In Memory of Victoria Williams.

Robert's Grandpa and Grandma.

Robert with his Grandpa.

I just wanted to write a little bit about Victoria Williams. She was Robert's grandma. Even though I didn't get the opportunity to meet her, I could sense that she was a sweet lady. I remember Robert's eyes would just light up every time she would call. The conversations were always short and sweet. It touched me dearly that she would ask Robert how I was doing, even though I never met her. After hearing stories about her and being at her house, I realized that she was a very neat, organized, meticulous, loving, sweet lady. Going through her scrapbooks, you could always see this big, beautiful, warm smile. Anyone could see through that smile what an elegant spirit she had.

I didn't know much about Bob Williams, Robert's grandpa. He died in 2003. I am sure that he was just as pleasant as Victoria and it is a shame that I didn't get to meet both of them.

Robert's mom and aunt kindly gave me some books of hers. I grabbed this book called The Family Album of Favorite Poems by Grosset and Dunlap. I was going through some of the poems and I came across this poem. I thought the words in it described the spirit she had.

She Walks In Beauty

She walks in beauty, like the night of cloudless climes and starry skies;

And all that's best of dark and bright

Meet in her aspect and her eyes:

Thus mellowed to that tender light

Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

One shade the more, one ray the less,

Had half impaired the nameless grace

Which waves in every raven tress,

or softly lightens o'er her face;

Where thoughts serenely sweet express

How pure, how dear their dwelling place.

And on that cheek, and o'er that brow,

So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,

The smiles that win, the tints that glow,

But tell of days in goodness spent,

A mind at peace with all below,

A heart whose love is innocent!

George Gordon, Lord Byron

This family photo was taken on their 50th Anniversary in 1993.

Seattle

This picture was taken from the Space Needle.

I was in Minneapolis towards the end of my trip from North Dakota. My plans were to fly out of Minneapolis Wednesday morning back to CA. That night, Monday, November 27th, we were going to have dinner with Robert's dad and step-mom. Robert and I were sitting at the hotel bar waiting for them to arrive. While we were waiting, Robert got a call from his mom. We found out that Robert's grandma was in bad condition with her health. She only had a couple of days to live.

So the next morning, Robert went to work to ask about taking time off to go to Seattle. His co-workers were so understanding about the whole situation. He got a flight to Seattle Thursday morning. Unfortunately, Robert's grandma passed away on Wednesday night.

We arrived in Seattle that afternoon. There was snow! I guess Seattle hardly ever gets snow. Robert and I said that the snow came from grandma. We took a Super Shuttle to grandma's place in Mill Creek. It was nice to see Robert's parents, Pam and Mark. His aunt, Nancy, and uncle, Richard. I just wished it wasn't a sad occasion that brought us all together.

Through the weekend, Robert and I helped with anything that we could do. Saturday night, Mark and Pam suggested that we should go to Seattle and do some sight seeing. I had never saw Seattle before, so that was such a nice gesture of them.

Sunday morning, Mark, Richard, Robert, and I all headed to Seattle. Robert went to college in Seattle his freshman year, so he knew of some spots to see. So our first stop was going to Pike's Place Market and the waterfront. There were all these cute little stores and restaurants there. After we got done going through all the cute little shops, we headed towards the waterfront, aka Puget sound.

Mark knew of a good place to pick up some tea. The below picture shows the cute alleys to these neat little shops. Robert and I were goofing around taking silly pictures. Here I caught Robert in the air.

After the tea shop, my "tour guys" decided that we should go to the Space Needle! We walked closed to 12 blocks to get there. It was a lot of fun walking and discovering the city.

My Tour Guides! Thanks again Mark, Richard, and Robert for the great memories in Seattle.

We finally made it to the Space Needle! We got our tickets and up we went!

Lake Union.

Once we got done seeing the beautiful views from the Space Needle, we took the light rail train back to the Farmer's Market.

So that concluded my tour in Seattle. What a beautiful city and I want to go back and hike around Mt. Rainier and someday, when I know how to sail :)...sail around Puget Sound.

These two pictures were taken over the Evergreen Point floating bridge on Highway 520. You can see Mt. Rainier in the above photo.

Part I in North Dakota

On Wednesday, November 15, I flew out to Minneapolis. Robert was working in Minneapolis again, so I flew there and then Friday afternoon hit the road to Fargo. On Thursday, November 16, Robert and I met Robert's dad, Tom and his step-mom, Lorie for dinner. It was good see both of them again.

