Nordic Fish from Chile?!

Susan and I have a friend's barbecue to attend tonight (his name is Josh, so he sent us an invitation to "Josh-ecue 2010" . . . not just a barbecue, methinks, but an event!), which put the kibosh on our having a Scandinavian Saturday supper tonight.  So Hillary and I made a Scandinavian dinner instead.

Graduates and Graves

Today was graduation day for the local high schools. As a teacher at one of them, Susan attended its graduation ceremony in the afternoon. Our next-door neighbor Connor graduated from that school, so we went to his open house afterward and enjoyed delicious cake and watched a great video slideshow of photos of him, his family, and his friends throughout the years. We've known him for only four years, so it was interesting to see pictures of him as a little tyke. His younger sister is between Hillary and Abigail in age, so Connor is good with kids and has always been nice to our daughters (and whenever he sees Hillary, he says, "How's it going, Buddy?").

Connor with Abigail, Hillary ("Buddy"), and Suzanna

Later in the afternoon, Susan's cousin Robbie graduated from the parochial high school, and we went to his open house afterward. His parents just completed a remodeling project at their house, and the new kitchen and sunroom look great. Also, his mom laid out an impressive spread of food for everybody to eat; there was about ten times more food than needed, and that's exactly the approach that I'm used to from my upbringing--providing a huge feast for family get-togethers in the home (e.g., confirmations, graduations, birthday or anniversary parties, etc.). It was great to eat all the wonderful food and visit with relatives and play with all the little kids running around the house and yard.

Robbie with Abigail, Hillary, and Suzanna

Robbie with his proud parents, Terry (Susan's mom's brother) and Audrey

Terry and Audrey with their family: daughter Christie (behind Terry) and sons Brian (in the white), Michael (in the green), and Robbie (in the black). Christy and her husband Cody (behind Michael) have two kids: Matthew (behind Audrey) and Kate (in Christy's arms). Michael and his wife Lindsey (holding Matthew) have two kids: Cadence (in Michael's arms) and Madison (in Audrey's arms). Got that?!

We have planned a trip to the Tioga/McGregor/Battleview, ND area tomorrow to visit family members' graves for Memorial Day. Since we won't be here tomorrow, we made an early Memorial Day visit today to some of Susan's family members' graves here in town.

Abigail, Susan, Hillary, and Suzanna at the grave of Susan's mom Sue, who died 11 years ago. It wasn't easy for Susan to place flowers on her mom's grave and then go to a gathering of her mom's siblings and their extended family, imagining what it would be like to have her mom there.

Susan's maternal grandparents are buried in the same cemetery, so we visited their grave, too, and Susan shared fond memories of them (and of her mom) with the girls as we walked around and admired the pretty headstones and flowers. As Suzanna pointed out, cemeteries aren't really for the dead; they are for the living so that we can remember our departed loved ones, pay our respects, and recall stories about them to keep them "alive" in our minds and hearts. Wise young girl.

Happy New Year!

We rang in the new year by inviting three couples and their kids over to our house for a family-friendly night of games and food last night. One couple had to decline when the husband's out-of-state parent was hospitalized, so it was Leslie (one of Susan's colleagues), her husband Dave, and their two boys, and our neighbors Chuck and Reba and their two kids. Dave is a police officer who was on duty last night, so actually he stopped by for only a few minutes between calls. When he arrived at our front door in full uniform, Chuck and Reba's little four-year-old boy stood with wide eyes and dropped mouth, wondering who knows what! All he said to Dave was, "Those handcuffs are real!" I wonder what our neighbors thought when they saw the police car on the street and a cop entering our home!

Susan made gallons and gallons of homemade soup: one cheesy potato and bacon soup and one Southwestern chicken soup (both inspired by our recent trip to Harwood--thank you, Janelle!). Leslie made sub sandwiches to slice and share: one roast beef and horseradish and one turkey and bacon, both on loaves of delicious bread. Reba made a fantastic spinach dip that we gobbled up on wheat crackers. The rest of the spread, courtesy of Susan, included chips, veggies and dip, Christmas baking and candy, and a variety of adult beverages and bottles of soda for the kids.

