Forecast-Cool and rainy!

Despite the weather today (I'm not complaining-we are thankful for the rain!) Aleah was able to have her first tennis lesson. It was starting to sprinkle right before but they let the kids play for about a half hour before the courts were just too wet. She really enjoyed it and I hope she continues to like it. Tennis is definitely a sport that you can play throughout your life.

Donovan asked me today if he could play tennis next year because he really wanted too (he was hitting a tennis ball around with one of the extra racquets today and loving it) so I told him they have a session in July if you want to play then and he enthusiatically said, "YES!" Sooooooo....Donovan will be taking tennis lessons in July as well as golf and since I'll be there for Donovan and Samantha loves tennis I'll sign her up for the same time slot as well! She was only signed up for the June session. Aleah's session covers both June and July. At least Gerrit, Aleah, and Donovan won't have Camp Edventure in July.

Tonight is the last night of Vacation Bible School. It's went really well and the kids have seemed to enjoy the crafts-especially engraving their dog tag necklaces. Aleah is taking Zoe with tonight. Zoe has been in Minneapolis earlier this week and just got back last night.

We're off to swimming lessons soon. I'm glad Bruce has been able to help out there this week with VBS at night. Gerrit, Aleah, and Sam all have their lessons at 4:35 but Donovan has his at 5:10 and doesn't finish until 5:40. It takes about 15 minutes to drive home and the kids need to eat supper before we leave for church at 6:15 so on Tuesday I was able to get home about 5:30 and get everyone fed and the kitchen cleaned before we left. Bruce and Donovan got home right about six and Donovan quickly ate.

80's Video: Honeymoon Suite - Feel It Again

This week's 80's video is "Feel It Again" by Honeymoon Suite. They are a Canadian band out of Niagara Falls, Ontario, and they formed way back in 1982. According to the knowledge imparted by Wikipedia, this song went to #34 on the charts in 1986. Also, the band's name is a nod to the fact that Niagara Falls is the unofficial honeymoon capital. The group is still around - touring and possibly working on a new album.



Another fairly well known song of theirs is "New Girl Now." This live performance is at Niagara Falls on New Years Eve 2007.

No tennis for Aleah and Samantha's first swimming lesson

It rained on and off throughout the day. At eleven it looked like Aleah might get to play tennis but about 11:35 just when we were getting ready to go it was raining. I called the parks and rec office and they said it was still on and I also checked the website and no cancellation but I knew when we were in the van on the way there and it was raining we were just wasting time and gas. When we got to the courts it was cancelled. Her next day is Thursday but it's not looking like Thursday is suppose to be nice at all!!

While Aleah had piano I went on a walk and the sun came out then and I got hot-I had jeans on though. While we were at Vacation Bible School it clouded up again and rained. We're thankful for the rain so I'm not complaining.

The kids all had their swimming lessons today. Samantha did so well. She got right in the water with her teacher and did what she was suppose to do. I remember when Donovan had lessons the summer he was three. He didn't mind playing in the shallow pool but when the teacher tried to get him in the regular pool he would just sit on the edge. The teacher wrote on his evaluation, "Don't be afraid of the big pool little dude." He's not afraid of big pools anymore.

A forgotten Christmas present

I forgot to mention that the day we were cleaning the basement at mom's I found an unopened beautifully wrapped Christmas gift. There wasn't a name on there. I told mom we better open it up to see what it is. She then said I think it might be for you. I opened it up and it was a Precious Moments figurine-probably from two or three Christmases ago. It was a very pleasant surprise. After I opened it I mentioned that she could have saved it for this Christmas!!

Vacation Bible School went well last night. We're expecting more kids tonight-the first night is usually the lowest in attendance. I have plenty of helpers for the crafts and we found we had too much time so they took time off from all the activities and will have more time for closing exercises.

Samantha did really well at tennis today. They didn't actually hit the balls but they ran after balls and got to balance a ball on their raquet. They also did some stretching exercises and running around. I was very proud of the fact that she was doing what she was suppose to be doing. She seems to be the youngest (or smallest) player in their group.