Friday, Robert and I hit the road for Fargo. We arrived in Fargo around 4:00 p.m. and I surprised my sister at work. My sister got off of work early and we headed to her place. We got all situated at her place and we decided to go bowling! It was the girls against boys. Of course, the girls won!! Robert bowled pretty impressive though. He bowled in the 160's and Lacey did pretty good too. She was bowling in the 130's and I even bowled around that too. I had such a good time.

Saturday morning I went to the salon and Lacey was going to put some highlights in my hair, but I guess my hair wasn't in the best coloring shape to put it in. I used a box color kit a couple of months ago and I guess my hair color was fading and it looked "mousey"... hey I am on a budget here! I have a lot of faith and trust in my sister, so I let her do the deciding. She planned on coloring my hair to my natural shade and then put the highlights in. Well, of course, they didn't have my color. So we went to a shade darker. I was getting pretty antsy at the salon and Lacey was tired, so we just did the color with no highlights. So I walked out of the salon with pretty dark hair. After that, Lacey and I headed back to her place to get ready to go out. We were going to meet up with my two good friends, Dacy and Trina. So Robert, Devin, Lacey and I all headed to Dacy's house. Oh my gosh! I missed Dacy and Trina so much! It was great to be in their presence again! We just ended up playing games most of the night. A card game called Categories and a Trivia game that Dacy picked up that afternoon and it had to be of course The 80's Trivia Pursuit!

* Dacy and Rob *

Sunday, I made plans with my brother and his family. Lacey, Devin, Robert and I drove to Grand Forks to see them. Tammy and a friend of hers opened up a business called Little Miracles, Pediatric Therapy and Child Care Center. It was my first time seeing the place. I was really impressed with it. I didn't have the slightest idea of what the place would have looked liked. It was way beyond of what I could have imagined. Fabulous work Lance and Tammy!!

It was wonderful to see my beautiful nieces, Sydney and Brooklyn. Sydney still has a little crush on Robert. She thinks that Robert is her boyfriend. It is so cute to see her act around him!

Brooklyn and Sydney with their gorgeous mom, Tammy. Lance and Tammy.

Monday, back in Fargo. I basically just relaxed at Lacey and Devin's place. Devin and Lacey cooked us a great dinner. It was my first time having pheasant. It tasted like chicken :)

*Robert and Kia. * * * * * * Lacey lounging on the couch.

** Trina and Dacy **

Tuesday morning Lacey and Devin went to work and Robert and I headed to Dennys to meet up with Dacy and Trina, and her son Dalton. He decided to be sick that day so he could hang out with mommy all day. What a little stinker. Dacy gave me an awesome gift. It was a scrapebook full of all my former employees and my going away party pictures. It was so thoughtful of her to do that. Thanks again!! After we ate, Robert was going to play some pool, but the place wasn't opened yet so he headed to the Bordertown. Us girls and Dalton went to Dacy's place. We were going to watch a movie, but we could't get the DVD player to work!! And yes, we were sober!! So we just had some girl talk and Trina was going to try to get the night off from work so we could go out for some drinks.

While we were waiting to see if Trina got the night off, Dacy and I headed to the Bordertown to meet up with Robert. Robert and I played some pool with the locals and I even got to see some of the guys I used to hang out with. It was little reunion.

Once we got word from Trina that she got the night off we headed to another bar. Dacy didn't stay out to late because she had to work the next day. We were all in the mood to go out and have a good time. We were all thinking "Why didn't we go out on Saturday night!" Oh well, next time when I am home again. Dacy went home. Trina, Robert and I stayed a little longer and decided to go to the Bowler. The Bowler was having karokee night and we knew the DJ, so we headed over there. Robert and I didn't stay very long. Robert had a few to many Vodka tonics. I was sad to say goodbye to Trina and Dacy, but I was excited to head back to my home town and to see my wonderful parents.

Part II in North Dakota

Mandy and I ** Levi and Mandy

Wednesday morning Lacey and Devin went to work and I started doing some laundry and cleaning up the house. After that was done, Robert and I headed to the mall to do some Christmas shopping. I was suppose to meet my good friend Mandy and her boyfriend, Levi, later that day in Jamestown at Grizzley's Bar and Grill.

