Life With Boys

The Rest of the Story

2012-02-06T21:27:00.000-08:00

This is Skater's pocket fuzz today. Doesn't that look gross?!?! No one has touched it!

Feb. 6 - Routine

This view is part of my Monday morning Routine.
Peace

Life in the Fast Lane

2012-02-05T20:29:00.000-08:00

It has been a quiet week on the home front. We didn't have dinner today as a family. Most of the kids had plans for the Super Bowl so I just bagged family dinner.

I am doing a photo challenge for February. My good camera is broken so I am using an old one and I hate it. It's just not the same at all.

Feb. 1 - Scrap. This picture has been deleted and re-loaded several times. It will not stay turned. It's ticking me off!

Feb. 2 - Toy

Feb. 3 - Odd

Feb. 4 - Meal. Cheater meal for The Littles.

Feb. 5 - Snap

Tonight since it was just the 4 of us Dh took us out for dinner. We don't go out often and The Littles were so excited! They have been BEGGING to go to Golden Corral. They have a chocolate fountain! Dh likes it because he can have as much as he wants of what he wants. The food was ok and I didn't have to cook. Then it came time for dessert. The Littles both dipped cookies and a marshmallow in the fountain. Neither one liked it. It was dark chocolate and they didn't finish them. I laughed. So they had ice cream. When it came time to head out the guys all grabbed a cotton candy. Funny story. When Skater was a little boy we had been somewhere - I think the Fair and we got a cotton candy for them to share. Several weeks later we were somewhere else and Skater asked if he could have Pocket Fuzz again. It took us a while to think of what he was talking about. We still laugh over that and it's still Pocket Fuzz to us. So, Dh and The Littles on their way out all grabbed a cotton candy. Dh handed his to me and said This is for you. I just looked at him and said I don't like it. No thank you. I knew that Skater would LOVE it so I just held it and brought it home for him. He worked today and wasn't home when we got home so I put it in a glass on the table for him for later.

Here it is, just waiting for Skater.

Here it is several hours later. Skater isn't home yet and his treat is pitiful! I'm leaving it for him.

Teach him to go play after work. :)

I hope you have a blessed week.

Peace

Things that make you go hmmmmmmm......

2012-01-31T20:20:00.000-08:00

When we got the boys school clothes in September they both picked a blue shirt with stars. EVERY time Bugs picks his Monkey ends up wearing his. Bug is long gone for school before Monkey even gets up. It's all just done accidentally. It's so weird!

One day a few weeks ago.

Trying to get a serious picture is a joke!

At one of my houses, Charlotte has 2 Christmas Cactus's that just keep blooming and blooming. They are very confused. I think they started after Halloween.

Christmas Cactus's that are blooming!

Last week it was so cold on Thursday. I went to work with this cup full of ice and water. When I got to Charlotte's I forgot it in the car. I knew I would drink it on the way home so it wasn't a big deal. This is what I found when I went out 5 hours later.

The cup STILL full of ice! No snow but so very cold!
And here is the dynamic duo again!

Again no knowledge of what the other is wearing!

Silly boys.

I hope you have a blessed week.

Peace

Snow Day Part Tre

2012-01-22T21:55:00.000-08:00

The snow has been beautiful! I would much rather have the snow then the soupy, slushy mess we have now. Here are the last of the pretty snow pictures.

Cool icicle getting ready to drip. I couldn't catch the drip.

My little car.

Some more of the lots gulls.

They brought friends! Dh put lots of bread out. Walker doesn't DO carbs so it was safe with him.

The Birds! YIKES!

We didn't loose any branches. Lots of people did! So pretty.

Snow everywhere!

Everything looks so clean and pretty.

So much heavy snow.

Today I got some beautiful pictures of our Granddaughter Tinker Bell. She is so pretty. She is wearing a dress like the one I did Princess's in. My Auntie got them for the girls. They are so pretty. They are Pillow Slip dresses. So cool!

Tink will be 5 in April. I just can't hardly believe it.

Everyone is back to their regularly scheduled programs. YEAH!

Have a blessed week.

Peace

Snow Day Part Deux

2012-01-19T14:02:00.000-08:00

I have been trying for 2 days to upload these. Anyone else have trouble? Grrr
We have had ourselves a good old fashioned Winter storm! We have thoroughly enjoyed it!

The Littles being all tough and big.

Being all cute...

Until they all come home.

Walker LOVES the snow. But he REALLY likes his bed in the house.

Dried off with a warm towel.

So pretty

We had some very confused and lost sea gulls. Monkey was playing a game and I was sitting at the computer and he said.. "Uh Mom, there is a big white bird on the deck. I think it's a duck?" I got up and looked and grabbed my camera. Nope son those are some very confused sea gulls.

Dh put some bread out for the crows. They gobbled it up.

His feet look cold!

At one time there was 3 out there eating the bread.
Today it has warmed up and started to rain. Next we will have flooding.

I hope you are warm and dry.

Peace

Snow Day!

2012-01-18T09:37:00.000-08:00

Well Blogger has been giving me fits!
We have had some major snow. We have even made the national news. Which always cracks us up! It's just snow people. You couldn't have found a regular scheduled show today for love nor money. It has been hours upon hours of Winter Storm Watch. Just ridiculous. The Littles and I have been home 3 days so far and the news just said school is cancelled tomorrow. 4 for 4! I might just keep them home on Friday just for good measure. It is so pretty to look at and makes everything so pretty. January can be so dark and bleak and grey that this was a nice change. It will probably be all gone by the weekend.

Heir went up in the mountains yesterday to go snowshoeing. He said it was drop dead gorgeous! Skater is up on a different mountain with friends snow boarding and hanging out until Friday. Drummer has been building an igloo in his front yard with Skater's (before he left) and Princess's help. T2 said he is all but snowed in. He lives quite a bit higher up then us. I'm glad they are all enjoying the snow. We have done the boots, snow pants, coat and gloves and hat routine about 50 times. I am keeping the dryer empty so they can dry/warm up their outer stuff before they head back out.

I hope you are warm and dry.

Peace

Wordless Wednesday

2012-01-11T20:58:00.001-08:00

Peace

It's a New Year....

2012-01-08T22:05:00.000-08:00

Bugs is getting so big! Here he caught his daddy by surprise and picked him up. We were all laughing so hard. Then they had to do it again so I could get a picture of it. He is already INCHES above me. I'm only taller then Monkey. Over Christmas break we had to get both The Littles new jeans. Bugs looked like he was waiting for flood of EPIC proportions. Now they both look less dork like.

This is Walker's bed. Angel and Walker are BEST buddies! Angel (who isn't!) STOLE Walker's bed and he is so kind he wouldn't make her move. He just laid on the floor and every now and then would look over his shoulder at his comfy bed.

We had 2 birthdays this week. Skater turned 21! Then Buster turned 2. We celebrated Buster's on Saturday then Skater's Sunday at family dinner.

Buster LOVES Car's.

Buster's Daddy and Mommy got him a wheeler! He was giving Sissy rides in it. They LOVE IT!

Cake!

Skater and his cake. He was really in a good mood, not sure what the look was for.

Make a wish!

There is a hidden smile.

And of course we MUST have a wrestling match at EVERY dinner.

Buster and his beautiful Mama.

So 2012 is in full bloom! Here's to new beginnings!

*Cheers*

Peace

Skater turns 21!

2012-01-02T22:19:00.001-08:00

Shortly after 2 in the afternoon 21 years ago This boy came into the world. He weighed 9 lbs 11 oz. He was such a good baby. I don't have anything before 2005 on the computer or I could fill pages of this boy. He has my blue eyes but reminds me of my oldest brother and Dh's oldest son. He is very sweet and kind. He is such a blessing to our family.

Happy Birthday Bryant the Brat Baby!

Peace

A year in review, in pictures

2011-12-31T12:44:00.000-08:00

January - Hummers

February - Buster and Skater

March - Monkey and Bugs at Great Wolf Lodge

April - Dh at the ocean on our anniversary

May - T2, Drummer and Heir at Sunday dinner at Drummer and DIL's house

June - Auntie and I on the trip of a lifetime!

July - Diablo Dam

August - Campfire with my parents and the Post's

September - LOTS of fishing!

October - Fun times

November - Us, Me and my guys!

December - Christmas morning.

I wish you all a very Happy New Year. I pray you have all you need, some of what you want and peace through it all.

Peace

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T23:39:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas to all....

And to all a

Good night!

Peace....

You might be a Redneck......

2011-12-20T20:28:00.000-08:00

This picture has nothing to do with my post.

Angel sitting and watching me looking very innocent and regal. Trust me, she isn't!

We are finally trying to get into the holiday spirit. Dh and Skater went and got a tree on Friday. It sat on the deck until Sunday in a bucket of water. After Church we finally said lets do this thing! So in it came. It was put mostly in the corner to sit until after dinner - which was at Drummers. Thank you DIL it was fantastic! After we got the tree in Dh saw all the pine needles all through the kitchen. He decided that instead of using THE BROOM he would get his leaf blower out. Isn't he special! NOW I will admit it worked. However a bit overkill if you ask me. I could only stand and laugh and think OH I'm living a Jeff Foxworthy Redneck joke right now! Then I grabbed the camera.

Cleaning up.

Trying to blow me over! Not happening Cupcake!

At least he was thorough.

When we got home from dinner we decorated the tree.

Then because I have clogged the vacuum EVERY year with pine needles and we don't have a shop vac' DH got the blower out again and put it on suck instead of blow and sucked up the worst of it!

Dh's little helper! Monkey was having a bit too much fun! LOL After they went to bed I "fixed" the tree and called it a night.

Have a blessed week!

Peace

Princess knows Hawaiian

2011-12-12T22:39:00.001-08:00

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
www.onetruemedia.com

Peace

Wordless Wednesday

2011-12-07T21:07:00.001-08:00

Peace

Sunday Dinner and a recap

2011-12-06T19:53:00.000-08:00

I haven't meant for it to be so long but Blogger would not cooperate with me.
It was back to our house for dinner. Heir is done playing football for the year and it wasn't a home game for the Seahawks so he was able to come. It was nice to be together. I had been playing Scrabble with Monkey and it was sitting on the table. The big kids got it out and played a couple of games.

Scrabble game and hot chocolate.

The non gamer Skater.
When Monkey was little he used to stand on Heirs hand and he would hold him up. They were trying to get him to do it again. He could NOT do it. Heir could have held him up but Monkey couldn't stiffen up enough and trust to stand there.

Having another go at it.

Sort of success.

laughing to hard this time.

Trying it with Buster. He didn't do half bad!

The whole group of Littles dancing. So stinking cute!

Even Buster was doing it.

We had so much fun watching and laughing with/at them.

