BEET HARVEST, BIRTHDAYS, VISITORS, ETC.

I just got off the phone with Luke and Dad, and found out that beet harvest is in full swing as of yesterday. They will be at it 24 hours a day, with two crews of six people doing twelve hour shifts. Sounds like real work to me! It takes both Mavis and Ron full-time to help keep everything running smoothly. Luke said they would be shut down tomorrow (Sunday) because it was supposed to be too warm! That is amazing for the end of September.

Dad said that 20 oil wells have been staked around the area, but none yet on the ranch. He says the talk is that eventually, they will arrive on his place. Let's hope so!

We are now official residents of Arizona instead of Washington--a costly change it turns out, because auto licences and auto insurance are higher here. The rule is that if we live here more than seven months of the year, we have to become legal residents. This is the first year that has been the case. We spent most of the summer here because of Marie's illness.

Fortunately, she is doing quite well. She went to a cardiologist this week for a followup exam and got a good report. Amazingly, she discovered he is one of her former students at the University of Idaho. He remembered her very well and said he enjoyed her class. However, it was one of those big introductory courses with about 200 students so she did not remember him. He is one of the top cardiologists in Tucson, and was strongly recommended by our family doctor.

We hosted a long-time friend of 30 years last week who is a distinguished professor, and former provost, at the University of Southern Main. He was here to evaluate a graduate program at the University of Arizona and spent two evenings with us, much to our delight. Later in the week Marie's only niece and her husband from South Carolina were here staying at our house for a couple of days. She is a project manager for a big manufacturing company and her husband is in charge of training operators for a nuclear electrical generation plant. It was really great to visit with them and catch up on their lives.

On top of all that we both celebrated our 72nd birthdays this month! That is really hard to believe/accept since we feel a lot younger. Let's hope we can continue to stay vigorous for a lot more years as Dad has!

HAPPENINGS WITH THE GREENBERGS

We've had a busy time since getting back from the
reunion. We want to build a house or buy one (but it
looks like we'll have to build) that is very energy
efficient. We want a passive solar design, radiant
heat in the floor that is heated by solar panels,
domestic hot water heated by solar, and 9-12 inch well-
insulated walls. We are also looking at masonry
stoves that are used in Europe, made of soapstone, and
collect the heat from your fire and then radiate the
heat throughout the day and night. Believe it or not,
there are some homes like this being built in Yellow
Springs! Saul is the president of the board of an
organization that studies Peak Oil extensively, so we
are immersed in issues related to the decline of world
oil production.

Saul is a professor at Antioch/McGregor which is here
in Yellow Springs. He is the chair of the Special
Education Department and is very busy right now
teaching classes and getting ready for a national
accredation process. I am getting a second master's
degree (first masters is in Art Therapy) in that
program and will go on to get an endorsement to work
with gifted children as well. I'm doing my graduate
coursework right now, and I volunteer a lot at
Mollie's school. I'll probably do some substitute
teaching this year and will do my student teaching
next fall. I'll also have some of my artwork in a
local exhibit during the month of November.

Mollie is loving school! Her teacher is from Egypt
and is teaching the children about Egypt, the Arabic
language and the culture as they go through their
regular curriculum. Mollie is in some of the classes
for gifted children and seems to thrive on any
interesting challenges and learning experiences the
school has to offer. This year the school will be doing
a whole school play which is a big production and is
performed in the auditorium of a local university.
Mollie is also taking horseback riding lessons, going
to Girl Scouts and playing soccer.

That is what is up with us for now. I'll try to keep
up as the year goes forward. I've really enjoyed
reading what everyone else is up to! Take care, Dione

A CONVERSATION WITH DAD

Dad Lassey is doing fine this morning, although he missed church this morning because it was being held in Trenton rather than Cartwright. He felt bad about that. However, he is enjoying the corn harvest right in front of his house. He'll soon be able to see the road more easily because the corn is so high he can't reach the top of it when he walks through the field. He says it should make good cattle feed because there are lots of ears! Most of it will be made into silage for winter feeding.

He says it is a bit dry, but the cattle have good grass in the pastures because of rain earlier in the summer. The sugar beets look good, and should produce an excellent crop, he thinks. The problem is getting enough drivers for the beet hauling trucks. The wages have gone up because it is so hard to find people without other jobs who are willing to drive a beet truck.

There is lots of talk about oil wells being drilled, but so far there has been no action on the ranch, he says. But they are getting closer.

