Words That We Don't Use Anymore.

Kaydree and Karsyn hanging out on their Great-Grandma's DAVENPORT!
Their Grandma curling their Great-Grandma's Hair.
The girls always look forward to putting together one of Grandma's puzzles and they usually take one or two home every time we visit.

As I was asking my Grandma about her old DAVENPORT that I use to sleep on as a child, it hit me and stopped me in my thoughts. I realized that I hadn't used that word in years, but being back in her home, it just came out of nowhere. How many words will be lost with the generations before us, when they are gone?

Just wondering, do any of you have another word for an item that just isn't common to use anymore?

And on his FARM...He had a....

The girls love the FARM...is it a Farm?
Up until the point that Benjy and I got married, which will be 9 years ago this July, my dad was a business man. He traveled most of the time to the Western states and wore a shirt, tie and suit for much of what I can remember. When he wasn't in his dressy work clothes, he usually found something neon green to wear and loved it. Since he retired, he has been into other trends. His most recent trend.... Under Armour. ( The clerk at the Under Armour store says that my dad is as excited about Under Armour as every other 9 year old boy is!) another insert- ( Before my dad left Florida, he had to go and say goodbye to his friends at the Under Armour store.) When he is home, you find him in bib overalls or camo. Yes, he loves his Under Armour Camo! When he is dressing up to leave home, he is usually found in Under Armour sunglasses, shorts, shirts, socks, underwear and yes, now he has the Under Armour tennis shoes to match his Under Armour hat!** ( Go back and look at the Qunell Family Reunion pictures, to see his Under Armour in action!)** We do enjoy giving him a hard time. I wanted to share with you how much my dad enjoys his Life at home and how much we enjoy sharing it with him. So here is a little taste of what we did this last week on Grandpa's and Grandma's ( I don't know if she considers it a farm?) FARM...

We sat in the hot tub,
fed the chickens, picked eggs and watched the baby duck swim.

We held baby chickens, ducks, pheasants and turkeys.
We got tractor rides, four wheeler rides, and watched Grandpa and Grandma paint the apple orchard shed which is going to be apple red.
On Thursday morning we even got to watch baby kittens being born. These are not experiences I had growing up with my dad. We always lived in the city. The girls love doing chores with Grandpa (most of the time they try to run out in their pajamas in the morning to be apart of it!) and it is so fun watching my dad really enjoying his life and his little buddies. My dad told me tonight that their home is their paradise. "A little bit of Heaven on Earth." My dad was always a goal setter, somewhat of a secret dreamer maybe?, he planned for the future and now he is living his dream. What a great example.

What is De-Grandmatizing?

We have been home for two days now, and we are so thankful that Grandpa and Grandma are here for a couple days. It helps with the de-grandmatizing (a definition we have in our family). Our children have to come back to reality after spending time with Grandma. Reality of... that we don't do all of the things Grandma does...(a few examples... cut off all your crust, wiping your bottom, (toddlers) when we know you can do it yourself, warming up your chocolate milk, and being infinitely patient with you when you are having melt downs, the list goes on and on....I don't know how my mom has all of the energy she has and the ability to show love for the individual, the way she does. My mom was an amazing mother growing up. She gave a part of herself to us in so many ways that we may have took for granted just how blessed we truly were. We knew we had a (COOL MOM) because all of our friends told us that and wanted to hang out at our house. ( I think all of the awesome Schwan's Food that our freezers were always stocked with, might have also been another reason! Thanks Dad....my dad worked for Schwan's for 25 years.) I have amazing parents, I always knew it, and now my children have unbelievable Grandparents that love them in way that will have an impact on them for the rest of their lives.

The Qunell Family Reunion

It has been 4 years since the last Qunell Family Reunion. A month after the last one, my Grandma Gloria passed away. This was my dad's mom. Gloria's husband Eloi was killed in a tractor accident when my dad was 4 years old. At the time he was the oldest of 3 boys and my Grandma had one on the way. The Qunell Family was very involved in helping raise my dad and his brothers. It was fun to see my dad enjoying his Aunts, Uncles and Cousins. This is his Uncle George. He came from Illinois for the reunion.

