Sunday, July 1, 2018

Welcome to July, we are now closer to Christmas 2018 than January 1st, 2018!!!

In the bottom picture is left to right Halvor, Dad, Ragna and Amanda with Grandma and Grandpa in front.
Of course on top is our family picture with our beloved deer head in the back.  It is Helen in front, Mom, Janet and Joan in the middle and Dad, me, Ronald and Dave in the back.
Not sure where to start this Sunday AM.  Terry and I had a wonderful trip to ND last week.  We left on Wednesday and drove through the country as we did not follow I94 all the way.  The country side was gorgeous with water, trees, green grass and so many manicured farm sites.

  • Our first stop was Veblen SD where Mom and Dad lived in their 70s and 80s.  We stopped to take a picture of their home there.  While they were there it was not the best but now............  We then stopped in at what was their senior citizen center but now it is a cafe/bar.  I talked to a couple of ladies while I waited for Terry's FF order.  When I mentioned that my parents were Ruby and Lawrence Lee she asked how they were.  Well I did say IF they were living they would be 117 now!  On our way into town we pasted a huge looking operation which I could not tell what it was.  We found out that it is a dairy operation that is working 24/7 to take care of 19,000 cows!!!
  • Our next stop was short, just a few minutes at Bergen cemetery where Mom, Dad, Ronald and many relatives are buried.  
  • From there we arrived in Cayuga where Mary and Mark are on the Saunders family farm.  We had a delightful time with them and stayed over night.  I loaded up with many pieces of maple wood from what used to be Mark's racket ball court in Forman.  The wood started out as a bowling alley in Briton SD I think.
  • We arrived in Jamestown ND on Thursday to spend the next couple of nights with Marlys and Dave.  Of course the house was filled with talk of health, family, memories of the past etc.  Oh there was also potato salad!!!  Dave and I did get to his brother-in-laws farm to shot up some things in his junk pile.  That is always fun.  We took them out for a birthday meal on Friday as Dave turned 74 that day.  It was, as always, a fun time.
  • We said good-bye Saturday morning and headed east to Fargo where we met two of Terry's girl friends from HS.  We had lunch with them and of course conversation turned to memories of the past and catching up on families.  
  • After leaving them we did a short stop to visit Grandma Saunders.  As we visited Deb B. popped in.  Our stay was short as we wanted to arrive home before dark.  Grandma is doing quite well for being 97 1/2.  I say that and then remember one of the gals we met from HS still is visiting her mother who is 101 and the other gal's mother died at 104!  Guess what, they were sisters.
  • We arrived home with enough daylight left to see our beautiful wood floors upstairs all sanded and finished.  I would say for floors that are 100+ years, I think, they look very nice.  
So now it is July 1st, we have been to ND and now are ready (maybe) to settle down and get more work done.  
Day 15, "There is a story to every picture"
Not the best picture so will leave it small!  Mary and Mark Saunders treated us to dinner (supper) in Rutland ND.  I actually think the bar/cafe that we were in used to be the bowling alley that Dad, Halvor, George and Harold (all Lees) used to bowl in the winter.  The bar/cafe has the atmosphere of a rural small town place with its animal heads, wagon wheels etc.  Mary and Mark now have the family farm where they rent out the land, have a herd of about 40 cattle and have upgraded the home. Mark is currently a full time mail carrier and Mary is retired from a nursing career.  They seem to thrive in the peaceful country setting and I can see why.  Mark is thinking about retirement soon.  

For another day we can write about the lemonade stand, the Forman museum, our old HS and more.

I could go on and on but will stop for this morning.  You can guess that my FP was a VERY welcome taste after an absence of 3 mornings.  

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