more from North Dakota, though it did not seem like it weather wise.

Yes, we had short pants and t-shirt days in late October in North Dakota!  People were excited about the weather and after a cold day or two of introduction, Patt and I were quite pleased.  

Front yard football throwing and soccer ball kicking was a almost every afternoon activity.  Isaac and Luke enjoy "going out for passes" and I enjoyed throwing them.  

John Paul bought this kite and proudly flew it.  Sometimes his mind wanders while he is flying it and he finds that it is in trouble.   Surprise surprise surprise.  So far it has not been fatal.  John Paul is lucky.  And the sky was blue that day and credit to Lydia for capturing both kite and John Paul with the camera phone.

During fall break we went to Winnipeg, Manitoba a few hours to the north in Canada.  Everyone's favorite part of the trip was the polar bear exhibit at the Provincial Zoo.  Better than the exhibit at the NC Zoo by a long shot.  The bears swim in a glass enclosure above and around those who wish to see them swim.  We were fortunate to see three of the four put on quite a show.  Diving, swimming and playing/fighting with one another for quite some time.

Luke would have spent the rest of the day in the walk way just watching.

The Manitoba History museum was also very good and had big attention getting exhibits such as this with a mural and stuffed buffalo and model indians pursuing them on horseback.

Not all of our games are challenging but all are competitive.  War is WAR and it is competitive.  Luke will play as long as you will play.  Patt will play a long time too.

Matt, Luther, Isaac and I went to see the UND Fighting Hawks play Sacramento State in a Big Sky football game.  They are having a season I can easily identify with.  They lost.  It was close for a half.

We did if you will note have good, as in very very good seats.  

All was not lost as that evening we watched UND hockey team beat their number one rivals the Minnesota Gophers 4-0, while simultaneously watching Wake lose to Georgia Tech, so there was some disappointment.  It was close for a while.  Sounds familiar doesn't it.  Good times and the kids stayed up late and celebrated touchdowns, goals and and such.

There being no ice yet we played backyard football, here John Paul and I are drawing up "plans"

 The offense is about to go into high gear with our ace running quarterback.

One one afternoon, Patt and all five kids played with four and three teams.  Had a great game.  Two kids had blood on them, four cried/fussed/discussed energetically, (over rules interpretation, down and distance, tag or no tag, blood, tagging to hard, not giving enough time prior to play starting, I could go on)  To say the kids are competitive would be a disservice to the word competitive.  It was fun.  I think everyone scored a touchdown.  We finally quit when three were crying at the same time.  It was also snack time.

I hope this video plays, Luke completes a pass to Isaac

We do not rush Christmas, repeat, we do not rush Christmas as Patt unwraps a Christmas pyramid.

nor do we rush birthday celebrations as cake and strawberries and song were shared for my upcoming birthday was appreciated.

It was a wonderful memorable visit.

Settling into life in North Dakota

On Friday we took Delta to Grand Forks and were well welcomed. To say that we were the center of attention would be putting it mildly. To say that we like it would also be somewhat of an understatement. We like the attention and those providing the attention very very much.

The next morning, despite the frost on the car windows and the brisk chill in the air we were off to the soccer games. John Paul's game is first so Luke watches a bit. Patt and I have been through this drill before and it was good to experience it again.

Luke, second white shirt from left is "fast" like his Uncle Stephen, and wants to be good, so I suspect he will eventually find another sport to enjoy rather than soccer.

John Paul is all about the "well I am not sure" so I suspect World Cup Soccer participant is not in his future either. He is great for team spirit and sure looks good out there and has good soccer poses, like this one.

Matt must be a good coach or has some good players as his team did very well this year. One of his very good players is the blond on the front row named Isaac. Fast and disciplined —  moves well with the ball too.  Patt asked him what his Dad called him since there are two Isaacs on the team and he responded "Get in your position!"  Matt obviously is a good coach.

Because the day had been somewhat quiet for a Saturday and the University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks Men's Hockey team was playing a home game, well guess who was going? Us. All nine of us plus Matt's parents Jan and Luther. We qualified for group rate tickets.

Of course the seats were pretty high up. But this is not your wooden seat, cheap upper deck skating rink either. These were leather cushioned seats in a beautiful facility with marble floors and the kind of place most pro teams only wish they had. 12 or 14 thousand seats, I forget, but it is huge.

Three concourses of seats with the second deck being suites. Those eight green banners are National Championships from the 1990s through last year.

Late in the third period, Lydia, John Paul and I went down to the first level for a a closer look at the action.

On Monday, a visit to the school and meeting Isaac's teacher. I did not ask but I suspect she may be Scandinavian too. There are a lot of them in this part of the country.

Julianna checking out some notes at the back of Lydia's classroom while Lydia keeps an eye on John Paul - stage left and Luke poses at Lydia's desk.

And the day ends at the girls' swim practice. Julianna in blue swim cap near bottom of photo and Lydia adjusting goggles in the same lane. They are both good swimmers and have good hard practices.

Additionally we have enjoyed some quiet time while the kids were in school. Including NAP time. (who needs a nap? Patt and I need a nap!)  Especially since Laura asks Patt to go for a walk (while Laura runs) and Luther and I played golf.

Tomorrow starts fall break and we are driving up to Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada for a couple of days to see the sights. It will be fun. Patt and I were there last summer on the way home from Colorado and it is a very nice place to visit.

well I ought to do a little transition

Since the kids left back in the summer we have been out of the house on a few occasions (more than church, the Dr. office and the grocery store).

For example with Eric and Barb I heard Rev William Barber speak on the "Poor People's Movement".  Rev. Barber is the leader of the Moral Monday Movement in North Carolina and quite an inspirational speaker.  If you ever get a chance to hear him.  Do it.

We also participated with our Church in our adopted school's clean up day and here are Patt and Robin cleaning and painting a storage cabinet.  I was the official gofer.  Not goofer.

Nature has been abundant in our yard this summer including this large box turtle who liked our driveway.  A dangerous preference, but so far not fatal.

A great attraction of Raleigh is the annual Blue Grass Festival which has in addition to street art, food great blue grass music.

just one example.  We heard some wonderful shows.  Come some time.  

This was the crowd for the largest show we attended, most were not so large.  Oh and they are free, so the price is right.

 And this family does not show up nearly as much as we would prefer.  The mama is extremely skittish, much more so than last year when she (or her mother) kept her twins here nearly all day every day.

Winning Deacon games have been fun and looking forward to more.  Yes we have so far won more than we have lost.  A great feeling.  A new feeling.  We like it too.

But now it is time to head to North Dakota.  and see the kids.  We like that too.