Busy Week-end!

Thursday night mom's cousin and husband, Diane & Arnie Trageton from Northwood joined us for a pork roast supper at mom & dad's house. Diane was attending a State Historical Conference at MSU Friday. She is helping put back the Northwood Museum after the tornado two years ago. It was interesting listening to her retell the events of that day, and how Northwood has been rebuilding. Their new school opened this fall.

Sherry receives a few tips from Mom on the apple pies she's baking for Zion Lutheran's Lutefisk & meatball dinner Saturday.

I think she has a winner!

Friday night, Sherry, Jerry & I drove up to Metigoshe to close up the cabin. Thought it would be fun to have our pic taken above The Oaks Bar & Grill sign, since it has now been changed to "The A-Frame." Since Twin Oaks Motel reopened this summer, it was a little confusing with Twin Oaks and The Oaks.

The beautiful Lake Metogoshe!

There was snow when we arrived! The recent snowfall in Minot had melted, so we were a little surprised!

Saturday Jerry shoveled off the dock, (not sure why!) lowered the posts, hooked the dock to the suburban, and...

voila! The dock's out until next spring!

Sherry vacuumed and cleaned.

Can you believe all the snow?

This is a sad sight! Until next year!

Sherry & I cleaned out the fridges, cupboards, and my outside job was removing snow from all the cushions on the furniture, to store away. We really should have been up earlier to do this! Who would have known?

This was a real mystery! The Dave head was sitting on Tim & Trevor's deck railing when we arrived. Hmmmm.

Jerry pulled out the pump. No water until next spring. We're thinking...maybe Easter in April at the lake?

The paddleboat was tipped on end for the winter.

We arrived back in Minot Saturday afternoon to 62 degree temperatures, so decided to paint the siding Mom & Dad had recently replaced. I was going to go up on the roof, but got a little queezy, (I don't like heights!), so Mark painted the top part, and I painted the bottom.

Mom cut down plants in the garden,

Mark washed and waxed Dad's car,

I mowed the back yard, Dad hauled away the bags of leaves, and washed the lawnmower.

That evening, Dad treated us to supper at the Moose. Where else can you get steak & shrimp with a delicious salad bar for $8.75?

We had a great time! Mark is heading back Sunday for Minneapolis.

Sunday, I raked leaves 22 bags of leaves, cut down all the perennials, pulled out plants from my pots, dug carrots out of the garden, and...

picked three boxes of apples from my trees. I know I should have picked them before the snow, but...now I'll have to do something with them soon!

Jerry replaced and stained a few boards on our steps. Only after the Viking's game. He was in a pretty good mood! Glad for the beautiful week-end weather!

More Family Meals!

Here we are at Mom & Dad's home for yet another family meal. Last week Richard was home, so we had tortilla cheese soup with bagel sandwiches, sloppy joes with cheesy potatoes, and a turkey dinner with all the trimmings. Mark is home this week from Minneapolis, so Mom made a yummy brocolli, cheese, rice casserole Monday night. Cole returned home with a perfect score on his State Test. Way to go Cole!

Nathan relaxes with a good book, after a great meal.

Dad is a great NDSU supporter 50 years after graduating!

Claire's a little camera shy, but I do see a slight smile!

This is more of a smile than I usually get out of Mark with my camera!

Jeni is proud of Cole's A+ on another State & Capital Test. All that studying sure paid off!

The apple tree didn't produce very large apples this year, but Nathan picks some for applesauce.

My class always makes clay trolls around Hostfest, so I couldn't resist having my pic taken with one, as I stopped to pick up Norwegian flags at the Visitor's Center.

Tuesday night was Lasagna night at Nathan & Jeni's. Sherry always makes the best lasagna. Apple crisp (with last year's frozen apples) was dessert.

Dad loves babies. Here he is with 7 week old Owen. Notice how he's focusing on Dad!

I know, I know... You love those eating pictures!

Tara thanks Sherry for the great meal, and is off to run errands. Matt is reffing a volleyball game, so Grandma Lana volunteered to babysit.

Owen does resemble Grandpa Art,

but I also see a resemblance of Grandma Lana. Regardless, he sure is cute!

Richard's Visit

Richard is noted for encountering issues while flying from Boise. This morning his plane sat on the tarmac for three hours in Boise, so the rest of the trip was a real disaster. There was only one runway open in Minneapolis, so to make a long story short, Jerry & I picked him up REAL late Thurs. night, or should I say REAL early Fri. morning. When we arrived home, Jerry had to show Rich a project for his vacation. One of his speakers doesn't work, and he'd torn the whole thing apart. I'd say he has all winter to work on this project!

The next day, they drove to Cavalier, and spent the night with Tiff, Jason, & Jayden. Then they were off to Minneapolis to see the Vikings/Packers game Monday night. Chad also had a show lined up Sat. night with his second band, The Red Flags. Two of the guys in the band were former members of The Magnolias, from the 80's & 90's era. Jerry & Rich enjoyed watching the show, which was played in a huge barn in Wisconsin. Here Chad & Rich are waiting in the rain for the game to begin.

The guys had been waiting for this game since July when they purchased tickets. Even though they were in the Nosebleed Section.

When the guys arrived back in Minot, we ate WAY too many big meals. Scott is ready to dig into a turkey dinner. Notice where his fork & knife are!

Jeni assists Cindy in setting up her Facebook. She's helped many of us old people with this!

Josie & Kaydra got to spend some time together Saturday night.

Richard is a HUGE Boise State fan, and brought all of the kids sweatshirts. What a great uncle!

Watching college football from the bleachers.

We'll miss you, Rich. Can't wait for your visit at Thanksgiving!

It was great seeing the Bexells again!

Mark arrived in Minot last night around 5:30, and came out for supper. Looking forward to spending some fun times with him during his stay this week. He usually hikes in the Badlands as part of his trip, but he said it won't happen this week!!