Princess has been totally into Lili and Stitch. She and I were doing the Hula. Dh took pictures. I will spare you the pictures. LOL Princess is beyond cute! I think she is going to be ready for dance class soon.

Have a blessed week.

Peace

The Reveal

2011-11-28T20:06:00.000-08:00

If you didn't read yesterday, do that first.
My plan was to just send my parents Christmas home with them or mail them if we didn't see each other. My aunt and my friends all said NO NO NO! You must see your mom when she opens the quilt. I conceded that they were right. So I did all the finish work on the quilt and folded it and put it in a box and wrapped it! A gift wrapped before Christmas Eve! Who knew! Then the plans were made that they were coming for Thanksgiving dinner/weekend.
After dinner and dessert on Thanksgiving before all the kids left I said I have something for you Mom.

My dad knew immediately something was up. This is me telling them that this gift was 8 years in the making.

My mom opening the box.

Not quite sure what she's looking at yet.

Now it's all clear.

She loves it!

Everyone loved it! I was so glad my kids were here to see her get it.

Have a blessed week.

Peace

THE Quilt

2011-11-27T19:30:00.000-08:00

This story starts over 8 years ago.
I worked for a lovely lady who had a family tree quilt that I truly admired. It was a wonderful idea. I thought I can do this but tweak it a little so it is more my style. Now just so you know I have never embroidered in all my life. So I was talking to my Auntie and telling her what I was thinking. I had a layout in my mind. I told Auntie we need two more babies in our family to make this work right. Be careful what you wish for!(joke!) We got those 2 and 2 more! The first time I started the quilt I used really cheap muslin. It didn't work well at all! So back to the drawing board with MUCH better muslin. Best is better! I got the list of names gathered with the help of my aunt. The last name on the list was Baby Edgerton. He is now 7. HA!
So I got out my embroidery hoop and set to work! It took me a long time to get going. There is blood, sweat and tears in those squares. Seriously! It was a lot harder (I KNOW I KNOW!) then what I thought. I would work furiously on it then get frustrated and not work for a long time. Like 6 years long time. Last year I decided to get serious and get the thing done. I knew my mom would LOVE it and I wanted her to have it. I also had a lady who I scrap book with that is an avid quilter and said she would help. So I plugged away and got all the squares done. Joan and I made a date to go get fabric to get it under way.

Here is the fabric and the squares that go to Auntie. The picture was to show her the names most important to her.

There are 45 pieces in all.

The top all together.

The top with the border.

My bed is a King for reference.

You can still see the pencil marks. It hadn't been washed yet. There was still blood in places!

I had really grand illusions that I was going to actually quilt this thing. THEN I had a reality check. So it is just tied. Some day I would like to actually quilt something. I think I will start much smaller then a quilt of this size.

Done! With Bugs in the corner reading names. My boys have been as excited for this to be done as I was.

The border and binding.

The back.

Tomorrow, The reveal.

Peace

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-26T20:06:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. My parents came over on Wednesday afternoon. There was some snow in the pass but it wasn't bad. Which was great because the day before the pass had been closed off and on. It was so nice to have them here.
Here is the picture proof of the weekend.

7 of 8 pies. Missing is the Butterscotch. What you see is 2 pumpkin, Blue Berry, Black Berry, Raspberry, Apple and Mincemeat.

Cranapple sparkling cider

Skater

My dad.

Heir filling glasses as the food is starting to be put on the table.

Us!

ALL of us!

The Baby Edgerton's

My parents

Everyone has puppies! Bolt, Scout, Pistol, Skeeter and Bella

We have so much to be thankful for. It was a really good day. We sat around the table most of the weekend after every meal and just talked and laughed. I took my parents to see T2's house. They loved it.

I hope you all have had a great weekend.

Peace

Not sure what to think

2011-11-15T20:21:00.000-08:00

When it was bedtime last night Dh and I turned the lights off and locked up and headed to our room. We opened the door and this is what we saw. Now a few things... I'm pretty sure my 7 year old has NOT seen The Godfather. I also know this is NOT how I left our bed. I stopped and Dh almost walked into me. He went hmmmmm. I said I wonder what he's trying to tell us!

Then we got the giggles about the Godfather thought. That kid cracks us up! Why was he riding a stick horse IN our bed?

It is beyond me! But see even the horse thinks it's funny!
So that brings us to tonight.
I tell Monkey it's time to head to the tub. A few minutes later he calls his dad to ask his advice about something to do with SHAVING!?!? Dh came out of the bathroom laughing SO hard! This is what he saw in there!

A little bit of shaving cream son?

Smooth as a baby's butt!

Peace

Sunday Dinner and a recap

2011-11-13T21:37:00.000-08:00

T2 offered to have dinner at his house this week. It was so sweet! As it turned out Dh isn't feeling well so it was probably better for everyone to not come here this weekend. So T2 and Kevin cooked Little Caesar's Pizza. :) They did have a salad too. It was just nice to not have to worry about any of it. Thank you Son!

Ts and Skater chatting after dinner. We were watching the kids play in the hall way. Drummer was asleep in a chair. LOL

Buster was trying to see Bella and Bolt under the door. It was so cute!

He really wanted Bella out of there!
Kevin's door was just cracked open a little. Buster was sitting and looking in that little crack and T2 asked what he was looking at and Buster pointed and saw a sled in Kevin's room. The Littles and Buster and Princess ran with that sled up and down the tiny hall from T2's room to the kitchen for the longest time! They had a blast!

They loved that sled!

If I could I would like to ask anyone who is a praying person to pray for our extended family in the coming weeks. Our family has been touched by Cancer. We are shaken and scared but we are standing together in comfort and prayer. If the Lord brings us to mind will you pray for us, please.

Have a Blessed week.

Peace

Wordless Wednesday

2011-11-09T22:13:00.000-08:00

November 4. Occupation

November 5. Shadow

November 6. Inspiring

November 7. Home Town

November 8. Vote

November 9. Technology

Peace

A huge Recap!

2011-11-07T20:20:00.000-08:00

Here is a picture dump and a little recap of last week.
On Friday our Littles went with the Baby Edgerton's and the grand kids to Toy Story 3 on Ice. They loved it! Then they went and stayed the night with them. BUT Drummer had plans to go with T2 and Heir on a hike so Drummer ended up bringing them all back here early Saturday morning. I should have just had them come here after the show but Dh and I went out on an actual date! We had so much fun. I text'ed my cousin Tim and his wife Theresa and they joined us for drinks and dinner. The band was pretty good. We actually had a really fun time. I should have had my camera! I hope we get to do it again soon.

Buster being his cute little self!

Her prettiness!

This weekend for some reason Bugs decided he would ride his bike. He has had NO desire to have the training wheels off his bike. He had a scooter and brother's if he wanted to get anywhere. He asked his daddy to please take the trainer's off so he could ride his bike. Then he got on it and rode it. The little .......! I wish I had his faith. Just believe and go for it!

Bugs off on his bike.

Riding his bike. Which by the way now that he knows how to ride it he needs a bigger one!

We have a HUGE Sycamore tree. It is the ban of our neighbors lives. We LOVE it! Partly because it bugs people but mostly because it's beautiful and it blocks the front of our house from everyone across from us view. It was beautiful weather this week so the guys blew and picked up leaves several time. Nope still don't have them all but made a huge start. I like the leaves on the ground at least through Halloween. It's FALL!

Dh "working".

Skater blowing the leaves into a pile.

The Supervisors.

I have a picture frame with all the boys faces and they haven't been updated since Drummer's wedding. So I'm working on getting new pictures. Here is Skater's. Isn't he handsome.

I hijacked some pictures of the boy's hike.

T2 and Heir. Aren't they handsome!

Heir and Drummer working their way to the top. They hiked to the summit and Mt. Pilchuck.
Sunday we had a good family dinner. Heir had a football game so he just stopped by. I will be happy when his football season is over. I know he enjoys playing but I don't like missing his face.

I hope you have a blessed week.

Peace

Flight and Water

2011-11-03T21:25:00.000-07:00

November 2. Flight

November 3. Water

Peace

11/1/11

2011-11-01T21:50:00.000-07:00

I'm doing a photo challenge for November.

Nov. 1 - Autumn

Peace

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T22:36:00.000-07:00

The Little Edgerton's came to go trick or treating with Papa and the Uncles. They are so cute!

The Princess!

Indiana Jones

Bumble Bee

The cutest Pumpkin EVER!

Poser's!

Aren't they so cute!

I just think this kid is handsome! He is wearing Dh's dad's jacket. He was a skinny guy!

Old Blue Eyes himself!

It was a good night for everyone. It didn't rain or snow!

Peace

I need some wake up!

2011-10-31T15:41:00.000-07:00

On Thursday I got a phone call from Princess. She wanted to stay the night with me. Not really Me but with her Uncle Bugs and Uncle Monkey. She LOVES them. I was the bad Nana and had to say no. It was a school night and I just knew it wouldn't be good on a school night. She cried. :( So I talked to Princess Friday morning and asked if she would like to spend the night. She said YES! I said I would be there to get here about 3 ish. She was so excited! When I got to their house she was READY! I stayed and visited a bit then Princess and I headed out. She talked NON stop! It was amazing! Here is a sampling....

Nana, Mama and I went to the store and we saw the mobie (movie) Backyardigans. It was FIFTEEN BUCKS! Then we saw Wonder Pets and it was FREE! (Three)

As we were driving she asked me to take a left then a right so we could go by Elmo's world. (The Event center) BUT Elmo isn't there right now he's in California. (WTH???)

This went on until we were almost home. Then she crashed! She slept about 5 minutes. She is SO much like her daddy. She is also everything I ever wished for him. HAHAHA!

I had scrap booking on Friday night so Dh was doing Daddy/Papa duty. He was fixing dinner and Princess asked him a question about wakeup. He didn't really understand and was only half listening so he of course said uh ha, sure. Trust me it wouldn't have mattered what she asked she would have been told yes even if he had been listening. Princess had asked if she could have MAKE UP! She fixed her face up. Then she asked him if she could have whipstick (lipstick). Oh she did a beautiful job with that.

Isn't she beautiful.!

Have a wonderful week

Peace

Wordless Wednesday

2011-10-26T20:29:00.000-07:00

Peace

Weekend Update

2011-10-23T22:37:00.000-07:00

I asked for Princess and Buster for a play day. Some weeks I only see them on Sunday's and I miss them. So off we went. We were going to go play at Anita's. We had such a good time. Anita was finishing up something for her Mops group so we stopped by the church.

Bugs playing Muscle Man!

As we were driving through town we passed this monument. I went around the block and sent Bugs out with my camera. He did a good job.

It was a huge monument.

