Happy Father's Day!

I really am pretty bad at this blogging thing, with two weeks now having passed since my last post. But I'll stick with it. I am enjoying reading Rachel's and Kelli's and Shane's contributions to the family info blogs, so I'll try better to keep up.

Happy Father's Day, DAD. Your card is in the mail ...

We went to Ft. Lewis on June 2 to welcome Jason back to the states after finishing his second tour in Iraq. It was a very happy day for a whole lot of families and soldiers. Rachel and Taco are glad to have him back and they are all here this weekend for Father's Day and Nicholas' bbq.

We are all very happy to hear Kyle is recovering from the surgery and all is looking up with a negative biopsy report. Won't be long before this will have been just a blip on the radar screen but it was a little hairy for a week or so there. The big question now: will he keep his hair short or grow it back out again?

Lou and I were in Minnesota June 8-11 for the Mt. Carmel Theological conference, one of Lou's favorites. We got to experience a pretty big thunderstorm Wednesday morning, which is not something they really need back there. The corn crop is suffering from too much wet weather already.

Today was Nicholas' First Birthday Party bbq. He had his birthday June 11 but they saved the party for the weekend so family could come. It was a nice day for a gathering and we had a good time. Nicholas is really getting good at the walking now, with shoes off or on, grass, dirt, or concrete. He even stood up again after almost falling down (hands down in front, then stood back up); we hadn't seen him do that before. He got a covered sandbox so Kelli hopes he will stop digging in the flowerpots and garden (we'll see) and some tools (shovels, rake, buckets) to use in there too. He took right too it with the little shovel, so I think it's a hit. Also several books and a bucket of blocks, and some clothes. He had a good time watching his cousins open the gifts while he played with a toy or two. He ate some frosting off his cake but really didn't tear into it like some kids do. A good time to hang out with family and Kelli's family. And today we met Jennifer's boyfriend, Steven, another teacher at Richland High School (math) where she also teaches (German). They seem to be pretty happy with each other at this stage of things. Jenn just bought a house there and moved in this past week so still doing a little painting, carpet replacement, etc. She is pretty excited about that too. We missed having the Hall family with us today, but as Dayna says, "Shane said no traveling in June." As fast as Danelle was born, we all agree it's best to hang close to home with only 2 weeks to go before the baby is due.

Ben ought to finish this summer chopping job tomorrow -- he guestimates there are maybe 3-4 hours left to go, and then no more chopping until August. Whew. Time now to repair the choppers and get them ready for the fall corn chop season. They've been working very long hours the past 3 weeks but the pay off ought to be worth it. Plenty of that sort of work to be done around here, apparently. These are the acres that Brian lined up, so it is somewhat of a joint venture.

I can see I do need to post on here more often so I don't have to have such long ones when I finally do. And I want to learn how to do pictures soon (I think it's pretty easy, I just haven't tried it yet.) So promises of better material soon so check back!