IM back! Mothers Day was great!

Please forgive the small pics, but blogger wont make the pictures any bigger, I tried, but thats all it would do right now.

These are the great gifts my girls got me for Mother's Day/ My Birthday this year. The fishing guy statue for next to my pond, and a bouquet of red roses were my Aniversary/Birthday and Mother's Day gift from Caroline. The beautiful floral cabinet was the same gifts from my Wendy. Thanks GIRLS! I just love both of them. I know that having an aniversary, birthday, and Mother's day within a short time is a burden for my girls, but I do appreciate it a LOT! You both never cease to amaze me with your great surprizes!

I was away a little bit trying desperately to get my Kodak easy share program to work without all the errors. I tried re-downloading and re-using my disc, but still ending up with errors and the program not opening. Finally I got online with a Kodak representative and he set me up with a URL to finally erase all the previous downloads and then to re-download the program again, and its FINALLY working, (Somewhat) and Im back in business. (for the moment) Don't you hate it when things dont run right in your computer?

My Niece got MARRIED in BALI!

This is my sister's daughter, Amie who just got married in a traditional wedding to Hendra in his native home near Bali! Look how beautiful she is.

And this the husband she married - Hendra.

These are Hendra cousins who attended the wedding. Pretty girls.

This is my Sister, Nancy, Amie, and Nancy's husband, Rob just before the wedding. Proud Parents! Hendra's parents had traditional costumes custom made for Nancy and Rob. Beautiful! Rob doesn't have his costume on in this pic.

Both familys visited Monkey Mountain to feed the monkeys after the wedding.

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Amie met Hendra while working on a cruise ship for the past two years. Amie has been learning to speak the language and they both translated for my Sister when she spoke with Hendra's parents. Amie wants to also stage another wedding in the U.S. when they come back here in the fall or late summer. Her sisters and brother could not make the trip to Indonesia for this one.

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In other news:

May 1st was my hubby and mine 38th wedding aniversary, my daughter Caroline bought me a beautiful bouquet of roses and Wendy bought me a beautiful display cabinet for my collectables with decorated painting of flowers and vines across the front and top.

Wednesday, May 7th will be my 59th birthday, lots of celebrating in this month with also Mothers Day coming next weekend. Where did all the year go? In my mind, Im still a 30 year old, but the old body tells me otherwise. There is still much more to come.

I've been having my daughter Wendy helping me weed and restart a new flower bed for the front of the house, as soon as we finish, I'll take some pics to show it off. I've bought some new bushes and plants to fix up the beds, and white stone to decorate the new beds in front of the new addition. More to come soon...

A Meme As my Daughter Suggested

meme
I normally don't do too many memes...but this looked simple enough. Remember:You Can Only Type One Word

1. Where is your mobile phone? ~Purse

2. Your significant other? ~ Snoring

3. Your hair? ~ Colored

4. Your mother? ~ Deceased

5 Your father? ~ Deceased

6. Your favorite thing? ~ Surprizes

7. Your dream last night? ~ nonmemoriable

8. Your favorite drink? ~ Fruit

9. Your dream/goal? ~ Vacation

10. The room you’re in? ~ Family

11. Your ex? ~ None

12. Your fear? ~ Illness

13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? ~ comfortable

14. Where were you last night? ~ Home

15. What you’re not? ~ skinny

16. Muffins? ~ blueberry

17. One of your wish list items? ~ cruise

18. Where you grew up? ~ Michigan

19. The last thing you did? ~ Shopping

20. What are you wearing? ~ clothes

21. Your TV?~ Big

22. Your pets? ~dog

3. Your computer? ~ communicator

24. Your life? ~ Happy

25. Your mood? ~ Tired

26. Missing someone? ~ Mom

27. Your car? ~ Van

28. Something you’re not wearing? ~Glasses

29. Favorite Store? ~walmart

30. Your summer? ~ FUN

31. Like someone? ~ everyone

32. Your favorite color? ~ Turquoise

33. When is the last time you laughed? ~ today

34. Last time you cried? ~ ?

35. Who will/would re-post this? ~ Friends

Have fun!~~~

Happy Easter!

