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Hi folks,
Long time no see, I know. Well, since my Windows Media Player is messed up and won’t download any more photos from the memory card, I’ll just catch up with last year’s graduation because those pictures are already in the computer. Beginning in 1992, my younger brothers and sisters began having babies every year for 10 -11 years, sometimes more than one per year, so now we have a run of graduations beginning in 2010 that will last until 2020 or longer! By then, the grand-nieces and nephews can carry on.
So, here are some of the relatives who showed up for Jenny’s Open House: First up is Brandon, Darla’s yougest boy, two-time Iraqi war veteran and soon-to-be-father of a bouncing baby girl.
And then here’s Brandon’s big brother, Jeremy, with Jer’s youngest son, Jayden, and his now-wife, Gaylene. Jeremy is a super father and step-father, just for the record!
And then Dad, or Great-Grandpa Don, to the little person in the picture with him, Mark, Jr., Nancy’s grandson:
And on the bottom-right corner, Daisy the Chihuahua, cruising for crumbs!
And in a closer-up snapshot, young Mark shows me a pine cone, after I must have asked him what he’d found, or maybe great-grandpa gave it to him.
And then here’s Nancy with Mark’s little sister, Aleah. These would be the kids of Nancy’s daughter, Carey, BTW, just in case anyone’s forgotten which is which.
And here’s our middle kid, Judy, later, playing with Aleah:
And above, here’s Mom, or Great-Grandma, to young Jayden, Jeremy’s youngest boy. Jer and Gaylene have a house full of boys – 5 of them, to be exact!
And that was about the only shot I got of Mom before she started to hide behind the babies, so here’s a close-up of Jayden with Mom hiding:
So here’s Josh, Jayden’s older brother, spinning around the pole that held up the shade, never still for very long, as you might expect of young boys:
And, last, but certainly not least, the reason for the whole party in the first place, the surprise red-headed baby of 1992, Jenny Johnson:
Well, that wraps it up for this time. Nap time for me! As they say on Facebook, C U later!
Tags: Don Anderson descendents, Jenny's graduation, Shirley Nelson Anderson descendents
Hi folks,
Here I am at the last minute trying to get one post done in May 2011, so I need to catch up a little better to call this “Current Events,” I know! I’ve been working 6 – 7 days or nights all thru May, so I do have a good excuse for not keeping up in here.
Anyway, for those related to us, especially on the Anderson side, here’s what keeps Dad busy part of the spring and summer, and fall every year, providing winter heat for the younger brothers who have wood stoves. This pile is just at the SE corner of the yard and Dad’s back garden out by the tool shed, and came from the large tree that was taken down by the storms last August.
And here’s Dad perching on his main wood pile about 1/3 of a mile from the house, down past the east edge of the landlord’s hay and corn fields. He cuts down or cuts up all the dead trees down there, out of sight of the house, and alone with a chain saw, not the safest combination, but he’s going to go do it anyway, no matter how many times we might say that’s not very safe, so no point in wasting our breath. He likes to feel useful and I know the boys appreciate the extra contribution to keep the heating bills under control when everyone’s struggling to scrape by, with the cost of gas and fuel these days.
And then there’s the wood hauling; this is Jeff and crew, having borrowed Larry’s truck and trailer to haul it with, as well as a spare kid or two. That’s Jeff, Mary, and Mom in this one. Dad must have been working on the other side of the trailer.
The work crew closer up in this one – (and just in case you’re wondering; yes I did put down the camera and help out after I got a few pictures!) This is Nicole, Jeff’s middle kid, then Jeff, and behind the trailer, Larry’s youngest boy, Josiah, in the Mora football jersey, and Mom, heading back to the pile for another armload.
And the same crew down below, except with the addition of Scott’s boy, Caleb, on the far right, who may have been staying with Grandpa and Grandma that day, or may have ridden along because he was hanging out with cousins for a day or two.
And, back up to the yard, here’s the last attempt at leaving some seeds behind for the summer’s dandelions!
And, a little higher up and a little prettier, the last of the morning glories growing up a post out by Dad’s corn and melons garden:
And, back up at house on a chilly day in the same time frame if not the same day, Mom doing her usual thing for fall and winter, and gloomy days in the spring and summer, as well; keeping the cupboards stocked up with that good old Scandinavian staple, hard-tack. Can’t remember what she was saying here! Something like, “You came over on the right day,” maybe! I don’t know what it is about hard-tack that most of us love so much, unless it’s nostalgia; we grew up on it, but it’s really rather bland tasting. It is good with chocolate pudding, tapioca pudding, soup, stew, and many other companions.
