Family Get Together

My aunt (Bonnie) and uncle (Jim) were visiting from Colorado. They parked their camper at my sister's farm yesterday. So with the family together we decided to get together at our house.

On hand were -

Bonnie and Jim.

It was great visiting with them. Jim - as an English professor - has always been one of the people I've looked up to most in my life. It was great hearing their travel stories and their recollections of Mom and Dad.

Mat and I with Bonnie, Jim, and Barb.

Kevin and DeAnn. Kevin is a renaissance man, having biked across Australia, back packed in Alaska, and travelled to Costa Rica and who knows how many other places. He can talk to anyone and keep them interested with his vast experiences. I never knew that he had formed a close relationship with my late uncle Dick (Jim's oldest brother).

Jim brought this up when he said that he recalled Kevin and Dick talking for hours at family reunions. Then Jim asked Kevin if he could remember any of those talks as Jim was trying to put together a sketch of his brother, who was three years older than Jim and kind of distant. He was not a man of many words, but he always looked out for Jim (once calling the high school basketball coach to tell him that Jim deserved more playing time. Jim started every game after that. Dick also took a year off from Bemidji State to work so Jim could afford to attend college. Talk about a sacrifice. Dick never spoke of it and Jim really didn't realize it until his mother informed him of it years later).

But Kevin - put on the spot - couldn't really remember any of their conversations right at that moment. Hopefully, they'll come to him and he'll be able to share some with Jim.

I think one of the highlights was seeing Kenzie and her cousin, Demera, play. They had quite the time!


Gail! She saved the day with her awesome three bean hot dish. We always joke that at her funeral we are only going to have pictures of her hands (or pictures with her head cut out of that as she has done to some other photos). She not only saved the day with her great hot dish but she also was able to calm Kenzie down after she woke up rather cranky. Thanks, Gail.

Arnie and Ashley. Arnie shared some interesting info on Dad. Dad always talked about how during one summer (I think it was summer) his folks left him in charge of the ranch in Texas while they came up to Minnesota to look at land up here. Dad also told me how much responsibility it was and how he kind of ruined it by racking up bills on his dad's credit.

Well, it was a few years ago that Dad's sister, Elaine, came up and clarified things. Apparently, Dad not only racked up bills but he 'lost' some sheep and goats (I recall Elaine thinking that Dad had thrown a big party and barbecued the animals to feed everyone).

I was astounded. Dad had never breathed a word of this! Dad was badass! I couldn't believe it. And somehow I suddenly felt better about all the trouble I had gotten in when I was younger.

So when I visited Dad next and informed him of what Elaine said, he quickly set things right (or so he thought) when he said, "Oh, Elaine. She's a liar!"

Well, last night Arnie informed me that it wasn't just a couple sheep and goats that Dad 'lost.' It was close to 100!

How I wish Dad was alive to rebut that!

Kristie did finally snap a picture of Gail as she said goodbye to Arnie and Ashley.


The one person missing is Kristie! But she was wielding the camera. Maybe Gail will be able to pass some pictures of my beautiful wife along so I can put them up here too.

It was a great night for our family (which doesn't get together nearly enough). But as Kristie always says, "You're the only ones who can do anything about that."

We need to do this more often!