More birthday cake, please....

The birthday candles today are for Pierre Barsaloux (Jeffrey & Jewel) who turns 6 this time around.  Grandma Rose Mary will be calling with good wishes, you can be sure.  Happy birthday, Pierre!

What was the occasion?

Back in September of 1942, Dennis Korkowski was a mere 4-1/2 years old, but he was looking mighty fine in this picture...wonder what the occasion was...perhaps the baptism of his younger brother Cliff who was born at that time?  Do we see the resemblance to son Eddie???

Time marches on...

Three little munchkins and eight years later, Doug & Dawn (O'Donnell) Inman are celebrating their wedding anniversary today.  We send congratulations your way...happy anniversary, Doug & Dawn!

An elderly couple was on a cruise and it was really stormy. They were standing on the back of the boat watching the storm, when a wave came up and washed the old man overboard. They searched for days and couldn't find him, so the captain sent the old woman back to shore with the promise that he would notify her as soon as they found something.

Three weeks went by and finally the old woman got a fax from the boat. It read: 'Ma'am, sorry to inform you, we found your husband dead at the bottom of the ocean. We hauled him up to the deck and attached to his butt was an oyster and in it was a pearl worth $50,000. Please advise.'

The old woman faxed back: 'Send me the pearl and re-bait the trap.'

Life is a bowl of (maraschino) cherries....

This little gal has a smile (and a trick up her sleeve!) all the time, and today she gets the birthday cake....Lexi Dupont (#6) (Mike & Brenda Magnuson Dupont) keeps life interesting for mom and dad..and everyone else...as her quick wit and sparkly eyes give you a clue that she's a spark plug!  Happy birthday, Lexi...I told you your day was coming.  More maraschino cherries for the young lady today!

How the kids grow up......too quickly!

It seems his mom shouldn't be much older than this, BUT, Erik Nelson (Kevin & Julie Korkowski Nelson) turns 18 today, a young man on the verge of leaving the nest.  Between looking good and being a great musician, good fortune is in the cards for this guy...happy birthday, Erik! 

The last of the retirement possibilities....

In case all the other retirement possibilities listed in prior posts haven't piqued your interest, here are two more...perhaps the two most common among the good people of Minnesota...staying in the Midwest or heading for the palm trees of Florida!
You can retire to the Midwest where..

1. You've never met any celebrities, but the mayor knows your name.
2. Your idea of a traffic jam is ten cars waiting to pass a tractor.
3. You have had to switch from "heat" to "A/C" on the same day.
4. You end sentences with a preposition: "Where's my coat at? "
5. When asked how your trip was to any exotic place, you say, "It was different!"
Or you can retire to Florida where:
1. You eat dinner at 3:15 in the afternoon.
2. All purchases include a coupon of some kind, even houses and cars.
3. Everyone can recommend an excellent dermatologist.
4. Road construction never ends anywhere in the state.
5. Cars in front of you often appear to be driven by headless people.
So, now that you've seen all the possibilities, what is your choice???

Can you believe it's here??

Although the weather of late has been telling, it's still hard to believe that summer is now officially over and that today is the first day of autumn.  With all the rain and warm weather we've had over the summer, the fall leaves are quite late in displaying their colors compared to other years, but they're starting to show up now.  Enjoy this favorite time of year for many people....wood smoke, fall leaves, squash and pumpkins!  And for my personal favorite fall kick-off...meatloaf, baked potatoes and acorn squash...it's the best smell and taste of fall.

Two years ago we began a Franciscan Volunteer Program for post college students who were interested in giving 10 months of service to the poor, live simply and in community.  Last July 1, we said goodbye to Spencer, Will, Alicia and Caitie.  At the end of August we welcomed two men and three women who are now our newest volunteers.  They came to Little Falls on Sunday, September 19 (current picture)  to tell the Donors of our Community about themselves and their program. I told them I wanted their picture for OUR BLOG.  The women live in our house, the men across the street.  We cook on Monday and Wednesday, they cook on Tuesday, and the rest of the week, we have separate meals. They use the lower level of our home for TV, Internet, and gatherings. We pray together, laugh, share stories and life.  They are great to have around.

From left to right:             Greg works with the homeless at Place of Hope, St. Cloud

                                       Audrey  works with children at risk at the Children’s Home, St. Cloud

                                       ME

                                       Eilis works with Lutheran Social Services, refugee  resettlement

                                       Will works for Boys and Girls Club as counselor, organizer of volunteers

                                       Ann works for Catholic Charities and Hands Across the World

They are all from out of state.  So you see, I have my Korkowski family and added to our family are these five persons.  Hopefully, you can meet them someday before the end of June, 2011.   

Sister Cordy

Another birthday....