And then there’s always 2 or 3 different kinds of cookies, the rusks, the home-made dill bread, white bread, and banana bread. If I had to describe Mom with one word, it would be “industrious.” She’s always busy. It’s a wonder Dad doesn’t get fat, with all those goodies around all the time, but he says the scale is pointing at the same numbers now as it did when he was quite young! He must have better metabolism than he passed on to some of us! And here’s another pan full of hard-tack, a very labor-intensive, all-day project, almost.
Well, that’s it for the peek into an Autumn day on the Anderson “estate.” Thanksgiving or Christmas trees must be the next thing I photographed, so see ya next time with snow on the ground, no doubt.
Tags: Autumn in Minnesota, Autumn in the country, Don Anderson, Shirley Nelson Anderson
Hi all,
Just cruising right along, aren’t I?! Already in August 2010! Well, my best excuse lately for not getting in here is that I’m working nights full-time now, and it sure is hard to get enough sleep during the day. I thought I’d be good at nights because of being a natural night-prowler anyway, and normally like to stay up very late and sleep half the day if I’m not working, but it seems staying up all night and sleeping all day is whole different “ball game.”
So anyway, here’s a little look at the nice, peaceful part of August where the parents live before the storms came along – some of Mom’s flower gardens in front of the house where the road traffic can look at them, which is where flowers ought to be, by the way. When you put a lot of hard work and imagination into the flower beds, they should be out where people can see a lot of them!
And here’s a closer look at the Morning Glories, late in the day, all closed up, and then, along came the big storm:
This oak tree had one of those double trunks, and the storm broke off the more northern half, which as you can see, has fallen into the landlord’s corn field, and broken off a bunch of the corn. The barn and silo in the background is at the neighbor’s across the road and up a little bit, and the next pictures will give you a better idea how large this piece of tree is that broke off.
You can’t even get a realistic idea of how much wood and brush there was in this broken piece until you get up close and start dragging away the broken limbs and see the leaves and twigs all over. Half of the limbs are hidden in the corn and behind other pieces of the down tree.
And here, some of the corn that was knocked down by the high winds in the fields on the south side of Mom and Dad’s lawns, at the Johnstone’s. Below, Dad’s little sweet corn and squash patch, all beat up the morning after.
And then it’s time to start the clean-up: You can see better, now that Dad’s next to the tree, that there’s going to be a lot of wood to clean up, and Dad’s not short – he used to be about 6′ 2″ in his younger days.
And, closer up, a “portrait” of Dad’s normal look for a good part of the summer and fall. He’s already been talking about how he’s ready for the snow to go away and the ground to dry up so he can get back out in the woods with that chain saw.
Just a small percentage of the wood and brush we had started to drag away, below. I don’t think the northeast parts of the lawn is quite as big as it looks here, but almost! It takes days to get it all mowed when you’re old and tired and can’t just mow all day long.
Below, one more shot of Jeff & Larry’s extra bonus winter wood supply under production. The entire 2 -3 acres of lawns were covered with little sticks and bunches of leaves and twigs. It took the rest of the summer to get the place looking halfway normal again, from a distance, that is. Close-up, like when you’re mowing, there’s probably still going to be leftover twigs and shriveled up leaves all over this year, if the mowers didn’t chew them up last year.
And, we’ll end up with a close-up of the tough hollyhocks in the front/west flower garden between the house and the road, which fortunately, survived quite nicely the same storm that took down the tree and littered the entire place with bits and pieces from all the trees.
Well, that’s enough for this time, moving forward to autumn 2010 in the next post. I’ll catch up sooner or later!
Tags: August 2010 Minnesota, Donald Anderson, Louis Emmanuel Nelson descendents, Minnesota storm, Ronda Anderson, Shirley Nelson Anderson
Hi folks,
Well, the weekend after the Family Reunion, as you may know, Mom had the mild stroke, and was so much better right off, that we went to Braham Pie Day the following Friday, I believe it was, next to the first weekend in August. There’s really not much there, but I do have a thing for the antique cars and trucks that are always there, and then a few of the vendor booths are somewhat interesting. So this booth contained native costumes of mostly Scandinavian peoples, and as you can imagine, took a lot of research.
