The Morey, the Merrier

Susan's uncle Frank and his son John are in town this weekend for hunting, so Susan's aunt and uncle Kathy and Pat invited all available members of the extended family to their house for supper and visiting.  Suzanna was out of town yesterday and today for a swim meet in Jamestown, but the rest of our family went over to Kathy and Pat's and enjoyed visiting and snacking (and our girls enjoyed playing with the little kids in the house: their third-cousins!) (and Suzanna got dropped off there when the swimmers returned to town, so she, too, got to see everyone).

Wanna see some photos?

Scandinavian Seafood Delights

For this Scandinavian Saturday, we had special guests: Susan's sister Cassie, her son Davis, and Susan and Cassie's dad Roger.  Because of the busy-ness with the funeral yesterday and the house guests this weekend, Susan wondered if I'd like to postpone today's Nordic meal.  Instead I took on the challenge of preparing an ethnic meal that would allow our family to try new Scandinavian recipes but that would not turn off our relatives with ingredients or flavor combinations that were too out-of-the ordinary.  Suzanna was my assistant this week, and here's what we came up with:

Morey Christmastime Get-Together

Susan's aunt and uncle Kathy and Pat are s' good to host the extended family at their lakeside home for special occasions, including holidays. They did so again tonight so that everyone could get together and see the out-of-state relatives who are here for Christmas visits: Susan's aunt Jake, her daughter Kelli, and Kelli's daughter Kynnedi; and Susan's sister Cassie, Cassie's husband Nick, and their son Davis.

There was a lot of terrific food (sausage and dumpling soup, cheese and broccoli dip with corn chips, crab dip with crackers, shrimp with cocktail sauce, crudités, and "holiday baking" galore) and conversation . . . and noise! There were LOTS of little kids running around--very fun! Here are some photographic highlights:

Morey great-grandchildren! Trae (sitting with his daddy Todd), Hillary holding Davis, Abigail holding Kynnedi, Kaden, Suzanna holding Kylan, and Jordan (sitting with his mommy Laura)

Kathy's daughter Tina's son Kylan (with his mommy)

Kathy's son Todd's son Trae (with his mommy Trista)

Susan's aunt Mary's daughter Laura's son Kaden

Laura's other son Jordan

Jake's daughter Kelli's daughter Kynnedi

Susan's mom Sue's daughter Cassie's son Davis (with me)

Nick and Cassie, the parents of Davis

Cassie and Kelli, cousins and best friends

Nick and his son Davis

Moreys in Da House

Monday evening Susan's sister, Cassie, arrived at our house to stay for a few days. She and her husband, Nick, live in SC but are back for a week or so to visit; he stayed in Fargo, ND to work at his employer's branch office there and to see his friends and family in that area, and Cassie borrowed a car to come to southwest ND to see her relatives here. So Susan invited the local members of her mom's side of the family (the Morey side) over to our house for supper to see Cassie.

[Here's some lineage for those of you who might wonder at the similar names in upcoming sentences: our daughter is Suzanna; her mom is my wife, Susan; her mom was Suzanne, or "Sue"; her mom (Susan's grandma) was Susan; her mom (Susan's great-grandma) was Susanna; and her mom (Susan's great-great-grandma) was Susan. Got it?]

When I first started dating Susan--and through the majority of our marriage--I got to participate in weekly Morey get-togethers at Susan's grandma's house. Grandma Susan's kids and grandkids would gather at her house every Sunday morning after church, and the women would start making a huge breakfast that we liked to call "heart attack on a plate": bacon, sausage, fried eggs, toast, and pancakes. I was amazed at how smoothly it always went considering how casual it was; whoever happened to get there first started to make one food item, and subequent arrivals looked around to see what still needed to be made and then started making it. Eating was in shifts: grandkids first followed by adults, most of whom sat around the table in Grandma Susan's small kitchen, squished but content. As food ran out, Sue or one of her sisters noticed and got up to make another batch of that item. No one left Grandma Susan's house hungry on a Sunday.

Years later Sue passed away followed some time later by Grandma Susan, and the adult children sold Grandma's house--and with it went the central Sunday morning meeting place. There have been subsequent Sunday get-togethers at Susan's aunts' homes, and everybody still enjoys those occasional heart attacks on a plate (which are still made with the same casual, unplanned look-around-to-see-what-needs-to-be-made-and-then-make-it approach to cooking); but the weekly gathering happens no more, and we miss getting together with the Moreys as often as we used to.

