September Happenings

Summer is busy but I think that the school year is even busier. September was busy!

I went to Rollag with my cousins.

I went to an ESP conference in Minot with a couple of my co-workers.

Jen found a new apartment.

Jason had a successful hunt in Colorado. (Yes, tht is snow that you see.)

Dave and I went to Catlin's wedding. (Wasn't it just last week that I was babysitting her?)

We had Bunco at Marilyn's house.

And I closed up my part of the lake cabin.

End of Summer

Now on to October....

Beach Party

Tonight one of our neighbors at the lake had a beach party. Once a year our neighbor Lucy, invites everyone on Little Pelican Lake over for a potluck. It's always fun to meet the people who live in the cottages around our little lake.

I went to the party with my mom and brother. We sat with some interesting people. I had a lot in common with a gal, her husband, and the guy sitting across from us. We all have been studying the same Bible studies! What neat surprise...... so much in common! We listen to the same Christian radio stations. We've been reading the same books. We all love Dr David Jeremiah, Chuck Swindoll and Beth Moore. I felt so energized. It was fun.

2009 Colorado Vacation visiting Jason & Bekki

We had so much fun! This is what we did:

Monday, August 10th

• Dave and I drove to Colorado. We left Medora at 8:40 AM· We arrived in Lakewood at about 6:30 PM

Tuesday, August 11th

• Afternoon - Bekki, Patti and I shopped the Historic Downtown Littleton for a birthday present for Jamie
• Evening – Us girls and Dave picked up Jason from work and we had supper at the Baker Street Pub & Grill

Wednesday, August 12th

• We spent the day hiking and fishing at Grand Lake

Thursday, August 13th

• We went to a Rockies Game. The Rockies were playing Pittsburgh. (Rockies won!)
  
• For supper, we grilled steaks at Jason & Bekki's place.

Friday, August 14th

• Jason worked on his paper.
• Dave and I took a walk around the neighborhood. We found a hidden wooden bridge that crosses a little creek, not far from where Jason and Bekki live.
• Dave, Bekki and I went to a botanical garden and hiked Ken Caryl
• Jason dropped off his LAST PAPER and we took a walk on a walking path behind Denver Seminary
  
• We had supper at Stella’s Restaurant.

Saturday, August 15th

• Dave & I spent the day driving back to Kindred. We arrived in Kindred about 9:45 PM

Check out some of the pictures that I took:

Medora

Last year we had so much fun at Medora that we did it again this summer. We spent the weekend in Medora with a couple friends of ours, Craig and Polly Roe.

Friday night we spent a rainy night in Belfield in the Roe's camper.

We spent Saturday and Sunday - camping, shopping, driving around the National Park, and touring the Chateau de Mores at Medora. We also went to the musical. It was a fun weekend!

Kindred Days

It's been a very busy weekend in Kindred! Parades. Entertainment. Food. Games. Fireworks. Petting zoo. Flea market. Street Dance. People. People. People.

Jamie, Ryan and Sierra came out and spent the night. I think everyone had a good time. I know I did.

Here's a video taken before the Cowboy Action Wild West show:

Another Perfect Weekend

We had a perfect weekend at the lake. Good weather, good friends, good food, and lots of family! A perfect combination.

Jamie, Ryan and Sierra brought their dogs, Bo and Sky, to the lake. Bo is always entertaining us. He is continually wanting someone to throw him a stick out in the water. He will bring you a stick and patiently wait with his head on his front paws for you to throw it. Sky is just plain cute. She's like a little stuffed toy. Jamie and Ryan's friends, Carrie and Ryan also came down for a while.


Jen and her boyfriend Matt brought Matt's 5 yr old niece, Hanna, down with them so that Sierra would have someone to play with. That was a hit! The two girls became good friends and hung out together all weekend. Matt's roommate, Adam, was also down for a while.



My bother, Ron, and his wife Illa, had a couple friends down, Dave and Tre. Dave loves to cook. He made us all a scrumptious meal. Tre brought an activity down for the kids. She and the kids made garden stepping stones with their feet and hand prints on them. How nice of Tre to do that! Dave and Tre also brought their two daughters and their dog with them.

