Around 1870, my 3rd great grandmother Signe Eskar left her home in Norway to come to America. She was my father’s mother’s mother’s mother’s mother. Earlier this year I got to visit her gravesite for the first time, at the Stone Church in Houston MN. I stayed by it a little while and told her thank you for coming  ...

You know, like doing Christmasy things? Thank you, Carpenter family.The Christmas tree is like her little jungle gym. She lays under it and looks at the lights and ornaments and we ring the little bells for her. She’s mesmerized.  See the gingerbread boy? Her face is saying “I’m gonna smack ’em!” (She did too,  ...

Back when we lived in Minnesota, we had the most wonderful yard with the perfect swing set. From the time we got it when I was about 5 until we sold our house I was 18 it was one of my favorite places in the world. Besides our friends and family, it was probably what I missed the most once we moved to Florida. This afternoon when we went over  ...