Since John didn't have to work for either JD or Matt, he took advantage of a free day, plus the beautiful weather, to catch up on some outdoor jobs that needed to be done before winter sets in.

His first job of the day was to clean up our enclosed porch--the warm weather brought out the flies and ladybugs--so the carpet needed to be vacuumed. He then replaced the porch's screen door with one he and Matt had salvaged from their recent job. After lunch John pulled the carrots, dug the potatoes, and picked a few more tomatoes. The garden is just about ready to be tilled and put to rest for the winter. John then went up to Matt's to pull some more logs out and get them ready to be cut sometime when he feels like cutting and splitting wood again. I had managed to let the receipts and paper work pile up in the office once again, so my day was spent working on the finances on the computer and tackling more laundry.

Tomorrow is Josh's last football game, so we'll be up and out early in the morning.

The cold front came through overnight and brought colder temps and some rain that continued until mid-morning. The temps dropped about 20 degrees, so the high of yesterday in the mid 70's was a high in the mid 50's today. Added to that were very strong winds which made it feel even colder.

This morning John and Matt went back to the job with plans to get the remaining ceilings completed. When they got to the last ceiling, they were short three boards, so the final ceiling will have to wait a couple of weeks to get finished as the boards have to be special ordered.

Hanna had a volleyball this afternoon, so John and I decided to leave a little earlier and take the back roads to Clearbrook so we could enjoy the autumn colors.

This cemetery has some of the most beautiful
colors on the way to Clearbrook

The Bears played super this afternoon, winning all three games. Hanna scored quite a few points with her serve and had a couple of other big plays. After the game, we called and ordered a pizza and then watched Josh's football practice until it was ready to be picked up on our way home.

Team meeting before the first game

Hanna getting ready to set the ball

We spent our evening eating pizza, watching some TV, and working on the computer.

Today was probably the last of our summer-like weather. A cold front is suppose to come through overnight with highs for tomorrow in the low to mid 50's with very strong winds. At least there is no snow in the forecast, yet. Our leaves are just beautiful right now, but the winds may strip the trees over the next few days leaving everything bare and brown. Hopefully they can hold on so we can enjoy them a little longer.

Matt and John where back on the job again this morning and managed to get one ceiling completed and about a third of the way on the second one. Their hoping to finish up tomorrow. First thing this morning I went up to Sara's for a haircut and then spent some time sorting through some things for Texas. John had taken the last of the chocolate chip cookies in his lunch, so this afternoon I baked another batch and got some birthday gifts wrapped. John got home around 5 p.m. so we ate supper at a good time and then relaxed the rest of the evening watching Survivor and a couple other new TV shows.

Our summer-like weather continued for another day with temps in the mid 70's and plenty of sunshine--should be like this for another day or so.

This morning Matt and John started a job installing new doors and tongue and groove ceilings for a customer. They got the doors finished today but the ceilings should take another couple of days. I headed off to Bemidji to take care of some errands. On the way I dropped the trash off at the land fill and then made a stop at the post office to mail the water filters I sold on ebay. When I reached Bemidji, I noticed the gas gauge was getting low, so my first stop was the gas station for a fill up. From there I made several stops at the bank, mall, and Wal Mart, and then headed back to Bagley. John had gotten home just before I did, so we were able to have supper on time and enjoy a relaxing evening watching The Biggest Loser and a couple of the other new fall shows.

It would appear that summer is returning to our part of the country. It was a beautiful day with warm temps--warm enough for shorts and no jackets. The weatherman is calling for 80 degrees by Wednesday. We have learned after living here for over 30 years that when we have warm weather the end of September that usually means we'll have a quick change over to cold weather, so we'll enjoy the warmth while we have it.

John worked in the shop the entire morning while I worked getting the kitchen cleaned up after making grape juice yesterday. There were extra jars and other canning supplies that needed to be put away. I also got the jars of juice stored away in the basement and made a couple of loaves of bread.

Right after lunch we headed north for Sam's football game. It was a two and a half hour drive straight north ending up about 20 miles from the Canadian border. The first half of the game was a big defensive battle with the score 0 - 0 at the end of the half. The second half the Bears had some trouble containing the other team and lost the game with a final score of 16-0. This was their first lost of the season. Sam played a good game, but just couldn't get free for the big touchdown run.