We took the whole family to a Chinese restaurant called Mongolian Buffet for Easter Dinner. Everyone had a great time and a great meal, (saving Momma the cleanup later).

Amber WON the last set of Matches of the season! HERE'S PROOF!

Amber is in the red and black tights, and she pinned the boy within the FIRST MINUTE of the contest! (You can hear Caroline and Frank cheering for her in the background)

We're so proud of our big girl !!!!

And here are a few others of her team that won also!

AMBERS Team woooped butt on Clawson's team!

Here's the (war dance) they come in with on every home game! Such Intimidation!

See how big her team is compared to the opposition! They won all but 2 matches against Clawson.

Amber Has Joined the Wrestling Team !!

Amber is one tough little lady, and last night, Sarah and Wendy, and I went to her school to watch a practice match her school had with another school's team in the area. She didn't win, but she gave a good fight against some VERY big boys on the other team. She has only had a couple weeks of practice so she's still learning. Her coach said that two girls students he taught in the past, went on to wrestle through college and one is going for the Olympics this year! She seems to have the determination to keep going, and isn't afraid that she'll get hurt.. So far...

They have kids as small as 60 lbs on up on each team, and they matched them according to weight classes.

The boys she fought looked a lot heavier than she does. At least we were her cheerleaders for the night and boy! did we cheer for her! Amber is in the red shirt and black pants.

Some Cute Little Ditties I found

UPDATE on Frank

Well, Frank is back home and is attending Physical therapy to try to get his fingers to move. Apparently it was definitely a stroke, and they found no problems with his heart. He will be out of work for quite a while with only one hand to work with. The family doctor is also going to have an ultrasound done to see about blood flow into his arm. Therapy is doing shock treatment to try to get the fingers to move. Lets pray that the therapy helps him get some use of his left hand and fingers. Only time will tell.

Sarah and Matthew's Birthday Party!

Matthew Blowing out his candles, at the combo Birthday Party for Sarah and Matthew. Behind him on the left is his Half Sister. Amanda, and to the right is his Mother, Wendy. Since their whole family has birthdays in January, they celebrate all of them at the end of the month. Matthew turned 8 years old on Jan. 18th.

Here is Sarah who just turned 11 on January 31st, with her two friends from school and her Half Sister. We had pizza, cake and ice cream and pop. Then the girls played pin the tail on the donkey and put fake tatoos on each other, including Grandma.

HIP, HIP, HOORAY! for Matt and Sarah!

Frank is sick!

As of Friday, Frank, my son-in-law, who is married to my daughter, Caroline, is in the hospital with a possible stroke. He called her from work in the afternoon complaining about his arm and hand were not moving for him. After extensive tests, they are very sure that he has had previous minor strokes in the past, and that he has had another. At first his entire left arm was very heavy and he had no movement of his fingers at all, but since being in the hospital for 3-1/2 days, he can now lift his arm, but not much movement of the fingers is happening. They are also monitoring his heart, as he also has a normal low blood pressure, but they are deeply concerned that his heart beats TOO SLOW! Normal persons have a pulse of 60-80 beats per minute, but his is only 43-46 beats per minute.
We need every prayer we can possibly get to help Frank get back on the road to full recovery. Their family needs him around for a long time yet.

WHAT A DAY! Happy familys! (Grandma and Grandpa's gang)

Holiday decorations
----------------Matthew opening gift

Wendy and Amber at snack bar

Even Bunny got a new dog toy!

Matthew got a new TV!

Amber wanted a portable DVD Player

-------------------------------Darin got a TV and RC Helicopter

Sarah wanted Cash for a shopping spree!

Amber wanted the rest of her cash for a shopping spree.

Darin's excited opening his envelope.

Me- Looking at my present

My present - a necklace with Darin and Amber engraved on it!

How Beautiful!!!

Barlow's Present- Dog Tag Necklace -with Darin and Amber's picture engraved on it!!

My cousin Steve with Amber and Sarah behind him.

My Aunt Sally and Uncle Ed

Wendy, Mark, and Matthew and Sarah - family portrait












My little white tree.

