Farm house, part II

Happy birthday, Julie!

Happy birthday to Julie (Korkowski) Nelson (#44) as she enjoys the weekend and a bit of celebrating! It's YOUR day today, Julie!

The farm house from a new perspective...

These pictures from the hoedown CD are fantastic (I believe most, if not all, of them were taken by Amber?) Great eye for the beauty in the simplest of things!

Family genetics

Grandpa Mike sent me a note last week re: the similarity in looks between Lila and Sr. Cordy (at Lila's age). So, here's a photo of each.....what do you think?

Buildings on the farm..........

I thought it would be fun to run some pictures now and then taken from the CD which combined everyone's pictures from the hoedown so that everyone can enjoy them, especially those who weren't able to be there that day. So, imagine blue skies and running thru the grass!

1+1 = 2 for Kent & Susan (Krentz) Roers as they celebrate their 2nd wedding anniversary today. Baby Austin will help them celebrate by waking them for a late night feeding! Congrats to the two of you!

On the Vikings' sidelines...

Last night, while watching the Vikings, you can imagine our surprise to see our beloved pastor and good friend, Fr. Mike, on the Vikings sideline! Over the past year, he has become the "unofficial" Vikings chaplain, saying mass for the Catholics on the team (Favre and Childress among them) when they're playing at the Dome. Then they flew him to the Cardinals game a few weeks back, and apparently wanted the spiritual pep-talk this past weekend too, flying him to New Orleans on his way back home from a week's vacation in Florida. On the first shot, it was just Fr. Mike and one other person on the screen; 2nd sighting was of him behind Brad Childress. So, now he's become a mini-celebrity! Bev

It was a great season!

No, it wasn't the outcome we all wished for, BUT, it was a very exciting end to a great season of Minnesota Vikings football! Rest up everyone...the viewers and the players all need to recoup.

Positive thoughts only please....!

Skol, Vikings, let's win this game.......

Old farmer's advice (or anyone else for that matter!)

 

 

Old Farmer's Advice:
Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight and bull-strong.  
Keep skunks and bankers at a distance. 
Life is simpler when you plow around the stump. 
A bumble bee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor.
Words that soak into your ears are whispered...not yelled. 
Meanness don't jes' happen overnight. 
Forgive your enemies; it messes up their heads. 
Do not corner something that you know is meaner than you. 
It don't take a very big person to carry a grudge. 
You cannot unsay a cruel word. 
Every path has a few puddles. 
When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty. 
The best sermons are lived, not preached.
Most of the stuff people worry about ain't never gonna happen anyway. 
Don 't judge folks by their relatives. 
Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer. 
Live a good, honorable life.. then when you get older and think back, you'll enjoy it a second time. 
Don 't interfere with somethin' that ain't bothering you none. 
Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance. 
If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin'. 
Sometimes you get, and sometimes you get got. 
The biggest troublemaker you'll probably ever have to deal with, watches you from the mirror every mornin'. 
Always drink upstream from the herd. 
Good judgment comes from experience, and a lotta that comes from bad judgment. 
Lettin' the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier than puttin' it back in. 
If you get to thinkin' you're a person of some influence, try orderin' somebody else's dog around.. 
Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply.

Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God.

He plays with BIG toys!

Tom Korkowski (#45), in the birthday chair today, doesn't mess around when it comes to working! This is a Kress coal truck that he works on. It is the biggest coal truck in the world. The truck, empty, weighs 135 tons. Each axle alone weighs 52,000 lbs. It can haul 400 yards or 360 tons of coal. The truck has 1800 horse power. Thank God for power tools...no little wrenches here! So, take time to relax today and enjoy the weekend...happy birthday, Tom!

Sunday's special "prayer"

A slightly irreverent take on the Lord’s Prayer sent by a friend…..

Sunday’s Prayer: Our Favre-ther who art in Mississippi hallowed be thy name. Thy bowl will come, it will be won, In Miami as it is in the Dome. Give us this Sunday, Our weekly win. Give us touchdown passes, but do not let others pass against us. Lead us not into frustration, but deliver us to the Super Bowl. For thine ....

Keeping it all in the family

It's double the celebration with mother and son both having a birthday...Rose Mary (#57) and Caleb Peterson (#27) will be sharing a cake today. After seeing Caleb's expertise in the kitchen with the fantastic krumkake at Christmas, we think he'd do well to make that special cake. Happy birthday, Rose Mary and Caleb!

Let's see how many you recognize from long ago!