Aleah starts tennis tomorrow at noon. She also has piano at 3:30 and all the kids have swimming at 4:30. Along with Vacation Bible School at 6:30 it will make for a busy day.

Week in Williston

It is nice to be home. I can't recall the last time we were gone for almost a week-even when we went Wisconsin we were gone one less day. The week went really fast and we're still confused what day it is-we did get to church this morning so that makes it a little easier to know it's Sunday.

We got to Williston around 5:30 Saturday afternoon. It was rainy a lot of the way!! After supper mom, dad, Loren, Kelly, Gerrit, Aleah, and I went to Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I guess the reviews haven't been that great but if you go just to enjoy the movie (it has been 19 years since the last one) you'll probably enjoy it and be entertained. There's a couple of cheesy parts but I enjoyed the movie. Gerrit and Aleah weren't afraid of any parts either like the other three movies where they run to another room or cover their eyes.

Sunday we took a drive out to where my dad use to live and farm and around the Tioga area (Oil Capitol of North Dakota) and looked at some wells. We stopped for an ice cream treat at the drive-inn there. It was also rainy and cool that day. We took the scenic highway (1804) back to Williston. We did have to take two vehicles and Gerrit rode with mom, dad, Loren, and Kelly. We had grilled steaks that night and they were really good-they were also I might add-HUGE-they covered almost your whole plate-there was barely room for potatoes. We watched National Treasure Book of Secrets that night. I really love these movies-I actually think I may like them more then Indiana Jones movies and that's saying a lot.

Monday Bruce made his famous homemade caramel rolls for brunch-it actually almost turned into lunch since they took so long to rise. It's usually so hot in mom's house but for some reason that morning it wasn't. We had mom's good friend Kathy over for the day too. Kathy had her leg amputated about two years ago-about the same time mom had been diagnosed with cancer. Anyway, Samantha had taken a special interest in Kathy and Kathy nicknamed Samantha "Pumpkin Doodle.'' Later in the day Samantha was walking by Kathy and said, "You dropped your leg." Kathy just told her she left it at home (her prothesis) and we all laughed. What does go through a three year old's head?? We had ham for supper that night and then Loren and Kelly got ready to get on the train at 7:09. We all saw them off at the train station and when we got home we discovered they had left their bag of ham sandwiches and drinks in the car. I must say that Kelly makes a good ham sandwich. I had one for lunch three days in a row.

Tuesday the kids and mom and I went to Wal-Mart to get more snacks (at Donovan's request) and then we cleaned the basement. The kids carried a lot of garbage out to the dumpsters. We threw the used crib mom had for the kids. If Loren and Kelly have kids someday we can bring our pack'n play for them to use.

Wednesday we got mom's flowers planted and we went swimming at Bruce's hotel. We had a good time and had the pool to ourselves. Thursday I did some more cleaning and then we drove over to Sidney and Fairview, Montana, for a while. We ate supper at the Powder Keg pizza place in Fairview on the way home-this is awesome pizza. It's been there since the 70's and we didn't even know it until we saw it on the news one night-The Off the Beaten Path story. Bruce will later give his review of the pizza.

Friday I was busy packing and getting a few more things done around the house. Bruce and Loren had put a new grill together for mom and dad-I think their other one must have been at least 25 years old. Bruce also put in a new faucet for mom in the kitchen and fixed the window downstairs and he did a few other things too.

We had a nice time in Williston and Bruce and I were able to go out and walk every night alone. We walked a lot in the cemetary nearby. It was decorated nicely for Memorial Day.

Tonight Vacation Bible School begins at church and goes through Thursday night. I'll need to get there a little early tonight to set things up for crafts. Samantha has tennis in the morning and is excited about that. I better bring the camcorder!

Sunday Video: How Great Thou Art (part 2)

Yep, this is the same song as last week. Nancy has expressed displeasure with my choice of singers for "How Great Thou Art." Not dynamic enough. She mentioned she liked the Alan Jackson version so much better, so here it is. The video is just a picture slideshow to the music.



Update at 5:50 pm: Since the above video was sort of a repeat, I thought I should add another. This is Jim Reeves singing the old classic "God Be With You Till We Meet Again," and is another picture slideshow. Growing up, this was a song often sung at the end of our church services.

