Minot

We went up to Minot yesterday to do some more moving and unpacking for Don and Kathy.  Many roads/streets to access their neighborhood are still closed, so we had to drive to the North end of town and back track to get to their home.  It was like entering  war zone once we hit the area affected by the flood.  Heartbreaking.  Many home have already been gutted out.
As we were working, we heard the American Red Cross truck.  We got some bottled water, hand sanitizer bottles, a meal including hot dog, baked beans, fruit cup, granola bar, and veggies, and a box of Teddy Grahams.  Don helped the neighbor across the street put his flag back up in his front yard (the pole had broken at some point).

Trudy

Grandma and Grandpa LaFleur moved in to their temporary home yesterday.  They took the dogs with them.  They left the cat here 'temporarily'.....They also left the bird, but no one really shows any affection to the bird. 

Fishie Funeral

Eric's fish was flushed to Sea last night. We chose not to replace it. Instead, we got these......

And Megan got these.....

Wedding

The kids and I traveled to Fairmont, MN for my cousin's wedding.  It was a combined wedding/Cook family reunion held at my Aunt and Uncle's home.  Gorgeous home.  It was a hot, hot, hot day...and humid.....soooooooo humid.    It was a good time. Jason, Holly, and the kids and I took a break from the festivities to visit the water park in town on Saturday. It rocked. The kids also loved all the fireflies! Both boys were able to catch a few.

 Megan and her cousin Janaya quickly became BFFs.  It's been 3 years since we've seen Janaya.  She is a hoot.

 My Aunt and Uncle have a driving range of sorts in their backyard.  Jonathan did his best as a leftie golfing in a righty world.

 Humid.  Nuff said

 Eric and Megan tore up the dance floor

This is what a 9 year old looks after after being outside for 12 hours in high heat and humidity, then realizing that his favorite soccer ball is missing.  The soccer ball was eventually recovered. 

4th of July

The 4th is one of our favorite holidays-it might even top Christmas. We set up the slip in slide, filled up the kiddie pool, ate some good food, and lit off fireworks. Tyler, Jess, and Huxley joined us this year. Hux wasn't too sure of the fireworks right away, but didn't take too long to warm up to them. Holly lit off her first fireworks and enjoyed her first 'backyard' fireworks display. Fireworks are a no no in California, so this was a new experience for her, too!

 Megan expressing her joy that we would start lighting off fireworks

 Smoke bombs...a LaFleur family favorite

 Wow look at that!

Nine

Eric and Jonathan finally reached the long anticipated age of nine.  They did not meet their goal of surpassing Grandma LaFleur in height, but came darn close.  This year we had Grandma and Grandpa LaFleur, Jason and Holly, Grandma Miller (Grandpa was farming), Amy, Macy, and Erika in attendance.  Eric was up late the night before and got to countdown to his birthday with me.  We were 'camping' in the backyard, and many neighbors were lighting off fireworks late.  Staying with tradition, I abandoned them early in the day to go to the Art in the Park with the girls and Jason.  We grilled hot dogs and burgers and had cake pops, and of course opened some gifts.