Nathan completing driver's ed. 

Amy having herself a lovely outing. 

Oh my gosh, Ari's in front of the camera instead of behind it! 

The biggest, most beautifulest hibiscus I ever seen. At Legoland, but not made of legos.  

Do you need to go pee-pee? 

Emily fitting right in at picturesque Seaport Village. 

I think they mean it. 

Feeling blue. 

Caleb James Nordhagen and his parents at his baptism. 

Sand geometry 

This is a very rare Wilson's Plover. Isn't he cute?? Rare. Did I mention that? 

This is my biography of Ari.  

An Anemo-nemo-nemo-nemo-nemone.

I love rocks. 

First day in San Diego, we went to the beach. It was quiet and peaceful and the water was contaminated. Mmm. These are the clams that were on the beach by the thousands. When you pull them out of the sand they wiggle their little foot like a tongue, which I think is totally adorable, but my 4-year-old nephew thinks is scary.  

Farm Call

In this case at least Emily is in the picture too. She is torturing poor old George who has a bump on his head. Apparently when you squeeze it really hard (see exhibit A) brown liquid comes out. Hmm. Poor cat.

I bet you think I only take pictures of cats and flowers. Well, you're right. So what? 

Eulogy for a farm dog

This is my Bernie angel. Bernie was so named for two (2) reasons. For one, she looked rather like a St. Bernard as a puppy. Secondly, Erik had a very good friend named Bernice, which is Bernie's full name. Bernie is related to Dolly (in many inbred ways). I can't believe I don't have any pictures of my sweet Dolly up on this page, but she looks like Bernie only groomed. Bernie tragically died just yesterday. Thus ends a long line of wonderful dogs from Mike and Lady. Dolly's the only one left in our family and she's fixed. (My poor Dolly was meant to be a mom. You should see her around babies of any species.) Bernie spent most of her life chained because she loved to chase deer. However, in the last year, she has spent a lot of time off of her chain and happily roamed the farm once again (thus the swamp monster). Bernie was very loyal and had only one desire: "Rub my tummy!" The farm has never been dogless in my lifetime. My sweet farm girl will be missed.

Swamp Monster

This is Bernie as a Swamp Monster. (I am allowed to call it a swamp in this context. Have you heard of a marsh monster? It sounds more like marshmallow which is not very menacing. Bernie is not menacing either. Just very dirty.) Dog from the Black Lagoon. We could call it the Black Lagoon. It is rather, um, black as exhibited here on Bernie's formerly white tummy.  

Rain On My Parade

Saturday was the annual Armed Forces Torchlight Parade, or the Lilac Parade. It rained. Every time someone from a branch of the United States Armed Forces passes, you, as the parade-goer, stand and cheer. This is not as easy as it sounds because it's not like you're sitting in a chair. No, you're sitting on a curb about three inches off the ground. It's not that I don't appreciate the servicemen and women, but sheesh! The best part is that every time you stand up, the rain falls on the blanket you were sitting on, so that when you sit down, it has gotten wetter and wetter. Mmm, pleasant. Of course, you're wearing jeans. Wet jeans are the most comfortable and warm garment around, don't you think? Yes, it makes for one really comfy rear. And your blankets are hanging down into the mini-river that runs next to the curb. Did I mention that since you wanted a decent seat, you got there over 2 hours early? So by the time the parade is over, you've been sitting on a curb for 5 hours.

Don't get me wrong, now. The Parade was lovely. The middle school bands that won the Jr. Lilac Parade were amazing. We got to see our friend Ben Brueggemeier. Old cars rock. Drum cadences are the best. Kettle Korn is yummy. There was a clown. The Red Hot Mamas are Red Hot. Riverside's Band was better than Medical Lake's (hah!) After the parade we got pizza and watched the Matrix. So see? It was lovely. Heck, it's almost a requirement of a parade to get wet, isn't it?