Another birthday again today....this time it's Chad Hanson (#31), hubby of Jackie (Korkowski) Hanson.  Sending birthday wishes your way, Chad...happy birthday!

He'll be the life of the classroom...

There'll be cupcakes in the classroom today for Andrew Majhess (Joe & Jennifer Korkowski Majhess) as he celebrates his 4th birthday.  One can only wonder what words of wisdom he'll have for his teacher today....happy birthday, Andrew!

"I want to be just like my grandpa"......

Remember the old television ad that ran something along the lines of "like father, like son"?  Well, this picture shows the new version of that line..."like grandpa, like grand-daughter"....as Grandpa Mike takes a little snooze and Lila follows suit.  Some family traits are just not meant to be broken!  I wonder who went down first?

It's her birthday today

Today it's her birthday....Sr. Cordy (#71) will hopefully have a relaxing day at work, or better yet, a day off as she celebrates.  We send the best of birthday wishes your way today...happy birthday, Cordy!

Our birthday boy today is....

The cake, candles and ice cream today are for Cliff Korkowski (#68) who basically has been celebrating for a week already with a couple rounds of golf up at the Giants Ridge golf courses ("spectacular" were the words to describe it from Cliff and Gary Boesen) and then a surprise Twins game on Friday night with son Paul.  I see more celebrating as the day goes on...happy birthday, Cliff!

More retirement possibilities...

As promised, here are a few more cities to think about retiring to if you didn't see what you wanted in the first posting of the other day...
You can retire to Maine where..

1. You only have four spices: salt, pepper, ketchup, and Tabasco .
2. Halloween costumes fit over parkas.
3. You have more than one recipe for moose.
4. Sexy lingerie is anything flannel with less than eight buttons.
5. The four seasons are: winter, still winter, almost winter, and construction.

You can retire to the Deep South where..
1. You can rent a movie and buy bait in the same store.
2. "Y'all" is singular and "all y'all" is plural.
3. "He needed killin'" is a valid defense.
4. Everyone has 2 first names: Billy Bob, Jimmy Bob, Mary Sue, Betty Jean, Mary Beth, etc.
5. Everything is either "in yonder," "over yonder" or "out yonder." It's important to know the difference, too.

You can retire to Colorado where...
1. You carry your $3,000 mountain bike atop your $500 car .
2. You tell your husband to pick up Granola on his way home and so he stops at the day carecenter.
3. A pass does not involve a football or dating.
4. The top of your head is bald, but you still have a pony tail.

Still not what you want?  Check back soon for the final choices...

Your weekend smile!

Dear Granddaughter,
The other day I went up to our local Christian book store and saw a 'Honk if you love Jesus' bumper sticker .. I was feeling particularly sassy that day because I had just come from a thrilling choir performance, followed by a thunderous prayer meeting. So, I bought the sticker and put it on my bumper. Boy, am I glad I did; what an uplifting experience that followed.
I was stopped at a red light at a busy intersection, just lost in thought about the Lord and how good he is, and I didn't notice that the light had changed. It is a good thing someone else loves Jesus because if he hadn't honked, I'd never have noticed. I found that lots of people love Jesus!
While I was sitting there, the guy behind started honking like crazy,and then he leaned out of his window and screamed, 'For the love of God!' 'Go! Go! Go! Jesus Christ, GO!' What an exuberant cheerleader he was for Jesus! Everyone started honking! I just leaned out my window and started waving and smiling at all those loving people. I even honked my horn a few times to share in the love!
There must have been a man from Florida back there because I heard him yelling something about a sunny beach. I saw another guy waving in a funny way with only his middle finger stuck up in the air. I asked my young teenage grandson in the back seat what that meant. He said it was probably a Hawaiian good luck sign or something. Well, I have never met anyone from Hawaii, so I leaned out the window and gave him the good luck sign right back. My grandson burst out laughing.
Why even he was enjoying this religious experience!! A couple of the people were so caught up in the joy of the moment that they got out of their cars and started walking towards me. I bet they wanted to pray or ask what church I attended, but this is when I noticed the light had changed. So, grinning, I waved at all my brothers and sisters, and drove on through the intersection.
I noticed that I was the only car that got through the intersection before the light changed again and felt kind of sad that I had to leave them after all the love we had shared. So I slowed the car down, leaned out the window and gave them all the Hawaiian good luck sign one last time as I drove away. Praise the Lord for such wonderful folks!!
Will write again soon,

Love, Grandma

Two ladies celebrating today

Well, one is a very young lady....today's birthday celebrants are Alyssa Korkowski (Nate & Edith) who turns 2, and then there's Deanna O'Donnell (#29) with a few more candles on her birthday cake.  Wishes to you both for a splendid birthday celebration today!

