Our niece Ellen visited us in Northfield this weekend.
See the album of 25 photos, the large slideshow, or this small slideshow:
And here’s a short video of snowshoe sliding:
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Our niece Ellen visited us in Northfield this weekend. See the album of 25 photos, the large slideshow, or this small slideshow:
And here’s a short video of snowshoe sliding:
We ate dinner on both New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day at the San Pedro Cafe in downtown Hudson where the food, service, and atmosphere are always fabulous. Collin and Amanda brought their new dog Izzy with them from NJ and stayed with us in Northfield for a almost week, as did Grandma Audrey Richard. Gilly, Graham and Tyson camped out with us Xmas eve and Xmas day, too. Our old neighbors, the Kaufman’s, came for Xmas eve, as did our friend, Barbara Burke. And Grandma Audre Wigley held a family party at her condo a couple days after Xmas. See the album of 114 photos, the large slideshow, or this small slideshow:
My griffinjay profile comes up at the bottom of the first page of a Google search on my name, Griff Wigley. The word Griff is currently third in a Google search on the word, linking to my business site, Wigley and Associates. The word Wigleys, currently 1st in a Google search, links here to the Wigleys of Mendota. My civic blog site, Locally Grown (aka LoGro and LoGroNo and LGN), is currently 1st in a Google search. Kimberly Reed was the photographer for Collin and Amanda’s wedding last month. She has a blog post up containing a couple dozen photos from the event. All I can say is WOW. I took the photos, Robbie did the cropping. See 200+ photos in six albums:
It’s run out of their church, St. Matthew, in Wausau, Wisconsin. The image on the right above is from the cover of the church’s June bulletin, showing photos of Helping Hands volunteers. The guys will be working in and around the town of Maggotty, in the parish of St. Elizabeth. After a day of dirt biking, we went to the Blue Door Pub in St. Paul for dinner, courtesy of Tyson who bartends there. See the album, the large slideshow, or this small slideshow:
The whole fam damily went dirt biking yesterday at a gravel pit near Cannon City. I hauled my Montesa trials bike and my best buddy Jim Douglas lent us his pickup trucked loaded up with a fat tire dirt scooter, a Suzuki trail bike, and his Sherco trials bike. It was Gilly’s first-ever clutch-driven motorcycle experience and after getting the hang of it on the trail bike, she quickly got the hang of the no-seat trials bike. Collin, Tyson and Graham beat the piss out of the trials bikes on the big sandy hillclimbs, while scotter-mounted Amanda splattered mud everywhere, much of on herself. Robbie took the photos and I pretty much stuck to coaching. I never thought I’d see this day. What a memory-maker. See the album, the large slideshow, or this small slideshow: Robbie’s women’s group threw a wedding shower for Collin and Amanda last night at Ray and Ellen Cox’s house. See the album, the large slideshow, or this small slideshow:
Robbie orchestrated a surprise party for my 60th birthday yesterday at the Contented Cow in Northfield. Surprise #2: Gilly, Graham and Tyson showed up. Surprise #3: Collin and Amanda flew in from New Jersey. See the album of 100 photos, the large slideshow, or this small slideshow:
Robbie and I won a New Ulm Chamber of Commerce drawing back in March when we saw the New Ulm-based movie, New in Town. The Chamber’s gift basket contained all sorts of goodies, but the biggie was a night’s stay in the Silverson Suite at the Beyer Haus B&B, courtesy of the owners (also bloggers), Bill and Peggy Beyer. The meticulously restored Beyer Haus B&B has many charms, including luxurious hot tubs, a hilarious dog named Mr. MacDougal who can briefly balance a basketball on his nose while zooming around the backyard, and miniature dioramas hidden in the baseboards of every room. We were joined at breakfast by a neighbor of the Beyer’s, Ann Makepeace, who serves on New Ulm’s Heritage Preservation Commission. Ann was one of those involved in the creation of the Historic Downtown Walking Tour Video Podcasts that I’ve heard so much about from Northfield Historical Society’s Hayes Scriven. We checked out two iPods from the Visitors Center and spent a couple hours downtown on Saturday afternoon on the podcast walking tour, including the Post Office/History Center above. We used most of the 50 dollars of Chamber Bucks that were in the gift basket for some outdoor dining at the ‘upscale Italian’ Lola’s Larkspur Market (newspaper story) restaurant. Fun coincidence: our waitress, Maggie Mae, grew up in the Beyer Haus. Maggie’s Room was her bedroom. See the album, the large slideshow, or this small slideshow:
Sept. 27 update: When Collin and Amanda came to visit, we all paid her a visit for some sweet rolls and coffee. I went to take photos of Tyson and Graham doing a tandem skydive yesterday near Baldwin, Wisconsin. When I got there, they surprised me with an early birthday present: "We’re paying for you to go, Dad." I needed no arm twisting. As I wrote back in July on Locally Grown, I don’t have a bucket list. But as a bit of a thrill seeker, my list would likely have more than a few adrenaline rush experiences, skydiving among them. I love extreme roller coaster rides but nothing I’ve ever ridden compares to this. Dangling your feet out the door of the plane for 15 seconds at 13,000 feet is thrill #1. A-n-t-i-c-i-p-a-t-i-o-n. The first 15 seconds of the plunge is thrill #2 and it was the biggest rush I’ve ever felt. Nothing else comes close. The next minute of free-falling is thrill #3. Weightlessness rocks! Add spins to it for an extra kick. The final 10 minutes of turning and spinning after the chute is deployed is thrill #4. They hand you the steering straps so you can experience how easy it is to control the chute. Landing is thrill #5. John Bucsko, co-owner of Skydive Twin Cities was my tandem guy. He said this has been their best year ever despite the recession. It’s a first-class operation. The staff was fun and friendly, the plane was top-notch, and all their preparation routines smacked of a rigorous approach to safety. I watched them pack their chutes. It was like a prayer service. Complete silence as the focused completely on the task at hand. See the album of 19 photos, the large slideshow or this small slideshow:
Tyson paid the extra fee to have them video his jump.
Update Sept. 15: Collin jumped in New Jersey to join the club: |
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