I came across this picture yesterday and thought it would be fun for the "oldsters" to see how many little faces they remember! It would be from probably around 1949 or 1950 since it's Cliff's 1st communion. (Double click on the picture to make it easier!)

Twinkies and root beer

A little boy wanted to meet God. He knew it was a long trip to where God lived, so he packed his suitcase with Twinkies and a six-pack of root beer and he started his journey.
When he had gone about three blocks, he met an elderly man. The man was sitting in the park just feeding some pigeons.
The boy sat down next to him and opened his suitcase. He was about to take a drink from his root beer when he noticed that the man looked hungry, so he offered him a Twinkie.
The man gratefully accepted it and smiled at the boy. His smile was so pleasant that the boy wanted to see it again, so he offered him a root beer.
Again, the man smiled at him. The boy was delighted! They sat there all afternoon eating and smiling, but they never said a word.
As it grew dark, the boy realized how tired he was and he got up to leave, but before he had gone more than a few steps, he turned around, ran back to the man, and gave him a hug. The man gave him his biggest smile ever.
When the boy opened the door to his own house a short time later, his mother was surprised by the look of joy on his face. She asked him, "What did you do today that made you so happy?
"He replied, "I had lunch with God." But before his mother could respond, he added, "You know what? God's got the most beautiful smile I've ever seen!"
Meanwhile, the elderly man, also radiant with joy, returned to his home. His son was stunned by the look of peace on his face and he asked," Dad, what did you do today that made you so happy?"
"He replied, "I ate Twinkies in the park with God." However, before his son responded, he added," You know, he's much younger than I expected." Author unknown
Thanks, Annette, for passing this along!

Today, we salute a couple of guys in the family....

Two guys in the family are celebrating birthdays today.....Jeffrey Barsaloux ,Jewel's husband,(#32) and Kevin Campbell (Roger and Jan) who turns 11. Happy birthday, Jeffrey and Kevin!

Celebrating today...

Birthday greetings today to Rachel Korkowski (#35). Weather is perfect for doing a bit of shopping and having some great food. Happy birthday, Rachel!

Out of the mouths of babes.....

Sometimes, little ones come up with the funniest things that just crack you up, and the following is no exception! Yesterday, Cliff & I watched the Vikings game down in Rochester with Amy, Shawn and the kids. The kids were warned repeatedly to "stay away from grandma's foot, be careful so you don't step on it" (after the foot surgery 10 days ago). Of course, they would forget about being careful and the warning was issued again. Just before we left, little Abby was running around close to my foot when Amy told her again to "be careful and don't step on grandma's sore foot". At that point, with total seriousness on her face, she asked "Grandma K, next time you come, can I step on your foot??" Uh, sure, why not??? Bev

Good, better, best!

Never one to shy away from having a good time, Theresa Krentz seems to be saluting her 60th birthday today....perhaps some more redeye? We wish you the happiest of birthdays, this one the first in your retirement. You go, girl!

So now we know the real truths....

