Mark and Diane Family News

Fourth of July Bike 2009

2009-07-07T21:33:00.001-05:00

Great bicycle trip. Good friends, cloudy, dry, not too hot. WI roads are great!

Mary Jo's June 25th visit

2009-07-05T21:17:00.002-05:00

Mary Jo came home for her college roommate's (Vicki) wedding. So enjoyed seeing many of her 'old' friends while she was here. Of course her 4 day visit went by much too quickly.

Summer 09

March CA visit to Shirley and Adam's

2009-03-30T21:29:00.000-05:00

Desert Bloom, CA

Adam's last spring in the desert so made a visit the end of March. Spent a day with sister Shirley and also got in a visit with nephew Ron. Adam and I stopped to see Clay Collins at his grandfather's nursery near Cochilla, east of Palm Springs....we also spent a couple days hiking in Joshua Tree enjoying the blooms of the desert.

2009 Sailing Season

2009-03-06T16:48:00.002-06:00

The ski season is over now and it is time to think about sailing. Last year was a good one and I hope this year will be as good or better. Things that I really enjoyed were all the regattas. The ADA will be coming up fast and I will be looking for crew for that and the Sept regattas.

Hope to see you on the lake.

Christmas 2008 trip to DC

2009-01-05T20:21:00.003-06:00

Mark and I left for DC on Dec. 19th, driving through the upper peninsula of MI and 'lower' MI where we x-c skied on three different trail systems. We were fortunate to miss all the bad weather hitting the central and NE states. Adam and Karla joined us on Christmas Day and Mary Jo's lovely home accommodated all of us very comfortably. We did a segway tour of the mall area, toured the capitol, attended a jazz concert at the Kennedy center, visited a few museums, memorials, etc and even enjoyed a supper with our cousins Kay, Miriam, and family. After a wonderful week in DC we returned via Ontario to get in 3 more days of skiing. Stopped at two provincial parks near Barrie and Sudbury and the Hiawatha Highland trails near Sault St. Maria. We couldn't have dreamed of more idyllic snow/skiing conditions.

WashDC2008

September

2008-10-01T21:38:00.001-05:00

Sept 11-14th, 2008

Since Mark had an educational workshop to attend in Las Vegas starting the 15th, we decided to drive to see Adam and Karla for a few days. The dessert was still quite warm but we did get in one early desert hike on Friday morning. Then Adam took us to Big Bear Mt to do some mt. biking. It was probably my most challenging ride when we did the single track trails. Kathy, Manny and Shirley came over for dinner on Sunday. I flew back from Las Vegas on Monday.

On Friday, the 19th Mark drove to Geneva Lake, WI for a regatta. There wasn't much wind but he did manage to take first place! That was pretty exciting for him.

The last weekend of Sept took me to the north shore where I hiked for 3 days on the Superior Hiking Trail with some NorthStars. The colors on the north side of the ridge were splendid. We felt so lucky to have such great weather for our outing.
Mark stayed home to sail in the fall regatta on Lake Minnetonka. They had ten races in three days and he managed to take third place.

NorthShore2008

Michigan Bike Tour

2008-08-13T20:55:00.001-05:00

Aug 2nd thru Aug 9th I toured with the MI Bicycle League on the west shoreline of MI (east coast of Lake MI) What a beautiful, organized ride it was. The sandy beaches and the aqua color of the waters reminded me of the Caribbean islands! We went swimming everyday. Most of the days were sunny, in the 70s. I rode to Mackinaw City with my friend Kathy St. Peters; from there we took a bus to the start of the ride in Spring Lake. I did forget to bring my camera so have very few pictures to show what an awesome ride it was.

MI bike tour

Washington DC with Mary Jo

2008-08-13T20:52:00.001-05:00

On July 24th I made a last minute decision to fly out and see Mary Jo in DC. Her work trip to India was delayed from the 24th to the 31st so she felt it would be an ideal time for me to come out. The remodeling of her house was complete; just got to help put some finishing touches like hanging pictures, etc. Mary let me use her bike while she was working so toured some of the many bike trails. It is also a very efficient way to get quickly around the mall to see the many museums, monuments, etc. We took in a free jazz concert on the mall Friday evening; spent most of Saturday with cousin Kay, and even got to watch Mary Jo play in a soccer game. It was a very fun trip.

Washington DC Visit w Mary

4th of July week bike trip in WI

2008-07-07T21:14:00.000-05:00

We camped two nights at a resort on Lake Chetac, near Birchwood, two nights on Namekagon Lake, near Cable, and two nights at Spearhead Point in the Chequamegon Nicolet National Forest. Carmen, Mary B, Kathy, Mark and I were thrilled with the ideal weather we had and the quiet roads were found. We biked to and climbed Timm’s Hill which is the high point in WI (1,951 ft). Swimming everyday was also an added attraction

College Reunion (Dianes)

2008-07-07T20:30:00.002-05:00

35th Year St. Scholastica Reunion (June 27th -29th): Sue Blake, Sue Stubbs, and Kathy Treb flew in from the west coast for this big event. We rented a house on Park Point for the weekend. Besides attending the events at the college, we also managed to quickly breeze through the art fair at the end of Park Point & also stopped by the rhubarb festival. We also had brunch with Donna and Jan Von Lehe on our way up to Duluth.

