Timberwolves invade Fargo!!

I was so excited to learn the Wolves would open preseason up in my neck of the woods. As soon as the day came for tickets to go on sale I had to see what the cost was for the best seats available. Well I splurged and got the court-side seats and man was it worth it!!  Everything was so amazing up close, from talking to the players during warmups, to joking with AK47 over a bad call, it is something I will never forget!!

Dad and I courtside!

KLove warming up.

Wolves Team Defense

The game was great although the Pacers sat 3 of their starters, but I didn't care the Wolves were back and I was there!!  The Wolves were in control throughout and should have beat them by a larger margin but missing free-throws and open 3's  kept their point total down. A few thoughts on the guys and what I saw:

JJ Barea - same as last year, although a bit more under control, picked his spots to take it to the hoop. Didn't over dribble and force his shot.

Brandon Roy - Looked good, really got cooking in the 3rd quarter, but when he checked out I think he went back to the locker room. I didn't see anything stating he needed treatment, but maybe it had to do with banging knees with somebody or just routine end of game icing. I did not see any kind of limp or anything to make me worry other than he returned to the bench in the 4th quarter with Greg Farnham,

AK47 - Looks to be the jack of all trades that this team needs.  AK didn't shoot much and looked hesitant to take a shot from the outside.  He did however play good help defense and passed the ball very well.  One pass was to a cutting KLove for the layup and another almost pass where he tipped it backwards over his head to an open Pek. Unfortunately Pek was not ready for the pass, I don't think anybody was actually, ha!

KLove and Big Pek - KLove looked fine to me, did his normal thing and so did Pek.  I didn't get the sense Love was out of shape, just not as intense since it was only the first preseason game.  Pek was, well Pek.  He was doing everything we saw from him last season, but yes he does look more buff! I noted to my dad how big Hibbert was, but Hibbert's arms were way smaller than Big Pek. Pek will do some damage again this year!

DWill - Looked very aggressive in the first half and even knocked down a three. I guess Coach was not too thrilled about it, but to me it seemed they came within the flow of the game, not just floating outside by the 3 point line. His dunk on the alley oop from Shved was nuts, it is even more impressive to see it again on the replays.

Chase Budingggggger - Dude looked like the type of player we needed last year, under control, athletic and can actually knock down an open 3!! Chase didn't get any opportunities to throw one down, but I think he will be great in this offense, especially playing with Ricky.

Shved - Crossover Panda didn't hit any of his shot attempts, but he looked very smooth and was just a bit off last night. He showed his passing and court vision last night and I think will come along slowly at first then fit right into the NBA game.  Overall I was impressed by him tonight. I will admit he is very thin,  I think his arm sleeve was baggy on him, ha!

Greg Steimsma -  my new personal favorite, he had a nice block in the first half and was out there playing tough D and rebounding.  Best part about Steimer was that he was nice enough to respond to me a couple times during pre-game warmups and halftime warmups.  Steimer prefers Sioux Falls over Fargo in case anybody was wondering! Funniest was when 3 boys at halftime were trying to get autographs and they kept yelling for Kevin.  Steimer was the only player to really respond to them, to which the boys would say, can you get Kevin to come over here? So after the game I told Steimer he is still my favorite, but can you get Kevin to come over here? Ha!

The rest - Saw Will Conroy handle the backup PG duties well, would have liked to have seem him be a bit more aggressive taking it to the hoop, but oh well.  Louis Amundson and Dante Cunningham played limited minutes in the 4th quarter, two hustle guys that help provide additional depth for the long season.  Mike Harris got a cameo and couldn't make much out of his 3-4 minutes.

Overall I thought the Wolves looked good for the first game of the year, and when the remaining players come back healthy I do think they will be in the playoffs and could make some noise. However, the NBA season is a long one and injuries can derail a season, just look back to last season. It was a great night, a great game, and of course a great man I got to share it with, thanks Dad!!!