So here’s all of the dolls together, and then below we’ll go in closer to get the country and sometimes, the exact region where each costume would have been typical of maybe a day at the fair or a local festival. I asked permission to photograph the dolls and put them up here, just in case you were wondering!
These, as you can see, are from the Dalarna region in Sweden, where some of our ancestors may have been from – the name sounds a little familiar. I always like colorful outfits, or home decor, or horses! As some of you may have noticed. (By looking at the “loud” colored Appaloosa horses, I mean! Nobody has seen my home-decor in a long time; the apartment is too tiny, cluttered, and messy for words!)
And here’s a nice, mostly blond, group from Norway, which seems to be using a lot more black in their costumes, but still adding plenty of colorful trim and other pieces with nice bright colors.
And, closer up, this girl and her little brother? maybe, are from the exact region in Norway, where some of our Anderson ancestors came from, specifically, great-grandma Ingrid “Agnes,” I believe. She had a half-brother named Haagen Haagenson, and there was much confusion for a while over her correct name. So thanks to “little” brother Larry’s diligent research with county historical societies, we now think we have it straight – she was born Ingrid Landmark, but she used the nickname Agnes, apparently, (more American sounding?) and her father’s name was Guldbrand Landmark, (her mother’s name was Kari Anderson!) so she started out life as a Landmark, then took the last name of her step-father, Samson. Then of course, married great-grandpa Anders/Andrew Anderson. So this may be how they dressed in her region for a special day in the village or town, except of course that Agnes came here to America as a baby or toddler, so it would have been maybe her mama Kari who would have actually worn something like this in the Oslo/Valdres region of Norway.
The girl in the long blue dress towards the left seems to have no label, and the identification on the center girl girl in red is not listed in my dictionary, but as you can see, the Danish must have liked a lot of white, at least on the girls, who could maybe keep it clean. The more unique looking costume on the right is identified as a “Sami” girl’s outfit. My dictionary says the “Sami” are “people of northern Scandinavia, Finland, and the Kola peninsula of northern Russia who are traditionally fishermen, nomadic herders of caribou, and hunters of sea mammals.”
And back around to a close-up of the Swedish and Norwegian costumes, with the Swedish girl in yellow and blue, colors of the Swedish flag.
I bought a little blue and gold/yellow bracelet, which I didn’t think of photographing earlier, but maybe I’ll throw it in later. So if these are so attractive that you want them as part of your home decor, and you have about $110 to spare, go to the creator’s website: www.scan-dolls.com, or call Anne Strootman in Maple Grove, MN at 763-424-4343.
Tags: dolls in Swedish costumes, Norwegian costumes, Scandinavian costumes, Swedish ethnic costumes
I know – it’s about time! I’ve just been working a lot – full time now, and completely absorbed in kind of a fascinating family tree! No, not ours, although the ancestry system did say that Sweden is contributing more old records from the churches recently, or soon. So who knows, there may be a few more Lars and Oles to add to the Swedish side of our family tree, too.
So, anyway, here we are at Sunday morning, Jul 25th, 2010. Aunt Kay did a special Sunday School class down in the tent for the women and girls, and the guys were elsewhere having their own class.
Then cousin Chuck and Uncle Howard led a little congregational singing, and recruited my barefoot brother Jeff at the last minute to play bass for them.
Howard preached for a regular church service after everyone came back together, and I was so drugged and lacking sleep because of my inflamed shoulders (from swimming on Saturday, when I knew better, but it was so hot!) that I failed to have enough disc space in my camcorder for the whole sermon and missed half of it. Thanks to Darla, once again, for these first 3 pictures.
On my way back up from the “big-top” church service, someone was posing Adam and Corey Patrick’s beautiful young family at the top of the hill, which seemed like a great photo op, so I quickly grabbed a couple shots myself – too bad we could have gotten all the family groups to line up like that and go down the row snapping family portraits! Adam is cousin Marjie’s oldest son/offspring with husband Ed. As you can see, I should have taken a little more time with such photogenic people.
And here’s a few shots of the original Nelson 5 and the current eldest generation at lunch – first we have Mom/Shirley, middle kid of the surviving 5 Nelsons, with Dad/Don Anderson on the left, and big brother Ray on Shirley’s right. That’s Howard’s youngest girl, cousin Naomi, talking to Mom there. And in the foreground, the ever-popular and much-coveted Croaking Frog Trophy accidentally getting into the picture again.
