During the 1970's, their first grand-children began arriving, one after the other, and my little brothers made good babysitters when their oldest sister drove home with her babies every other week-end from Victoria.  It's about a two-hour and 20-minute drive.
In 1978 they, literally, took down the barn.  "It was my idea," said Mom.  "It kept the boys busy."  Then they used the lumber to build a large machine shed to store their farm equipment.
During the '70's Mom and Dad also began traveling, and not just to Don's Ballroom in Ghent or the Blue Moon in Marshall.  You should see the long list of entries in my mother's travel journal!  I didn't even know it existed until now, and I certainly will only mention the high-lights, as I see them.
They visited southern climes of the U.S. from Florida to California, enjoyed Hawaii a couple of times, took a Caribbean Cruise, went on a farm tour to Brazil and also a European tour that hit several countries including Belgium and Norway.  My mother is half Norwegian.   Dad enjoyed taking trips with Mom south for the winter, a couple weeks at first and then a few weeks at a time until it got to be all winter long.  But, even to this very day, Dad says he is most happy "just living here on the farm."  What did he like most about the farm all those years?  "Working with Bet," he replied.
"I like to see the family," said Mom.  "I always loved it when they were young and came with the babies for a weekend.  Now they are grown up and have their own families so the crowd is bigger, but I still love to see them come home on Saturdays and Sundays.  We started going south later in life for shorter stays, but now it's for six months but every Sunday I'm still lonesome.  Ask Dad."

In the 1980's, more grandchildren arrived.  They built more grain bins and another machine shed to shelter the monster equipment demanded by the modern age of farming.
Air conditioned cabs and CB radios on tractors and combines, and in the kitchen, kept Mom and Dad and my four brothers connected all day long.  They seldom talked to one without talking to all of the others at the same time.
In the '80's they visited Alaska twice, returned to Norway and other Scandina-vian countries, and found Branson, Missouri.  They also found the Alamo Country Club in Texas for the first time; little did they know then that they had also found their home away from home.
In 1989 they signed on to a dance cruise to China, missing the incident in Tiananmen Square by just two weeks.  The Great Wall is framed and hanging in their family room with other travel paraphernalia like painted plates.
"Traveling always seemed to me to be a new adventure," said Mom.  "I love scenery and seeing people in their culture."  Mom's other hobbies?  "I love dancing, of course, but I used to paint by number, crochet, make quilts, play the piano, feed the birds, and try to grow flowers.  I even went to Senior College for two periods.  That was almost like traveling."

During the 1990's, Dad farmed a little with the boys but now mainly as a helper instead of the boss.
Mom and Dad began to spend longer winters in Texas so they built a second home in the Rio Grande Valley.  Dancing and golf are two of the many attractions that entice them south every year, along with the temperate climate, of course.  Dad and his buddy stand at the first green every morning waiting for the sun to come up so they can see the ball when they tee off.  Mom and her friends stand at the shopping malls waiting for the doors to open.
Dad enjoys "visiting, gardening, dancing, and living fairly comfortably," he said.
Mom and Dad also like to play cards, especially Bridge, Pinochle, and 500.  They've got card playing friends and clubs all over the place.
Also in the '90s, great grandchildren began arriving on the Minnesota home-front, and Mom had more babies to feed and fuss over at the kitchen table.
In the '90s my parents traveled to Nova Scotia, the Holy Land, Branson every fall on their way to Alamo, and the Polka Fest in Las Vegas every winter.  Canadian fishing remained part of their spring fishing routine.  Mom also flew to Medjugorja and brought home rosaries for everybody.
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