Balloon blowing Sunday...

Man, I love this man.  

All I had to do was mention that it would be fun to decorate with balloons for the Easter egg hunt and his mind was off and running... and I have to admit, I wasn’t too keen on blowing up the balloons myself so I was so grateful that he (and his wife) came up with a solution.  

On Palm Sunday, after many workers had scurried about and set up all the tables and chairs, he gave me a quick demo which quickly turned into an assembly line with some of my all-time favorite people. Whew! I’m glad I remembered I had my camera – I mean I HAD to capture this moment! Although, I don’t think I’ll forget it anytime soon. 

My neighbors, Curt and Ann were also given a quick lesson on tying balloons and then they were off and tying! 

Chuck had rigged up his air compressor with just the right nozzle to blow up balloons. Mind you, he has to keep one foot on it while it’s running or it bounces across the room, but it works like a charm! Oh, those balloons got blown up in no time! 

His wife, Pat even took some time and played a little “balloon catch” with my little girl. Oh, it was so precious!   

I adore this man. He always has a smile on his face. He always has a hug to give. And he’s a terrific adopted grandparent to me and my family (and to many in the community).  If you ever pop into our church on a Sunday morning, you might want to choose a seat next to him and you just may find that you’ll enjoy the hymns even more. Oh man, his voice is absolutely beautiful.

 Oh, he works so hard. I cannot even count the times I drive by that church and there he is, working in the yard, mowing the lawn, painting a sign, or doing some other church repair. And every Sunday morning after the coffee has all been drank, he takes his spot (along with Curt) behind the counter and they serve the coffee and goodies and then they both take a place at the kitchen sink and wash all of the dishes. 

Oh, they both serve with such commitment and kindness.

 

Ever since the "balloon blowing Sunday", many times I have caught myself giggling as I think about Chuck with his foot on the compressor, a smile on his face, filling up balloons and chuckling about how his teeth might fall out from the agitation of the compressor. Oh, his giggle and his heart for serving others makes my heart so happy.  

And he did it all just so we could have balloons at this years Easter Egg Hunt!

 

T’was a beautiful moment at our beautiful little country church!

Father-Daughter Dance

Hello every one, Elena here I am just going to tell you guys about this amazing father daughter dance my dad took me to. It was great, my dad got me a wrist corsage, we went to dinner and (of course) the dance which was amazingly fun, I learned how to do "The Swing" from professional dancers. Here are some pictures from that night!!!

                                                  My Dad and I before we leave.

                                                       I love this dress it is soooo pretty.

                                                     Look at that wrist corsage.

                                                     Hi!

Goofy dancing.

             I love to twirl and I am pretty good at not getting dizzy.

Practicing for the slow dance. 

 On the way.

Still on the way. 

 The dance was packed.

It was a super fun evening and I am so glad my dad brought me. I hope we go again next year.   
Elena

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day seemed to sneak up on us this year...

without much forethought, the kids and I whipped up some yummy Pad Thai, a salad and Deacon dipped some strawberries.

Here's our Pad Thai, it's a huge hit at our house! And so easy to make.

 Elena worked on setting a pretty table.

How sweet is this?
Erik worked a long day and then joined us for a nice family, Valentine's day meal. It was a lovely evening and a lovely meal, just the four of us... and well, these two critters.

It looks like they even got into the spirit of Valentine's Day by lovingly, curling up into little balls right next to each other. Love knows no bounds.

To see more of my Valentine's decor, click here.

A few photos of the four of us at Christmas.

We had a very Merry time!

We're back!

I have two blogs, this one and GretaBag (for my creative hobby/someday maybe it will be a business, but mostly it's for fun). My blogging energy hasn't been balanced and this blog has been greatly neglected... I'm going to attempt to revive it by adding family photos and events here. So, be sure to check back and see what's happening at the LundbyHive!

P.S. Watch for updates from the kids too! They're growing and changing all of the time, I can't wait for them to update you on their lives!

Well, Mommy I actually kind of like vacuuming. I mean I wouldn't give it up for ice cream or anything like that, but it is kind of fun! :)

Elena- age 11.

