Ben and Julie Hoglund's daughter Krista married Jeffrey Skipper on April 13, 2019 in Rancho Santa Fe, California. Congratulations! See picture on right.
CHIT-CHAT
Jerry Olin had a change of command for Amphibious Squadron ONE on September 6th. He is now the Chief of Staff for Carrier Strike Group ONE for a year. After that he plans to be the Commanding Officer of the University of San Diego ROTC program for 2-3 years and then he will retire. He will have 40 years in!
VISITS
My folks and I took a road trip to see family beginning May 22nd. Our first stop was to see Ben Hoglund who treated us to a fun dinner, let us beat him at dice, and then still allowed us to stay with him. He has a gorgeous house that looks like a castle. His wife Julie is excellent at decorating so it was fun to see what she had done with the place. Unfortunately, Julie was out of town and we missed seeing her. I talked Ben's ear off until it was getting late and Ben had to work in the morning, but his son, Tommy stopped over in the morning to visit before we took off. Very nice young man and we enjoyed visiting with him. Omaha is a pretty nice city and seems to have a lot going for it. I recommend a visit.
We continued down through Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Arkansas heading for Texarkana (Texas side) and more Hoglund family love. We were just in shock at all the flooding. If corn prices are astronomical this year, I think I know why! Lots of dead critters on the side of the road too because of their loss of habitat. We stayed in a cruddy motel (always a delight and becoming a tradition) and the next day we arrived in Texarkana.
Depending on who you ask—Amy rescued me from the old folks, or Amy rescued the old folks from me. I spent several days with Amy and David. We took a blacksmithing class together and that was fun. Horribly hot but I brought my Dr. Pepper so I was almost comfortable. I made a nail. It looked like the kind you want to pound into something quickly before anyone sees it and then brag about it afterwards. Fortunately, I lost it almost immediately. But, David really took to blacksmithing and I look forward to seeing his creations. On the right is a feather he made. He belongs to the Iron Munchers and this was one of their projects. He's come a long way from making nails. Me? Not so much.Amy had to work part of the time so David was stuck babysitting me. To prevent David from killing me I took quick action and treated them to the Five D Cattle Company Steak house in Avinger, TX which is close to their house. They have THE BEST STEAKS there. Okay, I really did it for me.
Our parents and I went to the beautiful Garvan Woodland Gardens in Hot Springs, Arkansas. David and Amy took me to an old movie theater where the ticket cost was super cheap and so was the popcorn. The theater was packed with families. I wish all the theaters were like that! Imagine a family activity that didn't break the bank? We all went on a swamp boat tour. We had a great time. Kind of creepy yet beautiful at the same time. No alligators followed the boat but the turtles were everywhere...peering at us with their little beady eyes. Excuse me while I regain my composure.
David and I went for a walk down their road one day and I didn't see a single snake in spite of David's scary stories. BUT—something was following us in the woods. David thought it might be a panther (he actually has camera footage of a black panther on his back step). I thought it might be wild boars that were preparing to rush us and tear us limb from limb. I told David that it was every man for himself. We got home safely but nervous. It was probably a squirrel with really big feet—but we had great fun with our imaginations anyway.
On our last day we took Andrea out for her birthday. Any day now she is going to age. I mean really, should there be a limit? Thanks to everyone down there in Texarkana for a fun visit.
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Our next stop was to visit the Cobb family up in Oklahoma. We only had two days but we stayed overnight with Patty and her partner, Wayne. They have a really nice place out in the country. Wayne took us for some sightseeing to a local lake. It was very pretty and he knew a lot about the local history (and good gossip.) Virginia was there with us and it was nice seeing the two sisters together. The next day Debbie and her husband Martin met us for lunch (Virginia's treat). We talked and talked and then hugged and hugged. I am hoping to get down to see Debbie and Patty again soon. I'd like to spend more time with both of them. We cousins need to spend more time together!
We got home safe and sound but I wish I had taken more pictures.
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In August we took a trip down to see Mary Ellen in Madison, Minnesota. We took her out to lunch and had a nice chat.
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Ben came up to visit us the Labor Day weekend. A week earlier my daughter Gretchen contracted aseptic meningitis from a mosquito bite and all they could do was recommend over-the-counter pain meds. She is still experiencing a little bit of double-vision. Anyway, the point was that I was down in the cities helping her so I didn't get to see Ben until the day he was heading back. We still got some fishing in which we all enjoy so much. We caught this and that but nothing worth keeping really. It was just fun.
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My next trip starts this Thursday as I head out to Pennsylvania for a "rendezvous" which is pre-Civil War camping. I'll spend ten days there and then I'm going to spend a week or two traveling around the East coast. I plan to do some exploring in PA, then hit the cemeteries and court houses in New York. I'll be spending a couple days with our distant cousin, Tom Olin, in New York. While there, I'll probably go up to Vermont to visit the headstones of John Olin II and III and their wives. John Olin I was the original Olin ancestor to land in America. He is buried in Rhode Island probably on the family farm and we're most likely never going to be able to locate that site. Next I'll head down to Massachusetts—hoping to find more information on the Bailey family. Maybe I'll swing through RI, just to say I've been there. Down into Virginia to visit Williamsburg and dig around for some of our roots in the Virginia Colony area (Grandma Eiden's ancestors). Next I'll head to our cousins Stephen and Margaret Sandretzky in Virginia. I'll come up through Ohio and then stay at a distant cousin's in Indianapolis. I'm going to try to see Greg Olin while I'm there. Then I'll head home to Minnesota.
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Matiàs Aleksander Skipper, son of Krista (Hoglund) and Jeff Skipper, was born September 3, 2019 in San Diego County, California. Congrats! [see adorable picture on right]
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UPCOMING ADVENTURES
I'm hoping to visit Bob Tillman and Jerry Olin sometime this winter.
Bob Tillman and I are registered for the MacGillivray family reunion in Scotland in July. We're really looking forward to that. We're talking about staying in Dublin a few nights before the reunion.
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Remember, you can subscribe to these posts up in the upper right. Also, if you haven't looked at the blog for awhile, you can find past blog entries on the right. Feel free to leave comments for your cousins. Let me know if you have any updates in your family you want to share.
