My Mom Is a Famous Catalog Knitter

Mom, aka. the machine, has been knitting up samples for one of the most preeminent knitting suppliers; Knit Picks. Her lace work has been of particular interest to the company and her latest work is found on page three of the catalog. I was so excited to receive it in the mail! You too can take a peek at it in the on-line catalog!

Knit Picks Online Catalog - Queen Silvia Shawl

Zion Lutheran Church; Silverhill, Alabama

Zion Lutheran Church (take a look at the site in the historical section you will see Erick Ulrickson's name. If you look at the pages of the book by clicking on it you will see his signature.)



Today Paul and I went to Silverhill, Alabama to visit the area that Great-Grandfather Erick Ulrickson went to after the panic 1893. What we had gathered is that a group of Swedish man sent out three groups to Alabama to find a place to work and live. Erick's group came to Silverhill. The area was all forest and ready for logging. In the records of the church it appears that he was one of the founding fathers of the Zion Lutheran Church. In 1905 he became one of 16 founding members. in 1905 he is listed as one of four Historians. In 1907 The historical records of the church state that Eric Ulrickson became the custodian.

Then in 1907 a large unnamed Hurricane hit the area many people were killed or left the area. Erick's attendance records which are not that good have him gone after 1909. We were told that by 1910 only three of the first 16 were left.

We went to the cemetery but could not find him there. We then found the name of the man who has all the records for the cemetery Elvin Ewing. Mr Ewing looked in his records and could not find Erick. He did say that there were 25 unknowns buried there. We then went to the local smallllllllll library and got a book on the history but it didn't help. She recommended we talk with Gus Ulter in his 80's and one of the oldest members of the church. Gus was interesting but did not know about Erick. He recommended we talk to Pastor Dave. Pastor Dave met us at the church and spent the next 2 1/2 hours talking with us and showing us all the old records. He called the Lutheran church for information with little luck. It was really interesting.

Paul got to ring the bell and we saw the old church now someone's home across from the church. All the old things displayed in a museum in the back of the church. We had a great time.

We know little more about Erick but not much. We do have a copy of his signature on the old papers. We also have several historical books about the Swedish Community.

Family Fun on the 4th of July

GG and the kids waiting for the parade to start!

Faith did not like the Fire engines TOO LOUD! But she was really good at getting the candy with the boys! Boy is she getting big and beautiful!

Maybe next year Carrie will be the bagpiper in the parade next year! We then went to the park and had pasties and roasted chicken. HMMMM good!

Then off to Linda for the best corn casserole, hot dogs and hamburger in town. A little water balloon fight and lots of good conversation. What a wonderful day with wonderful people! We missed the others Tracy, Tim, Peter, Emily Ann, Alaina, Susie, Paul, Kirsten, Heather and her family, Michelle! Maybe this Christmas we will all be together.

love to all
Emily

Our new friends!

The boys have new friends -- gerbils!

This is Chuck. He's Isaac's gerbil who is named after his favorite TV show "Chuck." Isn't he adorable?

Here's Adam's gerbil, Cooper. Adam's Kindergarten teacher just had a baby boy and named him Cooper. Adam thought it was a cool name!

Here are the boys in the bathtub socializing with their pets. I read online that this is a good thing to do to get the gerbils used to you. The kids loved it!!! and I think Chuck and Cooper did too. I'm sure this will be a daily occurance this summer. Yes we have a pink bathtub. Isn't it lovely?

Adam and Cooper

Love to all!

Joy and all my boys

Crazy Cookin' Fool

Today I woke up late - yuck - I feel so unproductive when I do that.

I did get to visit with Dad for a few minutes before he headed back to Atlanta. I love to see him if even for just a few minutes. I went running afterward and then took a really long grocery trip in which I went up and down every single aisle and looked at everything they had. And well. . . they have everything, except for the canned whole cranberries that I needed for one of my recipes. I hurried home - emptied the dishwasher and loaded up the stranded dishes from the sink. Then the cookin' began.
Here's what I made: Kay's Chip Dip, Roasted Sweet Potatoes on the Grill, Cranberry Chicken (my best variation yet), and Cranberry and White Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Kay's Chip Dip is a brand new recipe to me. Pete and Emily's friend Kay made it this past weekend for Alaina's party and I couldn't get enough. You can substitute out the full fat items for the lowfat!

