Christmas Entertaining

Greg, Denise, & Teddy

Now we fast-forward about 30 years (1976) and find Greg and Denise with Teddy in the sunroom with Teddy. Note Greg's Joe Mauer impersonation.

Trial post

I started over again, as I couldn't retrieve my old password (no age comments please). I also found it easier to use my scanner on WindowsXP - so I hope this works

Dad On Skis

It must've been a warm day...

George Julien

George Julien at Chester Bowl. It's a shame none of us kids ever took up ski jumping with this resource so close by.

New Lutern Airline

Is this making fun of us Scandinavians ????
YA SHURE, YOU BETCHA! DIS IS DA LATEST AIR SERVICE TO SPROUT UP IN
MINNYSOOOTA, ALSO SRVING VISCONSIN, AND DA DAKOTAS, (NORT and SOUT).

If you are travelin soon, concider LUTERN AIR, da no frills airline. You
are
all in da same boat on LUTERN AIR, vere flyin is an uplifting
experience.......

Dere is no 1st class on any LUTERN AIR flight, and meals are
potluck...Rows
1-6, bring rolls; 7-15, bring salad; 16-21, a main dish, and 22-33,
a
dessert. Basses and tenors, please sit in da rear of da aircraft.

Everyone is responible for his or her own baggage... All fares are by
freewill offering and da plane vill not land 'til da budget has been
met.....

Pay attention to Lena, your flight attendant, who vill aquaint you vit
da
safety system aboard dis LUTERN AIR 599.

Okay den, listen up. I'm only gonna say dis vonce. In da event of a
sudden
loss of cabin pressure, I am frankly going to be real supprised and so
vill
Captain Ole Olson, because ve fly right around two tousand feet, so
loss of
cabin pressure vood probably mean da Second Comming ! , or someting of
dat
nature. and I vouldn't bodar vit doze liddle masks on da rubber tubes.
you're gonna have bigger tings to vorry 'bout den dat. Yust stuff doze
back
up in dair little holes. Probably da masks fell out because of
turbulence,
vich to be honest vit you, we're going to have quite a bit of at two
tousand
feet !, sorta like driving across a plowed field, but after a while you
get
used to it.

In da ewent of a water landing, I'd say forget it. Start saying da Lords

Prayer and yust hope you get to da part about forgive us our sins as ve
forgive doze who sin against us, vich some people say "trespass against
us,"
vich isn't right, but vat can you do?

Da use of cell phones on da plane is strictly forbidden, not because day
may
confuse da planes navigation system, vich is seat of da pants all da
vay.
No, it's because cell phones are a pain in da vazoo, and if God had
meant
you to use a cell phone, He vud have put your mout on da side of your
head.

Ve start lunch right about noon and it's buffet style vit da coffee pot
up
front. Den ve vil have da Hymn sing; Hymnals are in da pocket in front
of
you. Don't take yours vit when you leave da plane, or I'm goind to be
real
upset, and I'm not kiddin !!

Right now I'll say Grace. "Come Lord Jesus, be our guest and let deze
gifts
to us be blessed..Fader, Son, and Holy Ghost, may ve land in Dulut or
pretty
close. Amen!"

Lincoln's Home

As I said, Dad was in Illinois in 1946. This is Lincoln's house in Springfield.

Grace

This picture was taken in 1946 - before dad met mom. Dad took a little trip to Illinois. (Dean's timing in bringing up Chicago is interesting.)

About a year after they first met, dad and mom took a trip to Chicago. On July 11th (1947, I think) mom wrote the following in her journal:

Got up and took our time about getting ready. Met John's old girlfriend, Grace ______ about 10 after which we ate breakfast. Then we went to Moody Memorial church for the service. Dr. Ironsides couldn't speak as he broke his arm and was in the hospital so a Rev. Lundquist from a Free Church in Chicago spoke. After church we cheched out of the rooms and then drove to the Aquarium and saw fish from all over the world and to the Field Museum and saw some stuffed animals--very interesting. Finally we started on our way for Maranatha. Of course, we had to stop on the way about 4:30 and ate a combination dinner and supper which wasn't any too hot, kind of a crummy joint. We got to Maranatha about 9 or so, checked into our rooms, got unpacked etc. John and I went down on the beach for a while. were supposed to be in at 11 but didn't get in until 11:30 so were balled (sic) out a little so got in at the right time the rest of the week.

Memories...

Paul, Your Dreaming post is a great segue to this...


I was at work the other day and the guy next to me turned on his CD and played an old Dean Martin song: Memories Are Made of This.

That reminded me of a fond memory...

Back when I was probably 9 or 10, Dad took us all on a trip to Chicago(!) It was the first time any of us had been on an airplane. I remember looking out the airplane window and seeing the lights of Chicago as far as we could see.

Later that night we went to a pizza place and ordered a pizza. Dad seemed to feel a little uncomfortable doing so, but he went over to the juke box to find a song to play. The song he selected was Everybody Loves Somebody Sometime, by Dean Martin. I can still see us sitting at that table with the pizza and listening to Dean Martin crooning that song.

For some reason that memory has always stuck with me as a warm, cozy moment. I will never forget that night!

Anyone else remember that night? Any other fond (or not so fond) memories to share?

Dreaming

John & Jean Watkins

Another great picture. I'm not sure what happened to the color - there are a number of pictures with similar color issues. I assume this is fairly normal with early color photography.

Does anyone have John's email address? It would probably be good to let him or one of the kids know about the blog...

