Rest in Peace - Katherine Holmes

I just heard the bad news today from Stevie that our Grandma Katherine Holmes has passed away this afternoon. I don't know any more details than that, but just thought I would share with everyone so that they can pray for the family. She will be greatly missed. We love you Grandma.

Here she is in a light moment a few years ago with Grandpa DeWayne.

Hanging on for dear life...

Last fall we dug up our rhubarb and moved it out of the way before the garage work started. For eight months, we've had pallets loaded with bricks out behind the garage. Today our neighbor started moving them, and I discovered this sad little rhubarb plant still alive under the wood and bricks.

Qapla'!

Matt's friend George said he saw a reference to MrKlingon.org in the May 2008 Reader's Digest, so I had to check it out - and there it WAS! As part of "What's Your America IQ?" by Andy Simmons, there was a section of famous quotes to identify. To make it hard, each quote was run through an online translator, in this case my "Universal Translator Assistant." Here it is - Lt. Worf channeling Patrick Henry.

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday, Mae and Ingrid!

Matt, Janelle, and Maizie

Happy Birthday Mae & Ingrid!

Happy Birthday Mae & Ingrid! I hope you both had a wonderful birthday!

Almost done...

We're almost done with the garage project, although we still have to have the floor re-poured because of problems with the mix. But it's nice to have a real fence and gate instead of an orange plastic snow fence to squeeze through!

Happy birthday

Happy 32nd birthday, Peter!

Plans

Hi,
Good to read that Maria is home now.
Lots of stuff happening. I'll be celebrating my 2nd Mother's Day on Sunday. Yay.
Matt, Maizie, and I are going to San Francisco May 20-25. I'm going for a work conference, and Maizie will get to stay with her grandparents. Looking forward to the trip.
It will be 6 years for Matt and me on May 25. Wow.
My brother and Jen have set a wedding date....Nov. 2 in Leesburg, Virginia.
That is the other big trip we're planning.

Have a good spring!
Janelle

happy LIVth birthday!

Happy birthday, Mom!

Please pray for Maria

For updates on Maria's condition, please go to:

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/mariaanderson

promotion

Hey Family.
I just found out today that I got a promotion and I will not only be teaching yoga and powerflow (a yoga/pilates fusion class) again in the fall, but I am UW's new mind-body coordinator! I'm basically just going to be leading trainings, meetings and doing scheduling. I'm pretty pumped.
Get well, Maria! I'm thinking of you,
Liv

Maybe Spring is here...

Sunrise 4/4/08

Sunrise 4/4/08, originally uploaded by onebigswede.

Beautiful sunrise this morning in Shakopee. Spring is here (I hope?)!

Easter dress

Should we redesign the blog?

Happy Easter!

Silent Movie Night 2008!

Friday night was the annual silent movie night at our local library. It's always a fun night and Norris does a great job playing the piano.

This year was a bit crazy - we added in some movies from a DVD (as well as the regular old 16mm movies) which made things a little complicated. When we got there we discovered that WCCO radio had advertised the show, leading to an even more packed house than usual. Finally, just before the show started, a cameraman from Channel 4 showed up, and wandered around poking his camera at Norris and members of the audience - all to add 30 seconds of a report to the evening news. Here it is: http://wcco.com/video/?id=38721@wcco.dayport.com

San Francisco in February

Maria and I just returned from our trip to San Francisco. I flew there for work a week ago thursday, and Maria joined me on Saturday. We had a great time checking out the sights, enjoying the beautiful weather, and eating all the wonderful food. I think we can now say that San Francisco is one of our favorite vacation locations. I'm sure we'll be back.

Here's a picture of us at Union Square in downtown San Francisco:

Garage update

As some people were asking about the status of our McGarage, I thought I'd post a picture. The garage was built in 5 days early in Janaury, but we had to wait until last week for my Mission-style lights to be installed. In the spring, it will be painted white and the fence will be reinstalled. As it is so big and has so many outlets, perhaps we can hold the next Anderson get-together there.

California Dreamin'...

... on such a winter day as this one when we're heading far below zero, here's a slideshow of pictures from our recent trip to California. I can't say it was warm while we were there, but it was far warmer than what we're enjoying this weekend!



This a set of pictures I took with my cellphone - Teresa took more (and better pictures) with the REAL camera.

Another accident!?

On my way home from work on Monday, I got into a bit of a fender bender. I was waiting at a stoplight when traffic started to move. I started moving as well. I looked down just long enough to change the radio station, and when I looked up, the Jeep in front of me had slammed on their brakes. I slammed on mine as well, but it was too late. I slid into them, their tail hitch going through my bumper, and the rest of the front of my car sliding underneath their bumper. It wasn't a very hard collision, but it was enough to cause a bunch of damage.

