Halloween AZ Style

Bad news was that Campbell came down with the flu the on Halloween Eve. So we spent Halloween Day cooped up in the hotel room hoping that Campbell would be well enough to go out Trick or Treating. (Wouldn't that be the worst as a kid to miss Halloween? She'd been talking about it and looking forward to it for so long.) So, although we didn't go with M, T, E & M like we had planned because we didn't want to risk getting them sick, Campbell felt good enough to head out in the evening. So that's the good news. Even better news was that it was 72 degrees....at night. No snow pants underneath the costumes! Whoop whoop!

Having no idea where was a good place to go, we found a really nice neighborhood by a school. The landscaping and architecture is so different from home. Gabe and I had a great time taking it all in & the kids had a blast.

Some good lines from the night:

• At one house, Blake took a candy & then went back for another saying: "I need one for my mom." But then he wouldn't give it to me. He totally scammed them!
• After we'd gone for quite a while, Campbell said "I'm tired from saying 'trick or treat.'"

Princess Campbell & Firefighter Blake all ready for Trick or Treating.

First picture of the night in front of a cactus.

How many more pictures do we have to take in front of cactuses?!?!

Quite a good haul.

The sorting the candy ritual. ARG....I totally made room in my suitcase and brought the pictured stuffed dalmation for Blake's costume and totally forgot to bring it with.

Lilia Mae

So glad that she isn't struggling to breathe any more, but so hard and sad to imagine Aunt Lilia not with us. We were supposed to have a surprise birthday party for her in Arizona, but it was not to be. Instead family and friends gathered to celebrate the life of the one-of-a-kind Lilia Mae. What a wonderful tribute that so many people stood up and shared their fun stories and favorite memories of this extraordinary woman. 

Neat to think that she's the reason the Peterson family exists as it is. Aunt Lilia and Uncle Ed met in Virginia Beach, VA. They married and moved to Virginia, MN. When Ginia-mom went to visit her sister Lilia on the Iron Range, that's when she met Papa Stan. Ta-da! The Peterson Family!

Peterson Family

Brekke Family

Aunt Lilia had the warmest, most welcoming personality and she kept us all on our toes with her jokes and pranks.  A couple stories that stick in my memory...

• I had the opportunity to go stay for a week with Aunt Lilia & Uncle Ed as I was going into the seventh grade. It was a BIG deal for this country girl to go stay in to the Big City. Lilia took me shopping (I was totally overwhelmed), I got to eat Cinnamon Toast Crunch for breakfast (never got to have sugary cereal at home), and Grant/Dede took me to Valley Fair. One night, when I asked what we were having for dinner, Lilia told me it was opossum. Saying something like they are common around here & Ed caught it. She was very serious & stuck to her story even when I questioned her a bit. Growing up vegetarian, I was kind of clueless when it came to meat, so I just ate it. It was good - tasted like chicken - which looking back, I'm sure it was. 
•  When I was pregnant with Campbell, Gabe and I went on a Babymoon to Arizona. We stopped to see Lilia for a couple days. She was excited for me and told me 'there's nothing like your first' (baby). At the time, I thought it was kind of strange, but now I know what she meant that I have a couple of kids of my own. Going through pregnancy, labor/delivery, newborn parenting for the very first time....it's something you just have to experience!
• When Campbell & I went to visit this past January, she hid around the corner, jumped out and scared the daylights out of Campbell. Even though she was hooked up to her oxygen, she didn't let that stop her from playing a good prank.

Aunt Lilia was an amazing person and forever young at heart. A wonderful role model with her fun loving spirit and great personality. She is sorely missed.

Obituary Published in Star Tribune on October 19, 2011

Lilia Mae (Sherrill) Brekke

Brekke, Lilia Mae (Sherrill) Died September 14, 2011, in Scottsdale, Arizona. At her request, no service will be held but a celebration of Lilia's life will be held on October 29, 2011 in Rio Verde, Arizona. Lilia was born November 2, 1925, in Andrews, North Carolina, to Edward & Florence Sherrill. She would be very upset with her kids knowing that we just gave away her actual age (a fact she held close to her heart) as she claimed to be only 29 for most of her life. During World War II, Lilia worked as a civilian employee for the Women's Army Corps and played for the WAC's basketball team in Virginia Beach, Virginia. While there, she met and eventually married Edward Brekke from Virginia, Minnesota. Ed and Lilia lived for 34 years in the Minneapolis, Minnesota area and 11 years in Orchard Park, New York. In 1989 they moved to Rio Verde, Arizona for their retirement. Lilia was an avid golfer and excellent Bridge player. She was very competitive in all her sporting endeavours and excelled in all of them. Lilia was the 6th born into a family of 8 kids and is now survived by two of her sisters, Jane Fuson and Virginia Peterson; 3 sons, Edward (Lourdes), Gary (Laura), Grant (Dede) and her daughter, Sherrill (Tom Bugbee). She is also survived by 8 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren. She had many other relatives and good friends of all ages scattered around the country who will miss her kindness and warmth. Donations, in Lilia's name, may be sent to American Lung Association .

Blake-isms

A couple random ones from Blake:

• Calling out after I put him to bed: "Ma! You cover me? I not cozy yet Ma, I not cozy yet! You cover my toes?"
• I have flashes of what he's going to sound like as a teenager when he says:  'Ok Ma!' or 'Ok, ok, ok, Ma!' when I'm telling him to do something. 
• As he's procrastinating bedtime, he said: 'I weally miss my friend. He name Lane.'

Moving

Moving in!

Bringing in the TV. Grant & Dede brought a truck load of stuff from their house.

Here comes the moving van & thank goodness for movers! And for Deb & Paul who came down for the weekend to help out.

Toy room! Kids super excited to see these toys again because they've been packed in storage for a long time.

  

Unpacking kitchen, 1st priority!

  

 

Top 3 signs that we don't live in the city anymore:
     3) Smells like manure when the wind blows right.
     2) Followed a huge tractor on the highway.
     1) Literally just heard a cow 'moo'.

Closing up the Cabin

We paneled and closed up the cabin for the winter. I'm amazed at how much we got done this year.

On Friday, someone from Gabe's dentist's office called and said they had a pie for him. They pick a patient they enjoy each month & give him/her a treat. We named it the 'Good Guy Pie'. Seems like perhaps they are trying to create more business from fillings?!?!

Panel, panel, panel. Jim came to help for the entire long weekend and my parents watched the kids the whole time, so we made great progress.

Paneling the main level bathroom in cedar. Amazing how much softer and thus easier cedar is to work with than the birch that is everywhere else in the cabin.

Finishing up the hallway.

The amazing shrinking pile. At the beginning of the season, this pile was chest high and about 4 times as wide. Plus huge other piles in the screen porch, dining room, and bathroom.  Gabe estimates we put up about 4000 board feet this season. That's a lot of wood! I remember thinking in May that there was no end in sight to the paneling and we'd never get it done. But, because of Jim's hard work and my parent's babysitting, we did it!

Random cute quote from Campbell. As we were driving back to the Cities with the car completely packed full of stuff, Campbell said: "There's so much stuff in the car. It's all stuffed up!"