November Excitement

Deer season opened on November 5th.

Andrew shot this 5 X 5 buck.

Grampa Bob hasn't found one that big yet!

We met Trina and her girls at Ana's on Nov. 6th.

First, we celebrated Annika's 12th birthday

which was coming up on November 8th.

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Anni examines her gifts from her cousins.

In accordance with Bob's family tradition,

Anni got twelve birthday bounces.

Then Cecelia

and Lydia got ten "belated" bounces

since we weren't there on October 15th.

On November 7th, Claire made her First Communion.

Claire and Ana in matching outfits.

The "girls" after church on Sunday.

Back: Trina, Annika, Claire, Ariana, Ana

Front: Cecelia and Lydia

Trina's "selfie" with Ana

Bob and I actually slept in the Murphy bed in the barn 

where there is a kitchenette, two bathrooms, and a shower!

But we didn't have time to play all the games 

that are set up!

The kids, of course, love the trampoline upstairs.

Had 40 mph winds and a dusting of snow on Friday, the 12th

What a difference a day makes...3 inches on Saturday

On Sunday afternoon, Bob got out the "Bob"cat

and cleared out some snow.

Our newest "star" 

Andrew was confirmed on the 21st 

at St. Joseph's church in Killdeer.

That same day, Caiden's team in Cedar Rapids

won their tournament. Caiden is in the front row

second from the left.

On the way home from Killdeer,

Bob decided to check Jimmy's grain bin

near Dodge. (Yes, we got out)

This moon greeted us as we were

coming up the road to our farm.

November 22nd sunset

Sunrise on the 23rd

"Thanksmas"  in Grand Forks:

Back: Mark, Bob, Doug, Jerry, Jill, Steve, Andrea, Aaron, Wendy

Middle: Diane, Kathy, Anastasia

Front: Claire, Kendra, Logan, Maddie, Lydia, Cecelia

"Storm" is reclining in front of the kids!

Bob, Jerry, Steve, and Kathy are siblings. 

Doug (Jill) and Mark are Jerry and Wendy's sons.

Maddie, Kendra, and Logan are Mark's kids

Andrea (Aaron) is Kathy's daughter.

Anastasia is Bob and Diane's daughter.

Claire, Cecelia, and Lydia are Ana's girls.

Kathy, Wendy, Ana, and Steve reminiscing..

Doug, Bob, Jerry, Andrea, Aaron, and Jill

Kendra, Maddie, Lydia, and Cecelia

Mark and Logan at the pool

Logan gets flipped

Cecelia, Logan, Claire, Lydia, and Kendra

on the "devices" at the pool.

Ana's girls did a synchronized swimming routine for us.

Can you tell who's who by the legs?????

Lydia, Claire, and Cecelia

Before the movie "Encanto" in East Grand Forks

Santa and the girls at Cabella's in EGF

Reind"ears"

Minions with the minions in the theater hallway

Santa, Mrs. Claus and an elf

That's Uncle Jerry on the wall 

at the UND hockey arena.

Matthew shot his first deer

on the last day of hunting season!

Dinner at The Ranch in Devils Lake

for our 51st wedding anniversary on November 30th

 

October Already?

The Killdeer FFA Quiz Team won the District 8

Competition and Andrew earned a Gold 

for his fifth place win! There were over 50 competitors!

We went to Grand Forks for the UND hockey games,

and someone told Bob about the Veterans' Park

Awesome message from President Reagan

 This is the wall of donors

Memorial towers to five branches of the service:

Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard

Veterans could buy a "brick" (which is actually marble),

and the bricks line the walkways.

Had to stop on my way to play pickleball

this morning to capture this sunrise!

We finally placed the windmill in our kitchen window, 

so we can see through the glass when the sun shines.

 

Try to remember what happens in September

Our flowering crab trees are filled with berries,

but the deer still prefer my garden. :-(

Went for a walk at the lake on Labor Day. Took some

pics of flora but haven't identified all yet!

