Yep

northern MN getaway

We had a little family getaway to the Iron Range last week.  We toured a couple museums and mining sites in the Chisholm and Hibbing area.  It's pretty up there, but the Minnesota state bird (yeah, the mosquito) proliferates in the shade of all those trees.

The Hull-Rust-Mahoning Open Pit Iron Mine

 

On Saturday we drove about an hour south to the area in north central MN that my dad hails from.  We visited my grandparent's graves, and then went to an extended family reunion where I met some second cousins who share the great-grandparents who are also buried in the small cemetery with my grandparents.

The last of my grandparents passed away almost 30 years ago.  I'm so glad my kids are growing up with the blessing of grandparents in their lives!

Michael the Marching Tiger! And a new family member...

Michael joined marching band this summer.  They had two weeks of practice before the city parade, and after that, the rest of the summer rehearsals are to learn formation marching for the fall football season.  So here he is at the parade last Saturday...

He's the trombone in the middle.  And afterwards at the fairgrounds...

 

Ahh, he just looks so old all dolled up like that.  My 'lil baby all grown up and marching around in uniform.  I was a pretty excited proud giddy mom.

So who's the new family member?  Because we didn't have enough mouths to feed already, we adopted a four-legged friend a couple weeks ago.  Meet Skippy...

Skippy is a small goofy terrier mix, only about 9 lbs.  He's a rescue from north Mpls.  He hates the kennel.  He likes the kids, except Michael, who intimidates him for whatever reason.  Yep, his ears are big, and he's missing some hair in a strip around his muzzle.  He must have previously worn a head halter that rubbed it all away.  Besides 'claiming' the vacuum cleaner the very first day, he hasn't had any accidents.  We'd been pet-less for about a year, so, we're still getting used to the pitter patter of tiny paws thing.  And occasional yippiness.  Yippy Skippy!

it was a dark and stormy June

smarter than the average bear

This is so, like, two weeks ago, and therefore ancient news in the digital age.  But it still kills me, so I'm postin' it.

I read in an article that the bear chilled out for about 20 minutes in the hammock after raiding some trash cans.  All in a good day's work...

Nicky's violin recital 5/20/14

Musette by J.S. Bach

M.Div. in the family

My fantastic mother-in-law graduated from Bethel University with a Masters of Divinity over the holiday weekend.  Congratulations Doreen!  We love you and are very proud of you.

Bring Abbie's Brother Home!

Click on the pic to find out how to help!

Awww...

high standard of living, except for the flippin' cold

As much as upper mid-westerners kvetch and moan about the weather (and justifiably so, after that ridiculously cold, long winter), it seems we may otherwise be satisfied enough to continue to make a life here.  Something funky happening in Illinois though, cuz they all want to leave. 

This graph and an article are found at gallup.com

This past winter I was wishing that our forebears hadn't settled in MN and IA, however.  I love hot weather.  And water.  Why couldn't my great grandparents have immigrated to SoCal?  But if we were to move far enough away to escape snow and ice, we'd be too far from our families, so...we'll just keep whining about the weather.