Then we went and had play time and dinner at Anita's. They have their nephew's dog staying with them right now. She is so cute! I don't remember bassets being so big. I loved her bark and ears and eyes and her stubby little legs.

Chopper making goo goo eyes.

Buster playing construction man.

Iron man, Seahawk Buzz lightyear Guy!

Princess HATED that mask!
I have been asking for something to be done for a while. Today was my lucky day. Dh brought the huge ladder in and got my job done for me.

Had to clean the light. Which by the way hasn't worked since our fire. Wierd huh?

Hanging the quilt Auntie got for me last year. I love it and it was on my bed for a while but I really wanted to hang it up.

Tada! It would really look better on a blue or yellow wall. I got white. I love it up there though.

Bugs came home with this friend this afternoon. Biggest sucker ever!

A face only a mother could love.

Have a wonderful week.

Peace

A picture Dump and Review

2011-10-17T21:04:00.001-07:00

We still have Hummer's!

The Princess and Buster were over. Bugs has been pulling them with his bike in the wagon. They LOVE IT!

Buster got busted for going in the road!

Weeeee!

He didn't want to get out!

I showed them how to make it into seats.
Bugs and Monkey were invited to an indoor bouncy place party. They LOVED it. They were both dripping sweat when we were done. Boys are gross!

Racing over the obstacle course.

Racing down the slide.

I got beads put in my hair for breast cancer month. I think they are pretty.
On Sunday for dinner we celebrated Dh's and DIL birthdays. They are 2 days apart. We most certainly don't need cake 2 weeks in a row.

This is how Dh celebrates! Party it up Dude!

Princess was coloring me a picture. Now it's on the fridge.

The cake. 2 candles each. Dh thanked me for not covering the cake in candles.

Drummer lighting the candles.

Ready set BLOW!

Papa's presents! She was vibrating with excitement to give it to him.

Bolt after his bath before he went home.
I hope you have a blessed week.
Peace

Music

2011-10-13T21:22:00.000-07:00

Today has been a music filled day. One of my friends had a piano they no longer wanted and asked if I knew of anyone who did. YES I did! Drummer has wanted one forever. He plays very well. Well he can play anything he touches. But that's another story. So Matt said we could use his truck if I got lifters. Drummer and Skater and 2 buddies came and they lifted that heavy sucker right up into the truck and then Matt drove and backed it right up to Drummer's porch and the 4 of them carried it right into Drummer's house. It needs tuned but it's in good shape. Drummer and I are both excited for him. I can see him with his babies on his lap playing to them. It sooths his soul. Mine too.
Then when I got on the computer tonight to chit chat with Auntie. She asked me my favorite go to songs. One is I can Only Imagine. The other is It is well. Then we got to talking about songs and how we remember them. She loved the songs at my grandma's funeral but can't hear them and not think of her. I told her I understood that! We started YouTube-songs and remembering. I can't hear the song we had played at my brother's funeral without sobbing. She said they do too!

A sweet story about my brother's funeral. My Uncle Lynn is a a man with a heart as big as all outdoors. He would NEVER want you to know it. He is my dad's only brother. Dh was sitting beside me on one side and my Uncle Lynn was on my other. He was sitting trying to be stoic for the funeral. It was a very hard day. Scott's death was unexpected and we were all still very shaken. I had given up trying to be brave after about 3 minutes into the funeral. I just leaned down and grabbed the box of Kleenex and put it on my lap. When that song started my Uncle gasped and sobbed and said SHIT and leaned over and grabbed a handful of Kleenex from my box and just leaned into the grief and let it wash over him. Sometimes you just have to feel it all so you can let it go. I love that story and I'm sure my Uncle doesn't even remember. It just meant a lot to me that we shared our grief that day.
My song that sooths my soul when I am all angst is It is Well. I love the story behind the song and the song itself.

I'm not sure why it was such a verklempt evening. It is good to remember and miss those who have gone before us.
Peace

Mustangs

2011-10-11T22:44:00.001-07:00

My mom and I had a wonderful time in Burns Or. at Kiger days at the BLM corrals. We wondered around the corrals for 2 1/2 days drooling over and picking our favorites. The adoption/auction seemed to be very successful. I think the highest price was $8750 for a 2 year old beautiful stallion. I think there was 120 horses and 86 got adopted. The rest will be up on the website next month. There is also always horses available for adoption in the pens. Beautiful horses!

A baby and his mama.

Mom and babies. The little colt on the right was only 3 weeks old. He was a feisty bugger.

Isn't he stunning?

The Steens from the South Steens. We didn't go up all the way.

Out over the valley. It feels like we are at the top of the world up there.

The only 3 horses we saw in the wild. We saw them twice. We walked out across the draw towards them. It's 3 stallions. Someone said Domino is the black and white but they aren't sure who the other 2 are.

Getting a good scratch on at the corrals.

My favorite pick. She did get adopted for $1000. I have good taste! Good thing I didn't have a bidding number.

2 cowboys talking.
The first morning Mom went over and had breakfast while I took a shower and got dressed. When I walked over she was having breakfast with a guy. He was very nice and they were talking Mustangs. He was there for the adoption too. He asked if he could follow us up to the mountains later but then changed his mind and stayed for a demonstration. He went up somewhere else and didn't see anything, we saw the 3. He got one of the Mare/foul pairs. Mom and I took pictures for him.

Waiting for the mare and foul to be sent down the lane.

Mama and baby ears.

Mama's sweet eyes.

My favorite girl! She isn't a Kiger but isn't she beautiful!

I hope you had a great weekend. Have a blessed week.

Peace

Help please

2011-10-11T21:07:00.000-07:00

I have been trying since Sunday to upload pictures to my blog. They will not load! I've tried the old version and the new version, NO GO! Why? Help!

On the road again!

2011-10-06T20:23:00.000-07:00

My mom and I are on a little road trip. We are at a Kiger mustang adoption. JUST LOOKING! No adopting. It was a very quiet drive down. It was really foggy coming over Mt. Hood. It was so foggy we were on it and couldn't see the top! Good thing it opened up as we went past it. We only saw a few dead things and some antelope and deer. One of he coolest things was we saw a real cowboy herding some cows. It was really neat. We went to a restaurant tonight and on the sign outside the door said Chance of Snow tonight. I said WHAT?????? It wouldn't dare! When we got back to our room I looked up the weather report, it's suppose to warm up over the next few days. It had better! SNOW??? Ridiculous! Lots of pictures to follow.
Peace

A loooooooong recap!

2011-10-02T20:55:00.000-07:00

I have been MIA for no particular reason other then I didn't feel like anything thing of any interest was going on. Well this weekend that changed.
Rescue Rita and I went to our annual MCC sale/auction. Her sister rode along with us. It was so much fun. We left Friday morning.

Autumn is just starting to show up on the other side of the mountains. It was very warm and pretty.

We stopped in Leavenworth for a bite to eat and to shop just a tad. I needed a new piece of my Nativity set.

I love this little town. It's always fun.

Their flower pots are still full and beautiful.

So much color.

Rescue Rita, Nancy and I having lunch.
It was Rita and Nancy's mom's birthday. The plan was to meet up for dinner to celebrate Mary's birthday all together. We had a wonderful time with Bob and Mary.

The Family.

The girls

Marys' dessert. She said it was YUMMY! We sang to her.
We were up bright and early on Sat. morning to get to the auction grounds. It's at a Mennonite church in the middle of nowhere. This is one of the big fund raisers for missions for the year. They have all kinds of baked goods and a meat truck with hams/bacon and cheese for sale. It's all donated for the fun raiser. They have ALWAYS sold out very fast! People donate things for the auction but the big deals are the handmade quilts.

This is an old accordion. I wanted it for Drummer. Mary/Bob donated it. It went for WAY more then I could have ever hoped to spend. He would have loved it.

Anita has been coveting mine since I got several years ago. I saw this and took a picture with my phone and sent it to her. She seemed exciting so I said I would try. I ended up getting it for her for a great deal! The middle looks GREAT! All shiny and pretty.

A buggy porch bench. I wanted it for my parents. It went for a lot. Which when you remember it's a fund raiser that's great. Not good for me though. :)
The pictures of the quilts are just a drop in the bucket, but I took pictures of the ones that were both hand pieced and hand quilted. There weren't so many of those. I wanted ALL of them. I think the highest went for $2200 and most the all hand done ones went for close to that.

A sneaky picture of the Mennonite girls. So sweet.

Peach colors, Totally Rita's colors. She didn't buy it.

I wanted this one SO bad! I think this is the one that went for $2200.00 I have very good taste!

The little family again. Keeping track of what went for how much.

All hand done!

I would have taken this one too!

So this one was the last one of the hand pieced hand quilted ones. It wasn't my favorite. However the bidding started at $100. So many people had left and the bidding had really dropped to almost nothing. They usually started at $500. So $100 was GREAT! One other person bid against me. It went to $150 and then I bid again at $200. I GOT IT! For $200! It is all hand done. The colors are a bit different then I would pick but someone saw the vision in it and it's beautiful!

Across my bed. It's it beautiful?

A close up of the hand stitching. It's a very eclectic group of fabric. Someone went to a LOT of work.
We got home late Sat. night. So I was home to do our Family dinner. It was good to see the kids. Heir had a game so he wasn't here.

Princess with her dessert.

Buster! Every time you point a camera at him he says CHEESE!

I hope you have a Blessed week.

Peace

Wordless Wednesday

2011-09-21T21:23:00.000-07:00

Peace

Another Teenager and a recap

2011-09-20T18:40:00.000-07:00

Last week was not a great computer week so this is late.
Bugs became an official teenager. I could cry! I can't believe 13 years have gone by. On his birthday he had a date with Rescue Rita. They took off right after school.

She knows that boy! They went to Lego City! Wall to Wall LEGO'S!! He was very surprised!

Making mini people.

Gift in hand.
Then of course they had to go out to dinner. They went to Red Robin.

Lego's and onion rings. Life is good!
Bugs had his buddy come over for the weekend.

Playing tennis Wii. I was laughing so hard and so were they!
On Saturday Dh took Monkey fishing. Heir met them there. Yeah! They caught more fish.

Aren't they a cute pair.

Handsome boy!
Sunday everyone was here for dinner and to celebrate Bugs.

Drummer and DIL. Aren't they cute!

Drummer Buster and T2.

Haven't seen Skater in a while.

Gifts!

Cake! The boys sings EVERYWHERE he goes! This cake was PERFECT!

Everyone waiting to sing.

Mr. Cool!

Prized gift! He is excited to have the entire series.

I hope you have a blessed week.

Peace

What I've learned from striking teachers....

