Happy Birthday brother John

Happy Birthday today to my brother John. It was a great time vacationing together, thank you for that. I hope today is a good day for you. Saddle up Jake and go for a good trail ride!

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Montana moutain views

I am still working through the beautiful pictures from our vacation - I could post so many but thought I should be prudent and restrain myself - else you may not want to visit this blog! As you can tell, I have now learned how to post a slide show (dangerous knowledge!!) and even a little video from my camera (wasn't that special?? I had just learned that feature on my camera that day!) At any rate, here are two more pictures from Montana - I wanted to see what happened when I choose the "large" size for posting pictures.

This lake view was from the highway that goes over the Beartooth mountains taking us from Red Lodge, Montana towards Yellowstone Park in Wyoming. Stunning.

Old Faithful!

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Purple mountains majesty

After 2200 miles of traveling we have arrived safely home. Along with lovely weather we enjoyed some outstanding scenery along with my brother John and Laurie. Here is one of the few pictures of the four of us - we had to set the camera on a rock as our tripod and put it on self-timer. It may look like we are standing in some field or on the prairie - but check out the next picture to get the perspective. We are on top of a mountain and on a plateau entitled "hellroaring plateau." It was fabulous! Wally drove us up to the top in our 4-wheel drive pick up truck slowly over a gravel road (if you can call that a road!) - it took a hour to drive the 6 miles to the top. But is was sooo worth it!

Here is a picture with Wally in the distance so you can get the feeling of where we actually were. Notice all the beautiful blue/purple flowers. We picked a great time of year to visit - lots of wild flowers in bloom.

Headin' West, Pardner!!

And now we are heading out west for a little cowboy life! Wyoming & Montana, here we come!! We'll see ya'll later!!

Erica and Matt

It was a lovely sunny (and warm!) day for a wedding. I was happy to be the wedding coordinator for Erica and Matt. Here are a few photos from the special day. Congratulations Erica and Matt - the wedding you planned was beautiful and meaningful!

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July! We were fortunate to see John and Sara as they stopped at the "Berge Bed and Breakfast" last evening. They are continuing on to Sara's parents home in western North Dakota this morning. Daniel and Meghan and Brooklyn and Preston joined us for breakfast this morning. Everyone wore their Old Navy flag t-shirts that I bought for them. (Sorry we don't have Adam & Andrea and kids in the picture with their shirts..)

What was I thinking? I forgot to purchase a shirt for Wally or for me. So we couldn't be in the picture!! Next year I'll get it right!

Sara and Meghan enjoy some time visiting while Brookyn and Preston play in the sandbox.

Optimus Prime!

Anyone who had sons during the era of transformers can appreciate the excitement the new movie "Transformers" generates in the hearts of our now adult sons. They say men are just little boys at heart..... and it was sooo true when John unearthed a container of his beloved transformers! John and Sara had attended the movie the night before so he was still in his little boy mode! Here he is holding Optimus Prime!

I think the tongue shows the seriousness of the moment..

And here is Daniel getting into the act. Once again, the choice of transformer just happens to be Optimus Prime!

Vacation Bible School time!

It's that time of year when children can enjoy the music and Bible story teaching of Vacation Bible School. Of course, one of the highlights for us grandparents and parents would be the children singing at the end-of-the-week program. I was fortunate to see Brooklyn in her program on Friday. She was as sweet as pie, standing so still and well-behaved and happy to sing the great songs. (Remember, I only had boys....) She is in the pink dress - it was hard to get a good picture because the boys and girls in front of her kept moving back and forth as they playing on the railing.

I moved over to the side to get a better view of Brooklyn in the second row and she was so happy to look over at me with a big smile. Isn't that adorable?

Face time for Luke!

In the interest of fairness to all Berge grandchildren I thought it would be prudent to get this smiler on the blog! Of course, it wasn't easy catching a picture of this little fella as he was racing around the park when I returned Timothy after his overnight stay. Luke is always good at handing out smiles, though, when he sees the camera and he thought it was funny that I was trying to take a picture of him.

Luke didn't get to come to Camp Grandma but he was old enough to know he was missing out and he really cried when Timothy got into my car to leave him. Now he is all happy to have his brother and wrestling partner back!

Camp Grandma

A very important four-year old came to Grandma & Grandpa B's for an overnight visit!

There were lots of activities to do at grandma's. Grandma B. just loves to play with playdough - and so do I!

Grandma and Grandpa have this cute little tent. You can buy one just like it at Ikea! It was really great and grandma can fit in it - can you believe

that?

Cousin Brooklyn is the same age as I am and I really like it when we can play together. She came over to Grandma & Grandpa B's for supper and we got to play together. Preston was here too but he is kind of small and can't play with the same things we play. Maybe next year, Preston!

This morning Timothy helped water grandma's plants - and then decided that the trees could use some water too!

The best thing for Timothy was bowling with grandma. It was Timothy's idea - and we went bowling in the morning and we had the place to ourselves. Timothy could size up the little bowling rack and he beat me big time! Timothy scored 153 because he had THREE strikes in a row! I think those bumper pads helped too...

Full of sparkles!