My hubby- Barlow in Family room

Frank at the Buffet counter










Caroline, Frank, with Darin and Amber- Family portrait

Everyone ate their fill, munched on Pies and cakes, were thrilled with their presents. Wendy got me a beautiful shirt, pants and gloves, as well as a box of candy! We're spoiled that way. I also received a wonderful large picture frame with lots of windows to put our family pictures behind. Darin and Amber went together and bought Grandpa and Grandma a gift certificate for a dinner out at Ponderosa Steak House Resteraunt!

Well on now to the New Year. Hope this new one is just as wonderful or better than 2007!

Hope you enjoyed a little glimpse of our festivities....

I Found one Charnina Recipe! (for those that are searching)

DUCK BLOOD SOUP(czarnina)

Collect the blood of a freshly killed duck or goose and stir in 1/4 cup 6% vinegar. Seal and refrigerate until ready to use.In pot combine duck or goose wings, neck, rump, heart, and gizzard with 8 cups cold water. Bring to boil, skimming off scum until no more forms, reduce heat and simmer 1 hr. Add several peppercorns, cloves, and allspice grains and 1/2 to 1 bay leaf plus the standard portion of soup greens and simmer another 1-1 1/2 hours or until meat easily comes away from bone.
Dice giblets, remove meat from bones, dice, and return to strained stock. The soup vegetables may be diced and returned to pot or used in another dish according to preference. Add about 2 cups dried fruit: prunes, apples, pears, raisins, and simmer another 15-20 minutes. Fork-blend 2-3 Tablespoons flour with blood & vinegar mixture, add about 1/2 cup stock 1 Tablespoon at a time, stirring constantly, then return to pot. Season with salt, pepper, a pinch or 2 ground juniper berries (optional), sugar, and a bit more vinegar if needed to get a sweet, sour, winey flavor with subtly spicy undertones. Simmer gently several minutes and serve with egg noodles, noodle squares, grated-potato dumplings or cooked, diced potatoes.


Source(s):
www.outernetweb.com/recipes/grandma/soup...

It's Beginning to look a Lot Like Christmas!

Well I'm almost done with the Christmas shopping and have most of the food exept the last minute things like pies and breads. The kids are all looking forward to Santa, and our Papa Clause.( Grandpa) With the kids getting bigger, its been hard to pick out things for the kids for Christmas, so we offer either cash, (for a shopping spree) or the equivalent value in a Special wish for a gift. The boys, Darin and Matthew both asked for a flat screen television for their rooms and remote controled mini helicopter. Amber has wished for a portable DVD player, and the rest of her money to go on a spree. Sarah is wanting just the money so she can shop till she drops! Ha ha! At least they all get their wishes.
Our Christmas dinner always consists of our family's favorite, which is my Polish Galumpky ( stuffed cabbage rolls), but we'll also have sliced ham, Italian sausage, and Kielbasa. We also make boiled potatoes, and corn. I'm going to make some home-made cookies, and we'll have pies and cakes. (for Thanksgiving I bought one banana cream pie, and I did'nt even get one piece, so I think two will be the order of the day for this holiday! LOL!)

Looking forward to the great day ahead. Hoping yours will be just as great as ours will be too! What special holiday feasts are you all preparing for the special day? Is there a special item that the family always request from you?

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A lot of people have been scanning the site meter of my blog in search of a recipe for Charnina soup. A dish, which is a Polish (i think) dish made from the blood of a duck with sweet plums or raisins in it. I know my Grandma used to make it, but I never got the recipe. (My mouth still waters for her soup with the home made noodles) Has anyone out there got one for me? I dont even know if it's possible to get the blood anymore. Sounds grousom, but it really was great the way my Grandma used to make it.

Tummys are full, all the family had fun, a good day was had by all!

Uncle Ed and Bunny / Grandpa Barlow

Wendy / Caroline

Sarah, Bunny and Matthew/

Darin

SARAH AND one Turkey /




Vegie Platter

The Small turkey in the

Popeils cooker- looks great!

Tastes great too!

Big grown up Amber!

Well two turkeys and tons of food later, and a second dinner on Friday nearly knocked off all the great food we had for Thanksgiving! Doesn't everyone look happy and contented? How thankfull I am to have such a happy family with me at the holidays. Hope everyone else has such a great time like we did.