A Christmas to remember

First of all, there are NO pictures to this blog. This is because of 2 reasons. I forgot my camera on Christmas Eve and really, no one wants to see any pictures of my Christmas Day. You see, I got the gift that keeps on giving--literally. It seems I got the stomach flu for Christmas. OH happy day. I in turn have GIVEN it to Dave. Oh happier day. So, who shall be next joyous reciever?

I was supposed to have Christmas dinner here and instead wound up calling Gma and Gpa, Mom and Dad and told them to plan on eating elsewhere. I was sure NO ONE would feel like eating if they heard me vomit. THAT was very nice of me I think. Jamie came and got the ham and turkey breast, stuffing, buns and green beans for casserole. They said everything turned out ok. Dave did go over in the afternoon and wound up bringing home some anti-nausea meds from Ambers Purse Pharmacy which worked wonders. Jello has never tasted so good. Today my tummy is great but my right eye is nearly swollen shut and keeps tearing up. My right nostril has turned into a spicket which can't/won't be turned off. So what shall it be for New Years? Strep throat or pneumonia? Maybe I can contract some tropical disease like Shmedricks disease where you get covered with funny green and chartreuse spots! (completely made up by the way, I saw that once in an episode of Full House--Yes the show with the cute little Olsen twins--what happened there?)

Oh well as long as I can see out of one eye to drive and don't run out of kleenex I suppose this too shall pass. Maybe I shoulda had a V8.

DISCLAIMER: I am not responsible for any person(s) stomach flu or Shmedricks symptoms as it has been proven that germs do NOT travel over the internet. No one was injured during the writing of this blog and it is being written at 5:27am. Thus the silliness of said blog.

Walkin' in a Winter Wonderland!!

Everyone knows the words to that famous song. The artist paints such a lovely picture of their "winter wonderland". After last night and today, WE are walking in a winter wonderland!! The first blizzard of the season hit us with full force! Wind gusts of up 43mph, about 10 inches of snow (thus far) and wind chills of -48 degrees. It was a bad one! Thank God Dave and John finished combining their corn on Friday! The storm leaves us with a beautifully landscaped wonderland of white snow ( or yellow depending on where the dogs have been;).

I love how the light seems to come through the snow to look like lava. Tonight when all the light had gone away, the lights took on the most beautiful glow!

A winter wonderland indeed!!

It's all in a days work.....

I had a very busy December 1st. I went to my grandparents this morning after donning my Christmas Bibs and I put up their tree. They have a 4 foot tall artificial tree which they purchased last year. It is nice because they are able to enjoy their tree for whole month of December rather than the couple of weeks they normally would with a real tree. I gave them this little Nativity last year because she didn't have a regular sized one. She has the one her nephew Steve gave her years ago, and she has the one I made out of clay when I went to Vacation Bible School one year probably about 20 years ago. This one looks so cute under their tree with the little straw Angel ornament dangling at the top.

I then went to Mom and Dads for dinner with the 3 dogs and after we ate, Jamie, Mom and I put up THEIR tree!! Jamie quit after fluffing a few branches and left the real work to Mom, Dad and I . Dad and I strung the 700 colored lights, and we all decorated it. It turned out so pretty!! We tried something different and put a BIG bow on the top rather than the traditional Angel. I curled the tails with a roll from the center of wrapping paper. We hung all of the special ornaments together!

My Grandma Hanssen made this when we were babies. Amber , Jamie, and me. Styrofoam balls covered with sequins held down with pins. Our baby pics are on one side and the opposite side it is hollowed out a little and she glued a little something in the hollow. Mine has an Angel, and Ambers has a little deer I think and I don't remember what Jamie has.

Close up of me as a baby. Cute I know--but what happened?!?

Closeup of Amber as a baby. She always stayed cute!! I wonder if Pnut will look like her!!