While the kids played downstairs (hide and seek, board games, little-boy-friendly toys from my own childhood collection, and karaoke on the machine that the girls got from Uncle Jerrett for Christmas--a hu-u-u-uge hit in our household!), the adults visited and ate. Leslie and her boys had to make an earlyish exit to get her littlun into bed, but Chuck and Reba stayed until about 2:00 A.M.! We hustled the kids upstairs just before midnight to join us in a toast (champagne for the adults, sparkling cider for the kids) after a countdown to the new year. Everybody got a New Year's kiss, too, although all kissing was contained to one's own family members. We adults played many rounds of Catch Phrase, the electronic music edition, and laughed ourselves silly. It was a terrific time.

The girls and I reheated soup for breakfast this morning! It was a leisurely day. Jordanne, the little girl who lives next door, spent most of today at our house, and she and our daughters made several craft projects that the girls had gotten for Christmas (thank you, Dennis and Julie!) while Susan worked at scrapbooking and sorted through photographs. She made us a special New Year's supper: broiled filet mignon, twice-baked potatoes, steamed asparagus with hollandaise sauce, crab chunks with melted butter, shrimp cocktail, and Suzanna's birthday cake for dessert. We finished watching A Christmas Story (started the night of Suzanna's birthday) and started watching A Christmas Memory. A very relaxing start to the new year. Here's hoping for another terrific year . . . which will be documented, no doubt, for your edification on this very blog!

Suzanna's 11th Birthday!

Today's guest blogger is Suzanna, our new 11-year-old:

After I woke up, I went upstairs, and Mommy and Daddy gave me lots and lots of hugs and kisses. I helped Mom make a breakfast of ice cream caramel rolls (my request). While those were baking, Abigail and Hillary had just gotten up, so they were hugging me and wishing me a happy birthday, too. We ate our breakfast, and I asked if I could open presents. Mom and Dad said "yes."

I opened a present from my aunt Cheryl, and I got the movie Camp Rock and a savings bond. Then I opened a present from my aunt Sandy. I got a calendar, clothes for my Build-a-Bear, a sweater and shirt for me, and a homemade card. I had already opened some birthday presents from others over the holiday: from Mom and Dad, I got snowpants and a coat; from my aunt Cathy, I got a lettering book, a bouncy ball, magnetic bookmarks, and an iTunes gift card; and from my Grandma and Grampa, I got a pink quilted vest.

She looks as though she's getting as much joy out of trying to pop the packing bubbles as seeing what's inside the package from Sandy! Yes, her T-shirt does say, "I am going to be a Grandma." My mom had it made and wore it around after we told her that we were pregnant with our first child. After Mom died, we gave her T-shirt to that first child, Suzanna, who wears it often in memory of Grandma.

[Added January 2: Today from my aunt and uncle Cassie and Nick, I got cute red pajamas and a book: The Girls' Book: How to Be the Best at Everything.]

After breakfast I took a shower and got dressed. The night before, we had just gotten home from Harwood, so I helped unpack in the morning while Mom and Abigail went grocery shopping. Hillary went over to her friend Madeline's house. Our friend Jordanne came over to play just as Abigail and Mom were getting home. The night before, Mom had asked us what our favorite foods were. One of mine was nachos, so Mommy went to Taco John's and got tacos and nachos for dinner. While I was in the shower, Abigail and Hillary had been brainstorming about presents they'd like to give me (that they bthen ought while out grocery shopping). They came up with a couple things: a playpen for my baby doll Sophie and a couple baby outfits for her, too. I also got the movie WALL-E from them.

Suzanna was very happy with all her gifts. Here's she registering her excitement over having received WALL-E from her sisters.

After dinner we went downstairs and played with Jordanne some more. Then we had swimming practice. When we came home from that, we had a delicious supper of chili (my request) and cornbread muffins. Then we watched some of the movie A Christmas Story. We didn't get to all of it because some of us were falling asleep (I won't mention any names, Dad). 11 years old doesn't feel much different from 10, except now I don't get to eat off the children's menu at Olive Garden. Boo!

