Archive of all Home Page entries

Our profile was submitted to Bethany Christian Services in late October so we have been “officially” waiting to adopt for almost 8 months. We finally got our profile put online with the Waiting Family Profiles on the Bethany website and we wanted to share. Here is the link…http://www.bethany.org/A55798/bethanyWWW.nsf/0/E6B48C10F314D85F85256CE100666375?OpenDocument&start=1&cat=Minnesota Our profile page can now be viewed by expecting mothers making an adoption plan anywhere in the country.Feel free to pass it on. Thank you for your continued support and prayers.

========================================================

Happy 40th Wedding Anniversary Carson and Judy! We were in Grand Rapids to celebrate - check out the photo gallery!

======================================================================================

Chad Graduated! I can't even believe it! Not that he graduated - but that this rite of passage, this moment in time, has occurred! We are so proud of you Chad! You are a great guy and we love ya! You will have a blast in college! Look out SDSU - here he comes! We had a great weekend in Sioux Falls with family and friends gathered to celebrate with Chad. What a weekend. Check out the photo gallery for details.

======================================================================================

Carson Loren John Berglund - Preschool Graduate! (complete story and photo coverage in the photo gallery)

We had an exciting couple of weeks. We were notified on May 1st that a baby boy had been born and that his mom was making an adoption plan for him. We were asked if we wanted to have our profile shown and of course we did. On May 4th we were told she had narrowed down the profiles to ours and one other. We told Carson that a baby needed a home and that home might be ours and God would decide, Carson said "I hope God brings the baby here for all the days". We hoped so too! On May 11th our case worker called to let us know that the mom chose the other family. It was a long and hard 11 days, but we thank you all for your love, concern, support and prayers. We have faith that God has another child planned for our family. We thank him for the opportunity to pray for this child and his mom. Keep us in your prayers as we are back to waiting.

In Adoption news: No News. It has been 6 months since we submitted our profile book to Bethany Christian Services. We thank you for your continued support and prayers as we continue to wait...or as we say "expecting without a due date".

*********************************************************************************************************************************************

Spring is HERE! I know for sure because Carson has been playing outside. He enjoys drawing with chalk on the sidewalk, riding his tractor, and going out back to play in the sandbox! Yeah...finally nice weather!

Check out the Photo Gallery for more photos! Including FULL DETAILS on my trip to Las Vegas to play BUNCO! It was FABULOUS!

SHOUT OUT............................ Happy 65th Birthday to GRANDMA JAN! Yeah...Medicare! Happy Birthday to "The Mrs"...Carson's cousin Taylor on April 29th...yeah...9 years old!

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

*********************************************************************************************************************************************

To celebrate we had 3+ birthday parties! One in Sioux Falls with the Veire side and Sioux Falls friends. Then he celebrated with his friends at preschool and brought a bag of Mini Oreo's for everyone to take home. Then it was THE day (Feb 3) and he celebrated with a little cake at home with mommy and daddy and finally he celebrated with the Berglund friends and family up north! The 5th birthday is now OVER....well, as least the parties are done! And fully celebrated!

Here are the 3 cakes highlighted.....Check out the photo galleries for more photos!

Sioux Falls Party Cake #1 Actually birthday little Cake #2 Grand Rapids Party Cake #3

================================================================================================================

Countdown to Carson's Birthday! On February 3rd CARSON TURNS 5! THE WHOLE HAND He is getting very excited and each morning wakes to put a sticker on this birthday countdown calendar!

HAPPY NEW YEAR - It's 2007! Since our last update several months have passed! As promised before, I'll try and do better! It will be a resolution for the New Year...Keep Berglund. net up to date! So I suppose the first thing to do would be to catch up where I left off in August.

August: Earl started a new job. He is now working for United Health Group. Still in IT. He enjoys his new job and new location. His commute is a bit shorter as he now drives to St. Louis Park. It's a much larger company than Sagebrush, but he is getting a feel for the job, new people and his work. He has looked into going for his Masters degree. He would be able to do it online through his alma mater, Dakota State University.

September: Carson began his last year of preschool! (Next fall the Big "K"). His teachers are Ms. Joni and Ms. Chris. He LOVES school. He attends Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12:30pm-3pm. He loves playtime, and circle time, stories, crafts, playdoh and friends. I have had the opportunity to volunteer in the classroom which is a lot of fun.

