Canada/West 2022:
Day 4 - Viroqua


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Canada 2022: [Day 1 - Holmen] [Day 2 - Trempealeau] [Day 3 - Coon Valley] [Day 4 - Viroqua] [Day 5 - Cloquet] [Day 6 - International Falls] [Day 7 - Winnipeg] [Day 8 - Winnipeg] [Day 9 - Regina] [Day 10 - Grasslands NP] [Day 11 - Taber] [Day 12 - Waterton Lakes NP] [Day 13 - Banff NP] [Day 14 - Edmonton] [Day 15 - Jasper NP] [Day 16 - Bay View] [Day 17 - Woodinville] [Day 18 - Woodinville] [Day 19 - Mt. Rainier NP] [Day 20 - Macks Creek Park] [Day 21 - Craters of the Moon] [Day 22 - Yellowstone NP] [Day 23 - Lewis and Clark SP] [Day 24 - Fargo] [Day 25 - Heading Home]

Saturday, August 13, 2022: Kelly and Bennett awoke before 7 AM, and their parents summoned them to their room, so they got on their shoes to head across the hallway.
Kelly made the bed before they left.
Around 9 AM, we headed to Coon Valley. Jared pointed out via text that we were in a caravan of caravans.
Approaching scenic Coon Valley, ...
... we passed the Coon Valley Lutheran Church ...
... and were at Norskedalen in just a few minutes. A quartet of grandkids immediately noticed the large bell and decided to ring it together.
We got out the LEGO kits we brought.
John was the first one to finish his LEGO Norwegian flag.
Uncle Mark was dressed in his finest Scandinavian outfit which immediately charmed yet another generation of his nieces and nephews.
John tried on his great-great-uncle's wig and hat with the LED message display, ...
... while Kelly opted for just the wig. How convenient that it matched her Norwegian-flag-colored, Star Wars-themed dress! The boys were all wearing Star Wars-themed shorts, making these four the cutest kids ever.
Cousin Paul brought his mother's King Olav medal at Debbie's request. It was presented in this beautiful red case.
Here it is. Great Aunt Borghild received this from the King Harald of Norway in 1991 in recognition of her efforts to share the Norwegian culture abroad.
Distant cousin June has done a lot of genealogy work and posed with the book she has created about her family.
She also brought information about a relative who has done well with his music career. Debbie brought copies of family newsletters and a family history book and put them on the table next to June's information.
The registration table saw a steady stream of relatives as distant cousins arrived for the bigger day of the reunion.
Cousin Paul brought giant bubbles for the kids. They were a big hit with everyone.
Cousin Lisa got in on the fun with her second cousins, ...
... as did her brother Gavin.
Liam was the first one in his family to get his face painted.
He got a Norwegian flag with the words "du er elsket av mange," which means, "you are loved by many." Very true, Liam!
Kelly was up next, ...
... and got some pretty rosemaling on her cheek.
Then it was Bennett's turn, ...
... and he got a lovely rosemaling tattoo as well.
Last but not least, it was John's turn ...
... and here's his rosemaling art.
Aunt Bonnie spoke with the wood carver about her craft.
Cousin Ron gave a lefse-making demonstration. Tom watched and listened intently.
Meanwhile, their wives worked together to wring the water out of a towel to use to cover the freshly-made lefse.
Uncle Benny took a picture of Liam and Bennett by the Troll Trail sign, ...
... then Kelly joined them ...
... for a picture of the Orphus Ponds sign.
The kids took a turn around the wooden hexagon that probably has a better name than wooden hexagon.
Cousin Ron was turning out round after round of delicious lefse, ...
... and Debbie was delighted to get some fresh off of the griddle. Ron's lefse is already legendary when it is day-old, so it was a real treat to have lefse this fresh.
Other reunion attendees enjoyed it as well, topping with their preferred combinations of butter, sugar, and/or cinnamon.
Jill and Jared bought a couple of painted rosemaling wood pieces to bring home with them.
Here's Uncle Mark with a distant cousin, ...
... and here's Aunt Lani.
While a horse-drawn wagon containing distant cousins rolled by, ...
... John checked out the creek from the bridge, just as he had four years earlier.
We got an updated photo of Jill's family, which now includes Jared and his boys.
We went on a tour of the valley. The kids had to check out this stack of logs.
Next, they raced to the porch of this house ...
... before being called into the blacksmith's shop.
While the kids watched what the blacksmith was doing, the ladies watched the hottie blacksmith.
He was great with the kids and helped them work the bellows. Bennett enjoyed being lilfted off the ground by the bellows handle. On our way out, the blacksmith handed Liam the tiny horseshoe he had been making.
The kids raced back to the porch where Benny got a nice picture of them.
Debbie snapped a photo of them answering what branch they were: "Ole!" Our family is descended from Ole Lindevig, who was Debbie's great-great-grandfather.
We continued our farm tour.
Another building ...
... and another.
Here's a cool old John Deere thingie.
We waved as Cousins Terry, Dawn, and Isaac went by in the wagon.
We stopped to admire the flowers in the meadow.
