Oh yeah, and.

Another thing. Lewis's face is mostly lips right now. Guess they grew faster than the rest of him, but the net result is that when he shoots for emphasis, what we get is raspberries. Inge and Lewis got into a discussion over one of Lewis's trucks the other day. Inge should really know better than to tangle with the expert, but she doesn't. She has a managerial streak, and can't handle the possibility that Lewis might know something once in a while. So I watched the two of them go at it like this:
Inge: "Lewis, that's not a tow truck. That's a fire truck. See, here's a ladder." (It wasn't a ladder.)
Lewis: "Itszzhp a pTOW pttbTRUCK"

Repeat that exchange about thirty times, and you've got the gist of the conversation.

Other funnies, mostly about praying

Inge trots back to her bedroom after a brief session in the bathroom with Daddy, and in a voice of surprised delight announces, "Well, look at that! There's another spanking stick right here!"

Lewis is praying a lot right now. He really likes to pray. In fact, it's all Peter can do to beat him to the punch at meals. He says, "Okay, let's pray," and Lewis is off like a shot: "Heavenly Father, thank you for this food, and please forgive us for disobeying, and please help us to obey in all things, Amen."

That's his standard prayer. Of course, it's not nearly that clear. Lewis's enunciation leaves much to be desired, and what he actually says is more like this: "Heeeehnee Faaahhheh, heh-heh feh theh foooonh, and pleeh 'give unh for dih-oh-beh-ing, and pleeh heh unh to obey in all things, Amen.

At evening prayers, he gets prompted a lot more. Such as like this:
Peter, at the end of a long litany of family members; "And for Uncle Tim and Aunt Jill."
Lewis: "And Un-unh Tim and Anh Jill." pause "And for Jay-mamie."

Uncle Jay and his tractors made a lasting impression.

Focus on Fruit

So, I say to Inge tonight, "Inge, would you like some more meat?" And Inge looks very mature and self-disciplined and polite all at once and says, "Nooooo, I'm just going to focus on fruit right now."

Cute Corn Cobs

Here are some pictures of the cutest corn cobs ever.

Corn Cob

Here's the head corn cob in action. The outfit is of her own devising, and the skipping is also a most natural thing to do. This morning I was awakened by this comment from my wife: "I think I hear Inge shouting, "Lewis, suck my toe!" over and over again; maybe you should check that out." Ingenious corn cobs are definitely growing around here.


Inge recently pointed out the superiority of this outfit: the pieces of cloth that she has turned into a skirt are covering not only in the front, but also in the back. It's great for the warm weather we've been having here.

Okay, okay.

Yielding to popular opinion, we have amended the spelling from "Mischleek" to "Mishlique." Yes, it's classier. Never mind that Lewis came up with it during one of his more affectionate moments, and I'm pretty sure he didn't have the French spelling in mind. He looked at his sister and it was just one of those times when emotion wells up within you, ya know, so out he popped with it in the gooiest voice he's got: "Miiiiiiischleeeeeeeek." On the other hand, the diminutive suffix is at least in keeping with the spirit of the thing, which is why we feel free to exercise our editorial abilities on his creation.

Mishlique it is. Y'all happy?

Mischleek

Here's a photographic tribute to Mischleek, as we call her quite often now.

Happy Anniversary

Mom and Dad have been married for 28 years. Good Job, Happy Anniversary, and may God give you many, many more!

Love,

The Idaho Roises

Three Kids

I think these pictures pretty much speak for themselves. Except you should notice that Inge's hair has gone straight, and I think it's as pretty straight as it was curly.

Misc Pics To Catch Up

The real challenge I have here is choosing the right pictures out of the many options I have. Occasionally I miss an important picture, or haven't gathered some of the good pictures from the other camera or whatever. So here are a few I missed that should catch us up.

Here are my three children and Noah Benton. Noah and his family are friends of my family from ND. His sister is boarding with us this year. The 13th Benton child is not yet born, but as you can tell-- this 15 year old isn't scared of children. Another fun fact about Noah-- he traps beavers.


This is my cousin Rob and his wife Jodie and two sons David and Dalton. We met them in Dickinson, ND on our way home and had a nice visit. It'd been a while since we'd seen them.


They look like they could be related, at least I think so. Hard to believe that the guy with the black hair (natural color) is her Great-grandpa, eh?

Lewis has a vision. He will never be the same.

The dubious sanity of daughters

Even when girls are young, they are hormonal creatures. Lewis may have his fears, his concerns, his own stressful circumstances; but compared to the girls, he is a phlegmatic creature. He does not shoot suddenly up to those precarious heights of energy, or slither back down to the emotional depths without warning. When he's tired, he's a basket case. When he's well-rested, he is normal. By contrast, Inge and Michelle can be a little weird. Examples:

I walked around the corner a moment ago to find Michelle jumping up and down in her walker, and on each descent gnawing ferociously, like some little wild rodent, on the edge of the piano seat which by some accident of mobility she had come across for the first time. Only seconds later, I heard an exasperated voice from the back room, evidently addressing the electronic alphabet toy (that says with a certain disingenuous enthusiasm, "press a button, press any button to play music!"): "I will press the button! I was going to press the button!"

And then, there was the other night. Peter and I were indulging in some nostalgia with regard to Inge--telling her how big she's getting, how much we'll miss her when she's all grown up--and then suddenly it all went downhill. Inge burst into tears and, weeping, told us she didn't want to move away when she grew up; she wished she could stay with us all afternoon (with pathetic emphasis). She didn't even want to move away when she got married, but proposed instead that her husband should live with us because he's part of the family. I wish I could convey the pathos of that small, emotion-laden face. She was inconsolable until we had assured her over and over that she didn't have to move away unless she really wanted to.