8 ounces cream cheese
16 ounces sour cream
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon cumin
2 dashes red cayenne pepper -- to taste
8 ounces shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 large red bell pepper -- diced

Mix together cream cheese, sour cream, garlic salt, cumin. Make sure that the cream cheese is thoroughly incorporated.

Mix in 4 ounces of the shredded cheese.

Mix in diced red bell pepper.

Pour mixture into a serving dish. Top with remaining 4 ounces of cheese

Serve with Multigrain chips.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes is a standard favorite in my heart. Peel the sweet potato. Sharpen your knife and then cube the sweet potato into 1-2 inch pieces. Mix in a bowl with a small amount of olive oil. Place 1 layer thick on a sheet pan (or foil if you are going to grill)


Cranberry Chicken is a recipe that I have been trying to perfect for a LONG time. Tonight – I may have gotten it! I made it on the grill this evening. One of the key factors is that my ground ginger is especially good from Penzey’s Spices. There is a shop not too far from my house – but you can mail order too!

1 pound chicken
1 can cranberries -- whole
2 tablespoons onion flakes
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
2 tablespoons brown sugar -- heaping
2 tablespoons flour -- heaping
1/2 cup Italian salad dressing


Mix cranberries, onion flakes, cinnamon, ground ginger, brown sugar, flour, and Italian salad dressing.

Prepare chicken for baking. I prefer to pound the chicken flat.

Place the chicken in a baking dish (or in a foil bowl if you are going to use the grill) and cover with the cranberry sauce.

Cook at 350 degrees (or low on the grill) until the chicken is cooked through.

Cranberry & White Chocolate Chip Cookies. I have been trying to make this recipe for several weeks now but it’s been simply too hot to turn on the oven. This is my neighbor Lois’ favorite cookie recipe. I lost the recipe and had to go to her house to ask for it even though I had given her the recipe in the first place. The recipe was on the back of a bag of dried cranberries. It is now the recipe that I make to say thank you to my neighbors. The lucky recipient will be: Lois & Chuck for always being great neighbors, for Bob for letting me borrow his wheelbarrow and the cutting knives for the sod, and Gene & Vicki for turning of the main valve to my water when it was spurting ALL OVER my basement when the washer hose busted! Thanks neighbors. I feel like I should make a batch next week too for the garbage men; especially the guys who loaded up my 90+ leaf bags after the sodding extravaganza.

2/3 cup unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons honey
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup oats
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix together butter, brown sugar, and honey. Add egg and vanilla, mix well.

In a large bowl stir together flour, oats, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; add to butter mixture and mix until well combined.

Stir in cranberries and white chocolate chips.

Place dough 2" apart on an ungreased baking sheet until edges are slightly browned and centers are still soft (around 12 - 15 minutes) Do not over bake.

Cool completely and Enjoy!

And one last thing I did in the "cookin'" world was to make Southern Sweet Tea for the girls doing the Esther Study with me this summer. I brewed 3 quarts of tea, added true lemon, and a cup of simple syrup that I made on the stove. Needless to say - It was a big hit!

Now get out there family - and get cookin'. Let us know how it all works out!

Love, Tracy

Alaina's First Birthday - June 20th

We had a lovely time in Chicago celebrating Alaina's first birthday. My oh my does time fly by. Pete and Emily invited family and friends over to their terrace for a barbecue and cake. I think Alaina has more friends than I do as the whole crew came out - she's a popular girl if I may say so. It was a blistering hot day in the sun and we eventually moved the party back upstairs to the air conditioning so that we the cake didn't melt. Alaina was a trooper and kept her smile on even though she wasn't feeling perfectly well (she was teething). She enjoyed her cake (although we think the sugar made her tummy a little funny that evening) and she became quite adept at opening presents. Christmas should be a real hoot with her!


Look at her eye the cake!


Playing with her new toys.


Outside in the shade. I double heart this picture - it captures the essence of her - her lips - her eyes - her nose. perfectly perfect.

My attempt at a birthday cake. We had to punt with the food coloring. Mom came up with a great alternative to use the precolored gel that they had at the store to color the white frosting. Surprisingly they didn't carry food coloring. I guess not too many people bake their own cakes these days . . . sad.

Pretty party dress.

Family Camping

Hello everyone!!!

We had a wonderful weekend camping together at Wells State Park in the U.P.