Scholastica

2008-06-15T19:54:00.003-05:00

Diane traveled to OR with 11 of her biker friends. We drove south to Hwy 80, taking 2 1/2 days to drive to Lakeview in the south central part of the state. We stayed at a variety of places: lodges, cabins, a friend's home, motels--a few places had hot springs to relax in. The temps were much cooler than we had anticipated; the bike path around Diamond Lake was closed due to snow. It was still snowing when we arrived at Mt. Hood. The spring flowers were in full bloom and the rivers were roaring with spring run off. If you would like to few some photos of the trip, double click on the photo below.

Oregon Bike Trip 5/23-6/8/08

Fathers Day Weekend

2008-06-14T20:30:00.003-05:00

Mary Jo, Adam, and Karla all came to Mpls for the weekend. Adam and Karla had a 10 year High School reunion. Adam and I sailed in the ADA regatta on Saturday. Diane, Hamid, and Mary Jo toured Mpls before joining us at the lake for a picnic.

Fathers Day 2008

Hamid

2008-05-14T20:34:00.000-05:00

We have a new roomate. Hamid from Ethiopia is staying with us. Hamid is an immigrant to the US learning English and looking for a Nursing Assistant position. We are enjoying having him with us.

Sailing season is almost upon us!

2008-04-12T18:13:00.000-05:00

Yes there is still ice on the lake, but the schedule is out and it is time to sign up for your spot on Liberty.

Let me know when you can join us for fun on Lake Minnetonka. As always I will give priority based on seniority. If you can't sail on Liberty you can still sail on another Sonar. Let me know and I will try to find you a spot.

Let me know if I made any errors on the schedule here.

Mark

Texas Hell Week biking with Parents and Friends

2008-03-29T21:05:00.000-05:00

On March 14th Mark & I, with our two friends Kathy & Bonita, drove to Rogers, AR where we picked up Hazel and Bob and their RV and drove onto Fredericksburg, TX. We enjoyed the warmer spring temperatures, biking on the back roads of the TX Hill Country and hot tubbing upon our return to erase the pains of our first ride of the season.

TX Hell week 2008

Peace Forum, Concordia college, Moorhead 3/7/08

2008-03-09T22:01:00.000-05:00

We attended the 20th annual Nobel Peace Prize Forum at Concordia College with Mary Jo. She informed us of the event so we registered early. Good thing as the event sold out quickly.
The keynote speakers were Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Peace prize winner in '06, Greg Mortenson, author of Three Cups of Tea and Dr Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University & the author of The End of Poverty. Mary Jo presented at one of the concurrent seminar sessions: "Assessing the Impact of Microlending: Challenges & Practice". We found the forum to be exciting, informational, & very inspiring. Lots of folks from the Microfinance Alliance group that Mary Jo started before she left MN were in attendance so was fun to reconnect with them also.

Ski trips

2008-01-29T21:11:00.000-06:00

We really enjoyed this winter of '07/'08. Can't remember having this much snow since the winter of '97. Being able to walk over to the golf course after work and ski for an hr most evenings was relaxing and invigorating. Some of our out of town trips were to Telemark in Cable, WI with the Northstars and a four day trip to Camp duNord near Ely in January. In Feb we went on our annual ski trip with South Mpls friends to the Heartland Conference Ctr near Danbury, WI. Then on President's Day long weekend we went to several new (to us) x-c ski spots near Ladysmith, WI. Hate to put the skiis away, but with the arrival of daylight saving time, we are starting to think of biking!

DuNord2008

Washington DC

2008-01-01T09:14:00.000-06:00

First, let me wish all our family and friends a heartfelt blessing of peace, good health, and joy during this holiday season. 2007 was definitely an awesome year of adventure and new beginnings for our family as you can see by the below entries. We were very fortunate to be able to visit with both of our children on opposite sides of our country for the last two holidays of the year. Being able to help Mary Jo get more settled in her 'new' brownstone home on 'D' St NE & celebrate Christmas with her and our 'Neel' cousins was very special for us. Mary Jo absolutely loves her new job with the Grameen Foundation. (Check out her blog for more details.)

Washington 2007 (Click to see more photos)

Trip to Joshua Tree California

2007-11-29T20:34:00.000-06:00

On Nov. 11th Mark and I flew out to see Karla and Adam in Joshua Tree, CA. We got to do some scenic and fun hikes in Joshua Tree National Park. My niece Kathy and her husband Manual drove up from San Jacinto on Veteran's Day to do a moderately strenuous 5 hr. hike with us! Then we drove up to Death Valley to climb Telescope Peak (11,300 ft.), had a clear, sunny, perfect day. We also hiked in the Kelso Dunes in the Mojave Desert Preserve. The other peak we summited was San Jacinto after taking the tram up from Palm Springs to 8,000 ft. The views were awesome. Mark's brother Roy joined us for Thanksgiving Day, as did Adam's friends Andrew and Jenny from the wine country. Later we had another great meal at my niece Kathy's Saturday after Thanksgiving . Her son Dominic, wife Kelly, my sister Shirley, Brittany, all came to feast and visit. It was a very special desert vacation.
Click on the photo below to see the slide show.