Monday night was a little bit like a return to past form. Well, not all the women were in the kitchen together cooking, but they all contributed dishes to the food that Susan laid out for the meal--and just having everyone together made it feel like old times. We stocked coolers on the veranda with beer and soda, and I took my station at the grill to make hot dogs and burgers (some of them uncharacteristically pink--sorry about that!). Susan laid out the fixin's: lettuce, tomato, onion, cheese, ketchup, and mustard. She made a huge bowl of potato salad and a crockpot of baked beans. She made a batch of hummus, which she served with pita chips, and she laid out fresh veggies alongside her chocolate chip/toffee bit oatmeal cookies (for balance). Once we added the other food that arrived (crab pasta salad from Kathy, Jell-O salad from Mary, Rice Krispie bars from Laura, a variety of chips from Trista, and homemade granola bars from Audrey), the kitchen counters--and our plates--were overflowing.

Not all the Morey clan were here, of course, but still we had quite a houseful of Grandma Susan's offspring:

• Sue's widower Roger and all their children: daughter Susan, me, and our children Suzanna, Abigail, and Hillary; son Jerrett; and daughter Cassie
• Kathy and her husband Pat, their daughter Tina, their daughter-in-law Trista, and Trista and Todd's son Trae
• Terry and his wife Audrey
• Mary and her husband Dale, their daughter Laura, and Laura and Brian's sons Caden and Jordan

Some relatives hadn't seen our house since we did our post-move-in redecorating (remember this and this?), so they got tours of our home. Meanwhile our daughters appointed themselves babysitters of Trae and Caden, and the womenfolk passed around Jordan all night long, so the kids were all in good hands. The kids ate at the table in the family room, the women ate in the dining room, and the men ate out on the veranda. When the sun went down and it got too cool out there, they came inside and joined the ladies. Our kitchen and dining room and living room are all open to one another, so it was easy for people to spread out but still stay within visiting distance. It was a great night of food, visiting, and just general family bonding time.

Last night Roger and Jerrett came over again to join us for supper. Susan ordered brisket, pork, chicken, jambalaya, and corn bread from JD's Barbecue, a terrific local restaurant, and I picked it up on my way home from work. Leftovers from the night before rounded out the meal. We said our goodbyes to Cassie this morning, and she returned to Fargo today. Before she left town, she made a stop at the girls' elementary school to visit Abigail's teacher, Mrs. Bauer, who happened to be Cassie's grade school teacher, too! Cute!

So, it's just Mobergs in this house again, but we surely enjoyed having extended family here the past few days.

Happy 7th Birthday, Hillary!

Our baby turned seven years old today, which is amazing to process considering how young Susan and I are. I had to work today, of course, and Susan had to attend the second day of a two-day summer workshop at DSU for teachers working on continuing their own professional development for licensure renewal. So Hillary and Abigail (Suzanna is still at Bible camp) spent the day at Susan's cousin Laura's house, which suited them both just fine because they love Laura and Brian and their son, Kaden. Susan made cupcakes to send along, but first we had Hillary pose with them since they = her birthday cake this year:

The letters in the frosting spell out "Happy 7 Birthday Hillary Ann." The last "N" in "ANN" is actually a sideways "Z," but you're not supposed to notice that.

Per Hillary's request we started the day with breakfast at Hardee's (home of the delicious "cinnamon 'n' raisin biscuit") at 7:00 A.M. before dropping the girls off with Laura and Brian. When I got home from work, per Hillary's request we took her out for supper (and Susan's dad, Roger, joined us) at Sanford's, home of the ridiculously delicious, obscenely gigantic, and incomprehensibly free birthday sundae:

Grandpa Gustafson got to sit next to the birthday girl.

That's three large scoops of vanilla ice cream atop a plate-sized chocolate chip cookie. The scoops are drenched in strawberry sauce, chocolate syrup, and butterscotch topping and sprinkled with butterscotch and chocolate chips with a dollop of "whipped topping" (yuck!) and a maraschino cherry on top. (Notice that Hillary consumed the cherry before I could snap the pic.)

After supper Roger joined us at home for the opening of the presents. That fun was delayed, however, by three wonderful surprises: telephone calls for Hillary from my sisters, Cathy and Sandy; and a visit from my dad and my stepmom, Beverly! Beverly has a medical appointment in Bismarck tomorrow morning, and Dad had one in Williston today; so they decided to drive through Dickinson on their way to the hotel in Bismarck tonight. What great reasons to postpone the present-opening for a while! But all the grandparents were here to watch Hillary open everything. She'll have a party with her friends within the next week or so, too, so the celebratin' ain't over yet!