2011-09-19T14:52:00.000-07:00

I've learned that if you don't like what your boss does or rules he puts in place, instead of weighing your options to either move on or buck up you can bully and blackmail to get your own way. In this time in our country you would think that they would just be happy to have a job! I know teacher's that would LOVE a full time job.
I've learned that their are good rules in place for everyone. However Teachers don't have to follow them. They are free to do what they will. They don't have to follow the judges ruling. I hope that comes in handy for the students who don't complete work or do it correctly. I think they deserve a pass.
I've learned that teachers will say and do anything all in the name of whats best for the students and it's really all BS. Those children would rather be in school. Please stop waving your cause in their face. They are CHILDREN!
I think you teachers on strike need to just close your mouth and get into your classroom and get teaching or get out of the schools altogether!

Who knew!

2011-09-13T19:54:00.000-07:00

I've heard of swamp ass but this is a new one! Who knew this was a problem??

Peace

10 Years

2011-09-11T21:18:00.001-07:00

Today has been a day of reflection and memories for most of our Nation.
My normal morning started about 6 am. I got up and made my tea and sat down at the computer to chat with my Aunt before we both got busy with our days. She IMMEDIATELY said Turn on your TV! Something bad is happening. It's was moments after the first tower was hit. I sat and watched in horror as the second tower was hit. I was glued to my TV. It didn't take me long to figure out what looked like papers flying out of window's were in fact not papers at all. Heir Apparent had enlisted into the Air Force in the Spring. He left for his BMT on September 4Th. When the second plane hit and the realization hit that it wasn't an accident I immediately had a horrible fear for Heir. I had visions of them slapping an M16 into his hands and dropping him out of a plane. It was 2 weeks before we got to talk to him and that was one of the things we very quickly talked about. He was safe and fine. There was extra safely measures on the base. That was such a relief for me.
The very next day Dh came home with a new flag. It went up and stayed up until Heir came home from his time in the Air Force. Heir has that flag in a shadow box. I means a lot to him and us! Dh put up the new one the second the first one came down. We will have a flag until they all come home.
In the days that followed talking to my Aunt my Uncle who is a First Responder was really feeling the loss. He knew that if it was him there, he would have done exactly what those men did, head in to do what he has been trained to do. One of my favorite pictures of him is when they had a chance to go to New York a few years ago. They went to Ground Zero and the Fire House across the street. My Aunt got a picture of him talking to a Fireman there and giving him a patch. It took my breath away. There is such a brotherhood among those men.
I don't remember all that I did on that day or in the days that followed. I do know that I knew then and still know now that we will never be the same. We must never forget.
I am humbled by every man, women and child that lost their life that day. From the people on Flight 93 who put a stop to that attack, to the people at the Pentagon and the people at the Twin Towers, the men and women who went in when everyone else was rushing out. Rest in Peace. We will never forget and always remember! Thank you to each and every service person who was serving then and has served since. I know that the price of freedom isn't free. Thank you seems so inadequate. But from the bottom of my heart Thank you!
Peace

Week in Review

2011-09-10T22:01:00.000-07:00

I am not MIA.
I won't say for sure, but....
I might have had issue's with Blogger,
I might have been a bit busy trying to get back into a school schedule,
I might just have had a really bad attitude and didn't want to share.
You pick.

On Monday I did some more baking. Of course it's been the hottest week of the year.

2 Zucchini and 2 banana breads.

Dh went fishing. Please start counting now.

The Littles started back to school. They both were excited to go back.

I do not know why that child had a jacket on.

Mr. Grinny himself.

Dh picked blackberries for me. I love them but cannot make myself pick them. Just to many bugs and stickers!

There was about 15 cups there.

I have a double batch measured out in the freezer for jam so I decided to make and can blackberry pie filling. Anita and I had chatted it out since neither of us had done it before. It looks so pretty!

7 quarts of pie filling. I think that is good for the year.
And look what Dh did again.

How many do you have so far? And please remember the ones from last weekend that he sent home with my dad.
And that takes us to today. Bugs has been begging to go salmon fishing. So they got up early and were off.

This was the haul. Bugs had so much fun!
This was from Dh's camera.

Bugs and one of his fish.

So how many did you count? They are in my freezer. Some wrapped that Dh wants to smoke. Then the rest are vacuum packed for him to cook as he wants. Oh goodie!

Peace

Sunday Wrap Up

2011-09-04T21:38:00.000-07:00

After the Fair on Friday it's been a very quiet weekend. I've got my house back in order. I've done the laundry. Tomorrow we will get The Littles backpacks all organized.
Today Drummer and DIL had dinner at their house. It was a small group today but it was yummy. Drummer grilled steaks. He did a good job.

This was the sunset tonight. Such a pretty pink.

Yesterday Dh and T2 went fishing. T2 actually caught 3 salmon to Dh's 2. He had a perma-grin on his face.

Here fishy fishy!

T2 and fish

My parents brought me a zucchini last weekend. Today I had to do "something" with it. I grated it. Then I made 4 loaves of bread with it. Dh and Bugs just about ate the first one gone. I took one to Drummer and DIL. She informed me she doesn't like it. Drummer said he would eat it. Then I put the other 2 in the freezer.

One ginormous zucchini.

I hope you all have fun plans for tomorrow. We brought Princess home with us for the night.

Peace

The Fair

2011-09-02T23:56:00.001-07:00

I love the fair! Skater did 4H with our dog for several years so we got kind of burnt out on it for a time but I love going. All the sights and smells. I could sit in the middle and people watch all day. As our last big broohahaha before school starts we went to the fair yesterday. I also had put pictures in the photography part and wanted to see how I finished. Off we went.

I love the Grange displays. It's like a quilt.

I got 2 - seconds and 1 - first. I did better then last year! I am proud of myself.

We love watching the Native dancers and listening the the drums. Such beautiful costumes!

My Auntie needs these in her garden. He was about waist high.

The Littles on some rides!

My photo challenge picture. I should have photo shopped it but I just posted it because I was tired. It works.

From DH's camera.

The Littles and me.

A cute boy!

Bugs had just moonwalked all across that balcony. He cracks us up! People behind us said did that kid just moonwalk up there. We just laughed.
I send Dh's camera up in the ferris wheel with Bugs. Mostly they were blurry, but this one was kind of good.

From the top of the world!

Have a great weekend!

Peace

What will they think of next....

2011-09-01T22:30:00.000-07:00

The Littles went with me today. They were going to play with Charlotte's grand kids. On the way the radio had a commercial about an adoption event coming up. It's trying to help kids in the foster system find forever families. Bugs asked why didn't we adopt. He said that he STILL wanted a sister. Even though Monkey is a boy and he wouldn't change him he wants a sister. Monkey pipes up that he really WANTS a sister too. I said boys we are done having babies. Sorry. I would have loved for you to have a sister but it's not happening. The conversation went on for several minutes. I said I was very content with our family the way it is. They really wouldn't let it go. I finally said You know boys, if God drops a little girl in our laps then you will know that's what he wanted for you. They were like a dog with a bone. Just wouldn't let it go. I just don't think I knew how badly they feel cheated. T2 has always wanted a sister. I know it's his prayers being answered that we have Bugs. He had his Sunday School teacher and class pray for us a baby many years ago. I think if you asked Bev today she would take credit! T2 calls Drummer's wife his sister. Not sister in law, Sister! So all that to say, Bugs is praying that God drops a sister in our lap.

Peace

Way Back Wednesday

2011-08-31T20:27:00.000-07:00

Peace

Apples again!

2011-08-30T20:43:00.000-07:00

Monkey lost ANOTHER tooth! At home to boot! His smile is all kinds of messed up!

Monkey's tooth.

His funky smile.

Today I HAD to do apples. They were still very hard and pretty but I have a busy week after today. So today was it. I was setting it all up and I thought, hmmmmmm I should call my canning partner! Rescue Rita came to help. She is a GREAT peeler/slicer/dicer. I had one pot of applesauce started when she got here.

First canner full. That is 4 jars of applesauce and 3 jars of apple pie filling.
One jar in each batch broke. It's so frustrating! At least it was apple's instead of applesauce. I have been canning for over 25 years. I guess the jars do wear out but boy what a pain!

My wonderful helper! She is fast!

Bugs doing a compost run for me. He was looking for apple seeds. He thinks he can grow us our own Buckley Giant tree.

Rescue Rita licking the apple pie sauce container. It is SO good!

The finished products! 8 quarts of applesauce and 6 jars of apple pie filling. Also a gallon bag of sliced apples for a cobbler. And one pint of applesauce that Bugs has already eaten.

Tada! And my apples are done!

Peace

Weekend in Review

2011-08-28T22:28:00.001-07:00

My parents came for the weekend. It was my mom's uncle's 95Th birthday.
They had a family get together to celebrate Uncle George. We had a good time visiting with everyone.

Uncle George

Uncle George and my mom.

Family chatting

Rescue Rita is German and this shirt CRACKED me up. I wanted her to see it.

Everyone chatting.
After we got home we rested up a bit then we had been invited back out to Tim and Theresa's for a BBQ and a bon fire. My parents had to miss the family gathering the week before so my dad was anxious to see and visit with Tim and Theresa. We had a great time sharing stories and experiences. It was a REALLY nice evening.

Tim yet again starting the bon fire with a flame thrower. STILL cracks me up.

It's burning!
Bugs did so much fishing again. I don't even want to know how many little catfish he brought home in his bucket. He did say he let most of them go to grow into big fish! Isn't he precious.

Tim, Dad, Mom, Theresa

Fire!
I have said for a long time that I wished my parents lived closer so they could come to dinner on Sunday's when we have dinner all together. I know it's loud and crowded but it's so nice touching base with each other that I wish they could be here for it. My dad is the get up and get on the road kind of guy so I never thought that they would stay late enough for it. Well this visit was different. They just planned on staying until Monday. YEAH!! Drummer and Bugs and I made a batch of ice cream earlier in the day and put it in the freezer so it would be a bit firmer.

Bugs taking a turn.

T2 watching. He didn't want to crank it.

Drummer did a bang up job.

Dh and my dad had gotten up early and took off salmon fishing. My dad caught 2 very small ones and had to put them back. Dh on the other hand will just about always out fish everyone without even trying. He STILL feels really bad tonight. I just think it's funny! He can't help that he is a really good fisherman!

3 salmon that will be headed home with my parents. We do NOT need it!

After dinner we made a second batch of ice cream. Princess liked cranking. She didn't want to give Buster a turn. He kept saying Me do it! Princess really has to work on sharing.

Buster not doing so well at the waiting for his turn either.

So I had him help hold it steady! He liked that!

Bugs taking a turn with Buster's help.

Monkey taking a turn.

Dad and Scout relaxing and waiting for ice cream!

It was so great having my parents here for the weekend and for today.

I hope you have a blessed week!