Then Ray again, (from Oregon) with elder of the clan, Uncle Howard, and his wife Diana. And if anyone thinks it’s mean to take pictures while people are eating, just be aware that these were taken by special request from one of the elders at the table! And truthfully, the idea had probably crossed my mind already, while they were all together in one spot again, and sort of a captive “audience,” or victim, I mean, subjects.
On this side of the table, Diana sitting next to Kay, with Uncle Lloyd telling his little sister Avis something important on his right side there.
And then Chuck distracts Aunt Avis from noticing my camera quite so much, so we got her and husband Gene. That’s cousin Chuck’s steady date/almost fiance on his right there. She became his wife less than two months later.
Then we’re all the way back around the table again to Mom/Shirley, Ray and Howard, so we’ll stop there with the lunch photos. Might have gotten better pictures with a faster/fancier camera. One of these days . . .
Above, here’s our middle sister Judy, my next-oldest sister Darla, and Judy’s husband Scott Rundle at the piano, entertaining and talking to Howard’s first wife’s sister Bonnie, in the snazzy lounge chair on wheels at the bottom left of the picture. Big Scott doesn’t let anyone sleep while he’s playing piano – he plays in a manner to keep you awake and tapping your toes! I should have run around and photographed Bonnie from the other angle, too, but I was maybe still drugged with ibuprofen and not feeling very lively.
Uncle Lloyd tries out the bass fiddle once more and regretfully, it’s time to pack up all our cars and vans and trucks, and head back to Minnesota, Florida, Illinois, Arizona, northern Wisconsin, Oregon, etc.
The weekend after this is when Mom had her mild stroke, but since I already did a post about that, I won’t do it again. About 5 days after her day and one night in the hospital, she was almost completely recovered, with very few and minimal leftover symptoms, thankfully, and we were off to Braham Pie Days – not real exciting, but I did find a nice big vendor stand there full of dolls dressed up like our Swedish and Norwegian ancestors might have been.
Well, I believe the next post will involve the dolls in costume, and there was even a pair of them wearing clothes from the exact region in Norway where our great-grandma Agnes Landmark/Samson/Anderson came from.
Tags: Louis Emmanuel Nelson descendents, Mabel Berg descendents
Well, here’s the whole bunch of us, 110 or so, all descendents of Louis Emmanuel Nelson, and Mabel Wilhelmina Berg, or those in-laws who helped to produce them. The hillside going down to the tent made a good natural “bleachers” set up, although, looking at it now, perhaps we should have allowed more space between rows!
The older generation in the front row is responsible for all those behind them! That would be Aunt Avis, youngest of the “Nelson 5″ 2nd from the left, with 2nd husband Gene on her right at the end of the row. Third from the left, Uncle Lloyd and his wife Kay. Next to Kay, Howard’s 2nd wife, Diana, and Howard, eldest of the pack. In the beard next to Howard is 2nd-oldest, Ray, currently of Oregon, then Mom (Shirley) and Dad, Don.
Now on to the special music of Saturday night under the “big-top:”
First Chuck and all of his 5 singers, with the red-haired young relatives appreciating the beat obviously, then Chuck joins all 5 of his older sisters for a couple tunes, below. That would be Jackie’s husband Dick over there behind Peggy, trying to adjust her microphone. The line-up below is, from the left: Jackie, Margie, Naomi, Cindy, then Chuck, and Peggy over there on the keyboard.
And then Uncle Howard got up to do one of his old favorite tunes,
”Dumb Ol’ Country Boy.”
And then he joined 5 of his 6 ”kids” for a tune, but I didn’t write down which song here. Peggy must have sat down to rest her foot, and her torn rotator cuff by this point, so Naomi took over at the keyboard.
Then, as long as they were all up, of course, we made Uncle Howard pose with all his kids: Not in order by age, but from the left: Naomi, Jackie, Peggy, Margie, Howard, Cindy, and Chuck.
And then we’re going forward with the Ole and Lena joke-telling contest – it’s a Swedish and Norwegian thing! They are unique stories and characters told with a Scandinavian accent if you can manage it. Good thing Darla was taking pictures during the jokes. I may have been moving around with the DVD camcorder.
I believe it was decided that Jackie won the joke-telling contest, although she may have had unfair advantage with cousin Peggy at the piano keyboard adding sound effects! Cousin Margie and Aunt Avis also told some good ones.