In adoption news: We were visited by the case worker with Bethany Christian Services to have our home visit for the adoption process. Having been through this before we weren't too nervous, and it's always a great excuse to give the house a good cleaning! Darlene was so easy to talk to and helped us relax. Later than month we had a meeting with the agency director, Pam, to finalize our file. The only thing left to do was submit the profile book.

October: The whole family headed to Sioux Falls to watch Chad and Chelsey march for the Roosevelt Band. It is so fun to see them perform! While in Sioux Falls Jeff took our family pictures to use in the adoption profile book. They turned out very well. See the photo gallery to have a peek.

Another adoption update to share: Pam called to check on the status of our profile book. She encouraged us to get it in as soon as possible as she had "occasion to show it". So, I went into high gear! Spending day and night selecting photos and writing text to put our family on paper. Hard task, but also very rewarding. We submitted the book on October 19th and wait ever so patiently to be chosen.

November: Throughout the fall Carson and I kept very busy attending MOMS Club events. MOMS Club is a group of stay at home moms that plan activities for the children to do during the week. It gives the kids an opportunity to play and make friends, and gives the mom's an outlet and adult to talk to during the day! It's been a great way for me to meet new friends and get involved in the community and Carson enjoys his new friends as well.

December: WOW! Already to the end of the year! Carson and I made a trip to Sioux Falls to attend the Tonic Sol Fa Christmas Concert. We joined Tastefully Simple consultants for the event. It was a fun date night with my little man!

For Christmas we toured Minnesota as usual. We had our own St. Michael Berglund Christmas as home then we headed North to Grand Rapids, then home for a night followed by a trip South for the Veire Family Christmas. We were home again and off to Plymouth for New Years Eve. Details on the photo pages.

*****************************************************************************************************************************

It's the official beginning of the end....the end of summer that is. With the arrival of Ivanhoe's annual Polish Days celebration the start of school is not far behind. The Veire Family all made their way home to Ivanhoe. Wearing matching Green T-Shirts that simply said Veire's we mingled through town for the activities. Some activities damped by rain, but we did manage to get in cheering on the Veire softball team, the parade and the Ivanhoe famous Polish Tacos. See the photo gallery for details.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Day Out With Thomas 2006! We made our way across the city to see our old buddy Thomas the Tank Engine. This year Thomas was in Stillwater, MN. Our friends, The Jones Family of Larchwood, IA were here visiting for the weekend and Carson was very excited to share the special day with them. See the Photo Gallery for details and photos.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We have been having a pretty easy going summer. It's been hot and dry here so getting out the pool or sprinkler has been a fun way to cool off. The dry is good news for our basement water problems, but not good for our yard!

I was HONORED to be witness to the birth of Macey Ann Jones born on June 7, 2006 in Sioux Falls, SD. I was with Macey's mom, Nola, and dad Curt when her big sister Kara was born four years ago and was so honored to be invited to Macey's birth as well. What a beautiful experience! What a miracle!

I have started a fun new "job" as Wedding Coordinator at our Church. I'm loving it! I help the couples at rehearsal and the day of the wedding to make everything run smoothly to get them down the aisle. I'm only involved with the church and ceremony events and unfortunately miss out on the wedding cake!

Carson attended Creative Kids Camp where the focus was Math Munchies! He loved the counting, sorting and patterns he learned using M&M's and Gummy worms! He has been really wanting to learn about numbers and addition so he loved this one hour a day "camp" for a week.

On June 30th I went under the laser! I had Lasik Eye Surgery! Can't believe I actually went through with it after watching Earl's procedure last year, but I did. It was a very easy procedure...no pain! I HIGHLY recommend it to everyone! Earl did a great job of taking care of me while I took the "prescribed" nap and administrating drops.

While I recovered from Lasik Carson got to spend a few days with Grandpa & Grandma Berglund. See the photo gallery for all the fun details.

Carson attended another week of Creative Kids Camp with the focus being Spanish this week. Yes, he is only four, but he loved learning the basics of Spanish...numbers, colors, etc.

He also started swimming lessons and our little fish was ahead of his class with no fear of getting his face wet, dunking his head, jumping off the pool side and even off the diving board! We continues swimming one more week in August.

It took us a couple of months (way too long) but we FINALLY submitted our Formal Application to Bethany Christian Services. They will now go through the 50 pages...yes 50! and verify information and collect more information that they need from references and background checks. We may be hearing from them in 2-3 months to begin our 4 visits with our case worker. We still have a long road ahead and appreciate your thoughts and prayers as we proceed on this journey to our baby.

Carson loved his first plane ride, our resort was beautiful and the Disney parks were so much fun.