A loss for words

On Wednesday night we were told that Sandy's sister Barbara lost her fight with cancer. She was only 55 and had just learned she had cancer a mere 3 weeks ago.  The doctors said she had probably a year with treatment, unfortunately treatment wasn't successful. We had hoped for a miracle, we prayed for more time, but the timing is not ours, it's God's.  Maybe sometimes we only consider it a miracle if someone is saved from their sickness or injury in a blink of an eye, but what if we are looking at it backwards.  The miracle of Barbara was the time we spent together, it was her two sons, it was finding her soul-mate Daniel and spending almost 32 years together in marriage.  Or maybe the miracle is simply realizing what we had there the whole time.  I didn't spend a lot of time with my sister-in-law but I treasure their visit to see us in October and seeing them on our trip to Georgia this March.  She was always smiling and happy and treated me like family the entire time Sandy and I have been together.  She touched so many lives and will be dearly missed.  It seems so unreal that in just over 6 months we have lost my Grandmother, Sandy's Mom and now Sandy's Sister.  All three ladies do have something in common, their loving smiles, warm embraces, and simple unconditional love that each shared with friends and family, I will miss you all.

My wife shared her thoughts on the passing of her mother and sister her, please read and remember to tell those you love how much you love them WHENEVER you can.  Heaven Has 2 new Angels

My nephew made a vide to celebrate his mother, it is beautiful and I know she is so proud of him and his brother.  Barbara Moreno Slideshow

Rest In Peace Vesta Mae, Iona Frances and Barbara Ann.

Low country boil at The Crab Shack

Plane ride!

Sadness

Our family was heart broken to find out my wife's mother Frances passed away recently.  There are no words I can use to describe the hole in our hearts. Sandy posted about it on her blog prior to our trip.  Sandy's Blog

My wife and I made the trip there for the funeral service and I was blessed enough to be able share a few thoughts on behalf of Sandy and her sister's Fran and Barbara.  I was honored to speak for them but wish I could have done something, anything to heal their hearts.  We know Momma is in a better place but the sense of loss is overwhelming.  Momma was loved by many and was always concerned with others rather than herself even when her health deteriorated.

I will simply end this by writing what Barb had me read at the funeral:

Dear Mama,

 I know that you met the Lord on Friday, but today is your official day to celebrate you homecoming.  What a mighty God we serve! He is good all the time!  I thank you and Daddy for raising us to trust God and to trust him on all things.  I just want to say I love you!  You've been such an inspiration to me and all my family and friends.  If any of you don't know him, God as your Savior, all you have to do is call on God and he will come into your heart and make everything new.

Love you all,

Barbara

Follow up - the drive home

Just to finish up the trip to Georgia, we drove all the way home in basically one day! We left that Saturday morning at about 7am. We made good time and the girls we more comfortable since we bought some extra pillows for the ride back. I wanted to make it to Kansas City by that night so Jacey would be able to get home at a decent time so she would be ready for school that Monday. She had missed a week so needed to get back asap. Well we were slowed by traffic in Chattanooga and Nashville but we kept on going. We were lead off the main roads in Illinois by the gps, only to get back on another interstate and head north to St. Loius. Sandy took a turn driving next, I had done over 12 hours I think, and I took a nap and so did the girls. Sandy made it about 100 miles from Kansas City and she was tired. I woke up, felt ready to go and got back in the drivers seat while everybody else slept. I felt really good and wide awake, so I drove and I drove and I drove. It was really too late for a hotel room. I mean spend $75 plus dollars for 6-8 hours of sleep? I kept on going, the girls kept sleeping. I finally made it out of Missouri! Into Iowa I went, had to stop and get gas and was a little tired. When I got to Sioux City I was anxioux to get to the border into South Dakota, but was starting to get the yawns and it got foggy, I mean really foggy. I made it into South Dakota and was not only fighting the fog but the metal fog of sleepiness as well. It was tought but I was so glad to make it to Sioux Falls, I couldn't go any farther, I told Sandy I needed to stop or she had to drive. Well she drove and I remember getting back on the interstate and that was it. 2 hours later Sandy was still making her way through the fog to North Dakota. Sandy needed a break so we swithced on last time at the North Dakota border. I finished the last hour and a half and got us home that Sunday morning! We made it, about 27 hours of driving, bathroom breaks, gas stops and sleping in our seats. It was a very long drive, but so worth the memories we can keep forever.

