Swan City

Last Sunday Maria and I drove out to Monticello, MN to see the 900+ trumpeter swans that winter there. Apparently the water there doesn't freeze in the winter, because of a nearby nuclear plant. This makes the spot ideal for the birds to stay there during the cold months. We had a good time watching the birds, taking pictures and listening to their constant trumpeting. See more pictures here

well thanks to everyone who came to my birthday party today. we were few, but we had a lot of fun eating pizza and cake, and playing beyond balderdash. today a couple of you asked me what classes I was going to be taking this next semester, and I answered honestly saying that I didnt really know. I am up so late right now because I have been busy registering for classes(and working on the puzzle of course). so here is the update: I am currently registered for Philosophy of Art, Christian Ethics and African American History from 1865. that is 12 credits right there, and I am planning on registering for some math class to fill out the rest of my schedule. last semester I took Dialogue I(north park's required freshman english class), intro to the bible, intro to the computer, physics of light and studies in literature. I "earned" a 3.55 gpa, and while I dont necessarily think that that is too bad, I am hoping to do a little better next semester. north park really isn the most rigorous school in the country, it's actually a lot like high school. well thats all for now from this 19 year old anderson. amen

Happy Birthday, Stevie!

  
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             _-    | )     \    |__/   \   \  
             _-         )   |   |  |     \  \  
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(I looked for an ascii-art picture that reminded me of Stevie...

Well, except for the hair... )

Fiesta time

Koko hates hats, but I bought this adorable miniature sombrero at Unique Thrift and managed to have him balance it on his head one nanosecond while I snapped a picture.

Sliding into the New Year!

We joined some friends at the Roseville Oval for a New Years Eve party - kind of daring since we'd probably been off the ice for ten years! But we had a great time, and even got a nice picture out of it!

We visited my Uncle Dick at his new assisted living apartment out in Eagan tonight and had 14 people jammed into the small private dining room for dinner. The 60ish waitress asked everyone's name as she took their order and I whispered to Liv that she'd better make up a new name that would be understandable. But when she answered, "Liv," the woman said, "Like Liv Tyler?"

After dinner we checked out the exercise room and the older generation showed their stuff. From left to right, ages 85, 82, and 77.

Happy Birthday Dad!

Happy 59th birthday dad! and Merry Christmas to the entire Anderson clan!

More Christmas pictures here

DaHjaj *linguist* jIH

(today, I am a linguist!)

Thank pod, a sermon you can download

BY HELEN KENNEDY DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Once upon a time, God spoke from a burning bush. These days, you're more likely to hear the Word from an iPod. Welcome to Godcasts: religious podcasts - radio-style programs posted on the Internet - that have become one of the hottest new uses of technology. ... There's even a regular biblical podcast in the madeup "Star Trek" language of Klingon (although there's some English, too). "Podcasts have an immediacy that seems very personal - you don't just see something, you hear a friendly voice. I think that spiritual subjects are a natural fit for this kind of radio," said Joel Anderson, 51, a computer professional and linguist in Minnesota who started The Klingon Word in March. ....

Ander-Christmas North

Some scenes from Christmas 2005 in Minnesota.
Liv says, "The best Christmas ever!"

Ho-Ho-Happy Birthday to Mark!

 
        

  
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       _/  .'_..._ '   
     .' / /.'==..=\:   
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       _/_/ ._'._).'_   
      /   \_/ .=== \ \   
      \    |       / |   
       \    \ \  | |/   
        '-._ | .   /   
            '.\   /    You know... if Mark just had   
               \__\    a hat like that....         

  

Merry Christmas to one and all!

Tom and Beckie's Wedding!

Congratulations you two!

See all the pictures HERE

The Wedding Rehearsal

Well the wedding rehearsal went off without a hitch tonight. We went through the program twice just to make sure. Afterwards we had dinner at mom and dad's house, and got out all of the pre-wedding jitters. We can't wait for you two to become one tomorrow. God Bless!