Since we've been home I've been saying..."I wish we were still at Disney World" and today Carson told me I had to stop saying that because it was making him crazy! So, I better get back to reality and life at home! But I'm already saving my pennies for next time...and adding on the Disney Cruise!

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

My last update in February found us in the coldest days of the winter, and now, finally Spring Has arrived!

~ We continue to work on the Adoption Paperwork. Each of us need physicals and forms filled out.

~ Carson continues to enjoy preschool and received a raving report of his academic ability at conference (mommy's are allowed to brag, right?)

~ Earl has packed away his beloved Snowmobile for the season and brought out his remote control truck. He even got one for Carson too! Boys and their toys!

~ We are counting down the days until our first BIG family vacation! WALT DISNEY WORLD. I earned the trip with Tastefully Simple and we extended the trip a couple of days. We are all VERY excited. This will be Carson's first plane ride, so that is extra thrilling!

Check back in May for the Disney report! Until then check out the photo link for new pictures.

The Sioux Falls Veire's (Jeff, Cami, Chad, Chelsey and Molly) planned a snowmobile weekend Up North in Grand Rapids. Of course it proved to be the very coldest weekend of the winter! Temps dipped down to -20 degrees and that was without the wind chill! But they came to snowmobile so snowmobile they did! Well Jeff, Cami and Chad did. Chelsey and Molly spent most of the time indoors with Aunie!

Mike and Heidi, Austin and Jacob were able to come up on Saturday and join in the fun too!

Carson was anxiously awaiting his birthday! We made a paper chain and each day he got to take off a link until the day arrived! He woke up on February 3rd to find the house decorated with streamers and balloons and he announced "It's my Birthday!" What joy he brings to our lives! Check out the Photo Gallery for photos of his birthday and his party!

Good news to report!

In October we attended a meeting at Bethany Christian Services to begin the adoption process. At that meeting we were placed on a waiting list to enter the Domestic Infant Adoption Program. The agency limits the number of families in the program, so we were basically being held on the list until a space in the program opened up.

Well, we received a call from the agency and our name has come up to enter the program! We get to start the paper work!!

- First step is submitting the Preliminary Application.

- Once that is approved we will complete the Formal Application.

- Once that is done we will move on to the Family Assessment and Homestudy. Good news there is Bethany will review our home study from Carson’s adoption and update as needed so that process should be a bit shorter.

- Next we will submit our Profile Book (the story of the Berglund family) and then we will officially wait to be chosen by the birthparents.

So, the process is just beginning and we don’t know how long each step will take, or how long our wait will be, but we are on our way!

My analogy has been that it’s like we have been watching the game from the stands, and now we are moving down to the bench. We aren’t in the game yet, but we are getting closer to the action!

Thanks for your constant support and prayers!

We hope everyone had a blessed Christmas and enjoyed time with family. We toured the state of Minnesota spending time up North in Grand Rapids with the Berglund's and then down South in Ivanhoe with the Veire's. Good times...Great memories!

I've updated the site with lots of photos in the gallery. Enjoy the recent pictures of Carson!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We are waiting again! We attended a meeting at Bethany Christian Services to begin the adoption process.

We are currently number 4 on the list, waiting to begin the domestic adoption program. Not fourth on the the list to receive a baby.

Once we are in the program we will update our home study that we did for Carson's adoption, prepare a family profile book and then wait to be chosen by birthparents.

It could be a long wait so please keep us in your prayers and we will keep you posted!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It rained again! I got to experience the storm from the car on the way home from the store! The hail hitting the car sounded like the inside of a popcorn popper! Thank God I made it home safe! Earl and Carson were safe at home and Earl was able to get some GREAT pictures of the water that comes to our house. Check out the photo galleries to take a look.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We traveled Up North to Grand Rapids to enjoy an relaxing Labor Day weekend. But Mother Nature had other plans and we actually spent Labor Day laboring! Have you guessed yet what happened? That's right...you guessed it...our indoor pool was filled for business!!!!

The basement flooded, AGAIN! Thanks to my brother Mike who survived the storm and came to check on the house for us. He found the water soaking the floor and gave us a call. THANK YOU Mike, Heidi, Jacob and Austin for being our Flood Relief Team. Our boat house would have been floating without you!

The past week has been stressful, challenging, and educational! We are working with a water intrusion specialist, landscaper, realtor and don't for get the insurance agent! THANK YOU Carson and Judy for coming down to join the Flood Relief Team! Check out the photo gallery and see their handy work!