Sam getting the pitch out from Ben

Sam trying to run for a score with Hunter
blocking for him

On the drive home, we stopped at Subway in Thief River Falls for a late supper with Matt's family.
When we got home we watched the end of Monday Night Football and called it a night.

Today was a pretty quiet one for us. We followed our usual Sunday routine of breakfast and then off to church. Our afternoon was spent watching the Viking and Green Bay football games and making about 18 quarts of grape juice. We still have a bucket of grapes left, so it looks like we'll be making some grape jelly this week. This evening I watched the premier of The Amazing Race and a couple of shows recorded on the DVR. Tomorrow we travel again to watch Sam's football game.

We had a beautiful fall day which was absolutely perfect for going to watch football games. Josh's 5th grade team was playing in Clearbrook this morning, so we didn't have far to travel to watch him play. The 5th graders won both their games--they keep improving in their play each week. Today was a family affair at the games. Since Clearbrook was hosting the games, it was their responsibility to provide refs and ball spotters. Both Sam and Matt volunteered to help out and were the officials for both of Josh's games.

Josh (blue sleeves) playing safety and getting
ready to break up a pass play

After lunch John took advantage of the nice weather and picked the rest of the grapes in the garden and then pruned the vines in preparation for winter. He also pulled all the onions--that just leaves the carrots and potatoes in the ground. Hopefully he'll get to them next week. I spent some time cleaning up around the kitchen and getting more jars washed in preparation for more grape juice.

Today was Rachel's 11th birthday, so after supper we headed up to Matt's for a party, cake, and ice cream.

The Birthday Girl

We were up bright and early this morning to see Gus and Katie off. They were on the road by 7 a.m. with plans to stop at Janesville, WI this evening. The weather was just beautiful today, so they had good weather for the first leg of their journey.

After breakfast, John spent a few hours down in the shop helping JD with some assembly. I spent some time cleaning the guest room, changing the bedding, and generally getting the room ready for the next guest to stay overnight.

This afternoon was the homecoming parade in Clearbrook; however, I opted to stay home so John went with Matt. When he got home he said the entire parade lasted about 15 minutes and he took a couple of photos. This evening we watched a couple premiere's of our favorite TV shows.

Julie's first grade class


Jenni's third grade class

I was informed today that I needed to make a correction to yesterday's post. Sam scored four touchdowns, not three.

Our weather finally took a turn for the better and today was just beautiful--cool temps with plenty of sunshine and soft breezes. Matt called this morning to ask if John and Gus would like to do some fishing. Of course, the answer was "Yes". It was decided to use Matt's boat, so they headed up to his place. They had some success and a good time.

Gus caught a Northern

Since the guys wanted to fish, Katie and I decided to hit the mall in Bemidji. Last night at supper, Carol T. had given us some 20% off coupons for Herberger's, so that's where we started our shopping. I found some jeans and a couple of long-sleeved shirts and Katie found a nice shirt decorated for autumn. While we were at the mall, John called and said the guys were going to go into Clearbrook for some lunch and then out to Matt's place to check out the deer stands. What that meant was the girls could go for lunch in Bemidji and continue the shopping expedition. Following a quick lunch break at BK, we went downtown to a variety store and did a little more shopping. It was then time to head home so we could rest up a little before going back into Bagley for Sam's football game.

This was an important game as Bagley and Clearbrook are big time rivals. The 7th grade lost their game, but the 8th graders won with a score of 48-16. The last minute and 45 seconds of the game weren't played due to darkness. Sam had a great game, scoring three touchdowns.

Sam (#5) waiting to receive the kickoff

Sam on his way to a touchdown

After the game, we all went up to Matt's house for pizza, visiting, and a recap of the game. Tomorrow our company heads back to Ohio.

We had another cold, rainy, and breezy day that kept us house bound for the morning and afternoon. Around 3 p.m. we all got cleaned up and headed off to Bemidji to meet Carol T. (John and Gus's step-sister) for supper at Applebee's. We made a quick stop at Wal Mart for a few items before getting to the restaurant. Carol was just pulling in as we arrived so our timing was perfect.

Everyone had a delicious meal and we stayed there for over an hour just visiting and catching up. The waiter kept asking us if we wanted anything more to eat or drink and we finally got the hint they would like us to give up our table. Since we still had more visiting to accomplish, it was decided to head over to Perkins for coffee and pie. Perkins wasn't at all busy, so we were able to stay and talk until we were all talked out. We had a very enjoyable evening--it was good to have family together again and spend time visiting and catching up.