Wedding Notes

Email from Nancy with important Wedding Notes:

Dear Family,
Just a note about parking at the wedding. You can park on the street or in the Christ Church parking lot on 13th Av. and 31st St. (Our church, Salem EFC, is on 14th Av. and 31st St.) Park close to 31st St. and don’t leave any valuables visible in your car. Don’t put anything in your trunk after arriving in the parking lot. We have the church’s permission to park there, but they asked us to take these precautions.

On another subject, YOU ARE WELCOME TO COME TO OUR HOME, 3133 Elliot Av. S. at noon on Sunday for brunch. Some of my family from Illinois will be there, too. I’m having it early so that those who are leaving Sunday hopefully will be able to come.

You’re also welcome to come to our church service Sunday morning, 10:30 - 11:30. (Informal coffee time before hand, featuring cookie making or just sitting & visiting. This part starts at 9:00, but you can come anytime.) I’m looking forward to seeing you all soon!! Love, Nancy

Beauty

Teresa, your purple flower came up first and I thought, wow, what a beautiful orchid in the snow! It is beautiful.
Liv, we listened to your whole concert on the radio. It was really fantastic! A great Christmas Experience! Thanks. I can't wait to see y'all.

Me again

On previous winter visits to Washington, DC, I admired the ornamental cabbages planted in public gardens. This fall, I planted a couple in the back yard. Contrast the cabbage garden outside of the Capitol Hill Hyatt last week with my poor cabbage photographed today. We believe it to be a victim of rabbits rather than the Minnesota weather, however.

Washington, DC

I got back last night from four days at the national hepatitis conference in DC. Kinda boring, except the sightseeing. I visited the new American Indian museum and took this picture of the capitol through their marsh grass... kind of ironic.

well there is definitely plenty of snow here in chicago now. we practically had a blizzard yesterday. I took a picture with my camera phone from my dorm room window. here it is http://doug.mhost.com/images/chlychaerpf2/70_snowy_mountains.jpeg

the other day I was playing in an IM basketball game and how shall I put this? let's just say a guy tripped over me, and he (or I depending on how you choose to look at it) broke his leg in 2 places. we won that game 47-46 so I guess I was kind of the hero. that is our first and only game that we have won so far, I think our record is 1-8 or something like that. I cant wait to come home

I dont know if anyone has ever heard of kyle orton, but I sure hadnt until tonight. a good friend from high school, grace flannery, was in chicago today with some classmates of hers from the university of wisconsin in madison, so john and will and I all went downtown to hang out with her. we were with grace and her roommate and her roommate's friend from northwestern in some little restaurant under the john hancock building and some guy came in and sat down with us. I thought I kind of recognized him, but I really had no idea who he was. as we were leaving will told me that the guy was the quarterback of the chicago bears. I was in a state of disbelief. so as we were all walking down michigan ave I asked him what his name was. He said his name was kyle and I said that I was stevie and shook his hand. I asked him where he was from and he told me Iowa. I told him that I am from minneapolis and he said that was cool. we werent a hundred percent sure that it was him so we looked him up on the internet when we got back to north park and it was kyle orton of the chicago bears for sure. you can watch my new friend on nbc I think at 12 noon tomorrow as he will be starting as quarterback for the chicago bears in their game against the green bay packers. and it snowed a lot. it looks really nice, but it is really wet and I am afraid that it will all melt as soon as the sun comes out tomorrow

Pete's Edit: Here is a picture of Kyle Orton

Christmas Festival

I hope they use clean needles, Stevie. Are you trying to worry us so we'll send you money?

Last night, Joel and I attended our first St. Olaf Christmas Festival. It was quite the event--five choirs and an orchestra, involving 1/6 of the school's students. There are four performances and each hosts about 2,000 guests. Unfortunately, our seats were to the side and so close to the stage that we couldn't see some of the participants, including our darling daughter. For those of you with access to local public radio, the Sunday show will be broadcast live at 3:30.

Here's a picture of Liv afterward.