Purple fleabane

Looks like Field Bindweed or Meadow Anemone

Not sure--might be Western Wallflower

Smooth Fleabane (I call them baby daisies)

Weird mushrooms... I think they are

Shaggy Mane Inky Caps. Very pretty

Lydia and Cecelia started school today, Sept. 7th!

They do look happy! Ironically, today Julia's

class is quarantined already because someone

had contact with a COVID person. On the 8th,

Claire is the last of the grandkids to go back to school!

Julia's class in VA is still quarantined 

after having two weeks of in-person school.

So, this is what Julia and I did on the 9th. Can you tell

what she is reading to me via ZOOM?

Signs that fall is coming:  Sept. 16th sunrise after 7 a.m.;

Sept. 17th, he railroad takes its cars back

after storing them on our track all summer;

Sept. 19th, we closed up the camper for the winter;

and Bambi greeted us at home, looking

at us through the picture window.

My entire cucumber crop. :-(

Bob and I flew to Cleveland on the 22nd

for the West Tech Hall of Fame banquet.

Sara and Ana met at the Cleveland airport

on Friday, the 24th before we picked them up.

Ana, Mary Anne, Marissa, and Sara

at Donna's condo

Pope Francis joined us for the evening events

The Honorees

Donna sat with cousins Tim & Chris, Leanne,

Ellen, Fran & Agnes, and Chuck

Bob & I, Cousins Beverly, Susie & David,

Jimmy, Sara, and Ana sat at our table.

Sara took the pictures.

Sara, Anastasia, Jimmy, me, Bob, Donna

Award from the Alumni Association

and a proclamation from the State of Ohio

(My speech is below)

Dear Old West Tech

(A poem….it could be verse)

By Diane Shalala Fritel

 West Tech noises were always heard

When we moved to our house on West 93^rd

We grew up just across the street

And followed every game and meet

We bent the bars of the fences of pickets

So we wouldn’t have to pay for tickets

And searched under the bleachers after the games

To find lots of coins and dollars with names

 As kids we played ball—both soft and hard

And picked the mulberries in the playground yard

Our summer counselor was a kid named George

The Steinbrenner name he did not forge

We rode on the roller around the track

And on the mower, both forward and back

Our pigtail softball team won the city title

My role in right field was not so vital

 Finally, we enrolled at Tech in tenth grade

Living so close, we had it made

Many of you were out of luck

Too young to remember Mr. C.C. Tuck

He stood in the entry by Lincoln’s statue

And if you were late, he’d surely catch you

If you were caught doing something wrong

You wouldn’t be standing still very long

You became a member of “Tuck’s Track Team”

And ran around the block for miles it seemed

When it was time for him to step down

He handed the reins to Mr. S. Dill Browne

 The Biology teacher was named Ray Mears

He became famous in later years

We had only two microscopes to share

But the teacher was “cute,” so we didn’t care

 The staircase labels were “Up” and “Down”

We needed hall passes to get around

The “rec” was the place to go at noon

For board games or dancing that ended too soon

We had a foundry that was very hot

And the mechanical drawing kids measured a lot

The shops were printing and auto mech

Some studied business at West Tech

We had art, marching band, and office machines

Cheerleading was great for some of us teens

Horticulture, Welding, and Aeronautics

Woodworking, Driving, and Mathematics

We all took English & Science & History

To most of us “Millroom” was really a mystery

College Prep got us ready for more

When we walked out the West Tech door

West Tech memories never end

When we look back to remember a friend

I will always cherish the day

When I began cheering for Crimson and Gray

Thanks, West Tech, for all the fun

For alumni, you’ll always be number one

Sunset going west on Highway 2 

en route home on the 27th.

A "deer" breakfast. Note the baby resting on the right!

Nicest part of the garden--the flowers!

A few carrots and some cuke plants left

September 30th: Fall has "fell"