Welcome Ava Sue Jarrell

Ava Sue Jarrell arrived 1/22/2008 at 9:20am. She weighed 7.2# and is 20" long. LOTS of hair and we think she is beautiful ! Jenny is doing fine and very happy to have her little girl on the other side of the womb! They will go home from hospital Thurs. a.m. Yes, Grandma Peggy is in love and even Grandpa Steve admitted she's "kinda cute" !

Jenny's Baby Shower

Here is a shot of Peggy's mom, Jenny and Peggy.

Gina hosted a baby shower for Peggy's daugher Jenny over the weekend. Apparently a good time was had by all.

Jenny is on bed rest until her due date. Send good thoughts her way!!!!

Here is the link to Jenny's web site.

CLICK HERE

Or paste this address into your browser:

http://www.carepages.com/ServeCarePage?cpn=babylove1&cid=eminvite

Mom's Blog 1.20.08

If it's Sunday, it's blog time--

Hi family & friends,

Another boring week---not much happening. I went to Sour Dough Pizza with Ed & Joan Friday night. It's one of my favorite pizza places. We had a Block Party on Saturday. Everyone brought finger food and there was lots of getting acquainted with the new kids on the block.

Today is Sunday. I went to church and then a long walk. Ended up at the ball park watching a couple of ball games. This evening I'm going to a concert in our ball room. "The Lettermen" are performing and they are very good. It was either "The Lettermen" of "The Association" that came to St. Olaf college many years ago and we were fortunate enough to get tickets to attend. They were so good. I know I will enjoy this performance.

Jane, tell Marie that an article in the Arizona Republic reports that "Matta's" is closing after being in business for 50 years. I know it was a place that Marie enjoyed going to.

Barbara, thanks for the pictures of your new granddaughter. What a doll. Olivia Grace is her name and Tara is her Mom. Thanks also for the picture of Rebecca Joyce, Olivia Grace and you.

Hope next week is more exciting!!! Love, LaVerne

Mom is back in Arizonz

Blog time again

It's Sunday afternoon and I've only been back in Arizona since Wednesday but I guess there is enough news to write a short note.

Dick & Joyce picked me up at the airport and took me out to lunch. On the way home they gave me the sad news that they were leaving to go back to Oregon for the remainder of the winter. I am disappointed but I know that all of us have to make our own decisions and do what we think is best for us. I will miss them--Joyce and I were to do some garage sales after I got back but guess that is not to be. Hope their trip home is without incident.

Friday afternoon I went to an old fashioned "sock hop" up at the auditorium. The owners served hamburgers, hot dogs, potato chips, cake, and root beer floats. Wonder of wonders--it was free!! Lots of the folks were dressed in the "poodle skirts" of the "60's" and had on their bobby socks. It was fun to watch. I had to leave when the disc jockey played "May I Have This Dance for the Rest of My Life.

That same evening I was invited to Ed & Norine's for a cocktail party.

Saturday I did something I haven't done for a LONG time. I baked 3 loaves of 9 grain bread!!! It turned out really good! I started the yeast before I checked my flour so had to ring 3 doorbells before I found someone who had 2 more cups of flour that I could borrow!

Saturday I also went up to the ball park and watched the guys play softball.

Sunday morning I went to church and then a friend called and invited me to go to a movie. We saw "The Great Debaters" with Denzel Washington. It was excellent. We're planning to see "The Bucket List" and then "Juno" I've finally found someone who has the same tastes in movies that I do.

This next week looks like there will be plenty of things to keep me busy so stay tuned!!

Love, LaVerne

Mieska Boys

Luke BEFORE the tooth loss.
Jeremiah, Luke, Steve, Owen, Zac. The MIESKA boys.

The tooth fairy has finally arrived. Luke lost his first tooth and wanted Grandma Mieska to see!

Holiday Ella-bration

Ella turned 7 months old on Friday and as you will notice in the attached pictures she is a very happy baby. She weighed 12lbs 5oz at her check up on Friday. Ella loved her first Christmas and was spoiled rotten by all of her grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. It took her a few days to recover from all of the festivities. A few days after Christmas we met with a surgeon at Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago. As you probably have noticed in her pictures over the past few months, Ella is still crossing her eyes and it turns out this is not something she will grow out of. We were told she has infantile estropia which is the brain's inability to coordinate the movement of the eyes. She will need surgery to correct this problem and we will let you know when that will occur as we will once again ask for everyone's prayers.

