Surgery is over

Gerrit's sugery went very well this morning. We actually got a call from the nurse that we could come in an hour earlier since Dr. Wink was ahead of schedule. Of course once you get to the hospital you sit around and wait. One thing that was different for Gerrit this time was that the nurses started his IV when he was fully awake. I didn't know how that was going to go over since Gerrit doesn't have a high threshold for pain and in the past he's had to be poked many times to find a vein for the IV, but he was very brave and did very well. He was stuck four times before they got a vein and once they didn't numb it either.

The surgery was very quick and I don't think I was even in the waiting room for 20 minutes. The tubes came out easy but now he has a hole in both eardrums and they were too big to put a patch on so now we'll see if they'll heal. The doctor said they may close or they may not-if they don't heal on their own he'll have to have surgery again next year to patch the holes. Let's pray they close on their own. He can still swim but will have to wear special plugs in his ears but won't be able to take lessons the rest of the summer. I'm really proud of how Gerrit handled everything. Dr. Wink told him he was her best patient of the day.

We did see Taylor (she was in the hospital having some chemo) but after Gerrit was discharged she was sleeping and her mom was on the phone so I just waved at Teri otherwise we would have visited awhile.

Donovan was hit in the face with a racquet at tennis today-some other kid got him. That's too bad but at least he got his t-shirt today so he was happy about that.

Prayers appreciated

Tomorrow, Monday, June 30th, Gerrit is having his tubes removed from his ears. Please say a prayer that all goes smoothly. We have to be at the hospital at 10:30 a.m. He's a little nervous. I know it's a minor surgery but all surgery comes with risk so that's why prayers are appreciated. Anytime my kids go under anesthesia I'm a little nervous since my brother experienced malignant hyperthermia when he had a major surgery when he was five and he almost died. That's when your body has a reaction to the anesthesia and the body temperature goes out of control and can fry your brain. Gerrit has had other surgeries and has done okay but it's always a little scary and it is an inherited condition.

Bruce will be working from home and taking a break to take Donovan and Samantha to tennis in the morning. It's Donovan's first day at tennis.

Sunday Video: He Touched Me

The Old Friends Quartet sings "He Touched Me."

Saturday's project

Today we wanted to work on the downstairs bathroom. It needs paint, a new sink vanity, and a medicine cabinet/mirror. We know after all our home improvement projects that nothing ever goes smoothly and today wasn't any different. Bruce got the old sink off with not too many problems but things took an unexpected turn when he took the top part of the toilet off-that was so I could paint behind it. He knocked the tube that goes from the toilet to the main water valve (I don't know the technical names are but he referred to it as a nipple) and since it was very rusted it broke. The water came shooting out of there. I had just come in from the backyard hanging and retrieving one of the many loads of laundry I had hung out on the clothesline and I heard this strong stream of water I hadn't heard before so I went downstairs. Bruce had shut it off within seconds but the bathroom got quite flooded. We actually consider it quite a blessing it happened when we were around. If it would have happened when we were gone the whole basement would have flooded.

This put the project about four hours behind and we were without water for quite a few hours but Bruce got it fixed and the water was turned on around seven. I also started painting then and finished all but the trim near the ceiling. Bruce is working on this part now since I'm not nearly as good at it as he is. The color is quite dark-it's called applesauce cake-but the kids and I really like it. I think Bruce does too-we let Donovan pick the color from a few we had decided on earlier.

We also had Little Caesar's pizza tonight. It just opened in Bismarck after being gone for over ten years. We had tried to get some on Tuesday after swimming but the line was about 20 people out the door so we forgot about that idea. It worked out well to have pizza tonight since our project it taking much longer then originally planned and we didn't have water. They're actually only making large cheese and pepperoni pizzas this week (along with their crazy bread) since it's been so busy. Six dollars for a large pizza-not bad at all-I can hardly make a pizza for that much anymore.

No kids activities tomorrow!!

The kids do not have any extracurricular activities tomorrow! This makes me happy. Of course I'm letting them have friends over to swim in the afternoon so maybe I wish they had tennis or swimming or something else.

I'm just super tired tonight. After I dropped Gerrit, Aleah, and Donovan off at their last day of Camp Edventure this morning I came home and did a few things then went on a two and a half mile walk-the terrain wasn't flat either-it was very hilly-and I was pushing a stroller since Samantha decided she wanted to come with instead of going to the Child Watch but halfways through she wanted to go to the Child Watch-too late we were over a mile away. I do think it would have been easier to walk the Tom O' Leary without pushing a 30+ pound child. I'll have to try that later-and when it's not 80 degrees and humid. When I was through walking I went home to change clothes (I was so sweaty) and got sandwiches for the kids to eat while we were at tennis. I was back at the school at 11:15 since they had a couple plays to put on and then we left as soon as they were over to get to tennis.