And below, the standard “cousin picture we always do when a bunch of us get together: There’s enough of us there, I won’t even put down all the names for now! Obviously, some of us weren’t quite ready to say “cheese!”
And, to top off the evening, there was even fireworks! Since my little camera has a special setting for fireworks that makes it kinda fun, here’s a few of those.
And that’s enough for this time – I just thought I better get back at it so I’d have one post to show for Dec! Next post, we’ll actually wrap up the Nelson Reunion, I think! There’s another bunch of Sunday pictures before we had lunch and some of us had to take off for the 6 – 8 hour drive back to MN.
Tags: Louis Emmanuel Nelson descendents, Mabel Berg Nelson descendents, Manny Nelson, Nelson Family Reunion
Hi folks,
Well, I think it’s time to drag all the older generation outside for the portrait session. Easier said, than done, by the way! Some of us (okay, it was me!) kept wanting them to each grab their favorite instrument for part of the session as well, (and give Avis a radio or something to “play,”) since she was the only one who never took to a shiny piece of pretty wood with strings attached to it. I must say they were somewhat resistant to suggestions that “now” would be a good time and were so obstreperous at times, and making excuses about Howard’s strength level, we just couldn’t manipulate them into a more interesting portrait and had to give up on the idea and settle for what we could get!
So here’s the eldest living generation of Nelsons, all 5 of the siblings who survived to adulthood: From the left – in order by age: Howard (of Wisconsin), Reynold (of Oregon), Shirley/Mom (of east central MN), Lloyd (of Phoenix), and Avis, also of MN.
And here they are, posing for someone else’s camera, obviously; there were quite a lot of us out there snapping away! Thankfully, Uncle Howard has gained weight and strength since these were taken!
And right here, someone may have made a smart remark about green socks or maybe smelly feet?
And here’s a couple of Darla’s which I like better than most of mine, with a few spouses added in: On the left, there is Diana, Howard’s wife, and center – sitting on Lloyd, his wife Kay, and on the right end, Avis’s husband, Gene.
And the last one, back to the original Nelson 5. If Vahdah had survived, she would have been in between Ray and Mom. Next we’ll grab a few candids.
Below is cousin Sandy, #2 of Avis’s brood, and her husband, Jim. They were posing for someone else, of course, and I happened along and grabbed a shot.
And here’s Uncle Lloyd again with a good old-fashioned bass fiddle, one of the several stringed instruments he’s picked up and learned to play over the years (like his brothers and a couple nephews). The Nelson players are usually concentrating on their playing and sober-faced, playing the songs they all know, or jumping in and playing by ear, but they never, or seldom, sing, which drives me crazy! (And makes it harder to keep track of the where they are in the song.)
And here he is again, taking advantage of someone else’s music to grab sister Avis and twirl a little!
Below we have one of Cousin Chuck’s many beautiful flower arrangements, along with our famous, or infamous, “Croaking Frog Award,” given out at each Nelson family reunion to the Most Improved Musician, (since the last reunion). I believe one of Howard’s girls found this treasure years ago at a garage sale or something similar. It was first given at a 1994 reunion at a lake campground in Minnesota, if memory serves me correctly.
And here, obviously someone asked George the thirsty cat to pose with the prestigious trophy in hopes of catching some reflected glory.
And below, the winner is: Emmanuel David, aka “Manny,” cousin Chuck’s 2nd son, then 14. He may have won the award on the basis of his banjo playing, in addition to singing with the rest of his remarkable family in a very professional manner. You’ll see more of them in the upcoming Saturday night tent-meeting photos.
So next post, we’ll be moving along to the Saturday night program in the tent set up down-hill from the mansion, which included a too-short concert by the Nelson cousins, and a short one by cousin Chuck and kids, followed by the Sven and Ole joke-telling contest, and even some fireworks.
Tags: Howard Nelson, Louis Emmanuel Nelson, Mabel Berg descendents, Nelson Family Reunion
Here we are back at the pond again, and carrying on with Saturday afternoon at the reunion. I do believe that’s cousin Chuck in mid-air – what do ya think; is he going for a somersault or a belly flop, or does he have time for a proper dive?
And here’s one of the cutest poses of the whole reunion – someone gave Aunt Avis’s 5 girls the idea to manhandle Uncle Lloyd. My vote’s on Darcy, or maybe that sometimes-mischevious looking cousin Sandy! Anyway, it looks like they were having fun, and I have no idea where I was at the time; maybe helping the pinto horse give rides out by the barn.
