Wishing You A Merry Christmas With A Few Thoughts From Me

Meet my great nephews and neice .. are they not adorable.. Boy do I miss seeing those faces weekly.

As this wonderful Christmas holiday approaches us I want to wish you all a Merry Christmas and pray that we all welcome in a wonderful New Year. I pray that our next year is better and more prosperous than the last for all of us.

As we share the holidays with our family and friends lets please think and pray for those that are less fortunate then us. Pray for the hungry, the homeless and those suffering from addictions , diseases and mental illness. My one thought always is " but for the grace of God there go I ".

Lets take a moment and pray for our service men and service women. And for those that are in harms way in a foreign country give them an extra thought and prayer. Pray for their families that are left here to deal with every day happenings without them. The majority of them do so much for so little.

Lets pray for our government officials that they have the wisdom to do what is best for all of us and the knowledge to do it with out fighting.

If you are still blessed to have your parents, grandparents, uncles and aunts be thankful. Take a moment to hug and kiss them. Take a few minutes and ask them to share their stories with you. Some day sadly they will be gone and you will then wish that you knew more of their history.

I am reminded of a conversation at my hubby's birthday party. I made a comment about getting married the first time and my step son and his family had never heard that story. I have been married to husband #2 for almost 22 years. We celebrate our wedding anniversary on the 30Th of December. They know very little about my history. That is probably my fault and maybe some of theirs.

This is hubby and me 10 years ago at a dinner theater on New Years eve. Guess it is time to get a new nice picture of us. He still has the tie and I probably still have that outfit. Question is can I still get into it.

So much contact today is emails and text messages. I personally detest text messages saying" happy anything " Take a moment and call your family. Here a voice and say I love you to some one. When I get one I just delete it as if it did not happen. Except for one text message from my grand daughter Kirsten. She sent me one and it is of a loud " Kiss " and "I Love You"I play it often. It was not sent for a birthday, Christmas message or any reason other than she thought of me and sent it. Grandpa got one too. Thanks Kirsten I smile when I replay it.

I am busy always searching and writing about my ancestors but I guess it is time to do some sharing of my life in writing. How I wish I had more of my parents, grandparents and past relatives stories. There are so many stories untold. As I share some of my life on my family blog site I have been printing some of them so I can give to family in the future.Now with all of that I will leave you for now.

It is time to make another pot of coffee, put on one of my favorite Christmas movies " Love Actually " with Hugh Grant and make my Watergate Salad for our Christmas eve party tonight.

I appreciate all of you that take a moment to visit my sites and to those of you who leave a message an extra thank you . Merry Christmas to you and your families .. Grace

Winter Wonderland Duluth Minnesota 51 Inches Of Snow so Far

Good Morning everyone.. Do you have snow?

Yesterdays newspaper article tells us that we are on record for snow fall. 51 inches of snow so far. We are living on Park Point on the shores of Lake Superior and until 3 days ago had very little snow. Then we got about 6 to 8 inches. After pushing the door open I was able to take this pretty picture.

Hope that it never gets so bad I can not push open the door. Then a phone call goes out to the children .. HELP !!!

Hope all have a very Merry Christmas... Grace

The Pickwick Restaurant Viewed From Doctor's Lobby

Well I am back living in Duluth, Minnesota after 20 years. We had to find a new doctor, hubby and I.

Boy I hate having to find a doctor. Once you find one, then you have to get to know them and they have to get to know you. A most of all is the trust level.

Boy they ask a lot of questions.

Do you smoke? Not any more,

Do you drink Not any more,

Why are you taking those pills? Cause if I don't, I'll break something (I have the curse of hot flashes .. how long does this hell go on Doc?.

And the questions go on and on. Well, he seems okay. He is young, good - looking, which will make my visits more pleasant. And best of all he seems smart. That is important.

This picture is from his lobby, really it is the Duluth Clinic's lobby. That is the First Street Clinic, not the Third street clinic.

I wonder how many homes had to be bull dozed to build this building?

I grew up in this area over 50 years ago and people lived on this block. Some of the kids I went to school lived in this area. I use to walk this block to and from school. And yes it was up hill both way.

Now we have a big doctor's building here. Matter of a fact we have several new doctor's buildings in Duluth since I left twenty years ago. Duluth has not grown since then. Probably even has lost residents. What's up with that?

Hubby says we all got old and need medical attention. I just think they want to build new buildings.

Well back to my picture.

This is of the Pickwick Restaurant . I use to go there fairly often when I lived in Duluth. They had the best Steaks, Cheeseburgers, and the Onion Rings were unbelievable. When I went to their web site, I discovered that the Pickwick had new owners as of June.

We moved to Duluth in August and they were closed for remodeling at that time. Now we know why. Their web site promises that the old beautiful bar is still there. This bar was huge and beautiful. The whole building was beautiful and the view over looking Lake Superior was breath taking. I sure hope that they have not ruined that beautiful old building.

Hubby and I will need to check them out some day. Hope they still make a great order of Onion Rings. I will let you know.

Duluth Shores Of Lake Superior December

From the shore of Lake Superior looking at down town Duluth. Such beauty.

Minnesota Polictics Vs Dracula Who Has More Counts?

There is a sign in Duluth that I pass almost daily. Some time it announces the monthly community meeting but there are times that it has a humorous saying.

