The heavy rains of last night became light showers by early this morning. It was so wet outside that we decided to skip our usual walk.

Right after breakfast we headed into town for John's PT appointment. His therapist was very pleased with his progress--his range of motion has continued to improve. She assigned additional exercises and said that he will probably be able to start strengthening exercises after he sees her again in two weeks. Before heading home we stopped at the local grocery store to pick some fresh fruit--John wanted some peaches for his cereal.

Matt needed a little help this afternoon, so John went to give him a hand for a couple of hours. While he was gone, I did some financial work and more picture sorting on the computer. Sam's football team had their first game at 5 p.m. this afternoon, so after John got home, we bundled up in winter coats, hats, and mittens--the sky was overcast with temps in the low 50's with wind that made it feel even colder. The Bears played good and won the game. The coach chose Sam to be an honorary captain, so he was part of the opening coin toss (Sam is #30).



Sam walking with his friend Ben, who is the quarter back of the team.

When the 7th grade game was finished, we stayed and watched the 8th graders play for a few minutes, and then headed on home. First thing we did when we got there was to put on the kettle and make a couple of cups of hot tea to help us thaw out. We spent the rest of the evening just relaxing and watching some TV.

We were up bright and early for our walk. The temps were in the upper 40's with a pretty strong breeze. John made the comment that in about a month or so, it will much colder and not so pleasant for walking. It reminded us that before long we will thinking about returning to Texas for the winter.

After breakfast, John did his PT exercises while I put the finishing touches on the food for lunch. Bee and Nancy Stone and Dave and Valada Sandwick arrived around 10 a.m. It was good to see some familiar Fort Clark faces and to catch up on their news. We sat and visited for a bit and then John gave them a tour of the shop and house. By then it was time to eat--hamburgers, pasta salad, chips, and fresh carrots and cucumbers from the garden. We sat around the table talking for another hour or so and then they headed on home.


This afternoon the clouds returned bringing thunderstorms and heavy rains, so we just spent the rest of the day relaxing inside and this evening watched the Boise State - Virginia Tech football game. It was a great game!

Over the past couple of days we have been seeing more wildlife while taking our morning walks. Today we saw a coyote running through the pasture across the road from our house. It is unusual to see them during the daylight hours. As we got further down the road, we could see some deer standing a neighbor's yard--we had a fawn standing in our own driveway a couple of days ago. It is fun to see the different animal tracks on the road as we walk. We found a spot today where the beaver have been crossing the road and have started plugging up a culvert. When John was on the town board, he would have had to deal with that problem--now it belongs to someone else.

After breakfast John did his PT exercises and then we headed up to church. We saw Hanna and Rachel right away and then spied Sam. We were really surprised to see him there. He was the center of a lot of attention with people wanting to know what had happened to his arm and how he injured it. During the service he sat in the back with his arm propped up with a couple of pillows. I think he was probably glad to get out of the house for a little while--Sara said he was going stir crazy just laying around and watching TV.

John took some time this afternoon to mow the lawn once again. Now that cooler weather has arrived we can only hope the grass will stop growing and maybe the lawn cutting will come to an end. Since we are having company tomorrow, I took some time to straighten up around the house and get some food prepared. Our evening was pretty quiet and uneventful.

When we left the house to take our walk this morning the temperature was 42 degrees. It's hard to believe that at the beginning of the week it was so hot and humid you didn't want to be out of the AC. That's how September weather is in northern Minnesota. It is suppose to dip down to 39 degrees tonight.

After breakfast, we took another road trip to Grand Forks to pick up my laptop. While we were there we made a stop at the mall for a new pair of jeans and a coffee maker, and then went to Sam's Club to get some chips and bread that were on sale. We also stuck to our normal routine and had lunch at Burger King as well as stopping at McDonald's for their hot fundge sundaes.

Matt called as we were just leaving Grand Forks and wanted to know if we could come and stay with Sam and the girls while he and Sara went to Bemidji to pick up a few things Sam will need for school on Tuesday (at least he is going to give it a try). Sam still spends his day laying down with his arm elevated with ice packs to help with the swelling. The puffinesss in his fingers is getting better. John and I got to their house in time to have supper and then Matt and Sara left. Hanna and I walked around outside trying to find something interesting to photograph--there's not too much right now--will have to wait a week or two for the fall colors to start. Sam and John passed the time watching a couple of football games.

Matt and Sara weren't gone too long, so John and I were back home around 8:30. We spent the rest of the evening watching some college football. I, for one, am very glad the football season had started.

The winds were so strong this morning, that we decided to skip our walk. The sky was overcast with a misty rain that lasted until early afternoon. Since the weather was so poor and the stores were having good Labor Day sales, we decided to head to Bemidji and finish up our birthday shopping. On our way we stopped at Matt's place to visit Sam and to see how he was doing. It seems he had a fairly good night--Sara kept up with the pain meds, so that helped him get some rest. He has to keep his arm elevated and apply ice several times a day. Rachel and Hanna are doing a good job taking care of Sam and getting him things that he needs. It's great to see Sam smiling.


