December 2007

December has been a busy month. Lots of get-togethers, lots of friends, family and food!

The month started out with a Christmas Tea put on by my Methodist friends. The weather was bad, but they still got a pretty good turnout. They put on a little skit form the book Christmas Tea and then served desert and of course, tea. We all went home with door prizes. Fun!

On December 9^th I had a Christmas brunch for the cooks at school. Everyone brought food and presents to share. We had a good time.

December 12^th we had our book club Christmas party. We met at Debbie Boyer's house. It was a nice evening. I can't find any pictures that were taken that night. Could it be possible that I didn't take any?? Boy, I'm slipping!

I've been spending a lot of time at wrestling tournaments. I like driving the school bus to wrestling events. After spending numerous Saturdays (with “bleacher butt”) at wrestling tournaments while our son was growing up, I never thought that I would want to do it some more but I got hooked on high school wrestling. It's the only sport that I really watch. Those boys work so hard. They become so focused and disciplined. I really admire them.

On December 17^th, Dave's brother, Rick, and his wife, Liz, were here from Iowa. They brought most of their kids with them. We had a good visit. Their kids are the same ages as our kids so the kids had a good visit too. Their granddaughter is the same age as our granddaughter too. What a fun day!

On the 18^th, we had a Bunco Christmas party. What fun! Good food! We all brought a good present and a joke present. When we started trading presents, we had no idea if we were fighting over good or joke gifts. We laughed (and ate) a lot.

I had a cancer checkup on December 19^th. It was a good day! After the exam, the doc stood up, shook my hand and said, “congratulations! You have graduated from Roger Maris Cancer Center. You don't have to come back again. (I had just completed 5 years of being cancer-free!)

On Christmas Eve Dave and I met Jamie, Ryan, Sierra, and Jen at Church. Then everyone came out to our house. We ate snackie type food and then opened presents.

Jen, Jamie and her family spent the night, opened up Christmas stockings, then Jen went to work and Jamie, Ryan and Sierra went to Ryan's dad's house. But before they left, Dave cooked everyone Eggs Benedict. Mm-m-m Good!

Our house wasn't quiet long. At noon people started showing up......Dave's folks, Dave's brother, Dean, my mom, my brother Ron and his wife Illa.

Dave was fixing a prime rib in the oven when the oven decided to act up. Dave had to turn it off at the circuit breaker and turn it back on again. We were able to finish making dinner with turning on and off the oven...........What timing for the oven to act up! Finally the oven only wanted to clean itself. Time for a new oven! Which arrived new year's eve. Our first meal made in the new toy was steaks and shrimp.

Christmas was good except we missed Jason & Bekki. It was the first Christmas with out Jason being here. He loves Christmas more than anyone I know. We stayed intouch by email. They email sent us this picture:

Dave and I ended December (and 2007) with Sierra. On New Year's Eve we babysat her while Jamie and Ryan celebrated. We always enjoy watching her.

December was a good month!

Solomon Christmas Card

Christmas Tea

Have you read the book called "Christmas Tea"? The message is that we should remember our elderly relatives this time of the year. It's a good story.

The Methodist women have taken this story and had a Christmas Tea for area women. I went to it. It was fun.

The weather was bad, but they still had a pretty good turn out. We were served tea while we watched a "Christmas Tea" skit. They gave away door prizes and we ate a scrumptious desert. We all sang a song made up especially for the occasion. This is it:

Christmas Tea
(Sung to the tune of Jingle Bells)

Grab your coat - get your boots
Leave your cozy home.
Now's the time to make a call
On someone who's alone.
Don't delay - go today
Spread that Christmas cheer.
Somebody will smile and say
How nice to have your here.

This busy time of year
We hurry to and fro.
We bake and shop and wrap
And even shovel snow!
Just push those tasks aside
Let Christmas light shine through
And get in touch with someone
Who is special just to you.

I took some pictures. To view them: Click Here

First Snow Event of the Season

The news called it a "snow event." Yesterday it snowed about 9 inches. It's the first real snow that we've seen this winter. (I guess Fall is officially over, and Winter has begun.) I was so glad that it came on a Saturday instead of a school day. Hopefully the snow plows have had enough time to clear the snow away before we have to drive the school buses on those country roads tomorrow. Dave spent three hours outside pushing snow. (A couple times he had to go out and redo the shoveling because the city snowblower would come down the streets and undo what he had just done.....check out the picture.) I spent a wonderful weekend house bound, decorating for Christmas and playing on my new laptop. Sorry Dave.........