It is always such a pleasure to talk to a wonderful, caring father, who loves his family so much, and enjoys hearing from them. He is getting the LasseyClan Blog in the mail about once a week, and he says he really enjoys reading about the family.

Keep those family news items coming!

Bill

BIRTHDAY, ETC.

We celebrated Marie's birthday on September 5 with a delightful three day excursion to Scottsdale, AZ. The city is noted for its great resorts, several of which we had not seen. So, we had morning coffee at The Boulders in Carefree, just north of Scottsdale. It is located literally among the boulders near the base of a mountain range, and is absolutely gorgeous--a place we would aspire to enjoy overnight except for the entirely unreasonable pricetag!

Lunch was at The Four Seasons in the beautiful Acacia Restaurant (four stars!), also located at the base of a mountain, with magnificent views of the valley in north Scottsdale. We had a Maine lobster club sandwich, entirely unique to us but quite delicious and a real treat, followed by complementary chocolate fudge cake. Um um good! We would certainly go back there again for another great occasion.

In the evening we enjoyed appetizers and wine at The Phoenician, probably the best hotel in the area, and fortunately not far from the Hilton Gardens Hotel where we were staying. The sunset was fabulous, people-watching was most interesting, the wine was good, and the food was delicious. It was a perfect ending to a 72nd birthday celebration.

And, we should certainly express our thanks for the e-mails, phone calls, and cards that brought a lot of pleasure to the occasion as well. It is always good to hear from people we enjoy and appreciate!

Bill and Marie

And From The Wildmans!

Uncle Bill and all,

I haven't taken time to figure out the blog thing! Just wanted
you to know I enjoy checking out the Lasseyclan site every once in awhile.
It's nice to see what all of us are doing. What a shame we didn't keep in
touch this way earlier.

I liked Charlie's note about her family; I think it would be
great if we all took a little time and updated each other on our families.
I guess I'll start!

I'm STILL working for the City of Miles City. I've been there
32 years and could have retired at 30 years. Like so many of us; I'm too
young to just retire and also I can't afford the health insurance! Besides,
I can't imagine going to work for someone half my age for half of the pay! Guess
I'll plug away here for a few more years. Maybe the job of my life will
drop in my lap or that one lottery ticket will be it! My joy is life is my
family especially our grandchildren.

Dallas owns his own salon and loves it! It still amazes me the
field he is in but it just shows you that you never know where you will be
in life. Jodi is employed with Farm Service Agency and is lucky to be in
the Federal system. When she started she had to do the farm reports on the
radio and didn't even know how the difference between barley and alfalfa.
She has come a long way and enjoys working with the producers. Ted is
employed with the State Highway Department so I guess you could say we are
governmental parasites. Ted and Jodi stay very busy as they also run
all the administrative duties of the Youth Ministry at our church. Ben is
11 today and acts like it; he is in wrestling and little guy football.

I'm having a hard time having had girls, trying to understand football. I'm
learning and am at every game! He is also in Lasso (advanced classes) so
I'm sure he got his brains from me! Gavin is 8 and is in soccer and flag
football. He is an artist and very talented. I see him more interested in
art and reading books than sports. However, we'll see. Hope he does well, Hope is 4
and can shop with the best of us. She has an eye for clothes and can make
her Mom or I run for our money in WalMart as she insists on trying on
everything is sight. She is a typical little girl but loves to play with
frogs! Jenny is Special Ed teacher in Bozeman. She has been working on her
endorsement and will finish that this Spring and will only have 27 credits
to complete her Masters in Special Education. We are very proud of her as
she has put herself thru school and continues to amaze us by being so
dedicated to her profession and goals.

As you can see, we are very lucky. I have always said; there is
nothing greater in life than having your children WANT to be around you.
Having them close is God's blessing!

I'm planning on a Fall trip this month to the farm to see
Grandpa and Mavis and then on to Bismarck to visit all, and off to Minot to
see Dad and Sylvia. It is a long overdue trip and I hope to spend a little
quality time with everyone.

Fill me in on all your family's!

Linda

From the Klyms

Hi All,

It is so good to hear that Marie has recovered. It is always scary when a person has health problems and thinking it may limit what they can and can't do.

Mom and Tim are planning a trip to the farm this weekend to pay a visit. It has been quite some time since Mom has been there. She is looking forward to spending some one-on-one time with Grandpa & Mavis. Mom's health has been such a roller coaster ride it is really great to see that she can travel again.

We are staying close to home this weekend. Lots of work in our garden and as always maintaining the inside chores.

Hope you have a wonderful get away this weekend.

Cindy