Illa's daughter and grandson were also down. So with Dave and I, we had a total of 19 people and 7 dogs at the lake this weekend.

At one pint during the weekend, everyone was out in one of the boats either fishing, tubing or swimming at the sandbar. Dave and I were alone on the deck, taking a breather. We talked about how blessed we are to have the lake cottage and family together. What a perfect weekend! (and to think, God says that the best is yet to come!)

Max's Hair Cut

Max got a hair cut. This picture makes it look like they cut one ear shorter than the other. (Actually his left ear is flipped back.)

Street Fair

Sierra, Jame and I had fun at the street fair.
(This video was taken with my new little Flip Cam.)

T-Ball '09

Sierra really enjoyed T-Ball this year.

A Tribute to the Moon Walk

Michael Jackson, I think you were weird, but I do like to watch you dance...

Tight Rope Walking

Here's a sport that I haven't tried. My nephew, Shaun, has a flat rope that he stretched between a couple trees. I understand that if you can master the tight rope it will help with other sports that you need balance. All the kids were trying it. We had a good laugh.

A Pontoon Fix-Up

Ryan and Matt put in some long hours re-carpeting our pontoon. We haven't used the pontoon for three years because work needed to done on it. It's finally getting done and I'm so glad! When they put it all back together, it's going to really look nice!

Swartz Wedding

We had a fun weekend. Dave and I went to a wedding in Starbucks, MN. Yes, there is a town by that name. One of Jason's college friends, Aaron Swartz, got married. Of course many of Jason's other colleges buddies showed up, too. We had gotten to know many of these boys while Jason was at Concordia. It was good to see them again and meet their wives. They are all reaching the 30 mark and some of them have children. They've become mature and responsible but..... still young and fun!

One thing that I noticed was that even though free beer was available for all, the kids (I probably will always call them kids) were not there to get smashed. Everyone was there to dance and have a good time. The emphasis was on dancing not drinking. And boy can they dance! I decided that I would like to take dance lessons. I'd love to be able to dance like them....I especially want to learn the Jitterbug and the Electric Slide.

They had a "Michael Jackson" Dance off. Three or four of the guys could mimic Michael Jackson exactly. What a hoot!

Sunday morning we had breakfast with some of the kids" Here's a picture taken outside the restaurant: (Shoot...I just remembered that I took that picture with Jason's camera. I'll have to get a copy of it from him.)

Working Together

Bekki has tried to get some serious work time in while she's been visiting. Sierra adores Bekki. She set up her own work space next to Bekki. (I'm not sure how much Bekki was able to work with Sierra next to her.) ha ha Check out Sierra's Blue-tooth head gear.

Gardening Gals

On Thursday Bekki and I ran into Fargo early (7 AM) to pick up Sierra. We hit KFNW's sticker stop to get a free cup of coffee at Starbucks and also we tried to win tickets to see Beth Moore, who is coming in August.

We spent the day doing Kindred stuff. Sierra had T-Ball practice mid morning after which we went to Express Lane for ice cream cones. (I brought my camera and forgot to take a picture!!!) Bekki got some computer work done and then she and Sierra helped me weed the garden and plant flowers. I think summer has finally arrived! (Flowers, ice cream, and even pesky bugs.)

Visiting Family

Addie, Bekki, Dean, Lorie, Kathy and David DuBord

Wednesday morning Bekki (my daughter-in-law from Colorado) and I had coffee with my in-laws (David and Addie) and Kathy (Dave's sister-in-law from Hawaii.) Dave's sister, Lorie, and brother, Dean, were also there. Did you catch all of that? I love being with family....especially those family members that we don't see very often..... I miss them. I wish we could get together on a weekly basis. They are neat people and I enjoy their company. I cherish them. Wouldn't it be nice if we could spend 90% of our time with family and only 10% our time working?

