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. 

August 2019

 Sara and the kids arrived on July 27th.

 It was the last day of the State Fair,

so we went to see the horses...

and make discoveries in the Kid Space,

 an introduction to the Discovery Center

that will be built in Minot.

 Julia liked the robots, 

 making cookies, 

 and helping RJ pick beans in my garden.

Sara showed them that 

bean leaves stick to your shirt.

RJ learned that all tillers do not have engines
like the one his other grandpa has.  Our
swimming pool and camper are in the background.

 Ana and the girls arrived on the 28th, 

so we celebrated Grampa's birthday

a day early.

 Our school closed for good at the end

of this school year. We were preparing

for the August 10th rummage sale,

so the kids came up to look around

and make some purchases.

 One night they decided they would all 

sleep in our pickup camper.  Within an hour,

they were all back in the house! :-)

Ana and the girls left on Wednesday morning.

Bob left, too, and headed to Fargo

for the Germans from Russia Convention.

So the rest of us learned to play pickleball.

RJ and Julia had lots of practice 

before Doug arrived on Wednesday night.

Sara spotted this log and "flowers"
across the road from our farm.

(It's actually Russian thistle...a terrible weed)

 We attempted a family photo 

with the kids who are growing like weeds.

 
Bob returned on Friday, so we all headed 
to Jimmy and Kelly's in Killdeer. 
We explored Medora for a couple of days.

Looks like Bob was climbing the walls...

He was winning the card game

and learned to "balance" a chair.

A big crowd at the Musical had to leave

before intermission because of a lightning

storm moving in, but they offered us refunds

or tickets for another night.  Doug, Sara, and kids

went back on Monday.

The theme was centered around 

Teddy Roosevelt's time in Medora.

We all tried our talents at mini golf

and then had root beer floats at the Cowboy Cafe.

The "kids" went hiking, and we went back to Jimmy's

to experience 4H Achievement Days.

Andrew's Child Development project

about Luke was a winner.

We learned a lot from Matthew's shooting display.

Grace's photography earned a special ribbon, too.

Luke washed his toys and practiced pouring water :-)

Not bad for a 4-year-old.

Jimmy's hired man from South Africa

attempted to bury a water hose so we could

have water in the camper inside the shop.

(It didn't work)

Domino was not my favorite chicken

because she liked to peck moles on people's legs.

They have 30 chickens laying eggs 

all over the yard!  Finding the eggs is

an adventure for the kids (and Kelly).

We set up the pickleball net in Grampa Dan's shop.

All the kids and Gramma Nancy learned to play

and keep score.

On the 9th, the kids flew back to DC,

and Diane came back to the farm.

Bob stayed to help Jimmy harvest.

Diane helped at the school rummage sale
and caught up with Frans and his family.  
Frans is from South Africa,  worked for one 
of our friends, and married one of my students.