Of course, to add to the fun, poor little Carson came down with the Croup! THANK YOU to my mom, Jan, for being on the Mommy Relief team when I needed a break! The good news is that FINALLY Carson is better! He missed his first day of preschool last week but today he got to go to school! See the photo gallery for the first day of school pictures! My baby is such a big boy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Earl: had laser eye surgery and is LOVING it. Carson and I watched the whole procedure, which took about 5 minutes each eye. He could see 20/20 the next day. If you are considering it give Earl a call and he will refer you to his clinic.

Michelle: I'll try not to write in the third person. The end of July I attended my third Tastefully Simple National convention and again experienced the overwhelming appreciation of this incredible company that I am with. My fall schedule will bring me to Sioux Falls to do many parties and I look forward to this busy time in my business.

Carson: As always life is about our little man! He is so fun and full of life! He is having a great summer the highlight being spending a day out with Thomas (see the photo gallery). Carson will start preschool in September but I'm not sure what they will teach him since he is so smart already! (brag brag from mom!). He is excited and loves the opportunity to meet new kids and have new adventures.

We want to wish GRANDPA CARSON a very HAPPY 60th BIRTHDAY. Hop on your motorcycle or jump in the camper and come down for a visit. We will have a Grain Belt on ice for ya!

That's all the news for now. Check out the Photo Galleries for pictures from our latest adventures including Jones family visit, Day Out With Thomas, another trip to the Metrodome, Molly's visit, Polish Days 2005, and the Minnesota State Fair.

By the way...Earl had to remove the guest book. It was getting spamed! But we LOVE your comments so feel free to email us at michelle@berglund.net or earl@berglund.net

I know. I know. I said last time I was going to be better at this and I haven't.

But the good news is that I found my notes! (see something good does happen when I clean my office) Now, in an attempt to avoid doing my taxes (yes, I know I missed April 15th...it's called an extension!) I will update the site.

Let's see. What has happened since April? Well, on May 28th Carson and I were in my friend Daneen's wedding. You saw some pictures from the tux fitting. Daneen and Jason got married and who ever had picked less than 3 minutes that the 3 year old ring bearer would make it at the alter you are the winner! He did a great job of escorting the brides daughter Dayton down the aisle and announcing "here we come! here we come!" But once at the alter the thrill was gone and he bailed!

May also marked the one year anniversary of living in our St. Michael boat house! We are glad to report that we have not had water incidents this spring and with our current drought we are looking clear...this week! Knock on wood that I didn't just jinx us by reporting good news!

In June we took Carson to his first Minnesota Twins game. We took the light rail train downtown to the Metrodome. He was quite amazed at the size of the place. The Twins beat the Yankees. It was a fun day!

In June I celebrated Tastefully Simple 10th Birthday by consulting my first $1000 party! A HUGE Thanks to my dear friend Ann for hosting such a wonderful party. I'm off to National convention in a couple of weeks and very excited to hear what's new.

The big event in July was Carson's week in Grand Rapids with Grandpa and Grandma Berglund WITHOUT mom and dad! He had so much fun. He went out for his first time fishing and even though they didn't catch any they did catch weeds and had lots of fun. He got lots of time playing in the dirt and helping Grandpa in the shop. He had a wagon ride while helping put up hay and rode all the "sachines" (machines) including the hay bine, the tractor and the four wheeler. Aunt Tracy and Carson played lots on the "jumpoline". I'm sure the animals (two horses, two dogs, and two cats) along with Auntie and G'ma and G'pa are missing the boy this week, but enjoying a little rest! He's a busy boy!

Here we are! Back after almost 4 months! I have taken over the reigns on this web site and without my notes from the first session of training from Earl, I had lost all hope on posting news and photos! But today Earl gave me a quick refresher course and hopefully I will be posting so much going forward that I won't need notes!

Carson turned 3 on February 3rd so this was his Golden Birthday! We had a fun (loud) party and Carson received even more trains! Check out the photo galleries for all the pictures from the event.

Grandpa Carson was in town for a trip to Abbott Northwest Hospital to check on his heart. We THANK GOD for a GREAT report and good health. We spent the day keeping Grandma B company while Grandpa waited for tests. He passed with flying colors and our prayers were answered.

We've been on a few road trips to Sioux Falls to do Tastefully Simple parties and on one return trip Carson and I got to stay at a hotel in Mankato during a sudden heavy snow fall. Yep...love those Minnesota winters! We experienced the spring snow storm again on our way home from Rapid City last week-end (Congratulations Jami and Rob!) but since it was during the daylight we could make it slow and steady.