A big smile for grandma's camera this afternoon! Andrea and the grandchildren are visiting her folks in Fargo while Adam is on a mission trip to Mexico. It was a hot and sunny day and the pool in her parents backyard was the place to be. Timothy swims like a fish, Luke was napping but he loves the water too (and has no fear so must be watched closely!!) Hannah cooperated by giving grandma a great big smile when I got out my camera! Thank you Hannah!

Norwegian church service

Today Wally and I attended church where the language spoken was Norwegian. In fact, the church itself was an exact replica a church in Norway. It was beautiful craftsmanship and also a wonderful service. We sang and recited in Norwegian (Wally knows the language and I only know a few words and phrases) although the sermon was (happily) delivered in English. The special music included authentic instruments that would have been used during our ancestors lives. The minister was also dressed in the fashion of the past. It was all part of an annual Scandinanvian festival in Moorhead, Minnesota. We also enjoyed tasty food from Sweden and Norway.

This is a view from inside the little church. The minister is the fellow with the white collar. The musicians are off to the left and they are dressed in Norwegian outfits.

Here I am posing with some trolls. I think Wally should learn to carve these!

Preston had a birthday - his first one!

Hi folks, I thought I'd write on grandma's blog. I had a birthday party last week at my mom and dad's place. That is where I live too. My sister lives there too and they are my family. Lots of other family came too - lots of grandma's and grandpa's and great grandma's and a great grandpa - my Aunt and cousins and friends too! I really had a great time, everyone paid lots of attention to me!!

The nice people who love me brought me presents! I really liked getting the paper off - it is really fun to rip things.

Mommy said I had a "theme" party. Can you guess the theme? I don't really know what a theme is but there are lots of things I am trying to figure out. This is my cake.

This is one of my favorite toys. My mommy's mommy bought it for me a while ago. She was pretty smart because I just love riding on this train. I can sit up big and tall and I don't even have to hold on when someone is pulling me! If I press these buttons all sorts of cool sounds happen. Did you know that?

We had pizza for my party. I hope mommy and daddy give me pizza for all my parties. I just love it! And I can eat it all by myself - in fact, I would rather eat all by myself all the time. Maybe it is a control thing. Apparently my daddy was just the same way. Hm.....

Here are my grandma and grandpa - Daddy's Mommy and Daddy - and silly Daddy - did you see that he got into the picture when they weren't looking? He does funny things like all the time!!! I hope I can grow up and be just like him!

Sara bakes galettes

Yippee, I am glad to announce I am back on line and this time I can enjoy high speed. That means I can now watch some of those video clips many of you put on your blogs. (That was nearly impossible to do with slow dial-up)

Here are some pictures I wanted to post after our weekend at John and Sara's. Sara baked really delicious galettes - a sort of little french pie. You can figure it out from the pictures - sorry I can't have a scratch and sniff part of this post! ha ha. A new idea for the internet? Can we add smell too? Perhaps we're on to something here...

A close-up of the pastry dough with the fruit filling inside...
















Ready for the oven....












Now, don't they look fabulous? They were!

What? No internet? Are you kidding?

Okay, here is a post minus a picture... since I am posting from the library. Yes, no internet for me at present. Shocking!! I was planning on connecting to high speed and I ordered a new computer tower with an ethernet card, etc. But the company that provides DSL to our neighborhood cancelled my order because of the complaints with the service to our neighborhood - they plan on laying a new line but perhaps not for months yet!! What? Are they kidding? Now I may have to go back to dial-up?? Hopefully, there is another option I am pursuing that my computer guy told me about. Someone who provides high speed to rural areas ...and I am in the coverage area. They will have to install an antenna on the roof of the house to receive the signal from his tower. Keep your fingers crossed that our home will be located in such a fashion that we can receive the signal from the tower. I'll learn more next week when they come out to access the situation. In the meantime ... trips to the library to check email now and then and read a few blogs! My withdrawal symptoms are lessening....

John gets help from Dad

John and Sara are moving forward with a construction project that will convert their screened in porch to a four season room. It will really be a wonderful addition to their home. There will be a cozy fireplace and comfy chairs. I can't wait to see it finished and enjoy morning coffee in their new room! Wally and I spent a few days with John and Sara - and the men hammered nails while the ladies baked or too long walks....

The size of the room was extended about 18 inches.

The sheeting was on by the end of Saturday. The next step will be installing the windows.

Coffee, apples and gjetost!! (Gjetost is a soft caramel colored cheese from Norway made from goat's milk.)

The weather was so grand all 3 days that we had most of our meals and breaks outside.

Fun at Grandma's

Just a few pictures from Memorial day weekend. Preston, who will soon become a one-year old, is now very into everything. He crawls with determination to get what catches his eye... usually whatever his big sister is playing with at the time too! He pulls himself up to a standing position so he can reach (hopefully) the toys we are playing with on the little table... or the crayons we are using to color... whatever Brooklyn and Grandma are doing that's where Preston wants to be! No matter there are tons of other really interesting toys all over for him... nope, gotta check out sister!!

So far Preston has not yet be allowed to join us for tea though! That is strictly a girl privilege right now. Here Aunt Martha gets in on the action with Brooklyn and Grandma. These wonderful hats came from Rhode Island and my dear Aunt Bea! Thanks so much Aunt Bea! We are making good use of your hats!