Party People

Check out these guys:

Both Scott Milbrandt and David Braaten turned 40!

Both had surprise parties on Saturday night
We went to both parties. What a fun evening!

Black Friday 2007

I look forward to Black Friday all year. It’s the day that all my favorite tech-toys go on sale.

Last year my son and I were in the Best Buy line at 8:00 PM Thursday night. This year I had planned on being there at 6:00 PM. Jason figured it out. If you know what number that you are it’s hard for people to sneak in line in front of you.

I ended up not camping out this year after I heard about the number of campers that started camping in line on Wednesday. I figured that they were all after the same Sony $500 laptop that I was. We had Thanksgiving dinner in Fargo and at 6:00 on the way home I was surprised that there weren't that many people in line as I expected.... in fact the line was still just to the corner of the building. I told Dave that had I known that, I would have followed thru with my original plan and planted myself out there at 6:00. (I had already twisted my daughter, Jen's arm to do it with me.)

Anyway, I got online....... To my surprise most of Best Buy's ad was already available online! The laptop and camera that I wanted were not...... BUT after googling the laptop, I found it on CompUSA's site. (they are one of BB's competitors) They were running the same sale as BB. Same laptop except in "Granite" instead of white.... same 3-in-1 printer.... just no mouse...and it cost $50 more....but it was available! Had I been in line, it still wasn't a sure thing. So I ordered it. I emailed my friend, Kathi, about the "find". Kathi went online to look at it and it was sold out already. I felt very blessed!

Then Black Friday morning about 8:45, Kathi called me while I happened to be in BB. She knew about a 16yr old kid that was in line since noon on Wednesday. He Had gotten a ticket for the $500 laptop. This 16yr old stayed in line for two days, got the ticket and then went home because he was literally sick from being outside that long. Then HE LOST THE TICKET!

The kid had called BB and they told him... ”Sorry, no ticket, no sale.” The kid was no longer interested in the laptop. (He was planning on just passing it on anyway.) Kathi had called me to tell me that laptop would be returned to the shelf at 9:00. Kathi told me to snatch it up if I wanted it. (It was 15 min. to 9:00) So in the end.... I could have had that laptop anyway! Wow. I didn't want to go to the hassle of returning the other one, etc. Granted, I did kind of prefer a white laptop instead of Granite...... Oh well.

Anyway the story isn't over. (I hope you weren't in the middle of anything) The camera that I wanted.... I should say "we" wanted...... this was Dave's idea and I ran with it.... It was an EOS Cannon D-SLR Rebel XT bundle...... two lens, a case, UV filter and extra battery .. (a savings of $249) They were only promising 8 per store so I knew that you had to be in line to get a ticket. I stayed up all night trying to get one online. They kept saying "Sold Out" but I hoped that when the ad went online so would the camera. All the stores went online with their ads at different times..... and I was able to purchase all the items that I had planned.....except the camera. It never became available.

Friday morning, Dave told me that when I got to Fargo that I should just stop in BB and see if there might still be one. He said "stranger things have happened” so I chuckled and said "I suppose so. Why not." So I stopped by Best Buy. The camera was not on display, which didn't surprise me but then...... I saw a woman holding THE CAMERA. The lady was complaining that the camera doesn't take videos so she wasn't sure that she wanted it. I kept thinking..... Put the camera down .... Lady, you don't want it .....walk away.... then if she chooses not to take it, I'll snatch it up! So while this lady is discussing things with the sales guy, I commented to her husband "How long did you have to wait in line for this camera?" He answered that they didn't! The cameras were not on display, but if you asked for one, they’ll give you one from under the counter! I asked the sales guy right away if this was true. He said yes. HE GAVE ME THE LAST CAMERA! He told me that they ended up getting more cameras than they expected.

Wow! I got everything on my wish list! (And didn't have to sleep outside in the cold!)

Thanksgiving 2007

We spent Thanksgiving at the Dietrichs. Like other Thanksgivings, we had a fun time, ate too much food, and took pictures. But, this year was different than past years. This year Jason and Bekki spent Thanksgiving in Denver. Jamie and Ryan spent Thanksgiving entertaining Ryan’s side of the family, my mom stayed home sick and Jen had to work. So as much as I love Dave’s sister’s family, I had this constant feeling like something was missing. Our kids were missing. (Jen did stop by after work to say hi, which was nice.) Oh well….I suspect that I’m going to have to get used to this feeling….the kids have grown up.