If you put a short gray wig on him, he could pass for my Grandma Gloria.

This is Benjy, My brother Spencer, My Uncle Stan( my dad's youngest brother) and my oldest brother Steve Jr.
This is Spencer's wife Emily, My Aunt Deb (She is married to Stan), and my mom. Lori where were you?
OH WHAT FUN.... THE BEAN BAG TOSS TOURNAMENT! A family tradition and a great time. I really wish I would have been better at taking more pictures. Next time we need to get a picture of all the Qunell children together. Thanks Auntie Jan for helping put all this together!

76 people attended and 5 very well behaved dogs! ;-)

What a Day!

The before picture of Grandma's Backroom!
Another Before... Get Ready for the after....

I thought it would be fun helping my Grandma organize her backroom. I must admit that at times today, it was overwhelming. We laughed, we even cried a little... and we will always cherish some of the little treasures that we found today. Some of them hold such fond memories for us. Judy, we even saw your white little ceramic kittens that you love. They are in one of the 6 tubs of Christmas decorations. The girls even picked out a couple of treasures that Grandma was going to donate. Grandma had two good size loads to donate to Goodwill. It was fun to see them enjoying the little things that mean so much to Grandma.

A Ride in the Grocery Store

Kaydree wanted me to post a funny story about her sister. ( I am sure Karsyn will get her back, someday!) So Kaydree is telling me what to type. Karsyn and Nicholas, my daughter and my nephew, came to Grandpa and Grandma's house. It was their turn to come and stay a week. All of us get a week at Grandpa and Grandma's with another cousin from a different family. So... they went to the grocery story with Grandma and rode in a cart that looked like a car. And they were having a good time, laughing and playing through the whole grocery store. All of the sudden they got to the check out and Nick was so happy and got so excited that he leaned over and to give Karsyn a kiss on the cheek. Catching Karsyn off guard so she popped him in the nose. ( This reflex might come in handy when she is sixteen!) Nick started crying and Grandma asked her, " Why did you do that Karsyn?" and then Karsyn said, " I have Reflux, remember Grandma!" ( My addition, Karsyn has been diagnosed with Acid Reflux and is medicated, however anytime she is in trouble, she pulls out this statement!) On.... to the rest of the story. Kaydree says she hasn't even told you the funny part yet. Grandma said to Karsyn, " Now Karsyn you need to say sorry to Nick." So Karsyn told Nick sorry ... Kaydree says, " Here comes the funny part".....Nick's response to Karsyn was this... " That doesn't HELP!" The checkout person and the bagger both were laughing and by the time Grandma left, she was laughing so hard, she was crying! Needless to say, they had a great time together and are great buddies. This picture was taken 2 days later.

Grandma Ruth Rummage

Have you heard of a Rummage Sale? For most of us it is called a Garage Sale or a Yard Sale. My Grandma Ruth has always called them Rummage sales. This is my Grandma Ruth Larsen. She is my last living Grandparent. Last night we went to have dinner with her and we realized that she has a lot of "Rummage Sale" stuff accumulating in her back room. My mom and I have decided to tackle her back room this week. We are going to organize her things and as Benjy and my mom say, " Toss, get rid of or donate as much of it as possible!" The girls and I have decided to stay with my parents this week to spend some time over at Grandma's house. I have very fond memories of this house. From the time that I was 5 and until I was 14, we lived in Brighton, Colorado. We didn't have any family out there and it was a 12 hour drive to Minnesota to see all of our Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles and Cousins. It was always such a special time to be able to make memories with all of them. My parents would often leave us in Minnesota to hang out for weeks at a time in the summer. We would stay at Grandpa and Grandma's house. We could always count on a Fried egg with crispy edges, lots of salt and pepper, Tang orange juice and Toast with butter for breakfast. Grandpa would always drive us to the pool...on idle. My cousin, Samantha, and I still believe he never touched the gas pedal. He loved to take his time and wave to everyone he passed. He always said, " A smile never costs you anything." We all miss him so much. Family meant more to my Grandpa than anything else in the world. Grandma would receive our alloted money for swimming pool treats and Cattoors, a local gas station, where we would go to buy icy pops, sunflower seeds and chocolate. Grandma was always very careful not to give us too much money at once. To this day she is the most frugal person I know, hence all of the Rummage Sale stuff! After reading the Ensign from April, (magezine from our Church), I have felt even more gratitude for my Grandparents. President Monson said this in his talk entitled, Treasure of Eternal Value, "Each of us has a heritage—whether from pioneer forebears, later converts, or others who helped shape our lives. This heritage provides a foundation built of sacrifice and faith. Ours is the privilege and responsibility to build on such firm and stable footings." He goes on to tell us not to delay in telling those we love, that we love them. I do not want to delay spending as much time as I have left with my Grandma. What a blessing it is to be in her presence. Grandma was sharing with us lastnight, memories from her childhood. She talked to us about what it was like to live through the Great Depression and memories of feeling so special for getting an apple for Christmas. Benjy told us lastnight, "I could have sat there listening to her all night long." I am so thankful for the love and respect that I have for her. I am so grateful that the girls and I are able to take this time(Thank you Benjy) to treasure the memories I have of my grandma. I love making new memories watching my children learn from their Great Grandmother's wisdom and love.

