July Flies By....

George Joseph was an early morning

arrival on July 2nd, a day before

Jimmy's birthday. Eight pounds of joy.

Of course Grace, Andrew, Mary Kate, 

Luke, and Matthew couldn't wait

to meet their baby brother.

Back in Wolford, we took our Texas friends,

Ron and Shirley, on a tour of Wolford

en route to Lake Metigoshe.

We visited the International Peace Garden,

discovered the WCTU bench...

it's only water in my bottle!

spotted this beautiful sky near the Christian Center,

and enjoyed the water ski show on the 3rd.

Diane found these prairie roses on her walk

in the morning. This is the ND State Flower.

I need help identifying these and the ones below!

All of these are growing at the Peace Garden.

Driving to Killdeer on the 5th, we stopped

to drop off something for Jimmy and

spotted his alfalfa bales in his field near Dodge.

George was waiting for me to hold him.

Luke and I read books to Mary Kate.

Cowgirl trying to fill mom's boots!

Stormy sky at 5:30 a.m. on July 10th

fading as it moves east

and settles down.

Sunday, July 10th, was our parish picnic

in the Knox park. Lots of food....

Katie Tim, Linda, Phil, and Ed visited before eating.

Lisa, Thatcher, and Titus welcomed Joline 

who is spending the next month at her home farm.

Joline and I left after eating to hear Wayne Garman

talk about why some Germans from Russia

left the U.S. for Canada.

On the 12th, we drove to Aberdeen, SD,

for the Germans from Russia convention.

We spent a couple of hours at the

Dacotah Prairie Museum which was

featuring a traveling exhibit....

This could be Bob...he loves root beer!

One display featured the Fischer quints

who were born in Aberdeen in 1963.

In 2015, the museum featured the Germans from Russia.

Diane and Snoopy...the Aberdeen magazine

had a feature story about pickleball!

Ana, Sara, and the kids arrived Friday night.

Saturday morning rain sent us to Target.

Cecelia, Lydia, RJ, Claire, Julia, and "friends"

When the rain stopped, we went to Storybook Land

Everyone had fun....

playing roles with the Wizard of Oz characters,

(Claire, Julia, RJ, Cecelia, Lydia)

on the zip line (that's Sara!),

swimming,

and dancing

the last evening of the GFR convention.

We all enjoyed breakfast together..

Julia, Cecelia, RJ, Lydia, Claire, and Sara

On Sunday, Ana and the girls shuffled off to Buffalo, MN,

Sara and the kids came home with us after stopping 

to see the big buffalo in Jamestown, ND.

Sara and the kids took the Mustang for a joy ride!

Later, we went to Rugby, had lunch 

with Kathy and Dane, got free ice cream

for the Merchant's Bank's 125th anniversary,

played on the Ely Elementary playground,

and picked up some groceries. 

En route to Jimmy's, Bob had to check out 

the crops, and we stopped in Dodge 

to watch Jimmy's hopper bin being unloaded.

Andrew was holding George 

when we got to the farm on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, we went to Medora.

Julia, Grace, and Luke posed for us.

Jimmy, Grace, and Luke came

with us and Sara, RJ, and Julia.

Teddy (Roosevelt) started the National Parks system.

The cast did a tribute to the American flag.

We left Jimmy's on Thursday. On Friday,

we went to the State Fair in Minot. Daryl,

who started his racing pigs event 35 years ago,

was an FFA friend of our kids. He gave

tees to Sara's kids. The back of the shirts

said, "Fastest Food in the West."

The Budweiser truck was there with Bud the dog

and Bud the horse.

The Kid Rock concert at the fair was canceled

because of tornado warnings and lightning.

This is the sky at the airfield where Kid's

plane is sitting.

Sara's kids at 6 a.m. at the airport

before they flew back to Virginia.

On Saturday morning, we went to Minnesota

for his brother's birthday party.

The siblings were "together again!"

Sign at the party site...around 60 people at the party!

Bob's birthday is on the 29th, 

so we "borrowed" one of Jerry's balloons.

On Monday, the 25th, we drove back to Killdeer

for the baptism of George Joseph.  He is

wearing the baptismal suit bought by Aunt Nellie

for Jimmy. All of our grandsons have worn the suit

for their baptisms.

Parents, Godparents, and Deacon Dan (Kelly's dad)

who baptized George

Mary Kate (2), Luke (7), Jimmy, Matthew (13),

Andrew (16), George (3 weeks), Kelly, 

and Grace (12 in two more days)

Great-grampa George and baby George

Godparents: our oldest grandchildren--

Ariana (18, Trina's) and

Andrew (16, Jimmy's)

George and us!

Ari, Trina, and Jimmy & Kelly's kids

Kids with both sets of grandparents.

After a great steak baptismal dinner, we celebrated

Grace's 12th birthday (July 27th),

and Bob's 78th birthday (July 29th)

with a special "company cake" baked by Grace and Ari.

On the road again...to Ana's in Buffalo

to see Lydia, Cecelia, and Claire 

in "Sleeping Beauty" on the 29th,

and afterwards to celebrate Bob's birthday

with a cake made by the girls!

On Saturday, July 30th, we took Ana's girls

to the Regional Water Ski competition 

in Albert Lea, MN, to watch the Iowa team

with Tom, Jett, Caiden, and Annika skiing!

In addition to skiing, Tom was the MC

and showed off his juggling skills

Jett, 15,

Caiden, 14,

and Annika, 12,  were each in several events.

Lydia participated in the audience hula hoop

demonstration and received a Lei for her part!

Claire in the orange shirt and Cecelia to her right

watched Tom, Caiden, and Jett perform.

On Sunday, the 31st, we drove back 

to North Dakota after a very eventful month!!!