The day was cloudy, rainy, and cold--the perfect kind of day to just stay inside and veg out, and that's exactly what we did today. Katie and Gus needed some time to recuperate from Sunday and Monday's long drive.

We were just finishing a late and leisurely breakfast when Matt stopped in for a visit. That lasted until after 12 p.m. John and Gus then made a quick trip into town for some lunch meat and came back with that and a gallon of ice cream. They told Katie and me that the ice cream was free with the purchase of the lunch meat--a big special deal they were running at the local grocery store. John made the story sound so true that we believed them until they confessed, later in the evening, that they paid for the ice cream. That's what happens when Gus and John get together--always pulling some sort of stunt.

Our evening was spent doing more visiting and playing cards. We had a good first day visit (all except for fooling us about the ice cream).

We had a beautiful day today--warmer temps, sunshine, and slight breezes. John worked in the shop the entire morning so he could get everything done as he'll be busy visiting with his brother the rest of this week. I did laundry, changed bed linens, and baked an apple pie so we would have something for dessert this evening.

This afternoon we traveled a little over an hour to Goodrich for Sam's football game. The Bears played well and dominated with a final score of 40 to 0--Sam scored three touchdowns.

Sam heading for the end zone

Sam (#5) scoring a touchdown

It was past supper time when we headed home, so we stopped at the Drive-in in Clearbrook for a burger and fries. I called Katie to see if they had arrived at our place, and they were just eating at BK in Bemidji. We were able to take our time eating and as we drove down our road, we could see them just in front of us--our timing was perfect. Matt, Sara, and the kids stopped for a pizza and brought it down to our place so we could all visit for a little bit. We had a good time visiting, looking at pics of the game, and telling a few family stories.

We had rain for about half of the day--it has been very dry here and the moisture was very much appreciated. Hopefully the rains made it to the Boundary Waters area where there have been major forest fires.

It was a pretty low key day for us--church this morning and then watching the NFL games this afternoon. We also took some time to hang a couple of pictures in our guest room and I made a batch of chocolate cookies. John's brother and sister-inn-law will be arriving tomorrow from Ohio and will be spending the week with us. We're planning to do some visiting and catch one of Sam's games. That's all for today.

Today's weather was cold, cloudy, and windy. What's with the weather and football games? When we watched Josh play last Saturday, it was hot and sunny with us looking for shade every few minutes. Every game this week, and there were three, were played in cold and windy conditions--cold enough to wear winter jackets, hats, and gloves. If there wasn't a game scheduled, then the weather was very nice with sun and light breezes. I guess that's just how it is during football season.

John and I were up early as we had over an hour's drive to watch Josh play. The 5th graders played well and won both their games.

Josh (blue sleeves) blocking his man

Josh's first pass completion which he ran
in for his first touchdown

Coach JD congratulating Josh on his
catch and touchdown

After the games were finished, John and I went to Grand Forks to do so shopping. Our first stop was Culver's for some lunch and then we went to Bed, Bath & Beyond for some new cookie sheets. From there we made a quick stop at the mall for a birthday present and then on to Sam's Club for some household supplies. Our final stop on the way home was DQ for an ice cream treat. We weren't too hungry since we had a late lunch so an ice cream cone and Blizzard were just enough.

We had another cool, breezy day. John and I had some errands to run this morning, so right after breakfast we headed off to Bemidji. First stop was to gas up the car and air up the tires--the change to cooler temps always seems to affect the Honda's tire pressure. Next stop was the bank and then on to Wal Mart for a grocery run. By the time we finished with everything, it was lunch time, so we stopped at BK for a quick bite to eat before heading home.

Before we left this morning, Matt called and asked John if he wanted to go fishing this afternoon--of course he said "Yes". As soon as we got home, John gathered up his fishing gear and headed out. He caught a couple of Northern's, but they got off the line before he could get them into the boat. Matt caught a nice lake trout.


While John was fishing, I got the groceries put away and did a little straightening up around the place. We spent another quiet evening watching some TV and working on the computer. Tomorrow will be another busy one as we'll be watching Josh's football games.

Last night the temps dropped to 25 degrees which resulted in a very hard freeze. The signs of fall are everywhere with the leaves becoming more colorful and flocks of geese flying south. We haven't seen any robins or hummingbirds for several weeks.