Thursday and Friday

Well I didn't get a chance to blog this morning about yesterday so here is yesterday and today. Yesterday we went to Tybee Island again and let our girls and our great-nieces play in the water. They loved it! So did Sandy and I, except for Boo's sprint down the beach away from us. I guess she got turned around and didn't hear our calls. So off I went chasing after her, talk about an instance of parental fear!
After coming back to the hotel we had a late lunch of Krystal burgers and chili cheese fries. Later we had another local favorite, waffles at Waffle House. I was stuffed! When our family finally said our good byes we stopped for a few mega-millions tickets. Never know right!?
Today was a bit low key, we just did some souvenir shopping, played at a park with the nieces and spent time with the family. We did manage a nice lunch today at Seasons of Japan, a place Sandy and I had ate at almost 9 years ago.
Good byes are always hard, especially when we don't know when we will say hello again. I do know that this is a great family that loves each other very much. I will miss them and can't wait to see them again real soon. As my family down here always say each time we leave, for a day or 9 years, "bye, love y'all". And I do love y'all very much!

Wednesday

Will yesterday was a bit more low key. We had to finally get some Chick-fil-a while we were down here, and man was it good! After that we spent the afternoon with family and then tried to find some t-shirts for me and clothes for Sandy. We had supper at the hotel and then the girls and I shot some baskets over on the sport court. After another beautiful day down here it was finally time for bed.  Today is beach day, so we need to get ready to go and meet up with the family. A day of sun and fun!

Tybee Island #1

Funny faces on River Street

On River Street

Tybee Island #2

Georgia Trip - Tuesday

Well yesterday I think we all finally caught up on our sleep, except for Sandy who was wide awake at like 6:30 AM, which equals 5:30 AM back home!! As she said I guess she has adjusted to Georgia time faster than the rest of us! We took this day to finally feel normal and no longer "Honda-lagged" after all those hours in the truck. So Sandy took us to Skidaway Island and Tybee Island.  We went down to the beach and the girls got their first look at the Atlantic Ocean.  I would say they got their first look at an ocean, but Jacey did see the Pacific Ocean as a baby in California.  Regardless the girls loved it! Jacey collected seashells and rolled up her pants to walk in the water, which was warmer than we expected. Jadyn loved walking around and digging in the sand.
After grabbing something to eat at the Sugar Shack, we came back to the hotel to get cleaned up. We didn't realize it but yesterday was Momma and Daddy's Anniversary, either their 53rd or 54th, not sure which since I heard both, ha!  All four of George and Frances were there and also seven Grandkids and 5 Great-grandkids.  It was a great time for the family to be together.
So after the meal we took the girls back to the hotel to get them to bed, however that took a little while due to the effects of way too many cookies for dessert! Ha!
Sandy will be going with her sister to some of her mom's doctor appointments, and maybe Sandy will be able to get more information on what the outlook is for her mom.  Not sure where we will go or what we will do today but I will update this tomorrow and try and add some pictures as well. As always, more later!

Fountain

Fountain at Forsyth park

Statue at Forsyth Park

Monday

Today we got to see Sandy's Momma, Daddy, both sisters, brother, brother-in-law, and many nieces and nephews (including some nieces and nephews kids!)
We visited Forsyth Park, Savannah Candy Kitchen, River Street Sweets, and ended with a trip to the Waffle House. Before you laugh Waffle House and Huddle House are everywhere down here and my niece works at one.
We ended the day by picking up a few groceries and crashing in bed. It is now 10 am and the girls are still sleeping, I guess they have got Honda Pilot lag! I know I do. Well this is all for now, more later!

Day Two

Well that was a long day! Although technically shorter than the first day, but knowing we only had another 12 hours of driving just didn't make it any easier.
We stayed the night in Illinois and left before 9 am. Traveled through Illinois, part of Kentucky, through Tennessee (including Nashville) and finally into Georgia! We really only made gas and bathroom stops to get gas and snacks. And thinking about it today we never got a meal any place. At about 9:30 our time we got to our hotel. After some more snacks, all of us went to bed. We now have all week to visit family, especially Sandy's parents. I will try and post some pictures here and maybe on facebook.
Ok I need breakfast, just wanted to update y'all we made it ok!

Sudden Trip

At work yesterday I got a call from my wife with the news that her mother's health is declining recently. With that news came decision time on deciding if we should pull the girls out of school and make a trip to Georgia. Well after talking with family we decided we should, and off we went. Today is the first day of the trip and honestly right now I don't know when it will be over. We want to make it there as soon as we can, but it is a lot of driving. So far we have made it through North Dakota, South Dakota and Iowa.  Missouri will take some time to go through but it is a big chunk of the drive. I will update more as the week goes along. Hopefully this will get me into the habit of posting more on here. We shall see, ha!