I brought my car into our local collision shop, "Body by Bob", and they fixed it in time for me to get it back tonight. Here is the result:



So, no more changing radio stations when starting off from a stoplight!

Trip report

We had a good time in Southern California, but it's nice to be home. We all got along surprisingly well (4 adults being together 24/7) but it was disappointingly cold. We visited Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure, L.A. (Hollywood, Griffith Observatory, Norton Simon Art Museum, Farmer's Market, Dali exhibit at LACMA, and "Wicked" at the historic Pantages Theatre), and Balboa Park at San Diego. We also drove to Long Beach to have dinner with Matt, Janelle, and Maizie, Janelle's parents and grandmother. Here we are--not at Disneyland--but at the minigolf course on one of the warmer days.

Hope everyone had a great Christmas!

Christmas has come and gone, and the new year will be here soon! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas, both here in the Twin Cities and elsewhere!



Maria and I had a wonderful weekend - we attended the Nutcracker Suite at the State Theater here in Minneapolis on Saturday. I have fond memories of going to the Nutcracker with Grandpa Anderson when I was younger, and because of that I've always loved going to see it every few years. The performance wasn't as good as in past years, but nonetheless we had a very nice time enjoying the beautiful music and dancing.


Here's to a wonderful 2008!

Scroogical

Babysitting Maizie

Joel and I stayed with Maizie last night while Matt and Janelle went to "Scrooge: A Musical." Maizie was quite entertaining and walked around like a drunken sailor. Here she is enjoying her reflection.

Be careful out there!

Accident, originally uploaded by onebigswede.

Just thought I would update everyone on a little adventure that Maria had last night.

Maria was on her way home last night from work on Pioneer Trail in Eden Prairie when someone pulled out in front of her without looking, and she was forced to brake quickly, and steer into the ditch to avoid a collision. Maria hit the shoulder hard in a puff of snow. She was shaken up, but was otherwise ok. Her car, however, was buried deep in a ditch, resting at a bit of an angle. She wasn't even able to get out of the car until her parents arrived on scene to help her out.

Maria's father and I went back to the scene a few hours later to get the car towed out of the ditch, and to make sure the car would still run. Luckily there is only some minor damage to the vehicle - and it ran just fine.

Thank God Maria wasn't injured in the crash and nobody else was hurt either. It could have been a lot worse! It's starting to seem like the Andersons are a bit accident prone?! Click the picture above to see other photos of the scene.

Murray Rocks! (Unplugged)

Tonight (11/28) was Murray Night at the Har Mar Barnes and Nobles!! We went to do our part to support Murray - and catch the great acts.

Here's Matt accompanying one of the MJHS students during the Murray Rock band(s) segment of the evening.

elbow

So, I fractured both my elbows today riding my bike. If you want the whole story check out my blog...
-liv

Happy Birthday Maizie!!

maizie!

Baby Maizie---It's your birthday!!! Rock on!
Your Favorite Cousin,
Liv

Happy 1st Birthday, Maizie!

Click here for some pictures from Maizie's party!

We're Number 12!

Check out this article at the New York Times online:

In Name count, Garcias are catching up to the Joneses

There is a cool little program that lets you type in last names and see how common they are (and also an article beneath it). Anderson is the 12th most common surname. I bet you guys in Minnesota can believe it!

Uff Da!

We had a great time at Dan and Sharon's church, Immanuel Lutheran, for their annual Lutefisk Dinner. Here's a picture of almost-one-year-old Maizie enjoying her lefse!

Correction

Hi,
Maizie's birthday is Nov. 20, not Nov. 21.
Thanks!
Janelle :)

Wedding

So when is the wedding, Liv? :)

JTA

no!!

Oh no! Now my dream wedding would seem way less original. I've always hoped to get married at the Como Zoo. Although, not just the reception, and definitely not by anything water dwelling.
-liv

Peter & Maria at a friend's wedding

Peter & Maria @ Nate & Emily's Wedding, originally uploaded by onebigswede.

Last weekend Maria's friend Emily was married to her now husband Nathan. They had a beautiful ceremony at Wooddale Church in Eden Prairie, and with a reception following at the Minnesota Zoo. Yes, you read that right, the Minnesota Zoo.

The reception was held in the aquarium area at the Zoo, so the reception was surrounded on all sides by dolphins, shark tanks, and all sorts of exotic marine life.

The head table was situated right in front of the dolphin tank so every once in a while, when you were looking up at the wedding party, a dolphin would swim behind the bride and groom. It was a beautiful effect.

Who would have thought a reception at the zoo could be so much fun?

November 7

Garage yet again: 3:00, November 1

At least Koko has a snow fence!

