The Graduate

My brother, Mike, graduated from the University of Wisconsin - Madison the Sunday before Christmas with a degree in microbiology. We traveled down for the ceremony and to celebrate with him.

Mike on the jumbo tron at the Kohl Center. :)


Mike and his FIANCE(!) , Sara. They were just engaged a couple weeks ago! :)


One of Mike's best friends, Marcus, graduated as well. Their family and ours are lifelong friends so it was really special to be together for the graduation. We all headed to Glass Nickel Pizza to celebrate after the ceremony.

Congratulations, Mike and Marcus!!!!!

Getting ready for Christmas

making cards




Soph playing with her nativity set

making an ornament in sunday school

"Tuba Christmas" concert in Appleton (all tubas!)
getting our tree
shoveling snow . . .


. . . with a sandbox shovel :)making cookies

christmas shopping

My girls

Thanksgiving in Michigan

Here are a few pictures (a little late) of the time we spent in Michigan celebrating Thanksgiving with Jason's family.

the whole family


Grandpa with Sophi and Morgan

reading with Grandma
Jason's brother, Mark, and his wife, Christi - Jason's parents - Jason's younger brother, Seth, and his fiance, Erin


The cousins - Mark's three kids and our girls

A Visit to Madison

The four of us recently traveled to Madison to visit my brother, Mike. He's attending the University there and will be graduating with a degree in Microbiology in a few weeks, (My brother Aaron also attends UW Madison, and is in his second year studying Computer Engineering.)

Mike lives with his two best friends, Marcus and Bub . . .



. . . in a 1 bedroom apartment. Hence . . . "The Triple Bunk"! (It really is a sight to see, I have to say.)While we were there, we were able to help out with, what has come to be known as, "Free Food". Mike and 10 or so of his friends put together a hot meal (below is Bub with his famous chicken casserole that he makes every week), pair it with whatever donations they can gather (pizzas, day-old bagels, etc.) and head downtown. Every Sunday, no matter the weather, they are there at 4pm to serve anyone who might need a hot meal and someone to talk to. They've been doing this faithfully for a couple of years and have had the chance to meet and serve hundreds of people.

Out for lunch with Mike, his roommate, Marcus, and his girlfriend, Sara.

Mike and Sara also cooked for us while we were there. Here we're eating an African stew that was delicious!


Uncle Aaron with Sophi.Mike and Sara - she's not as dangerous as this picture makes her look. :)


Uncle Mike with Lucy.

Lefse

Being of Norwegian descent, I've been eating lefse all my life. It's a delicious flatbread made mostly of potatoes. My grandmother was the first to teach me how to make it about 15 years ago. Since then , my mom and I try to make it every year. This year, my sister-in-law Wendy, cousin Mary, and Sophi joined us. We had a wonderful afternoon together and each went home that day with our precious little stacks of lefse. :)

The recipe we use comes from my grandma's sister, Mae, who actually worked in Door County making lefse to sell in a tourist shop for many years. She's known as the expert lefse-maker.


Wendy and Mary, mixing the riced potatoes with flour.

Sophi has her own, kid-sized, lefse rolling pin.
My mom, rolling one out.


The aftermath . . .