Hagen Homestead

I am not sure this is better but we will see. If you have a program in your pictures to just enhance, that is sometimes all that is needed to make the picture more web readable. I hope this is better...no way of knowing until I post!

Hagen Homestead

Hi! This is one of my favorite pictures so posted this first. It is really poor quality, I hope you can make out some of it. I don't know for positive but I believe that this is Grandma and Grandpa Hagen's first homestead. I know Dad has told stories of how the kids would have to go outside to go to bed as the door to the attic was outside. You can see the doorway at the top of the house in this picture. I believe it must be Grandma and Grandpa on the left corner (looking at the picture). Notice that the men on the horses are almost using them as chairs to visit. The one man is toting a rifle. You can hardly tell, but I think Grandpa is holding a dog and there is another by Grandma. Talk about tough Norwegians!

My First Blog!

Hi there!
Thanks to Janie for setting me straight on signing up for this new family blog. I thought I would get signed in as I have some old pictures scanned that you may enjoy seeing. I will post them off and on later. For now, here is my family on our trip last summer to Seattle. I'm Lynn, the second to the youngest of Lawrence and Bernice Hagen. I am a Financial Aid Director at a local community college and my husband, Les, is a cattle and land owner and works at the local elevator. My daughter Lea is a Freshman in h.s. and my son, Benjamin is a 5th grader. They are both hockey players so we are all busy this winter running all over the place. Only 4 games to watch this week-end, which is where I am heading in a few minutes.

I hate to be this honest, but I was born in 1959 (easier to say then the age) so that gives you an idea where I fall in the family. So I am one with very few memories of Grandma and the bigger family gatherings at her house. I stuck pretty close to home, I only live 30 miles from the farm. I love reading the stories you are telling about our family. I won't have the stories to share, but I will share a few pictures. I'm off to watch some hockey, I will check in later.

Clark Hagen

While rummaging around in my box of old pictures, I came across this article about Clark Hagen, son of Laurence and Bernice Hagen, that ran, some time ago, in the Williston Daily Herald (I don't know the date). It is a good introduction to Clark, though, and testifies to his character.






I wish I had pictures from some of the adventures we had as kids together. Unfortunately not all of them were good adventures. For instance, one time we were having a rock fight (not to be mean, but just to dodge the rocks we threw at each other). It ended when a rock I threw hit Clark right smack into his glasses and broke one of the lenses. Thank heavens there was no permanent damage (at least as far as I know). I believe that ended the rock fights for awhile (I think we used dirt lumps after that).

Roots

Gayle sent me this picture some time ago as a reminder of where we came from. It is of our great grandmother Anna Tollefson and her sister Beret Iverson. She wrote "...it looks like they have worked hard and it makes you realize how easy we have it today! I think grandma Hagen resembled her mother. Beulah Haugejordan, our dad's cousin, remembers g. grandma Tollefson as being very religious, reading her Bible everyday. She would hear her in the evenings singing hymns in a high pitched voice."

Thank you, Gayle, for sharing this picture. For some reason, it doesn't being to mind the phase, 'the good old days'.

Laurence and Roy Hagen

This is one of my all-time favorite pictures. Jane was kind enough to email me a scanned image. Anyone have an idea of what year this might have been taken in? And what happened to the Ercoupe? Dad said they once had an old bi-plane, and it was so slow that one windy day, Laurence, flying against the wind, slowly flew backwards over Crosby (you have to appreciate that the didn't have TV back then, so it was harder to find fun things to do).

cuz Marilyn

Janie you are something finding time to create this great way to communicate with those we don't get to see or visit with in one way or another. Thanks!! I already had to jump in with some comments to Gayle's reference to age. Yes, Arne and I still live in Williston and this will be the year of trail and error. Arne will not be farming this year and his cooking skills have gotten so good I have shrunk into the stool across the counter and just wait for something delightful. He hasn't caught on yet (right) to my methods. Alissa and her husband Bill live now in Kalispell, MT and have two children: Ethan 5, and Grace 4. They will be moving to Lafayette, Indiana the last of March. Susi and Jon live in Butte, Mt: Matthew is 9 and Stephanie is 7. When we visit the route is always the Highline (#2) and Interstate 94 for the return. We call that the scenic route. I retired a year ago and will have to admit I'm gone OFTEN. I have had the priveledge to volunteer once a week taking care of quadruplets who just turned a year Jan 2. Three of them are 26 pounds and the last one comes in at 2 pounds lighter. I will have to try find a way to post some pictures. Arne would have a comment here and say you don't know what you are getting into with me and sharing pictures.
**Just a quick word about Uncle Arnold's autobiography which Ardy has scanned and made available to anyone. It is over 300 duplexed pages and is the most discriptive read of his early life and until the boys are grown. There is inside information about Grandma and Grandpa Hagen and early hardships. I can't express enough thanks to Ardy for all his hard work in providing us with this inside look to the past.