Susan made a wonderful birthday cake: chocolate with dulce de leche buttercream frosting (remember?). Does Suzanna look a year older to you? The last pic is of our three beauties, aged 7 (Hillary), 9 (Abigail), and 11 (Suzanna).

Followup on Snowman

The girls took advantage of a day off from school Tuesday (Veterans Day) to play outside and build a snowman with the help of our next-door neighbor, Jordanne. The Dickinson Press came around, snapped their photo, and ran it on the front page of the next day's newspaper (surely you've already read this, Faithful Reader). For your aesthetic edification, here are some better photos both of the snow artists and of the snow sculpture itself:

back row: Suzanna and Abigail; front row: Hillary, snowman, and Jordanne

snowman

Stars of the Stage and the Page

The press seems to love our children. Photos of our girls have been featured in the Dickinson Press weekly for the past three weeks! Susan and I are getting gentle ribbings from our neighbors and coworkers. If you, Faithful Reader, do not subscribe to our local newspaper, you may have missed these:

October 26 -- one of a couple photos of various members of the cast of DSU's theatre production of Seussical -- can you spot Suzanna and Abigail amongst the crowd?

November 2 -- a photo to accompany a story about our church's participation in Operation Christmas Child -- here is the photo from the newspaper, and here is a copy of the article that accompanied the photo

November 12 -- a feature photo from the front page of the newspaper -- here is the photo and caption from the paper

Long Time No See!

Guess who has been in Dickinson this week! Dad and Beverly and their dog, Bandy! Back from their wintertime road trip, they're now on their way back home and decided to spend some time in Dickinson first. They have been staying in their motorhome at Camp on the Heart on the south side of town and driving their car to our house to spend evenings with us, and Susan has done a fabulous job of keeping us all well fed each night. (Sample meal: I grilled seasoned Omaha Steaks, packets of sliced fingerling potatoes, and fresh asparagus outside off the veranda while indoors Susan prepared tossed salad, sautéed mushrooms and onions for the steak, and baked a homemade apple pie to serve with Schwan's vanilla ice cream for dessert.)

It has been a long time since we've seen them (six months or so), and it's been fun to watch them and their granddaughters reconnect. In fact, after returning from a brief daytrip to Williston Thursday for Dad's doctor appointment, Dad and Beverly picked up the girls and brought them to the motorhome for a slumber party! The girls got into their pajamas, grabbed their blankies and stuffed animals and sleeping bags, and bid Mommy and Daddy adieu for the night! The next day they reported having had a night full of candy, popcorn, soda, movies, and fun!


We've enjoyed getting reacquainted with Bandy, too, and she's been enjoying a houseful of people willing to give her attention non-stop, take her for walks and runs numerous times daily, sneak her scraps under the table, and introduce her to the neighbor's puppy, Buddy. Here's little Buddy first (in the arms of Abigail in the blue coat) and then Buddy and Bandy playing:

As I predicted, plans were made to meet at the Dakota Diner following church this morning. We had a great meal and exchanged huggy-and-kissy goodbyes before Dad, Beverly, and Bandy hit the road for home a couple hours north. Now that they'll be back in the area, we're looking forward to spending more time with them again; in fact, the girls have already invited them back in a couple weeks for Grandparents Day at the elementary school! Welcome home, Dad and Beverly!

Pantry Raid

The girls and I did some casual early-morning Saturday television viewing today and enjoyed Pantry Raid, a cooking show that we hadn't seen before. The host is a chef who comes to a mere mortal's home, raids the pantry and refrigerator, and, from whatever he can find, whips up a relatively easy-to-make, wonderful meal, thus proving to the homeowner that, yes, he/she can cook, too, without a lot of training, extra time, or special ingredients. Valuable lesson.

Anyway, by late morning Suzanna and Hillary were off at their friends' house for a play date (Suzanna's friend has a younger sister Hillary's age), leaving Abigail alone with the 'rents. (Note: By midafternoon, Abigail had a friend of her own over for a play date here. The next-door neighbor and her own playmate spent much of the afternoon here, too.) Abigail wondered if I'd like to "play" Pantry Raid with her. I agreed and, before I got to the kitchen, she had already removed various cans and boxes from the pantry and decided on a basic menu: pepperoni pizza with a side dish of kidney beans.

