Lars is 3! Happy Birthday baby-man!!

September 30, 2010 (yes, 3 years ago...)

Dad and Lars look pretty good.  We won't show pics from mom on this day.  These two look much better :)  He hasn't been one to hold back his feelings - even from day one I guess...  But he has been a joy and a blessing!  Now I understand why youngest children grow up to the "clown" in the family...  we all just wait to see what silly/funny thing he will do next.




Here he is on September 30, 2013!!  (sorry for the delay, the snowstorm took all my good intentions as far away as our green grass.... )  The little 3 year old man.  Birthday supper was pizza hut CHEESE PIZZA with stuffed crust (oohhh... stuffed crust.... ) -- salad -- and carrot cake cupcakes (thanks to Grandpa Alan).

Lars loved his "Cars" themed candle... but still wasn't quite sure what to do with a birthday candle.  This year at least he knew what to do with a cupcake! :) Special guests included Grandp's Moeller, (cousin) Tante Holli and Theo (Abby and Anna were at gymnastics).  Birthday gifts were:  hot wheels car holder, a "Cars" drag racetrack and two "Cars" cars, two books and a puzzle from Grandma Annette & Gpa Justin, $ from Grandp's Moeller, and a CAT Service truck (model size) from dad.  So far the Service Truck is by far the most loved... and abused... I keep finding little service truck accessories all over the house... especially in my bare feet while walking in the dark :(

Blizzard October 2013

October begins.... 

Friday evening - front door view

All week the news channels/weather men were forecasting snow for Friday and Saturday -- first 6 inches -- and by the time we got home Thursday night from school the forecast had risen to 12+ inches.  I had been visiting with various friends and neighbors about school plans and appointments, and our ladies Bible study at church -- many of whom doubted the predictions would be as bad as forecasted.  It did start raining much later than predicted… so some thought the storm was "blown out of proportion" by the weather teams.  Dirk told me to call him Friday morning to see how much snow we had gotten through the night and he would decide if he would try to make it home for the weekend or not.  We went to bed Thursday to the sounds of rain pouring down on our roof and the gutters running full!  

Friday morning the rain had indeed turned to snow -- and schools were all canceled.  "Hurray!!" was heard from the Morrison clan -- even Mom was ready for a Day OFF!!  even if it meant missing the morning Bible study with my mommy friends.  (I had cancelled the Bible study the night before).  Thankful I had also gone grocery shopping on our way home from school -- we were well stocked and ready to snuggle in.  

Saturday morning - door won't open!?

Dirk and I chatted by phone around 8 am.   At that point we had 5-6 inches of wet heavy now on our driveway -- Dirk was thinking about issues "outside" since he couldn't be there to help out -- and gave Thor and I a small "to do list."  We moved our bunny hutch, Thumper and Bandit to the south side of the house (instead of the north) -- actually moved them to the overhang of the camper where they were protected on 3 sides from any blowing and snow.  Anika made sure they were snug with extra hay, feed and HOT water.  (hoping it wouldn't freeze too much).  We cleared the snow from the front door and driveway as best we could by hand… but it was really heavy snow with about 2 inches of slush at the bottom.  For all the GREAT things our family had done to get ready for winter -- the one thing we didn't do was put the snowplow ONTO the ATV (4-wheeler).  It's sort of complicated -- requiring a 4 point harness on the underside for stability and connecting the  blow to a winch on the front end to allow me to "push an button" to make the plow go up and down… So that wasn't going to happen until Dirk got home….  Dirk kept asking "should I come home, or not?"  We didn't have too much snow yet -- but the weather forecast was for lots more snow and high winds  --  the "bad" blizzard conditions were supposed to hit our area around 11 a.m.  The last thing I said was "as much as I would love to see you this weekend, I really don't want you out on the roads today."

looking out the garage

The kids and I got busy doing our daily chores -- cleaning rooms - laundry, etc.  In the process I came across 2 tubs of "old"  (from 2005-2007) family pictures of our kids… These were meant to be put into scrapbooks  -- all pictures from before Liv was born when I was still scrapbooking the "old fashioned way" (glueing pictures into albums).  Once Liv was born I found myself just a bit busier than before  -- if I remember right, this was the point when I also started working "for pay" at our church in the Kids Ministry area.  Well, anyway -- there was a tub FULL of pictures that had not made it into the "old style" albums… and were all taken with our "old" regular camera (not digital -- so no copies on the computers)… and I had no idea if I had negatives for them or not…  So I didn't want to loose them if these were the only copies I had.  With the prediction of a blizzard upon us - I thought -- what a great project to tackle??  So I began sorting through my supplies.   I had more than enough of everything to finish the album and was motivated to get 2+ tubs of supplies used UP and open the storage space for other stuff!!!  (to finish this part of the story -- I did complete the album over the course of the next 24 hours -- I will still have to go back and write in "captions" for various photos -- but the hard works is done!!  I can now declare that the Dirk and Nancy Morrison Family photos are completely finished in scrapbooks!!! YEAH!!)