We went to Sam's Club to get a few things after that and Aleah made cupcakes when we got home and I hung two loads of clothes out on the clothesline. Before we knew it, it was time for swimming. We had grilled hamburgers for supper tonight and after I cleaned up we watched a movie-I did fall asleep for a bit. We did get a thunderstorm tonight. It was pretty calm outside and while I was talking to my mom on the phone, it started thundering and the lightening followed and the trees were starting to blow sideways as was the rain so I told mom I better get off the phone!! It didn't last more then 10 minutes or so. I also forgot to mention that Donovan lost his third tooth today (they've all been on the bottom) at Camp. I hope the tooth fairy remembers to come-she's been known to forget before.

Hi, Welcome To Hooters!

Finally mowed the lawn tonight. It was getting a little bit tall - I was starting to worry a tiger could hide in the grass or something!

I met Nancy and Samantha for lunch today, at Hooters of Bismarck. When you walk in the door they (the waitresses) yell out, "Hi, welcome to Hooters!" That kind of gave me a scare because I wasn't expecting it. It does get kind of annoying after you are there a while and others continue to enter. We had been wanting to go for a while but it had always been so busy at lunch. Lately I noticed they haven't been very busy so we decided to check it out.

They told us we could seat ourselves anywhere so we did. In a booth. By an east window. My phone camera takes poor photos.

Smothered chicken sandwich. This was mine. I had already consumed the pickle slice. The sandwich is grilled chicken covered with provolone cheese and green peppers and onions. Each sandwich comes with one side - coleslaw, baked beans, or potato salad. I chose coleslaw.

Good sandwich but not that great. Nancy had the club sandwich and said it was excellent. We shared a side of curly fries and those were very good. I should have had the wings, right? One of the Hooterstizers is fried pickles, and I really wanted to try those. Couldn't convince Nancy, though. Hooterstizers is kind of hard to say.

They do have a kids menu and Samantha had the hamburger. It comes with curly fries. One of the kids menu items is liver and onions. Price is $22.99.

Her name was Ashley. She was our waitress. She wrote her name on one of our napkins. I shall forever remember Ashley. No, not really. Her perfume was interesting, though. It had sort of a men's cologne essence to it. She was very nice and was a good waitress.

There were 35 to 40 people in the restaurant and, including Nancy and Samantha, there were seven women. We saw two kids from the school our kids attend - at the restaurant with their grandparents.

A Quiet Afternoon

Today I had a very nice, quiet afternoon. Gerrit, Aleah, and Donovan had a full day of Camp Edventure and Samantha had a nice long nap so it was very quiet around here. I haven't had an afternoon like that in over a month.

This morning I did some laundry and then Samantha and I took a long walk around Sertoma before she had tennis. She must have played hard today because she had a really red face afterwards and it wasn't too hot. We met Bruce for lunch after that.

I did some more laundry this afternoon and also managed to get the house straigtened up-even the bedrooms!! The kids plan on having some friends over on Friday afternoon. Aleah is going to make some cupcakes tomorrow afternoon.

Tomorrow is the kids last day of Camp Edventure and so the last morning they have to get up early. I'm looking forward to that as well. Aleah has tennis after Camp and there's the last day of the swimming session tomorrow. I'm going to walk around Tom O' Leary golf course tomorrow morning. Samantha can either stay at the Child Watch or come with me. You are allowed to walk/run around the golf course since it's next to the Y. I think she'll chose the Child Watch because she has fun there and she gets tired of sitting in the stroller.

80's Video: A Fine, Fine Day

Tony Carey with "A Fine, Fine Day." He was sort of a one-hit wonder, and this was the song. It reached #22 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1984. I would never have thought of the song, but I heard it on the radio last week. Brought back a lot of memories. Unfortunately, the video cuts off just a wee bit early.



According to Wikipedia, from 1975 to 1977 Tony was a keyboardist and organ player for Rainbow. It appears he has been active to this day on various projects.

I'm on somewhat of an unintentional Tony Carey stint here, because a song from another of his 80's projects will be featured next week.

Bikes and Haircuts

After supper yesterday evening we headed up to the Capitol building here in Bismarck. Our plan was for me to work on teaching Donovan to ride his bike, while the other kids played and Nancy went on a walk.

Here the other three kids are heading down the mall and Nancy is beginning her walk around the mall.

And here Donovan sits on the side pouting. He had a bad attitude about getting on the bike and refused to do so. He wanted to go where we had been the previous night. It was so bumpy, though, and that kept making him lose control. I thought this downhill slope would be a lot smoother and work out better for him.

I just pushed the bike toward the center and sat down to wait. He never did come to me. After the others came back we loaded up the van again and headed home. I was disappointed, but we'll try another day.

Tonight, while waiting out the storm that fortunately never came, I gave both the boys haircuts with my clipper. Gerrit's hair was long but it wasn't so shaggy as he had one haircut since the time Donovan had his last cut. Of course, this is Donovan before the clipping.

