdown, Desmond Bishop had a pick six off Brett Favre and Greg Jennings scored a touchdown, all in the North end zone, right in front of us. But the biggest, most critical drive of the game was the final Vikings drive with all of it's drama happened in the North end zone, right in front of us! During the last 4 plays of the drive, the tension and suspense where palpable. The noise of the crowd when Favre was under center was deafening. And the Cheers of joy and excitement when Brett's 4th down pass sailed through Randy Moss's outstretched hands were magical. It was a great experience, one that I'll never forget.

Fun Weekend ahead!

It's a beautiful fall weekend. Sunny blue skies, a light breeze blowing and a high temperature of 66 degrees. Chris and I are busy preparing the house for our Gourmet club dinner tonight. It's an Oktoberfest theme with many yummy German dishes, and of course some good Oktoberfest beer to go with it! We'll have total of 9 people including Chris and I.

We're also looking forward to Alex coming home to visit during his Fall break from Nebraska. As I write this he is in his seats at Memorial Stadium awaiting the start of the Nebraska vs Texas game that just might put the Huskers on the path to the BCS National Championship game. He is so excited to be a part of something like this during his college experience. We're happy for him too!

Oh, and don't forget Wisconsin plays No 1 Ohio State at Camp Randall this afternoon. That could also be a very big game. Lets hope both our Red teams pull out big wins today! Hope you all have a great weekend too!

A rant before bedtime

It's almost time for bed, but I need to clear my mind one final time before I call it a day. I was so frustrated by the way my beloved Green Bay Packers and played the last three weeks that their overtime loss to the Washington Redskins just pushed me over the edge. Thankfully my son Alex called me from his home in Lincoln Nebraska and we ranted for a while together. Then right when he had hit our peak, he pulls out the "Hey Dad, did you see that the Corn Huskers are ranked fourth the nation after last weeks game?" Yeah, he's pretty wise for an 18 year old. We had a nice conversation about his Huskers and ended the call feeling much better.

Now, the Packers do have a lot of key injuries, their next four opponents are going to be very tough. They may not even win any of the games. But, it's sports and entertainment. It's up to me the fan to keep this all in perspective. Hey, you never know, they could go 3-1 over the next month and everything will look rosy. Even if they don't, I'll still be a fan, I'll still watch every game and I'll always cheer hard and hope for the best. Go Pack Go!

First Day of School and more

So, I'm at the gym at 5:15 am on the stationary bike just like every other morning when all of the sudden, the power goes out. We'll since my bike is powered by my peddling, I can keep riding 'cause I'm sure that the power will come back on any second. 10 minutes later as I'm still sitting in the dark and it dawns on me...The power is out and the back up battery on my sump pump is dead, and it's raining like crazy out side! So I jump in the car and drive home. Just as I'm getting ready to push the garage door opener I remember, Duh! the powers out. Crap. Then I check my key ring and realize I don't have a house key, double Crap. Oh, and I don't have my cell phone and all the doors and windows are locked...the Trifecta, Crap Crap CRAP! So I have to walk around to the back of the house in the rain and bang on Nik's bedroom window while trying really hard not to scare the crap out of him...and based on the look on this face when he opens his curtain my effort = FAIL!

Nik finally opens the front door for me, I find my trusty flashlight and start to light candles. A few minutes later, Catie is up . "Hey Dad, the power is out and how am I supposed to flat iron my hair?" Well maybe if you get everything ready but your hair, the power will come back on in time to do it. Mmmm, now that Catie's ready except for her hair NOW What?! "Hey I know, let's go to Caribou and you can use the outlet in the bathroom." So we hop in the car and drive over to Caribou in Channassen, I buy and coffee and am just settling into the comfy chair to wait when out comes Catie announcing that there is no power in either the ladies or the men's room. Shoot! Didn't see that one coming.

Off to the Holiday gas station when she gets the brilliant idea that her friend Nessa, that one I'm supposed to pick up in 10 minutes anyway, has power and her Mom just left so we can go over there and flat iron her hair. SUCCESS! I get the girls off to school, drive back to the house, get ready for work and off I go to start the day. I'm an hour late, but I'm there. OK, now all I have to do is get my laptop all plugged in and I'm ready to....OH FRICK, I left my power cord at the house! Dang-It! Oh well, I have a full battery which should give me enough juice to make it to lunch when I'll run home to grab it.