Observations on Growing Older

~Your kids are becoming you...and you don't like them
...but your grandchildren are perfect!
~Going out is good.
Coming home is better!
~When people say you look "Great"...
they add "for your age!"
~When you needed the discount you paid full price.
Now you get discounts on everything ...
movies, hotels, flights, but you're too tired to use them.
~You forget names ... but it's OK
because other people forgot
they even knew you!!!
~The 5 pounds you wanted to lose
is now 15 and you have a better chance
of losing your keys than the 15 pounds.
~You realize you're never going
to be really good at anything .... especially golf.
~Your wife is counting on you
to remember things you don't remember.
~The things you used to care to do,
you no longer care to do,
but you really do care that you
don't care to do them anymore.
~Your husband sleeps better on a lounge chair
with the TV blaring than he does in bed.
It's called his "pre-sleep".
~Remember when your mother said
"Wear clean underwear in case you GET in an accident"?
Now you bring clean underwear in case you HAVE an accident!
~You used to say,
"I hope my kids GET married ...
Now, "I hope they STAY married!"
~You miss the days when everything worked
with just an "ON" and "OFF" switch..
~When GOOGLE, ipod, email, modem ...
were unheard of, and a mouse was something
that made you climb on a table.
~You used to use more 4 letter words ...
"what?"..."when?" ???
~Now that you can afford
expensive jewelry, it's not safe to wear it anywhere.
~Your husband has a night out with the guys
but he's home by 9:00 P.M. ...next week it will be 8:30 P.M.
~You read 100 pages into a book before you realize you've read it.
~Notice everything they sell in stores is "sleeveless"?!!!
~What used to be freckles are now liver spots.
~Everybody whispers....
~Now that your husband has retired ...
you'd give anything if he'd find a job!
~You have 3 sizes of clothes in your closet ....
2 of which you will never wear.
~~~~But old is good in some things:
old songs
old movies
And best of all OLD FRIENDS!!

Remember Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds"? They're back!

Mason Korkowski(Ron & Sue)was looking like a scene from the old Alfred Hitchcock's movie The Birds when on a recent trip to Florida. He had so much fun having those birds land on him, saving all his French fries from McDonald’s to feed them. Even seeing this picture gives me the heebie-jeebies and not-too-fond memories of the thousands of pigeons swooping around our faces when we traveled to Venice a few years ago. Needless to say, the shoes from that day went right in the garbage on our return....you need not wonder why!

More from the family archives...

A few more pictures from the "picture vault"....
1) Flavia and David;
2) Flavia and Mark;
3) Cliff and his calf

This is her "surprised" look!!

This picture of Aspen Morrissey, Kellen & Felicia's (Peterson)daughter, is priceless! First, you have to love the curly hair and then the "look". Perhaps acting is in this child's future??

And you thought the going was tough....

"Some day we'll tell our kids how we had to walk two miles to school and back!"

It's no wonder they fell in love......

It doesn't come as a surprise that Dennis & Christella had things in common way back when....and they've been making music ever since!
Notice the snow (!!) in the background....does one assume the music wasn't easy to listen to?

Something to think about....

What's mainly wrong with society today is that too many dirt roads have been paved. There's not a problem in America today….crime, drugs, education, divorce, delinquency… that wouldn't be remedied, if we just had more dirt roads, because dirt roads give character. People that live at the end of dirt roads learn early on that life is a bumpy ride. That it can jar you right down to your teeth sometimes, but it's worth it, if at the end is home...a loving spouse, happy kids and a dog. We wouldn't have near the trouble with our educational system if our kids got their exercise walking a dirt road with other kids, from whom they learn how to get along. There was less crime in our streets before they were paved. Criminals didn't walk two dusty miles to rob or rape, if they knew they'd be welcomed by five barking dogs and a double barrel shotgun. And there were no drive by shootings. Our values were better when our roads were worse! People did not worship their cars more than their kids, and motorists were more courteous; they didn't tailgate by riding the bumper or the guy in front would choke you with dust & bust your windshield with rocks. Dirt roads taught patience. Dirt roads were environmentally friendly; you didn't hop in your car for a quart of milk… you walked to the barn for your milk. For your mail, you walked to the mail box. What if it rained and the dirt road got washed out? That was the best part… then you stayed home and had some family time, roasted marshmallows and popped popcorn and pony rode on Daddy's shoulders and learned how to make prettier quilts than anybody. At the end of dirt roads, you soon learned that bad words tasted like soap. Most paved roads lead to trouble; dirt roads more likely lead to a fishing creek or a swimming hole. At the end of a dirt road, the only time we even locked our car was in August, because if we didn't, some neighbor would fill it with too much zucchini. At the end of a dirt road, there was always extra springtime income, from when city dudes would get stuck; you'd have to hitch up a team and pull them out. Usually you got a dollar...always you got a new friend...at the end of a dirt road! By Paul Harvey

Jesse Ventura, move over!

It seems the Korkowski family has their own wrestling superstar in Jacob Korkowski (Ron & Sue) who was in his first wrestling tournament this past weekend. He won two of his first three matches. There was a three way tie for first place. As the kid who knows no fear, this new sport is just the ticket for bigger and better things....way to go, Jacob!

Birthday buddies today...

Two guys in the family celebrating their birthdays today....Kent Roers (#32)(Susan Krentz)and Roger Campbell (#43) (Jan Korkowski)may have to work today but they can party tonight! Happy birthday, guys!

More oldies but goodies....

I have just finished organizing all my picture files, including those from last summer at Park Rapids plus those from the hoedown in August, so you can expect to see some new photos when birthdays or other special occasions roll around! In the file of the real oldies but goodies, there are some photos that weren't marked as having ever been used on the blog so I'm going to post a bunch of them in the next day or so. Some of them may have been here before, but they're always worth a 2nd look (and they'll be marked as USED from now on). Enjoy!
Top to bottom: 1) David and Faye; 2) Annette? (picture marked Rosie but I don't think it is); 3) Dennis in the 1st grade; and 4) David and Gerald