Saturday morning... 31 inches?  YEP!! 

So -- back to the snow storm -- Around noon on Friday Dirk called again -- He and another guy named Jude had left the job site in Montana and were heading for Rapid City.  At noon they were 2 1/2 hours into the 5 hour drive home… no storm up north … so they had made really good time so far.  He said the roads were just wet.  He said he would keep calling to let us know where he was.  

the "mound" is the blue truck

The now kept coming and the 45-70 miles hour winds kept blowing.  The kids got great joy from going to the door and opening it to see how high the snow was … and the crazy shapes of the drifts on the south side of our house (out the front door).  We could not see anything out of any window in the house -- they were packed with snow about 1/2 inch thick from top to bottom because of the crazy winds.  So even though there was a lot of light coming through -- we couldn't "see" the blizzard blowing outside at all.  

Dirk called around 3 p.m. and they were finally near Spearfish/Deadwood area.  The interstate was closed at that point -- so if he was going to try to make it home he would have to drive the long way around.  The power had been flickering on and off  so I told Dirk to call my cell phone instead … our house phones are all 'cordless"  -- not like the ones we always had on the farm -- most of the time they would work even without electric power to the house.  At least we had the cell phones to cover us.  Lots of our friends in the area had lost power already -- and about 4:00 ours went out too.  Thankfully we have a "gas" stove and water heater -- so I was able to continue making supper with very little interruptions.  Thor and Anika gathered candles… and we had a cozy supper by candlelight.  

trees down across the street

Sometime after supper Dirk called again -- he was near Sturgis (only 15 miles away) and was going to head to Rapid City (past our house -- but on the only road open at that point).  The kids and I were playing Yatzee and had our stash of board games up at the kitchen table.  Liv wasn't crazy about not having lights -- it was almost completely dark by this time -- so we put a few candles in the bathrooms and bedrooms so she could move around the house without it feeling too gloomy.  

We were very fortunate -- sometime in the next hour our power came on -- and stayed on for the most part.  There were stretches of time where the electricity would flicker on and off 10 times in a couple of minutes -- so we kept the candles on through that stretch of time also.  But the heat was running -- and the house was kept perfectly warm.  Reports I heard later were that 40,000 homes in the Black HIlls area (Spearfish to Wall) were without power for at least 24 hours.  (I'm writing this Tuesday morning at 8 a.m. and there are still some neighbors without power).   

snow creeping off the roof

Sometime around 6 p.m. Dirk called and was near Black Hawk -- about 4-5 miles from our house.  He was in a line-up of cars as far as he could see ahead of himself and behind (couldn't see too far at that point) -- and was a little bit frustrated.  With his pickup he was able to make it through the 10-12 inches of snow on the road -- but not with all the cars blocking the road.  There were cars in the ditch, and all over the road.  He couldn't go any further until/unless some of the other vehicles got moving too.  He heard from a few other drivers that the lineup of cars was LONG -- and that there was a semi with a cattle trailer jack-knifed along the road -- that no one could get through.  Dirk wanted me to check the weather forecast  at that point they were saying the "blizzard conditions were supposed to last through 2:00 a.m. on Saturday morning.   

snow pack just from the wind

We talked again a few more times that evening -- but it was pretty obvious he was going to be there for the night.  Walking was not an option -- the area he was stuck was not "neighborhoods"  but open fields on both side… and the wind and blowing snow … plus the darkness…. So he stayed in the truck and tried to get "comfy" for the night.  

