One Big Bubble

Odessa blew a giant bubble out of "alien" slime. A proud moment for a mother. :)

Blue Lips

Fargo, ND----Dining at Paradiso's with Uncle Than, Great Grandma Glenna, and all the rest of us. Dyson shows us his blue tongue. The drink even had umbrellas! OK, so I guess his lips weren't really blue...

A Family Snapshot

Fargo, ND----This is our whole Olien family with Great Grandma Glenna. Hi, Grandma! We really had a fun night!!! Good to see you all!!!

Great Grandma Glenna's

Great Grandma Glenna in her living room.

Great Uncle Brion and Great Aunt Sue posing on the patio.

Great Uncle Lee relaxing.

Cousin Julie and little Nola.

Fargo, ND----We stopped at Great Grandma Glenna's for an evening visit and supper. Grandma made hamburgers and hotdogs. For dessert we had berries and ice cream. The kids played (and ran) around the house and through the back yard. Nola "rode" Grandma's little ceramic deer. Nola played with the neighbor's cardinal bird lawn ornament. Nola ran through the trees and bushes. The kids all had a good time while Julie kept them entertained. We love to visit our relatives!!!

Nature Baby

Nola with a big peony outside Grandma Louise and Grandpa Jim's house.

Nola plays with the neighbor's cat.

Valley City, ND----Back to Valley City. We stayed with Grandma Louise and Grandpa Jim quite a bit this summer. They were very good to us and let us eat all their cereal! The kids played outside. The days were very sunny and pleasantly warm. Not hot and in the 100s like our home in Kansas.

Mommy-To-Be

Tower City, ND----Our beautiful cousin Heidi stands here with her dog Sophie close behind her. This was taken in June about one month before Heidi had her baby. I love this photograph. It reminds me of wonderful farm memories. Of kids and tree forts, snow tunnels and four-wheelers. Clotheslines and hammocks, long walks and grasshoppers. Heidi gave birth to their daughter on July 29th. Welcome Baby Middel! Congratulations Heidi and Jamie! We are so happy that she is here!!!

Space Aliens

Odessa and Dyson with their kid's menus over their faces.

Dyson, Odessa and Nola outside by the Space Aliens front door.

Bismarck, ND----This is a tradition for us. Dyson loves Space Aliens restaurant. So whether we are in Fargo or Bismarck, we always stop for some yummy food and fun games. The kids play electronic games and are awarded tickets that they can turn in for prizes. We have a million miniature green and blue aliens floating around the house. They are too big to vacuum up and small enough to hide under couches.

Salem Sue

Odessa showing her super power pose overlooking ND farmland.

Nola on the trail.

Nola at the "hoof" of Salem Sue.

New Salem, ND----If you didn't know it, Salem Sue is the largest Holstein cow in ND. Maybe in the world... We were on our drive to the eastern part of ND from Mott and decided to stop and take a look. We usually do. I have many pictures of the kids (and even just myself) with Salem Sue. Dyson wouldn't come with us. He said it was too high up. He stayed by the van. The rest of us trekked beyond the holstein, up the deer trails to the peak of the little bluff.

Great Grandma Helen's

Uncle Nathanael swings Nola---Dyson is playing in the background.

Great Grandma Helen

Uncle Than, Nola, Odessa, Dyson and Great Aunt Judy

Dazey, ND. This was in June. We spent the afternoon visiting Great Grandma Helen's house at the farm. You can see that Dyson is playing his Gameboy. We got to see a lot of relatives and had lunch. You have to have lunch at Grandma's. Cousin Dave was there, too. Great Uncle Jim and Great Aunt Pat visited for a little while. Great Aunt Judy took the kids to the barn to look for kittens. The farm dog Blue was friendly and very happy to see everyone.

Valley City

I'll admit it... I haven't blogged for some time! This is a shot of Grandma Louise and Grandpa Jim in Valley City. They had a Community Days Parade and all the kids got loads of candy! We had a good time. The other picture is of the back patio at the River House. There were thousands of sandbags! The house looks pretty sad inside---the lower level is stripped bare due to the water damage. Right now Grandma Louise is in Norway. I miss her very much.