Tug-Of-War

A tug-of-war at a Sunday School Picnic. The third one looks to be Phil Pearson. Where do you think Sunday School Picnics happened back then, Chester Bowl? Notice - these were the days before the popularity of blue jeans. Did people wear blue jeans in the '40s? I'm not seeing any shorts either... or tennis shoes.

Cousin Bette

The young lady on the right is 'Mavis'. Is that anyone we should know, or was she simply an acquaintance of Bette's?

Cousin Jean

Dad's cousin, Jean, with a couple of her roommates.

Today's quiz: Where was this picture taken? (I have a guess but I'm not sure yet.)

Up On The Telephone Pole

What a great job for a 27-year-old kid!

Razor Sharp

Wow! Once again I am really impressed. Indeed, this picture of alligators was the next slide in the series. This place looks like it would be a great way to spend a day. It looks like the main mode of transportation on the tram road is bicycling. (Only a very small percentage of people traveling the tram road are killed by alligators each year.)

Your prize: 360 degree virtual reality movies of the Everglades.

Ho Hum

Did someone say, "razor sharp instincts"? It's an observation tower in the Shark Valley of Everglades National Park. Shark Valley lies in the heart of the "river of grass" that stretches 100 miles from Lake Okeechobee to the Gulf of Mexico. Wildlife abounds here in a freshwater ecosystem of sawgrass marsh and tree islands. A fifteen mile tram road extends into the marsh, offering one of the best opportunities to view alligators and the endangered snail kite in Everglades National Park. The observation tower is located halfway around the tram road.

Brookston Bridge

The Store After The War

Another great picture. I'm sure this would've been a typical scene in the summertime - grandma tending to her flowers. Notice the big bird house. I'm assuming it's a martin house.

Grandma Stynsberg & Olive

Does anyone know who Olive is?

We are now beginning some pictures from 1946. Surprizingly most of them, like this one, are in color!

By the way, I am finally done scanning. It was over 2000 slides! My plan is to eventually put them on CDs and send them to you.

Name The Tower

Today's puzzler: What tower is this? (Hint - based on the slides around it it's in Florida.)

Coffee, Women, and Song

I'm assuming this is a hotel in Orlando in early '79.

Dancing-way-too-much Wins The Prize

I'm impressed! You not only told us what the statue is and where it is - you provided valuable background information. I had to dig deep to find a worthy prize... Just click on Joe Mauer's picture. Remember, you saw it here first.

Eureka!

It's called The Christ of the Ozarks. It was built in 1966 and is in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. Alas, the history of the statue is quite controversial. It's all tied up with a man who ran for President and was known for his racism, anti-semitism and associations with the Klu Klux Klan. If you go to the official web site it will say the sculptor also worked on Mount Rushmore, but that is suspect. The only thing he worked on for sure is nearby Dinosaur World. The statue was built to accompany a biblical theme park that was never built. Eureka Springs once attracted people to its "health springs" and now, according to one source, is known for the way it attracts conventions of kooks (UFO, Hells Angels etc.) and is listed in Ripley's Believe It or Not more than any other city in the U.S. If you think it looks familiar that's because it bears a striking resemblance to the famous Christ the Redeemer in Rio, Brazil, though the one in Rio has a little more grandeur about it. You can read about Charles Robertson here. What's my prize?

Mileages to Nikiski

Finally have a few days off and here are the rough rounded off mileages to Alaska from Dawson Creek. They are rounded off to remember them better. Dawson is Milepost 0.

Nikiski 1777
Anchorage 1600
Glennallen 1400
Tok 1300
Haines 1000
Whitehorse 900
Watson Lake 600
Liard Hot Springs 500
Fort Nelson 300
Dawson Creek 0
Whitecourt (250)
Edmonton (370)

I hope to put in a few restaurants that were nice and maybe add a few pictures later. By the way our vacation is from June 22 to July 12. If you go to Dawson City we might go too. I will get a packet of tourist brochuers and send them to Dan.

In The RV

Swimming In The Dark

'Any idea where this was?

The e Round Robin

PARTY ON

This may be short notice for busy people, but if you happen to be available Saturday, March 11, 2006 from 2-5PM(CST), you are invited to a little going away party for Katie @ the stynzone home. She is leaving 3/15/06 on a jet plane to Tyler YWAM to join a traveling team. Share in the excitiment if you can!

Dan And Jo

Such a handsome couple... I assume this was the first apartment you two lived in after you were married.

I connected with Aunt Dorothy. She's been visiting the blog. She says the woman in the picture with mom and the twins is Phyllis Lundberg. Does that ring any bells, Mark? She was a high school girl from the church in Warman where Uncle Al was pastoring. She stayed at our house for the summer to help with the twins.

Jean, I finally started reading some of the letters of mom's you borrowed to me a couple years ago. It's an amazing collection. There's even a bit of a journal around the time mom first met dad. I think I'll add quotes from the letters and the journal to the blog occasionally.

I was thinking it's too bad we don't write letters like that anymore. It's too bad, but I think this blog is a real positive thing and we should probably take care to preserve this, somehow, on more than just this site. This site won't be here forever - perhaps we should save stuff from this site onto a CD or hard copies somehow... Something to think about.

One more thing - Roseau is going to state in hockey again. We actually don't expect to win it all this year. But we should have a better team during the next couple years.

Ruth And Marge By Statue

This week's question: Where is this statue located? (I have no idea.)

Rick Feiro with Gramdma