I woke up about 5 a.m. Saturday morning -- and the snow and wind were just has hard as they had been the night before.  Around 7 a.m.  Dirk and I chatted by phone -- obviously the blizzard was not over yet -- He  wanted me to check the weather forecast  again.  2 of the 4 local TV stations were not even on -- just a black screen.  The other 2 stations were not sending out local news -- just national.  We tried to listen to the radio -- but didn't get much signal… so Facebook was again my best "connection" to the outside world.  My cell phone couldn't get signal at this point at all -- so we had to switch back to the house phone.   Dirk was hoping to see/hear snow plows coming through at any minute so he could drive home ASAP.  He said the night in the truck had been "not too bad."  He turned the truck on occasionally to warm it up -- and had a few snacks, water, and a little Pepsi…. mostly just "alone with his thoughts" for the night.  

clearning the back deck

Around 10 a.m. the Emergency Broadcast System alerted through the TV -- and Thor had me come to listen.  They announced the blizzard was still in effect (pretty obvious from our perspective) -- and that NO snow removal would begin until the blizzard conditions had passed -- predicted for 2:00 p.m. at this point.  So we called Dirk to let him know there wouldn't be any snowplowing done for quite a few hours.  He had already started to contemplate walking… but the snow/wind were just still pretty nasty.  He said about 10:00 pm the night before a "snowcat" machine (like a van  -- but instead of wheels -- it had snow tracks like a snowmobile) had driven by, picking up various passengers from the cars along the road where he was… but at that point he didn't really want to go.   Now, on Saturday, he was ready to consider leaving the truck -- but not sure how far he could make it.  My niece Holli's house was  2-3 miles -- and our house was 4-5 miles.  I suggested trying to make it to Holli's so he could get someplace warm, etc.    He said he would let us know when he got somewhere.  

anika standing next to the 6 ft fence 

Thor, Anika and Liv decided to walk about the house and play in the snow.  We had 6-8 foot drifts all around the house… and 3-4 foot drifts the full length of the driveway.  Thor dug us out so we could at least open the front door and back deck door -- and cleared some of our windows so we could see out. :)  The temps were pretty nice really -- 35 degrees with pretty good sunshine… so the kids were having a ton of fun sliding down the big drifts.  Anika's friend Hannah from across the street came over to play too.  Good thing we moved the bunnies -- there was an 8-10 ft drift where their hutch had been yesterday.  

can't even see the fence in the back... 6ft tall!

About 1:00 p.m. he called to say he was in the shop of a neighbor about a mile up the road from where he had been.  They saw him walking by and offered their shop building as shelter for him to at least warm up.   They brought him some water and offered food and drinks… As they talked, he found out it was the brother of a guy he worked with at Butler.  They guy said some local snowmobilers were out helping the Sheriff's deputy's  -- making emergency errands for locals -- and evacuating all the cars stuck on the road where Dirk had been.  We were all pretty relieved to hear he was inside and warm  -- hoping he could get to our house eventually!!

2:00 p.m. Dirk walked in the door!  :) YEAH!!  

happy to be home :)

2:05 p.m. Dirk got us all outside shoveling the driveway.  Yep - he hardly took a moment to rest -- and started to "crack the whip!"  Sounds like an ornery Norske to me!!  :)  Around 2:00 the skies cleared and  the sun came out -- the temps were rising nicely -- about 45 degrees now.  The snow was WAY too wet and heavy -- wasn't going to get moved by the snow plow OR a blower (if we'd had one)… so we started carving out a path big enough for the Suburban.  We had two shovels -- so Dirk, Thor and I all took turns.  We were all ready for "break time" when our turn came.   We shoveled on and off for the rest of the day -- taking some snack breaks… All 4 of the kids came out to play a little too.  And we walked over to check on my parents.  They had made it through the storm just fine -- just a little problem with their cordless phone -- it probably got "fried" with all the power on/off switches over the past day. 

cracking the whip!

We were all very happy to have Dirk home - safe and sound -- and spent the evening cuddling in the TV room -- watching "Top Gear" and "Duck Dynasty" reruns.  :)  We caught the news just before going to bed -- everything in our area was still closed and cancellations were rolling for Sunday morning -- church, etc.  Snowfall totals were 31 inches for Rapid City (43 inches for Lead & Deadwood).   This was definitely the most snow Dirk and I had every experienced in one storm in our lives -- not to mention since living here in RC.  We got about 6 inches early Friday morning -- but the bulk of the 31 inches dropped from noon on Friday until noon on Saturday -- 25 inches in 12 hours.  Plus being such and early fall snow -- most of the deciduous trees were still green and in full-leaf…. so the tree destruction was like looking at a war zone.  We don't have many mature trees in our neighborhood -- and even here I did not see a single tree without some limb loss -- I would guess a majority of the trees actually had much more damage -- even to the point of total loss.   They showed pictures of trees that had been pulled up by the roots -- landing on cars -- across roads -- and even worse, into people's houses.  