Post clipping. Looks a lot better if you ask me. Plus it will be much cooler for the warm summer weather that is sure to come!

The Prairie Rose

Not too long ago, I posted about some old steam and power shovels located at the Divide County Pioneer Village in Crosby, ND. In 2000 I think it was, I had the opportunity to visit Falkirk Mine near Underwood and actually enter one of their huge walking draglines. Falkirk Mine is a surface or strip mining operation.

I mentioned before that I used to work for the North Dakota OSHA Consultation program, which was initially with the ND Dept. of Health but later at Bismarck State College. Our manager in 2001 was the previous safety manager of Falkirk Mine. Of course, he knew the replacement safety manager and arranged for us (the two safety and health consultants) to go up to Falkirk to learn of their safety management practices.

Some specs on the dragline. The bucket has a 105 cubic yard capacity and weighs over 200,000 lbs. empty. Compare that to the 4 yard bucket on the power shovel from my previous post. The dragline is electric and operates on 25,000 volts DC. The total weight of the machine is around 13,500,000 lbs and it moves via two large shoes.

The dragline functions to remove overburden (dirt) above the coal. I believe the overburden is 40' to 60' deep in this area. Falkirk Mine operates with two draglines, and we visited the Prairie Rose. The other one is called Chief Ironsides.

This photo was taken as we were leaving, but fits better here at the beginning. It is my co-worker Stephen, and the dragline had stopped to walk away from the face of the pit to get at more overburden. I think we were close to a football field away. The operator's cab is just above and a little to the left of Stephen's head.

Cockpit view as the operator grabs a bucket of dirt. His head is at the lower right. He sits in a comfy chair and the entire machine is operated using two joysticks. The dragline collects data as far as weight of each scoop and the length of each cycle, and transmits it back to the office.

Dumping the load on the pile. The power plant, Great River Energy, is visible in the background.

The interior of this beast. Visible is only a small part of the entire machine. I believe we were told it was three stories tall on the interior from the deck to the ceiling. The deck is the same level as the cab, and there is a good amount of the machine below the deck.

We went on top of the machine. This provided a great view of the area. I think the boom is between 250' and 300' long.

Looking out from on top of the dragline. The pit area nearest is area from which the dragline has removed overburden, but coal has not yet been mined. Where the pit shifts over to the left is where they were actively mining. You likely can't see it, but at the closest end of that mining area is a payloader.

Here is the view from that payloader up to the dragline. We had driven around to take a look at the actual coal mining part of the operation.

Stephen later went on to work on a consulting basis for the mines around Gillette, WY. His family is from that area and his dad works at one of the surface mines there. Around Gillette the overburden is not nearly as deep, 20' at the most I think, so they don't need such large draglines.

I hope you enjoyed reading this and looking at the pictures. I know I enjoyed the visit.

Nice weekend

It was a really nice weekend. The weather was nice, we got some stuff done, and we had a really nice anniversary yesterday-12 years!! Time just flies when you're having fun! We went out to Texas Roadhouse and it was really good. We also went on a long bike ride around Riverwood Golf Course, Wachter Trail and Sertoma Park. I think we must have riden about eight miles. I love the trail through Riverwood. We also took the kids to Cottonwood Park and Bruce is teaching Donovan to ride bike without training wheels. We started last summer but got so busy with the basement and getting ready for my brother's wedding in Wisconsin.

Saturday the kids had Evan's birthday party to go to and I watched Sydney since Samantha and her were too little to swim at the Mandan Community Center without an adult in the pool with them. They played in a little pool at our house and played really well for awhile but I think they both were tired out and they fought some that afternoon-just arguing over who got what, etc. Samantha can be quite bossy and stubborn-not a good combination.

Today Samantha has tennis and I plan on making a bunch of rhubarb pies and getting a few other things done before another busy Tuesday comes around again. We may get some storms tonight.

Sunday Video: Cardboard Testimonies

It is turning out to be a beautiful Sunday! Right now it is 73 deg. with practically no wind. Nancy and I might go for a bicycle ride later this afternoon.

Yesterday we received the link for this video by email, and I suppose it is making the rounds. It is pretty good, so I thought I'd put it up as our Sunday video.

What Cute Babies!

This was the scene behind our shed. If a person had a level of arachnophobia, it could be cause for alarm. Yes, folks, what looks like a bunch of seeds caught in a web is actually a couple hundred baby spiders, aka spiderlings. Just tap on the cart or the web and the whole mass moves. I suppose shortly they'll all spin a drag line and float off in the wind. Sigh, they grow up so fast.

Nancy Smokes Now - In Dreams

I was so upset at Nancy the other night. (In my dream while sleeping in a hotel bed.) We often use the company car to go places with our family of six. Nancy usually sits in the back so our two oldest can sit up front with me, to make it more comfortable for everyone. I had gone in a store for something and left the family in the car. I come out and here is Nancy is the back seat puffing away on a cigarette!