Desert California

Diane in Guatemala

2007-11-03T07:56:00.001-05:00

Diane went to Antigua,Guatemala with a surgical team from Allina Oct 13th-24th. Half of the team of 28 was 'non technical' so many of the photos are eduational tours we did through Common Hope, our sponsoring organization. We also did volunteer work set up by Common Hope. I roomed and traveled with Cheryl who got me interested in volunteering with the surgical team. I hadn't been to Guatemala since '91 so was surprised at how much spanish I remembered. Returning to Guatemala was as thrilling as my previous adventures there had been. I was most impressed with all the surgeries performed by the 2 gen. surgeons, podiatrist & the skilled surg. team members. The organizational work of Common Hope, Partners in Surgery, and Pedro Hermanos Hospital to make this all work so well was awesome.
I also want to again thank my family and friends who helped with financial donations to make this week possible.
Double click on the photo to enlarge and read my captions.

Guatemala2007

Biking in New Mexico and Arizona: 9/15-9/29/07

2007-09-30T17:08:00.000-05:00

Diane is just back from 2 weeks biking in New Mexico and Arizona. I've included a few pictures to give you an idea of the beautiful landscape we had each day. Most days we climbed two to four thousand feet--most of the downhills were quite thrilling. Click on the picture if you want to enlarge it. All 19 of agreed that it was one of our most picturesque trips. We had ideal weather. Mary, our organizer, found some delightful places for us to stay.
Double click on photo below to see pictures and captions.

NM-AZbiketrip07

August

2007-08-13T19:31:00.000-05:00

Adam and Karla left for California

Getting into the car for the long drive to their new home in CA. They arrived there safely and have rented a home in Joshua Tree near the base. We bought tickets to go visit them over Thanksgiving.

We hope to hike and camp in the many parks in the desert nearby.

Catie and Darin's wedding, Aug. 11 2007

Mary Jo returned from Bogota just in time to attend Catie's wedding. I attended with her as her partner :) I thought you would enjoy seeing a few pictures of their happy celebration below.

Catie's wedding 807

Mary Jo's visit will go by very quickly. She is leaving with her friend Mercedes for southern CA on the 30th. She hopes to see Adam & Karla in Joshua Tree. Then she is returning to Colombia on Sept. 11th. I guess there is still a lot more to learn & experience there.

2007-07-07T18:03:00.000-05:00

Biking in WI

Diane and I both took the week of 7/1-7/7 to go bicycling in WI with a group of friends. We stayed in two State Parks and a private campgrounds. The weather was great as were the roads. Our biking miles ranged from 30 to 60 a day. The Northern Highlands American Legion State Forest & Parks near Sayner were probably the best trails, roads & lakes but all were totally impressed with the great WI countryside.

Another highlight of the trip was a whitewater trip down the Peshtigo River. Due to low water levels we each were in our own inflatable kayak. The trip was fun and quite a workout due to getting hung up on the rocks.

2007-07-07T17:22:00.000-05:00

Victory in the "G"

The last race in the "G" series was very successful for Liberty and Crew. We had to finish 1st or 2nd in order to win the series and our chances were only so-so with all the fast boat there ready to take it away from us. On the first upwind we caught a special breeze that put us 100 seconds in the lead and from there on we were able to defend that for victory in the race and the series by a very comfortable margin.

It's good to be lucky!

More Wedding Pictures

2007-06-17T08:51:00.001-05:00

After Wedding Dinner

2007-06-13T12:14:00.000-05:00

After the wedding we went to Ichibans and had a fabulous meal.

Adam and Karla get married

2007-06-13T07:51:00.000-05:00

We celebrated Adam and Karla's wedding yesterday June 12th.

The ceremony was presided over by a a Hennepin County Judge in his courtroom.

I had no idea what the wedding was going to be like and was pleasantly surprised at how nice it was. The judge obviously enjoys this part of his day and his remarks emphasized the happy and serious nature of the proceedings.

He offered to renew Karla and Adam's marriage vows in 25 years at no charge if they would come pick him up (he will be 90 at that point).

He also predicted that at some point in the marriage (in 2 years) they might question the decision to marry. He told them to call someone who was present with them this day to talk through their misgivings and that if they did this their marriage would last. (I think that is what he said--correct me if I misheard).

He also made a point that marital love is not unconditional like the love a parent has for a child--so you have to work at it to keep it alive.

Italy

2007-02-20T21:37:00.000-06:00

We left for Rome,Italy on Feb 2nd; then in a week met up with the Northstar X-c ski group in Cogne, in the Gran Paradisio Park in the Alps. Besides siteseeing in Rome, we toured Florence, Sienna, and Cinque Terre. We were very impressed with the sites, food, wine, transportation, etc. Enjoyed x-c skiing right from our lodge, even did one day of downhill skiing!

Mark-Diane Italy 2007