Surprising Weekend

It's a bit confusing, but here goes. Before I got moved up here, I had talked to Glenn's and Gus's about having a 20th Anniversary party for Dad & Ev here in Rice Lake on the weekend of 9/27. But then, there was a wedding in Luck and some other conflicts, so we cancelled the idea. In the meantime, Scott & Laila had already secretly purchased plane tickets. So, they started to hatch a plan to surprise me in Rice Lake. Then they decided to tell me that they were coming so I could plan to see them. Since they were going to be here, we decided to have the anniversary party on Sunday at my home in Rice Lake, even though Kyle's family could not be here due to prior committments. Then, the evil thought came to us that we could turn it around on Laila and do an early surprise 50th birthday party. So, we got her!



The surprise! cake.


Laila received many 'lovely gifts'.


Owen LOVED the cake, off the ground, garage floor, he didn't mind.


Cake boy.




Jake got partied out.




Charli had green face from the cake.

The Johansen Family:

Wanda, Laila, Ralph, Glenn; Dad & Ev


Breanna, Alyxis & Jackson




Gus found a comfy spot to watch the game.


Four generations of families:

Elliana, Valdemar, Ryan, Ralph & Milena





Valdemar, Kris, Anders & Ralph




Valdemar, Andy, Glenn & Alyxis




Jordyn, Payton, Valdemar, Krista, Breanna, Glenn & Linsey




Valdemar, Glenn, Jake, Dana & Jackson




Valdemar, Charli, Kaija, Glenn & Milli

It was a perfect fall day in Wisconsin

Mark, Mike & Gus chatting.

Milli had a nap on Grandma.

Kris & his girls...Greta & Annie

Milena enjoyed the leaves

Owen left his mark!

A visit with Aunt Jeanne & Uncle Nel

My real Mom's sister, Jeanne and her husband Nel, came for a visit this week. They live in Stanwood, WA (N of Seattle). They stayed with me in Rice Lake for 3 nights and we had great fun catching up. Auntie Jeanne helped me record some of Mom's family tree info, we went to Shell Lake to visit cousins from Mom's side, Richard & Dorothy Rydberg, then last night we drove over the Gus's cabin West of Luck and had dinner with the whole family. Laila and Scott arrived for a visit yesterday. Jeanne & Nel left this morning to continue on their trip and I'll be heading back to the cabin this afternoon to spend the night with Laila, Scott & Dad and Ev.

Glenn, Gus, Aunt Jeanne, Uncle Nel, Laila, Wanda @ Gus's Cabin


My biggest maple tree in the backyard is just starting to change colors.

Sunday In Rice Lake

I spent Sunday watching the Packers lose and getting over a cold. It was about 80 degrees so had the windows open. Made a little progress on unpacking.

The view out the living room window is starting to be really colorful.

Just for Peggy, a picture of the kitchen. Notice, NO TUBS. I finally emptied all the tubs that were in the house (except the office).

Not a great picture but the view to the dining room from the kitchen. Pantry cabinet on the right.

Dining room is shaping up, getting some stuff on the walls, etc.

Love my new recliner, and have the perfect laptop setup. No more "off the grid" time for me.

Lake Cottage

Today, Glenn & Kathy hosted a gathering at their recently purchased Lake Cottage on Big Moon Lake. It was such a nice day and the drive (24 miles) from my house to their cottage was very pretty. The leaves are very pretty now.


Erin and Jake both think Dana needs a shave.

Charli was chowing on the watermelon.

Charli & Jackson were busy blowing bubbles at Grandpa.

Milli was entertaining Aunt Wanda.

Stella really thinks Jake is cool.

It is a nice sized lake and the trees along the shore are turning.

A nice parking spot for Glenn & Dana's pontoon boat.

Classic sunset on the lake.

Cold!

Not the weather, my head. I have been sick with a cold for a few days. I think all this activity finally caught up with me.

In the meantime, the leaves are really starting to turn.

This beauty is right out the living room window and is really starting to turn.

Too much of a good thing?

It is a perfect fall day today, so I was determined to get out on my bike and explore a little. I headed off towards Rice Lake on the county road and quickly determined I need to find a safer route. I veered off onto some side roads and found a little loop around Moon Lake.

Nice walking path near Moon Lake.

This tree caught my attention. Most of the maples are just starting to turn, but this one is a beauty already.

Main Street Rice Lake, one of those Main Street USA designations

I found Main Street and road to the North end where I found a Chicago Dog shop, got lunch and road down by the lake to find a spot to eat.

I was delighted to find this place to get a dog for lunch.

I ate lunch on the shore of Rice Lake.

Some ducks were entertaining me with their preening. I realized on the way into town, it was a lot of downhill, so the way home was concerning me. I picked up a map from the Chamber of Commerce and saw that I could take a county road home. Well, since this is my first bike ride since about May, I was already in way too far. But it isn't like I could call for someone to pick me up either!

The ride home was hard due to dead legs and a pretty strong breeze. But, even though I had to push the bike for about 1/4 mile, it was a great ride. The dirst of many. I was happy to see this farm when I came around the bend in the road as I knew I was only about 1/2 mile from home then.

A little bit of Luck

Heather & Ruby Anna Johansen.

Grandma Lois holding a sleeping Anders Dakota Johansen

Owen had to get in on a picture too.

Moon over 48. Hwy 48 is the main route from Rice Lake to Luck. I took this picture as I was driving back to Rice Lake Monday evening.

Just back from a night at the cabin with Dad & Ev and then a visit with the new babies. Lora and Anders are in Luck while Kris is hunting and then visited Heather & Ruby as well. The trees are really starting to turn, I'll take some more pictures tomorrow. I saw about 3 deer in the ditch on my way home tonight, I'll have to be careful about twilight driving as the deer all seem to have places to go at that time of night.

Pumpkin Patch

The pumkpin pyramid, a pumpkin catapult, the pumkpin canon...and I hear there is hot apple pie & ice cream too.

Turn West for the Produce Patch or turn East to go to my house.

Just across the county road is a farm that has pumpkins and mazes and all sorts of fun stuff for the kids. It opened today, but it rained almost all day. Tomorrow will probably start to be busy over there.