Some pictures

We had a pretty busy week end - Brian, Sarah and Henry were here visiting.  All the kids & families were here Friday evening for eats and a fire.  I didn't take any pictures then, but Michelle might have a few to post.

Sunday morning Michelle's family stopped for a while before Brian's family headed to Chicago (Michelle had to leave eary Friday evening - so they got a few more minutes of visiting).  So these pictures were all from Sunday morning.

Uncle Brian giving Dakota a big smooch.

Cheesy smile Connor!!!

Henry modeling his new hat - it's one like daddy wears.   Love the little drool.

We spent Saturday in Northfield (St Olaf's homecoming) visiting all the old haunts and checking out the new additions, etc that have been added the last seven years.   When Brian and Sarah graduated they had their picture taken on the top of the St Olaf sign.  It's been changed - now it is curved on top and they both decided they didn't want to climb up there (like they did when they were young).

Friday afternoon when they got here, they visited our neighbor Clara (who now lives in a nursing home).  It's been awhile since she had seen Brian and Sarah and the first time for her to meet Henry.   Looks like she enjoyed the visit.  Ken was able to go with them - I wasn't.

A busy week end, but it was fun........can't wait for the next one.

Back Home

Hi Everyone,
Just wanted to let you know that I came home from the hospital on Saturday about 1:30 or so, and recouperating here at home.  Things are going pretty slow, but guess that's about all I can do for now.  Soon I'll be back to normal and can start doing things again.
Brb

Pat's news

Just to let everyone know Pat has made it safely to England.  The plane was late leaving Rochester and again leaving Chicago.  I understand she  landed around 3:30 Saturday morning Minnesota time; this would be 9:30am England time.  She has talked with Tori, I have not even gotten an email to let me know she arrived safely, even though I have sent her an email and went on facebook to .  Imagine that!

WGN news and Canton, MN

Imagine my surprise while watching the noon news today (Wed) being broadcast from Chicago, IL (WGN) and the weather man started talking about some places that had hail. 
Canton MN showing up first on the list with hail diameters of up to 2.5 inches.
Since I wasn't in Canton, I don't know if this was correct or not.   I don't think Rochester got any hail.

Other events

Conrad's 6th birthday.   Wow, they sure grow up fast.

A very nice picture of Michelle and Spencer - atleast, I think it is.

Conrad and Norrie enjoying some ice cream at Conrad's party.Shortly after the ice cream, Connor took a big digger - the next day his eye was black, blue and yellow.  It was nice to be in dad's arms.

Matt Storlie's family.  I really think that Matt looks like his Uncle Robert. 

The 5 Storlie children.  Amazing how fast everyone grows up.

The Storlie family (minus 2 grandchildren).  It is really hard to get a good picture of everyone.   Someone always has to be looking the wrong direction.  I don't think it would be a family photo without it.

Henry

Papa Ken and Henry having a little talk. 

Henry with Grandma Mary

Mommy and Henry watching the monkeys at the zoo.

Henry checking out the fabric shop with Mommy and Grandma Mary.

Playing "so big"

Daddy and Henry

Henry wearing one of the bibs that Grandma Mary made for him.

Henry.   We will be seeing Henry again in just a few weeks when they come to Minnesota.   Brian and Sarah are going to St Olaf Homecoming and checking out the campus.  It doesn't seem that long ago that they were attending classes there.

Trip to Chicago

We left midday Wed to drive to Chicago.   We went in the north way thru Milwaukee.  Ken's latest favorite wine shop is just outside of Milwaukee, in the small town of Pewaukee.  It is a shop called Two Brothers, but the first time we stopped we were told it was Two Brothers and a neighbor. We have talked to the neighbor and both brothers, and they are a riot.  It is really enjoyable visiting with them.  Both times we stopped - they were very interesting and socialable.  This time we talked mostly to Joe, and he was a hoot - very funny.

A very small shop with a good assortment of wines at a very reasonable price.  They even got a bottle of strawberry wine (we were told it was all sold out until they started bottleing it closer to Christmas, but he then told us that they had 3 bottles stashed away and sold one to us.  He kept it hidden, just in case someone else came in).

After our visit to the wine shop we drove just south of Milwaukee and spent the night.  When we asked for a good place to eat - the Quaker Steak was recommended, but we were also told it might be busy since it was "bike night"   Busy???  We walked there (we were also going to stop at Target - and it was only a half mile walk), and there were so many bikes in the parking lot you could not even walk thru it - didn't know there were that many bikes in Wisconsin.  The picture is only a very small part of the parking lot and there was a lot across the street that was full of bikes, and more bikes on the street heading in that direction.  We didn't eat there.

We also made a stop in Greendale, WI where The Taste of Home Magazines are published.  Ken stopped to visit with Norman Rockwell.  We were in the historic area of Greendale - it a Mayberry type town with some really cute shops.  And the weather was great.

On the road again - almost to Chicago - you can see the skyline of the buildings.  And lots of cars.

Look our exit - we will be seeing Henry soon.  He is 6 months old already.  We haven't seen him for a couple months - do you think he will still remember us? 

Tuesday at the State Fair

I took a week off for a vacation.   We did some things around home then decided to visit the State Fair --- it's one of those you things you do every few years, not every year.  We saw some quilts - the above quilt was made using the 2012 Minnesota fabrics.

We saw lots of people - some the booths said it wasn't very busy, but we thought there were still quite afew people around.

Ken found the booth he was looking for and brought a new hat.  He got a card, so now he knows where to find the hats without going to the fair.

We saw a couple booths/food stands that looked interesting.

Visited this building

and got one of these.  It was handy to throw all of our things in during the rest of our time at the fair.

Saw this stand and thought of Jordyn -she likes pickles.

More people.

Another food stand that was interesting - now you really know why we were there - we had a couple food stands that needed to be taken care of.   Just thought it was fun to see "Peters" stands.  You would think with all the food stands we would have tried some the food, but you know what?   We didn't anything to eat at the fair.

 

We enjoyed our time, but probably won't go back for a couple years.  After the fair, we went to Chicago to see Brian, Sarah, and Henry.  Will put a post on about that later.