I just couldn't believe it. I got so mad. I asked her how long she had been smoking. "Oh, about six years." Six years! And then, while I was standing there she nonchalantly took another puff, blew it out, and said, "Yea, my favorite brand is Kansas." Is there even a Kansas cigarette? I'm sure not. I have no idea where that came from.

I was upset that, one, she was sneaking behind my back and smoking, and that, two, she was smoking in the company car. Obviously I must not have been too worried about the health implications. I just remember I made Nancy cry and then I woke up mad. I hate when that happens, waking up in a sour mood because of a dream.

I have an active dream life and often have very strange dreams. Many times I wake Nancy up with my sleep talking or even yelling.

I'll have to tell you some day about my dream about a giant rabbit. To this day the movie Donnie Darko freaks me out a little bit.

Brian Regan On Air Travel

Kind of long, but there are some pretty funny parts, my gentle readers. Obviously, those with air travel experience will better relate to what he talks about.

80's Video: Wanted Dead Or Alive

Lately I have been using somewhat obscure groups or songs for my weekly 80's video. Not this time. This is a big song by one of the most popular groups in the 80's. Here we have Bon Jovi with "Wanted Dead or Alive." It only hit #7 on the charts in 1986, but is sort of considered to be their anthem song. Their breakthrough album Slippery When Wet had this song and two other songs that each hit #1 - "Livin' On a Prayer" and "You Give Love a Bad Name."



This second video was a #1 song in 1989, "I'll Be There For You," and is on the New Jersey album.



And, their first song, "Runaway," from their first album (self-titled).

No tornadoes

Tonight we were briefly under a tornado warning. There was one south of Mandan I guess. Aleah got a little freaked by the warning on TV but I told her we were safe in our basement and the warning expired quickly. Our rain gauge showed we got about .40 of rain which was nice so we won't have to water the yard or garden for awhile now.

The kids were all very tired tonight. They were all in bed and I think asleep by 8:30. I don't know the last time that's happened. It's been awhile. I think getting up early for Camp Ed is catching up with them.

This afternoon Shelly (my co-leader from Girl Scouts last year and she will be again this fall) stopped by with her kids for a bit to straighten out some more paperwork. I'm hoping to finish the rest of the paperwork tomorrow and get it turned in on Friday. That will be a relief!!

Tomorrow I'm going attempt to get to the Y to workout in the morning. It's hard to get there in the summertime. The one week I was going to try to get there three times (that must have been last week) I didn't get there at all. The one morning Samantha slept so late and after that other things came up. I'm not going to make an effort to get there regularly again until school starts. I can do plenty of exercise outdoors in the summer. I got a walk in today when Donovan was at speech. After the Y Samantha and I will go to the park a bit before we have to pick up the kids from Camp and get to tennis and later in the afternoon there's swimming lessons.

Another new date for surgery

Gerrit's surgery is now set for June 30. The culture came back that he has a bacterial infection so he got some ear drops that he will need to use until his surgery. Hopefully everything will clear up and stay clear while his ears heal from the holes that will be left after the tubes are removed. He'll have a follow-up appointment on July 15th and we'll know then.

The last couple days have been so busy. I was gone pretty much all day today except from 1:15-3:15 and then Trish was over for a bit to get some Girl Scout stuff straightened out. Tomorrow will be busy in the morning and some in the afternoon but after 3:30 we have nothing planned. Yeah! Maybe we'll wash the van and the kids can play in the water some.

The kids and I went to Sam's Club after swimming lessons tonightto get a few things and then we had a slice of pizza for supper. They were so hungry-even Samantha ate almost a whole piece and one piece is almost equal to two pieces anywhere else. While Aleah had tennis the other kids ate the sandwiches and chips I had packed them for lunch so with the exception of breakfast and baking a cake for the MOMS Club business/election banquet tomorrow I didn't have kitchen clean-up to do today. I still have to frost the cake tonight.

In The Summertime

Well, we aren't far from the official start of Summer. Here is a sort of rock version of "In the Summertime." The song is from a solo album of a former keyboardist of one of my favorite bands, Dream Theater. I'm sure none of you have ever heard of Derek Sherinian, but rock music fans or even just 80's music fans might recognize the lead singer and the guitarist.

The Pond

Boy, I am slipping.

In the post just below I completely forgot an item, and an opportunity to have another "p" item for the list. I have an older car stored in the barn on the farmyard where Duane and Betty live. My parents live just a bit down the driveway.

After supper on Saturday evening, before the ATV rides, we walked over with plans to start the car and let it run a bit. On the way we stopped and looked at their beautiful pond. It has a waterfall with a stream down to the pond. Sure looks like it was a lot of hard work! They just finished the pond and plan to add fish in a little bit.

When we got up there Duane and Betty came out of the house and visited. They also came to the barn when I started and ran the car. It was a nice evening.

