December--the end of the year

 Three wandering meese :-)

Sunrise en route to Maddock pickleball 

 We stopped to visit Jerry B. en route
to the Farmers Union Convention.

 

"A Hard Day's Night" entertained us at the Convention.

Their accents were so good, we thought they were

really British, but they were actually from Cleveland!

 We headed to Killdeer after the convention, so Bob

 could work on the floor for the addition to their house.
We all helped "test"Kelly's special chocolate 
marshmallow Christmas cookies. Yummy!

The kids opened their gifts 
from Grampa Bob and Gramma Diane.

I made some baklawa for gifts
using Trina's "easy and quick" recipe.
Aunt Mary would not approve, 
but it turned out great!!!

We headed to Buffalo, MN, for Christmas 
all the kids, grandkids, and Donna
at Corey and Ana's "Cadillac Ranch"
wedding venue.

The sunrise at our farm on the morning we left.

 Doug, Sara, and kids arrived in MN on the 20th,
so we spent some time at the Buffalo Museum's
annual Christmas tree festival.  The kids had
to find gnomes in the more-than-fifty trees!

Each tree was decorated by a different organization.

We stayed at the Buffalo Motel....
Donna and the "Bison" joined us.

After everyone arrived, all 14 kids swam 
in the motel pool, built snow forts, 
went sledding, played in the loft (dance hall)
of the barn, enjoyed playing Foosball and pool,
and "hung out" together.

Hanging out and playing

upstairs in the barn;

Enjoying "Joe's Stone Crabs"
Thanks Emilio and Lucy! :-)

Bob and his stone crab bib

Donna and some of the kids enjoying a meal

Trina played a game with the kids after dinner

until Santa showed up! Tom and Jimmy were 

"otherwise distracted" when Santa arrived.

Donna gives Santa a thank-you hug

Tom wanted a photo on Santa's lap 

The "kids"..big and little with Santa

Jimmy and Kelly's special gift from Santa...
(they are expecting baby #5 in the spring)

The guys all received special socks....

and so did the girls...a fun ending to the year!

November 2019 Cold and Snowy

 Final hockey game at the Engelstad for 2019

 Thanksmas at Steve and Barb's...our theme

was the letter "T" for Thanksmas.  I got a
box of "T" snacks, and Bob got a Thumb drive.
We traded at home...he ate the snacks, 

and I decorated and used the thumb drive.

49th Anniversary...at home

because there was a blizzard outside

(just like the day we were married)

October...looks like December

 Woke up to this on Oct. 3rd...

Don't think we will be using our swimming pool

anytime soon! :-)

"Frosty" joined us this morning, too. 

He is happier than we are with the snow.

These ladies came for a lunch of crab apples.

One day later...poor "Frosty" :-(
Must've been a heck of a diet.

 I guess we had our own "Hooter."  He had been
hanging around the yard and seemed to wait
for someone to come out of the house.

 I think he was sick.  Bob said something
killed the owl last night (Monday, Oct. 7th).

Jimmy's hired man Carl came on Saturday,
and Bob took him to a UND hockey game. 
Ed joined us for breakfast after church on Sunday.
They had fun reminiscing about their trip to South Africa.

I was driving a truck out to a field and had
to stop at the end of our driveway to take this photo.

The first sign of winter? Guess which vehicle
is "undercover".

Well, we left home Friday morning, the 11th, and 
drove through heavy snow and a blizzard to get
to Grand Forks for the UND hockey games.  
The highway department closed all of the
highways in and out of Grand Forks after
we got there!

  Had a great weekend and
the team won both of their games.  This is the
traditional "salute" after a "sweep."

Back home on Sunday.  This poor robin forgot to head south.

Thirty Days Hath September....

Two-week trip to Cleveland for a 60-year

high school class reunion and a visit with family...

 Well, before I left for Cleveland, I dug up my potatoes.

I usually get one that looks like a duck, but this one is

"Love-ly."

 Temps were in the 80s and 90s and the

flowers were beautiful at Winton Place.

Cousins Chris & Tim, Susie & David,

Mary Anne, Leanne, Mark and Liam

came for supper on Sunday.

 Irene and I were classmates at St. Mary's College.

We had lunch at Donna's on Monday.

 Leanne and I went to the Art Museum

on Tuesday because there was no water

in the condo all day. This was Donna's and my 

favorite room when we were kids. Cousin

Chuck met us at the museum and we drove out

to see cousins Tommy and Patty.

On Wednesday, Chuck joined me and high school

friend Marion (Mac) and John for lunch.

That evening, Susie, David, Leanne, and I 

went out to "Aunt" Ellen's for supper. Had so

much fun (and wine) I forgot to take pictures.

Friday afternoon,  Janet, Donna, and Diane and I 

took a tour on "Lolly the Trolley" to see how much

Cleveland has changed in the past 60 years.

Friday night, I skipped the reunion cocktail party 

to have dinner with cousins

David & Susie, Leanne, and Mary Anne.

 The class reunion luncheon was on Saturday.

Joyce, Diane, Carol, and Dot and I were

West Tech cheerleaders together!

Saturday evening, cousin Beverly and I

went to an art exhibit opening for cousin

Nancy's friend. Nancy's siblings Jimmy 

and his son Jimmy, Kathleen and Ken, 

and Susan and Hardy also came with 

some of their family members.  

 On Sunday morning, I flew to Cedar Rapids to visit

Tom and Trina's family.  We were so busy, this is the only

photo I took--Caiden getting warmed up for his ball game.

We celebrated Trina and Jett's birthdays, I met their

exchange student from Germany (Nike..pronounced Nee-Kah),

and went to a homecoming parade besides keeping up with

all the kids' activities.  Caiden and I broke the bank playing

Monopoly before he "broke me" and ended up with all 

the money in the bank!

I flew back to Grand Forks on Thursday, stopped at

the farm for a few minutes, and then drove to Minot

to meet Bob (who was in Killdeer helping Jimmy) 

for the Hostfest.  We had tickets to see Charlie Pride

on Friday.  Charlie is 85 and never sat down during

his over-an-hour performance!!

Bill Florian sang with The New Christy Minstrels.

He had been to our park in Texas, and Bob saw him in Minot

when he was buying our tickets for the Hostfest.  Bill was

interviewing for a performance spot, and the lady in

charge called Bob to ask him for a recommendation.

Bill got the job!  He thanked Bob and sang a song for me. :-)

On Friday evening, we headed home and I found

this tomato in my garden.