For the first time this summer we ran into a little road block on our walk. As we were going down the road we could see something black on the side of the road--it was a skunk. We stopped for a minute to give it a chance to waddle across the road and get well down into the ditch before we passed by. It was so windy this morning, I don't think it could hear us coming.

We are taking a trip back east the last week of September, so we spent the morning planning out our route and making motel reservations. Now I need to make my lists of things to pack so I don't forget anything.

This afternoon the warm air and humidity finally broke--it felt good to turn the AC off and open the windows again. John went up to watch Sam's football practice and I spent time clearing out more photos from my laptop. I can see this is going to be a long term job.

John's evening was spent watching the Twins and I did some reading and working on the computer.

Not much happening around here today. The temp was 75 when we left the house for our walk around 6:30 this morning. That should pretty much tell you what our day was like--hot, hot, hot. John was going to go up and watch Sam's football practice, but decided it was just too warm to be standing around outside. He did manage to spend a little time in the garden digging up a few potatoes, but that was extent of his out door activities.

I spent the day working around the house doing laundry, straightening out a closet or two, and doing some reading. Thunderstorms and heavy rains moved in tonight, so hopefully this will break the hot weather and humidity.

Today we had a very lazy day. We took our walk this morning as usual but with the heat and humidity continuing we stayed in the AC most of the day.

After breakfast, we watched a little news on TV, got cleaned up, and then headed off to church. Matt's family had gone to Fargo, ND yesterday to buy clothes for school, so the kids were all wearing new outfits this morning and waiting by the door for us to come so they could show off their new duds. They all looked real sharp in their new outfits.

This afternoon we watched the final of the Little League World Series--Japan won. This was a fun event to watch. The level of play by these young boys is just amazing. I started making some cards for our fall birthdays and got a gift ready for mailing. That's one down and eight more to go. John kept running outside to check his gopher traps--gophers are still winning. Looked at our long range forecast. The temps are suppose to be near 90 with humidity again tomorrow, but that seems to be the last of it for awhile. Rest of the week temps will be in the mid 60's and 70's. We're looking forward to having cooler days.

It was pretty warm when we went for our walk this morning and it only got hotter and more humid as the day went on. We pretty much spent the day inside in the comfort of the AC.

This morning we watched Glenn Beck's Restoring Honor Rally on C-Span. It was amazing to see how many people attended from all around the country. John was in and out several times checking his gopher traps--so far they have managed to avoid getting caught. The rest of the afternoon was spent once again watching the Little League World Series. Tomorrow is the final between Japan and Hawaii.

I spent a lot of the day catching up on some reading and paying a few bills. Sunday is suppose to be hot and humid once again. Not sure when this heat is suppose to break, but hope it happens soon.

The hot, humid weather returned in full force today. It was rather breezy when we took our walk this morning, and that helped to keep us somewhat comfortable--at least the breeze was strong enough to keep the flies and other bugs away.

After breakfast, John went up to Clearbrook to watch another of Sam's football practices. The team is starting to come together as they get comfortable with their positions and learn the different plays. They will have a scrimmage with another school next week.

The gopher wars continued again today. John had one caught by the foot, but he got out of the trap, so now he has to wait until it digs another tunnel, find the entrance, and set another trap. John told me he will be victorious--it might take a while, but he will win. Following the gopher escape, John cut some more lawn and picked a few things out of the garden. Our grapes are starting to ripen and we have to decide what we are going to do with them. We have a lot of grape jelly left from last year, so we might try making grape juice.


After being gone all of yesterday, I pretty much spent the day catching up on things around the house. I have many photos on my laptop, so I decided to take some time today and start sorting and organizing them. I'm afraid this is going to become a big project and take some time to accomplish.

We were up and out walking before sunrise this morning. Actually, it's not as impressive as it sounds because the sun does not get above the horizon until after 6:30. In another week it won't be light until 6:00. The days are getting shorter very quickly. Today the temps were very pleasant, but hot, humid weather is suppose to return over the next couple of days, so it will be back to the AC.