Winter and Lindsey were with us too but had to head for home before we took the family picture. We were glad they were there! Everyone stayed up late around the campfire visiting and Carol had the super idea of everyone sharing "true confessions." There were some funny stories told.

Happy Birthday Faith!

Happy Birthday to Alaina too! We were all thinking of you on your 1st Birthday!!!

Time to open a few presents!

Happy Father's Day to all the amazing dads and grampas in our family. How blessed we are!
We're looking forward to the 4th of July weekend when we can all be together again.
Love, Joy

Fathers: Grand and Wonderful

Grandpa Nadeau and Alaina looking over the balcony.

Pete and Alaina waiting outside for Father's Day Breakfast.

Grandpa Nadeau, Pete, Alaina, and Grandpa Donnelson

Alaina and Grandpa Donnelson making fun faces.

Grandpa Nadeau and Alaina - smiles all around.

Alaina's 1st Birthday! June 20

We all had a great time with Alaina.

Faith's 3rd Birthday

It was a beautiful summer day for Faith's birthday. She enjoyed having family and friends over, opening presents, and eating her yummy cake.

GG and Faith at the Mother Daughter Dessert at church.

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer!

Happy 1st birthday to Alaina. Faith talks about Alaina a lot and can't wait to see her again.

Congrats to Peter and Emily on expecting a new little one. What a blessing!

Love to all, Debbie

64 Degrees of Freedom

I went swimming in Tim's pool today - it was a chilly 64 degrees Fahrenheit - it felt so good to cool off.

(It will warm up as the summer goes on)

Congratulations Linda!

Well Linda - You did it! I can't imagine what it is like to pack up your class/library for the last time - I can only imagine it is bittersweet. Great memories lurk in your mind but future adventures call your name. I pray that you will be filled with unexpected JOY as you enter this next phase of life. Congratulations Linda

L = Loving Librarian
I = Independent
N = Never Gives Up
D = Dynamic Personality
A = Always thinking of others

Here is a link to an article in the Mining Journal Article about Linda's retirement.

Why God Made Teachers
When God created teachers,
He gave us special friends
To help us understand His world
And truly comprehend
The beauty and the wonder
Of everything we see,
And become a better person
With each discovery.
When God created teachers,
He gave us special guides
To show us ways in which to grow
So we can all decide
How to live and how to do
What's right instead of wrong,
To lead us so that we can lead
And learn how to be strong.
Why God created teachers,
In His wisdom and His grace,
Was to help us learn to make our world
A better, wiser place.

By Kevin William Huff

Love in Action (a little before & after)

Today was a wonderful day. I woke up early (i.e. for a weekend) because I was so excited a team from my church was coming to do a big project at my house: re sodding by downtrodden front yard. It had been taken over by weeds (especially those pesky violets) and crabgrass. It also had a huge dead spot due to the large amount of clay fill that had been deposited into the hole the plumbers created when they dug up my yard to put in new pipes. New grass has been long overdue but the task seemed so daunting to me. Today, on the contrary, 9 lovely people were Love In Action. They removed the sods, put it all in compost bags, rototilled, raked, evened-out, and laid 810 square feet of sod. Not bad for 2 hours and 45 minutes. It was impressive.

My failing yard.

10 days after 2 applications of Round Up!

The finished product

The Amazing Team from Genesis The Church

Double click on the picture below and see the blow-by-blow pictures!

2009 New Sod Love in Action

Prayers Needed

Hi Family,

This past weekend Susie and Paul came to visit Mom{Grandma}. We had a nice visit with them and they are doing well. They did inform us on their children which could use our prayers. Michelle and Jim are both out of work and looking for new jobs. Heather is at a community center following a program their to get her life back on track. At present she does not want to see her family but Sue did go and see her and said she looked better then she had.

Kirsten broke bones in her legs several weeks ago after falling on ice. She had another surgery a couple of weeks ago and has had complications. She got an infection in her leg where they had put screws in and these had to be removed, leaving an open hole the size of a golf ball. She was sent to a nursing home for treatment and drainage of the wound. She now has seen another doctor who will be performing more surgery soon. Kirsten is now at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital awaiting her next surgery. She may have to have a series of surgeries to repair her leg. The doctor says it will be at least a year of healing. All of them could use our prayers. If you would like to send Kirsten a get well the address to the hospital is: Advocate Lutheran General Hospital
1775 W. Dempster Ave.
Park Ridge, IL 60068

Winter also has had a bit of bad luck lately. She lost her job a couple of months ago and recently had a fire in her apartment. She is now homeless and jobless. She is on the job hunt and living with us and friends.