On Uncle Lloyd’s brainy end, that’s Avis’s oldest daughter, Kathy, 2nd from the left is Kim (#4 of Avis’s kids), center is Sandy (#2), next is Darcy, youngest of the girls at #6 (a school-teacher in Connecticut), and on the far right, Shari (#4) of the 8 kids Aunt Avis gave birth to with her first husband, the late Arthur “Bud” Krone. And here’s an old picture of Bud, just so you can see if these goofy girls resemble their parents at all!
Well, it’s not so much a picture as it is a “screen snag” from old family movies transferred to DVD. This is from a 1971 Nelson Reunion at our farm near Quamba, MN or 7 miles roughly, east/northeast of Mora. I like this because of Bud’s resourcefulness at finding a place to sit when there was a lot of people around and all the chairs were used up. If you’re a farmer, you just find a clean wheelbarrow, tip it down onto the handles and there you are with a whole extra “chair!”
Okay – back to Wisconsin; here’s cousin Chuck, and his then-girlfriend/almost fiance, now his wife, Jackie, a nice Cuban lady from Florida who had also lost a spouse in the past (or 2 in her case) and certainly understood what Chuck and the kids had been going through.
And here’s some more people shots from the tar driveway area leading down to the barn and the motor-home parking area:
And then a few more relatives wandered down there, apparently, and got posed along with these three: From the left, that’s one of Christopher’s cousins I think, from his Mom’s side of the family, who came along from MN, and then Christopher, and in the other wheelchair, cousin Peggy, who’s now recovering from torn-rotator cuff surgery after a fall from being off-balance with her heavy cast on that foot! (Good thing she’s a nurse and knows all the best surgeons in the area!) And in the back row, from the left: Lloyd’s oldest daughter, Robin, then Avis’s youngest son, Michael, and Michael’s “big” sister, Kathy. In the white t-shirt, my brother Jeff, his childhood partner-in-crimes they will never live down – Lloyd’s only son, Ron (of Phoenix) and Marjie who didn’t see the cameras clicking, presumably.
What are those childhood crimes, you might be wondering now? Well, the main one we remember best had something to do with a pretty white cat being dipped in a pale of used oil that Dad had left sitting out. Guess they thought she needed some spots or something.
And here’s Jeff again, possibly giving Christopher some driving instructions for the 4-wheeler. He might be a bit small for driver’s training, but what the heck; he can’t do any worse than ol’ Larry (flipping one in the swamp!)
And below, cousin Cindy’s preacher husband, Steve, giving a ride to his sister-in-law Naomi’s red-headed twin granddaughters on the wide expanse of lawn behind the house. The girls are Chloe and Eden. Looks like they were getting a ride up to lunch or something from the pond.
And that should be enough for this post – next time, we’ll see the elder “Nelson 5″ pictures and the Croaking Frog award!
Tags: Howard Nelson descendents, Louis Emmanuel Nelson descendents, Mabel Berg Nelson descendents
Well, here we are with a couple of Darla’s pictures again that were fun: First we have a couple of nice girls on the swings down at the playground near the lower pond. Their names are Avis, left, and Mom – Oops, I mean – Shirley on the right. Shirley is 5 years older than Avis, who is the other only surviving girl in the family. They lost a sister born in 1929, previously mentioned in the Family History category. She was Vahdah Elaine and was the victim of spinal meningitis just past the age of 3, in 1932. Mom was born only months later in a snowstorm, the winter of 1933. So the Nelson girls hadn’t been swinging for a while and took advantage of the fun stuff while they were there. As you can see, the Wisconsin weather was hot, stormy, and steamy this summer, too, but the excess rain held off until overnight.
Shirley has tire swings at home, and one regular swing hanging from a tree branch, but I haven’t see her on them, so maybe she only gets inspired to swing when she’s with her little sister.
Below, it would appear that brother Jeff has hoisted cousin Danny’s youngest offspring, Christopher, up, for a lift to the pond to cool off. It was pretty hot and humid through the whole reunion, so the ponds were well used and appreciated. Christopher was the victim of a difficult birth and nearly died, so he gets around normally with the aid of a set of wheels powered by an electric motor. That’s Jeff with Christopher’s legs sticking out behind cousin Kim in the black shirt. Kim is such a good aunty, she brought him from Minnesota with one or two of the other kids in the family, and one of her own, and took care of them all weekend with only whatever volunteer help she could pick up here and there. She lives in CT, so got in her share of road time this summer.
