A Celebration of Lives

Last November, my aunt Rose passed away--and the next month, her husband, my uncle Elton, passed away, too. They were such a loving couple, married for 67 years and so caring toward one another, their own family, and all of us in their extended family. I have only fond memories of the two of them.

Rose and Elton lived in Colorado, as did most of their children and all their grandchildren. This weekend their kids and grandkids traveled to North Dakota for a memorial service for Rose and Elton in Battleview, where Rose and my dad (her brother) and their family first lived--and where Rose and Elton later were married.

Rose had let her kids know what she wanted at the funeral, and they honored her wishes. It was such a meaningful ceremony. Rose and Elton's kids are all great musicians, and they and some of their children provided all the music for the service. Each of Rose and Elton's kids spoke, too, sharing beautiful memories of their parents. It was all so touching and perfectly expressed just how great Rose and Elton were and what an impact they had on others.

After the service and burial in Battleview, we all gathered in Tioga at Neset Consulting, a business with a large community room that groups can rent for events. Regina Lalim from the Side Street Diner catered, so everyone could focus on visiting and catching up on one another's lives while sharing stories of Rose and Elton. It was not only a celebration of my aunt and uncle but also a demonstration of the closeness of our extended family.

(Click on any photo to enlarge it.)

Rose had six siblings, three of whom had already passed away. The remaining two are my uncle Alden (left) and my dad, Arlo (right). Next to Alden is my aunt Connie, widow of my uncle Ray. Next to Dad is his cousin Tammy, whose mom, Bea, was a sister to my grandma, Olga. (Also in attendance but not pictured: my aunts Goldie and Janet.)

My Moberg cousins: Rose and Elton's kids, nieces, and nephews. We were missing five: two who had earlier attended Rose and Elton's memorial service held in Denver, two who could not make it from out of state, and one who has passed away.

Rose and Elton's children and grandchildren except for one grandchild, his wife, and their child, who were not able to attend. In the front row are Rose and Elton's kids, my cousins Randy, JoAnn, Renae, and John.

Our Silver Anniversary

August 10 was my birthday; August 12 was Abigail's birthday; and August 14 was Susan's and my silver anniversary. Yes, 25 years of marriage! To celebrate, our daughters were sneaky and turned the tables on their parents. Usually it's Susan and I who are keeping surprises from the girls--but this time, they planned and threw a surprise party for us! Here's how it happened:

On August 7, the girls brought Susan to my office so that we'd all be together when they gave Susan and me our anniversary gift: a collection of gift certificates for a weekend spent together out of town! We had been told ahead of time to clear our schedules for August 10 and 11, and this is why: they wanted to send us to Bismarck, ND for a special birthday/anniversary getaway.

On August 10, my birthday breakfast = Norwegian pancakes filled with fresh peaches and drizzled with maple syrup . . . and, of course, a side of bacon. Thank you, Susan!

We went out for dinner at El Sombrero in Dickinson. Then the girls sent us off to Bismarck. Well, first we stopped at Dunn Brothers in Dickinson, where a free coffee awaited me for my birthday. When we arrived in Bismarck, we stopped at Starbucks for another free birthday coffee. Then we checked into our room at the Wingate in north Bismarck, where the girls had reserved us a room. Super-friendly service at the front desk and a lovely room with a king-sized bed.

The girls had pre-paid for movie tickets and popcorn for us at the Grand, a movie theater complex in Bismarck. They also gave us gift cards to use for our meals. Still full from our dinner and two coffee shop stops, we opted for cocktails and an appetizer at the Red Lobster (which is near the Grand) in lieu of a full supper. Then we saw the movie Skyscraper starring Neve Campbell and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. A great action film!

On August 11, we started our day with breakfast at the hotel and then some shopping, getting a lot of bulletin board materials and posters for Susan's library for start-of-the-school-year decorating. We ate dinner at the Bistro, a terrific "American café" in Bismarck. Susan's lobster bisque was filled with huge chunks of lobster instead of the shreds of seafood in most lobster bisques.

Before we left, the girls made it very clear to us that we were to return to Dickinson at 4:15 P.M. Mountain time, no sooner or later. Their explanation was that Abigail, who is a resident assistant (R.A.) this year in the residence halls, had to be at R.A. training at the university most of the day but had a short time available at 4:15 P.M. to meet with us and hear stories about our trip to Bismarck. Riiiiiiight.

