Return from the frozen north

Leila says hi! Let me apologize in advance for these pictures--I took them with the camera on my cell phone, and they're somewhat out of focus... I returned last Thursday from my most recent trip up north. This was primarily a business trip, with a good dose of Bragg Family North thrown in... I had a meeting in Madison, Wisconsin, and another in West Lafayette, Indiana, to attend during this week. So, I flew to Madison and stayed with my sister Laurie and her husband Mark. After an uneventful plane ride, I arrived Friday evening. I went to Morel's to wait for Laurie to finish work that evening, and we chatted for a little while before turning in. We had to get a good night's sleep, because we were traveling to sister Lisa's home the next day (about 3 hours away) to visit her and her VERY recently expanded brood.


Leila's t-shirt is courtesy of Lulu, of course! Anyhow, brother John joined us Saturday morning, and we drove to Lisa and Jon's home in Colfax, Wisconsin (not far out of Eau Claire). Lisa was a couple weeks overdue with her third child, but (following my instructions) she delivered just before I arrived in Madison.

Leila is cuddled by her big sister Emma and doted on by her big brother Jonathan... We had a regular ol' family get-together at Lisa's place--Mom and Dad arrived a little before us, bringing brother Bob. Jon's oldest son Jonathan also joined us.

Jon holds the youngest of his 6 kids... Lisa looked great, and she said she felt good--amazing given that she had a baby a day or so earlier! Looks like Uncle Jojo needs some practice in his baby calming skills, though...


We only stayed for a few hours before returning to Madison. On Sunday, John and Bob and I went to John and Jim's condo, had a nice lunch prepared by John, and watched some Brewer's baseball on TV. Bob and I then went out to his shop on the other side of town and watched his buddy Don do some wood-turning. We then return to town, and the three of us went down on State Street to eat Afghani food at Kabul's.

I then spent the next few days attending my meetings, which involved some travel, before having a delicious burger at Morel's with Laurie Wednesday evening. Thursday I returned the rental car and started my return trip. A few delays, departures, and unexpected turns later, I finally arrived at home in Monticello--only to leave the next day for another business trip! For this one, Hope and the kids joined me--Kenny even went to one of the meetings with me (he wanted to see the program on bugs and tarantulas).

Our other big news is that we've finally joined the modern age here at home--the cable company finally offered a high-speed internet package for home that we would be willing to live with, so now we have more than just dial-up!!