Sleeping in a Tent Sounds FUN!

Yesterday, Kaydree, Karsyn and their Koch Cousins decided they wanted Grandpa to set up the tent to sleep in. Well Auntie Emmie said she would take the night duty in the tent with the kids. I have to add it was even her and Spencer's 12th anniversary! The schedule was as follows:
9:30 PM Grandpa, Uncle Steve and Benjy set up the tent in the dark.
10:01 PM We say a pray and send the kids and Emily out.
10:21 Benjy and I go to bed.
10:40PM I wake up to thunder, lightening and lots of rain. Wake Benjy up and say, " It's storming and really raining.... go get Kaydree. Tell her that I will buy her a sand animal at Target if she comes in the house to sleep!"
10:41PM Benjy gets up and hears all of this yelling and laughing...a lot of kids with blankets and pillows in the kitchen.
10:42 PM Uncle Steve takes out the screen door trying to bring all of the stuffed animals and pillows in while running to get out of the rain. Uncle Spencer slept through all of the excitment and it was even his 12th wedding anniversary! (Don't Worry... Spencer and Emily are taking their anniversary weekend trip away next weekend and we are excited because the kids will be coming to play at our house with Grandpa and Grandma!)
10:43 PM Grandpa and I tell them that we will both sleep better having them all in the house.
10:44 PM We all go to bed.
10:01 AM The kids go out and take a picture by the tent and congratulate each other for giving it a good try!
WE were planning a camping trip over the 4th of July... we have now decided it probably won't be as much fun as we remember it being as kids.

Kaydree's First day of Summer

I am very excited to have the summer with Kaydree. She is excited for Tennis to start and to spend time at the pool. Our poor little monkey has had an uneventful day. She is a little sad that school is out for the summer. She has officially graduated from First Grade, we think! ;-) Here she is hanging on Benjy. Thanks for these pictures Becky. Benjy's sister Becky took these pictures when she, and her husband Ken, came to visit last month. We had a blast. It meant so much to us to have them here. We went to a comedy club with them, here is a picture. For those of you who didn't know, I was blond for 6 weeks or so and now I am back to being a brunette.... so yes that is me next to Benjy. I am done blogging for the day.. wanted to make sure there was a picture of everyone in the family on the blog!

My Karsyn is gone... to Grandpa and Grandma's.

So I have now officially started a blog. I have loved checking out everyone else's blog and now that Karsyn is hanging out with her cousin Nick, Grandpa and Grandma, I have time to start one. About 1 minute after Karsyn drove away with them this morning Kaydree looked at me and said, " I'm bored, when are we going to the gym?" We all are going to miss our little peanut. Kaydree really wants a hair cut and I really want a digital camera... yes Becky I am going to get one. All of you that know me well, know how a decision like buying a camera has been very hard. I am very indecisive and this would be one of those over the top buys for me. Andrea has heard me say a thousand times... I am going to go buy a camera and it still hasn't happened, but now that I have started a blog, it will kick me into action. Besides, I keep telling Benjy he is getting one for Fathers' Day, which is 4 days away. That's all for now. See you all soon!