The snow removal was going to be seriously impaired by the number of trees down everywhere.  Not to mention -- loss of electricity and snapped wires all over the place.  The Rural Electric coop said they alone had 1800 poles down…. Even early on Sunday, the Raid City community was begging people to stay off the roads -- stating that there would not be snow removal for quite some time -- that they would focus on sending the plowing crews to where the power lines are down -- and other emergency situations.  We walked over to my parents and spent the morning shoveling their driveway then had lunch at their house.  It was fun to get out and see different scenery even if it was just across the street. :) 

We did get our neighborhood plowed out around 7:00 p.m. on Sunday night.  Dirk drove over and was able to get the work truck home at our house -- it was still sitting in the spot where he left it.  :)  Dirk wondered if he would be able to leave for work Monday morning or not -- the interstate was not open yet… 

Sunday - clearing snow while suntanning

the melting snow is a mess!

Monday morning -- people started moving around a bit (driving) in our neighborhoods -- we don't have many trees out here -- so other than a 'path" between 5-6 foot walls of snow -- our area was sort of "back to normal."  The temps were warming up -- 60-70 degrees… The police and sheriffs office were begging people to stay out of Rapid City so the trees and now could be cleared.  The city was officially "closed."   Dirk spent the morning at Butler -- the work truck needed some repairs  -- so he has a different truck for the next week or so.  He talked with the customer up in Montana and arranged to get there Tuesday.  We spent the rest of Monday cleaning up inside and out.  

looking over to Mom and Dad's place...

Apparently they were not able to clear as much as they hoped yesterday -- all public schools and public building are still closed today.  Thor and Anika's schools are open, but the principals gave ample room for parents to keep kids at home if our neighborhoods were not cleared yet.  When I drove Thor to school it did look like a tornado had ripped up trees everywhere!! 

So that was our adventure!!  smiles Nancy and gang

Setpember 2013

If I don't have a few pictures to help me remember -- I just might forget what we've been doing lately?! The end of August going into September we had 5 weekends in a row "life consuming" activity -- all FUN stuff -- but still kept us hopping!!  

 This is Anika with Hazel Kumm, her pen pal through her school.  Hazel and Anika have been writing to each other for the past two years, and a special opportunity came up over Labor Day weekend.  Hazel and her husband live in Nebraska, but were going to be in RC for a granddaughters baptism.  We met at Armadillos for a quick bite of ice cream and a face-to-face moment!

 Lars and I have had a bit more alone time... with the 3 big ones in school everyday.  We've had a few days where there is just one hour between "errands" or "appointments" -- so we've made a few stops at the park, or taking the strider for rides.  :)  He is always happy for some "fun" after a boring LONGGGGG trip to the grocery store!  (aren't we all??)

The Master's Challenge Bull Ride:  an amazing weekend for our church family... defiantly a "work" weekend for us -- but an amazing outreach to our community.  Dirk headed up the "trash bin" committee -- a project our whole family could help out with.  We still got to see most of the riding events, including the mutton busting!!  Anika summed it up best -- "I didn't know what to expect... but I totally forgot I was even at our "church"... and it was WAY more fun than I thought it would be!"

 The Dove County Fair was the very next weekend -- a family adventure weekend!  Needless to say I was slightly busy that day helping the set-up, tear-down and RE-SET Up in our basement/fellowship area due to extreme windy weather!!  The is the only "good" picture I got from the day .... My 'real job" was to be in charge of the Pie Baking Contest.  It was a HUGE success!  No one was "counting people"  but estimates were about 200 people!!  A great day for families!  A super fun weekend!!

The "busy" season is past -- at least for a few weeks.... Dirk and Thor are looking forward to Sunday afternoon football in the "man cave."  

School Year 2013-14

Anika & Liv - Zion's 1st Day

On the first day of First Grade... Liv had a great morning!! :)  

Anika started 5th Grade -- the last year of grade school :(

Thor started 8th Grade -- the last year of MIDDLE school :( :(

now i really feel old.  not to mention today is my birthday.  

