We had a great weekend!!! Emily, her boyfriend, and his mother came on Thursday in time for supper. Kim's sister and her husband came also. Andy's mother is very nice. The next morning we left for Duluth. We all went in our truck so it was very cozy, but with the cost of gas, we all thought it made more sense. We got Emily's race packet and then walked around Canal Park a little. We then drove to Hibbing and went out to eat with our other kids. Our son Andy stayed home to watch the dogs along with Kim's sister as we got a hotel room for Friday night at the last minute, and Andy wanted to start on his house. He did see Emily on Thursday though. Emily didn't run as well as she had hoped to, but we all think she did great. We all then went back to Hibbing and Chris cooked a turkey on his spit. It was great!! By the way, earlier in the day Andy asked Kim if he could marry Emily. Looks like we're going to have another wedding soon. No date yet. Sunday morning I made pancakes and then everyone packed up and headed home. Emily and Allison were especially sad as there just wasn't enough time together. We hope next year to add another day. The ride home was fine and Emily, Andy, and Marty left soon after we got here. They still had about 10 hours left to drive. Alair was happy to get home again. Today I'm doing laundry and trying to keep things cleaned up as I have Bible study here on Friday.

Aubrey and Clair will be coming down next weekend for a few days to help me do some organizing. It's easier to do things when the 2 year old can be otherwise entertained.

Erik came home last night from his new job ha has for the summer. He works for Ziegler-Cat. They are in oartnership with the school he goes to in the diesel mechanics program. He stays in a towm home the company rents with 3 other guys in the same class. 150.00 a month rent. Not bad at all. He brought his laundry home as he does every weekend for me to do. Yeah, don't say it. Any way, I got to thinking that if his apartment is this nice they must have laundry somewhereon the property. Erik says yeah, right in the apartment!!! Go figure. It's nice to have him home though.

Tomorrow we will be taking Dad out for lunch. Who ever can come. Most of the kids won't be here. We learned a long time ago that it's more important to all get together when we can and not necessarily on the holiday or birthday. I don't play the guilt card. My mom did and I didn't like it. When you get married you have to respect the "other side" too. Also our kids live long distances away. We are all getting together next weekend in Duluth for the marathon any way.

I've got to start cleaning soon. Emily and her boyfriend and his mom, who we haven't met yet, are going to spend Thursday night here. I really need to get going!!!

Ok, so out community's big weekend is over for another year. The pageant went fine. There were three girls and all of them are nice. Our daughter that lives in Hibbing came down Friday for the weekend , but had to leave early on Sunday morning.We decided to go to church on Saturday instead of Sunday and then go down town to eat. Our youngest son was with us also. Sunday was the parade and my husband drives the foreign exchange students through in his '48 red Dodge pickup. We have hosted 7 exchange students over the years. Alair and I decided to ride with him. It had rained a lot, so when the sun came out it was really warm and humid. It's always fun though.

We finally got all our paper work done to host an exchange teacher from Thailand starting in August. The first time we will have a teacher. She's Buddist, so that will be interesting. We hosted a wonderful girl from Turkey a while back and she was Muslim. The student we hosted fromIceland is coming to visit in July. She made many friends here and has been back several times. We enjoy learning about different culturees and meeting new people.

We had the first rehearsal for our local "beauty" pageant last night. I'm on the committtee, but the other lady is really in charge. I do make the sashes and donate them. We will rehearse again tonight and then the contest is on Friday.

My Dad's only sister passed away last Friday and the funeral was yesterday. She was 91 and hadn't been real well for a while. It's getting more and more that these are the only times we see relatives. Everyone is so busy all the time. It's too bad. My brother and his wife were there and neither even acknowledged us. They haven't talked to me since our Dad's estate was finalized. He thinks I cheated him, but everything was done how Dad wanted and by the law. And besides, I'm not the one that got over 500 acres of farm land and 3 farm sites. It's sad though. I asked him to just agree to disagree and he said no because I{me} think I'm right. I guess he doesn't understand that that's what agreeing to disagree means. Thay didn't invite us to either of their kids weddings. I talked to our Pastor and he said that I've done what I can and now it's up to him. We told our kids there won't be anything to inherit. We're going to spend everything so they don't go through the same thing. Money can do terrible things to people.

On a lighter note, I had lunch with my husbands sister, two of his cousins and his only living aunt on Saturday. It was really nice. Two of his cousins will be running inGrandma's Marathon in two weeks and so is our 26 year old daughter. This is her third time. Our whole family is going up there and staying with one of our married daughters, It should be a lot of fun.