How a story grows

Those who have been with us a while may remember Inge's early explanation of the process of courtship. This morning she outlined the concept to Lewis thusly: Someday when a bunch of husbands come to our house, Daddy will let one of them inside, but the rest he will take out into the yard and kill with sticks. Sharp sticks.

Future suitors, beware.

Trip Home

We had a good trip home, Praise the Lord.

Here's Lewis with the last prize of the trip-- gigantic sunglasses. They were handed out after dinner in Missoula, MT.


We drove past some impressive thunderheads and eventually the remnants of the forest fires also around Missoula.


As I decided which exit sign to document I had many choices-- Montana has interesting exits. For instance a few of the others are Wibaux (Gateway to the West), Anaconda Junction, and Bad Route Road. Rosebud won out for the sake of my sister-in-law Rose who is sometimes called things like this, especially by her father.


Inge looking sad in the back seat. Don't be fooled-- she had a great time. I just happened to catch a picture right after a reproof of some sort.


My sister Elizabeth drove a number of times and helped with the kids at stops and while I was driving. Thanks Lib!!


Here's Snootch happy because she is not in her seat and charming her Aunt Libby who is supposed to be driving. Notice Aunt Libby in the rear view mirror in the corner.

The Farm

My mom grew up on "The Farm" as we call it. Her dad is to the left in the picture below and her brother to the right. That's part of Uncle Wally in the background.


These pictures are of us examing the new ring-dike that was put around the farm after some of the flooding of the last decade. Even though The Farm is 6 miles from the Red River, it is so flat out there that most of their yard was over a foot deep in water during the flooding of 1997. Unfortunately this year was also wet-- Uncle Jay lost some crops and is anticipating poor yield in others because of the excess moisture.

Grandpa is pointing something out to Uncle Wally. Grandpa and Uncle Wally were doing most of the farming when I was riding in the tractors and trucks.


Here's a picture of the farm including the ring-dike from the southwest corner. There is some distortion.


Here you have a view from inside the tractor. Obviously, I'm not looking through the viewfinder when I snapped this photo. I did manage to get Uncle Jay's hat and part of his profile in the lower right hand corner. Just remember, it's the camera that is tilted, not the ground.

And here's that beautiful piece of John Deere machinery coming down the field. One Grandpa sold them the other Grandpa used them-- there's nothing that runs like a Deere.

Here we are waiting at the end of the field for our next turn to ride the tractor. Grandpa was our chauffeur.

Outings

We did a lot of fun things on our visit.


Dad, Christian, and Douglas golfed (I just walked along, due to a back problem) at the Barnesville course.


Claire and I looked at the Hjemkomst and Stavekirk heritage center. Really I went there to take pictures. We've seen it before. This is a very interesting thing to see if you are ever in Moorhead, MN.

The Hjemkomst--a historical reproduction of a Viking Longboat which was actually sailed through the Great Lakes and across the Atlantic to Norway.


The Stavekirk is also a reproduction-- this time of the very interesting little wooden Cathedrals of Scandanavia. The white thing to the side is the building which encloses the Hjemkomst.


We went to the Wahpeton, ND zoo. I had no idea that this rather small town in this rather small state could have such a zoo. Yet there they are-- camels, tigers, zebras, and many more.


We even spotted a Snootch while we were there... Of course, it was our Snootch, but just as fun to see.

They had two different kinds of tigers. This is a Siberian Tiger, I believe.


We also went to "The Farm." This is my mom's family's farm. Uncle Jay is the main farmer now that Grandpa retired. It should be noted however, that retirement doesn't really keep him out of the field altogether.

Inge and Jonathan playing music at the Farm.


Lewis, Inge, Claire, and I all had rides on the big tractor at "The Farm." Thanks to Uncle Jay, who is driving.

Roisestad Stay

While many of the previous pictures have been from Roisestad as well, this is a selection of pictures that shows some of the flavor of the place itself. My only regret is not having any good porch, or screened porch pictures. Perhaps Dad will post some.


Here are some ducks and ducklings on the Roisestad pond. Unfortunately the pond is also known to local mosquitos as the "Family Birthing Center."


My mom hosted a very nice little tea party for the kids in the special play area under the stairs. It's very cool for kids and not to bad for parents since it tends to keep things a little more contained.


Grandpa is good at rides (and other things). Tractors or bicycles, these grandkids like going with Grandpa.


This is my brother Michael standing in the field of thistles. Dad took dominion over these weeds before we left, I believe. This is one of the reasons this is such a great place for my family-- room for dominion is a good thing (as proof, consider how their Horace place was too dull).


The kids played in the sand puddle quite a bit. Uncle Andrew taught Inge to make a road with her mashed potatoes and for the rest of the week she was making roads wherever she could-- cottage cheese, sand puddle, you name it. Of course, Lewis was in heaven. Uncle Douglas liked playing in the sand too, obviously. Thanks for sharing the trucks, Douglas.

Visiting Family

And here are all of my family. Pretty decent group, eh?




Here are the youngest members.


Of course you recognize the kids, and me, and then there is Grammy, and her dad-- Great Grandpa. The lady with the kids is their Great, Great, Great Aunt Blanche. Now, that is a lot of "greats"!!


Here you see my Great Uncle Wally, Aunt Robyn, and Uncle Jay. It sure was good to see them all this trip.

Wedding Weekend

My Uncle Tim was married this weekend. Here are a few of the pictures.

Walking out of the church, Uncle Tim and Aunt Jill. :)



Claire and Snootch with (our kids') Uncle Andrew and (our kids') Great Uncle Bob in the background.



My cousin Jonathan, almost always makes a good picture subject--I'm sure you can see why.


This is Jonathan's dad, my Uncle Jay. He was the best man. As you can see we all had a very fun weekend.


Here's the happy couple at the rehearsal.