Fast forward to 11:30, I leave the office to drive back to my house and retrieve my power cord. I'm about half way there when I get a tire pressure light on my dash, and watch to my horror that I'm rapidly loosing tire pressure. But hey, I'm in luck, the Goodyear dealer is just up ahead on the right. So I limp into the tire store just as the last of the air exit's my left rear tire....I guess it's a WIN?! A full 90 minutes of comedic drama ensues and after many false starts, my tire is fixed, the big honkin' nail removed and the hole patched. Yay! I finally pull into the driveway, noticing Chris is now home from work. I walk up to the garage door, turn the handle and ....LOCKED OUT AGAIN!!! Are you freakin' kidding me?! I call Chris' phone and she is inside so she lets me in. I have lunch and almost leave WITHOUT the power cord to my laptop! Oh for cryin' out loud, just get me back to the office!!! I get back without any drama, and the rest of my day goes fine. What a day!

Happy Anniversary

On September 4, Chris and I celebrated our 28th Wedding Anniversary. Through some last minute happenstance we ended up in Milwaukee for labor day weekend. Once Dad and Bonnie found out we were going to be in town on our anniversary they immediately began planning a get together at their apartment. We had a really nice turn out with nearly all of my siblings and their families able to attend along with long time friends of the family Gene and Carol Bojar. One of the highlights of the day was going through old family photos. It was so much fun to be able to relive fond memories and all the stories and laughter that come along with that.

Later that evening Dave/Tracy, Julie/Dean, Duane/Ann and Chris and I got together for cocktails and dinner at Bonefish Grill. The food was so yummy and the company and conversation was a hoot! What a wonderful reminder on the importance of family. Friends my come and friends may go, but family is truly forever!

Sept 4, 1982

Sept 4, 2010

Vacation Day 2 - Tingo la Lingo

Today was a nice laid back day. Started out with a few hours of earlymorning Geocaching with my brother Dave (aka Uncle Fun) from 6 am - 9 am. It was a bit drizzly but we fought through it and managed 18 finds. Not a bad days work. Since Shaun and Jennifers wedding was a destination wedding all of us out of towners were staying at the AmericInn in Green Bay. So when Dave and I arrived in the breakfast area it was like walking into a family reunion! We spend an hour and half just hanging out eating, chatting and drinking coffee.

Since we were continuing on with our vacation, there was no rush for us to leave. We hung out by the pool with Dave's family and Julies family. Ending our visit with lunch at the local restaurant with Julies clan. To add a bit of adventure, Culver's car had a dead battery. So out came the jumper cables and we managed to get it running so we could drive to the restaurant. After a bit of proactive parking, Dean positioned himself for a future jump that didn't end up being needed. After lunch out families went their separate ways, Culver's heading home and us heading north to Upper Michigan.

Our destination for the next two nights is Munising MI. The drive north from Green Bay follows the western shore of Lake Michigan's Green Bay all the way to Escanaba MI. A mostly cloudy day made for a dramatic views of menacing sky, and dark angry looking waves. After 3:30 hours of driving we arrive in Munising, a small harbor town on the central UP Lake Superior shoreline and home to both Grand Island National Recreation area and Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. After checking into our hotel, we found a local pizza place for a bite to eat.

Hanging out at the hotel

Catie ponders the icy waters

Nik at Munising harbor

Vacation Day 1 - My Cousins Wedding

Today we made the drive from Minneapolis to Green Bay to attend my cousin Shaun Mueller's wedding. The ceremony took place on the shore of Lake Michigan on the campus of UW-Green Bay. It was a beautiful setting, overlooking the lake, amongst the trees. The bride Jennifer Nimitz was beautiful as were all the brides maids. The reception followed at the UW-Green Bay Student Union. For us it was also kind of a family reunion too. It was really fun to have time to visit with many of my siblings, Dad and Bonnie and many of my Uncles, Aunts and Cousins. It was also the perfect starting off point for our family vacation to the Lake Superior shoreline.