Like Caged Animals (Back In Bismarck)

And, we are back! Yea for us. We had a good week in the Williston area. More on that later. We drove up to the house right around 7:30 pm, just when it started raining. We quickly evacuated the items packed like sardines in the trunk and set to unpacking everything. Nancy's dad jokes that we should take a U-Haul when we come to visit.

On the way back today we stopped off at the Roosevelt Park Zoo in Minot.

When we got to the zoo, the kids posed by the cracking bear.

Gibbon apes looking very relaxed. Right after this they started hooting and hollering, as they are known to do.

The regal African Lion. She was oblivious to us, but when a zoo vehicle drove by she got up to watch it.

It is interesting, the unintended effect I got with this photo. I was trying to get a good picture of the lounging bears, but instead the camera focused on the metal bars. Looks kinda neat.

These are real flamingos, people. The kids were amazed about how they stood on one leg.

The tenacious tortoise took time to tediously traipse toward the tasty tidbits.

Here is a video of the snow leopard pacing his or her cage.



After the zoo, we went to the Dakota Square Mall. Spent some time at the new Barnes & Noble, then ventured out into the mall. At 5:00 the family ate at the food court. I wasn't a bit hungry so I chose not to eat at the time, but picked up a personal pan pizza at the Cenex in Washburn at about 6:30 pm.

I'm looking forward to making my coffee in the morning. When I think about it my heart rate goes up and my respirations increase. Sounds like a true addict to me!

Sunday Video: How Great Thou Art

Foster & Allen performing "How Great Thou Art." They are Irish but otherwise I don't know anything about them. In my opinion, it sure is a beautiful performance of the song. I like it a lot.

Da Bridge

On May 16, Gerrit's class went on a field trip to the construction site of the new Liberty Memorial Bridge between Mandan and Bismarck. They were the first school kids to walk on the bridge. Gerrit said he'll be able to tell his grandkids that fact.

Nancy drove to transport some of the kids but she had Samantha and Donovan along and they were not allowed on the site, so they waited in the minivan. She sent the camera with Gerrit.

Goofing around before starting the tour. That boy's name is Sawyer. They are on the Mandan (west) side of the river.

Ya, this is a big piece of paper on the wall with a drawing of a bridge on it.

Looking east under the old bridge. That bridge will be demolished. It was first opened for traffic in 1922.

Under the new bridge, looking towards the west.

Walking up the approach to the bridge, on the west side.

One of the workers had taken concrete and made what looks like a lion's head on the approach to the old bridge.

Gerrit was surprised I knew this was an expansion joint. Yes, sometimes I amaze even myself. Just kidding! I'm pretty sure most people know what an expansion joint looks like.

They walked up fairly close to where they were pouring. The wet "blankets" are to keep the concrete moist while curing.

The school year ends

The school year is officially over and Gerrit is now a sixth grader (his last year of elementary school), Aleah is a fourth grader, and Donovan is a first grader!! I can't believe the school year is over already. We now have three months of vacation-although with all their activities it won't really seem like a vacation for me driving them all over the city and with gas at almost $4 a gallon!! One thing I love about summer is that the kids aren't bringing home a ton of papers everyday-three kids in school bring home a lot of stuff!!

Donovan's program was nice this morning. Ms. Schwehr had put together a slideshow and is going to send a CD of it to all the students this summer. She got a little emotional talking about her first year of teaching, etc. and I got a little emotional too especially when in the slideshow it referred to the class as the class of 2020-that seems like forever but I know it will go by so fast and I don't want to think about my kids graduating just yet!! I took Donovan and Samantha out for lunch at Pizza Hut to celebrate his Kindergarten graduation. Bruce had to get back to work but made it to the program.

After school I took the kids to McDonald's for a treat and then we went to the Gateway to Science for a while. The kids played outside a long time tonight. I'm busy getting ready to go to Williston tomorrow and I've been running around the house getting things in order the last few days. Bruce thinks it's funny I go into cleaning/organizing mode before we go somewhere. He often asks me who I'm cleaning for-the burglars?? I know it's weird but I like to come home to some order since as soon as we get back there's a week of Vacation Bible School and also tennis, swimming, piano, and Gerrit's orchestra class starts!