Peace

Apples to Apples

2011-08-25T22:21:00.000-07:00

Rescue Rita let me know that apples were ready and needing to be picked. So we headed North. Rita's parents are such a blessing to me and others. They share what God has blessed them with. Rita and I picked one tree. We have so many apples. 2 of my neighbors have asked for a box and I got some for my parents who are coming this weekend. Rita's dad still has the other tree to pick and to give away.

Rita and an apron of Buckley Giants.

Once you have had these they make the normal apples seem like such a waste of time.

After getting apples we headed out to the bay. Salt sand and surf! It was 85' today and just beautiful out there!

Monkey and his snarkle and gargles. Just so we are clear his shoes aren't even wet!

Rita Bugs and Monkey moving a log. I loved how the camera focused on the grass.

He did get wet!

Rita and her dad picking me blackberries. I won't pick them but love having them.

The Littles NOT helping either!

HEY!

Loads and loads of tomatoes! He said he's already picked about 12 pounds!

10 cups of blackberries! Thank you Rita and Bob!

I live in one of the most beautiful places in the world!
Tomorrow my parents come. Yeah!

Peace

Wordless Wednesday

2011-08-24T20:25:00.000-07:00

These are some of the pictures from the family gathering. They wouldn't load yesterday. GRRRR!

Peace

Blogger hates me!

2011-08-23T22:56:00.001-07:00

I'm sorry to sound like a broken record. I've been trying for 2 hours to upload pictures. THEY WON'T GO!
I'm taking my bat and ball and going home!

Family Gathering

2011-08-22T00:01:00.000-07:00

This weekend we had a family gathering. My cousin very kindly offered to plan and invite and have it at their home. It was so kind. We had a great day. All of our guys came. I love seeing everyone. I wish more people would have come but I won't let who wasn't there spoil who was! There was more then enough to eat and we enjoyed each other's company and visiting.

Telling a joke.

I forgot to ask permission to post names. I'm sorry, I should have.
Thank you so much Tim and Theresa for opening up your home to us! It was a beautiful day.
I hate the new uploader and blogger hates me. Just saying.
Have a blessed week.
Peace.

Way Back Wednesday

2011-08-17T22:19:00.000-07:00

Heir and Monkey
Peace

Anita was here!

2011-08-16T22:45:00.000-07:00

On Saturday Anita and her boys came to visit. I had some fruit in my freezer that was hers and it needed to go to it's home. We always have so much fun together. I made her look through ALL of mine and Auntie's Laura pictures. She seemed to like them all. I know it's a bit overwhelming but she was a good sport. I love being with her. We can either be talking a hundred miles an hour or just sitting and being quiet but together. Totally comfortable in each other's company. I love that about her.

Eli and Mama jumping on the jumpoline!

Dru, Eli and Anita

Neighbor girl in the mix!

Anita stole some of Heir's blueberries. I told on her!

Monkey actually lost a tooth at HOME! He was so excited.

Jay on the fence. They are so pretty. Bugs took this picture.

Princess Re-duex

2011-08-13T13:36:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was doing Nana duty and since I had the chance I took Princess out in her pretty dress to try and get some 4 year pictures. She is the hardest kid on the planet to photograph. I have picture proof of it! But when I caught a good one they were so good! I need lots of practice and a better camera, well not really a camera but I would like a different lense. Anywhere here is the best.

And of course the Prince Buster! I don't know if this boy can take a bad picture.
Peace

Princess

2011-08-12T23:13:00.001-07:00

Blogger hates me!

Winning!

2011-08-11T20:36:00.001-07:00

Today was take your son to work day. You didn't know that? Huh well Monkey went with me and had a good time with Charlotte's grandkids. He is exhausted from running. They are good sports to let him tag along.

I got this one today.
When Auntie and I were on our trip we planted a Letterbox before I came home. We couldn't find a craft store for love nor money so we ended up just using my stamp. Since I was at the craft store tonight I looked for another stamp. Ideally I would carve my own but since we all know that isn't going to happen........ They had buy one get one half off. These were the 2 I got. Not sure which one I will use.

I wanted a hummingbird, they didn't have one.

These are this years fair entries.

Don't these look like winners?

Peace

And they're off.......

2011-08-09T20:38:00.000-07:00

Busy weekend part 2.
Saturday we were given free passes to the horse races. I had never been and neither had Rescue Rita. So Dh and The Littles and us girls took off for the races. I had no idea what to expect. Bugs had a less then wonderful attitude and said it was going to be Nascar with horses. Isn't he charming. We found our seats and Dh had the boys pick a winner and then he bet. Monkey won 4 dollars I think. We had so much fun!

Rescue Rita and Dh and Monkey.

It was a beautiful day. Not hot not raining just nice and sunny.

Calling the horses.

My winner!

Finally got him to look at me.

GO GO GO!

After the races we went to Rain Forest Cafe. Monkey was a brand new baby the last time we were there. He had such a good time and loved it. Bugs? Not so much. He was still having an attitude.

Tossing penny's.

They both wanted them.

PLEASE MOM????

Give me 4!

They have beautiful fish tanks.

Monkey's

A beautiful butterfly! Name that movie?

Sending pictures to Heir to make him jealous.

This is how his dinner went. 13 is a short year, right?

Here fishy fishy.

We decided to share a dessert. It was very yummy!

Starry starry night...... I want this on my bedroom ceiling.

Bug for Bugs.

Creepy eyes but I love real gorilla's and watch them all day long.

I have tried for 2 days to upload this post. It confirms what I have always thought. Blogger hates me. Sigh.

Peace

Blueberry Hill

2011-08-08T21:03:00.000-07:00

This weekend was very busy. We were just off having fun. It started on Friday. Rescue Rita and I got the call that the blueberries were ready. So since Dh was home we decided to do it sans kids. They weren't so much help picking Raspberries. So off we went. We needed a tiny bit of a snack to sustain us for the picking so we stopped at Sonic's.

Trying to decide what we wanted.

The "before" picture.

The "after" picture. Rita's mom weighed them and we had about 15 pounds. 4 - 10 cup bags and 2 cups to eat fresh. YUMMY!

Then we headed out to visit some family of Rita's. We had a lovely visit. Rita asked me to tell her about my Laura trip. I LOVE talking about it. I just hope people catch my passion for how much fun and interesting it was! Then we headed out to Birch Bay.

I was going for a cool picture. This wasn't it but it is as good as it got.

We went to a place to have dinner. We sat outside in the sunset. It was very nice.

Of course she's on the phone!

I haven't touched up this picture at all. It was that orange. Isn't it beautiful.

I could see this every day and never get bored.

Mount Baker in the distance.

The moon as we ended our day. It was so nice!

Tomorrow on to Saturday.

Peace

Wordless Wednesday

2011-08-03T20:10:00.001-07:00

Peace

Crescent Bar

2011-08-02T21:54:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday my Anita and I and her 4 boys and The Littles all took off for our yearly Crescent Bar fix! Oh we had a great time. We had a few little glitches, of course. The first of which was that there was a big sign on the gate of the pool. Closed, the motor is broken. Bugs was so upset he went and crawled back in bed and hid his head. So we took off to the beach instead and played in the river. It was fine. Just different then the plan and tradition. I went into panic mode though. After lunch we took off to Wenatchee to find beach/sand toys. On the way there we got into a traffic jam that turned out to be a terrible terrible accident. We never heard how it all ended up. I hope everyone was OK. It didn't appear that they were. We went to Target and found what we were looking for and headed back to Crescent Bar. There was NOT ONE sign of the accident. They clean up crew was fantastic! The only thing we could see was the spray paint marking things on the road. And wouldn't you just know it, when we got back and after dinner, the pool was open! It was all fixed. WHEW!

A mama and her baby. There was 2 doe's and 3 babies. They were eating the golf course.

Friday at the river. We HAD to use our beach/sand toys at least once. Dru kept saying he had doofus. It was said more then once. When I finally got what he was saying and tried to tell his mama I was laughing so hard I couldn't talk. It was ridiculous. He was saying he had TWO FISH! Bugs had caught 2 fish for him with his net. He was beyond thrilled. So was I, he had doofus! I love those boys. Mr. cutie pie Eli called me Auntie all weekend and made my heart sore!

It is such a beautiful place there.

Back at the pool.

Anita making ice cream. We didn't do it last year and we missed it. It was so good. We need to remember fruit next time though.

Monkey's turn.

Bugs helping Eli.

Bugs and his GQ look.

Do these gargles (yes I know. Thats how he says it. He also says snarkle instead of snorkle) make my face look big?

Eating the fruits of their labor! They loved it. There was enough for them to have some more after lunch before we headed for home.

It was a wonderful time. I'm ready to go back already. Sun Sand and Water. What is not to love.

Peace

Amazing grace......

2011-07-25T22:17:00.000-07:00

Rescue Rita and her family needs every one's thoughts, good wishes. prayers please. Her husband Ray was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma about 7 years ago. He went through the awful chemo and radiation and went into remission. He has his check ups several times a year. He's had a count that has been creeping up. He also has been having some pain in his neck/shoulder area. Our worst fear has been confirmed. He has cancer spots on the bone. He is dreading treatment again but will do it. Ray and Rita and their girls could really use all your prayers please. He knows how it will feel this time. He had experience to blame. He has a peace about where he will spend eternity but this is a road no one would choose to travel. Thank you so much!
Peace

Weekend in Review

2011-07-24T22:06:00.001-07:00

It's been a fun weekend! Friday night I went scrap booking. I LOVE going. I just don't get much done unless I leave the house. It's always a fun time. The women asked all about my trip. I loved telling them and they seemed to love hearing about it. I could leave again tomorrow! So many lovely memories.
Saturday Rescue Rita and I had plans to pick raspberries and then head out to Birch Bay. It was drop dead gorgeous summer day! Finally!
Here are Rescue Rita and her daughter and The Littles and our buckets. Rita took one home. I think we picked for a couple hours is all. Monkey wasn't much help.

Our Bounty!

Melinda and The Littles working hard, well mostly.

Me and The Littles at Birch Bay.

Rita and Melinda

Standing on a log.

Balancing

Then sings my soul..................

It is well with my soul.

We don't want to get out!
Today was family dinner day and we were ALL here! YEAH us! It was so pretty and warm we just grilled burgers, dogs and sausages. Then when that was done Heir put a King Salmon fillet on. Everyone went away very full!

Princess on the jumpoline with our neighbor's girl. They were having a good time.

The guys. Roommate, T2, Dh, Drummer, Kevin and Heir. Who was golfing yesterday minus sunscreen.

Buster down in the yard with the kids. He was playing in the pool and hose.
So Bugs started a water fight with Heir. Heir grabbed a bucket and filled it and threw it down from the deck trying to hit Bugs. He DRENCHED Buster. He gasped and then just went with it. Heir felt so bad!