John worked down in the shop for most of the morning and I tackled the pile of receipts and other paper work in the office. Between painting and going to volleyball and football games, we've just been tossing everything on the desk and today was the day to get everything sorted out, entered into the computer, and filed away.

Hanna had a volleyball game in Clearbrook this afternoon, so John and I headed up to the school around 4:30. The girls won the first game, lost the second, and won the third. They played much better today than they did on Monday.

Hanna (7) digs out the ball and sends it over the
net for a score


Set for the serve

Our evening was pretty quiet--reading, working on the computer, and watching a few favorite TV shows before calling it a night.

This morning we woke up to a dusting of white on the grass--no, not snow, frost. It was so windy last night, that John couldn't get the garden covered to protect it from freezing; however, the wind died down during the night, so he got up around 3 in the morning and managed to get his tomatoes covered. He told me it was 32 degrees when he went outside. The temps are suppose to drop to 24 degrees tonight.

John worked in the shop this morning doing more assembly and I finally got the last of the laundry done. The frost finished off the cucumber plants last night, so John picked the rest of the cucumbers and we made more dill pickles this afternoon. We also made another batch of grape juice with the rest of the grapes he had picked the other day. Now that we've had that first hard frost, we'll soon start digging the carrots, potatoes, and onions and get the garden ready for winter. Tonight Survivor starts--can't wait!

Every September there is one week that I call the "transition" week--the week that starts out in summer and ends up in the fall/winter. This week is that transition week. Saturday and Sunday were hot and by today, the temps only reached the low 60's with chilly, strong north winds. We have a frost warning for the next two nights and day time highs in the low 50's. I think it's safe to put the shorts away and break out the long pants and sweatshirts.

John worked down in the shop again this morning while I kept busy baking bread, doing more laundry, and cleaning the upstairs bathroom. After lunch, we made more grape juice from the grapes John picked yesterday.


Sam and Hanna both had games in Fosston (a town about 18 miles west of us) this afternoon. As soon as we finished with the juice, we got cleaned up and headed off. Hanna's games started at 5, so we were able to watch her play and then head out to the football field to watch Sam's game. Sorry to say that Hanna's team didn't fare too well, but the football team won with a score of 30-0.

Hanna returning a volley



Sam running for a big gain

Following the game, we all met up at the local Dairy Queen for supper and an ice cream cake to celebrate Rachel's birthday with Sara's Dad and stepmother who had come up to watch the games and bring Rachel her birthday gifts.

We woke up to another beautiful day--warm temps and plenty of sunshine; however, the weatherman was calling for a big change sometime today. John worked in the shop this morning doing some assembly. I started some laundry and finished getting the guest room ready for next week's visitors.

After lunch, John worked out in the garden picking cucumbers and grapes--tomorrow we'll get busy making more grape juice and pickles. Sam had another football game this afternoon, so we headed up to the school a little after 4 p.m. Right around lunch time, the winds started picking up out of the north and the temps began dropping. By game time, we had to wear long pants and hooded sweatshirts--by the end of the game, we were quite cold. The Bears won and Sam played a great game.

Sam being tackeled

Sam doing the tackling

This run ended with a touchdown

It was almost 6:30 by the time we got home, so we had a quick supper of soup and sandwiches to warm us up and then watched some NFL before calling it a night.

We had another warm, sunny day, but according to the long range forecast, this is the last one for at least 10 days. Our area is suppose to have it's first frost by the middle of the week and the temps will only be reaching the mid 50's one day. We have noticed the leaves on the maple trees are turning red and orange in a few places. Fall is here in northern MN.

Today was the first Sunday of our church's fall schedule. That meant that church started at 10:30 instead of 10 a.m. Since we were having a potluck meal after the service, I had to put the finishing touches on the jello salad I was taking before we left the house.

Our afternoon was spent watching football and taking a few minutes to get some of the furniture put back in the guest room. This evening we watched a documentary remembering the events of 9/11.
May we never forget those who lost their lives that day.

John and I were up nice and early and on the road by 7:45 a.m. to head off to watch Josh's first fifth grade football game. Today all the schools involved with this program played at the same school--there were six games going on at the same time. The fifth graders played first with each team playing 15 minutes on offense and then 15 minutes of defense. Clearbrook doesn't have enough 6th graders so some of the firth graders had to play both games. Some kids ended up playing four games back to back. Josh's team played well and everyone seemed to have a good time and a lot of fun. That's what's important at this stage of the game. The weather was sunny and very warm, so we were thankful that we were done before noon. John and I stopped at DQ for an ice cream treat on the way home.