Close up of Jamie. Who knew that that cute little boy would grow up to such a BIG pain in the backside! Just kidding! Wait am I? Did I ever tell you the story about when he was born? I wanted a baby girl so bad, we were going to name her April. She was going to play barbies with me. Honest to God. She was going to be the sister I didn't have. Sure I had Amber but Amber didn't have an imagination. I was being dumb when I pretended that the fuzzy pink slipper was my barbie car. She hated playing house. April was going to change ALL of that!! And then, April didn't come. December 7, 1981 I woke up to find my Grandparents there. I remember being at their house when dad called with the news. I got on the phone and dad said " You have a brother! His name is Jamison Cade and we will call him Jamie." Traitor. How could Dad sound so darn happy when we were supposed to have a GIRL! I sat under the ledge of the counter and cried. And cried some more. When we went to see him at the hospital the nurses tried to MAKE me put on a stupid, ugly, green gown thing so I could hold the boy. I didn't like the gowns. I didn't even like the baby! Finally a nurse found a sesame street gown that I reluctantly put on. Then I reluctantly held the baby. I guess he isn't sooooo bad! He is very funny, and very helpful. I guess I love him. SSHHHHHH don't tell him that!

Christmas time is here!!

It's the MOST wonderful time of the year! With Bells jingle-belling and everyone yelling to be of good cheer--it's the MOST wonderful time of the year!!



YES IT IS!! Christmas is my most favorite time of the year. I love the hustle and bustle in the stores, I love the lights on everyones home, and I love how cozy our house always feels. But most of all I love hearing the Christmas Story and singing all of those Christmas songs!!



I wanted to share with you some of the coziness of this season with you!








This is the dining room. In a previous post I showed you all my beautiful pink tree. This is the room where that is located. This corner is my vintage Christmas corner!

This is the tree in our living room. This is the first year I have had colored lights since I moved out of my parents house. This is a pre-lit tree that I got at Kmart about 9 years ago. None of the clear lights work so I wrapped it with colored lights. I can't stop looking at it!!

Here is the fireplace in the living room. I have my carolers and the wooden snowmen decoration I got from my sister on the hearth. On the mantle, are my stocking holder that I got after Christmas last year on clearance for $4 at Target. I have stockings for Dave, myself, Buddy, and Elvis. Duke has yet to get one! My Nativity is the center of attention. It is the single most important Christmas decoration I posess. I have 6 nativities in different forms!!

A dead on look at the fireplace.

Here is the tree in the daylight! We have some ornaments from Davids childhood and some from mine. It makes our tree so much more special! For Dave's birthday this year I got him a John Deere ornament from Hallmark. I thought it would make an otherwise girlie tree a little bit more "manly". I guess maybe I need spent shotgun shells and beer cans or something. Maybe that's more appropriate for the man cave!!

I'm Dreaming of a PINK Christmas!

For all of you that know me well, you know that my FAVORITE color is PINK! And much to Dave's chagrin, lots of things at our house seem to turn PINK. Take for instance my potato peeler. The blade broke and could not be fixed and one Sunday while walking through Kohls, Dave and I walked through the kitchen section. They happened to have the PINK KitchenAid "Cook for the Cure" utensils and gadgets. Low and behold my PINK potato peeler! Then, this spring, after the crops were put in, spraying was in full swing. Now, Dave and John don't fool around with the spraying! They have a semi trailer designated to holding the chemical and water tanks and to fill that sprayer, you need a garden hose. So, Dave took my GREEN hose one day and replaced it with a PINK one. Needless to say, his nephews will NEVER ask to use my hose! This Summer we had 2 communities celebrating their 125th Anniversaries. Knowing what the bars charge for beer,soda and water, we thought we would stick it to 'em and bring our own beverages in a cooler. I had a blue one which was last used to hold beverages at my sisters wedding rehearsal and had water freeze in it. I honestly believed that it was ruined!! On a trip to Grand Forks, walking through Target, it hit me that we needed a new cooler. They had an awesome sale and such neat colors to choose from I first spied the turquoise, and DAVE pointed out the PINK one. Which ended up being the one he bought for me saying "don't put beer in it--it will turn into some sort of wine cooler!" So PINK is a common joke between us. When I asked him what colors for the wedding, all he stated was "NO PINK".