Loosing the favorite Uncle card.

T2 snuggling Buster. That's the look of love right there.

Papa and the girls.
It was a beautiful weekend. Good food good fun good family! God is good.

I hope you have a blessed week.

Peace

It's Thursday

2011-07-21T21:17:00.001-07:00

Today was a bipolar weather day! It would down pour then the sun would come out and it was beautiful. A very typical March day. IN JULY!

A beautiful Hummingbird.

Monkey went with me today. He had a boy to play with and had such a great day!

Power wheels!

He was so played out he fell asleep on the way home. He told me he wasn't tired and the next time I turned around he was OUT!

Peace

Cake or Death?

2011-07-19T20:55:00.000-07:00

We did some errands on Sunday afternoon. When we got home I got out and didn't shut my door. Dh went out and pushed it with his butt. The seat belt was in the closing mechanism or something. It was STUCK! So very stuck. Dh tried and tried but he couldn't do it. So Skater (more on him in a bit) and Drummer and T2 went to work. It took all 3 of them but they finally got it open. YIPPEE!

The 3 amigo's working on my car.
Skater called a few weeks ago and needed to come back home. So he got home the weekend we were after The Littles.

Bella and Skater. Everyone is smitten with her.

Just a cute picture of Bugs.
For family dinner on Sunday we had Monkey's birthday. He was at his Grandparents on his birthday so we said he would get 2, one there and one at home. He was so excited!

Presents! Princess was as excited as he was.

Princess Bugs and Buster

Bella.

This child LOVES Transformers. Heir and The Littles went to the movie today. I heard all about it all day long!

Bella and T2. She was digging into his neck and chewing on his necklace and it was making him giggle and his toes curls.

Monkey got a superdooper Nerf gun and he was shooting, that's why he's wearing safety goggles.
Heir has been in Alaska fishing for almost a month. He came home on Sunday and he came and surprised me Monday. He looks great! I love his curly hair. It gets curlier and curlier the longer it gets.

Heir

Everyone is home and accounted for! Yeah!

Peace

Pig Roast

2011-07-17T21:40:00.001-07:00

This past weekend we were invited to a pig roast. I'm not quite sure what I expected but it was a PIG ROAST. Just like he said. We had such a good time. It was at my cousin's. My Aunt and Uncle were there and my other cousin and her husband. It was good to see them all. They are headed on a cruise soon. I'm a tad jealous but not really. I hope they have a blast! The weather was suppose to be iffy but it was actually very nice. At one point it tried to rain but didn't last and it was a beautiful day. Bugs was with a friend so it was just us and Monkey. They provided the pig and everyone else brought side dishes and drinks.

The Pig.

Monkey and the Pig.

Carrying the pig to the carving table.

My cousin is on the right.

The food line.

The man in black is my great Uncle - I think. I know we are related I just can't remember exactly how.

Group shot

My cousin's wife. I didn't ask permission to post so I won't do their names. I should have asked.

Monkey and 2 friends.

Cousin starting the fire with a flame thrower! A tad overkill. BUT when I mentioned it to him he said, It's burning isn't it? Ha!

Fireworks.

My cousin roasting a marshmallow. She knew I had my camera so only gave me ONE eye!

The fire

Sweaty Monkey from running around.

Cousin. Thanks so much for inviting us. It was a blast!

Peace

Wordless Wednesday

2011-07-13T22:47:00.001-07:00

Peace

They call me Andretti

2011-07-07T23:01:00.000-07:00

Well yesterday was a red letter day! You might detect a small note of sarcasm.
I was driving in the morning and all of a sudden a guy starts walking out in front of me waving me towards the shoulder. I thought there was a problem and slowed down and then all of a sudden it hit me that it was a sheriff. Oooops. I stopped and rolled down my window and he showed me the radar gun. It said 46. Apparently the speed limit is 35. Well lucky me! So he takes my insurance card and license and registration and walked across the road to his motorcycle to do what it is that they do. I was upset but not at him, I was speeding. Got it! When he came back to the car and handed me my ticket he started out by saying that his personal over limit is 11 and that's why I got the ticket - $154. OK. Then he proceeded to tell me that I shouldn't pay it but ask for a court date to go before the judge. At this point I just starred at him then laughed. I do that when I'm nervous anyway. I asked him "If you don't want me to pay this ticket, WHY are you giving it to me? He replied, Well it's my job. *EYE ROLL* I totally get the job thing, I get the ticket thing. I was speeding, but telling me to not pay it? NUTS! I do not get it. It's only the second ticket I've ever gotten. The other was 21 years ago. I did get a expired tabs ticket when I was 16. I have a good driving record so maybe a judge will reduce it. I have a few days to decide what I want to do. I guess the first thing I'll do is slow down. :)
Peace

Wordless Wednesday

2011-07-07T00:09:00.001-07:00

Peace

Kidless Adventures.

2011-07-05T22:05:00.000-07:00

I did these backwards. Ooops
On Sunday we decided to take a drive. Our Little's are still and Grandma and Grandpa's. They would have HATED it. We loved it. We did the North Cascade Highway. Then on Sunday we went to the races. They are the figure 8 and demolition derby. They are always fun. Then they have the best firework show. So this is Monday first then Sunday. Just imagine your looking at them the other way around. Oh and yes the kids would have loved the races. They have been before. It was a good time without them though.

Dh and I.

Some of the cars

The hornet heats.

Hornet heats

Elvis showed up!

They burned a van. I don't' know why, well actually I do. Guys like to blow stuff up!

Guys on bikes.

We practiced our OOOOOOOO's and AAAAAAH's

Pretty!

The music behind these was really good too. I hope everyone had a good 4Th. Happy Birthday America.
On Sunday I had told DH that I did not want to just sit around. I was either going to do something fun with him or he was going to do a whole list of stuff I want done. We took off for the day. :D I had said Mt. St. Helen's, the ocean, or...? and Dh said lets go North. So off we went. It was beautiful.

Diablo Lake on Diablo pass

Over the mountains.

We live in one of the most beautiful places!

We stopped in Winthrop. Neither of us had been there before. We had dinner there after walking through the town. It's a cute place.

Then we went and had homemade ice cream.

Dh got a brain freeze.

Methow Valley

Towards Wenatchee

Over Steven's Pass

Tail lights of I-5

It was a really good day. However I think it might make us officially old. We took a Sunday drive! HA!

Peace

Bella

2011-07-01T22:38:00.000-07:00

My Scout is a wonderful dog. Everyone wants to steal her. My daughter in law is one of those. In fact I'm not sure she hasn't tried to put Scout in her pocketbook at one time. Princess and Scout are the same age. Scout has chewed on Princess feet since day one. Princess and her mama have wanted a puppy just like her for a long time. I have been telling them for a long time that when they got a house ( the apartment was a HUGE walk up) that I would get them a puppy of their own. One day Drummer brought home a pit bull puppy, that didn't go over. Buster was a TINY baby and they lived in an apt. That just wasn't going to work. I reminded them when they got a house I would make it happen for them. Well you know they moved home early this year. I think the day after they got here Princess said Mana(Nana) are you going to get me a puppy? I said when you get a house I will. They got a house and got permission. They have a fenced yard and are in a position to be able to vet a pet. So I contacted my cousin who is a breeder. She had ONE tiny girl left and wanted to keep her. I said no problem we will just wait for the next liter. Not a problem. Well she decided that she would let her go for me. We made all the arrangements and I went with Rescue Rita to get the baby. I was amazed at how little she is. I got Scout at 12 weeks. This baby girl is 8 weeks. She is so TINY!

Introducing Princess Bella

She chewed on me for a while, had a snack and a drink and fell asleep. I gave her a drink out of a water bottle lid. :)

Meeting her new daddy. He loves her even if she isn't a pit bull.

Me giving Princess her new puppy.

Daddy showing Buster.

Dinner IN the bowl

Always ready to muck it up for the camera.

Just admiring her. She is totally in love!

Potty break. She didn't like the grass.
Tonight DIL and the kids came over and brought Bella. She needed to be introduced to Scout and Bolt since I'm sure we will all be spending time together. Yesterday when I got home Scout smelled me all over. Since I had Bella in my shirt Scout had her whole head down my shirt sniffing and pushing with her nose trying to find where the interloper was. It was so funny!

Bella and Scout. Scout isn't a little Chihuahua but she is a small dog, that's how tiny Bella is. Scout smelled her all over and Bella chewed on Scouts feet and was trying to play. She tried to pounce at Bolt and he flew backwards! We laughed so hard.

Trying to eat Scouts tags.

The girls.

Such a happy little girl. She almost broke my heart though. She asked me if I was going to take Bella back. I said NO! Then she relaxed. I think she thought her mama was bringing them here to bring the puppy back to me. She is totally head over heels in love with that dog. She holds her like a baby and is very gentle and soft with her.

A nap attack after playing with the other dogs.

Then mama was tired so they had to go home. Princess put Bella in her purse and carried her out. So very cute!

Today is Monkey's birthday. He is 7. I'm shocked! I can't believe it's been 7 years. He and Bugs are still at the farm. I know Grandma and Grandpa had a little party for him tonight. He asked for Pizza. PIZZA? That child has never asked for pizza in his life! He doesn't DO cheese. What a goofball. We called and sang to him today. Talking to him on the phone is like trying to nail jello to a tree. He doesn't want to miss whats going on where he is to chit chat on the phone. I miss them.

Peace

Don't be a troll

2011-06-27T20:54:00.000-07:00

I'm having a little bit of trouble with processing all I saw and being gone. Every post I write in my head is about my trip. My life seems a tad boring after that.
My parents came this weekend for a surprise birthday. The Little's went to Drummer's house on Friday night to have a tiny sleepover with Princess. Since they were gone on Saturday for a while Mom and I decided to take a quick look for the Fremont Troll. I've thought about it but never actually gone. Note to self..... "take the TomTom cord", just saying. After much searching and question asking and finally a call to Drummer and his computer. We found it!

Mom and Troll

Mom and I.