Josh, 69, blocking him man

Josh pursuing his man

Coach JD and Josh on sidelines

Once we got home, we watched the Penn State game and got in a little nap time. Feeling energized afterwards, we made our first batch of salsa. John chopped up all the ingredients while I got the jars washed and ready to use. We are having a potluck meal after church tomorrow, so I made Mary Ellen's orange jello salad before calling it a night.

It was another beautiful day in northern Minnesota. The temps warm up by late morning and we need to turn the AC on, then once the sun goes down, it cools off enough to open the windows and let the fresh air inside.

First thing this morning John went with Matt to finish up the window job--it only took an hour and then he was back home. John then cleaned the ashes out of the outdoor stove and pruned the plum trees behind our garden. The branches were growing so close to the ground he couldn't drive the mower beneath them to cut the grass.

While John was busy with his chores, I went to Bemidji to get my new glasses adjusted and then stopped at Wal Mart for some groceries and a few other items we needed. Tomorrow we up bright and early to watch Josh's first football game.

It was a busy day for both John and I. John went off with Matt this morning to continue working on the window installation job. My entire day was spent painting our guest room. I was able to get a second coat of paint on the walls I started yesterday and then got the fourth wall, which I did with a different color, covered with two coats. That's the last of the painting and updating around here until next spring. I had just put the last of the painting supplies away when John came home. Hanna had a volleyball game in Clearbrook at 5 p.m., so we needed to get cleaned up and off to the school.

Hanna' team is really starting to play well together--returning serves and volleys--winning their games tonight very handily.

Hanna (on left) going up for the ball

Hanna serving the ball

The volleyball games were done early, so John and I walked out behind the school and watched the 5th grade football practice for a little bit. JD is one of the coaches and Josh is playing on the team this year. Their first game is this Saturday. Joanne, Jenni, and Julie were also there and we visited with them before meeting Matt's family at the pizza place for some supper. Matt and
Sara had to return to the school to wait for Hanna, so John and I dropped Sam off at his house

before going home.

Our evening was spent watching the first NFL game of the season. Go Packers!!

After several days of fall-like weather, summer returned. We are expected to have temps in the upper 70's to mid 80's with plenty of sunshine through the weekend.

Matt and John started a job installing all new windows in a house south of Bagley and were gone for a good part of the day. The new bedspread I ordered for the guest room arrived yesterday so now I could make a decision on paint colors. After John and Matt left, I loaded the trash in the Honda, stopped at the landfill, and then headed to Bemidji and Home Depot. Fortunately, a friend of ours works in the paint department and he graciously worked with me to get the exact shade of paint I needed. I made a stop at Target and the grocery store for a few things and then started back home.

John and I had already prepared the room by moving the furniture and removing trim. As soon as I got back I started on the paint job, getting three walls covered with the first coat before calling it a day. Hopefully the second coat will be done by noon tomorrow and I can do the final wall with the second color. Hanna has a volleyball game tomorrow afternoon, so my painting time and John's work day will be cut short. After such a busy day, we spent a relaxing evening watching some recorded TV shows.

This is going to be pretty short as it's almost 10:30 in the evening. We just got home from Sam's football game. We left a little before 2 p.m. and it was over a two hour drive to the town where the game was held. The 7th grade team played first and then the 8th grade. The Bears played an excellent defensive game, but really struggled on offense as three of their key players were missing. That's one third of the team when you're playing nine man ball. They lost in the last minute of the game with the final score 8-6. The game ended about 7 p.m. so we stopped at a Subway about half way home for a quick bite to eat. Matt, Sam, and another player and his dad stopped with us to eat and rehash the game.

As for the first half of our day, John did a little work in the shop for JD and then cut down an apple tree that we had planted over 30 years ago. Each year more of the tree was dying but it still produced; however, this spring it finally gave up the ghost and it needed to come down. That's all for now--time for bed.

It got pretty cool last night--JD said he had 32 degrees on his thermometer this morning. John decided the weather was perfect for cutting firewood, so he headed up to Matt's right after breakfast and cut a trailer load, brought it home, and got it unloaded and stacked.

While John was busy doing wood, I did a couple of loads of laundry and framed some photos using the new ones he made. After lunch we hung the pictures in the living room--that room is now completely finished. JD needed some help in the shop after being on a short vacation last week, so John gave him a hand for a couple of hours.