Don't know where to retire? Check these out.....

This is part of an email received from Fr. Steve; because it covers many different parts of the country, I'll break it down to a couple of days.  If you don't see the place you want to retire, stay tuned....
You can retire to Phoenix , Arizona where........

1. You are willing to park 3 blocks away because you found shade.
2. You've experienced condensation on your butt from the hot water in the toilet bowl.
3. You can drive for 4 hours in one direction and never leave town.
4. You have over 100 recipes for Mexican food.
5. You know that "dry heat" is comparable to what hits you in the face when you open your oven door.
6. The 4 seasons are: tolerable, hot, really hot, and ARE YOU KIDDING ME??!!

You can retire to California where..

1 You make over $250,000 and you still can't afford to buy a house.
2. The fastest part of your commute is going down your driveway.
3. You know how to eat an artichoke.
4. You drive your rented Mercedes to your neighborhood block party.
5. When someone asks you how far something is, you tell them how long it will take to get there rather than how many miles away it is.
6. The 4 seasons are: Fire, Flood, Mud, and Drought.

You can retire to New York City where..

1. You say "the city" and expect everyone to know you mean Manhattan
2. You can get into a four-hour argument about how to get from Columbus Circle to Battery Park, but can't find Wisconsin on a map.
3. You think Central Park is "nature."
4. You believe that being able to swear at people in their own language makes you multi-lingual.
5. You've worn out a car horn

The meaning of a name....

A man asked an American Indian what was his wife's name.  He replied, "She called Five Horses".
The man said, "That's an unusual name for your wife.  What does it mean?"
The Old Indian answered,  "It old Indian Name. It mean...

NAG, NAG, NAG, NAG, NAG!"

Thanks, Judi, for a "smile" on this gloomy day!

Remember when?

A big milestone for Joe & Sue Korkowski today as they celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary....two decades down and many more to come!  We know that Joe will come up with something special to mark the occasion, won't he?   Happy anniversary, Joe & Sue.

Five Kork Sisters - together again!

Cordelia Cecelia, Flavia Ann, Theresa, RoseMary, and Annette spent a lovely weekend together.  We all met at the cabin and had lots of giggles, good food, talking and more talking, and some beverages. On Saturday,we ventured over to Brandon where we spotted brother Mike. He looked quite surprised to see all of us together.  Then we motored to Millerville and shared a birthday cake with Norb and Donna.  Notice that Norb looks very comfortable surrounded by six lovely ladies.  We went to church in Millerville - so many memories going back to our roots.  A good time was had by all!    Theresa

Teacher, teacher.....it's your birthday!

It's back to school for the teacher and today's birthday celebrant...Rachel Krentz (#28)....will anyone bring her an apple or better yet, a birthday cake?  We hope you have a great birthday and your students give YOU a break today.  Happy birthday, Rachel!

The Korkowski women ruled on this day...

The maternity ward in Alexandria 35 years ago today was "Korkowski Day" as both Christella and Judi came in to have their babies....Patrick and Jill. 

Pat Korkowski enjoying time at the ham radios

Jill flashing her ever-present smile!

Happy birthday, Patrick and Jill!

By now he's no less than God's right-hand man...

It was two years ago today that brother Jerry cashed in his chips here on earth and left to become heaven's best hunter...fisherman...joke teller...and poker player.  Heaven hasn't been the same since!  We all miss that sh....grin, wondering what he was up to next....he'll probably let some of you know today that he's still keeping tabs on us all.

Grandparents Day and a birthday to boot!

Not only is today Grandparents' Day in the USA, but it's also Morgan Thompson's (Troy and Brandi Magnuson) birthday as she turns 11 today.  Happy birthday, Morgan, and to all the grandparents out there, you know it's the 'best job in the world'! 

The "town girl" celebrates today

No more 'farm girl' for Donna Korkowski (#59) as she celebrates her birthday today as the 'new girl in town'!  Happy birthday, Donna, and welcome back home.

Another year added on for Bill and Megan (Korkowski) Nicholas as they celebrate their 5th wedding anniversary today.  Bet it seems like just yesterday, doesn't it?  Congratulations, Bill and Megan!

Looks like a community bean bag, but Bill & Megan ARE in there!

Natalie's 1st Day of 1st Grade!

Natalie (Zuidema) & her next door neighbor/best friend, Ella, are waiting to ride the bus for the 1st time!  She had a great 1st day & is getting up with her alarm right away & is determined to get to the bus on time.  Hopefully that will last until at least October ;)

Andrea

The first day of school from the Dupont household

The kids at Mike and Brenda (Magnuson) Dupont's household are off and running....their pictures, and Brenda's narratives, are below:

Kyle said he heard every swear word there is on his bus. Those darn high school kids. He said they tried covering their ears and tried not to listen, but it was every other word out of their mouths. He was very excited that they now get two hot dogs in middle school, instead of just one.