Thankful Thursday

2011-06-23T23:27:00.001-07:00

Peace

Re-entry

2011-06-21T23:03:00.000-07:00

Well re-entry has been accomplished.
I haven't even started on my pictures yet. However I have unpacked! The suitcase is still sitting at the end of the hall but everything is out of it.
While I was gone the guys did a great job of keeping up on everything. I did clean our bathroom on Sunday. Dh piped up with " Are you practicing?" HA HA NOT! However I did hit the ground running on Monday morning.
I now have no fingernails. One broke off the first hour so that night I filed them all off. I just won't ever have pretty hands. They are working hands. I can still have pretty toes though.
I'm everyone's favorite person this week. I was missed!
What has been the weirdest thing is driving by myself! If I see something dead it's hard to just pass it buy without trying to figure out what it is or gasping and gagging. I need my auntie as my co-pilot. I don't know if I got on her nerves but I know she didn't get on mine. We laughed so hard so much our stomach's hurt. We didn't even have a cross word. Well I guess what would we have fussed at, we had no one but each other and we came and went and ate all as we pleased. I'm still processing it all. Where I was today asked about our trip. She seemed to think we did it in a covered wagon. I just stared at her for a moment and then tried to not bust out laughing. Uh no, we were in an air conditioned car. With our ice chest and snacks. I am not sure where she got that idea. I've also been asked if it was an organized tour. Nope, just my Auntie and her handy dandy Yahoo Maps and a knowledge and a love of the books. THANK YOU Auntie for all your hard work. If anyone every wants to do what we did, ask her for our notebook, it's in there!
Peace

Happy Father's Day!

2011-06-19T22:07:00.001-07:00

Happy Father's Day to all the daddy's out there. I love my dad and wish we could have been together. They will be over next weekend and that will be good.
T2 planned his dad's day today and he did a great job. Since I got in so late last night we all slept in today. I made bacon and eggs breakfast for everyone and puttered around. Dh read his paper in leisure and then napped in the chair. Drummer and his family came for pizza dinner that T2 got and cooked. It was a nice slow paced day. Dh said he had a great day. That's what counts.
Tonight I put 4 finger's behind my back. I told Monkey to pick a number between 1 - 10. He picked 5, then I asked Bug's to pick, he picked 9. Monkey won. What he won was the first trip into the shower. He was MAD! He didn't want to go first. He wanted to do rock paper scissors. I said No, you need to just go get in the shower. He went to the bathroom and shut the door. We both thought he was in the tub. NOPE! He was in there FUMING! He hollered at me through the door. I couldn't hear him so I went in and when he was still standing there dressed I said WHAT?? He said.... I don't want to do it your way. I don't like that you made me pick a number. I want to do it my way and I don't want to take a shower first. I stopped him and said GET IN THE SHOWER NOW! I left. He was crying that I hurt his feelings.
Dh went in to hurry the process along. He asked his dad if he would talk to me about not being respectful. Dh tried to tell him his job was just to obey and if he did that then he was being respectful and then I would be respectful and all would just be lovely. Well that did not go over well. Dh left to come giggle to me in the kitchen and then he went back to the bath to check on Monkey to make sure he was using soap and all that stuff. Monkey asked his dad if he had talked to me about being respectful yet. Dh came out just laughing. He said Honey it's really hard to take a kid serious that is talking to you wearing blue goggles in the bathtub! So that ends our day. :)
I hope you have a blessed week.
Peace

The party is over

2011-06-17T18:07:00.000-07:00

Today is my last day of my trip. I have to go home tomorrow. I miss my guys madly! I can't wait to squeeze and kiss them. BUT... I don't want to necessarily leave. It's a dilemma eh? My auntie has the best window in her office. It's like a picture that is ever changing. She has 2 feeders that make it a very busy window. I could sit and watch the birds for HOURS!

This is a Cardinal.

A Blue Jay

We went to the cemetery today so I could put flowers on my grandma's grave. I miss her every day and I know she would have LOVED the trip Daisy and I were just on.

Grandma and Aidan. Fresh flowers.

Then since Auntie and I had such a good time letter boxing on our trip. She and I hid one today. I couldn't find a craft store to save our lives so I just gave up my stamp and used it in the box. I It was a lot of fun to figure it out.

It's in there!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Peace

Last day Memphis pictures

2011-06-16T19:39:00.000-07:00

I think Auntie and I are just about caught up on our sleep. We have both been really tired.
Here is some pictures from our last day of travel.

Beale St.

Where Elvis recorded.

This hospital was amazingly large!

Lisa Marie's airplane

Graceland

The grave's from the fence line.

Auntie and Me with our names.

For Anita....

Auntie at the gates.

The deer we saw on the way home.

Peace

Laura Day 16

2011-06-14T22:41:00.000-07:00

We stayed in West Memphis Arkansas last night.
We got up and hit the road this morning. We knew this would be our last day on the road. I have never been to Memphis Tn. The last time we were all here there just wasn't time to go. I know my Dh would LOVE to see Graceland so I wouldn't go without him but we did want to go BY it. Daisy had a few sites she wanted me to see. I will post pictures tomorrow. So in Memphis we went to Beale street. We saw the Peabody Hotel. Then we drove around to see the St. Jude Children's Hospital. It is MASSIVE! They do such wonderful things there. Then we set the TomTom on Graceland and drove to it. When we got out of the car it was like stepping into an oven. We walked the rock/brick wall at Graceland and I wrote mine and Dh's names on it for him. Then we sweated our way back across the street and wondered around a bit and then had an ice cream to cool off. It was really an excuse to sit where there was AC. We took a few more pictures then we hit the road. We still had 300 miles to go.
We crossed into Mississippi. I don't think I've ever been to Mississippi before either. I have to check but I think that made 13 states. It was a beautiful drive home.
Daisy said we wouldn't be seeing any more armadillo's. She was wrong. Not many but some. Of course they were dead.
We saw a dead deer.
We saw several dead raccoons again.
And a dead snake.
BUT the highlight of our day - we saw 2 LIVE deer! Only the 2ND and 3rd of our trip.
Auntie saw a live raccoon.
As we were driving along on the only night we drove after dark, I kept seeing what I thought were animal eyes on the edge of the road. They weren't! They were lightning bugs! So cool! Right up until one smashed on my windshield but still was glowing for a long time! Glowing guts! Nice eh?
Tomorrow I will do some pictures.
Peace

Laura Day 15

2011-06-13T21:25:00.000-07:00

Today was part 2 of Mansfield Missouri.
We left at our usual early 11:00. We went back to the museum because we were told the lady that was there today was a women who actually knew Laura. We were so excited to meet her. Daisy and I both had her sign a book for us. We had books signed at every stop except the Blind School. She was a very sweet lady that took the time to talk to us. Everyone has ooo'd and aaahhh'd over Daisy's first addition books. I love them! Her aunt gave both her and my Mom a love of reading that has lasted lifetimes! I know that love has been passed on to me and to my boys. OK off track there.

Outside of the museum.

Then we stopped and picked some wild flowers and went to the cemetery. They are well marked and easy to find.

Rose Wilder Lane - their daughter.

The back side of her stone.

Laura and Almanzo

The view from their stone. A beautiful view of the Ozarks that they loved.

The memorial society has worked hard and has gotten back most of the land of Rocky Ridge. They love the stories of Laura and it shows in the love of what they do.

I feel sorry for the kid that has to learn to spell that in kindergarten.

I had one last letterbox to find and it is at the cemetery. I had no trouble with this one and it was there.

tools of the trade.

Arkansas. Love the shale rock.

Ava MO is not kind to kitties!

4 dead cats. One of which appeared to be waving at cars as they drove by.

2 coyotes

1 very large deer.

Several opossums

2 turtles

And you would not believe that amount of armadillo's! Man those things are plentiful!

And again just guts!

Tomorrow I think we will be back at Aunties. Unless something catches our eye. Shiny object!

Peace

Laura Day 14

2011-06-12T21:01:00.000-07:00

Daisy and I had been thinking that Mansfield would take 2 days. This morning we decided that we were going to stay put for another night. That took a lot of pressure off the day. So we moved at a slower pace today.
We had a letterbox to find in the city park. When we found it, it was in plain site and most of it was gone. Only the stamp was left. I didn't have extra stuff to re-stock the box. I feel bad but re-hid it better and sent an email off to the Placer when we got back to our room.

The wagon wheel stamp.

It was in a city park and had a beautiful outdoor stage.

Daisy putting on a show for me.

Singing in the rain!

Then we went out to Laura and Almanzo's last home. It is just as they left it. You can't take pictures in there. The museum is a really nice museum. Pa's fiddle is there and is just beautiful! The house was built room by room so it has a very eclectic feel to it. I love that they were so happy there.

The outside and front porch.

The other end

Somewhere around the homestead there is another letterbox. It was cool! We are 2 for 2 so far here. I'm pumped!
The second half of the tour is the Rock House that Rose had built for them. They hated it. When she moved away they moved back to THEIR home. It's a beautiful home and I could totally live there! I would even let people come look at it.

It is made from the rocks from the area.

For my Bugs!

Isn't she beautiful?

The side of the house.

The front of the house. Those french doors open out to over the valley. It's a beautiful home and view!

The bust of Laura in the city park.

We are going to have to start getting the tails!
Tomorrow we are going to finish up here and then start the trek home.

Peace

Laura Day 13

2011-06-11T21:32:00.000-07:00

Good morning Missouri!
Daisy and I had a good night! We were awakened pretty early by thunder and rain but we both went back to sleep with no problems. We got up had our breakfast and then had to kill a few hours before we got to go visit Daisy's Aunt who lives in Springfield. She lives a beautiful place. It was like a fancy hotel. We had a good visit.
I had never been to Branson Missouri and since it was only about 35 miles away, we headed out. The Ozarks are beautiful! I wouldn't call them mountains but beautiful nonetheless. Branson looked like a fun place. Several big theatre's are closed or for sale. There seemed to be
lots for families to do. Theme park type places and water parks. It was very crowded and had lots of people/cars. We drove up the strip and then headed back down and stopped at a toy museum. It was so interesting! So many things from my childhood. I wish I could go back and save them all. I think my sister has my dolls. I wish I had my parents toys. I bet so do they!

Here is one of the pictures that wouldn't load last night. The little house on the Prairie. It's a replica but taken from her book and historians. It has stood there for a long time. They think it's on the original site, but aren't positive. It is VERY well done.

Entering to Branson.

King Kong is one of the first things we saw. We had to pull over to take his picture. And laugh.

We went up to an overlook. A lady took our picture. It's Branson and the Ozarks behind us.

It really was so beautiful!

In the Toy Museum. I think my Uncle has some of these.

Shelves after shelves of toy guns.

The fishing room. My Dh would have loved this and I'm sure we have LOTS of these.

Chatty Cathy Dolls. I know I had one of these! Where is it Mom???

For my Mama. She loves this channel.

Then we headed on to Mansfield. This will be our last "Laura" stop. She and Almanzo lived out their lives there. We are in the small town of Ava Missouri. It feels like Deliverance Country. I think we got the last room in the county! Who would have thought there would be a Missouri Fox Trotter's horse show just up the road! We are thankful for a clean room and hot water. We are tired and ready for a quiet night.

Animal count...