There was a great sale coupon in the mail from JC Penny's, so we decided to take a road trip to Grand Forks and do some more birthday shopping. We found some cute shirts for the kids as well as one or two things for ourselves. Our next stop was Best Buy where we ordered a new laptop. The one we wanted was out of stock and had to be ordered, so hopefully it will be in some time next week. They will get it all set up for us and then we will take a ride over and pick it up. We made a quick stop at Sam's Club to restock paper products and laundry supplies and then it was on to McDonald's for their $1 hot fudge sundaes. That's always the most important stop of any trip to GF.

The kids have been after me for a while to get on Face Book. Well, I finally took the plunge and decided to do it. I had some trouble figuring out how to navigate around it and since Joanne is out of town, had to call Amy and got her to explain how the site works. I have already connected with family members on the East Coast--it should be a good way to keep in touch.

John is having another battle with the gophers, so he has been setting traps once again. They are tunneling up by the house, so we have to get rid of them. So far they have managed to evade capture.

After such a busy day, it felt good just to sit and relax this evening by watching the Twins and the Colts/Packers preseason game

This morning was a little warmer when we took our walk, but it was still very pleasant. There is still a lot of water standing in the ditches, but with no rain in the forecast, hopefully these sunny, breezy days will dry things out and help keep the mosquito population down. I forgot to put repellent on before walking and ended up with a couple of bites. A heavy frost would take care of that problem.

First thing this morning, we both headed up to Sara's for haircuts. John got his done first and then went with Matt and Hanna to Bemidji to pick up some salon supplies for Sara. After they got that done, they went into Clearbrook to bring Sam home from football practice. Matt and Hanna then bought John home and while they were here the guys went out to check on the bean fields Matt has planted earlier in the summer.

After lunch John helped out in the shop for a bit (nothing strenuous) and then did some more grass cutting. It's amazing how much the grass keeps growing this late into the summer. Usually we don't have to do much mowing in August. I spent most of my day cleaning some of the downstairs area--with going out to different appointments everyday I had fallen behind in getting things done.

This afternoon I went to Weight Watchers and then rushed home in time to grab a quick bite of pizza before we headed up to church for Bible study.

It felt good to get home and have a quiet evening watching the Little League World Series. Matt, Sam, and John are really into watching the games and enjoy discussing them and trying to pick the winners of the different brackets.

The heat and humidity finally broke--it was much cooler today with lower humidity but winds of almost 30 mph. As we took our walk this morning we noticed that some of the leaves are starting to turn. Half of the leaves on one of the trees were already a bright orange. Fall is definitely on its way.

John had a PT appointment at 9:00 a.m., so we had to hustle to get cleaned up and out the door on time. The therapist was very pleased with John's progress--his range of motion is improving more each week. The surgeon had given the go ahead to start the next phase of treatment, so John has additional exercises to do. He is starting to do some isometric exercises, but has to be very careful not to overdo any of them. If he feels any pain, he needs to stop and back off on the amount of pressure he applies to the muscles. His next PT appointment is after Labor Day.



Ralph Ramsey came out later this morning and John took him on a tour of the Clearbrook area and up to Matt's house. After a lunch of hamburgers, chips, and beans they headed back out and looked at some of the lakes in the area. Ralph will be heading back to Texas this weekend so we won't be seeing him again until sometime later in the fall.

John went up to watch Sam's football practice this evening and while he was doing that, I went to the library to return a few books and pick up a couple of new ones to read. We spent the rest of the evening figuring out the new DVR recorder from Direct TV that was installed this afternoon. It seems pretty easy to operate--we even recorded a show tonight and then were able to watch it. That's pretty good for us since we are electronically challenged when it comes to using this new technology.

It was another hot and very humid morning, so we decided not to take our usual walk. John had an appointment with his surgeon early this morning, so after breakfast we headed off to Bemidji. The doctor was very pleased with his progress and wrote new PT instructions. He also told John to expect the complete recovery to take at least three months and to not expect it any sooner. John returns to see him again in another month.