Garage again: 9:00 am, November 1

Soon to be the Taj Mahal

After discovering rotten studs in our 79-year-old garage, we decided to take the plunge and have a new one built. It will be a treat to have a floor that doesn't resemble the surface of the moon and a garage door that doesn't have to be opened with brute force. We had to clean out everything that couldn't pass as "building materials" and it looked pretty sad, as you can see. It was supposed to be torn down today but no one showed up--perhaps they thought it would blow down in the strong wind without any assistance. We'll keep you posted!

all hallow's eve

Madison's wins. Although the man completely coopted Halloween this year. Not only did the police charge admission for access to State Street, it was officially called "Mountain Dew Presents Freakfest."
My friends and I had our event the day before "Mountain Dew Presents Freakfest," but it was still pretty crazy. I included the pretty adorable picture of my roommate and I as Lucy & Ethel.
Last night (the official MDPF) I babysat on Madtown's East side and coming home was like going through a war zone. Pretty crazy stuff...
-liv

Mum's the word

What's the wilder Halloween celebration--UW-Madison's or our next-door-neighbor's? Here we are before setting out to Barb's party. Liv had a lot of leftover gauze from her surgery this summer!

obamarama

Hey family! I know that we try to keep politics off the ol' family blog. But how bout put this under the "celebrity meetings" category rather than politics.
Today I went to an Obama rally and it was pretty awesome and I shook his hand! For photos check out my political/craftacular/hiphopsical blog.
That's all.
-liv

Fun with rockets....

I was inspired by the recent flights at PlasterBlaster of an X-Wing and Y-Wing. (click here to see) So here's my attempt to create a flying X-Wing out of paper:




(I'll confess - the real X-Wing did not fly very well. The stunt doubles for the main flights are conventional three-finned rockets.)

Apple Festival in Bayfield Wisconsin

Bayfield, Wisconsin, originally uploaded by onebigswede.

Maria and I went to the Bayfield Apple Festival on the southern shore of Lake superior this past weekend for a little fun and relaxation, and possibly to see some beautiful fall colors as well.

The entire weekend was a bit chilly, and it was extremely foggy the entire time as well. We still managed to have a great time, eat lots of delicious food, and to even catch a peek of some pretty leaves.

When we left Bayfield it was about 50 degrees and windy. By the time we got home the temperature had risen to 80 degrees. Go figure. Oh well, we still had a good time!

North Shore

Joel and I just returned from three days near Grand Marais. We had a good time (as usual) although the weather was not ideal. We spent a lot of time playing Trivial Pursuit on Tuesday as it poured from about 1:00 on. This picture was taken from the top of Mount Rose overlooking the fort at Grand Portage, shortly before the storm began.

Happy Happy Birthday Birthday

Happy birthday, Lynda & Tom - I hope you each have a wonderful day on this 24th day of September. And Janelle, I hope your birthday was a very happy day as well. The Anderson family's last post was the day before your birthday, so I guess I'm the first to say it via the blog. And on the 27th - Paul, have a great birthday. I'm going by train to Illinois on Wednesday. I hope to see you all in October.

blog

Hey family! I just thought I'd let you all know that I have a new blog (still at www.livvii.com). It's about crafts and cooking and stuff.
Yep. That's all. Oh, and I have a store, too.
Bye fam-fam!

9/11 A day for remembrance.

Our day at the fair

We had a great time at the fair today, eating all sorts of assorted foods - anything from deep fried and breaded spam curds, to a huge basket of french fries. Of course, i also got an overflowing cone full of sweet martha's cookies as well. We're both feeling the pain now - we ate way too much. But hey, it only comes once a year - right?.

 

What I did on my summer vacation

* Take care of Maizie
* Watch Maizie grow. She's 9 months old now!
* Watch her learn to creep, sit, pull up, say "da da", eat simple solids
* Nurse. And more nursing.
* Cook dinner. Feed Maizie.
* Play with Maizie.
* Try to sleep.

Janelle :)

Pete and Maria - 6 Years Later

Pete and Maria - 6 Years Later, originally uploaded by onebigswede.

You're right Teresa, we haven't been putting much on the blog lately. Sooooo.......here we are at the spot where I asked Maria to marry me, but 6 Years later - 8/11/07. We got engaged on - 8/11/01. We always find it easy to remember the day we got engaged because it was exactly one month before 9/11.

Doesn't anyone else have anything to contribute to this blog?

Saving money, but not time...

One day Liv and I were walking through Rosedale and saw some beautiful embroidered clothes in the Baby Gap window. Unfortunately, they were not only expensive, they were a little small for us. So Liv took a couple pictures with her cell phone, we bought two jean jackets at Goodwill, and set out to create our own masterpieces. Here are the results.

Swedes into Space!

Last week I was asked to show rocket launching to some neighborhood kids for their Science Club activity. One of the things I used was "Air Rockets" (click here for details). Here's a gathering of some Andersons trying out the rockets near Matt and Janelle's house.