Okay, so Susan and I had some time to fill between dinner and our departure from Bismarck. We went to the ND State Capitol Complex and got a tour of the Capitol. It had been several years since either of us had gone on the official tour, and it was interesting to get to look around and hear stories about the building's history. (And the tour guide was a hoot!) This is a view of the chamber where the state House of Representatives meets.

And this is a view of the chamber for the state Senate.

And this is a view of the Capitol grounds, looking south from the observation deck on the 18th floor.

Another building on the Capitol Complex is the ND State Library Memorial Building. I asked the librarian to pose near the waterfall on the east side of the building.

Then we spent some time in the ND Heritage Center, which houses the State Historical Society and features several terrific exhibits--and a great gift store with a lot of ND products and books. By the way, the Capitol tour and admission to the Heritage Center both are free--so not only are they worth your time for the content they offer, but also the price is right!

We made another Starbucks stop on the way out of town (yes, one of our gift cards from the girls was for Starbucks) and made it back to Dickinson on time. As we neared town, I had Susan text Suzanna to say we had enjoyed ourselves so much that we were opting to spend another night in Bismarck. Suzanna's response: "Get here." That confirmed that something was up!

And when we drove up to our house, we saw a driveway and garage full of family, friends, and neighbors, all waiting for us to arrive for a party in our honor!

While we were in Bismarck, my sisters had come to Dickinson and helped the girls set up our garage and veranda for a surprise party. There were tables and chairs everywhere, all decorated and featuring photos of Susan and me. There were counters filled with food, and along one wall of the garage were several coolers with beverages of all kinds. There was a gift table with a guest book and a photo display, including our wedding scrapbook, and strings of lights adorned the walls of the garage. It was over 100° outside, but we stayed near the fans and kept hydrated and found the shade and enjoyed a lot of hugs, laughter, and visiting into the night. 

These three beauties decided they'd better throw us a 25th anniversary party because they had heard enough stories from me about how my sisters and I had done the same for our parents the summer before their 25th anniversary--and the girls took the hint! They did a great job keeping everything a secret and enlisting help from my sisters and others along the way. Susan and I still are learning the details of the girls' planning as we ask "How did you three manage to . . . ?" types of questions from day to day. How fun!

Others were taking photographs throughout the afternoon and evening, so I did not. I did ask people to share their photos with me. Until then, here's one photo that I did take: a look at the garage setup toward the end of the night. The only people left were Susan, the girls, and my family. We had just opened gifts and cards and were sitting on the driveway, enjoying the cooling temps and the glowing lights in the dark of nighttime. What a great weekend getaway ending with a terrific surprise party!

On August 12, we were able to go out for brunch with Abigail, the birthday girl, before she had to return to the university for more R.A. training and duties. Suzanna had to head back to her job at Badlands Ministries south of Medora, ND to help run one last camp for the summer, so she couldn't join us. Throughout the day we bid farewell to Dad, Sandy, and Kathy as each one headed back home; and the next day, Cathy left for home, too. Thank you all for spending the weekend with us and making our 25th anniversary party such a great celebration!

Christmas Road Trip: Day 5

Road Report
None; we stayed in Omaha today.

Notable Events
My sister Cathy's roommate Kathy took a little road trip of her own this holiday season, flying to her mom's home and them driving with her from WY to MO to spend Christmas with family there.  On their way back, they took a detour through Omaha in order to see us! We all met at a nearby truck stop for dinner just after noon, and we shared Christmas stories and spent some quality time together.  How nice of them to go out of their way to see us!

Name Game

Our girls like to play games, but they don't always play them according to the rules that come with the games.  I found this set up on the table in the family room.  This, apparently, is a tribute to my side of the family.  (You may need to click on the photo to enlarge it and read the writing on the slips of paper.)

Surprise Dinner Guests

My sister Cathy and her roommate Kathy are on a vacation to see Kathy's family in WY, Cathy's family in ND, and many sights and sites along the way.  Their itinerary today involved driving from SD to Dad's home in Tioga, ND on a route that would take them through Belfield and Watford City.  We will see Cathy this upcoming weekend (watch Pensive? No, Just Thinking after this weekend for more details), but Kathy plans to take a train back to OR before then, meaning we wouldn't have seen her during this trip.  So yesterday we offered to drive to Belfield today (it's about 20 minutes west of us) to meet them whenever they got there so that we could visit with them and then let them get back on the road.