Here we are on November 23rd, preparing to give thanks for all of our blessings in the last year, and I just put up a Christmas tree. It doesn't really look Christmas like aside from the fact that it is in the shape of a tree and contains lights and ornaments. This tree is SPECIAL!!

Lights on and off!!

It is a WHITE tree, with white lights and decorated with PINK, LIME GREEN, TURQUOISE, ORANGE, PURPLE, & RED. I put a glittery BLUE thingy on the top, and added some PINK and LIME GREEN ribbon garland. It looks fantastic!! Today, Dave and I went on a grocery run to Grand Forks, and found that Menards had 16 function sets of 150 lights on sale. So he got some colored ones for outside and clear ones for our "living room tree". He also found PINK light sets. Now when we got home this evening, he swiched out each individual bulb for the PINK, so that I could have PINK lights on my "dining room tree"!!! Thats love I tell ya!!

Isn't it pretty !!

Wedding Stuff!

I can honestly say that all of the family now knows about our wedding on Jan. 17!! We are READY!! We have the Church, the Pastor, the readings, the music, and now, the flowers. I had been contemplating using crystal bouquets rather than flowers but quickly changed my mind when I saw how much they cost. Then, last Tuesday, I went into Michaels craft store and as a fluke, I found the PERFECT flowers. I get an all cream rose bouquet and my maids, get to carry hydrangeas. Also at Gordmans, I found what will be on the alter. Silver vases with frost/snow covered branches that sparkle.

alter flowers

box of corsages and bouts

Close up of a corsage

Since my moms dress would only fit my thigh, I decides to use it a different way! I removed the cuffs which are satin covered with lace. They also have a couple of pearl buttons on them so, I wrapped my bouquet with the cuffs instead of ribbon. That is my something old!!! 33 yrs old to be exact.

This is the finished product. Its blurry I know, but you get the picture! I think it looks very victorian!! I can't wait!! 2 months to the day! WOOOOHHOOOOO!!

In times of sorrow and in times of joy.

We have had a rough couple of weeks. Thursday Nov. 6, brought lots of rain, lots of ice, power outages and a death in our "extended" family. Our friend and coworker, Darrell passed away at 56 years young. He had recently moved back to Lakota after living in Kansas for the past few years. We all thank God that he had the opporunity to spend time with his 2 grandchildren Ethan, 1yr. and Keira 5 weeks. It was a very tramatic experience for Sarah and Trent because his death occurred in their basement while trying to fix the water leaking in from all of the rain, in a power outage. Sarah performed CPR on her father-in-law for nearly 20 minutes before help arrived. We are all saddened by Darrells passing but know that he is in good hands! This past Sunday, Keira was baptized along with her 2 cousins Laura and Levi. It was a happy day in the

midst of sorrow.

Picture #1 Sarah and Keira

Picture #2 Sarah and Trent with Keira, Father Aertz, Josh (Godfather), Nicole (Godmother) Alisa (Godmother)

Picture #3 John and Brenda with Levi and Laura, Nathan, Phillip, Roman, Jack, and Father Aertz giving the hug.

Picture #4 Laura Lee held by Grandma Steffan

Picture# 5 Levi John held by Aunt Judy.

This Picture was taken 11-1-08 at Daves' brother Gerald and his wife Chris's 30th wedding anniversary party.

This is their entire family from l to r Back row: Trent, Sarah, Josh

Front l to r: Chris holding Keira, Gerald, Breanne holding Ethan, and Sam (Josh's girlfriend)

It is so neat to think of all of the great examples of marriage God has given Dave and I !!

Happy Birthday Dad!!