Since John can't handle scrubbing the car one handed, we decided to take it to a car wash. The poor Honda was covered with dust and bug bodies and now looks like a new vehicle. From the car wash, we stopped at Wal Mart to pick up a few groceries and to start some birthday present shopping. We have six grandkids with birthdays in the fall, so we thought this would be a good time to start shopping for them.

This afternoon I ran into the post office and then stopped in at the Sandwicks. Dave, Valada, and Ralph were having a lazy afternoon, so I stayed and visited for half an hour. Ralph has a doctor's appointment in early September, so he is planning to hit the road back to Texas this weekend. His visit will overlap with Bee and Nancy Stone who should be arriving in Bagley by Thursday. It will be good to see them again.

We had a few rain showers in the early evening and the humidity still continues to hang around. The weather is suppose to break tomorrow and be much cooler for a few days. One can only hope.

This morning dawned sunny, windy, warm, and very humid. We took our usual walk and the breeze made it a little more comfortable to be outside, but not by much.

After breakfast we got cleaned up and headed up to church. Since they held VBS a couple of days this past week, the children presented a little program about what they learned followed by a video of their different activities. Sara headed up the VBS and did a super job. A lunch of sloppy Joes, pasta salad, beans, chips and rootbeer floats was served in the Fellowship Hall after the service. It was nice to sit and visit with folks while enjoying a nice meal.

We pretty much stayed inside the whole afternoon enjoying the AC. The humidity just made it too miserable to be out of doors. We watched more of the Little League World Series, and I did some work on the computer clearing out old files and organizing others. We ended the evening watching the final of Design Star.

Summer returned today. It was 70 degrees with 100% humidity when we left the house a little after 7:00 a.m. for our morning walk. The AC went on as soon as we got home. The high temps and humidity stayed around the entire day.

John went with Matt to look at another job this morning, but after that we pretty much stayed inside the entire day. I had bought a new financial program for the computer, so I spent much of my day changing over to the new program and getting it all set up and ready to use. John did venture into town to get more gas for the lawn mower and then started to cut the grass. He called it quits after a little while--it was just too hot.

We spent the afternoon and evening switching back and forth between the Little League World Series and a Harry Potter marathon. All in all, it was just a lazy day.

We had some strong thunderstorms around 3:30 a.m. this morning. There was constant lightening and several claps of thunder shook the house. Along with very heavy rains we also had some hail. This went on until daylight. After breakfast John went outside to make sure there was no damage to the house or shop. He checked the rain gauge and found we had gotten four inches of rain--the ground is just saturated and feels soggy when you walk on it.

I had heard about a big sale at one of the outfitters in Walker, so since there was nothing to be done outside and John can't do anything in the shop, we decided to take a road trip today. We left home a little after 11:00 a.m. and decided to stop for lunch in Bemidji because there is not much between there and Walker. Walker is a nice resort town located on the shores of Leech Lake--one of the bigger lakes in the northern part of the state.


Reeds sells everything under the sun for hunting, fishing, camping, etc. It is a huge store that takes up an entire block in the downtown. John was looking for the sales on ammunition and came away with several nice buys.
After spending an hour or so in Reeds, we walked through the downtown and visited several of the art galleries and shops. Since John got ammo, I found a couple of nice books that I had been wanting to read. I will set them aside to take on our trip east the end of September.

When we got tired of browsing, we headed back to the car and drove a couple of blocks to the lake shore. The day was overcast, but I did get a couple of photos of the lake and some flowers growing by the water.



It was time to head home. We made a stop at McDonald's in Bemidji for their $1 hot fudge sundaes and then one more stop at the farmers' market for a dozen ears of corn. By the time we reached home, the skies had cleared off, the sun was shining and the humidity was on the rise again. We spent the evening switching between the Twins and the Eagles pre-season game
doing some computer work.

You can tell fall is coming to northern Minnesota. The days are getting shorter--not in the number of hours, but in the amount of daylight. A couple of months ago the sun was starting to come up at 3:30 a.m. and now it doesn't begin to get light until after 5:00 a.m. We managed to get out a little after 7:00 a.m. for our walk. The temps were still cool, but not as cold as the other morning. I must admit it is much more enjoyable walking without the heat and humidity.