Also, I mentioned one of my brothers and my sister and her family were not able to make it to the family picnic on Saturday. Harvey lives in Eagan, MN and Lisa and her family live near Sioux Falls. It may have sounded like they were the only ones - but there were actually quite a few from the family that missed. It was probably even on the small side for one of our typical family gatherings.

That is all. Have a great one!

The Picnic, The Pistol, and The Plural-Wheeler

We left Bismarck and drove down to Linton on Saturday. After a picnic, we went down to Strasburg to stay at my parent's house. While there that day we shot a pistol and rode ATV. Stayed overnight and went to church in Westfield on Sunday morning. In the afternoon we again rode ATV.

The Picnic

When our relatives from California visit the area we try to have at least one larger get-together with the family. This time we met in a park in Linton to have a picnic lunch. Lots of very good food, or I should say there was a lot of food and all of it was very good. It was a very nice picnic shelter and there was a small play area for the kids right beside the shelter. The weather was beautiful.

After the late people arrived (our family), we commenced lining up and loading up the plates.

Patiently waiting at the tables to get in line for some grub.

After lunch the kids had a great time on the playset. This little girl (Tiffany) on the right lives next door to the park and had a lot of fun playing with our kids. It was funny - she wanted to get in on the pictures I was taking of my kids. That was cute.

Donovan and Aleah spent some time in the sandbox. Aleah made me some sand cookies.

Enjoying good conversation in the afternoon.

I wonder what Doug was really thinking when I took this picture. Doug is my younger brother. Duane, my oldest brother, is closest to the camera on the left. Harvey, another older brother, was not here. Also, my sister Lisa and her family were not here.

Three of these fine people are from California. See if you can guess which ones they are. Just kidding. My great uncle, Gerdus, and his wife, Darlene, are on the left. My grandma, Thelma, and my great aunt, Lois, are on the right. My grandma (in the red blouse) is the non-Californian.

The Pistol

Duane got a black powder pistol for Father's Day. His son, Alex, and Alex's girlfriend, Nicole, gave it to him. At our parent's house we were lounging on the easy chairs when we got a call from Duane. They were out shooting the pistol at the junk pile, and would we want to try it? Doug, Dad, and I loaded up and headed up the hill to join them.

Here Duane's son, Ryan, is shooting the pistol at the targets. We shot a bunch but hit the targets only five or six times. Practice is needed.

Duane takes one of his shots.

My dad even took one shot. He burned his left hand a little. He had it under the barrel and it must have flashed forward from the revolver.

The sky was really nice, so I pointed the camera over to take a shot. Nice cattle, too.

Doug has done some nice landscaping in front of my parent's house. This, of course, is a peony. Below is spirea.

The Wrens live here. Harvey made this for my parents.

My dad cleaned up and painted this Allis-Chalmers one row corn picker. He plans to have Duane pull it with Duane's Allis-Chalmers tractor. Dad also plans to clean up and paint his IH Farmall Super M. This is all for the July 5 parade at the Hague Centennial celebration.

The Plural-Wheeler

I'm sorry. I drew a blank on a "p" word for an ATV. Before this, all I had was pfour-wheeler. You know, like Price Pfister - the Pfreshest Ideas in Pfaucets.

My dad has a 4-wheeler, now known as an ATV because 3-wheelers aren't made/sold any longer. Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon I gave the kids rides on the ATV. They had a lot of fun and so did I. The pictures are from both days.

Hard to see, but this is Aleah and I returning from a ride.

Donovan and I triumphantly return from an excursion.

Just ready to take Gerrit out for one of his rides today.

Aleah and I pose before we take off.

We never could convince Samantha to hop on for a ride. So this afternoon I stopped, shut off the engine, and set her on so Nancy could take a picture.

Shortly after lunch, I took the three older kids out hunting gophers with my dad's old single shot 22 rifle. We walked up the road and then made a loop around the pasture. That was fun for all of us, too. The kids even enjoyed avoiding all the cow pies while walking through the pasture. No, not really. That part they didn't like so much. They did find it amusing that cows usually "take care of business" after getting up from laying down. I think I shot five or six gophers.

Sunday Video : Jesus Is The Only One That Loves Us

First of all, Happy Father's Day to all the fathers out there! My dad doesn't have a computer so he won't see this. I get to tell him in person, though. Yesterday was his birthday, too. I always joke and say "Happy Flag Day" instead.

Sort of a departure from the usual Sunday video - Billy Joe Shaver with "Jesus Is the Only One That Loves Us." I am a fan of Billy Joe Shaver, by the way. Even though they use "who" instead of "that," it is the correct song title. I checked. Have a great day, everybody!

Evolution Of Wedding Dance

This bride and groom put on an entertaining show with their first dance!

