I Wonder as I Wander…

So we had two trips to North Dakota for family events. The first one was to Minot for Alex’s confirmation. We first went to Hibbing and picked up Kara, Paul, and Naomi—I was able to visit the chapter at Hibbing and even speak at their induction ceremony.

We went to Grand Forks and spent the night there—it was easier on Naomi (and the rest of us) to break up the trip into shorter times—so we could relax and she could eat leisurely. We went to eat at Space Aliens—I had a whole plate full of BBQ. I think I like plain Baby Back ribs the best. Naomi was very good in the restaurant—although she creates quite a stir—people are always stopping by and commenting on her red hair.

Visiting with all the family in Minot was so much fun—we had big crowds going out to eat, we ordered pizza and KFC and ate around the pool. Naomi was passed around and around. It was funny because when Sandy or I held her, we would be unwrapping her and when Mom or LeAnn held her, they would be wrapping her up tight. But she didn’t seem to mind too much. Even the little kids were holding her some.

Alex’s confirmation was really nice. He had a big crowd of family surrounding him. Then we went back to the hotel and enjoyed a buffet dinner.

A couple weeks later, we went to Fargo to see Terry and Pam and Tim and Tammy and their kids. Kara and Naomi went along with us. We went to Tracy’s dance recital and it was really nice. They had some great music that filled the entire auditorium—Naomi seemed to enjoy it a lot.

Our convention was back in Dallas. This is the third time that I’ve been in Dallas for our convention. It was at the Gaylord Convention Center—which is really a great venue. I was still on cloud nine from the birth of Naomi—so every one of my presentations started with a photo of Naomi on my PowerPoint. It must have to do with the age of advisors, because so many of us had new grandbabies. In fact one man got the call that his daughter had a baby while we were there.

Because of Naomi being expected—I didn’t go to Chicago with Bob for his convention and he didn’t go to Dallas for mine. In fact, he had a meeting in the cities, so I even had to drive myself to the airport and back home. I guess I’m really spoiled.

I was hoping to see my college roommate, Kathy while we were there, but it didn’t work out—I was in sessions when she was free. Hopefully, we’ll be able to connect sometime in the not-to-distance future.


Our sessions were amazing—we had great speakers including Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Fareed Zakaria. Both of them talked about Iceland—and that was really interesting because we’re getting ready to go to Iceland…and that’s another post!

I had a short, but very exciting trip to Hibbing on April 11th. I had a call from Kara saying her water broke and she was in the hospital. I quickly showered, threw some things in a bag and headed for the Hibbing Hospital. When I got there—I was able to visit with Kara and Paul and then witness the birth of my beautiful grand daughter, Naomi. She is the most beautiful baby I’ve ever seen!

Naomi has a whole head full of fiery red hair—we’re not sure where she got that from—although both Paul and Kara have a little tint of red in their hair. She was 7 lbs 4 oz and 21 inches long—so is very long and thin.


The hospital is amazing—there is a wonderful birthing room, with a whirlpool in the bathroom and a long bench (Kara called it stadium seating and Paul slept on it each night.) They didn’t have any restrictions on visitations, so we were able to spend Easter Sunday there. And it was like grand central station. Grandma, Bob and I were there. Ross and Richard came up. Kari, Kim, and Carolyn all stopped in for a visit.

Naomi was passed around so everyone had a change to cuddle her. Poor Kara was probably beat, but she’s too polite to tell people to get out. I’m so excited to be a Grandma—I’ve heard that the ‘grandparent club’ is the best!