After breakfast, John went with Matt to help him get measurements for a deck a customer wants built on the back of her house. When they got back here. John asked Matt to trim the grass around the house, trees, etc. John can use the ride on mower, but he can't handle the trimmer just yet. Matt then stayed for lunch and visited for a while.

This afternoon the Sandwicks and Ralph came to our place for supper. Valada bought some hotdogs and I made a pasta salad to go along with some veggies, fruit, and chips. It was such a nice evening, we ate out on the screened porch. John took Ralph on a tour of our house and the shop and then we built a fire and sat out in the yard just enjoying the pleasant evening. Matt stopped in to join us--his two nieces are visiting with his two girls, so he needed a break from all the women
at his house. Sam is gone for a few days, so Matt is outnumbered.



After everyone left, we spent the rest of the evening watching some TV, working on the computer, and reading.

We had thunderstorms over night and since they continued through most of the morning, we skipped our walk and got some extra sleep.

After eating breakfast and doing his PT exercises, John headed into town to meet up with Ralph Ramsey. They took Ralph's dog, Mandy, to the Animal Clinic in Bemidji to get her coat trimmed up. They had to leave her there for several hours, so they headed off to McDonald's for a cup of coffee and conversation. Ralph decided he needed some more clothes, so they stopped at Gander Mountain were he purchased a couple of new shirts. John then took him on a little tour of Bemidji and to see the Babe and Paul Bunyan statues down by the lake. By then it was lunch time, so they stopped at a little restaurant where they enjoyed a nice meal and coconut cream pie for dessert. Mandy was ready to be picked up, so they got her and headed back home.

While John was off on his adventure with Ralph, I changed the bed linens, cleaned the upstairs, and made a big dent in the laundry--all the jobs I had wanted to get done yesterday. Even though it rained this morning, by the time John got home the skies were starting to clear a little so he decided to try and get more of the grass cut. The yard is finally starting to look good again. I made a quick trip into town to return some books to the library and picked up a new mystery.

After supper, we headed up to church for the Wednesday night Bible Study. We then spent a quiet evening--John watching the Twins while I started my new book.

It felt like fall was coming to northern Minnesota. The temperature was 47 degrees when we left the house for our morning walk. I must say it was much easier walking without the high humidity and was actually enjoyable. We noticed that the leaves on the trees are beginning to fade and the leaves on the maple trees have a slight yellowing.

I had made plans for what I wanted to get accomplished this morning. First on my list was to update my virus protection on the laptop. I had already installed it on the desk top computer, but was having some problems getting it to the other computer. To make a long story short, I had some major problems with both computers and spent the entire morning working with tech support to get them resolved. We finally had victory after three hours of work and so far both are running faster and smoother. The other items on my list will have to wait until tomorrow.

Valada Sandwick called and invited us to lunch today. Ralph Ramsey had arrived Friday and we were anxious to see him again. We had a delicious lunch of meats, salad, and veggies and a good time catching up on Fort Clark news. John made plans to accompany Ralph to Bemidji tomorrow so Mandy (his dog) can get a hair cut. Ralph has been on the road for weeks, and Mandy needs a trim to help her stay cool.

Following our visit, we headed off to Bemidji to take care of some banking and to restock a few grocery items. We didn't get everything done until almost 5:00 p.m., so decided to hit Burger King for supper. When we got home, John got the mower going and cut some grass. It had grown even more the three days we were in Sioux Falls. The rest of the evening was uneventful and spent watching some Twin's baseball.

John and I were up early this morning so we could see Caleb and Isaiah before they headed off for their first day of school. There was the usual excitement and nerves for the first day. Amy and Dave took them to school while John and I stayed home with Noah. Amy said they got there just as the classes were starting to head into the school so the boys didn't have too much time to think about things. We will give them a call in a day or so to see how the first week is going. Noah starts pre-school next week and so far seems very excited to start learning. Here are the happy students--Isaiah on the left, Caleb on the right. You can tell Isaiah is trying to put a good face on the situation.