And there’s Aunty Kim taking a break from behind her fancy new camera, and helping Christopher to cool off while somebody else mans the shutter buttons.
And these below may have been Kim behind the camera again – I “borrowed” quite a few pictures of people and fun stuff (from Facebook!) that neither Darla nor I managed to get on our own memory cards. (Too many relatives, can’t get around to all of them in one weekend and catch everything cute and fun yourself!) So thanks to cousins Peggy, Jackie, and Kim for the water related pictures above and below!
I gotta get a camera like that! And check out the beginnings of a fancy dive below – that would be one of cousin Marjie’s dark-haired grandsons; judging by the size, I’m going to guess it’s Breck, the middle one:
And here’s some of the other kids enjoying horse and pony rides, courtesy of Chuck’s oldest daughter Vanessa, in the green shirt, hidden behind the pinto pony on the right. That’s cousin Marjie, center, in the peachy-colored shirt and white britches, helping her niece Vanessa run the riding “concession” and it was she who helped with acquiring most or all of the equines on the place. She keeps a pretty dapple gray mare at home called Telly, who’s at least part Kentucky Mountain Horse, one of the gaited breeds with ultra-glide smoothness.
And here’s a better shot of Vanessa with one of her younger cousins, once removed, in the saddle, or we could just say it’s her older cousin’s daughter. Love the wide open spaces and farm country with nothing but corn and hay fields for close neighbors!
And below, young Christopher gets in on the riding also; that’s cousin Marjie on the left after serving as a sidewalker, and yours truly on the lead. (Must have been a little breezy; our hair isn’t exactly where it belongs!) We told Chris to yell when he’d had enough, but he never did say ’nuff, so we got our exercise that day, only stopping for the bank of photographers waiting to get his photo on horseback, kind of a rare event. (That’s leopard appaloosas on my t-shirt, in case you can’t tell!)
Other entertainments on Saturday afternoon included a Rook tournament, and that’s the seldom seen cousin Ron of Phoenix, (only son and 2nd child of Uncle Lloyd and wife Kay) in the center, and cousin Chuck’s oldest boy, Jared, on the right. Lloyd and Kay are just above his head, and that might be Ron’s wife, Shawna in the lower left corner. The lady standing up in the background talking to Kay is a relative of a relative or a family friend whose name I did not write down.
And below, more rook players - on the bottom right, cousin Peggy, her husband Larry in the bottom left corner, Uncle Howard’s wife Diana looking in over Larry’s head, and seated, in the yellow top, aunt Kay, then Avis’s 4th daughter (cousin Kim) in the black blouse, and Uncle Lloyd, dealing the cards. Again, check out the huge lawns and fields out back of the house. This is the lower level patio complete with lunch counter, where we did eat lunch that day.
And a little bit later in the afternoon, I happened to walk by the upper pool or Cee-ment pond, and saw cousin Jackie, center, and her husband Dick on the far right, and a few assorted friends and relatives, perfectly posed already, chillin’ out and having a gab session in the waterfall. I said, “If you will sit and pose like that, people Will come by with cameras and do what comes naturally.” Down front on the left side, that’s their only daughter Anna (who survived being raised with 4 older brothers). Far left and one rock up from Anna is one of her older brothers, Joseph/”Joe,” and in between him and Jackie is Joe’s longtime girlfriend, Larrisa Brayton. In between Jackie and Dick is daughter-in-law, Courtney, Phil’s wife.
So I think that’s enough for today, and we’ll carry on with more lunch and Sat. afternoon pictures next time. Feel free to make a comment, or send a note by e-mail especially if it turns out that I needed help to get everyone identified correctly!
Tags: Lloyd Nelson, Louis Emmanuel Nelson descendents, Mabel Berg descendents, Reynold Nelson, Shirley Nelson Anderson
Have you ever wondered why so many of us are suffering and dropping like flies from cancers? One of the answers to that question might become apparent if you’ve ever read the ingredients on the back of your shampoo bottle. Don’t leave out the conditioner, shower gel, bubble bath, or styling gels and sprays. Even if you took home the prettiest bottles from a health food/organic store, all decorated with beautiful berries, fruit and flowers, you’d best check out those ingredients.