After coffee, Lorie, Kathy, Bekki and I went out to lunch at famous Dave's restaurant:

After lunch we went out to Lorie's place. Kathy and Bekki hadn't seen Lorie's farm. It's a gorgeous place that has so much history.

I could hang out on the porch swing all day.
What a wonderful place to be.
What a nice day!

School Board Election

Tuesday was the school board election. Every year, us gals that work in the school kitchen also work the election. Instead of cooks we become clerks and judges.

It's a tough job....ha ha. This year we sat 12 hours and had only 34 people vote. (That includes our four votes.) Two people were running for three posts. The hardest part of the job was to calculate the write-in votes.

Anyway it's a good time to catch up on conversation, reading and sleep. (I took a couple naps.) Did I mention it's also easy money?

T-Ball Game

Sierra had her first T-Ball game. It was so entertaining.  She did well at hitting the ball, but the outfield was a stage for her.  At second base she sang and danced.  It was cute. She had an audience.  Of course Jamie and Ryan were there, but also Jen, Matt, Bekki, Ken and me.

Hjemkost Center

Check out these scary Vikings:

Bekki, Sierra and I went to the Hjemkost Center and toured the boat and the Stave Church.  I didn't even know there was a church behind the Hjemkost Center. We got there just in time to hear the history behind the making of the church.  It was interesting.  

Plains Art Museum

...... continued fun with Bekki. 

Monday, Bekki and I took Sierra to the Plains Art Museum.  We didn't know it but the museum is closed on Mondays.  We had lunch at the Muse Cafe.  Good food and nice atmosphere and fun with Bekki!  

Sunday at the Lake

Sunday my daughter-in-law, Bekki, and I went to the Cornfield for breakfast.  We picked up my mom at the cottage and the three of us went to the season's opening of the Shorem Chapel. When the pastor, Dan Danielson, saw us in church (How could he miss us?  They seated us center in the first pew), he commented that they had just had dinner with our son, Jason, down in Colorado. It made us feel special.  Thanks Dan!

We spent the afternoon at the lake. It was a cool cloudy day..... not really lake weather.... but it was good to just spend time with Bekki.

Alisha's Wedding

Jason's wife, Bekki, is hanging out with me this week while Jason is at Boy's State. We are having so much fun!
Saturday I went to Alisha's Wedding. Bekki sat in for Dave as we attended the reception/dinner.

I used to babysit Alisha when she was just a little tyke.  I have followed her life as she has grown up.  I can't believe that she's old enough to get  married.  She still calls me Mom. I wish her all the best in life.  It looks like she's found a great guy.  I'm happy for her!

Going Away Party

Some friends of ours, Jim and Val Hicks, are moving to Nebraska. Instead of packing up the meat that was in their freezer they cooked it and invited everyone over to eat.

We all had a good time. Like most parties, the women hung out together and the men hung out together.

BTW, if you heard the party while you were trying to sleep...it was the men. I agree, they were loud. Anyway, a good time was had by all and the Hicks will be missed.

Play Ball

Sierra started T-Ball today. Her friend from the neighborhood is on her team.

It was fun to watch the kids. Every term has to be explained to them.... We just take for granted that everyone knows where first base is and what you do with it. I took a video of Sierra hitting the ball and the coach told her to "Go! Go!" Sierra took off running but didn't know where she was running to. ha ha (I will publish the video after editing it. I thought that I had stopped recording but hadn't. I have a footage of the ground. Ahhh Heck, I'll upload it now and fix it later.) Shoot...now it's sideways...Check it out:

Memorial Day

Mom and I went out to the cometary to put flowers on the graves.
It was a good time to pause and reflect and be thankful that I'm doing this with my mom and not putting flowers on her grave.

Bunco!

We played bunco on Monday night. We had skipped last month's get together, not only because of the flood, but the gal who was hosting bunco had to have brain surgery. Really. (I'm glad to report that she's doing fine.)

This month we met at Carol's house. It was good to see everyone again. With the flood going on, everyone has stayed home so much. Because you have to take alternate routes to where ever you are going it takes forever to get to where you are going. (Get that?) It's easier to stay home.