Happy New Year!

We are having a heat wave in Minnesota. We received about 8 inches of snow on Sunday so the ground is white, but the air temperature is in the 30's which is much above what we usually get in January. The snow caused concern since it was on New Year's Eve and we wondered if we should cancel our square dance. But it stopped snowing about 4 pm so the highways were plowed by the time dancers needed to come out. However, it was still snowing in Minneapolis and to the east. We only had three squares of dancers but those who came enjoyed a great evening.

We send our wishes for a very Happy and Healthy New Year!
the Wilson's

Christmas at the Wilson's

Baby Genevieve was our little Jesus in the nativity play. Rajah was a princess - wise woman. The other boys were shepherds and wisemen. We celebrated Matthew's 8th birthday too. Merry Christmas to all!

Christmas Lights

Cousins' Christmas

The Wilson tree is a bit unusual this year. We read a "letter from God" which came on the Internet and took the opportunity to start a different tradition. Larry cut a grape vine from the marsh and had it hanging in the living room when Marlys returned from a girl's day out. We decided to decorate it. The shape reminds us of a big pumpkin. We figure there is a lot of room to pile presents under it. We don't lose any seating room either. Today Marlys' cousins came for dinner. Ronnie, Mary and Lyle and Kathy. Christmas is a great time to reconnect with family.

Snaps of Thanksgiving 2006 with the Wilson's

Thanksgiving was spent at Paul's house this year. Leslie was the chief cook and provided amply for our meal. We had turkey and all the trimmings. We surely were blessed with lots of food. Pete, Anne and baby Gen joined us with Paul's family and Leslie's mom and brother, Eric. Later Grandpa Tom came to play cards with the group and share in pies. Yum! Skyler learned a new magic trick which he performed for the grandpas and the rest of us perused the ads for sales on Friday.
The day after Thanksgiving is a big shopping day with lots of sales to entice people to shop. Marlys took advantage of those sales and even drove to St. Cloud alone to shop. Afterward she stopped to see Pat and family and took the photo of the family in front of their fireplace. Now she has fresh photos for her Christmas letter. Yes, Christmas is just around the corner. We are looking forward to the Advent season which starts Dec. 2 - Preparing for Christ's Birthday Celebration!
Happy Thanksgiving from the Wilsons!

After Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful meal with Paul, Lesie and family. There were twelve of us altogether. Pete, Anne and Genevieve were there too. We were very thankful for family, friends and health to name a few of our blessings.
Today, the traditional SHOPPING day, was a new experience. Leslie and her mom decided to go shopping at midnight instead of getting up early. Marlys had planned to get up early, but the stores changed their opening times from 6 AM to 5 AM! That was just too early for her, so she was going to meet Anna about 7:30. However, Anna decided to stay home, so Larry got up and they went into Buffalo to shop and bond. We didn't shop long but did go out for breakfast.
After dropping Larry off at home, Marlys continued by herself to St. Cloud and did manage to spend money and even got in on some of the specials. The important part is sending in the rebate info so that they are really bargains. Marlys stopped to visit with Pat and family on the way home.
The weather really cooperated. It was in the 50's today! Normally it is much colder. The sun made it a really enjoyable day.
May you be thankful in your circumstances too.
Marlys

What is Thanksgiving in Minnesota?

Here in the USA we're celebrating Thanksgiving. It brings back images of the first autumn in 1621 after the first year had passed after the pilgrims landed in Plymouth. That first year was rough with half of the pilgrims dying. They gave thanks to God for survival and a good harvest. The image we think of is of Indians and the pilgrims having a feast and some friendly competition. In our town of 16,000 the churches will have one large service with all the choirs forming one choir and all the bell players forming one bell choir. Most families will meet together and have a large meal that will probably include turkey, squash, cranberries and pumpkin pie. At our church there is an annual football game. Our high school students oppose the returning graduates. Some years there is a fair amount of snow on the ground on which to play football. This year it was a mild evening. The day after Thanksgiving is the start of the Christmas buying season with stores giving discount to the early shoppers. Marlys likes to enter the rush of shoppers just for the ‘fun of it.’

Happy Thanksgiving

Our trees give us shade and cooling in the summer and a bit of shelter from the winds and snow in the winter. In the spring they bring us that fresh green color and the excitement of summer. In the fall we get the brilliant colors and then the crisp dry leaves. We then look forward to the strong northern winds to blow off our entire front lawn leaving us with the rest of the leaves to rake and drag to the marsh where they will decompose. An early snow will result in heavy soggy leaves to take care of in the spring. This year we got them to the swamp while they were still fluffy.
We are thankful for our home, our family and our many friends.

