Virg and Stan are having their picture taken. Sosie is on the phone with Linda making arrangements for the coming Big Day in Mankato. Sosie and Virg saw the James J. Hill mansion and Summit Avenue in St. Paul. Then Virg sold a clunker and Alex got a brand new car. We all enjoyed dinner tonight, along with Kathleen and Becky Lynn.
Brother Virgil reports from his Eden Prairie estate that our sister Sosie has arrived via the Sun Country Red Eye from California. She's taking a nap at Virgil and Becky's house as we type this, but the energetic boomer and ultimate tourist will rise shortly to tour the James J. Hill house in St. Paul and then walk Summit Avenue to gaze at the mansions and imagine the lifestyles enjoyed there.
Then Virg will tag off to Stan and Kathleen and join them as well as Becky Lynn for a roast beef dinner. After laughter tonight, we'll tuck Sosie to bed to reboot for The Big Day in Mankato, where wall-to-wall Rolfsruds will compete with the Vikings as the main attraction in the river town.
In a desperate attempt to put off the start of an ambitious weight training regimen, Stan has elected to first build a training room in this former cold-weather workshop space in the basement. The winter shop has moved to Arizona, sort of, so the tools are now in the garage for summer putzing.
In a little over a month, Emily has grown an inch. That's what the pencil marks in Grandma's hallway indicate. Our three-year-old is just under 40 inches today. If her growth spurt continues at this rate, she will qualify for the scary rides at Valleyfair by September, and will be wearing Grandpa's jeans by Christmas.
KXRA Radio celebrated its 60th anniversary in Alexandria today.
KXRA 1490-AM went on the air July 27, 1949. I am attaching a couple of pictures. One is of Ken Tessmer, seated at the microphone (Mayor Ness to his right). Ken was one of the original owners of KXRA. The owners all sat together and flipped a coin to see whose voice would be the first one heard on KXRA. Ken won the toss and returned to our studios today, 60 years later, for an interview. He is still actively selling real estate in the lakes area. 
It's a big week for Bro. Steve so Stan and Birdie did their best to keep him loosened up for the wedding Saturday night. A round of golf and then a big smack from the French hostess got Steve's week off to a merry start this afternoon. You're on your own from here, Steve. It's the Summer of Love.
After three days of partying, classmates gathered on the front porch for a final Big Chill photo. Mark and Karen (left) headed back to Wisconsin; Sue and Karl, right, will drive their rental to Alexandria to see relatives before flying back to Seattle later this week. Stan and Kathleen will nap.
From left, Paul, Stan, Karl, Sue, Mike, Karen, Ron and Mark. Stan's classmates from Alexandria gathered this afternoon for a buffet and lots of memories. Joining the overnight guests were Ron, Paul and Mike who drove in from St. Paul. Breakfast tomorrow at the clubhouse. Photo by Kathleen, the only one present never to wear Cardinal red and black.
The last one to breakfast gets the ribbing. High school chums, Mark, Karen, Karl and Sue arrived last night for a weekend of fun, and we are off to a good start. More classmates coming this afternoon.
She's 43 today! Happy Birthday to our eldest. She's pictured here with two favorites: Emily, of course, and her timeshare in Mazatlan. Fair warning, Greater Minneapolis and St. Paul. She'll be out celebrating tonight with her 42-year-old younger sister, Marcy! Go girls!
These are poppies. Our friend, Hai Dang, grows them in his back yard garden, then shoots them with a macro lens and flash at f22. The blossoms are less than three inches across. He says he has to capture the pollen early before the bees come because they tromp around and get the subject all mussed up. The depth and details in his photos are amazing. So is Hai.
Our dear neighbors, Joe and Mina, spent their careers in and about San Francisco. They often fished the ocean in big party boats. They have since retired to Minnesota, but they still love the challenge of big fish and the big water. Last week they chartered a Lake Michigan boat captained by a grizzled veteran who promised they'd catch their limits. They did. Yesterday they returned to Shakopee with about 100 pounds of beautiful salmon, fresh and ready to eat. 
Mina gave Stan a slab last night and he's already into it, grilling his first chunk for about 10 minutes, skin-on, salt, pepper and a bit of lemon. MMM. More tonight.
They also liked the chicken wings and the quesadilla rolls. . . and the 18-year-old single malt scotch whisky. Stan made the movies. Kathleen made this picture... and the wings and the rolls. We don't know who made the 18-year-old Glenmorangie. He could be dead by now. But he did some good work too.
A brash wave petunia leaves its terra cotta home to stalk arrogantly on our sweet yellow coreopsis. The calm summer has been great for flowers. 
Below, more excitment as the gentle lilies are just starting, with many to come. This brave yellow pioneer, backed by blue Russian sage, reaches for sunshine, surrounded by dozens of younger siblings that we hope will be in full bloom when our late July company comes for backyard visits.
The Ladies Who Lunch played a home game Thursday when they met at the Shakopee Ruby Tuesday restaurant for the monthly exchange. They adjourned to the nearby Canterbury Park for two rounds of poker. The ladies had a great time playing cards, but neither won enough to buy next month's lunch.
and all I got was this Seahorse Shirt! 