Almost Men and Black

My beautiful girls

All dressed up

Posing with the Bride and Groom

Taste of MN?

We had the chance to experience the Taste of Minnesota at Harriett Island in St Paul today. Rich, Sheryl and Jake joined Chris and I on our journey. There where several unexpected surprises waiting for us. First, the ticket office at the main entrance was CASH only! What year is it...1995? They referred us to a nearby ATM to get the needed green. Second, the admission was $30 American! As we reasoned, this is still a pretty good deal considering the chance to sample lots of unique area cuisine for free. Surprise #3, The food is NOT free. Not only that you need to buy tickets in increments of 8 for $5. Tickets! What is this a grade school fair? Surprise #4 the selection of "cuisine" was more county fair quality than the best the Twin City's dinning scene has to offer. Fried Cheese curd, fried pickle on a stick, corn dogs...the disappointing list goes on and on. And to add insult to indigestion the stuff was all way over priced.

As we walked around trying to find the best way to spend the $25 worth of food tickets (non refundable by the way), the other thing that struck us was the thin crowd of people in attendance. Perhaps they all got the memo that this event was not a very good deal. After an hour of wandering, we came up with the best comprimise of overprice with lack of taste and originality. Chris and I ended up sharing a large and greasy Blooming Onion and a sample portion of Crab cakes. Not the culinary extravaganza we were expecting! So from a "Taste" perspective, Taste of MN was a HUGE bust! That is until Sammy Saved the Day!

One of the things that was appealing to Rich was the music lineup. Sammy Hagar was the headliner in a line up that included Lou Gramm (lead singer of Foreigner) and John Waite. Since Rich has been a lifelong Hagar fan, knowing Sammy was going to be on at 8:30 kept us from bailing on the event many times during the evening. Once the Red Rocker came on stage the familiar songs of our 20's and 30's transported us to a time when cost of admission, food and beer didn't matter. After his 90 minute set, we all left the park happy and feeling like we got our monies worth. At least from an entertainment perspective. So from all of us, Thank You Sammy for saving the day!

Where did this weather come from?!

Boy, after a really beautiful month of April the reality of what Spring is supposed to be like has landed. We had nine days in April with highs in the 70's and another nine days with temps in the upper 60's. What a treat. Now we've had lows in the mid 30's the last two nights and it's going to be 33 for a low tonight! Yikes! It's almost like we had our May weather in April and our April weather in May. Well, I'm hoping that we will at least have a nice day tomorrow for Mothers Day. I have a bad weather contingency plan for Chris' special day but that's all I'm sayin'! No hints from me on what we are doing. She will just have to wake up tomorrow and enjoy her day. Happy rainy day to all the ducks out there today and Happy Mothers Day to all the Mom's tomorrow!

People Who Live in Glass Houses...

Two weeks ago I was out paddling on Lake Minnetonka, my first kayak outing of the year. It was a beautiful early Spring Sunday, sunny and 60 degrees. Being early in the season, the boat traffic on the lake was minimal with only fisherman sharing the water with me. One of my favorite places to paddle is around Big Island. There is a 50 foot wide, half mile long channel that runs north/south and splits the Island in half. It's a no wake zone for the boats so it's a calm and scenic place area. As I made my way north through the channel and was approaching the end I noticed a smaller channel to the east I had somehow missed on my many trips to this area in the past. So, I heading east and soon found myself in a much more confined, much more peaceful and remote part of the lake. Turtles sunning themselves on logs, Canadian geese gliding by, fish jumping and birds chirping. I is a very beautiful and tranquil spot.

As I padded along ahead in the distance I noticed a good sized wooden dock on the north side of the channel. As I approached, I noticed what I thought at first was the wooden framework of an old barn, long abandoned after the amusement park went out of business on the island almost 100 years ago. The trees were bare of leaves, with only small green buds. Had this been the middle of summer I never would have see it. The closer I got, the more I questioned what I was looking at. Finally, pulling right up next to the shore, I was amazed at what I saw. A three story house, with glass walls and roof! It was fully furnished with fireplaces on each floor situated on a piece of land that was 50 feet from the channel I was in and more amazingly 50 feet from the north shore of Big Island, a place where literally thousands of boats pass by, may just a few yards from the shore.