Check out our pictures. Click Here

Kindred in the Spotlight

The Forum had an article about the Kindred kids in Friday’s

paper. This is what it said:

"Kindred High School’s thespians
have won the state Class B one-act play contest held Monday and Tuesday in
Bismarck and Mandan, the North Dakota High school Activities Association
announced. Kindred's cast performed Through the Mirror.”

Then the article listed the other seven finalists and the
names of their plays. The article went
on to say:

"Twenty schools were divided
between Bismarck State College and Mandan High School for the preliminary round
Monday. The top four schools from each site advanced to the finals."

The article goes on listing the superior performer
awards. As I mentioned earlier,
Kindred’s whole cast won.

State Champions

They did it! The Kindred drama students took 1st place at State in Bismarck today! Wow! On the bus I heard that Kindred has not had a state championship in drama since 1949! Wow!

They did it today in Bismarck!

Congratulations Kindred!

I understand that 77 towns competed. I am so proud of those kids. They are great kids.

I will be uploading pictures and possibly a video soon.

The kids say that they couldn't have done it without their friend and coach, Angela Hill.
She did a wonderful job with the kids!

Note to cast: If any of you read this........ please comment with a list of the names of those who were are in the cast. If I tried to list all of your names, I know I'd leave someone out. Also, don't forget to email me pictures so that I can upload them to an online photo album.

The play that they performed is called "Through the Mirror." Have you seen it? For all of you who missed their performances, they are planning a free encore performance for the community.

Thanks to the families of the kids. When I drove the bus into the parking lot tonight, we were greeted with a dozen cars, all lined up, facing us with their head lights on and horns honking. In front of the cars were families holding signs saying "#1".

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Notice: You can now view and download pictures of the cast!


Click Here
If you have any additional pictures, email them to me and I'll upload them to the album site.
My email address is bdubord@gmail.com

Good Job Drama Kids!

Drama Kids

The Kindred Drama team is competing in Bismarck. Yesterday they did awesome. When awards were given out, the judges recognized the outstanding actors and actresses. Instead of giving out the award to one person, they gave the award to the WHOLE Kindred cast! Wow! I don't know if they've ever done this before. Check this out:

Celtic Woman

Vetern's Day Weekend

How did you spend your long weekend?
I spent my three days with family........My favorite pastime.

(And I took pictures.....another favorite pastime.)

Saturday morning I went with my mom and her friend, Betty, to a Bazaar at the Expressway Inn. Years ago, I'd take in a bunch of church bazaars every year. I remember shopping for baby bibs. (That tells you how long ago that I was at a bazaar......my baby is 20 years old.)
Here's a picture of Mom and Betty:

After the bazaar, my mom and I had lunch together:

Saturday afternoon my daughter Jen and I went grocery shopping.
We always have a good time together no matter what we're doing.

(Sorry, no picture.)

I ended the day seeing my other daughter, Jamie, and my granddaughter, Sierra. They had just gotten matching hair cuts. (Later Jamie cut bangs for Sierra.)
We did a little shopping at Linens 'n Things.

Sunday Dave and I went to church and then ran into Dave's sister, Lorie, at Dave's folk's home. We enjoyed a long visit over coffee and bagels.

(Sorry, no picture)

Sunday evening Jamie, Ryan and Sierra came to our house. We spent some time talking and watching TV and then Sierra spent the night with us. We love having her stay with us.

The house becomes so full of love when she's there!

Monday Sierra played all day with her friend Helen from down the block.
Here's a picture of the two of them:

While the girls were playing, I wrapped Christmas presents. Yes...I'm about half done with my shopping. Last year I had an early start also, but then I went into a lull thinking that I was done and almost forgot to finish.....it was a last minute rush to buy presents...... exactly what I was trying to avoid. This year will be different.....Hopefully.

Book Club

last night Book Club met at Bab's Coffee House. Only four members showed up, but we had a couple unexpected guests. Allison & Alisa came with their moms. Wow, it was good to see them! They are so adult! (Allison even has a son!!) I used to be these girls' Girl Scout leader. Boy, does time fly! It was good to see them. Check out this picture:

My 55th Birthday!

