July started with a trip to Rapid City, SD for Darin’s 20th High School Reunion from Saint Martin’s Academy. It was a high school run by the Benedictine Order, but has since shut down. The school was in operation for many, many years and was recently purchased by the Rapid City Catholic Diocese which will keep the school and all of the surrounding area in good shape. We arrived on July 2nd to a beautiful day with perfect weather. After sampling one of our favorite local restaurants for dinner (Firehouse) we wandered the streets a bit.

On the 3rd we drove around the Black Hills and visited as many places as possible before heading to Deadwood for the evening’s festivities at Cadillac Jacks Hotel and Casino. We booked a suite for the gathering since the banquet areas were booked and it worked out just fine. We had dinner with Lief and John prior to the party at Jake’s which is in the Midnight Star. This hotel and casino are owned by Kevin Costner. The dinner was superb and the company was excellent. 🙂

We had a great evening with friends and the following days were filled with other gatherings and a school tour.

On the 10th of July we left for Harvey, ND for our Grandmother’s 85th birthday and our family reunion. There were thirteen of us who few from the Phoenix area on Allegiant Airlines out the the Phoenix-Mesa airport to Fargo, ND. From Fargo we rented minivans and made the two hour drive to Harvey. In Harvey we ate constantly, toured old family farms and celebrated birthdays, golfed, ate more, played entirely too much Scrabble and had some really great Foosball games.

We’re now back to Tempe and settling back in to work and home life. Naomi starts school again soon so we’re gearing up for that. Her cheer is going well and keeping her busy as well as her daily chores around the house.

Well, better get back to cleaning up after being gone so long.

Later…