For those who do not know we are in the middle of a recount time here in Minnesota for Governor. One candidate promised "More Taxes" ... the other promised "Less Taxes"...looks like "More Taxes" will win.

For now we are in a recount .. and this is the sign I pass daily for now.

Winter Is Here In Duluth Minnesota

We live on the shores of Lake Superior, so we have not received as much snow as those who live away from the Lake. We have about 1 inch compared to those living over the hill having about 8 inches. Yes we have hills in Duluth, Minnesota. The hills can be a challenge during the winter storms.

Hubby #1 loved to get in his truck and see if he could get up the steepest hills. This was back in the late 1960's or early 1970's. I was scared to death as he would drive around. Thought for sure we would get stuck or hit something.

I am glad hubby #2 does not have a truck.

This is a picture I took looking off our porch. Shows the beauty outside and how little snow we have so far.

Enjoy.. Grace

Lake Superior At Dawn On A November Morning

The morning is cold and crisp

the sun will be up soon.

I felt the pull of the Lake calling me..

I needed to view the glory of dawn at its shores.

Enjoy .. Grace

Crisp November Day and Duluth Arerial Bridge

Crisp November day and the Duluth Aerial Bridge

Beauty Found at Duluth Harbor and Lake Superior Lighthouse

The Beauty of Duluth Harbor and Lake Superior.

The Beauty I See Every Day .. A Visit To The Cemetery

While visiting the cemetery and my family's graves, I had to stop and take a picture of the geese wandering among the tombstones and swimming in the pond. They are beautiful but probably do make a mess for the grounds keeper.

The Beauty Of Nature .. Wordless Wednesday

What a beautiful peaceful scene this is. This is out by Lake Minnetonka in Minnesota. So quiet.

What A Perfect Labor Day Weekend Visiting Family and Friends

We had a wonderful weekend this Labor Day. Went to the twin cities of Minnesota and saw family, friends and went to the flea market.

Lots of fun and food. While there we visited my late father in laws grave. http://wanderinggraveyardrabbit.blogspot.com/2010/09/tombstone-tuesday-visiting-my-late.html

We had lunch at Lord Fletcher's on the deck and spent lots of time with grandchildren Carter and Kennedy. Boy are they busy duo. Full of energy and so adorable.

Today's picture is of the Lake Minnetoka area. This is where my sweet dh grew up and we love to take the drive to that area when in the cities.

I See Sea Creatures In My Drift Wood

Collecting Drift wood at the beach is so fun. This one looks like a creature from the sea. I am starting to do some multi media art work and plan to use some of it there. Check out my other blog in the near future http://wwwpicturespapersfromthepst.blogspot.com/. I will be displaying my finished product in the near future.

Have a wonderful and save Labor Day.. Grace

Near Perfect Day At The Beach .. Oh The Beauty Of Lake Superioer

Perfect day at the beach. We spent a couple of hours at the beach of Lake Superior here in Duluth. This is a picture of a young man enjoying himself on this near perfect day. Temperature was about 75 degrees, sky was blue with just a few clouds.

Thanks for stopping by and enjoying my life through pictures. Grace

The Beauty Of Lake Superior

I just love walking along the shores of Lake Superior. Hope that enjoy this beautiful picture of the shore looking towards down town Duluth.

Yes You Can Come Home We Are In Duluth Minnesota

Path leading to the beach
Nearing the beach
After over 20 years I am finally back home. Home is Duluth, Minnesota and I am thrilled. That feeling will probably change once winter sets in.

In 1990 I left Duluth to live in St. Paul with hubby #2. He promised me some day we would come back. We lived in St. Paul until October 2005. At that time he retired from the State of Minnesota and we closed our used bookstore. We sold some of our belongings and headed to San Diego, California for three years.
We loved San Diego and the weather was perfect. The main problem was we had no family there.
Our next journey took us to Houston Texas area. We spent 15 months there. While we had family the weather was horrible. We hated the heat and humidity. As I watched my sister spend time with her son and grandchildren my homesickness increased.
I missed my children, my sons , step children and my 13 grandchildren. I missed the hugs and kisses from my boys and being able to see and hug my grandchildren.
So we came home to Duluth. We sold more belongings and have settled into a tiny duplex. BUT I am in Duluth and best of all I am on the shores of Lake Superior.
As a child I played on the shores of Lake Superior. As a young teen I sun bathed on the beach and had beach parties with friends.
We have been here for a little over two weeks. I am still unpacking and making piles of belongings that can go out the door. I want to rid myself of so much of the material clutter in my life.
Once we settle in I want to do what is important to me.
1. Spend time with my family
2. Spend time on the beach enjoying the lake and the view of the city
3. Working on my genealogy research
4. Sharing the beauty and even some of the not so beautiful of Duluth and the Duluth area through photos.

I hope that you will visit again as I share my life through photos.... Grace

Wordless Wednesday Beauty any where your are on

Beauty can be found even in your own back yard

Christmas Day 2009 Life Is Just Ducky Here In Texas

This picture was taken Christmas Day 2009 in Richmond Texas. We are about 30 miles from Houston. We had talked to the family in Minnesota and they were snowed in. Busy enjoying the snow but not the shoveling.

No snow here for Christmas but colder than I would of liked. Oh well at least I am not shoveling.

This beautiful picture was taken on the golf course that backs up to our yard. Quiet and peaceful. The Ducks in the water were a little leery of me.