Testicle Festival

So yesterday I was perusing the online version of the Great Falls (Montana) Tribune, the city of my birth, for news on the fire near Glacier Park and this was the lead article that greeted me. Whew, I'm glad that the fires are not deterring the Rocky Mountain Oysters eaters from their festival!

Boundary Waters

Here are some pictures from our recent adventure in the BWCA. We had a great time with our friends Nicole and Nathan. Jon did great on his very first real camping trip. We traveled around 35 or 40 miles (not quite sure, due to a last minute detour) from Clearwater Lake, through the Pike Lakes, John Lakes, MacFarlane Lake, Pine Lake, Caribou Lake and a detour to Deer, Moon and Flour Lakes when we couldn't find a campsite on our last night.

Here is Jon with our fully loaded canoe getting ready to take off from Clearwater.

Here are Nicole and Nathan next to us in their kayaks, which we soon learned were not fun to portage. Especially after you learn that your possibly (the rules weren't totally clear) illegal portage wheels don't work very well.

Unloading at the first portage.


A self of Jon and I in our paddling hats.

Jon fishing from our campsite on West Pike Lake. This was definitely our best campsite. I caught a smallmouth bass in the canoe, which was interesting.

Nicole and Nathan eating Mountain House. Yum.

Nathan and Jon trying to get the food up in the tree to keep it away from the bears. It was quite the process each night, especially because there weren't many strong low branches to choose from.
Jon forging the river.


Nathan and Jon swimming in Johnson Falls.



Jon and I by Johnson Falls.


Jon in the back of the canoe.

Jon carrying the beast of a canoe.


More Mountain House. The last day.

The Hagen Farm

This weekend we visited Jon's uncle Paul's farm. I'd never been there before, which is kind of crazy since it's not that far. It's just two hours west of Chaska, near Redwood Falls, Minnesota. The farm has been in the family for about 150 years and now Jon's mom's brother, Paul and his wife Elaine live there. Here are some of the highlights of our visit.

Maxed Out

Wow. This is a great movie. It kind of makes me wonder what I'm doing in banking. I don't work for one of THOSE banks, but I see a lot of this stuff every day. Most people I know, don't even know that this is going on, because it's happening to the people who can least afford it. Anyway, check it out. It's one of those documentaries that doesn't feel like a documentary. If you have Netflix you can watch it online using their new Watch Now feature, which by the way, I love.

Misc Pictures

These are just some random pictures from the weekend. We've been doing a lot of bike riding with Suzie since she's been here. There are also some pictures from Jon's parent's party this weekend. Unfortunately, I didn't take very many.

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Graduation and Ohio

Katie and Jon with Suzie at graduation













Dad and Mom with Suzie at graduation




















The family at the biergarten at the Hofbrau Haus in Newport, Kentucky.













Katie and Beth at the biergarten.
















Jon and Katie overlooking the Ohio River on our stroll from Ohio to Kentucky.