Shop Til you Drop..... At the mall

"Hey Brody, do you think this diaper makes my butt look big?"

"Hey Mom, look over there. I think someone pooped because if sure does stink around here..."

"I love your yougurt grandma, thanks for thinking of it..."

"Yes, I'm in Everleigh's stroller. It's fun and I look good surrounded by pink."

"Hey Everleigh, let's see if we can get Sue to buy us some ice cream."

"Auntie Beth, did you see that big cup of coffee Grandma has? She's gonna need a pit stop really soon"

"Hey there, I think Brody is sleeping, let's make our move to the ice cream store before they notice we are missing. "


"Rats, they found us."

Baby Swenson Baby Shower

Jesse with a cute gift from Renell. She made this using a live plant and baby stuff.

Jesse practicing with Everleigh.

Lovely table setting at Bonnie's.

Handmade card from Great Aunt Phyllis.

Handmade quilt from the Malecha's. It's so soft...

Whitney, Bethanie and Jesse with Baby Brody.

And the Birthday Celebrating Continues

No one can work a birthday better than mom. She had yet another party in Arizona with her girlfriends. Here is a letter from mom:


Hi from Rainy Arizona!

Yes, it rained Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. That is pretty unusual for here but now it is still cool. I'm hoping for some really warm weather for next week when Annie comes for a visit.

Last week was birthday week for me. Monday Norine, Jean, Grace, Julie and Pat took me to lunch at our Terrace Green restaurant here in the park. Besides the lunch, we had balloons, gifts, and individual cheesecake birthday cakes. Lots of laughter and fun. On Saturday evening, Alice had me for dinner with Shirley, Nancy, Inger, and another Pat. Also on Saturday and Sunday, I had phone calls, and facebook messages, and skype sightings from my 4 children and all 8 grandchildren. I was remembered with phone calls from several other family members. I am still getting cards from other family and friends. All in all, it was a very special birthday for me and I will remember it always. Thank you.

It's Tuesday, and I just had a call from Lorn & Kitty Schneeberger. They are coming over and we're going for lunch. So begins a new and busy week for me. I like it that way!

Until next time, LaVerne

The REAL Birthday

After her "surprise" party in MN in January, today is the REAL 80th birthday for mom.
Happy Birthday....

Hello from sunny Mesa,

How about all those Mieska's!! I now have 12 great grandchildren and at least one more on the way. Claire Elizabeth was born April 25, 2009, Everleigh Drew was born September 5, 2009, Broden Riley was born February 1, 2010, Finn Andrew was born February 12, 2010 and Baby Swenson is due April 19, 2010. That is 5 babies in one year. Wow! Of course, the other 8 were not that close together but just as important. They are all healthy and I am truly blessed. Thank you, God

It's been a busy time for me lately. The entertainment in the park has been exceptional lately. We had Rex Allen Jr. Charlie Rich Jr. and Johnny Western at one show. Those of you in Northfield must remember that Johnny Western has come to Northfield many times. He has a brother-in-law, Van Miller, who is now a minister in the church that Marland and I attended when we lived at Lake Jefferson. That's where Duane Everson(our dear friend) used to preach. I went up to him after the concert and we talked for a few minutes.
We had an "Elvis" impersonator who was very good. For a short time, I thought he was lip syncing but he wasn't. His voice was very much like the original Elvis.
Last week we had Shields & Yarnell. I remember when they were on TV many years ago. They were "mimes" and very good.

Our weather is finally really nice and warm. I sit out on my deck in the evenings and watch the beautiful sunsets. How lucky I am.

I'm looking forward to a visit from Ann on March 3-9. I think we will be able to find lots of things to do.

I'm very happy with my DSL computer. I get action pictures of my new little babies so I can keep up with their actions.Steve also hooked me up to SKYPE while he was here, so this morning I talked and saw Zac who is in Florida and then I talked and saw Steve who is in Iowa. These modern "toys" are pretty impressive.

That's about it for this time. Love, LaVerne

More Babies

Annoucing the birth of Finn Andrew Mieska.

Owen Jude, Jere, Luke, Steve and Brand New Baby Finn Andrew Mieska, born Feb 12 to Gina and Jere Mieska.

Mieska's everywhere. Gina told mom today that Grandpa Marland would be very pleased to have another Mieska Boy in the family to carry on the Mieska name. Ann reminded me today that our Grandpa Fred was very worried that there would be no Mieska boys to carry on the name. NO more worries. 4 Mieska boys....

Congratulations to all.

News from Mom

Hi from Arizona,

Steve & Peggy visited me a few days last week and I had a great time. They arrived Wednesday evening and we drove up to Sedona on Thursday morning. What a beautiful country that is!! Every direction you looked was awesome. Peggy sent Sue a few pictures that she put on the blog just before this one and you can see that the scenery is magnificent. They have a time share there and so the accommodations were very comfortable. We visited several art gallery's--one gallery had over 100 artists with their works on display. Of course, all of them were for sale! We didn't buy! We hiked several trails. I would hike for a little while and then find a rock to sit on while Peggy continued on. Steve volunteered to keep me company! We drove 12 miles up the Oak Creek Canyon--what beauty!!- and then had to turn around because Sedona & Flagstaff had just had much, much snow and the road was closed.

We came back Saturday morning and Steve helped me get my car in better working order. I needed a new battery so he went with me to find a decent priced one. Auto Zone was short staffed so they borrowed Steve the tools and he put the new one in. He also cleaned my car. Surprise, surprise!! He is just like his father was--always a clean car! He vacuumed the inside, washed the windows inside and outside and washed the outside. He painted the ceiling in my living room
where I had had water damage earlier. He installed SKYPE on my computer and taught me how to use it, fixed some broken blinds, and probably some other things I have forgotten. He's kind of nice to have around. They cruised around in the golf cart and enjoyed the hot tub at the pool. Peggy thoroughly enjoyed riding around with the window down while we were driving. She loved the warm weather. They picked a good time to come down because the week before they were here , we had over 3 inches of rain and right after they left it turned cooler again.

Now I'm looking forward to a visit from Ann the first part of March.

Til next time, LaVerne

Trip To AZ

Mom and Steve in AZ. "Can you back up a few more feet so I can get you in focus"?

Steve "hiking" in Arizona. Looks like he picked his nose and can't find the buger. Or he might be reading his Blackberry.

Beautiful Sedona....

Happy Birthday Dad...

More photos of Broden

Grandpa Jeff with Broden

Daddy Barry, Cousin Claire

Cousin Claire Visits Auntie Bethanie

Broden Riley Park 7# 10oz 21 inches of pure joy.

Photos are a bit blurry, but it is the best I could do stealing them from Facebook. Trust me when I say he is ADORABLE>

Broden Riley Park has ARRIVED

6:20pm. 7# 10 oz. That is all I know. All are doing fine.

Paula's Grandson

Here's a picture of Paula Brand's grandson, Andrew. We had lunch on Saturday while she was babysitting at her daughter Sarah's in Farmington. Andrew is about 18 months old. He loves to play ring around the rosie and play with his dog, Scout.