Tim Engstrom, Pothole Prairie

Our family seems to be growing pretty fast out here on the pothole prairie. Life is pretty good.

On Aug. 27, Lisa and I picked up Gabri/le Girardi at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. He is an exchange student from Italy who this academic year will attend Albert Lea High School as a senior and then return home.

We&8217;ve familiarized him with some Minnesota sights.

Gabri/le, my younger brother and I rode the roller coaster at the Mall of America. I&8217;ve been to the Mall of America many times &8212; in fact, when my younger brother, Tommy Frerking, was in high school, he worked at the movie theater on the fourth floor, so I picked him up often &8212; but I&8217;ve never ridden on the coaster. It is called the Timberland Twister, and, admittedly, it was a blast.

Tommy lives in an apartment in Uptown Minneapolis, and my folks live in the Ericcson neighborhood of Minneapolis near Lake Hiawatha. They met us at the Mall of America. My folks took us to eat at Famous Dave&8217;s. I explained to Gabri/le and everyone else at the table about how the ribs come from Albert Lea Select Foods.

On drives I&8217;ve

pointed out crops &8212; so far corn, soybeans, wheat and alfalfa.

We watched the movie &8220;Fargo.&8221; Yes, I know it&8217;s not real like the beginning claims. And, yes, I explained to him that Minnesotans are good at laughing at themselves. We need it to get through the winters.

We fixed tacos one night. It was Gabri/le&8217;s first taste of the Mexican dish. On another night, he got to taste corn on the cob for the first time. Now he&8217;s had it many times.

Gabri/le and I biked around Albert Lea and saw the lakes. I explained to him some of the natural attributes of region.

We took Gabri/le to the high school. He signed up for classes &8212; including horticulture &8212; and even though he didn&8217;t play organized sports in Italy, he joined the soccer team. Like a lot of European kids, he did play soccer a lot with his friends.

He is from a small town in northern Italy of about 3,000 people. It is set in a scenic Alpine valley on the Adige River between Trento and Bolzano. His father works in Bolzano, which is about the size of Rochester. When he goes back, Gabri/le will have one more year of school. In Italy, high school is five years long &8212; as if there were a 13th grade &8212; and they begin college one year later in life than American students.

Gabri/le, Lisa, and my folks on Friday attended Garrison Keillor&8217;s &8220;A Prairie Home Companion&8221; at the Minnesota State Fair. We didn&8217;t get him anything on a stick before the show though. We had gyros instead. But he did get to experience a Minnesota &8220;psychobilly&8221; band called the The Brass Kings. And during &8220;Prairie Home&8221; he heard bluegrass band The Del McCoury Band and some homespun Minnesota humor. And fireworks.

Gabri/le, Lisa, Tommy and my folks biked around Minneapolis. We showed him the Mississippi River, Minnehaha Falls, Downtown Minneapolis, Midtown Market and my stepfather&8217;s famous driveway. If the garage door is open, it&8217;s a great place to sit and talk, even when it rains for the remainder of the weekend.

We also sat in my folks&8217; living room and watched Kasey Kahne win the Sunday night NASCAR race at the California Speedway &8212; the Sun &8217;n Their Eyes 500. We talked a little about Formula One racing in Europe and &8220;stock-car&8221; racing in America. Gabri/le&8217;s favorite driver is Luca Bodoer of Ferrari. My stepfather likes the racers who started on small-time tracks and worked their way up, such as Mark Martin.

Last Thursday, Lisa visited the doctor to check on her pregnancy. An ultrasound wasn&8217;t likely, so she suggested I don&8217;t go along. Surprise! The doctor decided to do an ultrasound.

Can you tell whether it is a boy or a girl?

No, she said, but you can make out the baby.

She calls me at work after visiting the doctor and tells me she has an image of the baby. Wow!

When I arrived home, we decided to eat at Applebee&8217;s. Lisa kept the image from me not just until after we arrived at the restaurant but after we ordered our food. Then, finally, I got to see.

There are two images. Not babies. Images.

In the first we could see the baby&8217;s face from the front. I could make out an alien, and apparently that&8217;s the head. With Lisa&8217;s help, I made out the arms, legs and body. She said the baby is waving at us. For the second image, I joked it was screaming, but the opening was not the mouth but the soft spot on the skull. The second image, it turns out, is a side profile. I could see the body, arms and legs.

Words for this? Only joy, wonder and excitement.

It&8217;s our baby! It&8217;s the first time we can see our baby! Yay! How amazing is that?

Lisa is going to be a mommy. I&8217;m going to be a daddy. Our 3-year-old dog Alta won&8217;t know

what to think, but I&8217;m sure she will love the baby. And unfortunately for Gabri/le, he will learn how to change diapers.

(Tribune Managing Editor Tim Engstrom&8217;s column appears every Monday.)