We visited for a little while and then packed up the car and got on the road. Our first stop was to gas up the car and then it was onto the interstate. When we reached Watertown, SD, we pulled off and spent several hours in the Redlin Museum. This museum houses over 300 Terry Redlin oil paintings. If you're ever in the area of Watertown, this is a wonderful place to stop and spend some time. The museum is beautiful on the inside and it is interesting to see how Redlin's work progressed over the years. If you like wildlife art, this is a must see. There was no photography allowed inside, so I had to settle for a pic of the building.




Before we got back on the road, we stopped at Culver's for lunch and then later at a Dairy Queen for our sundae and blizzard fix. We reached home a little after five, got unpacked, caught up on emails, and spent a quiet evening watching some TV before calling it a night

Today was just absolutely beautiful. After many days of heat and very high humidity in the Sioux Falls area, the temps and humidity were much lower. Everyone was up on time and ready to leave the house by 9:45 a.m. Dave preaches at a little country church, so we needed to be there a little after 10:00 a.m. for the Sunday service.

Since the day was so nice, after lunch we decided to explore of couple of the beautiful parks in the area. Our first stop was McKennan Park. The guys were planning to throw the football around while Amy and I looked at all the beautiful flowering plants. That idea got squashed as there was a wedding taking place in the park. We didn't think they would have appreciated a football flying around. I could see why people would chose to have their weddings in this park--the flower beds and lawns were spectacular and not a weed in sight.





From here we drove across town to another park the kids new about. There we ran into another wedding, but that one was just finishing up. The kids finally managed to throw the football and run off all their excess energy. Grandpop had to be content just sitting on the sidelines watching most of the action. We told him he is on the Injured Reserve List.


When everyone was finally worn out, we loaded into the van. After a quick stop for gas and another at Papa Murphy's for pizza, we returned home. We spent a pretty low key evening. The kids had to get to bed a little earlier as they start school tomorrow. They really have an early end to their summer. Our kids up home don't return to school until after Labor Day. John and I will be hitting the road early tomorrow morning with a few planned stops along the way.

Since we were up early and had a long drive yesterday, John and I slept in a little this morning. After getting cleaned up and eating breakfast, we spent most of the morning just sitting around visiting with Amy, Dave, and the kids.

Following lunch, we decided to head over to Falls Park. The Big Sioux River feeds the falls in the park and since there has been so much rain in the area, the falls have a lot of water flowing over them. Sioux Falls had a problem with a broken sewer pipe. This along with heavy rains, forced the city to allow sewage to drain into the river. The park has restricted areas where you were not allowed near the river or falls due to contamination. This situation should soon clear up and all areas of the park reopened for visitors.

We climbed the observation tower to get a view of the entire park and surrounding area. The day was so clear, you could see for miles.



After climbing the tower, we walked around the park looking at some statues, the river, and falls. It was a beautiful day with sunny skies and, finally, low humidity.




We left the park and stopped at Kum and Go for some soft drinks before we headed to Best Buy. Dave had some questions about his new router and hopefully their advice will solve their computer problems. Next stop was home and time for supper. We all spent a quiet evening watching the Vikings first preseason game.

We thought we would get up early this morning and get our walk in before we headed off to Sioux Falls. There were thunderstorms overnight, and when we got up this morning it still looked like it might rain, so we decided to skip it for today. A little later when I looked out the window, I saw that the sky was clearing and this unusual rainbow.


Following breakfast, we finished packing for the weekend and headed into town for John's PT session. His therapist was very pleased with the progress he has made--his range of motion has really improved. She had him go through all his exercises and then added a new one to his routine and also added to the number of reps he does for each one. He will go back to see her after his appointment with his surgeon on the 23rd--the doctor will decide what is the next step in his physical therapy and when he can begin strengthening exercises.