Mandy graduated from Jamestown College this past May with a degree in Nursing. She is working at Meritcare in Fargo. She also has a part-time job at the Limited. When I saw her, she looked fabulous!! I only got to spend a couple of hours with her. I wished I could have spent more time with her but it was getting late and we still had about a 2 hour drive back to Wishek.

I was so excited driving back to Wishek and to see my parents. It was pretty cool that my brother and his family came home around the same time too. And an hour later, Lacey and Devin were home. The whole family was finally together!!

Thanksgiving Day. Both sets of my grandparents came over to my Mom and Dad's house. My aunt, Cheryl, and uncle, Joe, and one of their sons, Josh and my other uncle Terry all came down too. We all ate turkey dinner in our heated garage. After all the cleaning up and socializing, my grandpa and grandma Fischer, Terry, Joe, Cheryl, and Josh all headed back to Glen Ullin and Dickenson.

Grandpa Sayler and Grandpa Fischer. Terry, Grandma Fischer and Grandma Sayler.

My Nieces. * * * * * * * * * * * * * *My Aunt, Cheryl and my mom.

The Sayler Ladies :)

Later that afternoon, I played pinochle with Lacey and Grandpa and Grandma Sayler. It was Lacey and grandpa against grandma and I. Playing pinochle with my grandparents is something I really miss doing. I was having such a good time. I was soaking up every minute even though grandma and I were losing.

Friday afternoon, Robert and I went to Kulm to see Liza. I haven't seen them since their wedding, August of "06." I heard some great news from Liza that she is expecting a little one in June! Good month Liza :) I wish her all the best and I will be praying for a healthy pregnancy! I am so excited for you guys!

When we got back from Kulm, I got ready to go out and hit the bars. My parents, Sydney, Brooklyn, and Lacey went to Bismarck. Lacey was playing in the Bismarck State College Basketball Alumni game. So back at home, Lance, Tammy, Robert and I were all kicking back and drinking. Another good friend of mine, Amanda, was coming over to the house and we were all going to hit the good old Lariat Bar. We ended up all playing darts together. It was nice to see a lot of familiar faces at the bar and catch up of what they were doing in life.

Part III in North Dakota

Saturday morning in our household was Christmas!! We all ate lunch and got ready to do some family pictures. We asked a good friend of ours, Lora, to take the pictures. She did a very good job and thanks again for coming over and taking them.

My good looking parents. Lance and Tammy with their girls, Sydney and Brooklyn.

Devin and Lacey. * * * * Robert and I. After we got done taking the pictures we all headed upstairs to the Christmas tree! We were about to open presents, but we decided to take a couple pictures by the tree. Hey, it is not everyday that you have your whole family together for pictures. So we made the most out of it.

I just love this picture. Robert was taking the picture and he asked the girls if they would make some funny faces. Well, the girls were adorable, but I saw that Lance had this huge, handsome smile!! He never smiles. So for now on, if you want Lance to smile, you will have to ask him to make some funny faces! Yes, I am a dork :)

After pictures and presents, we all headed to church. Tonight Lacey and I had a basketball alumni game. I nearly died that night, literally. I was so out of shape and I haven't touched a basketball in months. Somehow though, I scored 8 points. Hey, two years ago I didn't score at all! Lacey had a excellent night. She had 29 points! You are such a stud! Every two years Wishek has an alumni basketball game. Girls play at 6:00 and the guys play at 8:00. This year, the siblings were on the same team. I am so glad Lacey was on my team. The last alumni game, she guarded me and that was a major pain in the butt. Probably explains how I didn't score any points!? Hmmm. Well, to my defense, she hardly beat me in one-on-one in high school. I love you Lacey :) This year I had a little problem with my feet. During the second half of the game, my feet was just killing me! So when I finally got home and took off my socks, I noticed that the tips of my socks were bloody. My big toes were hurting and it looked like my whole nail was about to fall off. So that explains the problem. I just don't understand why that happened. I wore the same shoes two years ago for the alumni game and nothing happened. Oh well. Just gives me an excuse to buy new shoes??

After the games, all the players were invited to the Lariat for a free drink. Robert and I went for a drink, and got to socialize with some of the players. I could hardly drink that night. I was seriously exhausted and plus my feet were killing me! I needed to have my shoes off! The shoes were just rubbing on my toenails. I actually didn't even finish my first drink! So I said goodbye to everybody and Robert and I headed home. I wasn't really tired to go to bed, so we put in the Ice Age, The Melt Down!! I just love scrat!