Joan’s son Sgt. Bret Bockenstedt graduated 3rd in his class of 120 from Marine Corp Security Guard Training on Friday February 24th.  Joan, Alan, and Gina attended the ceremony at Quantico, Virginia which required they pass through three security checkpoints to get in to the complex.  Bret will be heading to the US Consolate at Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.  They had a little bit of time to take in a few sites; below are Joan, Bret, and Al in front of our nation’s capital building.

Donna sent this photo this morning of Ryan and his girlfriend Rachel.  They are both students at Bemidji State.

Kelly and Aaron joined Will, Samantha and friends to celebrate Samantha’s birthday last Friday evening.  They were at a new place in Burnsville listening to Will’s friend Chris Hawkey’s band, (Chris is of KFAN fame).  Samantha is missing from the photo, off having a good time somewhere.  Below, Sara was a Maid of Honor this weekend.  Here she is pictured with her friend Dale.

Dad, Shirley and I went to the Moose Lake Nursing Home today and attended a birthday party for Dad’s only living cousin, Lillian Aho.  Lillian’s mother Helia and Dad’s mother Mary were sisters.  We had a nice time visiting and discovered how small the world is when we found out that Lillian’s sons John and Carl (pictured below with Dad) used to work for Ulland Brothers and know Shirley’s cousin from Meadowlands.  We always have a great time when we visit our cousins 125 miles to the south!

My workmate Wendy gave birth to son Parker Joe last Friday.  He weighed 7 pounds 3 ounces and was 19.4 inches long.  He was welcomed home by 2 year old brother Hunter.

Bronson is growing like a weed!  Here is mom Jen, one of my workmates, with him at the Boat Show.

Mom, Dad and I went on our one and only driving trip in my adult life to visit Bobby in Virginia and Donna in Georgia.  Imagine two people who like to be in control in a car for two weeks!  Mom said, “I always knew you two were alike, but I never realized how much until now!”

Here we are at Appomatox Court House in Virginia with Chris and Will.  For those of you who don’t know, Appomattox is where Robert E. Lee, Commanding General of the Army of Northern Virginia, surrendered his men to Ulysses Grant, General-in-Chief of all United States forces on April 9, 1865.

One of the activites that Dad really enjoyed when they visited Bob, Mary and the boys was to bring his metal detector to scan the local fields for relics.  Bob and Mary lived in Farmville, about 30 miles East of this National Park and about halfway between Lynchburg and Richmond, Virginia.  I loved Bob’s Virginia home, it was beautiful and peaceful.

It was the summer of 1989; we were gathered for our 20 year class reunion.  I am pictured here with Marge (Parzyck) DuMarce and Miriam aka Mimi (Norman) Doner.  Perms were obviously hot…   Marge is a teacher at the Cook Elementary School.  Mimi lives in Santa Rosa, Califormia.