More prom pictures.....

Prom 2009

Washing his car and windows. The corvette!!!!!


At Jocelyn's beautiful home!


At the golf course.
Okay....so, the pictures aren't in exact order, but they are here!!! What an awesome night! It all began when Ben started getting ready at 12:40 p.m. to pick up his date at 1:00 p.m. Yes...that is the correct time!! (Ha ha ha ha!! Men!!) We arrived at Nielsen's to pick up his date and take pictures. Whoa! Jocelyn looks beautiful in her gorgeous dress! (If you want a closeup, please click on the picture and it will automatically go larger.) The pictures in front of the fireplace are at Jocelyn's beautiful country home where she lives with mom and dad, Jackie and Mark, and a brother, Drew, and a sister, Andrea. The picture of them with the car is taken by St. James lake. Mark found a man that was willing to let Ben drive his 2003 Corvette to Prom. (Ben had to take driving lessons this morning as it is a manual car.) The last outdoor picture is at the golf course where five couples met to begin their day together. I took over 60 pictures, but chose these as my all-time faves of the couple. Hope you enjoy looking at them!

Their night consisted of going to Mankato to walk around the mall. Then they came back to town to the Love home and three sets of parents (Love's, Nielsen's, and Malakowsky's) made them dinner. They then left to go drive around. We ate the leftovers (a delicious meal you could not find at a restaurant!) and then headed to grand march. Jackie and I were lucky to be able to see Ben and Jocelyn pull up for their big night. (More pictures, of course!) Then we headed inside to watch the grand march. (And more pictures, of course!) We could tell they were going to have a great time! (They attended the After Prom party from midnight until 5:00 a.m. and the stories are that it was a lot of entertaining fun!)

We saw them again at 5:30 a.m. at Nielsen's home for breakfast. Mark made waffles, pancakes, fresh fruit, juices, and bacon for their early morning feast. They ate and left. Ben went to prom with a very nice group of young people and he had a fantastic time! That's all we could ask for.

A few thank you's....Thank you to Uncle David and Aunt Wendi for helping us pick out the most perfect suit that Ben just loves and it looks so great on him!, Thank you to Mark for finding the perfect car to drive up to prom in, Thank to the Love's for providing the home and barbecuing the food for the supper, Thank you to the Nielsen's for the breakfast fare! And, mostly, we thank God that Prom was so much fun for our son and many others!

HAPPY NEW YEAR....2009!!!!

I don't even have a picture to put in this blog, but I wanted to wish all my friends and family that read my (sometimes very late edition) blog a very Happy New Year filled with blessings, happiness, and peace!!

May 2009 fulfill more of our dreams...without dreams we might as well stop living!

Christmas 2008

Ben got the surround sound he wanted, Morgan got a scooter and an mp3 player, and Maren got a digital camera. (As we mentioned earlier, Cory got a bass guitar and his very own computer.) All the children were happy with their larger gifts and their smaller gifts and we had a nice evening of opening presents, eating the menu they chose, and playing Wii.

Ben will be taking his surround sound with him when he leaves home, so he tells us, and I have gotten used to listening to it while watching movies...it is so cool!...that I may be asking for surround sound after he leaves! Today we watched a movie that had helicopters and vehicle chases and it was just like being right in the middle of all the action! Cool!

Maren has been taking many pictures on her camera and the following are some of my favorites:

Hunter - Mitch's Huge Dog Me and Morgan

Morgan, Me, Niece Sarah Rose Ben and Me

Our Hunter...what a dog!

Christmas Concerts by Morgan

Our little Morgan was "Frosty the Snowman" this year during the Northside Elementary Christmas Concert! She is in the third grade and more adventurous than I was at that age! She did a fantastic job and I was so proud of her! Even Maren gave her a "whoo hoo" when she was done...now that is a proud sister! Morgan enjoys music and Mrs. Bruce is a great teacher. I am glad that she mixes up the music. Mrs. Bruce did a great job on the program this year and I will admit that I was a little sad knowing that this was my last Northside concert with a child participating in it!

Morgan was also in the Christmas program at church, but we didn't take any pictures of that concert because we videotaped the whole thing for my dad.

Christmas Concerts by Cory

Cory was in two Christmas concerts this year...Band and Vocal. In band he played percussion and in Jazz band he played his bass guitar. In Vocal he sang with Limited Edition and the Concert Choir. Cory enjoys music....or at least it seems that way since he gets up early four mornings out of five to be at school early for rehearsal! Luckily for me he has found a friend and his mother who is willing to pick him up every day and get him there on time!

Mitch Malakowsky is deployed

Host and Hostess Mark and Nancy Bleckeberg (Jeff's sister and brother-in-law) gave the party of the season to Mitch and his family in early October! They put down carpeting in their garage, hung red, white and blue curtains along with many other red, white and blue decorations! Mitch and Jenny have been married for 15 years and they have three boys: Alex, Nick, and Luke. Mitch's deployment was to begin in October and end in November so we all got together to wish him the best!


One part of the surprises of the evening was to make Mitch fit in as much as he could. Mark and Nancy also knew that he would be missing his beer so they had made up a pack of dry ice and Miller Lite Mix With Water batter. They said it probably wouldn't be the same! (Later we found out that the dry ice was really softener salt and the Miller Lite was really cornmeal! They had me fooled....don't ask me how much I had to drink by that time...I would be embarrassed to tell you not much!!!!


Tori Bleckeberg and Maren are the same age and are not only cousins, but also friends. They are so wonderful when they are together and pick up right where they left off no matter how much time has passed between visits! The second picture is one of all the cousins that attended the party. Mark and Nancy gave Mitch one of those key chains that can hold multiple pictures so I tried my hand at getting them all into position. It sort of worked...the first one...a pyramid was a total flop and everyone fell over! It was very funny....


Mom and dad (Karen and Emil) Malakowsky were also in attendance as were Jenny's folks...sorry no picture of them. We also sang Karoake. The person in the white shirt, dark sleeves, is Matt who is a great friend and neighbor to Mark and Nancy. His wife, Joni, is a hoot and I love it when she can join our get-togethers!

Thanks Mark and Nancy for having so many people over at your house, for throwing such a great party, and for being gracious hosts!! (And, we are all very happy to say that Mitch returned on Thanksgiving day!)