When we got to Bemidji we did a couple of errands and then went to the mall where we found everything on our birthday gift list. It sure feels good to have that job done. I also found a nice jacket for the fall that should also work well for wintering in Texas. We were both getting hungry, so our next stop was Burger King for lunch. Our last stop was Wal Mart to stock up on a few groceries and where John took care of an errand for Sara.

John and I did a few chores around the house this afternoon and then spent a pretty quiet evening watching the Twins game and an old John Wayne movie.

Well, today has been quite a day. We started off as usual with our morning walk. The temps were about 10 degrees warmer than yesterday but you could still feel fall in the air. We noticed that more of the trees are starting to loose their bright green color and yellows, oranges, and reds are beginning to appear.

After we got back to the house, I took a little walk around the yard to look at the different signs of fall. The apple tree in our yard is full of small apples. The trunk of this tree is almost completely hollowed out and it amazes us how it keeps producing apples year after year. The apples are only about two inches in diameter and don't taste very good, but the deer just love them. As they fall from the tree, John rakes them up into five gallon containers to be fed to the deer.


It is also interesting to see how some of the most noxious weeds in our fields look so pretty in the fall.


Our tomato plants are producing some large and delicious tomatoes. John wanted this photo posted so he could brag to his brother about his great tomato crop.


This afternoon we headed up to Clearbrook to watch Sam's first game of the season. It wasn't an actual game, but a scrimmage with a team from another town. Our whole family has been looking forward all summer to going to the games and rooting for the Bears. They were on offense first and Sam, playing half back, was running the ball well and making good yardage. Sam, #30, carrying the ball for a large gain.


This play is a pitch out to Sam with his friend Hunter blocking for him--another nice gain.


Shortly after this, Sam broke free for a run down the field and was tackled around the ankles and went down. He went down and didn't get up. The coaches went over to him to see what was going on and Matt walked out onto the field. I thought he had fallen on the ball and had the wind knocked out of him. John then went out on the field to see what was happening. I walked down to stay with Sara and give some moral support. Matt came over and said Sam broke his arm. Fortunately, two of the parents there were nurses, and they were able to put on a splint and stabilize the arm. John then went and got Matt's truck and drove it near the field so they could get Sam inside and off to the hospital. John went with them and I took Hanna and Rachel with me. To help keep the girls occupied we went to watch the 7th grade volleyball game and then out for supper before coming back to our place.

Matt called with the news that both bones in the forearm were broken, but the good news was that surgery was not required. We had told Matt and Sara to request one of the doctors from the practice that did our surgeries as they were some of the best in their field. Dr. Caron was on call and came right over to the hospital. X-rays were taken and the arm was set and placed in what they call a soft cast for now. Sam will see the doctor next week and if the arm looks good, will then have a hard cast put on. They got back to our house around 8:00 p.m. to pick up the girls and head on home. I walked out to see how Sam was doing, and I must say he looked like one sad little puppy. He just loves the game of football and gives it his all when playing--this will be a real growing experience for Sam. Matt asked the doctor about how he thought the arm got broken. Dr. Caron said when Sam went down, he put his hand out to break his fall and that put a great deal of stress on the bone--it would have been better to keep the arm in and roll with the fall.

The doctor told Sam his arm will heal just fine and to remember that this was only his 7th grade year. Better this year than his senior one. Dr.Caron also assured him he will be healed and ready for the basketball season. Thank goodness for that since basketball is Sam's second passion. Even though Sam won't be playing any more football this season, John and I will still go to the games and cheer on the Bears.

That was our day. Not exactly what we thought it would be when we got up this morning. We're just so thankful that Sam will heal up and be better than ever.

The weather was cool and crisp this morning, almost like fall. When we left the house for our walk, the temperature was 47 degrees. Hard to believe that two days ago it was 75 degrees at 6:30 a.m. Our highs are suppose to be only in the low to mid 60's for the next week. When we got back from our walk, I went down to the pond to check things out. It seems our duck families have left and many of the birds are also gone. I suppose we will soon be seeing the geese heading south.

After breakfast, I was working back in the office when I heard a truck pull in the drive and saw our friend Tom Benson. Tom has just returned from his tour of duty in Afghanistan. I knew he was on his way back to the US, but wasn't sure when he would get home. It was so good to see him again and to learn that his entire unit made in home safely. Tom, John, and I spent the rest of the morning through the early afternoon catching up with each other and hearing about some of Tom's military experiences. We pray that he will have an easy transition back to civilian life.

Following Tom's visit, John went up to watch Sam's football practice and I headed off to my Weight Watchers meeting. We both returned home in time for a quick supper before heading off to church for Bible Study. The rest of our evening was pretty quiet--just watching a little TV and working on the computer.