I'm looking forward to spending some time in Williston. We haven't been there since October. Loren and Kelly are taking the train-tonight actually so they'll beat us there and they'll leave Monday night on the train to get back. They got a sleeper car so they can sleep both ways since they have to get to work when they get back Tuesday morning. We are bringing the Wii and hopefully Gerrit will let them play a little more then he did at Christmas time.

The kids and I did go to Barb's after school yesterday. They loved jumping on the trampoline and I tried it too and it is fun!! It is a lot harder then it looks though. What great exercise that would be but Bruce is very opposed to getting a trampoline-too afraid of injuries which I guess would be a big drawback. Barb and I made smores for treats-yummy!

Mitch Malloy - Anything At All

Another music video this week! I've wanted to put up this one for a while. Now is as good a time as any.

This is the music video for Mitch Malloy's "Anything at All." Mitch is a North Dakota talent, having grown up in Dickinson. The album was self-titled and released in 1992. I think he has released several albums.

According to his MySpace page linked above, Mitch is now getting ready to release a new CD, hopefully sometime this year. Looks like it will be titled Faith and will be a Christian album.

This is something interesting. He was briefly the lead singer for Van Halen in 1996. Apparently it fell through when Van Halen appeared and performed with David Lee Roth (without Mitch) at the 1996 MTV Music Video Awards. Here is more detailed info if you have time to read the article. There is also some info on Van Halen's Wikipedia entry. I'll bet not too many people know about this!

Coffee Addiction

I was very happy last week. Like I wrote about, I traveled through Jamestown and so was able to stop at Hugo's and stock up on my absolute favorite coffee beans. This is a picture of those beans.

I love coffee. I'll drink pretty much any coffee but the swill at work. That stuff is not very good. I usually take my own thermos of coffee to work. When I brew my own at home, though, I like the good stuff I guess you could call it.

I found out about this particular roaster at the Pride of Dakota show (Holiday Showcase) this past December. I was trying coffee samples from the various roasters in attendance, and this one stood out way above the rest. I didn't buy any at the time, but when Nancy went back later in the day she bought some for me.

I used to buy Starbucks beans quite often. Those are all right. Not as good as the brewed coffee you get from the stores, though. I had some good luck getting beans from Gloria Jeans for a while but lately I've had a few bags that weren't very good.

The roaster I'm talking about is Dirt Road Roasting out of Cooperstown, ND. I don't think they have a local storefront where you can go in and buy the beans. I emailed him (Randy Vigesaa) asking where I could purchase the beans to which I had become addicted. He responded that he can mail them out, but they also have them at Hugo's (supermarket) in Jamestown and at Miller's Foods right in Cooperstown.

If anyone has a scoop on where to get some good beans in the Bismarck-Mandan area, I would love to hear it!

American Idol - David Cook & ZZ Top

I don't how many of our visitors watch the show, but Nancy posted earlier about David Cook taking the American Idol competition. I was happy about that. On the show last night, David Cook took the lead vocals for "Sharp Dressed Man." The neat part was that ZZ Top was actually there. It was a good performance. Here is the video.



The guys in ZZ Top all turn 60 next year!

As far as David Cook, here a couple of other song performances that I liked. One is "Billy Jean," the Michael Jackson song; and the other is "Always Be My Baby," a Mariah Carey song.

Shovels, Tractors, and Manure - Oh My!

My apologies in advance to anyone on a dial-up connection - I have a whole load of photos in this post! Nancy does have a new post below this monstrosity.

Way back in February, Clint at Bismarck-Mandan Blog posted pictures of a rusty old power shovel. It reminded me of when I worked at the state OSHA Consultation program. I was working in Crosby, ND and was staying overnight at a local hotel. I have basically all of my computer files from 1994 to present, so I was able to look it up and see this was in June of 2001.

