12-25-17

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

It is very cold in Iowa but our hearts are warm this holiday season!

Wishing all family & friends a special Christmas Day celebration.

12-24-17

Dressed in my Christmas Eve Day best while my brother shovels the snow. LOL.

Brent, Nancy, Bob & I stayed at mom's home. It was great to catch up with them and hear about their recent travels, home projects and their 3 kids & 8 grandchildren. Brent & Nancy live in Byron, MN & so does their oldest son, Owen with Leah & 4 girls. Kyle with family live in Minneapolis & Lisa with family are in Sioux Falls, SD.

Christmas running tights from Amazon. :-)

My t-shirt says... "Ain't no mountain high enough".

I need to add..."Well, maybe Kilimanjaro is!" hahaha.

Last night at Caroling there was a book reading of Penelope The Positive Pony.

Author Jerome read his cute little story (his talent).

Palmer turned the pages for children to see (her talent).

The Penelope illustrations (my talent).

:-)

Then...the book signing!

Fans couldn't wait to get their signed copy! Hahaha.

Penelope by Jerome & Jane

Today Bob & I spent the day with mom and other family visitors at mom's care center. Tonight Bob & I attended Christmas Eve candlelight service at Elk Horn Lutheran; the church I grew up attending.

12-23-17

Bob made it to Iowa! We got right to farm time & kid time.

 Jay the dog greeted us on the farm & Kavan politely opened the door for us to Monte & Emily's home.

December 23rd is the date reserved for a wonderful family tradition; caroling in Elk Horn. Jacobsen is my mom's maiden name and her dad, James Jacobsen along with his siblings started caroling on December 23rd with their families many years ago. It is still going strong and tonight 60 were in attendance; grandmas, grandpas, aunts, uncles, cousins, and siblings... all having fun!

The evening begins with caroling in the Elk Horn nursing home...

"Away in a Manger"...

"Joy to the World"...

"We wish you a Merry Christmas!"

This is my uncle Calvin & his wife Phyllis. Calvin is my dad's youngest brother. :-)

Then it's to the town hall for food, games, talent show, piñata, and singing around the Christmas tree.

Traditional Christmas carols & Danish songs.

Keelan & Janna.

Kyler in the talent show; nice back bend. :-)

Singing a solo by Caedrian. Another by Kennley.

Handstand walking across the room by nephew, Reggie. LOL!

Accordion duet by my aunt Janet (mom's sister) and her daughter-in-law, Allison.

Janet's great-grandson helping. :-)

Going over the family tree & introductions of everyone in attendance.

Keelan with Grandma Emily.

Reading the Christmas story...

Jesus is the reason for the season.

12-22-17

Woke up to fresh snow so I had to carve a heart. It was just like making a heart in the sand on a beach by the ocean. Actually not at all like that. LOL. :-)

I am on a coffee kick these days so in my search for a latte I discovered this retro coffee shop in small town Atlantic. It's been open for 1 year & has all the specialty hot drinks to enjoy. Cute decor inside...pretty sunrise outside.

Mom loving on family visitors...

Granddaughter Jaime with her youngest boy; Roman Emery.

This is the whole family by age...

Chad, Jaime, Caedrian, Kasen, Lincoln, Roman. :-)

It was a special & loving time together.

Pool time at the YMCA! 

Many of Monte & Emily's clan...

Jerome, Monte, Riley, Emily, Kavan, Jacey, Kennley,

Jaime with Lincoln, Caedrian & Kasen.

Smiley Riley.

Cutie Keelan.

 Sweetie Kennley.

Lovely Janna with her youngest. Great to spend time with my niece & friend!

More visits for mom!

Granddaughter, Daira with husband Clint, and kids Kyler & Diem.

A very good day in Atlantic, Iowa.

12-21-17

I landed in Omaha, Nebraska at 11:30pm last night, rented my green Kia car & drove to my aunt & uncle's home in Omaha to spend the night. The 3 of us enjoyed visiting that night before hitting my pillow at 2am.

It was great to have all morning with Sonja & Dick too. We had coffee & breakfast together, shared stories from recent months (like Africa! :-)) & read Penelope The Positive Pony book. At noon I left in my avocado hot rod to see mom in Atlantic (1.5 hours from Omaha). 

My beautiful mom! :-)

Waiting for mom's haircut appointment in our matching knit hats.

Mom & I enjoyed the afternoon together at her care center. I went back to mom's home nearby to sleep.

When I got in my car my windshield was iced over. The streets were like an ice rink too. I struggled to scrape a little hole (enough to see) & luckily only had 4 blocks to drive. This was the start of some very cold weather in Iowa!

12-20-17

My mom, my niece, Kim & I are famous...hahaha. :-)

This photo is on the Mountain Park Church website & printed in their brochure. It was taken in April when mom was in AZ for a week. After worship mom was holding her great-granddaughter, Ellie and great-grandson, Hudson. If you enlarge the photo you can see their blonde heads peeking above mom's shoulders. :-)

I'm so thankful for that visit...it is a special memory.

In 2 hours I'll be flying back to Omaha to spend Christmas in Iowa (21st-27th). Looking forward to having the holiday with mom & many Hoegh family. Bob & I haven't been to an Iowa Christmas in many years & the weather is going to welcome us with temps in the single digits.

Bob has been flying often this month. Above photo from his travels today; the Chicago terminal. Lovely & festive for Christmas! Bob will be in Iowa Dec 23-26. Yay! We pre-wish you all a Merry Christmas! We'll be thinking of our son, Johnson in Tanzania, our family in CA, PA, AZ & elsewhere AND so many friends all over the world. Have a safe and wonderful holiday!

12-19-17

Yawn. :-)

A few more fantastic photos by David Love.

I really do need to make a Shutterfly book of our safari.

Could someone do that for me!? Sooo many pictures. :-/

Baby animals are cutest!

Wildebeest in action.

Thrilled we saw the migration!

Stripes everywhere.

If looks could kill. :-O

All these photos take me back...and then I smile.

Drink up.

Some wear & tear on that face. :-(

Picture perfect Serengeti.