From PT we went to the vehicle registration office and renewed the registrations for our car and truck. With that done, we hit the road for Sioux Falls. We stopped in Moorhead, MN for lunch and to gas up the car. It was then a straight shot down I-29 into Sioux Falls. We arrived at Amy's around 4:30 p.m. and were greeted by three boys who were waiting on the front steps. They talked non-stop for the first hour we were there and showed us all their new Legos. We had a fun evening visiting and seeing all the pictures of their California trip.

John and I were up nice and early this morning to take our usual morning walk. He was up and ready to go before me and as I started getting dressed, the winds came up and the rains came down--so, no walk today. It was a good thing I lagged behind this morning, or we would have been caught out in the storm and gotten soaked.

Our new pastor and his wife came for a visit this morning and brought along a very nice lunch of roast pork, vegetables, salad, and a sinfully sweet dessert. I think they thought we were still out of commission, but we appreciated their efforts and enjoyed a time of good food, conversation, and fellowship getting to know each other a little better.

John kept looking at the sky this afternoon to see if the clouds would clear out long enough to mow some more lawn. It is getting on the verge of being out of control once again. Every time he thought he could head outside, the sprinkles would start again. Guess the lawn will have to wait until next week. I spent the afternoon tackling the build-up of mail, bills, etc on the desk. I can finally see the top of the desk and have all the financial papers in order once more and everything up to date.

We have decided to take a quick trip to see Amy's family in Sioux Falls. John has PT tomorrow morning and then we will leave right from there and stay through Monday. We had planned to go down a couple of weeks ago, but John's shoulder was still too painful for trip. The showers were still coming through, so it was a quiet night watching some TV and packing.

We were up bright and early again this morning in the hopes of getting our walk done before the day heated up. The sky was overcast with a heavy fog, so it was a little cooler but still very humid.

After breakfast, John went up to Clearbrook for a couple of hours to watch Sam at his football camp. The camp runs for four mornings and teaches the kids football skills. While John was gone, I did some laundry and cleaned up around the house. By this afternoon, the sun finally burned off the last of the haze and fog and it turned out to be a nice day--still warm but with less humidity.

John decided to dig up some potatoes just to see how they were coming along. He was very surprised by the size and number he got from one plant. We had some for dinner this evening and they were delicious.


This evening we went up to church for the Wednesday night Bible study. It was well attended and we had some good discussion. When we got home, we spent the evening watching an old movie on TV. John talked to his dad and brother and they wanted to see pictures of his wood carvings and ribbons, so here they are:

We woke to hazy skies and humidity once again. It doesn't matter that we try to walk earlier in the morning, it's still warm and not too enjoyable. This warm and humid weather is suppose to move out this weekend and I, for one, will be glad for a change to cooler temps.

This morning I started sorting through the fair pics and taking some of them out of their frames and hanging the rest around the house. John checked out his garden and picked some cucumbers and tomatoes. Joanne was here this morning working in the shop, so John gave her some garden produce for their family.

Today was Primary day in Minnesota, so after lunch we headed to Holst Township building to cast our votes. This is a small little building out in the country where the residents of our township go to vote. The election judges hand us our ballot and we go into a little booth and take the pen and mark the ballot by hand. After we complete the ballot, we place it in a ballot box. This is quite different from the voting machines or computers used in the larger towns.

Matt was working down the road from us, so on our way back from voting we stopped to see how the job was going. Hanna was helping out today, but she was finished with her part, so she came back to our house for an hour or so, until Matt picked her up. The skies clouded over and we had rain showers the rest of the afternoon and into the evening. That meant a quiet night inside watching TV and catching up on some reading.

Today was the hottest so far this summer. The temps were in the low 90's with very high humidity. We got up even earlier this morning, but it was still very warm for walking--the rest of the week is suppose to be more of the same.

Our friends the Sandwicks (from Fort Clark and Bagley) are back in town for a month or so. They had called yesterday and we made a date to get together this morning. We had a nice visit which lasted well into the early afternoon. There was much news about folks and travels to share. We are all looking forward to another Fort Clark visitor arriving later this week--our good friend Ralph.