In addition to the pictures, I have attached a poem that was written by my uncle Larry. It's an annual tradition that Larry writes a poem and reads it to the family as we sit down to Christmas dinner. It is usually filled with humorous stanza's about events that have occured over the year to our many family members. Last year, this was the medium that we used to announce our pregnancy to the family. This year, the little show stopper took over the entire poem. The title: A Holiday Ella-bration.....2007. I hope you can take the time to read it to see how Ella has captured the family's hearts.

We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Year and we hope to see you soon.

Love, Jill, Ryan and Ella

A HOLIDAY ELLA-BRATION…..2007

AS WE GATHER HERE THIS EVENING,
IN HONOR OF THE SEASON,
IT’S MORE THAN FOOD AND GIFTS,
THAT WE’RE TOGETHER FOR A REASON!

WE SHARE THIS CHRISTMAS EVE AS FAMILY,
GRATEFUL FOR OUR MANY BLESSINGS AGAIN THIS YEAR,
NONE MORE SPECIAL THAN THE ADDITION OF ELLA,
WHAT A SWEET AND PRECIOUS LITTLE DEAR!

NEWS OF HER PENDING ARRIVAL,
OFFICIALLY ANNOUNCED ONE YEAR AGO TONIGHT,
COULD ANYONE HAVE PREDICTED THEN,
WHAT THE COMING MONTHS WOULD BE LIKE!

IT WAS BUSINESS AS USUAL FOR THE EXPECTANT PARENTS,
AS JILL BEGAN TO GRADUALLY SHOW HER CONDITION,
UNTIL MOTHER’S DAY APPROACHED IN EARLY MAY,
AND SHE WAS TOLD TO ASSUME THE HORIZONTAL POSITION!

FROM THEN ON IT WAS PRAYERS AND ENCOURAGING WORDS,
AS WE PREPARED FOR WHAT WAS TO COME,
WHEN FINALLY JILL’S E-MAIL SIMPLY SAID – “IT’S TIME,”
AND SOON OUR NUMBERS WOULD INCREASE BY ONE!

CHRISTMAS ACTUALLY ARRIVED IN EARLY JUNE,
AS ELLA DEBUTED PREMATURELY ON THE SCENE,
THEY SAY GOOD THINGS COME IN SMALL PACKAGES,
WE ALL KNOW NOW WHAT THEY REALLY MEAN!

ELLA’S FIRST DAYS WERE A BIT OF A CHALLENGE,
AS THE NEWBORN ATTEMPTED TO FIND HER GROOVE,
EVEN THE ENTRY IN HER DIARY READ….
….”I’M STILL TIRED FROM THE MOVE!”

WEEKLY UPDATES CHRONICLED HER PROGRESS,
AS ELLA JEAN PACKED THE OUNCES ON,
EVENTUALLY EARNING HER RELEASE PAPERS FOR HOME,
WHERE THE NEW FAMILY COULD CONTINUE TO BOND!

SO NOW BRITTANY AND BRANDON HAVE A SECOND COUSIN,
AND LITTLE KEVIN A “PREMIE” PARTNER FOR CONVERSATION,
WHILE RELATIVES DOTE, FUSS AND PHOTOGRAPH,
AS THEY REACH NEW HEIGHTS OF ELLA-VATION!

OUR FAMILY’S “CIRCLE OF LIFE” GROWS EVER STRONGER,
AS ELLA AND GRANDMA LABBE SHARE THE SAME BIRTHDATE,
WHILE MOM AND DAD’S PROUD LEGACY CONTINUES TO GROW,
NONE COULD WANT A BETTER FATE!

Newlyweds

Mr and Mrs Nathan Owen. My "matchmaker" couple. What an adorable couple. Congratulations and Best Wishers.
Nathan works at our Tumwater plant and my friend Sue is from Lakeville. I matched them up for dinner last year and before I knew it they were engaged.

Alexander Benjamin Swenson

Alexander Benjamin Swenson
born 12/24/07 to Mike and Becky Swenson (Ben's older brother)

Wild Game

Greg killed a flock of pheasants to feed us for family dinner Sunday Night. Guests included Aunt Phyllis and Uncle Bud, Cousin Rynda and John. Greg made pheasant pot pie and mom added wild rice. It was awesome. In the background you can see Annie's cranberry cake with butter/cream sauce. One of dad's favorites.
From the bottom and around left it's Annie, mom, Greg(hiding) Bonnie, Jeff, Bud, Phyllis, John, Rynda.

New Year's Engagment

Sean popped the question and presented a ring on New Year's Eve . They are officially engaged!!!!! No wedding date has been set. Stay tuned for more details.