party people

With two birthday parties to attend, Tom and I headed to the Heartland.

And were given a Soul… a Kia Soul – while being cute for a hamster (kia commercials), Tom and I were not as impressed......

but it did its job and got us from point A to B and back to A.

Three.

Mr. Jacob is now 3. The whole family headed down to the SuperSlide Park.

We went down the slide and we all took turns winning.. my brother (while looking innocent) cheats so don’t sit next to him.

Spectators -

We rode the bumper cars.

Tom clearly didn’t understand, he is not only 4 times as old as Kaylin, but also 4 times as large.. This did not stop him from going full force. (click on photo for full face)

And then there was an oddly positioned Pinocchio – is he in da’ club??

Grace and the Carousel

two happy campers

Family Tree…. or family in a tree...

It is clearly demonstrated by the below two photos, Scott and I are not as limber as we used to be....

b-day continued with cake and presents…

he loved his cake, but that darn tag  - - :( :( :(

The tool set from Aunt Judy was a hit!

~ ~ ~

One Hundred.

On the other end of the timeline is my Dear Grandma Elyse. 

We celebrated her 100 years!  What an accomplishment!

My parents and Aunt Judy put together a great party for her and folks came in from all over the country. It was a great turnout. There were scrap books to stir up memories, good food and great family.

Judy brought crazy hats for the kids.

and maybe for Grandpa Jerry too...

Grandma loved her cake – clap clap clap –

G-ma's best friend, Martha's daughter, Sue got her a pink, shoulder wrap (a snuggie for just the shoulders, pictured below) and you could see her brain ticking.  She put her hands in the pockets, looked at the sewn edges and with a shrug of the shoulders, would have said, "Ohhh, I could make this." and then she would have :)

She still loves to have her picture taken and is always ready with a smile.

Dad, Gram, Mom and Judy

And our little Nicholson clan.

The party was a success!

She seemed to recognize everyone and couldn't get enough of all of the cards. She stayed longer than expected but soon it came time to end the party.  I think we tired out before she did -  

She is one amazing woman and still continues to impress us all.
Go Grandma!

It was back to Fargo all too soon.

Amazingly in my years of existance and the countless trips through Jamestown, I have never stopped and visited the world's largest buffalo..  and just my luck - Tom hadn't either..  So we were "both super excited" to stop and see the buffalo. 

And while he (he - being the big buffalo) was truly amazing in all his grandeur... they also have horses - that are alive and hungry.

(never mind that I look HUGE next to the horse)

Tom's had a business meeting in Moorhead so we stayed with his Aunt Lonnie and Uncle Jeff for the night.

Tom's friend, Andy Schneider came down from Grand Forks, Jeff (my college roommate) and his wife, Tara came over and we had a lovely evening on the golf course sitting beside a fire and enjoying our local company.  This group proved how small the world is - turns out Andy threw a ball at Tara's head during a water polo match in college. 

When we arrived back in LA, we were to find Tom's friend's car so we didn't have to take a taxi, but where was the car?  We didn't know.  It was raining, we were hungry, sleepy and bogged down with our carry on luggage.  LAX is a slightly inappropriate airport for the "I think its parked over here" as it was not and the key faub car alarm only works within a certain range.

After more than a couple elevator rides in a couple of different parking structures, the car was located and our trip was officially over.

back to the grind :(