Pretty.
Kelly shared a flower with her brother.
Official reunion photographer Uncle Benny got a nice portrait of all of us on the bridge.
It was our turn to go for a wagon ride, ...
... so we all piled in ...
... and smiled at Uncle Benny and his camera.
Kelly and Bennett posed for another photo.
"Look!"
The route took us past this beautifully-restored home.
We crossed the stream, ...
... which was great fun.
Our wagon ride took us all the way to the back of a field before turning around to go back.
The kids went up to visit the horses when we returned.
The horses were very gentle and didn't mind the kids petting them.
While we were on our wagon ride, there was much merriment back in the main lodge. Uncle Mark made Aunt Emmie laugh hard, as usual.
Aunt Lani and Uncle Ed were wearing identical sets of men's clothing, as usual.
Cousin Paul and distant cousin Barb addressed the attendees while lunch was served.
Jill and Jared had a brief chat with her Uncle Doug, ...
... before returning to the lodge for lunch.
Here are the fine gentlemen who catered ...
... the delicious lunch of brats, coleslaw, sauerkraut, and beans.
Cousin Sarah was only able to attend for a little while before getting called away for her job.
Aunt Bonnie and Cousin Amanda were caught by photographer Benny before leaving on their wagon ride.
It was time for the Benny-and-Debbie show where Debbie gathered the cousins who were descendants of each of the original Lindevig siblings, and Benny photographed them. Here's Branch Ingebor.
Here's Branch Aasne.
Here's Branch Christopher.
Here's Branch Gurine.
Some of the larger groups required creative locations.
... such as Branch Theoline.
Here's Branch Anne.
Cousin Lisa showed off her Lefse Gang apron between family portraits.
Bennett enjoyed a ride on his grandpa's shoulders while waiting for everyone in Branch Ole to arrive.
Here's Branch Ole, with our four darlings right up front.
We gathered everyone for the final group photo.
Hello, Lindevig Family!
These cousins in Branch Anne recreated their group photo that Debbie took four years earlier.
Distant cousin Mark showed Debbie the website where his family got their fantastic matching Norwegian-American shirts.
Our tireless reunion organizers, Cousins Paul and Judi, posed for a family photo with Paul's daughter, Amanda.
Jill and Jared took their kids on the Troll Trail. They were excited when they spotted their first troll ...
... right there.
There's one!
Another troll ...
... and a pair of trolls ...
... and a troll face on a tree ...
... and another troll ...
... and another.
The hike ended with some splashing through the creek.
Doug bought some new Mountain Dew flavors and insisted that his sister try the Flamin' Hot version. She was reluctant at first, ...
... then she was pleasantly surprised.
Debbie's a fan!
Kelly and her grandpa took an adorable selfie.
Uncle Doug and Aunt Susan won over their grandnephews and grandniece with some activity books and the kids had a great time with them.
Distant cousin Doug B. took this photo of John ...
... and Kelly ...
... and Liam concentrating on their artwork, then sent the pictures to Debbie later on.
Debbie had brought an automatically-opening clock/calculator that Uncle Mark had given her years earlier. Kelly demonstrated how to open it, showing how much a new generation of kids continued to benefit from Mark's generosity.
While this was going on, Uncle Benny was photographing the happenings at the main Norskedalen building. Distant cousin Barb was giving talks about the Lindevig family history.
A genealogist met with attendees to help them with their own genealogy reserach.
There's a museum in the main building that we've never visited (next time for sure!).
It includes this beautifully decorated wooden plate.
Great Aunt Borghild's name appeared on the plaque listing Norskedalen Award winners. It was awarded to her in 1993.
She was also on the plaque listing Norskedalen volunteers who had put in more than 5000 hours of service. She was very involved in the founding and promotion of Norskedalen.
Jill and Jared took their kids on another walk; this time on the Ophus Farm Trail.
Educational signs dot the valley and trails.
Back in the pavilion, Debbie was talking with her cousins, aunt, and uncle, ...
... while Doug put together a LEGO set with Aunt Emmie.
Uncle Ed spoke to distant cousins Bob and Gloria, who are siblings, and Gloria's grandson, Luke.
Mark's light-up marquee hat changed messages often during the weekend. Benny took this photo so it's a mystery as to what the full message was this time, but it may have been "Alette's Kid."
The grandkids returned from their walk. Distant cousin Gloria chatted with Liam about his walk and he held up his shoe to show her that his shoe got dirty, so she sent this picture to Debbie later on.
Poor John tumbled into a plant that left him with a mild rash. He handled it well and was back to his normal happy self quickly.
Debbie asked Uncle Mark to pose in his finery, so he kindly complied.
The leaning-on-an-invisible fence pose is always a favorite.
Kelly decided that she was going to perfect it as well, so he taught her the finer points.