Well when I got home I told Chris and the kids about it and they all thought it was pretty cool. I did some online research and could not find a single reference to a house made of glass on the lake. At work on Monday I talk to several lifetime locals that boat on Minnetonka regularly but know one seemed to know what I was talking about. Did I imagine the whole thing? Was is a bad case of kayak fever...a figment of my imagination brought on by the euphoria of my first paddling outing of the year?

Yesterday I had a chance to knock off work an hour early so I decided I'd paddle back out to Big Island, camera in hand to see if I was dreaming or not, and if not record some photographic evidence. The weather was heavily overcast, with a Spring rain storm working it's way into the region. Halfway out on my 45 minute journey to the island, the wind picked up from the south east as the lead edge of the storm approached. the calm lake almost immediately sprang to life, the water turning first dark gray and then black with wind swept waves 1-2 feet high driving spray into my face. As George Costanza from Seinfeld would say "The lake was angry my friends!".

I made my way back to the channel, confident that I was not loosing my mind. As I rounded the bend to approach the dock I noticed a boat. Aha! the owners must be home. Joy and sadness all in one. I'd be able to confirm the existence of the house but I'd feel weird taking pictures with them there. Well, false alarm it just happened to be a fisherman. So I was able to paddle up to the shore and snap a few pictures for visual evidence. As I was paddling backward away from the shore, the fisherman motored slowly past me. I make a comment that my friends didn't believe there was a glass house on Big Island, and no lie he looks at me and say "What glass house?" I'm like, the one Right There! To which he exclaimed, "Wow look at that, a glass house. I never noticed that".

So, I guess that explains it. Sometimes the best way to hide something is to put it in plain sight. We are all so wrapped up in doing what we are doing that we sometimes fail to see something that is right in front of us. If this isn't a metaphor for life I don't know what is. I challenge each of us to look up and look out. There is an amazing world all around us. If we don't pay attention to it, we could very easily destroy it. There are future generations coming behind us hoping we will start looking up. Let's not let them down.

Olympic Memories

I am a fan of the Olympic movement. The peaceful gathering of athletes from around the globe, to compete in the spirit of sport for its own sake and with no political agenda. To win the gold medal in your sport is so much harder than to win a world championship. World championships are typically earned over the length of a season and are a cumulation of ups and downs. The athlete that wins is one that has been the most consistent over that breadth of the season. Not so with the Olympics. To win gold, you need to be the best in the world, on that one day, at that one defining moment. Overcoming four years of preparation and pressure to be at your very best at that one specific golden moment in time.

Think of the USA Hockey team winning the gold at home in Lake Placid against the best hockey team in the history of history. Of Speed skater Dan Jansen, after 6 years of failure following the death of his sister, putting it all together for that one golden moment. Or Evan Lysacek training his entire life to compete in Mens Figure Skating, going up against the reining Olympic champion and skating the performance of his life to win the gold. That one day, that one 4 minute performance, the culmination of a lifetime of work. Simply magical. I feel blessed to have be able to share these experiences with them.

The Olympics also allows us all to mark the time of our lives by the four year ticking of the Olympic clock. 1976 Montreal, catching bits and pieces of the games while at Boy Scout camp in New Mexico. 1984 Los Angeles, the first games of my married life and the USA Mens gymnastics team winning the gold. 1992 Barcelona, the first games of our new lives living in California and the first with our two boys Nik and Alex with the USA Mens Basketball dream team. 2002 Salt Lake City, the one and only games I’ve ever witnessed in person and with my Dad too. A very special memory. 2004 Athens, The first Olympics since my Mom passed away and our introduction to Michael Phelps. 2010 Vancouver, First winter games since moving my family to Minnesota where winter sports are king and watching local girl Lindsey Vonn ski to gold in the Downhill.

What milestones will the future Olympics bring? Only time will tell. But, it brings me peace knowing that the consistent drum beat of the Olympics will be there to help me mark the way.