There’s a long list of toxic ingredients you might find, but it doesn’t take a lot to memorize the worst or most often used toxic chemicals; sodium laurel sulphate (SLS), diethanolamine (DEA), triethanolamine (TEA), propylene glycol, fluoride, and alcohol are among the toxic contaminants identified by experts as known or suspected carcinogens that can be found in ordinary personal care products. For a more complete list of toxic stuff that goes into your personal care products, food, and home furnishings, look at the Toxic Ingredients list under the Health / Anti-Aging title in the Pages (my left column of widgets).
According to Neways chemist, Dr. Cole Woolley, these toxins will easily enter your body through the skin. Once in your bloodstream, carcinogens can be oxidized and accumulate in fatty tissues and cells. Once there, they may damage a cell’s genetic program by altering its DNA chain. After the damage is done, the cell will either die, or reprogram itself into a cancer cell, a non-functional cell that replicates at faster rates than other cells. “The growing mass of nonfunctional cells can turn into a cancerous growth,” Woolley says. As the mass enlarges, it crowds and affects other cells and organs, causing pain, other symptoms, and of course, death.
Consumer advocate Ralph Nader confirms, “These toxic chemicals don’t have to be in our personal care products,” (but uncaring, greedy corporate bosses continue to poison unsuspecting consumers with dangerous ingredients because they are cheap and can create the look, feel, and smell of something that will enhance your hair and health, rather than destroying it.)
According to an October 1999 article in Sierra magazine, the U.S. government has failed to appropriately regulate the manufacture and use of synthetic chemicals. “Only 3% of 75,000 commercial chemicals used today have been tested for safety,” and remember, that quote is 11 years old. There must be thousands more by now.
In support of the Neways “Mission to Conquer Carcinogens,” I urge you all to take 3 minutes and look at all your bottles in the bathroom. If you find bad things on the list, please ask yourself how much it’s worth to be healthy and pain-free. A few dollars more and you hair will likely be healthier and younger looking, too.
Check the organic stores near you, or if you like to do your shopping in the chair by your computer, just click on the Neways link (upper right “widgets” column), and check out the Personal Care section. Again – use my member number (0183), and sign up as a preferred customer for best prices.
If you’re follicley-challenged, try the “2nd Chance” shampoo, conditioner, and super-booster drops. Normal hair owners, order Ultimate; for dry or curly, permed, or damaged hair, go for the Silken, with moisture-rich wheat amino acids and other mild botanicals. (That’s the older-style bottle on the left.)
I bet you’re wondering how I got the lake to tilt like that for the 1st picture – it wasn’t easy!)
While you’re detoxing your hair-care supply, consider the Replenishing Mist (for a little extra manageability, and of course as the name suggests, to replenish the natural moistures), and look at the Refresh shower gel (very gentle on your most sensitive parts!), and if you like to soak away the aches and pains occasionally, or de-stress, and come out smelling like gardenias, order some Indulge bubble bath.
If you’re a fan of essential oils, there’s a whole line of those, too, but if you’re just beginning, please order a guide to essential oils, or do some other research before using. Some of them are “hot” or strong and will “burn” your skin if used without dilution. Personally, I love to put a few drops of orange, lemon or grapefruit oil in my shampoo and conditioner, or put it into other skin care products, even the Subdue deodorant, and use it like a little perfume. Essential oils have many naturally occuring chemicals, and can have several effects on the human body, emotional as well as physiological; for instance, orange oil may give you feelings of joy and generosity as well as being beneficial for your bronchial system, and grapefruit is supposed to be an appetite suppresent. (I should use a lot of that!)
You’ll nearly have your whole bathroom detoxified with just a few of the aforementioned toxin-free products, created by the world’s foremost chemists and researchers, so pat yourself on the back for reducing the cancer-risk factors in your world. Order yourself a catalog, too, there’s so much good information in them.
(Ignore the following statement in black):
A trial brigade fumes above the load.
(That’s just to identify my blog for a potential future opportunity to make a few pennies writing posts for other people or companies.)
And, for numerous books on many health-related issues, go to www.credence.org and look at British health researcher Philip Day’s huge body of work in support of our health and longevity. He does lecture tours all over the world, and I’ve heard him personally at least 3 times. I love his philosophies and the research he’s done into past cancer cures, which of course are squashed down by pharmaceutical companies. Look for a great book called “Cancer: Why We’re Still Dying to Know the Truth.” Read and spread the news around to everyone you care about.
Next post: Back to the Nelson Reunion
Tags: harmful chemicals, Health, Healthier shampoo, healthy personal care, Toxic ingredients
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