Since it was so hot, we decided to take the afternoon and head to Bemidji for some shopping in the nice air conditioned stores. Our first stop was Wal Mart to restock groceries and pick up some new pot holders and other kitchen items. From there we headed to, you guessed it, Burger King, for Whopper Jr's and diet cokes. After a quick stop at the gas pump, we headed back home where we unloaded the car and got the groceries put away. We spent a quiet evening watching a couple of good TV mysteries.

It was another very hot and humid day. We got up even earlier so we could get our walk done before it got too warm. After the 5K walk yesterday we felt pretty good--no sore muscles.

We got cleaned up and headed off to church. Due to John's surgery and my back problems, we hadn't been able to get there for the past couple of weeks. It felt good to be back and enjoyed the fellowship again.

Since it was so hot today, we spent our time inside with the AC and watched the PGA on TV. This evening we went back into the fair for the final night and picked up our ribbons, photos, and wood carvings. Matt, Sara, and the kids met us there and helped us load everything into the car. We look forward to another great county fair next summer.

Registration for the North of No Where 5K race began at 8:00 a.m., so even though we were pre-registered, John and I left home around 7:45 a.m. and headed into town. John's shoulder was feeling good, so he decided to do the walking event with me. Our family was well represented in all the events: John and I walked the 5K, son John, Joanne, Jenni, Hanna, and Sam ran the 5K and then John, Jo, Josh, Sara, and Rachel rode their bikes in the 5K part of the bike races. Here is Team Lavin-

Getting ready for the race:



Everyone on Team Lavin received some sort of award. John was first in the 5K race and the kids each won their age divisions. I bettered my walk time by almost a minute over the last race I did.
Here is a photo of the walk/run winners.


After the running portion was finished, the bike races started. Our gang all chose to ride in the 5K portion and once again, they all placed first in their age divisions.


Here is a photo of the bike winners-

We returned home just in time for lunch and then John decided to mow some more lawn. After such a busy morning, we decided to spend a quiet night at home and skip the fair this evening. We will return to the fair tomorrow.

This morning was a little warmer than yesterday, but we got up early and took our walk just as the sun was breaking over the horizon. We did a little over three miles, so I guess I am ready for the 5K race tomorrow. John thinks he may try the walk, but will wait to see how his shoulder feels in the morning.

John has been very faithful to do his PT exercises and this afternoon went for his second appointment. The therapist was very pleased with the progress he had made. Even though he still isn't allowed to move his elbow away from his body, he is getting more range of movement and the arm is getting stronger. She added a new exercise to his regimen and he will see her again next week to evaluate his progress. He has also been cleared to get the incision wet, so no more covering it before showering--this is just one more step back to normalcy.

John and I volunteered to take a turn sitting in the Original Arts building this afternoon. It's no biggie--just sit and watch to make sure nothing is taken and that people don't touch the displays. It is a good time for people watching and gives us a chance to visit with folks we know who come through the building. Our shift was from 4-7 p.m. I ran out to one of the food stands and grabbed a couple of burgers and a drink for supper. When our replacement came, we then went through all the exhibits and buildings that we didn't get to last night. We ran into Matt, Sara and the kids and spent some time with them before heading home for the evening. Need to get plenty of rest for tomorrow's 5K.

This morning the weather was much cooler--almost had the feel of autumn in the air. We walked three miles again, and I feel a little more confident about walking the 5K on Saturday.

After breakfast and doing his PT exercises, John headed outside to mow some grass. With the rains and hot weather earlier in the week, the lawn was getting out of control again. He also checked out the garden and found we had a couple of ripe tomatoes--the first of the season.


While John was busy with outside work, I started cleaning up around the house. With both of us out of commission for over a week, things really needed some attention inside. I did manage to get a room or two back under control.

We ate an early supper and then headed into the fair for the evening. Our first stop, of course, was the Original Arts building to see how Hanna and I did with our photography. I am very happy to say that two of Hanna's photos won ribbons and nine of my photos also received ribbons. We ran into Matt's family later in the evening and I must say Hanna had a great big smile on her face. Good job Hanna!!! The other big news is that John also received ribbons for his pelican and face carvings.