Remembering Mom

Today marks the seventh anniversary of the day that changed my life forever. On this date in Tucson Arizona, my Mom Joanna Wunrow left her home on earth and entered her new life in Heaven. She left behind my Dad, me and my five brothers and sisters, 16 grand children and countless friends, neighbors and co-workers. She left a fingerprint of love on everyone she encountered. To Mom, no request was to big, no need was too small. She would always do everything in her power to help the people around her.

Mom, there are so many milestones that have passed these last seven years. Thinks I have longed to have been able to share with you. I want to share a few of them with you now.

Your first grandson Nik is such a kind and gentle spirit. There is so much of you in him. Nik overcame the challenges of Autism and graduated from High School! Mom, you should have seen him at the ceremony in his cap and gown. A permanent smile on his face and tears of pure joy streaming down his cheeks. I just know you would have hugged him with all your strength, matching his tears sob for sob until all the your joy had filled him to overflowing. Your pride of his accomplishment would have filled the entire room.

Your third grandson Alex is a confident young man. Alex took our move to Minnesota from California the hardest. His High School years were filled with frustration and doubt. But through it all he never gave up. In him I can see your ability not let your past define your future. It is with this gift that he has overcome so many obstacles. Mom, our little boy is now a freshman at the University of Nebraska. A major university that he earned is way into by sheer strength of will and character. He is studying to be a journalist with dreams of using his God given gifts to make a difference in the lives of others. I know that you would be so incredibly proud of Alex and his accomplishments.

Your first granddaughter Catie a beautiful, passionate creative young woman. Remember her as your little ballerina? All those sweet little dance recitals you saw. Well, our little girl is now a beautiful Ballroom dancer, studying dance at a performing arts High School. She is a graceful and poised and confident performer. I just know that if you could see her today you would feel pride and joy and happiness. All of these things come out in her dancing. All of these things you poured into her over and over again in her young life with grandma.

Mom, not a day goes buy without me thinking of you. For many years I missed you terribly. All I could think of was all the experiences that we were no longer able to share. But now, I need only to look at the lives of my children to see that you are still here. You are a part of the best that is in each of them. When I hug them, I hug them the way you would hug them, Holding on tight for as long as they’ll let me. I fill them up with love and in tern their love flows back and fills me too. Thank you for teaching me to love. God Bless you Mom. I Love You.

A Ole and Sven Story

This is a story of two mythical Minnesotans, Sven and Ole. The story is very appropriate right now. Enjoy!

______________________________________________

Ole and Sven die in a snowmobiling accident, drunker 'n skunks, and go to Hell.

The Devil observes that they are really enjoying themselves. He says to them 'Doesn't the heat and smoke bother you?
Ole replies, 'Vell, ya know, ve're from nordern Minnesooota, da land of snow an ice, and ve're yust happy fer a chance ta varm up a little bit, ya know.'

The devil decides that these two aren't miserable enough and turns up the heat even more.

When he returns to the room of the two guys from Minnesota, the devil finds them in light jackets and hats, grilling Walleye and drinking beer. The devil is astonished and exclaims, 'Everyone down here is in abject misery, and you two seem to be enjoying yourselves?' Sven replies, 'Vell, ya know, ve don't git too much varm veather up dere at da Falls, so ve've yust got ta haff a fish fry vhen da veather's dis nice.'

The devil is absolutely furious. He can hardly see straight. Finally he comes up with the answer.

The two guys love the heat because they have been cold all their lives. The devil decides to turn all the heat off in Hell. The next morning, the temperature is 60 below zero, icicles are hanging everywhere, and people are shivering so bad that they are unable to wail, moan or gnash their teeth.

The devil smiles and heads for the room with Ole and Sven. He gets there and finds them back in their parkas, bomber hats, and mittens. They are jumping up and down, cheering, yelling and screaming like mad men. The devil is dumbfounded, 'I don't understand, when I turn up the heat you're happy.

Now its freezing cold and you're still happy. What is wrong with you two?' They both look at the devil in surprise and say, 'Vell, don't ya know, if hell iss froze over, dat must mean da Vikings von da Super Bowl !!!'