June 2017

Our festive 4th of July house.

Debby and I went on a cruise on the Mississippi to celebrate our 35th anniversary.

The tug "Saint Matthias" went by.

We visited the Spam museum in Austin MN as part of a Spamily get together

Sam (Spam) playing a Canjo

Debby modeling Hormel attire

The former hospital in Spring Grove where Grandma Mathias was born.

The actual room where Grandma was born

The house where Grandma lived in Spring Grove until she was 12 years old

Graveyard in Spring Grove

The Ancestral Homestead near Black Hammer MN

Our House Decorated for the 4th of July

Later in the evening

After Dark

Night Photography in Minneapolis

Night Photography in Minneapolis

My friend Paul Veronicas took me and Danny down to the historic Stone Arch Bridge in Downtown Minneapolis crossing the Mississippi river.

Just starting to get Dark

The Minneapolis skyline

Finally Dark

More of the Bridge

The other side of the bridge

The top of the bridge. Very busy with bike and pedestrian traffic

The new Lowry ave bridge

Looking towards downtown Minneapolis from the Lowry avenue bridge

From down at the river bank

A nice place to relax and enjoy the view

The ferris wheel at a restuarant a block from the bridge

Night Photography
Last night my friend from work Paul Veronikas took me on a photography field trip. Paul teaches photography at a couple of local colleges and loves to teach people how to use their cameras. We went to 3 locations last night and besides taking some nice pictures and drinking some really good hot chocolate (If you know Paul ask him about the never ending whipped cream) I learned alot about our camera and all the manual settings. Enjoy!

Minnehaha Falls

On this shot Paul used his flash several times to lighten the foreground

 Mounds Blvd in Saint Paul
This is a scenic overlook that gives great views of downtown St. Paul and the Mississippi River

Downtown St. Paul at night

A view of our Overlook

More of the Mississippi River

The high bridge

Downtown Saint Paul from accross the river on the South

The Basilica at Night from the top of the high bridge

Mom's Kitchen

Before

Here's the way it used to be in case you've forgotten.

 Destruction and Rebuilding


For about a month we lived without a kitchen.  We are very grateful to have one back!

Jim attaching the cabinets to the wall

Jeremy taping in anticipation of painting cabinets and woodwork

After!

Here's mom's new kitchen. A few months ago mom asked Jim Van Heel if he ever threw away cabinets out of kitchens that he remodeled. About 2 months ago Barb and Jim came by and showed us pictures of some cabinets that were coming out of a kitchen he was remodeling. They were very similar in style to the cabinets we already had. With new cabinets mom started sanding and preparing the for a miraculous transformation. Special thanks to Jim for not only getting us the cabinets but also helping with several of the difficult parts of the project, and thanks to  Jeremy Wachs, Amelia's dad who did the wonderful job of painting the cabinets and woodwork.  I'm not sure it would have gotten done without their help.

June 2011 Family Family Family

After Andy's Blessing

Cousins Sliding!

Black Light Mini Golf

At Sammy's

Laser Tag Warriors (potential casulaties)

Uncle Sam with Andy

Sam & Weston

Boys & Buffalos

Joe & Ben at the park

A trilling ball game

Along way down at Yellowstone

An awesome waterfall

The boys at Yellowstone