After supper there wasn't much to do, so I drove around town to look around a bit. I discovered the Divide County Pioneer Village and spent a bunch of time there (and took a bunch of pictures). They have a lot of buildings with, I assume, a lot of antiques inside. They also have an annual threshing bee. I'd sure like to see one of those sometime. I should take the boys to the threshing bee in Braddock this year.

In addition to the buildings, a whole bunch of old tractors, and other old farm equipment, they have a power shovel and a steam shovel on the grounds.

The five pictures below are of the power shovel. I think this one is electric but I'm not sure. I didn't go up the steps to check it out.

I think I took the picture above because I was curious about the purpose of the hammer device on the side. It is connected by chain to the bucket or to the bucket dump door. Maybe it was to indicate to the operator when the dump door was shut? I don't know.

This is the data plate on the side of the bucket. It is number 5010 and has a 4 yard capacity. Pretty small by today's standards.

The following four pictures are of the steam shovel that was positioned near the power shovel. This is an old bugger. I'm gonna guess the canopy is a homemade job. No machine guarding issues here, are there?

Following are just photos of various equipment and tractors. I have a whole lot more - these aren't even half of the pictures I took that night.

It looks like they have a fully functioning saw mill setup here. They probably do demonstrations during the threshing bee.

Have a seat - center stage in front of a wagon load of manure. This is a manure spreader and, obviously, was used to spread manure in the fields.

Quite the shocker

After my Vacation Bible School meeting tonight we watched the American Idol finale. We have DVR so we're able to record things very easily and watch them even though the show wasn't yet done recording. We were sure David Archuleta would win but David Cook pulled out the win by 12 million votes!!! I'm sure David A. will do well since he also gets a record contract. I'm glad David Cook won though. He's a little older and worked longer for it. He was very emotional after winning. I guess he actually had accompanied his brother to the auditions and wasn't planning on auditioning himself but someone talked him into trying out too. Wow!

I'm starting to feel a little bit better-maybe because I'm medicating myself but I am really tired and my chest hurts from coughing. I did get to the MOMS Club business meeting and then got a few errands done before we had lunch with Gerrit at school and Donovan had speech.

Tomorrow I am not going anywhere until after school. I am going to finish in the storage room and get some thank you notes and graduation cards sent in the mail. I also have to order a few more things for Vacation Bible School plus make a couple other phone calls. I think Samantha will enjoy staying home for a change. I know I will. We are going to Barb's house after school. The kids haven't jumped on their new trampoline yet. Two more days of school!

80's Video: Tesla - Love Song

This week we have "Love Song" from Tesla. The video is a live performance and is the full album version, with a long intro. "Love Song" is from their 1989 release The Great Radio Controversy, and was their biggest hit. Tesla is one of my favorite bands. This is a rock song - just so you are aware.



I have no idea why the lead singer is wearing a leather work glove on his right hand.

Another day at the zoo

Today was busy again but thankfully not quite as busy as yesterday. I don't think I could have taken another one like yesterday since I now admit I am sick. I have a terrible cold and don't feel very good. I was in denial that I feel horrible so that I could donate plasma tomorrow but I'd be lying if I answered the question "Are you feeling well and healthy today?" and that would be wrong so this week is a complete wash in donating plasma. I guess I better stay away from the YMCA too and just stick with walking and riding bike.

My first stop was at the video store where they gave me back our money for the movie that Bruce found. I did go on a walk with Barb this morning too-we pushed Sydney and Samantha in their strollers. It was a beautiful day. I left Samantha with Barb when I helped out with Donovan's field trip to the zoo. It was more enjoyable today. Probably because it wasn't so windy and I wasn't also watching Samantha and Kindergartners are just more excited about the zoo then third graders. The animals were also more active today. I got a really cute picture of a raccoon and a peacock that had all his feathers showing.

I got home about five minutes before the kids got off the bus. I helped them tye dye their t-shirts and they turned out nice. I kind of wish I would have done one for Samantha, Bruce and myself. We could all wear them when we're out together and look like we had some kind of club or something. Actually that would be a good thing to wear in crowds-easier to find each other.