Deer Hunting

Deer Hunting 2006

The photo shows where I stayed this weekend. It was a very comfortable tree stand and was very safe even when I dozed of once in a while. The field and forest in the other photo was what I concentrated on as I watched for deer. You should try it. Concentrate on the top photo and look for deer. Could you do it for 12 hours a day? Yes I did doze off and also I hiked and went back to the camper to eat and take a break. The boredom was worth it when I spotted a deer grazing out in the field. One shot and down it went.
Monday morning I drove home. Later in the day I skinned it. Then Marlys, Skyler and I butchered it and put it in the freezer.

Larry

Safe trip home from Oklahoma

We had a great time in Oklahoma and then headed home on Sunday, Oct. 29th. On the way home we visited two state capitals - Jefferson City, MO and Springfield, IL (with the statue of a young Abe Lincoln) so Marlys could take pictures of the capitols. Then we visited the Silly Sischo's in IL - friends from the 70's in Germany and then cousin Jerry & Joan Wilson in WI.
It was good to be home on Halloween night.
Larry has since gone hunting. We spent the evening butchering the deer he brought home today.

October 28th Sun's out again

We've had a beautiful day. Enjoyed the colors on the Ozark Trail - old Highway Route 66.

Jenks Cousin

Sue, Larry and Sally - three Mayo cousins.
Sue's house is ready for Halloween.

Greetings from Oklahoma!

We arrived in Sapulpa, Oklahoma on Thursday and are visiting Mayo relatives. Here's a picture from our family reunion today. Notice the Mayo Campout shirts. Three of the four 'Mayo' sisters were here and we will see number 4 in a couple of days. We had lucious eats and lots of fun visiting at Cousin Sue's house.

Fall Leaves

I couldn't resist taking pictures of the beautiful leaves as we drove through the sunny day. Here are some of the results. Hope you enjoy this part of God's creation!
Marlys

Genevieve at almost 5 months old

She's a pretty solemn one with a hint of smile.

Minnesota State Fair

It is 7 p.m. on Thursday. We've had a busy day. This was the first day of the state fair. Square Dancers are scheduled to dance each day of the fair and our club signed up for this first day. It was cloudy all day and misted and then rained a little as we took to the dance floor at 10:30 to 1:30. We danced in three hour-long sets rotating squares so we didn't get too tired. We got a little wet, but continued dancing anyway. We spent a few more hours looking at exhibits and eating our way around the fair grounds. We met back at the car at 4 p.m. and headed home. It took an hour and twenty minutes for the 45 minute drive home. However, we made it home before the rain hit for real. It came down in sheets with big winds just a few minutes after we got home. We turned on the TV to listen to the news and found that there have been tornados and huge hail in southern Minnesota since 9 a.m. this morning. We feel really blessed to have been spared the heavy rain this noon. This later afternoon they got more rain at the fair but we were safe at home by then.
We actually enjoyed the cloudy day so that it wasn't so hot for dancing and walking around the fair.

Mayo Camp at Gull River Lot

The weather cooperated with beautiful clear skies and dry warm weather both on Saturday and Sunday. The Mayo cousins gathered at Manny's River Lot where Shawn and Mary, Eli and Kaleb live now. Some of us camped but most came Saturday and/or Sunday to share food and fun. Sunday featured Family Fear Factor. Teams dunked for apples in minnow infested water. They slurped gooey stuff with eyeballs and maggots rolling in it. Then they had a challenge on the rope swing and swimming raft. Leslie and Skyler were the winners. All the teams did a great job. What will they come up with next year?
Fishing and swimming kept the young children happy. They also rode on the hot dog pulled behind a boat. We hope to have even more families join us next year.

NEWEST PICTURE OF GEN

Anne's sister took this beautiful shot of Pete and Gen (3 months). Gen's eyelashes are really long and curly and she has big blue eyes like her mom.

We are enjoying being home. Larry was not feeling well for a couple of days but both of us are fine now. We have been getting the camper ready for the family reunion this weekend in Brainerd. The sale at Wayzata was yesterday and today. We came home with many bags of bargains. It is such fun to think of ways to use all this stuff.

We also have our slides pretty well organized so we are ready to show them to anyone who is interested in our trip. You'll have to give us a timeline so we don't over stay our welcome.