Surgery postponed -AGAIN

One of the many things I did today was take Gerrit to the doctor. He took one look in his left ear and said, "Oh my, YUCK!" Gerrit's ear has been draining for a long time now but he doesn't complain of pain. His doctor told us that he wouldn't recommend surgery since whatever they cover the hole with might not stick and then it might not heal well and they would have to do surgery again. He tried calling the ENT doctor that is going to do the surgery and she was out this afternoon so right now Gerrit is scheduled for 9:00 a.m. on Monday but he won't be having the surgery. Dr. Mc D (not Dr. McDreamy from Grey's Anatomy-darn it) took a culture of Gerrit's ear and we won't know until Monday what it is-yeast, fungus, etc. I'll be getting and making some phone calls on Monday to see what's going on and what they're going to use to treat Gerrit's ear. He'll have to stop his swimming lessons probably the rest of the summer. He can't go underwater and that's part of lessons. He can play around in the water as long as he keeps his ear dry with some plugs.

Thankful For Rain

Our gauge shows that we received a little over 2" with our recent rain. We are so thankful for that because, although we had gotten some rain, it was getting dry again. I was just about ready to sprinkle some water on the lawn for the second time this year.

This picture is from this evening when we got a few sprinkles. It was a nice full rainbow.

My brother, Doug, came up this past Monday afternoon to help me put some perennials in our front flower bed. Previously all I've planted were annuals such as petunias and marigolds. Doug went along to the nurseries to help make the selections, and he also brought some plants he dug up from my parent's house. So for perennials we now have liatris, coreopsis, campanula, daylily, seedum, daisy, sage, and phlox. I later planted some allysum, marigold, and petunia to fill in spaces between the perennials.

This is our oldest daughter, Aleah. She asked me to take a picture. So I did. This is it.

Daytona Burnout

This will probably be more enjoyed by our male visitors - a video of a 1969 Charger Daytona doing a pretty good smoky burnout. The video description says this was in 2003. Those cars, along with the Superbirds, were worth a lot of money even then. Much more so these days - probably around $150,000 for a restored unit.

Welcome rain

Yesterday we got over two inches of much needed rain. It would have been great to have stayed home all day and read a good book but there were other things to do. Tennis was of course cancelled so Samantha and I were able to stay home all morning. Donovan had speech after lunch. He had a three week break and will only have it once more in June and I think he'll have four sessions in July but probably only one in August so he better not miss any.

I made homemade soup last night and it was really good. I used ground beef, onions, garlic, carrots, potatoes, beef broth and consomme, cream of mushroom and I think the ingredient that gave it something extra was the V-8 juice I used. We also had some awesome bread from the Bread Poets.

We all went swimming at the Y last night. All the kids have really improved their swimming skills. I especially see it in Donovan. I also worked on Girl Scout paperwork last night. I wish I could say I was done with it but I can't. I need to go work on it some more and call my co-leaders from this year and last and the Girl Scout office with some questions. One question on one of the year end forms was the number of volunteer hours I put in the last year for Girl Scouts. I'm afraid to add that up-I know Trish and I put in eight hours just counting the money from the fall product sales then there's the cookies sales and all the prep work and the actual troop meetings. That is a lot of volunteer hours.

It may rain again today. Aleah has tennis at noon if it's not raining and they have swimming lessons this afternoon. The kids get to go to the golf dome for Camp Edventure today. Tomorrow the kids have Camp Edvenure and Gerrit has a pre op appointment for his surgery on Monday. I also have a haircut and need to make a major Wal-Mart trip-I think just Samantha and I will go when the kids are at Camp.

Gerrit made the comment this morning when I was driving them to school that if he weren't going to Camp Ed he'd still be sleeping. He wasn't complaining about going-he enjoys it-but the kids were all enjoying sleeping in the previous two weeks and I was too! It's nice they sleep later then they use to and even when they do wake up they don't need something immediately so I don't necessarily have to get up right away. It's awesome!! I also realized that this is the first summer since 1997 that I haven't had a child (or two) in diapers. I've also never had a three year old and also not a baby or toddler as well. I feel so much more rested!!

Mom went to the doctor yesterday and in addition to bronchitis she also has a sinus infection. He put her on a stronger antibiotic so hopefully this will do the job. I know she's really tired of being so sick. She's had a cold or bronchitis for almost a month now.

Happy Anniversary!

My sister, Lisa, and her husband, Bleau, were married on this day in 1992. That makes 16 years. Happy Anniversary, Bleau and Lisa!

80's Video: Quarterflash - Harden My Heart

"Harden My Heart" by Quarterflash. This song was their biggest hit and went to #3 on the charts in 1981.



As usual, I can't resist adding another video. "Find Another Fool" made it to #16 in 1983.



The lead singer and saxophonist is Rindy Ross. Her husband is one of the guitar players.

Another busy Tuesday

Today was the busiest day of the week. I got in a nice walk when Aleah was at piano and went on a quick bike ride tonight before the rain starts-I don't know the last time I rode bike that it wasn't windy and I ride almost everyday.

