Mike and Brenda on "Velsignet"

Our granddaughter, Rose, entered the room and announced to her grandma, "'Say Yes to the Dress' is on!"  That means one thing:  The television comes on and the two of them (and often the three--Iris, Rose and Grandma) snuggle and watch the show together. Besides sharing thoughts on the beautiful wedding dresses on the show, we discuss the family dynamics and how despite different opinions, each are together in love.   Our daughter, Allison, and her husband, Brent, and our 2 Colorado flowers, Iris (12) and Rose (8) got on a flight back home last night after 8 days here on Maui with us.  We so enjoyed this time with them as they experienced Hawaii, Maui and the Ka'anapali area for the first time.  Memories include a gecko, feeding pigeons under the banyan tree, befriending "beach cats," sea turtles and urchins in the coral reef, hula/sosumi (So Sue Me!) pie, Castaway's coconut shrimp "pupu" and the HUGE "kids" burger, "Juma...

January 27-Feb 4, 2019 Feb 26-Mar 2, 2019 We've left Velsignet at Homeport Marina in Gulf Shores, AL for the month of February.  We've planned for almost two years to meet our daughter, Allison, and her husband, Brent, and their 2 daughters, Iris and Rose in Maui and it's finally going to happen.  But first....Seattle! Going "home" to Seattle means alot of things to us.  We continue to own and manage a truck washing business in the Puget Sound region.  We have lifelong friends we look forward to spending time with, including friends we met while living downtown Seattle, Mukilteo, and Mercer Island, friends we made in our neighborhoods, through Rotary, Church, and Community Bible Study.  While we moved from Washington State to return to Minnesota, we hold each one close to our hearts and it is a joy when we can reconnect. Below are photos taken on our first visit to Seattle (I regret I'd not taken more).  I'll add more after our time on our...

Happy Birthday, Mom! At 4:30 p.m. (right on schedule) on Friday evening of January 25th, Mom was home from her afternoon playing games with friends at her local church in Black Canyon City, AZ.  She walked directly to the sunroom and was surprised to find her four children waiting for her.  "We heard there was a birthday girl here," I said.  And then she cried, followed by giving a hug to each one of us:  My 3 younger brothers Craig (Moines, IA), Bret (Webster, WI), Todd (DesMoines, IA) and me. Celebrating Mom's 80th birthday (and wishing Dad was participating with us) was a weekend affair.  Uncle Bob and Aunt Jane, Uncle Dale, Uncle Darryl and Aunt Sarah came over for pie on Friday evening.  On Saturday morning, the 5 of us went out for breakfast and then spent the morning at Cousin Kristi's (and her husband, Jeff's) home visiting Cousin Michael (CA) and his daughter, Alexis (a college student).  In the afternoon, we played bean bag and king's ...