Kelly said her teacher is very nice and loved visiting with her friends again. She said her teacher is Irish, so they have a lot in common. She is very happy to be back.

Lexi enjoyed her first day of school. I think she will continue on through 12th grade. She was mad at me because I didn't include the Kleenex box from the supply list. I will learn to follow directions and make sure she gets her tissues packed tomorrow. 3 kids, 3 schools, I am bound to miss something.

Great pictures and even better writing, Brenda!

Is this a fun (but scary) airline???

A recent email came to me with pictures and information on a low-cost South African airline called Kulula Airlines.  I checked it out on the internet because my initial reaction was that it was a joke or at least not true, but it is very true.  Here are some pictures of what an airplane may look like at any given time.  What would your reaction be if you stepped out on the tarmac to board the plane and saw all these graphics painted on the side???

Lots of enthusiasm for a new adventure

A new 'entry' for our back-to-school pictures...Jack Murray (Ray & Melissa Korkowski Murray) was all ready to start kindergarten at Primrose School in Lakeville.  Mom says he was excited to see his friends and to use that new backpack! 

Mosquitoes-1, Evan-0

What a way to start the school year!  Evan Oxentenko (Shawn & Amy) looks like he met up with a prizefighter but the truth is, that's a reaction from mosquito bites.  The last two weekends, while walking in the woods behind their new home, Evan was the main entree for mosquitoes, even with the use of bug spray.  He has never had a reaction like this, and the pediatrician says he's never seen this type of reaction to mosquito bites before.  He's been using Benadryl without much relief, and yesterday got a steroid treatment.  Poor guy...it looks like it's very painful besides.  Get better soon, Evan!

Birthday greetings today for Monte Korkowski (#24); there's bound to be a little partying someplace tonight.  Happy birthday, Monte!

It's important to know the source!

This cute story came in the email yesterday....

One day my mother was out, and my dad was in charge of me. I was maybe 2 1/2 years old. Someone had given me a little 'tea set' as a gift, and it was one of my favorite toys. Daddy was in the living room reading the evening news when I brought Daddy a little cup of 'tea', which was just water. After several cups of tea and lots of praise for such yummy tea, my Mom came home. My Dad made her wait in the living room to watch me bring him a cup of tea, because it was 'just the cutest thing!' My Mom waited, and sure enough, here I came down the hall with a cup of tea for Daddy; and she watched him drink it up. Then she said, (as only a mother would know), "'Did it ever occur to you that the only place she can reach to get water is the toilet?"

The unofficial end of summer...

Even though the calendar says it's still officially summer, the school buses and the kids standing on the corner tell us that summer is over and fall is here.  Routine is good!

Labor Day

Today we celebrate Labor Day....a day to honor all American workers who labor to provide us with the goods we need and consume every day.

For all the gardeners out there...

Whether you like flower gardening or vegetable gardening (or both!), the following quote says a lot..."the trouble with gardening is that it does not remain an avocation; it becomes an obsession".  How true, how true....if one plant is good, ten are better!

Anniversary wishes today

Happy anniversary for Shawn and Amy (Korkowski) Oxentenko as they celebrate their 11th today.  It's been quite the year for them and one they won't soon forget!  A little celebrating tonight would be in order I think.

School starts next week, so....

Just a reminder that with the majority of kids starting school next week, it would be great to get some 'back-to-school' pictures from the Kork families!  So, get your cameras ready.....

We're celebrating today

It was 43 years ago today (warm and windy as it could be!) that Beverly (Roers) and Clifford Korkowski said "I do"....three kids and nine grandkids later, we are grateful for the many blessings we have had.  It's dinner and drinks tonight at Jax Cafe!
(Lorlee, here's the 'before' photo you requested!)

It was finally his turn...

It was finally the big day for Andrew Majhess (Joe and Jennifer Korkowski Majhess) to start school, and for his teacher, it will be a year to remember!! On the first day, when asked a few questions about himself, the first being "what's your name?", he responded correctly of course.  Then he was asked, "what's your favorite thing?"......well, it wasn't Batman or Spiderman as mom and dad would have guessed off the bat...oh, no....he replied, "Garbage bags"!  What was that???  Yup, garbage bags are his favorite things...it was a new revelation for his parents as well.  See the teacher's blond hair in the picture....it's going to be gray by year's end! 

Where has the time gone?

In case you haven't noticed yet today, it is September 1, and fall is on its way.  Make sure to flip your calendar!