Kelly's sister had a baby girl today. Estelle Marie Fuller weighed in at 7 lbs. 12 oz. and Kelly emailed some pictures and she sure is a cute baby. I'm sure Kelly can't wait to hold her new niece.

Bruce and Gerrit are really bothered with allergies this spring. Both their eyes water constantly. Bruce even got some prescription eye drops and they don't help a bit.

I talked to my mom tonight and she still isn't feeling any better so she is finally going back to the doctor tomorrow. I've been telling her for the last few days to go back in because if you don't start feeling a little better a couple days after you get an antibiotic it's not working. She also has to have her blood test for her liver functions, etc. so hopefully her bronchitis doesn't throw off the tests too much or she'll be getting a call from her nurse coordinator in Rochester.

The forecast is saying we're going to get some possible heavy rains through tomorrow afternoon so I don't think Samantha will have tennis.

Dear Rhubarb

We don't know what to do with you anymore.

We've already made four pies.

This is a good year for rhubarb, ours has just gone crazy. They must like this weather. If you'd like a few or ten stalks let us know. I realize most people have rhubarb growing somewhere, but it is worth a shot.

Camp Edventure begins

Gerrit, Aleah, and Donovan started Camp Edventure this morning. It starts at 8 a.m. and goes until noon. It's for three weeks minus the weekends. They had a good time today. Samantha and I went for a walk before she had tennis at eleven.

After lunch we drove to the hospital to pick up Donovan's friend Noah. His sister Taylor is having her week of chemo in the hospital and so we had him spend the day with us. He was here a little over six hours and ate supper with us. They seemed to have fun the whole day and Donovan was really tired tonight. Bruce's brother Doug was also here for supper. He came up to help Bruce plant some flowers-we went with perennials this year. Thanks Doug!!

This afternoon the kids played with and ate edible peanut butter play dough that Aleah made-! cup peanut butter, 1 cup corn syrup, 1 1/4 cup powdered sugar, and 1 1/4 cup powdered milk. They had a good time and ate it all. I also made two rhubarb pies. I gave one to Teri when she picked Noah up tonight.

Tomorrow is the busy day. I donate plasma early, the kids go to Camp Ed, Aleah has tennis at noon, piano at 3:30 and all the kids have swimming lessons at 4:30. Samantha and I need to clean her room tomorrow as well.

I'm waiting on some baby news today. Loren's sister-in-law, Kelly's older sister, is in the hospital having her baby. Her water broke this morning (the actual due date) so I'm waiting to hear the details. We know the baby is a girl and it's the Harris' first grandchild. Loren and Kelly were in Wisconsin for Kelly's younger sister's high school graduation this past weekend and were hoping the baby would have already been born but no such luck so they'll be taking another trip to Wisconsin soon.

B-2 Stealth Bomber Crash

B-2 stealth bomber crashes after takeoff from Anderson Air Force Base in Guam. Pilots ejected safely. Excessive moisture distorted information fed to the flight control computer, and the wrong air speed was calculated. The early and excessive nose-up (aka rotation) was caused by the malfunction, which then caused the aircraft to stall.

There were only 21 B-2 stealth bombers in existence, each made back in the late 80's and early 90's at a cost of over $1 Billion each. This was the first crash of a B-2. It happened in February, but is in the news again with the release of the results of the initial investigation.

There were a group of four of them taking off that day. They were going to be flying back to their permanent base after temporary assignment in Guam. In the video you see the takeoff of the first bomber but it is the second one that crashes.

Sunday Zoo Visit

Late yesterday afternoon we headed over to the Dakota Zoo for a visit. We were planning to do some swimming at the YMCA, but when we called we found out open swimming only had about 1/2 hour left. Definitely not enough time to drive way up there and still swim.

Mr. Peacock was giving us a good show today.

Hi. How are you? Welcome back. You don't have any food? See you later.

Hey, wait for me! I had gone into the stinky little monkey (marmoset and so on) building to have a look. Those little dudes are so darn cute. The rest of the family doesn't like to go in there because of the smell. It does take your breath away, but I think the strongest odor is from the cedar chips used in the bottom of the enclosures.

Several of the prairie dogs were lounging like this - warming up in the afternoon sun.

Donovan could barely stand to keep his hand there long enough for the goat to get all of the corn. The nibbling lips do feel funny in your palm.

Sunday Video: I'd Rather Have Jesus

"I'd Rather Have Jesus" is probably more closely associated with George Beverly Shea and the Billy Graham Crusades, but singing this is the crooning country singer, Jim Reeves. There is no video, just audio. I think the lyrics speak well on their own with this song. "I'd rather have Jesus than anything this world affords today." Could, or should, anything be more true?

The congregation sang this song at my grandpa's funeral, I remember.



Jim Reeves died in a plane crash, along with his manager, in 1964. He was only 40. He was the pilot and it was determined he became disoriented when caught in a severe thunderstorm, and had turned the plane upside down. I guess they figure he thought he was pulling up to clear the storm.

