Scary Halloween!!!

Happy Halloween! Cowboy Luke almost missed Halloween thanks to a splinter in his eye, but he toughed it out (OK, not really, he just needed candy). Libby was an iPod, and... Jack? Well, he just went to watch over the trick-or-treaters. I told him to ask for cash for the parents... we'll see what comes back...


We got numerous compliments on Laura's Halloween lighting... "Best-decorated house in the neighborhood," we heard several times...

Luke went with his friends Grayden and Jose. The three amigos are inseparable lately!

Halloween Gone Bad!

Pretty horrifying... the 2nd annual Stonemill Farms Halloween party took place on Saturday night. There were Goth figures, 3 Sarah Palins (big surprise), Michael Phelps, sumo-baby, biker chicks, you name it. Jello shots and grog were just the beginning of the refreshments. This is suburbia gone bad. Be very afraid. The scariest part of the evening? I said to Jack, "I look pretty horrifying, don't I?" He said, "Dad, what's horrifying is that you think you can pull this stuff off at your age." Wow. Go to your room, young man!

Remembering Kenzie

With great sadness, we learned this week that Curt's step daughter Kenzie died in a car accident in Montana. We only knew her briefly, but we were all so impressed with this 10-year old's maturity, earnestness and good nature. One could see how much Curt's character had rubbed off on her, and how much she was loved by everyone - especially Curt and Arvid. She hit it off with our kids at the Threshing Bee this summer - especially with Libby. Here she is driving the 4-wheeler that Curt brought out to Arvid in August. Kenzie will be missed so very much.

Army 10-Miler - Year 4

Oops, I did it again... even though for 3 years, I've consistently said "never again," right after finishing the Army 10-Miler in Washington, D.C. This year I took another 10 minutes off my time, running it in 1:28:44 (an average of 8:52 per mile). It helped that it was 20 degrees cooler than 2007, when it was 90 degrees and someone died at the 9-mile mark. This year there were 28,000 runners registered! It was a nice trip home to visit with Mom and Dad, and to join the huge Association of the U.S. Army (AUSA) conference.

The "Destroyers" - Luke Plays Flag Football

Luke is playing flag football this year. His team is the "Destroyers," which is appropriate because they are destroying the competition. Today he played quarterback very well, and won a silver star from the coach for his excellent defense "tackles."

Libby's First Dance

Libby went to her first dance on Thursday night, at Lake Junior High School (which is now grades 6 through 9). Here she is with her friend Marissa before the big dance!

"Segway to Freedom!"

The Defense Alliance held its quarterly membership meeting - "Segway to Freedom" - in a unique way this week... we met at St. Anthony Main to ride the Minneapolis Riverfront on Segways! 25 of us risked life and limb for a couple of hours at dusk, before retiring to a nearby bar. There, we had a terrific brief from a Minnesota National Guard lieutenant colonel who has been involved with nation-building efforts in Iraq - a very good news story that one would never read in the American press. After that, I introduced our surprise guest to cap the evening, Senator John McCain! The presidential candidate (really Pat Lawton's Dad, who is his virtual clone) spoke to us about the important of the defense industry, before he took a phone call from Barack Obama about the debates, and then had to leave abruptly. It was a very enjoyable evening. Read more about Segways and how they work HERE