She's getting there! At this point, the boys joined them and Mark wisely took them to softer ground to teach them too.

Liam joined his soon-to-be Great Uncle Doug with his LEGO set.
At 5:30 PM, dinner was served ...
... and Liam insisted on sitting next to his brand-new favorite great uncle.
Liam enjoyed talking to his Great Aunt Susan too.
Dinner consisted of meatballs, gravy, mashed potatoes, green beans, salad, ...
... and Grandpa Trond Lindevig's 200th birthday cake which always went quickly. There were a few pieces left at the end of the day, so we were the lucky people who took the rest of it along with us.
At 6:30 PM, the crowds had dispersed, so Debbie got started sweeping up.
Cousin Laura immediately jumped into action too, ...
... as did Cousin Terry. With everyone's help, we were able to get everything cleaned up quickly.
By 8:00 PM, Debbie's generation had checked into the Viroqua AmericInn, and they gathered in the community room. Debbie brought along some tiny Malört bottles so Heather, Laura, Debbie, and Tom all did a shot. This was Laura's first time drinking Malört and she claimed not to mind it at all.
Doug, Susan, Terry, Dawn, Isaac, and Carol all joined us.
When Jill and Jared got their kids bathed and tucked into bed, Grandpa went upstairs to stay with the kids, ...
... while Jill and Jared joined us downstairs. Jared tried his first shot of Malört, ...
... and did not enjoy it.
Laura questioned if you really only do one shot of Malört, with a tone that implied that it's ridiculous to stop at one, so she and Debbie did another shot.
Cheers! Once again, she didn't mind the taste at all, so we wondered if it was a family trait from her dad's side of the family that the rest of us didn't share.
Her brother had never tried Malört either, so he gave it a go.
He also wasn't bothered by it and wondered what all the fuss was about. Perhaps this is some sort of superpower.
Naturally, we had to Facetime their sister Melissa, to discuss Malört with her too, and also to tell her that we missed her. She had just closed on her new house and was moving this weekend so she wasn't able to attend.
There was much laughing and bonding, ...
... and we decided that we needed to call Rachel in Arizona and say hi to her.
As it got close to midnight, we were ready to head back to our rooms.
We moved sleeping John and Liam into our room when we went upstairs.

Day 5 >


Canada 2022: [Day 1 - Holmen] [Day 2 - Trempealeau] [Day 3 - Coon Valley] [Day 4 - Viroqua] [Day 5 - Cloquet] [Day 6 - International Falls] [Day 7 - Winnipeg] [Day 8 - Winnipeg] [Day 9 - Regina] [Day 10 - Grasslands NP] [Day 11 - Taber] [Day 12 - Waterton Lakes NP] [Day 13 - Banff NP] [Day 14 - Edmonton] [Day 15 - Jasper NP] [Day 16 - Bay View] [Day 17 - Woodinville] [Day 18 - Woodinville] [Day 19 - Mt. Rainier NP] [Day 20 - Macks Creek Park] [Day 21 - Craters of the Moon] [Day 22 - Yellowstone NP] [Day 23 - Lewis and Clark SP] [Day 24 - Fargo] [Day 25 - Heading Home]

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