Grandma and Grandpa went to Zakk and Jenn's wedding in California and got to go to the Monterey Bay Aquarium and saw all kinds of fish and stuff. Lucky for me, Grandma wasn't able to get past the souvenir store without getting something nice for me! Isn't it pretty? Birdie didn't get anything! That's her back there, trying to squeeze into the picture again. Grandma had a shower at the aquarium and she says she didn't even get wet! Don't believe it? Just watch Grandpa's video:
Monday night eight guys are coming to the house for chicken wings and movies of their recent golfing and whisky study trip to Scotland. Stan has been busy cutting up two hours of video clips and 1000 still photos into something reasonably entertaining for this demanding crew.
In the process, he uncovered footage of the brief geneological search he conducted in Riccarton, home of our great great great grandfather Adam and his son, Peter, who immigrated to the U.S. in the mid-1800s.
The search began, and ended, at this bus stop. Here's the snip from the movie. It's not exactly "Roots."
This we did on a good Friday. Under a glorious sun, we knelt down, exposed the lies, the sins of omission, the cover-up. We removed the rocks, shook the dirt off, separated out the pig weed, the threw the dirt onto the adjacent sod.
Just that very morning the Lake Region Echo-Press had delivered unto us a free copy of its County Shopper.
We pressed this into immediate service and to its highest use: hard-working weed blocker, guaranteed to hold up at least 20 years before breaking down. (Look this up -- at least one neighbor and one brother shook their heads and said we should use plastic, not newspaper. Uff Da. Look up chapter and verse in your recycler's prayer book.)
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As we refilled the saved stone onto the clean newsprint, we took satisfaction in a difficult job well done and in a mood of generosity, forgave the sloppy landscaping engineer. Our late Uncle Halvor would have described his work as "Peter Tumbledown," and would often point out the folly of building a crooked fence, not mouse-proofing a granary, or skimping on oil in the crankcase.
He would have approved Friday's reconstruction and we thought of him as we finished up.
Satisfied, we looked across the sidewalk at the next flowerbed. It, too, was a swamp of pigweed hiding a secret past. But the sun was high now, our knees were sore, our spirit flagging.
We got out the Roundup.
Notice to Sosie and Bill:
Bev's personal staff gathered this afternoon for a quick meeting at the Clearwater Suites. It's all good. Mom feels as good as she has in three years, she says, and she's meeting her goals. She's got a bit of a sunburn from a pontoon outing on Lake Latoka Wednesday, but other than that she was in great spirits and ready to talk. This we did. That's her companion, Michelle, along with sons Steve and Stan. 
Thursday night, an assortment of folks converged in front of Mom's house using multiple forms of transportion and enjoyed 10 minutes of neighborly conversation. Betty and her husband, Perry, drove, Ken biked, his wife rode her Rascal and Don cruised in on his motorcycle. Doesn't anybody walk? Alexandria: a city of motion.
A really good live band, sunshine, lots of food, newlyweds, friends, gunshots, and free drinks all equals fun. We're still working up a wedding video, but we did this four-minute party clip today. Enjoy this toast to our Zakk and Jenn, they're still honeymooning.
Today is Allen Jerdee's birthday. Here he's aboard a Flam Railway car in Norway. His wife, Becky (Stan's sister), accompanied him and took this photo. They're in the upper mountain ranges, Becky says, "so we could, as our British guide, Barry, so often put it, 'do a bit of staring.'"
Kim Jerdee waves at her camera-carrying mother-in-law across a rapid whitewater way in Norway as she and her husband, Adam (and another tour friend), explored the other side. Today they're all back in Iowa celebrating her birthday and remembering the great times the family had in Norway and Iceland this June.
Here's a look at Zach and Jenn's private wrap-around deck on a very special suite aboard their cruise liner to the Caribbean. This shot was taken July 4 by Zach in the harbor where Internet connections were still reasonable. A shroud of privacy has now fallen over the newlywed's journey as they island-hop for a week.
As our nation celebrates its birthday today, we're reminded of the busy birthday month it will be for Rolfsruds & Friends. We're already behind schedule, Bill Shearer celebrated a well-deserved day in his honor Thursday as he wound up his father-of-the-groom duties in Sunol, California, documented on this blog.
Meanwhile, the groom called his mother a few minutes ago and then emailed this picture, proving he's safely aboard the honeymoon cruise ship. Zach and Jenn (the bride and groom) are under way after enjoying a quick two days in Key West. They will go to several Eastern Caribbean islands and be back home next Sunday.
Stan's brother-in-law, Ron, writes:
Our route was east of Ely on the Fernberg Road, starting at Snowbank Lake, then on to Parent Lake, Disappointment Lake, Jordan Lake, Ima Lake, Hatchet Lake, Thomas Lake, Kiana Lake, Insula Lake, Hudson Lake, and "Numbers Lakes". The distance was 38 miles.
We saw lots of loons, a bald eagle, hawks, turtles, and gulls. Cloudy and overcast all days, very little sun, some rain, and mist.
Emily seems none the worse for wear after a nasty fall from the monkey bars last Friday. After she fell, Emily earnestly informed her mother: "I need a doctor." She was right. You can feel the stitches in her little noggin but the hair is too thick to see them.