Ducky rumors...

So, if you hear any rumors of someone climbing through 3 feet of snow in their snow boots and pajamas, well I'm not sure I would believe them... or at least I'd contemplate whether someone would really do such a thing...
With a power outage and 18 more inches of snow greeting us this morning, well it's possible that someone may have panicked about not hearing the soothing sound of honking ducks first thing in the morning. And "someone", while still in pajamas may have quickly grabbed snow boots and hurdled through 100 feet of snow, three feet high... relieved at the sight of ducks (still moving), then hollered to their spouse who's waiting at the front door to hear news of whether they had survived their first serious snow dumping. Well, "someone" may have dug a path through 3 feet of snow with bare hands for them to be able to climb up and out of the pond while trying desperately to coax them off the pond. Oh mercy. And there may have even been tears, but there's no proof.

Once again, I'm not sure if I'd believe it or not, but what I do know for sure is that these duckies have caused a lot of drama today. But they actually seem to be fine, they're swimming around in the slush not a bit anxious to get off the pond. In fact, we haven't seen them leave the pond at all. We keep clearing a path for them and bringing them food, lots and lots of food well, because it makes us me feel better. But on one of my visits down to the pond I noticed some fresh ducky droppings in the snow. Never in my life have I been happier to see such a sight!

Obviously, we're rookie "duck farmers" but after today I'm not even sure I could even classify them as farm animals, I think we share a last name! I even wanted to bring them in the house for the night, but they refused my offer. They won't even leave the pond. Oh mercy!

Overheard late in the day: "The ducks are out of the pond!" "Yay! Yippee!!" There were lots of loud cheers!
Oh, and the temperatures are climbing, logic says that the ducks should be fine. Of course, I'll, I mean "we'll" be anxious to see how they're doing tomorrow morning.

Snowy Night!

Uh... so, I was on my way to bed and I took a look out the window and I was shocked! I mean, I knew they said the snow was coming, but wow! Look how the snow is sitting on the individual branches! Again, wow!

I swear I had just looked out the window an hour before and the snow accumulation wasn't significant. Not like this.

I opened the front door and had to snap a pic of this tree, this is the same tree in yesterday's post. It's so loaded with snow that the branches are touching the ground! I can only imagine what it will look like in the morning!

As I was looking out various windows in the house, I caught a glimpse of the trees down by the pond and I was giddy. They were so pretty! I needed a picture. So, like any true Minnesotan, (transplanted to the P-NW) I pulled my snowboots on and well, I already had my sweatshirt on so I grabbed my camera as I was more than prepared to frolic in the snow.

And I captured this. A beautiful starry snowy night! Ahh....

And this. Snowy night by the pond.

And a snowy night back at the house. I snapped one more pic of my flowering plum tree at the end of my frolic. And then I got all snuggled in my bed, with dreams of snowflakes dancing in my head... or, something like that...

Happy snow day to me! And you!

SNOW DAY!!!

The kids were so excited to have a snow day today! Elena asked me, "when is it too early to go out and play in the snow?" She was up and out the door early. Deacon made an attempt to get ready but, he has spent his snow day curled up on the couch with a tummy ache. :(

With Deacon all settled, I took a few minutes to go outside with Elena to watch her play, shovel a little snow and capture a few moments.

Here's what I saw. My little girl romping in the snow.

Our neighbor's adorable little barn. And yes, it has been snowing like this all day. We've probably got about 18 inches and we might have another 12 inches (or more) on the way!

This is our flowering plum tree, a bit weighed down by all of the snow.

And I found our web-footed critters having a snack in the back yard.

These girls almost blend into the snow.

And this little guy is "swimming" his way to the well-worn duckie path.

I forgot how fun the ducks are to watch in the snow. They really look like they are swimming in the snow, and they're so graceful... until they start honking.

There's my brief tour of our winter wonderland. I'm back in the house all snuggled up with seltzer water and saltines hoping the tummy bug doesn't migrate.