Beautiful Saturday

It was a really nice, beautiful, sunny day today. I think Bruce is done planting the garden and almost done planting flowers. He spent most of the afternoon out there today. Donovan helped out quite a bit. They even caught a gopher in the backyard and killed it-sorry animal lovers but gophers are not beneficial to garden plants.

Aleah had a good time with Zoe overnight and then at Jordyn's birthday party today. Jordyn's parents had rented a jumping castle and they spent time in their hottub and riding a four-wheeler so they had a good time.

The boys and I went to the grocery store when Samantha was napping. I have been stuck on a Saturday shopping schedule lately ever since the kids had swimming lessons on Saturdays this spring. That will change for sure when school starts-the store tends to be a bit too busy on Saturdays but it actually wasn't too bad today.

I've been trying to call my mom to see how she's feeling. She finally went to the doctor yesterday and has bronchitis. The phone has been busy when I've tried so either she's on the computer, talking to someone, or dad has the phone off the hook and doesn't know it.

I didn't quite get to the girl scout stuff today but I'll at least start on it tomorrow and I also have to start painting the downstairs bathroom since Bruce is going to do some updating in there-we're painting it an applesauce cake color-that's the name of the paint.

Kid Central

Today it was kid central around here. I had told Barb to drop her kids off this morning while she was getting ready for their Fargo trip. The kids played nice and Samantha and Sydney played so well as usual. Aleah made peanut butter cookies this morning-easy recipe- 1 cup peanut butter, 1 cup sugar, and 1 egg! Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes and that's it!!

This evening I watched my friend Tricia's boys while she and her husband David went out for their 16th wedding anniversary! They brought over two family size Papa Murphy's pizza which was an added bonus for us!! There was plenty for Bruce, me, and the eight kids that were here. Aleah has her friend Zoe staying overnight tonight as well. Tricia and David picked up the boys at nine and I went for a short bike ride. It was nice not to have to go anywhere today-but I did go to Biolife early this morning. I'm feeling good now and am back on my Tuesday and Friday schedule!

Tomorrow we'll do some more house projects and Aleah and Zoe have a birthday party to go to at one until seven. Zoe's mom will pick them up. I am also going to get all the Girl Scout paperwork done this weekend so I don't have to think about it for awhile. I know we plan on having a troop meeting in July but I'm sure Shelly will be in charge of that.

Williston Work and Adventure

I think Nancy may have mentioned this, but while we were in Williston last week, I was working. Well, Tuesday through Friday anyway.

I worked in Williston, Watford City, and Arnegard in North Dakota and Sidney and Fairview in Montana. I visited a bulk fuel dealer, a bulk LPG (propane) dealer, a crude oil trucking company, a hardware store, a rock crushing operation, a funeral home, a low income 4-story apartment, a road contractor, an RV dealer, a bar/casino, and a ready mix concrete operation. It was a good week and I got a lot of work done. Kind of nice when everything is within 45 miles of "base." I was busting it this week to get the reports done, and I'll have to work some this weekend to finish up.

Near Sidney, I was checking out a propane storage plant and this nice field of alfalfa was next to the plant. I couldn't resist taking a picture - the alfalfa plants were 15" to 18" tall!

Sidney is in the flat and fertile Yellowstone River valley. A lot like the Red River Valley I suppose, except for here the edges are well defined and you can see the plateaus or bluffs from pretty much anywhere. The valley is 3-4 miles wide in the Sidney area.

This is an aerial view of Sidney and the Yellowstone River valley. In this view you can only see one pivot irrigation system. In the areas I saw, they were using mostly ditch irrigation.

When I am working I take what I call "in between" pictures. I take them in between building surveys to easily differentiate between buildings when I go to upload the pictures from the SD card to my laptop. Once in a while they turn out OK, and I think this one is interesting. Better, at least, than what I often do - take a picture of my shoe.

During the week I also did some work at the house for Nancy's parents. One job was replacing a kitchen faucet. My projects usually hit some sort of snafu, so I was kind of afraid of this one. But it went super smooth with no problems. Yes!

On the Sunday after we got there, we went on an adventure trip. We visited the farm Nancy's dad (and his family) used to own and some of the oil wells that Nancy's mom has.

Here we are arriving at the farm. From left to right is Nancy's dad, Laurence; Nancy's brother, Loren; Loren's wife, Kelly; and my kids Gerrit and Aleah.

This is the house that Nancy's dad spent a good part of his life in.

Even though the family no longer owns the property, everyone felt comfortable just going in all the buildings. No one lives here and no building was locked. I was sort of uncomfortable just going on the yard, so I didn't go in the buildings and instead wandered in the yard taking some pictures.

This is one of six oil wells that Nancy's mom has part interest in. I think most of the wells are not pumping though, so our inheritance isn't building up yet. Just kidding! Her wells are all fairly old wells, drilled between the 60's and 80's.