John wants his wood carving friends to know that the ribbon and pelican will be coming to Texas this winter. We only covered half of the fair tonight--seems we kept running into folks we hadn't seen for a while and ended up spending most of the time visiting and catching up. We at least made it through the livestock barns before calling it a night. We will be back again tomorrow.

Today was a busy one for us. We were up early again for our morning walk--the temps were a little cooler so we walked the distance of a 5 K race. I am trying to get ready for the 5K race that is being held this Saturday. Just about our whole family is either riding bike, walking, or running.

Since neither John nor I can lift anything right now, son John loaded all the photos for the fair into the car. Sara took Sam and Hanna into Bagley for their sport's physicals and then met us at the fairgrounds to help us unload everything and get the pics to the right exhibition buildings. I had pre-registered so all I had to do was put the entry tags on the pictures.



As we were leaving we walked through the Kiddie Barn where we saw a litter of piglets that were less than a week old. They were so cute!


As soon as we returned home from the fairgrounds, John left to go with Matt to Bemidji and I headed up to Sara's for a much needed haircut. After that, I came home and did a few chores around the house and then went off to Weight Watchers. We ate a late supper and spent a quiet evening watching some TV and reading.

John and I got up a little earlier than usual so we could get our walk in before before the sun came up. It was hot and humid again, so we spent most of our day inside with the AC. John started doing his PT exercises. We set up a daily routine so he would be sure to get each exercise done three times a day. His shoulder was a little sore afterward, so he also spent time icing it, but so far things seem to be going well.

This afternoon we took a quick trip into town to pick up some gas for the lawn mower and to visit the library. I got a couple of loads of laundry done and looked over my photos to make sure everything was ready for entry day tomorrow. We spent a quiet evening watching Wipe Out and a couple of other TV shows before calling it a night.

Hot and very humid!! That was the weather for today. We got up nice and early so we could take our walk before it got too warm. The sky was overcast and it looked like it might rain at any moment, but we walked two miles without a drop.

After breakfast, we got cleaned up and then headed off to Bemidji where I was scheduled for my annual mammogram. I didn't have any wait, so we were back out of the clinic within half an hour. We then headed to our favorite lunch spot--Burger King for a couple of Whopper Jr.'s and fountain diet cokes. From there it was on to Wal-Mart to pick up a few groceries and then we hit the road back to Bagley.

John and I were home just long enough to unload the car, put the groceries away, and then head back into town for his first PT session. His therapist is very nice and spent plenty of time showing John the four exercises he is to start doing. They are very limited in movement and he still has to keep his elbow right next to his body. She did what they call passive arm movements today--this means he completely relaxes his arm and she does all the moving of it. She was very pleased with his lack of pain and the amount of movement he has--first goal is to get full range of motion back.

On our travels back and forth today, we noticed that the Tel Com company had returned and was burying the new optic cable in the ditches along the road. By the time we returned from John's PT appointment, they had our driveway dug up again so we had to park out on the road until they got everything back in place. In the process, they accidentally smashed our mail box, so we will be getting a new one real soon, compliments of Tel Com.




Matt, Sara and the kids stopped over tonight so John and I could help Hanna get her photos ready for the fair. I had some extra frames and mats she could use, so we all worked together and got the pics all set for entry day on Wednesday. After everyone headed home, the rest of our evening was pretty quiet and uneventful.

We were a little later taking our walk this morning and ended up really working up a sweat. The weather this morning was very warm and humid. John and I both didn't feel quite up to sitting for over an hour, so we skipped church this morning. My back is feeling much better, but I just didn't want to take a chance of relapsing by sitting on a hard surface for a long time.

After lunch John went outside and mowed a little lawn before thunderstorms and heavy rains moved in
for the remainder of the day. Since we couldn't do anything outside, we just vegged out and watched a couple of DVD's. I must say that being forced to stay inside has really helped me rest my back and it is feeling much better. I can actually sit for a little while and bend over without pain. Hopefully this week will find me fully recovered. The county fair is this week and I really want to be able to walk around and see all the exhibits.