My birthday is on October 31st which is a great day to have a birthday....everyone remembers it. My first voice mail (at 7:00 AM) was from one of my brothers, Ron, wishing me a Happy Birthday. My last voice mail (at 10:00 PM) was my other brother, Bob, wishing me a Happy Birthday. In between those two voice mails, I received birthday wishes by voice mail, snail mail, e-mail, e-cards, and hand delivered cards. I heard from co-workers, cousins (John and Mari), old friends (Linda and Ricky) and about a zillion young friends .

Every year I have a birthday surprise…ask my mom….this has happened my whole life, every year a totally unexpected big surprise. This year I stopped at the Davenport School to pick up a bus load of kids and nearly each child, as they left the school, waved and yelled “Happy Birthday, Barb!”. Wow! Dianna Wessels, who works at the school, went to each of the class rooms and told the kids about my birthday. Now granted, Davenport is a small school…but it had a big impact on my day!

The next day, my mom, Jen, Jamie and Sierra came over for supper.
They brought a birthday cake. I also received a phone call from our son in Colorado.
What a fun birthday!

I am truly Blessed!

New Shopping Spot

Guess what we did today? I had heard that there was "good shopping" in Perham. My daughter Jen, my granddaughter Sierra, my mom and I drove there for the day. What fun! They have two dozen little shops. They even supply you with a map so that you don't miss any of them. We started our Christmas shopping!

Oh one more thing I have to share with you. This is so cute (from a grandmother's view point) My granddaughter, Sierra had broughten her purse along with her wallet and $6.00. In one of the stores, she found an ($18) horse floor puzzle that she told Jen that she was going to buy. Without telling us, she carrys it up to the sales counter, (while we watch and snicker) she gives the lady the puzzle. The lady tells her how much that it will cost. Sierra gives her a 5 dollar bill. At this point Jen steps in and tells Sierra that it will take more money. Sierra reaches in and finds her $1 bill. Jen pays the remainder. ...........there's more......... in the next store Sierra finds a toy barn with farm animals that she plans to buy. We explain to her that she doesn't have any money. Defiantly she takes it up to the sales counter.....puts the toys on the counter ...... reaches in her purse and takes out a handful of Monoply money and says: "I have money!" ................................ Don't you love it?!

Time is Flying By..........

Where does time go? I haven't updated this blogspot since summer.

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I had good intentions on doing a spot on the best day of Sierra's life (so far in her three years). She spent an afternoon hanging out at a horse ranch and riding a horse by herself. (She LOVES horses) Here's a slide show of her big day, click here: Sierra on a horse ranch

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I planned to write about my daughter, Jamie's, 25th birthday. Can you believe that she's 25 years old?!!! We also celebrated Dave's mom's birthday at the same time. Here's a slide show from the occasion, click here: Jamie's Birthday Party
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I planned to upload a video of the week that Dave and I spent in Colorado. You can catch the slide show, click here: Our Colorado Vacation

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I wanted to write about Jamie & Ryan's new house. They purchased their first house in September.

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I went back to work at the school also. In case you don't know, I drive a school bus and also work in the school kitchen. Now that I don't see my granddaughter every day........ I take pictures of my bus kids instead. A couple of the little girls wrote a song about me. I'd like to upload it for you to listen to. It's cute. (Maybe later)

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Dave and I have attended three weddings lately. Now is the time in life where all our kids' friends are getting married. I also put together a slide show (surprise, surprise) of one of the wedding receptions. If you don't recognize the couple, they are David & Sarah Olsgaard. Click here: Wedding Reception

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Thanksgiving and Christmas are coming up. Hopefully I'll be more on top of things and keep my journal, I mean blogspot, up to date. (As though things will be any less busy over the holidays!)
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note: The reason that I put lines between the paragraphs is because for some reason, this blogging program wants to mesh everything together. I found it hard to read, and I think you would too. This blog is learning experience or should I say learning experiment, ha ha.

What a Wonderful World

Old Friends

Sunday, at church, I ran into a couple of old friends:



Leanne Ellingson and Val Gebert

I knew them in grade school. They both looked great. I see Leanne fairly regularly at church, in the summer, but I haven't seen Val for almost 40 years! Wow! Hey girls check out these pictures! The one of Leanne was taken in 1964. The picture of Val was taken in 1966.