Earl enjoyed several (yet never enough) trips up North to Grand Rapids to snowmobile. My brother Mike even had opportunity to take a couple of trail rides and really enjoyed them. At least one of us likes that adventure!

My brothers and I took on a remodeling project at my mom's house while she was on her winter trip to Las Vegas. It was truly "While You Were Out" and she had no idea what we were up to! Check the Photo Gallaries for the before, during, after photos.

Last week we had the record for the visitors who traveled the farthest to see us! Jim & Kelly Gordon and their sons Mitchell and Cameron were on a three week USA Holiday and made a three day stop in Minnesota to see us! Kelly and I met in New York in 1992 when we were both Nannies. We haven't been each other in 12 years. We had the best time and can't wait to save our pennies for a trip down under.

It has been a fun and busy time at the Berglund house as we prepared for "Happy Birthday Jesus" and the arrival of Santa Clause. Carson enjoyed decorating the tree and was very patient with the presents under the tree. He was also a big help in the kitchen preparing holiday treats. We started a few new traditions this year. Carson, Mommy and Grandma Veire took in a day of shopping at Mall of America and then rode the train downtown Minneapolis for the Holidazzle Parade and a viewing of the Marshall Fields holiday display. It was great fun!

Mommy and Carson returned to Mall of America to wait in line to visit Santa Clause. When it was finally our turn (after an hour and a half wait) to see the big guy our little guy had fun playing ball with Santa and listening to Santa sings a "Carson song" and a train song. Carson was a good boy this year and Santa came through with several train themed gifts. Our little engineer couldn't have been happier!

We started a new tradition at our house too. Our family (mommy, daddy, Conkie (the blanket) and Carson) enjoyed take out Chinese food and giving and exchanging of gifts. It's nice to do as our little family so we can enjoy each moment before we move on to the bigger crowds! Be sure to check out the photo gallery as the quality of the photos has GREATLY improved with mommy's new gift from daddy! I'm a lucky girl!

The first leg of our "Tour Minnesota Christmas" was heading North to Grand Rapids to celebrate with the Berglund side of the family. Christmas Eve service was very unique with a live nativity scene that included a REAL camel coming right into the church. After services we enjoyed a HUGE display of appetizers and snack foods. Gifts came next and Carson was of great help to anyone needing paper removed from a package!

On the 26th we headed home for a quick drop off and pick up and then continued south to Ivanhoe and the Veire Christmas. Carson was warmly greeted by 8 cousins who were anxiously awaiting his arrival. We enjoyed the traditional meal of Barbequed ribs, baked potatoes and grandma's homemade buns. All 9 of Santa's reindeer were present for presents and the wrapping flew again as gifts were given and received. We know that Grandpa spent Christmas with Jesus again this year, but felt him there with us in spirit.

Carson is happy to be home and thoroughly enjoying all of his new gifts. He is already taking inventory of his Geo Trax train system for items he still needs and with a birthday a month away we continue the search!

Thanksgiving Celebration with the Veire family took place the first weekend of November while Uncle "Dude" (Greg) was home from Las Vegas for deer hunting. We missed Aunt Larisa who had to stay home in L.V. to attend class and take care of Ginger. But the rest of the Veire gang was assembled. The guys hunted deer, and this year the deer won! The cousins all got to play and everyone enjoyed Grandma's homemade buns and the traditional turkey dinner with all the fixings!

Happy Birthday DADDY! November 23rd was daddy's birthday. We traveled that day to Grand Rapids for the Berglund Thanksgiving Celebration. We spent Thursday at Grandpa & Grandma B's and had my great Aunt Bert visit us for dinner. Grandma and mommy made a very yummy dinner. I liked the bread the best! We also visited our dear friends Mike & Liddy at their new house! On Friday mommy got up really early to shop for special Christmas gifts...I hope some were for me! On Friday we went to my Great Aunt Karen and Uncle Ed's house for more turkey! The gang was all there for food and fun! Daddy was excited because while we were there it started snowing.

Saturday was the best day! We got to go to Duluth and ride the Polar Express!!!! Check out the Photo Galleries for pictures and details! I was glad that mommy and daddy and Grandpa & Grandma B and Aunt "Tootsie" (Tracy) and Wade were there to share the fun!

Go to the Photo Galleries for more pictures! and be sure to sign in the Guest book!