I cocked my head at the kidney beans and prodded her to explain that selection. She was thinking of pork 'n' beans, actually . . . but still. With pizza?! We returned together to the pantry followed by the fridge and looked for more items, finding these:

• package of pizza dough mix
• package of pepperoni
• can of pizza sauce
• can of sliced black olives
• package of shredded cheddar cheeze ("I know; there's no mozarella, Dad")
• heads of romaine lettuce
• flavored croutons
• a tomato
• baby carrots
• a cucumber
• container of grated parmesan cheese
• block of fresh parmesan cheese
• container of bacon-flavored salad toppings
• bottle of Caesar salad dressing
• can of cream of chicken soup
• can of chunked chicken breast
• can of mandarin oranges
• package of candied cashews
• bottle of peach fruit smoothie mix

We got permission from Susan to use whatever we could find (if it turned out to be something she had been saving for a recipe, she would just go buy more, she said). We decided to make a pepperoni calzone (we had just had pizza for supper last night), a Caesar salad, and creamy chicken soup. I made the dough and set it aside to rise, and Abigail lined up everything to start chopping vegetables for the salad. While she chopped . . . and chopped . . . and chopped, I preheated the oven, made the canned soup, spread the dough on a baking stone, loaded it with pepperoni and pizza sauce and black olives and shredded cheese, folded the dough over and sealed it, popped the calzone in the oven, added the chunked chicken to the soup, put the mandarin oranges in cups on saucers with the cashews sprinkled around them, blended a pitcher of fruit smoothies, and set the table. By that time, Abigail had all the ingredients in the bowl and was ready to toss the salad.

We used a vegetable peeler to create strips of parmesan cheese for the salad and put the large bowl of salad on the table. We dished up each bowl of soup and topped it with a few strips of parmesan, a handful of croutons, and a sprinkle of bacon bits. We poured the peach smoothies and set them at each plate. We cut the calzone and plated it to serve at the table. I think Mommy was duly impressed, and Abigail was very proud. Bonus: it was all delicious, too! Good job, Abigail! (And thank you, television, for the inspiration!)

Grill While the Grilling's Good

DATE: Friday, October 19, 2007. SEASON: Autumn. STATE: North Dakota. WEATHER: 64 degrees Fahrenheit. EXPLANATION: Dickinson, the Banana Belt of the state.

I came home from work to find my wife preparing food for the grill. "Are we grilling?" I asked, thinking, "But it's October!"

"Yes," she said. "I figured we should take advantage of the weather while it's still nice."

So, grill we did. She prepared--and I slightly burned--smoked turkey sausages; asparagus coated in olive oil and parmesan cheese; and packets of sliced and seasoned potatoes and onions. Meanwhile, the girls frolicked with a neighbor child, running around the yard and riding bike without wearing coats . . . and without getting cold.

It was a delicious meal and a good reminder that we should live for the weather, not the calendar. Until summer actually goes away, why not keep enjoying it?

Abigail's 8th Birthday!

Today's guest blogger is Abigail, the birthday girl:

I woke up, and right when I got upstairs, my mom saw me and asked if I wanted fried eggs for breakfast, and I said, "Yes, please." I went into the office, and Hillary and my dad were watching video clips of Hairspray on the computer. Hillary stole the first batch of eggs, so I had to wait my turn to get some more. I ate breakfast, and I went downstairs, washed up, and brushed my teeth. I had to go back upstairs to ask Mom what I should wear. I got into my black "A" [monogrammed] T-shirt and into my white skirt that goes with it. Mom had to pin up my skirt so that it would stay on me.