Grandma H

Today we held the funeral service for my Mom's Mom, out beloved Vesta Mae. It seems so strange to think if her not being there in her home of 62 years anymore, but at the age of 90 she has had a wonderful life. I am thankful for the relatives I got to share this day with as they are some of the greatest people you could know, and I get to call them family. I am so very proud of all of them and I know how Grandma felt to look out over her clan and know that she had such a wonderful part in all of our lives.  Today my Brother-in-law got to sing for us, what an amazing voice. My Cousin read the obituary, nice job Jeremy! And as for me I got to do what I normally do, talk.  Below is what I read today to try and convey my thoughts on Grandma and how much she meant to me and all of us.

Good morning, My name is Jason and I am Vesta’s 2^nd oldest grandson, number 5 overall.  The so called oldest grandkid of the “second batch”. I am here today to try to put into words what Grandma meant to me and to others.  This day has been something that I have been thinking about a lot lately.  It started back in August 2009 when we had a surprise birthday party/family reunion for Grandma in Aberdeen.  It was a surprise to Grandma, especially since her birthday wasn’t for another month. I wasn’t really involved in the planning of the event, I simply brought my family to spend time with Grandma, my parents, siblings, cousins and their families.  It was a great day that afternoon at the campground.  The kids played, the cousins caught up, and there was even a play. The next day we all gathered together and held our own private church service.  Some of the highlights were the Harms family playing guitar, singing by the mother/daughter duo of Marlys and Vonni, a solo by my brother-in-law DJ, a poem by my Cousin Kari, and the message delivered by Uncle Bob.  It was a beautiful service, and I know it was very special to Grandma.  It moved me in a way as well. I saw how talented my family Is but I wondered what was my talent, what could I bring to a family get together? I can’t really play an instrument, you don’t want to hear me sing, you can ask Sandy about that! So from that time forward I have been wondering what is my talent to share, what is my gift? This summer Sandy and I joined a church in Fargo, prior to joining we met with the church board, they asked me questions including: what spiritual gifts do I have to be shared with the congregation.  I thought for a moment and then stated, well....I can talk. And it dawned on me, I can talk. I talk to my parents, my family, my friends, my co-workers, my friends at church, guys at the gym, my neighbor, I mean anybody!!. I am sure most of you are shocked to hear me say this, but well I come from a long line of talkers. My dad has this gift, my grandpa Denman is famous for it. I remember camping one time as a kid, Grandpa Denman spent at least 30 minutes near our campsite visiting with our neighbor for the Night.  When he came back over we asked him, Grandpa who was that??? He simply shrugged and said, I don’t know.

So knowing that I have this gift and knowing Grandma’s time was drawing near, I placed a phone call to her so I could have some time to just talk with her.  We spoke for almost an hour, mainly just asking her how she was doing and reminiscing about the past. 

·       You see myself, along with my brother and sister, were extremely blessed to have lived here in Willow Lake until we each moved away to college.  We got to spend some time with Grandma and Grandpa almost every day after school when we were kids, always getting some candy, usually smarties, on our walk home.  Grandma would ask me if I learned anything that day at school and I would reply, “Nope gotta go back tomorrow.” I asked Grandma about that saying, I have used for years. Did Grandpa teach it to me? but she couldn’t remember, she just laughed. 

·       I told her I remembered watching Dad and Grandpa play pool downstairs while listening to the Twins play baseball on the radio. We both laughed about the pool cue Uncle Gary made for Grandpa to get around that post in the basement.

·       I had to tell her that to this day I still have no idea what Grandpa was talking about when he taught Jory the saying “Long-time-dooda-whacker-18-20-inches-long”. Grandma has no idea either. 

·       I remembered learning to climb up the ladder to clean out her gutters after Grandpa got sick. I remember Grandpa coming out and looking at Grandma and I in disgust saying “Well you got the ladder upside down!” Sure enough it was. Gutter cleaning was not a particularly fun job, it was a little risky come to think of it, especially with that power line on the North side of the house, but a job now I’ll never forget. The job was handed down to Jory when he got older, and when he moved away my Dad continued cleaning the gutters by a Denman for the next 15+ years.

·       I was honored to have her fly for the first time on a commercial airline to see me and my future wife Sandy for Thanksgiving back in 2002. That was the first time but definitely not the last that Grandma was our guest for Thanksgiving.  We loved having her there to spend time with our family and of course make us her famous Turkey and noodles. Mom I hope you took good notes of how to continue that tradition.