Love, Larry & Marlys

Home in Minnesota, Safe and Sound

We are home safely. Today, Friday, we slept in and have been doing wash and reading emails and cleaning up the computer mailings.
We were unaware of all the problems in London until we reached Paul's house. When we arrived in Detroit, they announced that there was an orange alert and all liquid and gels would not be allowed on the plane. If we had them we had to put them in the checked luggage when we went through customs. We did that and then our carry on luggage was scanned as usual. There were no more problems for us but the Japanese girls ahead of us had a bag of cosmetics as carry on and these were dumped out. Anything with liquid or gel was tossed into a dumpster.
There were lots of inspector people in the customs area. Our plane had about 400 people and they ran us through the hoops as fast as possible. Still, we would have missed our connecting flight if it had been on schedule. We ran through the airport and arrived 5 minutes before it was scheduled to leave. But, no problem, the plane had not yet arrived from Indianapolis! It was rescheduled for one hour later. So we relaxed and called Paul with the news so that they would check at the airport before driving out there. As it turned out, Paul was able to get us instead of Leslie and the children. Paul had been in a meeting downtown in Minneapolis so just came to the airport after that. He was waiting at the baggage area. We were soo glad to see him!
It was a long day. Up at 7 a.m. in Japan. To the airport before 11. On the plane at 1 p.m. Plane ride was 12 hours. 2 1/2 hours in Detroit. 1 1/2 hour flight to Minneapolis. 5 hours later hit the bed. Total: 27 hours - all on August 10th! We slept a little on the planes but not much. We slept a good 11 hours last night. Now we feel fine but we are supposed to go square dancing tonight and I doubt that we will make that. I bet we will get to bed early again.
We are enjoying the cooler weather at home. It is about 72 degrees. The humidity is high but the coolness feels so wonderful! I've washed two loads of clothes and have the backpacks unloaded. I have read the first batch of mail. More will be delivered today. We've had a bit of breakfast but need to go to the store later to fill up the refrigerator. Tomorrow Pete and Pat's families will be here for lunch. Today we will stop at church to see the end of the Sport's Camp. Sunday is the church picnic and square dancing at the Fiddler's Contest in a nearby town. We thought the Mayo Reunion was this weekend and were so happy it is next weekend. (I had forgotten the dates.) We are going to camp in our camper at Manny's River Lot where Shawn Sundquist has built a house.
Thanks so much for praying for us. We felt very supported by prayer. We were not sick at all and managed well in the heat and humidity. Our assignment was different than what we had envisioned but we sensed God's presence and know that our being there was what was needed, not what we actually did.

Praising God for a wonderful trip,
Larry & Marlys

Ready to Fly Home Tomorrow

Hi from Osaka, Japan
We are at our hotel in Osaka with free internet so thought I would give one last report before we head home. Our time with Rachel was really great. We went to Hakata on Monday and found the showroom and shop of Hakata dolls. I have a small bell to show off their work as well as the pieces I collected in the 60s when we lived here. We also found a folk museum which had several different crafts displayed and a video showing how things were made. We enjoyed both places. The heat and humidity were very oppressive especially on Monday but we walked through it. Rachel cooked some great meals for us and we had a good time sharing pictures too.

We left Rachels Tuesday morning and took a slow train up the west coast to Matsue. The views of the ocean and the rocky coast were very beautiful as well as the mountain terrain we drove through. These mountains aren't very high but are covered with forests. The trees are different from those in Minnesota. We took a bus and hiked 10 minutes to the youth hostel in Matsue for the evening. We ate at the bus station while waiting for the bus. We were glad we did because we didn't see any stores when we got off the bus. The driver just motioned for us to keep walking. We found the hostel and had a wonderful welcome by a woman and child. Later we met her husband. He was fun to talk with and encouraged us to take a walk in the morning. Larry did hike up to some of the park he described at 5:30 a.m. Marlys slept in - of course! We did leave early for the bus stop. But before we left, the manager and his wife sang to us - a country western song, Shenandoah Road.

Today we continued by train to Osaka. We arrived by 2 p.m. at the hotel and then left again to ride the train on our rail pass one last time. We just chose to go toward Nara on a local train. We got off in Oji - it was the end of that train trip. Instead of continuing on to Nara, we went out to the street and found a big department store to explore. We also saw some other shops along the road and went back to the super market to get supplies for breakfast and lunch.

We will leave here about 9:30 a.m. and take the train to the airport. Our flight leaves at 1 p.m. Continue praying for journey mercies. We look forward to seeing many of you soon. However, we will be in Brainerd for the weekend so will miss the church picnic and square dance on Sunday.

See you soon. Larry & Marlys