Then we went to Peace Lutheran Church. On the way there, the van made funny sounds, so my dad started to turn around. When he pressed on the brake, the sound stopped. We turned back around and went to church. When we first got there, a lady asked us girls if we wanted coloring sheets. We said, "No, thank you." We walked around the corner and saw that there were chairs lined up in rows like pews. There was a kids' time when we went up front, and we talked about one of the day's Bible readings about the stars in the sky [Genesis 15:1-6]. The Silver Sage Quartet [four elderly gentlemen singing in four-part harmony à la barbershop quartets] sang three songs of worship during church; one of the songs they sang was a prayer ["The Lord's Prayer"].

After church we were about to leave when a man came up to us and asked if we wanted to stay for coffee. Of course, we said, "Yes." So we chatted and met some new friends. We ate fruit and a roll; the grown-ups drank coffee, and we (meaning my sisters and I) drank orange punch. Then we went to Applebee's. I shared with Daddy because the meals were so big. We shared a tortilla chicken melt and teriyaki steak 'n' shrimp skewers. I told our server that it was my birthday, so after I was done with my meal, I got a balloon and a birthday sundae, and I got a birthday song from Applebee's.

Abigail, the beautiful eight-year-old

Her complimentary balloon and birthday sundae from Applebee's

We came back home, and I opened presents. From Grandpa and Grandma Moberg, I got an Eeyore pen, lotion, body spray, a dress, denim capris, and a T-shirt. From Hillary, I got a Littlest Pet Shop toy. From Suzanna, I got a Polly Pocket toy car. From Mom and Dad, I got a pink CD player [when she unwrapped it and saw what it was, she exclaimed, "Hot dog!"], a Hannah Montana soundtrack CD, a fuzzy bear bookmark, an anklet, and a toe ring. I got a greeting card and savings bond from my aunt, uncle, and cousin Cheryl, Jerrett, and Arron (with the rest of the gift to come, Cheryl wrote) and a card from our neighbors the Olsens.

"You talkin' to me?!" -- Suzanna being goofy while watching Abigail open gifts

Loving every gift she opened!

Stylish clothing from Grandma and Grandpa

"Thanks for the gifts, Dad and Mom!"

Negotiating the clasp on the ankle bracelet

Modeling the new jewelry

Then somebody ding-donged on the doorbell. It was our neighbor Jordanne. She came into our living room, and we listened to my Hannah Montana CD, and then we had some cake. Then she left, and we played with my birthday gifts. Then we went mini-golfing. It was the first time I ever mini-golfed--or golfed--in my lifetime. It was really fun. Daddy won the game.

With birthdays so close together, Daddy and Abigail shared one cake.

Pre-candle-blowout: Hillary, Daddy, Abigail, Jordanne, Suzanna

Suzanna perfecting her form

Abigail following through

Hillary averaging ten strokes per hole (maximum par on any hole in the course: four)

Then we went to Wal-Mart to exchange my birthday clothes to get bigger sizes. After that we went to Sanford's for supper. Daddy and I shared a Cajun chicken Caesar salad, and we all shared an appetizer (chili cheese fries). Then we had dessert (they brought me ice cream piled on top of a big cookie), and I got a birthday song from Sanford's.

Abigail with her monstrous birthday cookie sundae from Sanford's (she shared, by the way)

After that we started off to Belfield. When we got there, we had to wander a little bit to find the movie theater. When we got there, we were early, so we talked a little bit, and then Mom got two large bags of popcorn (they use real butter) and a root beer. We watched the movie Hairspray. It is a movie that features a time when blacks and whites didn't really go well together, and Tracy Turnblad makes them both friends. The movie was very, very exciting and nice, and there were really no scary parts to me. I really enjoyed it, especially because of all the great songs that people sang and the great acting. I thought that [the character] Seaweed was a very nice dancer.

After the movie, we were the last people out of the theater. We listened to the soundtrack from the movie on CD as we drove back to Dickinson. My eighth birthday was the best of all my birthdays because I got to see the best movie ever, and I spent the day with my family.

What Is the Neighborhood Coming To? A Party, That's What!!

We happened to move into a pretty wonderful neighborhood, and last night's festivities helped to demonstrate that. We hosted our neighbors at our house for a neighborhood party! People came from both sides of our block, from across the street, and from the blocks to our south and east; it was quite a crowd, and it was wonderful.