Click here to see the video
or the full version here.

Shall we dance?

Insulted on our anniversary

Joel and I went to see the latest Harry Potter movie last night to celebrate our 32nd anniversary. We were entering the theater behind a 20-something couple when the guy kiddingly slapped his girlfriend on her rear. They turned around somewhat embarrassed and the young woman said, "It's okay. They probably were feisty back in the day too."

Joel kept saying "By cracky!" in a quavery voice the rest of the night.

The Cousins

The Cousins, originally uploaded by onebigswede.

We attended the wedding of our cousin Jennifer Holmes this weekend to her new husband, Joel Johnson. We all had a good time, the food was great, the music was stupendous (thanks to the anderson fiddlers). Here's a picture of all the Anderson/Holmes Cousins.

Back Home

Hey family! I'm back home after a month in Boston and a little under a week in DC. I had a awesome 4th in the capital. Here is a picture of me with my favoritest person:

I saw the parade and fireworks and lots of museums. I stayed at a hostel and met some fun people from around the world, including a French-Canadian who is making his way across the US and Canada all summer, planning on covering 14,000 km of this continent---including coming through Minneapolis later this summer.
Well, that's all. Love you!

Pool Party

We had a great time over at Maria's parents house on Saturday for a little pool party. They were gracious hosts, had tons of great food, and the afternoon was sunny and warm - perfect for an afternoon in the pool. Here we are playing volleyball in the shallow end.

 

Take Me Out to the Ball Game!

At tonight's Twins vs. Blue Jays game, "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" was lead by the 'Washington Senators' from the Damn Yankees production Norris is in this summer. (If you click on this picture of the Jumbotron, you can see Norris in the upper left)

Pete & Maria - 5th Anniversary

Pete & Maria - Riviera Docks, originally uploaded by onebigswede.

Maria and I just got back from a short vacation in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin for our 5th anniversary. We had a great time eating out, going for a boat tour, and seeing the Yerkes Observatory on Lake Geneva. You can view our pictures here..

Saturday morning jaunt

After reading about the Mill City farmer's market in the paper this week, Joel and I decided to check it out. I was especially interested in the homemade mini doughnuts. We took the bus to the Metrodome stop and walked to the market. Unfortunately, it was extremely busy (guess other people read the newspaper) and many food vendors were either sold out or had very long lines, including the mini doughnut stand. Joel toured the Guthrie and its 'endless bridge' which he had not seen before. We then walked across the Stone Arch Bridge and found our way to the newly opened Water Power Park (accompanying picture is taken from there). Deciding it didn't make sense to backtrack to the Metrodome stop, we ended up walking all the way from St. Anthony Main to the University of Minnesota to catch a Como Avenue bus back home (we could have caught a connecting bus on University Avenue if Joel hadn't been in a Dunn Brothers buying iced coffee when it went by). But Joel did want to bike in the first place, so he gets credit for that.

Patio nears completion

On friday we had carpenter come out and build a set of stairs down from our sliding patio door. We now have a beautiful set of cedar stairs, a fire pit and a new patio set which makes the new patio almost complete. Only a couple of finishing touches (staining the stairs) and we'll be done!

 

Bahhston.

Hey Fam. I'm chillin' in Boston taking two international public health classes at Boston University. It's pretty sweet. This week we went on two field trips for one of my classes and we saw a lot of cool community based health initiatives. Plus the one we went to today has a tight charter school that they run that is just amazing. And the school invited us to attend their hip-hop opera that they are performing on Sunday, so a bunch of us are going to go. It's called "In Chains, We Lay This Rose" and it's "a hip hop chronicle of race, class, and prisons in the American Labor Movement." How cool is that?!? Plus we watched a cool documentary that Harvard made about this school. Oh, and the Irish Minister of Education has called it the best school in the nation and possibly the world. How cool!

Oh, and Maizie, I met two babies about your age today. They were twins and being brought in by their dad to the health clinic for their 6 month checkup today. They were adorable and stopped our tour for about 5 minutes while all the people oohed and ahhed. The dad seemed unsure of what to do with all the attention from us and all the nurses. Just thought you'd like to know, Maizie.
Here is my school:
Although I am not cool enough to be in that building (the School of Public Health) since that is only for the administration and what not.






Here is where I spend my time:


(The Medical Instruction Building)






Well, that's all for now. I'll tell you more about all my pinko commie adventures in public health. Just kidding. It's totally capitalist. In fact, for my less liberal family members you'll be glad to know, we worked on a model in class of how to promote market capitalist and career training into refugee camps. Yay!

Shakopee Sunset

We had a beautiful sunset last night down here in Shakopee - thought i'd share it with you.