We watched the American Idol finale tonight. The results will be tomorrow. I think the consensus at our house is that David Archuelta will win even though there are more David Cook fans in this house-he just didn't do as well as David A. I really wanted Michael Johns to take it all but he got booted out earlier-at least he'll be part of the show tomorrow night. I'll have to catch it when I get home from my Vacation Bible School meeting. I also have a MOMS Club business meeting (I suppose I should go since I haven't been to one since December) and then I'm eating lunch with Gerrit at school and Donovan has speech. I'm looking forward to Thursday since I don't have any plans during the school day and I hope it stays that way!! Friday is Donovan's Kindergarten program. I can't believe that I'll only have one more child in Kindergarten-they just grow up too fast! Three more days of school!

Busy doesn't begin to describe the day

After I got Gerrit and Aleah headed off to school and a load of clothes hung out on the clothesline (I'm surprised they stayed on the line with the 50 + mph wind) Donovan and Samantha and I headed out to do some errands. The first stop was to the video store where I paid for a lost movie. We have turned the house upside down looking for it and after a couple weeks we had given up hope. I paid for it-and of course tonight it was found!!! I knew that would happen. I'm going to go see if they'll give us our money back.

The next stop was Wal-Mart and then I had to stop home to get the stroller for Samantha. We went to the school to get Aleah and a couple of her classmates and her teacher Ms. Chase and we went to the zoo for a picnic and to tour the zoo. It was a nice day but so windy. We brought them back to the school and then got home at 2:30. We were home for about 25 minutes before we had to go back to the school to get Gerrit and Aleah since we couldn't wait for the bus to bring them home today since Aleah had her piano recital at 3:30 up north. We were a few minutes late but made it with a couple minutes to spare.

I made supper after we got home and then after that it was time for Gerrit's orchestra concert. I made a pan of scotcheroos and rice krispie bars when we got home since I guess Gerrit needs them for a class picnic tomorrow. I was able to watch the season finale of House, M.D. tonight which was really good.

Tomorrow is more of the same. I'm taking Donovan's class to the zoo in the afternoon and Barb had said she would watch Samantha so I may have to take her up on that offer. I may also go to the Y if I feel okay-kind of fighting a cold or allergies. The kids and I are going to tye dye t-shirts after school tomorrow in preparation for their 60's day at school on Thursday. I can't believe there's only four more days of school!!

Nothing Is Certain Except Death And Taxes

And wobbly wheels on shopping carts.

I was out of town last week for work. Left on Tuesday and got back on Friday. The trip took me on a loop in northeastern North Dakota. I worked in Jamestown, Grand Forks, Grafton, Park River, Edinburg, and Edmore. I visited a tire shop, a trucking company, a cycle and marine dealer, a body shop, a garbage service company, a funeral home, and a steel erection contractor. My job gives me a lot of variety that way, and I like that.

I really like the smell of new tires so I enjoyed visiting the tire shop. And I like motorcycles so the visit to the cycle dealer was a good time.

I don't really like it, but a visit to a funeral home is usually interesting in some way. This particular business had three funeral homes in three different cities. At least this time there wasn't a body in a prep room. Although, if there is I usually say I don't really need to see the room. No thank you - I can catch it next time.

This guy shared with me something I had never really thought about regarding burials. Their area has a high water table so they have to basically dig the hole, say a few words, and then get the casket in the ground. No digging the grave the day before, or even hours before. In one recent burial the grave was already full of water after a short graveside service. When that happens they have to pump out the water, set the casket in, and replace the dirt as soon as possible.

It has to take a certain kind of person to own and/or operate a funeral home, or to do mortuary work. It certainly isn't something I could do. Not my cup of tea. In this case the business owner had hoped to take over his family farm, but when his family sold the farm he went into mortuary service. That seems like kind of a leap but I would assume there is more to that story.

I'm sure for most people in the business it is a vocation or calling, but in the back of my cynical mind I often wonder if it isn't mostly for the money. That is a negative thought, isn't it? Again, that probably comes out because there is no way I could see myself in that industry.

Have a great day!

Sunday Video: Sinner Saved By Grace

The Crimson River Quartet performing "Sinner Saved by Grace." That is one of many great Gaither songs. Enjoy.



I've enjoyed looking through their videos. Here is another good one.