What a great photo of my dad!

Grandma gets some affection while Hillary gets some advice, apparently, from Abigail!

Bible camper Suzanna wasn't around for this photo opportunity: Grandpa and Grandma Moberg with their grandkids.

Here's something fun for you: a video journal of Hillary's seventh birthday. [Notice how she waves farewell when she says "goodbye" on the telephone!] Enjoy!

Congratulations, Tina and Craig!

Susan's cousin Tina (Susan's mom's sister Kathy's daughter) got married last month in Las Vegas, so only their immediate families plus a few friends were in attendance at the wedding. Therefore Tina's mom and friends planned a surprise wedding reception for them in Dickinson last weekend (while I was still in Portland, so I know about it only through my family's tales and photos). Out-of-state relatives returned to surprise Tina and her husband, Craig, and Susan and the girls had a great time. Here are some highlights:

Back row: Laura (Susan's mom's sister Mary's daughter) and her son, Kaden; Lindsey (Susan's mom's brother's son Michael's wife) and her daughter, Cadence; Trista (Susan's mom's sister Kathy's son Todd's wife) and her son, Trae; and Christy (Susan's mom's brother's daughter) and her son, Matthew; Front row: Suzanna, Abigail, Hillary, and Susan

Laura, Kaden, and Cheryl (Susan's brother Jerrett's wife)

Fatigued toward the end of the night are Suzanna and Bailey (Susan's mom's sister Kathy's husband Pat's sister's granddaughter).

Tina and her new husband, Craig, and their "first dance"

Tina dancing with her daddy, Pat

Kathy dancing with her new son-in-law, Craig

Patti (Susan's mom's sister) dancing with her grandnephew Matthew

Jake (Susan's mom's sister) dancing with her grandnephew Kaden

Jake dancing with her grandniece, Cadence

Tom (Pat's brother's son) dancing with Hillary

Abigail dancing with Matthew

Suzanna and Abigail cuttin' a rug

Hillary, Suzanna, Abigail, and Bailey doing the macarena

Hillary taking pics with a cell phone that is not hers (nor ours, since we don't even own one)!

Surprises for the Girls

Just 'cause I thought it was a cute pic!

The Sunday of Labor Day weekend definitely has the potential to be such a lazy, relaxing day. Alas, that was not to pass for the Mobergs today--but we had a pretty darned good day anyway, including a couple of surprises for the girls.

Despite our having arrived home really late last night from our shopping day in Bismarck, we woke the girls pretty early this morning to eat breakfast and get ready for church. One of the day's surprises involved meeting our friends Chris and Heather and their son, Keaton, for dinner at 11:30 A.M., so we didn't want the girls sleeping in and eating a late breakfast and having no appetite later on. After church we spent an hour getting started on a thorough house-cleaning in preparation for the evening's surprise (more on that in a moment) and then were off to Sanford's for dinner and visiting/catching up. (By the way, while there we saw our neighbors Chuck and Reba, whose visiting family [Chuck's mom from NE and Reba's sister from MT] we got to meet.)

Afterwards we headed to the Prairie Hills Mall for "Dollar Days." I got a great deal on a shirt from Herberger's, and we got to visit with Susan's aunt Mary, her daughter Laura, and Laura's son, Kaden, at Kmart (where a woman helping us at the checkout counter wore a name tag with the job title "People Coach" on it . . . what exactly is that, anyway?!). We got home to a phone message from my sister Sandy, so I phoned her and had a nice visit with her (as did the three girls, who kept her entertained with their comments). Then we went back into house-cleaning mode, getting every room vacuumed, dusted, and put into good order in anticipation of the next surprise.

As a college student, Susan used to babysit for a family whose daughters eventually babysat for our children years later! That family was in Medora, ND this weekend (from Grand Forks, ND) for a wedding, and they arranged to meet us this evening for supper, and we chose not to tell the girls. Suzanna, Abigail, and Hillary were delighted to walk into El Sombrero for supper and be greeted by Megan (daughter) and Idette (mom)! Judd (dad) and Alyssa (other daughter) were waiting for us at the table. Perhaps needless to say, there was much squealing and hugging before we could sit down, and then much visiting and catching up throughout the meal. Afterwards, they came over for a tour of our home before heading back to Medora to catch the musical. (The day o' cleaning was for the possibility of their wanting to see our house--good forethought, eh?)

Hillary, Alyssa, Suzanna, Megan, and Abigail

We ended our evening with a 45-minute walk around the neighborhood and some HGTV and Food Network before bedtime. Great day!

