North Dakota

Well we've been home a week and a half.  There were record high temps in North Dakota and southern Canada and I found out where all the cold weather was hiding:P  It's been from -30 to 30 ever since we got home (and the above 0 days only lasted two days).

We spent a week at Grandma Effie's in North Dakota.  Our cousins came down for a day visit.  While they were there we took the chance to get family pictures.

The whole family.

Grandma and the grand-kids.

Dad, his sister Debbie, and Grandma.

We spent a night at the Lorentzen's house.

What happens when our family gets around video games.

This was how warm it was, Christmas Day and Sarah in short sleeves jumping on the trampoline with no shoes.

Sarah loved dressing up in mom's wedding dress.

Granddad's 100th Birthday

December 2nd was my Great Granddad's 100th birthday.

Even though he's a hundred he still feeds the dog everyday and drives his golf cart to get the mail.

  We had a party for him on the 3rd.

My Uncle David and his family.

Granddad and his two sons.

Granddad with three of his grandkids.  Mom is pretending to have her arm around Aunt Carole, who couldn't be there:)

And their spouses.

Four generations.

Grandma and Grandpa Rogers

We spent a couple weeks in North Carolina at my Grandma and Grandpa Rogers house.

Grandma was always in the kitchen cooking and Grandpa cooked breakfast for us every morning.

The little kids were having fun dressing up in old wigs.

Grandma and Grandpa's new dog, Maisey, was a very popular dog while we were there.

The cat and her are good friends.

The boys spent a lot of time working on Grandpa's train set and after a few trips to the train store had it running.

Dad and the boys (and our tree climber Anna) spent a lot of time trimming trees.

It was my cousin, Brittany's, birthday while we were there.

She had her birthday party at a roller skating rink, which was a lot of fun.

We spent a night making cookies with our cousins.

Sarah had a lot of fun riding on Grandpa's horses and mules.

Our friends the Warrens came down to visit us while we were there so we saddled up the horses and mules and went for a ride.

How many people does it take to saddle up a horse?

Will had great trouble staying on his horse:)  Long story...

Andrea & Nathan's

Montana was a busy state, we had five families invite us to come visit. We missed Cam & Nicole's wedding (2 friends who teach in Nondalton) because we were on the other side of the country. After we left Ron & Linda's we went North to Sealy, Mt. where two more newlyweds live. We stopped and spent the night with Paul's cousin Andrea and her new husband Nathan. Nathan is a gifted cabinet carpenter and he's also an inventor. Below the kids are using one of his inventions. He made a cherry pitter that runs off compressed air and the kids thought it was very cool; Paul did too.

Andrea worked in Alaska for several summers before she married Nathan and she got to come visit us in Nondalton. The kids love her because she's still a big kid herself and lots of fun. The school playground is adjacent to their backyard and it was an awesome one. Sarah and I watched the kids and Andrea play freeze tag only they weren't allowed to touch the ground. The kids were happy to find that Andrea was just as much fun now that she's married as she ever was. They exhausted themselves climbing around on the rugged playground.

Quentin

Sarah, smiling as always.

Sarah and Benjamin

Caleb

Andrea is a talented musician. She's a percussionist including the keyboard and she's also picked up the guitar. We had a fun evening playing and singing worship songs together.

Leaving the Farm in North Dakota

Paul's sister Debbie, her husband Ross, and our their kids Eric, Jared and Rachel, came to see us at the farm before we left to start back to Alaska. They've been up to Alaska twice to see us which is a huge blessing for us. Below we've got everyone out playing a game of touch football. Paul was impressed by how far his nephews could throw a football. It reminded him of his younger years...Ever since I joined the family, we always have a group hug when the Monsebrotens leave Grandma's house. The circle keeps getting larger...

As we left the farm and Paul's Mom Effie, Paul commented that it seemed harder this time. I suppose five years ago we were so excited by the unknown (we had just moved to Nondalton) that it covered up the sadness of leaving the farm. But, we left feeling confident that we are where God wants us to be and that's what really matters. Effie comes and sees us every year in Alaska which is another huge blessing that we are extremely grateful for.

Saying Good Bye...

As we got ready to leave the beach, my brother John Mark and his two daughters Elizabeth and Catherine left first. It was great getting to see them after so many years. John Mark's wife Sandy didn't get to come, so I'm hoping that it won't be so long until we see them again. Maybe they could come visit us in Alaska...

Next we said good bye to my sister and her husband Chris and their two daughters Callie and Carolina. It would be great if they came to see us in Alaska too...

It was an awesome week... Maybe we should make it an every 5 year event, instead of every 50...

We took the ferry as we left Carolina Beach, motor home and all...

The Family Picture

No Family Reunion would be complete without the Family Picture...

Below we got a good picture of my Mom and Dad with all 16 grandkids.

We tried several different locations...

Our family is in blue, my older brother John Mark's family is in green in the middle, my younger brother David's family is in white, and my younger sister Carole's family is in green on the right.
Since we were all so coordinated, we took the opportunity to snap a few photos of the family by the beach. I'm always looking for a really cool spot to take a family photo, so my family is used to it. They're really good sports about lining up and standing where I ask them to. One of these days I'm going to post a blog with all of my favorite family photos over the years.

The Men...

The Ladies..

David and Sarah, with Paul and Benjamin in the background.