Active Summer

It must be true that time passes more quickly as one gets older - seems like we just got back, but a friend reminded me last weekend that it has been several months since I last wrote! Thank you, Norma, for giving me a much needed push. May seemed to fly by. We flew into Chicago for one day with Mon and Dad. They both were well but need 24 hour care and a lot of attention to detail by the nearby family members. My sisters, Carol and Margaret and brothers Dan and Chuck are doing most of the care - the whole family is lucky both to still have Mom and Dad with us and to have family members who do so much for them. We attended the Cargill 25 Year Club dinner which was lovely and saw lots of old friends. It is always a nice evening. During May we opened the cabin too. Dave, Karin and the girls, Julia, Brian and their boys all joined us Memorial Day weekend. We had great weather and were able to fish and be outdoors most of the time. Good thing, too - that's a bunch of people for a small cabin. No one seemed to mind the close quarters. The Corbett boys helped by pitching a tent in the front yard - of course, in the middle of the night it sounded like a herd of elephants as they abandoned said tent for the "comfort" of the living room floor! Maybe next time. Don and I also spent some time at several ballparks in the Minneapolis area - Brennan (Julia and Brian's oldest) tried out and made a travelling baseball team called the Mankato Royals. We have had the pleasure of watching them play and improve during their season. Brennan plays third base mostly, He has a strong and accurate arm. Sometimes he comes in as a relief pitcher, which is much more nerve wracking for this fan to watch. The last two tournaments we have seen, the Royals have won. They ended a very good season with their home tournament winning all six games! Congratulations to all the Royals, their coaches, and parents! Nice guys do finish first! On Father's Day weekend, all three kids, their spouses and children came to Chanhassen to celebrate Don's 65th birthday and Father's Day. We gathered in the morning for a family picture - you will all have to wait til Christmas to see the results! I will just say - we turned out to be a pretty photogenic group. Later we had Don's birthday dinner complete with two big freezers of homemade ice cream. The kids gave Don a bean bag set for the back yard and everyone had fun with it. Karin didn't think she could do it well, but turned out to be an ace. Laura claims that beanbag must be the "National Game of Norway". The kids also gave Don a certificate for a weekend of help at the farm this fall. He is really excited about that. We made another trip to Chicago and spent three days with Mom and Dad. We had dinner twice with them. One night we helped celebrate the 10th Anniversary of 'The Park', their assisted living facility. Mom is using her motorized wheelchair all the time now and is pretty proficient at its joystick operation. Dad seemed much quieter but generally in good health. We were able to spend some time with Laura, Bill Bennett and Maryn both on the way to and from Chicago. They tried out their new camper that weekend- looked like everyone had a good time. Lastly, at the end of June we picked up Chuck and Traudy Sanborn at the Mpls airport and they went with us to the cabin for a few days. I doubt we have ever had better weather. We took pontoon rides, went out to dinner and generally looked decorative for a nice little vacation. We returned with Sanborns to Chanhassen so Don could play in the Minnesota Valley Community Band concert at Chaska. A beautiful night for a concert of great music. Then the next morning, the four of us left for Sioux Falls and a meeting of the "Lencronies" a group of friends who all lived in Lennox SD about 30 years ago. This group has changed a bit over the years but we can still get together anytime, anywhere and have a great visit. Members are: Hank Sinning and Judy Schlunsen, Buzz and Nancy Kornmann, Don and me, Chuck and Traudy Sanborn, and Kenny and Norma Sayler. On Sunday Don and I went to Brandon, SD and attended Mass at Risen Savior Church. Our dear friend, Father (now Monsignor) Joe Wagner is the pastor there. We hadn't seen him for over 20 years - it was wonderful to visit with him after Mass. As usual he said a very meaningful service, and his sense of humor is just the same as ever. He spent 25 years as a chaplin in the Air Force after he was our pastor at St. Magdalens when we lived in Lennox. Now that he is closer to us, we are hoping to see him much more often. We returned to Sioux Falls to have brunch with the Lencronies (see picture) then headed home. I keep thinking that one of these posts will be short - perhaps I need to write them more often or get myself a vicious editor! Nuff said until next time.