Sixty years ago on this day, my dad was born. After 3 days of my poor Grandma being told to go home and vomiting wieners. Yuck. But I have to admit, its a story I will always remember.

So this morning I got up a little early and baked dad a scrumptious "funfetti" cake (is there another kind?) and frosted it with white whipped frosting and decorated it. In orange. And purple. I put tinfoil on it and took to Gma and Gpa's for coffee this morning. Mom had also brought a birthday cake. German chocolate with that fancy pecan and coconut frosting. So dad is extra loved i guess. 2 cakes in one day. I had to get a picture. Mom is even smiling, gee how did that happen? (Just Joking)

So Happy Birthday Dad! Thanks for being my everything. I love you!

PS. HaHa I really didn't cut off the chocolate cake on purpose! Even though it may look like it;)

Welcome to the World, Laura Lee and Levi John!!!

The Steffan Ranch is abuzz with excitement these days! Sure, it's harvest and the men are busy in the field but, last Thursday God blessed us some rain that provided a break. Brenda made use of this break and she --ok the BABIES decided they wanted to come out and play with their big brothers!! So, September 4th is now the birthday of Laura and Levi!! YES, They had a GIRL!! She also came first weighing 6lbs 7oz. and was followed by her brother Levi who weighed 7lbs 2 oz. Brenda was only 6 days short of her due date and was ecstatic when they were able to meet face to face! She was able to come home on Saturday the 6th and yesterday Dave and I went to meet the new babies!!

I am holding little Laura and David is holding Levi! Roman (5) took the pictures! A budding photographer I think! He didn't even cut anyones head off!

John is still trying to adapt to the sleep deprivation! Levi snoozing in his carseat!

The twins aren't the only new babies at the farm! Mama Cat (I know-original name) has 3 little kittens that I am smitten with!! Oreo, Midnight, and Jr. Mama Cat (not even joking-Roman named them) Speaking of Roman, that's him on the new little tractor! This is like the one Dave bought this fall except Dave's will have a cab. It will be our snow removing tractor! I'm excited to learn how to drive it!! Roman will have to teach me, looks like he has mastered it already!

See? He has mastered it. First the tractor, then the WORLD!!! MMMWWAAAHAAAAAA!! *evil laugh* The second pic is of Dave and Jack and the tiny shovel. I bought that to dig potatoes at the old house and Jack spied it when we were cleaning the garage. We decided to give it to him for his birthday in June. He LOVES that thing--its just his size--just like our chair! This pic also goes to show that you can take the man out of the sandbox, but you can't take the sandbox out of the man! Dave used to spend all summer out there as a child. Just helping to keep up the tradition!

Roman had to show me the forts they made this summer. Those kids were very busy little beavers!! They made different rooms and made stick walls! You can tell Roman is proud of all his hard work!

We had a wonderful day welcoming the babies! Look forward to my future blog on Baby Keira!!(She isn't born yet--we have a couple more weeks to wait)

Gateway to Comfort........and Coffee!

What can be special about a door? Not much I suppose. You turn a knob and enter buildings. Some have windows, some are wood and some are metal. What makes this door special is that it is a gateway to comfort. For as long as I have been alive, the door to my grandparents house meant a sweet treat, a hug, a cup of coffee, a place to play, a place to be silly, and a safehaven for when things go terribly wrong.

THIS door is always open to friends and family! A hot cup of coffee or a cold can of beer usually wait for you inside! My Gpa and Gma welcome everyone who steps inside--unless you are a Jehovahs Witness. Then you will be met at the door with a Bible and the knowledge of a 90 year old faithful man who has an answer to anything you throw at him!

This summer Dad and Jamie replaced the "Gateway to comfort" with a new door with a bigger window and more capability to keep the elements outside and keep the Comfort in!!!

Lightening!

Lightening last night as the storm came through.
You can see the cell phone tower lights and the headlights of a car on the highway 1and 1/4 miles to the south. This was at 10:00 and it was like midnight.
This is also lightening.