No pictures of the 8th grader, because the first day of 8th grade isn't really that special .... in HIS world.   He's just taller, bigger feet... but the same Thor he's always been...  stop drawing attention to me mom... and don't call me "honey" "sugar" or "sweetie" please...  I love you Thor... I'm working on it. :)

anika... front row seat :)

Family Pictures 2013

Summer Catch Up

Even though summer is quite over YET - I am feeling the need to review our summer activities... since I didn't make the time to write them out individually.... the script was originally sent to Dirk's Grandmother Lillian in Hillsboro, ND.  She is a few years past 90 -- and doing very well -- but lives in a nursing care center.  We used to see her at least once a year, but now it's been down to email and letters lately.  Writing to her helped me review the highlights of the summer...

Summer is almost gone -- just 5 days left before school starts… I should catch you up on what we've been doing this summer.  I can't believe it's nearly Labor Day -- but I'm going back to start with our Memorial Day weekend.  First, I should tell you that Dirk has been working away from home again;  but this time not too far away.  He is still working for Butler Caterpillar, but since December 2012 he has been providing service for a customer whose shop is in Sidney, Montana.  It's about 5 hours north of here, the closest bigger town is Williston, ND.  The customer is involved in the oil drilling business up there -- which consumes a LOT of man and machine power these days!  Good job security for Dirk's line of work of course… :) And he gets home every weekend.  It's probably not what most people consider ideal -- but Dirk says it's the best working conditions he's ever had in his 20 years working for Butler.  The customer is very interested in making his work environment a good place for all his employees -- and considers Dirk part of "his team."  They are super flexible with Dirk so he can leave home Monday mornings and leave early on Fridays.   He is always home from about 8p.m. Friday night until 5-ish AM Monday morning.   It hasn't been a problem for Dirk to take a day off here and there either… so occasionally this summer he has come home on Thursday nights -- or gone back on a Tuesday morning so that we can do some family time (camping, etc).

Moeller family June 2, 2013  Ted & Jan's 40th Anniversary

Our Memorial Day weekend started off with a whole week together… Dirk took the week off partially to do some camping with the kids --and partially to attend my brother Ted and wife Jan's 40th wedding anniversary in Hot Springs.  The whole Moeller clan descended upon their country home along with a few campers …. and we helped them host a party for all their neighbors, church friends and other extended family who gathered for a Sunday afternoon picnic meal and music…stories… more music… more stories… and more music.  We ended the evening with a photography session -- which I have included a few pictures from that day so you can see the latest "good" photo of your grandson Dirk's whole family.  :)  

Dirk at Main Street Square on our 17th Anniversary, June 22

June:  we intended to get away for a couple more weekend camping trips -- but other stuff kept getting in the way :)  Not bad stuff -- just life.  I can't even remember it all now… a community VBS event for our 3 younger kids… etc.  One weekend was a memorable visit from my brother Jon and his wife Chary.  Chary was born and raised in the Dominican Republic, and has been in the USA legally since she married my brother (5 yrs ago).  She has wanted to become a full citizen and pursued that as soon as was possible.   She passed her test in April, and the Swearing In Ceremony was at Mt. Rushmore the 3rdweekend in June.  All of the Black Hills Moeller family and Jon were there to watch her and the rest of the 140+ people from all over the world give their allegiance to the USA.  It was totally amazing and moving experience!!  I am so glad my children witnessed it also… something they have taken for granted or probably have never even thought about being born here and beingcitizens by default!!  

July:  We celebrated the 4th without Dirk, but attended the local parade  -- got plenty of candy and general festivities in our little town of Piedmont.  Our church friends hosted an evening BBQ and firework "shoot-off" which Thor enjoy immensely!!  He said it was the best 4th of July of his life (so far).  :)  Dirk got home for the weekend and we prepared for the 4 day church campout the next weekend at Custer State Park.  We camped on the shores of Stockade lake, and spent many hours with the kids playing in the water - on our canoe - swimming - playing in the sand - and on my brother Ted's pontoon.  

Thor turned 13 on the 22nd  - also the weekend when Carrie and Annette made it out for a quick visit.  Thor chose to spend the day at the outdoor waterslide park, bringing two of his friends as well as our family.  It was a perfect summer day for sliding -- we haven't had as many of them as you might think.  Twice this summer our "outdoor" plans had to be completely changed because of rain, lighting and thunder.  We are absolutely happy for every drop of water we have had this summer… and so we don't get too upset with some of our recent rainy days.  After 2-3 years of draught it is a blessing in everyway to have had a cooler wet summer.  I am not accustomed to the higher humidity anymore -- and my hair just wants to go crazy all the time -- getting more and more wavy, almost curly if it let it go natural.  So those days the whole mop just gets pulled up into a pony tail and off we go!!

Tori's tie-dyed shirt

The whole line up of tie-dye!

