Company

Joan's girls have been staying while their parents are on a bike ride. Teresa has kept them busy too. They have gotten in on a baseball game, cheering Jeff in a triathlon, observed a bike accident, (Wear your helmet!!!!) painted pottery, helped fill vending machines, visited Great Grandma, went to church, learned to play scrabble, and now camping out.

Scranton Fundays

We drove over to Scranton to check out their fundays. It was hot, but people were taking part in activities. Pictured is the only carnival ride. They had some of the inflatable items for kids to jump and climb on. Also the frozen T-shirt contest was on while we were there. They had tired shirts in knots and gotten them wet and froze them. The contestants had to try to get them straightened out enough to put one on. First to do this was the winner.

Reading Volunteer

Yesterday I was one of the reading volunteers at the summer school lunch program. Teresa snapped a picture and emailed it. They had a smaller crowd yesterday. (70+ - It wasn't one of the most favored menus.) Largest crowd so far was 113. The have volunteers available to read or listen to readers. This is the third week serving. The program runs through the first week of August.

Military Convoy

The original military vehicle motor convoy was in 1919. This group is crossing the U.S. and here are on old highway 30. Traveling at an average of 35 miles per hour the trip is about 28 days. There was an overnight stay here in J-Town. They arrived in town about 6:30. About 1 1/2 hours later than planned. It was beastly hot and of course no air conditioning in the vehicles. (And crank windows that modern kids don't know about.) I visited with a couple ladies from Wisconsin that joined a couple days ago and weren't sure how long they would keep going. Here they are getting updated on what was going on and what they were to do next. I was only there briefly as on the way to a baseball game. Calvin's team lost a heartbreaker.

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all Fathers, Grandpas, Uncles and those others who have improved the lives of youngsters. (Picture from last weeks parade)

Rainwater

Our tomatoes are growing well. The beans---better since there is a fence protecting them from the rabbits or deer. Peas--not coming back after being eaten down. Only a few making it. Onions-good and lettuce good, radishes-done. Here is a picture of the barrels Pop has connected to collect rainwater. We'll have good rainwater for the garden for a while. A .4 inch rain filled one barrel! We'll find out how this works.

Swim

Jefferson won easily over Coon Rapids. They have some good swimmers, but we had them outnumbered. Jeff's times have improved and right now he is on the #1 relay. He had 2 firsts and a 2nd last night. Teresa is back in action after their vacation.

Baseball

Calvin had a game in Odgen tonight. They won 6-0. He caught again. He likes that. Three hits and scored 3 times. Here you can see his fans (and my empty chair) watching one of his hits.

To Carroll

We drove over to Carroll this a.m. to see the Browns. All are well. Jenni is appreciating the extra day in the hospital. Mara is much less red than her pictures the first 2 days. Tristan was holding her and she was sleeping when we arrived. He was ready to give her up and passed her off to me. Of course that was fine with me! She roused and was soon unhappy and ready to chew her fists. (Or find her thumb!) They have her hands covered with the sleeves and that wasn't to her liking. She did have her eyes open for a bit but it was while she was in my arms, so I didn't get a picture just then. Soon she was ready to nurse. We had a nice visit and ran some errands in Carroll before returning home. ( I need to get busy with Bell tower pictures, but baby came first!) - - - - - - - - - - - - Sunday evening-----Bell tower pictures are now up on my facebook.

Mara Jo

We are Great Grandparents! Mara Jo arrived at 12:17 p.m. today. Mom and baby (and Daddy) are doing great. I had predicted a girl. (Well 50% chance and happened to hit it)

Bell Tower Festival

This is the weekend for our Bell Tower Festival. This year I have an official T-shirt that I won on a trivia contest at our library. This is the front insignia. They have the streets block and are setting up this morning. A BBQ is tonight, parade tomorrow. J, M, J, & S are coming from CR. They will be here tonight and for the parade tomorrow. Matt & family won't be back for his class reunion. Pop is helping and taking part in the Car Show tomorrow. T & H should be back from their trip to take part and Hil to work at the Tower. Dan and Nancy are in Carroll. Jenni is to be induced today. Our prayers for a healthy, happy baby and mother. See---http://www.belltowerfestival.com/

Now a Catcher

I got to the LL game last night and Calvin was getting tips on catching. I called Pop to bring the camera, as thought it maybe his one and only catching experience. He did fairly well though and he said he liked it. Then he pitched. He only walked one but he threw nice strikes that made for some hits. They lost, but were behind when he took over pitching. All 3 outs he had were strike outs. Fielding wasn't the greatest, but a fun game to watch. Calvin had a triple and a double. Calvin got a knee hit on the side by a guy sliding in when he was covering home but he shook it off and finished the game. Haven't heard how stiff it was this am, but his bike was over at school lunch, so he's out and about.

Centennial medallions

The medallions have arrived. They are embossed chocolate. Just another thing ready for the centennial of our church building.

First Swimmeet

Tonight was the first swimmeet of the year. It was a home meet against Denison. Jefferson won by a wide margin. Jeff decided to swim to help stay in shape between track and football. He last swam competively when he was 11. He took part as anchor of the medley relay, individual backstroke and anchor of the free relay. He gave a strong showing in freestyle. He did well in the backstroke until his flip turn and got behind then. He was quite aways behind when he took his turn in the free relay, but almost caught up. They placed 2nd behind the other Jefferson relay team. (Lane 4) (The guy in lane 6 just hadn't gotten out of the water yet after his leg.)

Old, Old News

Many years ago the middle school math classes collected pop cans to make a pile to see how many a million would be. This is a picture Rose Olhausen had that the Register had taken. Here is Matt and some friends on top of the pile. (Yes, they recycled the cans. They were ahead of their time!)

Dance Recital Rehearsal

Last night was dress rehearsal. This was the night to use flash taking pictures. However with my camera it took better without flash, if the lights were up or not. It depended on the number how much light they used. Even though the light was fairly good on Abbey's first number they moved too fast. But here a a couple snaps. Be sure and go to any to the next 4 performances. I plan to put more pictures on facebook.

Tuesday

Rain this am, but none later. Garden, trees, lawn and flowers full and green. Calvin's team won tonight 11-10. This was the first night they could walk on 4 balls. Before the coach came in and pitched after 4 balls. Much slower game this way. Also they could steal home, hence higher scores._________ We only had 2 for the class at the library this am. But they were able to learn how to use the website (Heritage quest)and found some useful information. __________Tomorrow I work in the Auxiliary gift shop. Keeping busy!__________Happy Birthday to Judy and Mary Jane.