My brother

Tim and I scooped my "little" brother from the curbside pickup at the airport. We loaded his bags in our Highlander and dashed off to the nearby Mall of America--where every traveler from far and near wants to be.

Roger, who is easy going and good-natured, complied. We walked and walked, and finally arrived at Tony Roma's where we ordered lunch. It would be another 30 minutes or longer till our kids arrived to join us, but it was fun to have a big group. Roger had had two cheeseburgers in the Chicago airport a couple hours prior, but he joined us in ordering lunch.

We walked and walked around the mall, showing him the amusement park (we declined going on any rides) and lots of shops. We waiting outside of Victoria's Secret while Christina got some sports clothing for volleyball. We traipsed through bookstores (we left Tim in one for two hours) and got turned around once (surprise) but ended up getting lots of good exercise.

After we got home and let Raven out (he had survived our long absence) we proceeded to show Roger off to the Nelson gang. A lot happened in the 20 years since Roger was last in Minnesota. Tim's brother Greg grew about 6 inches, got married and had three kids. Brother Jeff married and had two children. Roger got to meet everyone buy Alex, who was in bed when we arrived at Greg and Kari's.

We even visited Luke's house and introduced Roger to Omar and Kosmos (the cats). It made Rog a little sad--his Kitty is now with the Lord.

We got him back to his hotel before 11 and today we plan to meet him for a quick lunch in between his meetings. This visit is all too short--I'm working tomorrow and he'll be leaving in the afternoon after morning meetings. Maybe someday his whole family will come for a visit--in about 20 years????

Till next time,


Suzi