August:  Gretchen, Annette, Tori and Logan came out for the first week of August to spend some quality family time together.  It was a super fun week -- but both dads missed out on it all!!  I'm sure you heard Lance was in Minneapolis attending some Bible classes -- and Dirk was doing his usual, working in MT.  But we ladies had a great week -- the kids were very happy to entertain themselves the first day… on Tuesday I had the whole clan running all over Rapid City for our usual "Tuesday Schedule" (a kids matinee movie, music lessons for Anika and Thor, picnic supper at a local park, and we ended the evening with a special Parenting Bible Study at our church.)  Wednesday Gretchen took Annette and the kids on a day-trip to Mt. Rushmore; Thursday we made tie-dye t-shirts in our backyard and had a Tea Party Luncheon - complete with heart waffles and dinosaur chicken nuggets.  Friday was time for Gretchen to start moving her group back towards home… and my clan prepared the camper for a weekend of 4-wheeling in the mountains about an hour north of our house.  The kids enjoyed the 4-wheel trip the most of any trip we've ever taken I think -- partially due to Thor getting to drive his OWN 4 wheeler for the first time this year… and Anika got a few driving lessons on Dirk's 4-wheeler too!  

Thor on his new/old Blaster :)

So now we are just a few days away from school starting - each of the kids got their own "shopping date" with Mom -- kind of our annual tradition… started by Annette & Justin when they used to take Thor school supply shopping for his birthday each year.  Now I make a "date" with each kid and let them choose a place to have a treat after the shopping is done… Dirk gives them each $50 to spend on their school supplies … so as long as they stick to the budget, they can make their own choices.  I bet $50 sounds pretty high for just school supplies, doesn't it??  But honestly, the lists they get from school include kleenix, Lysol cleaning wipes, book covers, sticky notes for the teachers, a book of stamps PLUS all the usually pens, pencils, paper, folders, crayons, markers, protractors, compasses, etc.  Anika and Liv both re-used their backpacks last year -- so it was time for new ones for both of them… thank goodness I had a number of coupons for all they wanted… and we were able to stay on budget for everyone!! :) 

Liv & Lars rode behind me...

Next week Lars and I will be back to being the only ones at home M-F…. Lars didn't like it very much last year, at least for the first couple of weeks.  But it didn't take him long to figure out that he had mom's attention all to himself… as well as 1st choice for the TV all day when the brother and sisters are at school!! :)  I'm sure it will be similar this year too!!  

Anika looking out at Custer Peak

Summer Fun

Summer is always our favorite time of year...  I'm resisting the urge to be sad that July is the "half-way" mark of summer... instead I'm focusing on the HALF we still have left!

We had a slight computer problem.. the old laptop finally crashed for good... and now I am trying to get used to a different computer.  It's great to have one that works -- I'm just getting the whole photo "upload" thing to work...

Summer officially began the first week of June with a week long camping trip at Custer State Park with James, Wendy, Jacob and Kelly.  We ended the week at Ted and Jan's home/backyard campground with the whole Moeller clan to celebrate their 40th Wedding Anniversary.  It was a super fun weekend with everyone... pictures will be added as soon as I get a CD drive for this new computer.  (apparently cd/dvd drives are "dinosaurs" in the computer world too)

One Sunday afternoon in June we were a little antsy to get "out" somewhere, so I suggested a short kid-friendly hike my friend Laurel had suggested - the Stratabowl - off Highway 16 near the House of Scandinavia.  It was a 1/2 mile hike -- and just BARELY doable with a 2 1/2 year old :)  Thor was taking pictures this day...  The scenery at the top of the bowl was incredible for sure!  Lars seemed to like the very edge better than anywhere else.  

The next thing we knew it was our Anniversary - 17 years - June 22.  I prepped Dirk to be ready for a date night out - downtown.  We ate at the Firehouse - which we had not eaten at since having kids.  It was a busy Friday night, but we got in before the supper rush began and had great service.  We both had the 'specials" of the evening (bbq brisket and buffalo roast) and had enough meat for our whole family twice over... huge portions... but it was fun to be out alone.  :)  We spent the next hour walking up and down main street, art alley and main street square.  Thanks to Holli our kids were happy to spend the evening with cousins instead of a babysitter (or babysitting).  

Here is Liv, all ready to be tucked in bed for the night.  This is the little kitty she bought with her own chore money.... you know how much I love  loath like stuffed animals... but it makes her happy :)