The rest from Karen about North Dakota:
I did a lot of ceramics for lack of other things to do in Cavalier. Made Christmas trees and nativities (Dad’s note: I painted one nativity set at home after Karen cleaned and fired it) as gifts to your and my moms (I got my Mom’s back after she died and I still have it and put it out at Christmas time.)
We were meeting for mid week RS one time in the recreation building and David had to use the bathroom. So I sent him in and was going to follow. Other people used other parts of the building becuz it was rather large. A woman heard David in the stall (women’s bathroom of course) and went to help him pull up his pants. She was startled to see he was a little boy. We had let his hair grow long becuz we thought it was so cute! Not sure when we finally had his hair cut in the Cavalier barber shop.
I remember putting a church brief in the weekly paper EVERY week to advertise our church, hoping it would bring in interested people. Nope! Of course our Sunday meetings were 35 miles away. ….
Sometimes the full time missionaries came to stay with us for a few days or the week to proselyte in the Cavalier area. Their apt was in Langdon and they didn’t have a car.
I’d drive up to Canada to buy fresh brown eggs from a farmer and cheap bologna from a country store. Remember the family in Bathgate who attended our branch? They had twin girls and at least one little boy and the wife’s sister Carol Brown. Anyway, the wife went with me one time to buy brown eggs and we got stuck in snow that had banked itself ON the road one time. Thought I could drive fast through it. … Can’t remember how we got out. Think the missionaries went with me one time, too. Probably shouldn’t have crossed the border, huh? They wouldn’t be able to now!
After branch conference one time a member of the district presidency and our district president (Gough?) came to dinner at our house. I had fixed chicken curry with all the condiments. The wives were not along but I heard from the wives later saying their husbands thought I’d fixed a gourmet meal for them!
I just looked Grafton up on the map. It was 40 miles south of us, on the way to Grand Forks. Anyway Grafton was the “big” city to us. I remember our family traveling there to do some shopping (probably for Christmas) after Kimmy was born. For some reason she cried and cried and cried after we got there. Think I tried to nurse her but she was NOT happy. Think we just ended up going home! Her noise was frustrating for us and for the stores we went into!
There was a state park nearby that we had some picnics at (Icelandic State Park). Didn’t Blackburns (I worked with Blackburn – don’t remember his first name) invite us to one when we first arrived in Cavalier? I remember feeling embarrassed becuz it was impromptu and I didn’t have anything to bring. Your boss was present there and you asked him for an advance. He wouldn’t write a check (evidence I guess) but gave you cash.
Dad