Scrapbook Widower's Weekend

Susan is away with a handful of friends on an annual scrapbook outing. They gather at Thumper Pond Resort in Ottertail, MN this weekend each year for a chance to have fun and to spend time together scrapbooking. The hotel feeds them and provides ample space to spread out and be creative and get a lot of pages done. It was snowing and blowing Friday morning when Susan left Dickinson, but she eventually got out of the bad weather and made it to Harwood, ND to see the brand new baby of our dear friends who live there. Her co-scrapbookers picked her up there and took her the rest of the way to Ottertail. We expect her back in Dickinson by late tonight.

In the meantime, I'm a single dad. Friday evening I picked up the girls from daycare (Suzanna and Abigail had the day off from school and so joined Hillary at her regular Friday daycare appointment), and we came home and shoveled the driveway. I turned some refrigerated boiled potatoes and roast beef into fried potatoes topped with chopped meat in beef gravy for supper, and we sampled a lot of the Valentine's Day candy haul for dessert. We had a slumber party in Susan and my bed: all three girls and I slept side by side. "Too hot in the bed!" I wouldn't say it was comfortable--nobody could move her legs or roll over without waking up someone else, and it was like sleeping in a furnace--but it was still fun.

Yesterday we did homework and housework, straightening up rooms and vacuuming after another Dad-created culinary specialty. I fried some onions in cumin, salt, and pepper and fried in them the remainder of the boiled potatoes (yes, I like to use up leftovers). I heated up some leftover chili, added the remains of a jar of black bean and corn salsa, and chopped up and added the last two hot dogs I found in the fridge. I put the hot potatoes on a plate, sprinkled some shredded four-cheese Mexican blend on them, topped that with the chili concoction, and put the rest of the cheese on top. It was quite delicious, and the girls gobbled it up.

I French-braided each girl's hair before we headed over to Susan's aunt and uncle Kathy and Pat's to join the Morey side of her family for supper. Susan's cousins and their new babies were there, so we took photos of the tykes, and then of the tykes being held by the older cousins and second cousins. Kathy had baked buns and served slushburgers/sloppy joes/barbecues (what you call them depends on where you live, but they were delicious). Susan's aunt Jake and cousin Kelli are in town for the weekend from Colorado, so the get-together was for them to be able to see relatives. The two of them plan to come to our house tonight to see Susan and to see the house. Jake saw it before we had started redecorating last fall, and Kelli has never seen it, so we can show off what we've done, and hopefully Susan will have returned from scrapbooking by then.

When we got back home last night, the girls and I had root beer floats using the homemade vanilla ice cream that Susan and the girls made last week. We had another slumber party last night--this time in separate sleeping bags on the floor of the family room downstairs. The little darlings are still asleep, and I'm trying to think of what we can do today that won't undo all we did yesterday to tidy up for our visitors this evening.

Cadence, Kaden, and Matthew

Kaden, Abigail, Hillary, Cadence, Peyton, Kyle, Suzanna, Matthew, and Braxton

Jake and Kelli

Hillary, Kelli, Abigail, Suzanna, and Jake

Christmas Decor

We just barely got our house completely unpacked and in order for our Thanksgiving guests to arrive . . . and now it's time to undo much of what we did in order to redo it with Christmas decorations!

While I was at work Friday (yes, I had to work Friday), Susan put up our Christmas tree and started sorting through Christmas decorations. This is the first time we've had space to put up a Christmas tree without having first to take down, move, or put away something else! We spent Friday night and Saturday morning decorating the tree. We have a pickle ornament (here is the reason) that I hid in the tree, and, despite numerous expeditions, the girls still have not located it! (Can you find it?)

We took a break from decorating yesterday midday to have dinner at Kathy and Pat's home, Susan's aunt and uncle. Relatives there included Tina, Tracy and her boyfriend Tory, Trista, Mary, Laura and her new baby Kaden, Landon, Chantel (sp?) and her new puppy Chuck, and us. Dale, Lee, and Todd were just arriving as we left.

We did a little shopping (have you been to The Village in downtown Dickinson? great store!) and then returned to continue decorating. We stayed up until it was all done, watching the little girls fall off one at a time. Abigail put herself to bed around 10:00; Hillary passed out mid-sentence on the couch around 11:30; and Suzanna stuck it out 'til the end, around 12:30.

Now, all our Christmas decorations are up, all the trees (four of them!) are decorated, all the lights are plugged in, everything that puts out music is broadcasting Christmas tunes, and we're thinking about the next holiday.