Gunnar’s First Communion

It was the morning of June 9th, First Holy Communion Sunday in Tioga, North Dakota.

Click here for our final day together.

Jenny had her kids ready to go.  Love your dress Addie.  Love your shoes, Jenny.  Love your tie, Gunnar.

The Norgaard family, ready to walk out the door.

The five First Communicants brought up the gifts at Offertory time.  Do you see who was an altar server that morning?

The Body of Christ, the first time for Gunnar.

After Communion, they knelt at the altar to pray.

Gunnar also knew the recessional hymn.

You did a good job, Addie.

Then it was time for formal pictures.  Jenny has been the teacher every year for the First Communion Class.

Then Father Benny had the altar servers, Addie and Carter, join the picture.

Congratulations, Gunnar.

Gunnar with his parents, his sister, Father Benny, his great grandparents, his grandparents.

Gunnar posed with their First Communion Cake.

Everybody in the church is invited to join the First Communicants for a potluck meal after the Mass.

Jenny framed and arranged many photos and events in the Dining Hall at St. Thomas More Catholic Church.

Gunnar and all of his presents, back at home.  That cedar trunk is the handiwork of his Great Grandpa Irvin Orsen who died in 1963.

Do you see Addie’s First Communion picture?  See Uncle Nick and his family?  See Great Grandpa Joe and Great Grandma Betty?

Before presents, we changed clothes and went outside to play for a while on the beautiful day.

It was love at first sight for Goliath and Mom.

Several years ago, Mom had a New Foundland she also loved, also named Goliath, a gift from us for Mother’s Day in about 1974.

Then it was time to go inside and open presents, but first I needed to take some more pictures.  Notice who Goliath is looking at.

Grandma Betty had a gift of some hand-embroidered dish towels for Jenny.

Gunnar read all of his cards to us, without prompting.

Addie also loved her gift from Great Grandma Betty.

Jenny and Chris had all kinds of presents for their little boy.

One of the presents from his mom and dad was a framed version of a Cowboy’s Ten Commandments.

Gunnar has a nice collection of horses in his room, which is also decorated with cowboy things.

I asked Gunnar to close eyes while Grandpa Al went out to get our gift to him.  His total effort to not peek made me smile.

Jenny was always telling me how Gunnar plays with his tiny Mexican guitar and listens to country western music and learns all the words.

When my friend Cowboy Tom told me he was selling his guitar, I jumped at the chance to buy the beautiful rosewood piece for Gunnar.