Following supper, we moved the furniture in the guest room away from the walls and John removed all the trim and baseboards. I have a little taping to do and then it will be ready for painting. I hope to get to that by the middle of the week. Tomorrow is another football game way up north, so we'll have to leave right after lunch.

John and I had a rather lazy day. We got up in plenty of time to get ready for church and were actually early for the service. We had a special treat today as our special music was Hanna and Rachel singing a duet.

After lunch we watched some tennis and golf and then John headed outside and mowed the lawn. With that job out of the way, he went down the shop to lacquer the picture frames he made yesterday. I cleaned up the kitchen, labeled the pickles we made, and got them stowed away in the basement. Our evening was spent watching a movie and doing some reading. Like I said, a pretty low key day.

There was a definite change in the weather overnight. The heat and humidity have been replaced by much cooler temps--high's only reached the low 60's today. It is starting to feel like fall around here.

Our first chore of the day was to cut up cucumbers and onions in preparation for making more pickles. After getting everything sliced up, it needs to be refrigerated for three or four hours. Our thought was to let everything chill while we made a trip to the landfill. Before heading to the dump, we made a quick stop in town to fill up the truck and a gas container--price of gas is up--$60, ouch!

After lunch we got the pickles done--7 more pints are now on the shelves. John's grapes are coming on, so we wanted to try making some grape juice. Our friend, Mary Ellen Miner, emailed us a very simple recipe--just put a cup of grapes in a quart jar along with some sugar, boiling water, and then process for 10 minutes. We did up four quarts, should be interesting to see how it tastes.
In between breaks in the canning, John went back and forth to the shop to work on some new picture frames. He has some old wood that he's using and is experimenting with different stains and paints to get a different look for the frames. I am planning to paint our guest room next week, so I spent some time getting things moved around and out of the room. College football has started, so we also spent some time today watching a few of our favorite teams play. We especially root for Penn State and Boise State.

We left the house around 8:45 a.m. to head up to Sara's so John could get his hair cut. I went along as we planned to leave from there and go to Bemidji where we had some errands to do. Before we left the house, I transferred all the photos I took at the scrimmage onto a CD so Matt and Sam could have them. As usually happens when Matt, Sam, and John get together after a game, about an hour or so was spent talking over the plays and other aspects of the game. It was almost 11 a.m. before we left their place.

Our first stop in Bemidji was Home Depot to return the tile and adhesive we didn't use. Next, the eye clinic where I picked up my new glasses--it's amazing how much better I can now see things in the distance. From there we stopped at the mall to return some decorative pillows and then K-Mart for some canning supplies. It was now lunch time and, no, we didn't eat at BK, but chose Arby's instead. Final stop was Wal Mart for a few groceries and then back home.

This afternoon John cut the grass using the old lawn mower so he could bag the clippings for his compost bin. I had started organizing and cleaning out the storage closet a few days ago and got that done today. This evening John watched some college football while I worked on the computer and watched a movie.

Strong thunderstorms arrived in our neighborhood early this morning. We were hit with very strong winds and heavy rains--three inches in little over an hour--which left us with high temps and humidity for the day.

John and I slept in a little later and had a rather lazy morning. If felt good having some free time after pushing to get the kitchen finished this week. After lunch we headed up to Matt's to meet up with him and drive up north for Sam's football scrimmage. We arrived at the school about an hour early (didn't take as long to get there as we anticipated), so we found an ice cream stand and had a couple of sundaes.

It was one year ago tomorrow that Sam broke his arm in a scrimmage against this same team. I'm happy to say that today's outcome was much different. I think he was a little nervous about taking that first hit, but once he got out on the field, he did very well. The Bears held their own against the other team and were able to practice their many different plays. There was no score keeping--the teams has so many plays on offense and then the same for defense. The coaches stayed out on the field and made corrections or changes after each play. It was a real learning opportunity for the players from both schools.

Sam carrying the ball for a nice gain

Sam getting ready to pass the ball

While we were at Sam's scrimmage, Sara and Rachel were watching Hanna's volleyball game. Her team lost the first game, but won the next two, so their season is off to a great start. John and I came home through Bemidji, so we stopped at, where else, BK for a quick supper before heading for home. I have put all the kids' games on our calendar, and I think we'll be very busy this month