Just Another Day

Grandma Aune taught me how to knit, sew, bake, play the piano, and lots of other “girly” things. But beyond that she taught me a lot about living a good life.

My grandma knew how to have fun. I think that is the greatest gift she shared with us. She wasn’t afraid to be silly, and she even let us take pictures of those goofy times! I think she just loved making us laugh. She was good at it.

I feel really lucky that my sisters and I got to grow up next door to my grandma. It was kind of like having two homes. We’d race off the bus in the afternoons, and gram would have something baked up. She’d ring the bell for Grandpa to come in for coffee, and we’d sit and visit. I think Gram loved having people around to take care of – but she didn’t try to smother us.

I loved hearing Gram’s stories about growing up, taking a bus down to Kansas City to marry my grandpa, owning the bakery, raising 4 boys… She made me wish, sometimes, that I could’ve been right along side her, experiencing it all. And with her stories, I guess she let me.

My grandma put all of her heart into showing us all how much she loved us. I’m going to miss her more than I could ever express in words.

When we were little, we’d go up to Tower a lot of Sundays. I remember running around outside while the adults sat in the shade of the big tree in my grandparent’s yard. Grandma always had a big tub of peppermint bon bon ice cream, and we’d work week after week to empty those tubs out. She’d save all those empty containers and fill them each Christmas with more cookies than any family could possibly eat – and we’d EACH get a bucket!

I grew up knowing that Grandma was from Germany – that she and Grandpa met there, my mom was born there, and that every few years her siblings would fly over and talk and laugh with the same thick accent that my grandma never lost. We  didn’t often hear stories of her childhood – probably because she grew up during World War II in Germany and was in the middle of great sadness. During college, I chose to do a video project and recoreded my grandma telling stories of that time. Maybe it was then that I truly began to understand why her house was always immaculate, her belongings always well kept, and the fact that she was still going to work each day well into her 70s – and she loved it!

Everybody I ever met that knew my grandma would tell me how kind she was. She was always quick with a smart remark… a very sassy lady. We could count on witnessing some playful banter between she and Grandpa on any of our visits. There’s no doubt that they loved each other, their children, and grandkids deeply. My final memory of my Grandma is seeing the way her face lit up when Sawyer smiled at her just before we left. I am so glad she was able to meet her first great-grandkids.

I am really having a tough time coming up with the words I need to do my grandma justice. Perhaps it’s enough to say that I loved her very much, and I will miss her.

It’s beautiful outside right now.

And I wouldn’t object to a late start tomorrow.

So, I went cross-country skiing last weekend with Bill and my uncle, Glenn. It was fun… I was sore.

Also, Bill has grown a beard.

The past 11 days have flown by. It’s been really nice – full, and fast, and nice.

Katie was here for the first week of break, I spent the day with my mom up in Ely, had each of the babies over night once, celebrated Christmas with the Aunes and Poderzays, snowmobiled, hiked, watched movies, saunaed, brought in 2010, over-nighted in Duluth… It’s been good.

I was most excited about giving this gift because of the wrapping job I worked on.

Unfortunately, seconds after this picture was snapped, it beacame a big orange mess over the recipient’s desk. Even so, she seemed to appreciate it… and it was a fun kick off to our winter break.

Every year around Christmas time, my Grandma and Grandpa Aune would dust off the lefse pan and get to work on several batches of the Norwegian goodness. It’s just one of those things that we’re supposed to have around the holidays. So I jumped at the offer to go and make my own batch when Trisha called earlier in the week. On Thursday night I got my potatoes cooked, mashed, mixed and cooled to be ready in time for Friday Night Lefse Making!

Grandma Katie (my Grandpa’s sister-in-law) certainly has the whole process down to an art. She’s transformed a section of their garage into a second kitchen complete with 3 lefse pans, rolling stations, and lots of space for cooling. With her and Trisha rolling the lefse at lightning speeds and the talented flippers (Auntie Judy, April, and myself) working the griddles – the time flew by and 20 pounds of potatoes were transformed into 120 pieces of lefse!

It was just fun to spend time with family, to listen to stories and laugh, and to wrap the evening up with a VFW burger. I hope this’ll become a tradition I can take part in every year!

Bill and I scheduled dentist appointments for this past Friday so that if we had any work that needed to be done, we could get that taken care of over Christmas break. I’m happy to report that neither of us has any cavities that need filling. Go us. There’s a point to me telling you about the appointments – besides wanting to share my lack of tooth decay with you all, of course. Since we had the day off, we decided to tack on a little vacation to the weekend and head up to Canada.

Rather than staying up in Canada, we chose a little hotel in Tofte. Our room was right along Lake Superior – the waves were crashing in on the shore right beneath our balcony. It was really a gorgeous spot.

By staying in MN rather than up in Canada, we were able to meet up in Duluth with April, Jesse, and Dad for dinner and then to Brennan’s hockey game on Friday night. It was fun to be out and at the Saint’s game. Then Bill and I headed back to rest up for our trip to Thunder Bay.

The highlight of our trip north was Kakabeka Falls. It is a gorgeous spot – neat to see in the winter. I am excited to head back during the summer months some time, too. I’m sure it looks completely different.

Besides the falls, we didn’t do a whole lot in Thunder Bay. Really, it’s just another city. We did stop at a cheese shop and pick up some tasty gouda on our way back to the states. 🙂 Then it was back to our lake side room, out for dinner, and back to watch Iron Man in our room. With all the hustle and bustle during this time of year, it was nice to have some quiet time with my favorite guy.

I made a quick Target stop before the hockey game on Friday… something possessed me to buy these jammies for the babies. They’re kinda ugly, but my favorite little babies are still awfully cute in them.

Katsie’s mom left her with me for a few minutes while she baked a cake next door. I couldn’t resist playing “photo shoot”. What a doll.