Of course during this phone call with Grandma, I also wanted to make sure I thanked her.  I first had to thank her for saving my life, literally. There was a livesaver incident, same thing happened to Jory. I am surprised she kept giving us livesavers really. Uncle Bob asked if you could really choke on a lifesaver, and the answer is a definite yes! I know Kari had mentioned this story in one of her poems, but it’s something I’ll never forget. Maybe it is the reason I don’t eat many lifesavers these days. Second I thanked her for being such a role model to three generations.  She is one of the most loving, kind and beautiful women you would ever meet. I also asked her if I could speak at her funeral.  Grandma to some extent never really gave me an answer, but simply stated she didn’t want anybody to have to do anything they didn’t want to do.  I guess that meant she was fine with it, she obviously thought I could do it.  I joked with her on thanksgiving that I hoped I would think of something to say and she told me she wished she could hear me speak.  I know she is listening now.

When I was trying to think of a word or phrase that summarized Grandma the one phrase that kept coming up was “Unconditional Love.” 

In the bible 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 states:

4 Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, 5 does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, 6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 bears all things, belives all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

She loved each and every one of you and you all meant so much to her.  She loved seeing her kids, grand kids, and great-grandkids any chance she got.  It meant the world to her to see as many of you as she could, it truly made her the happiest when she got the chance to see or visit with any of us.  The one thing she told me that was hard for her during her final days was saying good bye to her family.  It wasn’t that she wanted to stay, she knew it was her time, she knew she was ready to go.  Maybe it was the finality of it but saying goodbye is never easy when you don’t know when you will say hello again.  It seemed as though on Thanksgiving she had moved past the point of having difficulty saying goodbye.  Maybe it was the pain medication, maybe it was seeing everybody or maybe it was simply being able to be in her home for her last week here, to accomplish one last goal, and that was Thanksgiving at home and to meet Great-Grandchild #27, little Nora.

On Thanksgiving I came up with an analogy as she was preparing to leave us: It was kinda like the times I lived out of the state.  When either I had to return or my Family left to return to South Dakota after a visit, the people leaving to go to their home are sad to leave but they are excited to go to home and have planes to catch and things to do when they get home, they have in essence less time to be sad.  When you are the one watching your family leave and you are there standing at the terminal you feel a bit alone, you feel sad that they are no longer with you, you miss them. That’s kinda how I feel now, I’m left here at the terminal watching Grandma leave on her journey. However, I take great comfort knowing that Grandma is in a better place. 

In Romans 8:31-39 it reads:

31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? 32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? 33 Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; 34 who is the one condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. 35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 Just as it is written, “FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED.” 37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Grandma was a woman of Faith, she accepted Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior.  She spent a lot of time in this very building.  It was because of her faith that she found Grandpa as members of the same church some 72 years ago. As we spoke during our phone call and at her bedside here in Willow Lake, we both know that we will see each other again.  The tears I have cried during these past few weeks are both full of joy and sadness.  Sadness for the temporary loss I feel now, but Joy for the enternal life I will one day share with Grandma, Grandpa and others that have gone before me.

As Jeremy read in the obituary, Grandma leaves a legacy of 5 Children, 13 Grandchildren, 27 Great-Grandchildren, another on the way and 2 step-great-granchildren. I know Grandma had a special place in her hearts for her “other kids and grandkids”, because she also had 3 son-in-laws, 2 daughter-in-laws and 11 Grand-Children-in-laws.  I know dad got to spend many coffee breaks, almost 13 years, at Grandma’s house.  Dad and Uncle Mel did a number of projects for her over the years.  Grandma also meant a lot to the Grandkid-in-laws, I know many of them are very grateful to have been able to call her Grandma and to know she treated them as if they had always been her grandchild.

I personally will never forget the hugs and the kisses she gave me or the loving embraces she gave from her bed this Thanksgiving. I will never forget how the littlest things meant the world to her, she understood how sometimes the small things that we take for granted are really the big things you need to treasure.  It has been written that “life is more accurately measured by the lives you touch rather than the things you acquire.”  Grandma lived her life that way.

I am not really sure how to end this, I could go on and on about Grandma.  But I guess I’ll end this the same way Grandma always ended her phones calls with me, “Yeah, you betcha, mm hmm bye.” We love and Miss you Grandma.