Some of the first neighbors we met when we moved here were Chuck, Reba, and their kids. Chuck and Reba used to live in Cheyenne, WY, where they would have block parties occasionally, and they mentioned a while back wanting to host one here. Some weeks later they wondered if Susan and I would volunteer our home for the party, thinking our yard, driveway, and garage were big enough for an outdoor to-do (their plan is to host a winter neighborhood party in their own large, unfinished basement). So one night last week, while I hung out with my sister visiting from OR, Susan joined Chuck and Reba in canvassing the neighborhood, dropping off invitations to the party and encouraging people to attend. (Another neighbor, Ivella, took a stack of invitations to deliver to the other side of the block.)

Who would come? We had no idea. I spent yesterday mowing and watering the lawn, watering the flowers, cleaning the garage, and moving all our furniture from the veranda to the garage. Our next-door neighbors, Leo and Ivella, lent us a card table and chairs to add to our own two tables and sets of chairs and another table and chairs lent by Chuck and Reba. I strung up in the garage several strings of lights with Japanese paper lantern covers, as well as eight large battery-operated Japanese paper lanterns to match. I moved lots of flowers off the veranda and set them up about the garage (we already have numerous pots of flowers set about our driveway), and the girls helped me decorate the driveway with welcome messages and art work using sidewalk chalk.

My tool bench/work area is a set of kitchen cabinets that the previous owners must have moved out of the house during a remodel and installed in the garage, so after I packed up all my tools and moved them temporarily to the storage shed, we had that long expanse of counter top upon which to set all the food (it was BYOB and a snack to share). We provided lemonade and water (in coolers borrowed from Chuck and Reba) and had another cooler of ice for people to store their own beverages. Susan made the lemonade, a couple pans of bars, a platter of raw veggies, and two large batches of baked dips with assorted crackers to start off the snack counter.

I moved the baker's rack off the veranda into the garage with a power strip in case anybody brought food in crock pots. We used that area to house the name tags and sign-in sheet, and Chuck set up a white board on which he had drawn a map of the neighborhood so people could write their names on the house where they live: a visual aid for those wondering where the other guests were coming from.

And come they did! At 7:00 P.M. promptly, people started to arrive, lawn chairs and mini-coolers and plates of food in tow. The map was a great conversation starter, and the name tags were very useful. As it turns out, not only were we getting to know the neighbors who had lived there long before our arrival, but they were getting to know one another depite the fact that many of them had lived in the neighborhood together for many years. All the kids ran from yard to yard, playing tag and hide-and-seek and baseball and keeping themselves occupied. People ate (it turned into a veritable banquet of snacks) and drank and sat in the shade of the garage or the warmth of the setting sun on the driveway and visited and got to know one another.

Once it got dark, one neighbor walked home to get his accordian, and he played a few songs for all of us gathered on chairs on the driveway. He disappeared into the back yard for a while and then returned like a pied piper with all the children following him. They had rehearsed a song, which they then performed for the crowd on the driveway. That inspired another neighbor to walk home and retrieve his guitar, which he then played for us while those who knew the songs sang along. It was like a campfire minus the marshmallows and fire (note to self: buy fire pit for next summer).

We heard so many words of thanks for hosting the event; people were thankful for the opportunity to socialize with those amongst whom they live, to put names to familiar faces, and to have a good time without having to go far. They're all looking forward to gathering again, and Chuck and Reba are already planning for the Christmas party at their house. By midnight, the crowd had dispersed, so while Susan tended to food storage and cleanup, I cleaned up the garage and put everything back in its place (so I could shut the garage doors for the night). Our girls went home with the next-door neighbors to have a slumber party with their youngest daughter, so Susan and I took advantage of the solitude and the serene and breezy night to go for a walk around 1:00 A.M.! What a great night.

Some of the food set up on the counter in the garage. (The sheet is tacked up to cover the otherwise unsightly display of paint cans, etc.)

The new Japanese paper lantern lights with the garage light on . . .

. . . and off (much prettier).

Jim and his guitar

Rick and his accordian

Rick and the kids rehearsing in the back yard

Rick accompanying the kids for their performance on the driveway