Sorry to bring so much bad news in one post but that's the way life is sometimes. I hope that life is going well for the rest of you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love, Debbie

Crews make progress fighting 2 wildfires in UP

This was on my local yahoo news today . . .

ISHPEMING — Light showers, cooler temperatures and diminished winds have helped firefighters battling two wildfires in the north-central Upper Peninsula.

how cool!

I took the leap . . .

of faith and sprayed my entire front lawn with Round Up. Over the next few days I should see my lovely grass weeds fade away into a dull and drab brown.

On May 30th some folks from my church will help me dig up the dead grass and lay down 810 square feet of new sod.
****
As I was spraying the Round Up I was thinking about how God asks us to die to ourselves so that he can put new life into us. The apostle Paul wrote, “To me, to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:20). For myself that means that I have to give up my own plans for my life and walk in the path Christ has willed for me. His path is supremely better than mine. "I run in the path of your commands, for You have set my heart free." (Psalm 119:32) Sometimes, however, I am like the stubborn grass weeds and I refuse to die even though it brings new life. Thankfully we have a most persistant God. He will apply another application and draw us closer to Him.

Have you ever experienced this?

A Few Random Updates

Hi Everyone,
I hope you are all doing well. Thanks Debbie for writing a post - I love knowing that you are doing well. So a few posts that I have been wanting to write are conglomerated into one here so that I wouldn't forget!

Did you know that Flat Adam came to Africa with me? He is booking his flight back to Wisconsin later this week. He had a great time and especially loved seeing the wild animals. (Double click on the collage and you will be able to see the pictures up close!)


Tim and Carrie were able to attend the Oakland County's Outstanding Teacher of the Year banquet with me on the 7th. I was a nominee. 3 fantastic teachers won - I was honored to be in the running. Then again, Tim and Carrie should have been nominated too! We had a delightful evening - many great speeches given by the teachers - each speech was very different. We then enjoyed an array of hor d'oeurves.


This past Saturday I volunteered for the CDC (Central Detroit Christian)'s Little League Football. We served up a barbecue (hot dogs and burgers) for all of the teams and the volunteers that help with the games. It was lots of fun. We were rained on a bit but we didn't melt. I even had the chance to pass the football around. I LOVE the size of the peewee football - it's just perfect and I can throw a pretty decent spiral with it!

This morning, despite my head cold, I managed to get up at 4:30 am and head on down to the Eastern market for flower day. It is one of my favorite days of the year. Five of us kept warm walking around and picking out new blossoms for our yards. This year I bought dwarf snapdragons, herbs and vegetables, zinnias, dahlias, English daisy (it's really cool - it's pink and white and totally wacky), marigolds, and lobelia. We were home by 8:30 am and were able to all make it to church on time. (We did make a quick stop to one of my favorite bakeries - Avalon - mmmm!)

Family, Faith, and the Final Countdown

Hi All,

Here are some pictures of my favorite granddaughter, Faith and a picture from Mother's Day at Wahlstroms.

We are waiting for some warm weather here. There's been snowflakes in the air today. Only 13 1/2 days left of school for me. {Not that I'm counting or anything} The kids are so done with school it makes the last days seem very long.

Love to all, Debbie

Happy Mother's Day

Grandma, Mom (Emily), Carol, Debbie, Joy, Addy, & Emily Ann

You're my special mother, my gift from God above.
You share your time and talent, and give freely of your love.
You're a best friend to all and even though you're sometimes hurt,
your loyalty will not budge.
My heart is always happier, whenever I hear your voice.
I pray God's angels surround you as He gives you reasons to rejoice.
You're a busy lady now. Your own life is filled with much but you'll always be close by as you're always in my heart.

(adapted from a poem my mom framed for me called "A Special Daughter.")

I love you, Mom!

Tender Flower

This picture captures Alaina just how I see her - so sweet - so tender - so beautiful.

the next Julia Child

I had a blast spending time with Alaina-loo the last weekend in April. One of our favorite activities was "cooking" with spoons, pots, and bowls. If you want to see the images closer up - double click on the image.