7 dead turtles

9 dead armadillo's

3 squirrels

14 pieces of fluff and stuff

1 pretty much just guts!

It was a VERY bad night for tires. I'm not sure I remember ever seeing so many pieces of tires on a section of a highway. Amazing. Plus pick your crap up people!

We passed a sign to watch for Amish wagon's on the road and they have wide shoulder's on the highway again. So we were looking and saw a wagon turn off in front of us but it was up and over the side before we could get a picture. But we turned off and saw lots of wagon tracks on the road. We have seem Amish or Mennonites all over the country. It has been neat.

Tomorrow back to Laura's!

Peace

Laura Day 12

2011-06-10T21:40:00.000-07:00

Blogger is being a pill.
Today has been an emotional roller coaster.
Little House on the Prairie is wonderful! They are trying very hard to get it all together in a realistic way. They didn't know what was where but worked very hard to find the original place. They have. It was on a person's farm. They found the hand dug well that Pa dug. They found the corner of one of the foundations. They built a replica of the cabin using Laura's book and historians as guides. It is beautiful. They have 2 other old buildings from the same time frame. We stood and talked to the owner for a long time. She really has embraced the history and has a passion to have it be a great place.
My pictures will not load of The Little House. I will try another time.
We found the grave of Dr. Tann. The black doctor who helped save the Ingalls family when they were struck with Malaria. We also found the grave of the person they believe to be Mr. Edwards. We were on such a high then as we were driving out of the cemetery we saw a headstone with pictures engraved on them. As I was reading Auntie realized all 4 of them died on the same day! It was a family. Mom/Dad and 2 children. It was gut retching! It was just a shocking feeling.
We did see LIVE squirrels.
A HUGE snapping turtle - on the highway though so not a lot of hope for his tomorrows.
Dead raccoons. We decided we should have started stopping and collecting the tails of the raccoons. We could have made a fortune for coonskin caps. The smell might have gotten the worst of us though. And we still probably wouldn't be out of Wisconsin by now.
On our way from Kansas to Missouri. Our route took us through Joplin Missouri. The town that was hit with a devastating tornado on May 22, 2011.
When we first got to town we saw flower pots hanging from street posts and everything looking just normal. We both thought Wow, we thought it was suppose to have been hit hard, things look just fine. As the highway went through town we came around a corner and saw it! We both gasped! It was like a bomb. Some streets are still closed because of debris. Whole blocks of homes - gone. Tree's stripped of leaves. We both had tears and shaking voices. I turned trying to get out of it and we ended up right where the worst of it was. These few pictures do not give it credit.

The high school. When we drove closer you could still see kid's things hanging on the walls.

I think brick would have given me a false sense of security.

The leaves just gone.

It's all just gone.

It's kind of a sad day to end our day but we both are still feeling the shock. Tomorrow will be better and I will try to get the Little house pictures up.

Peace

Laura Day 11

2011-06-09T20:18:00.000-07:00

Auntie Daisy had a very bad time sleeping last night. Soooo she was up very early trying to be very quiet. You know when you try to be quiet you aren't. Besides we are sharing a room. So we were both up long before we were ready or wanting to be. BUT we got on the road for a very long day of driving. We knew this day would be long and it proved us right. Kansas is a big state! So we get on the road and we are both not really awake and Daisy promptly falls asleep! Nice. It was OK. She needed the nap. She slept good for an hour. Then we needed gas. The gas station I stopped at had a car wash. Since you could hardly tell the color of our car and I'm short and the middle of the window was not getting bug free we went through the car wash. It looked so good, for about 4 minutes. We got back on the highway and I got up to speed and SPLAT! A ginormous bug on my windshield! I think the best state so far for the least amount of bugs was Nebraska. I might have been we weren't there long but they didn't seem as bad there.

Amber waves of grain..... Daisy sang to me as I drove along. There is a sign that we have seen several times that says a Kansas farmer feeds 125 people plus you! I can believe it.

The ranching side of Kansas.

We stopped along the road to take some pictures of prairie flowers and Daisy is bent over trying to get a close up and all of a sudden I heard her squeal and jump back. I thought UH OH a snake! Nope! A tiny baby bunny. She wanted to bring him home with us. All I saw was fleas and ticks and rabies!

Here is little Thumper. He is very tiny. He would have easily fit in the palm of one hand. We never saw his mama. Auntie is pretty sure she is gone and Thumper WANTED to come with us.

Prairie Flowers. So beautiful!

This is one of several different ones we have seen. This was really cool. BUT I have one beef, HAHAHA pun intended! On this trip we have seen SO MANY statues of fake animals in people's yards and fields. I have been so tickled at the fake animals. I mean fake cows in the pasture of a farm. Cracks me up.

Animal count update...

1 dead dear who was making a question mark with his leg.

BAD nights for raccoons again.

2 dead foxes

1 VERY large VERY dead beaver.

4 smashed flat armadillo's

3 feathered somethings. 1 of which was VERY large. I think it was a vulture.

7 leathery looking things with small patches of fuzz.

Do you remember that scene in Dumbo where the vultures are sitting on the branch of the tree talking? We saw that scene today only on a fence. Kind of gross. Vulture's are a very ugly bird!

We are in Independence Kansas. Tomorrow we are going to The Little House on the Prairie. There is also 2 cemeteries we want to go to. Then it's on to Missouri.

Peace

Laura Day 10

2011-06-08T19:02:00.000-07:00

Today was one of the only days that we had a little of a time table. Auntie and her friend were trying to meet up. So we set the time and we were off. It felt good to be out of South Dakota and it was about 15' cooler. That was great!

Daisy has several less then great pictures of me so I'm putting this one out there. She didn't think I would take it. We were sitting across from each other the other night and we were talking and I suddenly realized that I was looking into my Mom's eyes too. I didn't realize how much they have the same eyes. It was a wonderful jolt!

Auntie and her friend. S.P. They were off to see Mt. Rushmore. We had talked about it but it was just far West for us to do it. I hope they have a wonderful time.

Historical marker along the Kansas highway.

I bet you didn't know you could drive to Norway from the States. It's about 6 miles off the highway we were on. It was a very cute, sweet little town.

Norway Kansas

This little guy was sitting along side the highway as we were coming back from Norway. We both wanted to scoop him up but since we aren't prepared to travel with a cat and we were afraid it was a she with kittens OR if we approached it it would dart into the road. I made myself drive on. There was several houses back up the way and he seemed OK enough.

We saw a live pheasant. A beautiful rooster in the tall grass along the road.

1 dead deer

It was a VERY bad night for raccoons. shudder!

1 really dead tire.

Peace

Laura Day 9

2011-06-07T20:27:00.000-07:00

Up and on the go this morning by 10:30. We only had 2 real goals today. Go to Manchester S.D. and to get OUT of South. Dakota. We are 2 for 2! It was just so hot yesterday we both are a bit tired of the heat. It just sucked everything out of us.
This town Manchester was totally destroyed by a tornado in 2003. It is the town Grace Ingalls Dow lived in with her husband. It is down the way from Desmet. My Aunt and Uncle used to live in a town Manchester in Tennessee. So we were interested in it for both reason's. It was very surreal standing there. People were badly hurt but no one was killed. The town was mostly dead so they didn't rebuild. It was sad.

The empty town site.

The story

The memorial flag at the spot.

The pump still is there.

Then since we were there I went back to the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum because we had a question about the school they have there. It is the original school that Laura and Carrie went to. But on the little map there is a spot that says original school. So I wanted it clarified. The school they have now IS the original school, it was on site A. It was moved to site B and used as a house for 100 years. THEN it was bought/moved to the museum site where it is now. I wasn't clear yesterday and we had questions, now it's all good and clear for us. I was to tired to post pictures yesterday. The school house has layers of wallpaper in it. When they started peeling it off they found blackboard. Some of it has drawings on it! AMAZING.

We are in Norfolk Nebraska. We are meeting Auntie's friend tomorrow somewhere. We have a few just travel days ahead of us. Nebraska and Kansas seem sort of bleak on the map. We are hoping it's a tad cooler. It was only in the low 90's today. That actually helped.

Animal count update

3 more dead deer. One had such an awful unnatural angle to it's neck, that couldn't have been good.

3 more black and white smelly kitties.

1 raccoon that was VERY bloated and had 4 stiff legs sticking straight up! Just like the other deer. Think Macy's Day Parade balloon. I wish everyone could hear the squeals and OOOH ISH'S that happen every time we see something icky.

765 1/2 dead furry things.

49 dead feathered things.

Peace

Laura Day 8

2011-06-06T21:18:00.000-07:00

HOT HOT HOT is the word for today.
I don't want to complain but we thought it would be a tad cooler here. It was 100'. We both have red faces and shoulders.
Today we went to the last house Ma and Pa lived in. The replica of the Brewster school. The original school that Laura and Carrie went to. It has been moved though and they are working on restoring it. We also were in the Surveyor's house that they lived on The Shores of Silver Lake but it has also been moved into town. We had a sweet little girl Amber giving our tour of all that. Then we went off on our own and saw the Boast's house with the hitching post still in the front. The original school that is now a house. We went to Silver Lake. We also went to Laura and Almanzo's claim site and then saw the Tree Claim spot with just a few trees left. Then we went to the cemetery. Everyone but Laura and Almanzo are buried here. I found a letterbox hidden at the cemetery. It was a nice one too. Tomorrow we are going to Manchester S. D. and then moving South. It will be mostly a travel day.
Adding on to the animal list
LIVE beaver's - 5 in a row.
Dead duck-billed platypus
Dead porcupine.
Thats all for now.
Peace

Laura Day 7

2011-06-05T19:48:00.000-07:00

Daisy and I slept very late this morning. We were pushed to check out on time. It was a good thing we weren't going far. We were going about 30 miles up the road.
State count update...
Tennessee
Kentucky
Missouri
Illinois
Iowa
Minnesota
Wisconsin
Minnesota
South Dakota

We thought we were taking today off but it didn't work out that way. We only traveled about 30 miles though and did one stop. It was a long stop but an easy one. We were at the homestead site in Desmet S.D. I took a lot of pictures and there is lots to see. It's all replica's of the time but it is a beautiful 160 acre farm. Everyone was so nice. We made a corncob doll and I made a rope for my boys. It was a very relaxing day.

We got here around noon and didn't leave until about 5

Daisy in the mud house. We decided we wouldn't like it.

A baby kitty in the barn. I wanted to stuff her in my purse.

This lady knew her stuff! She was very sweet.

Pet and Pat

A baby mini. 5 weeks old

Can you solve this riddle? It was on the blackboard in the school.

The 5 cottonwood trees Pa planted for his girls are still there.

The monument to the Ingalls/Wilder families

Done for the day. We are staying in the area tomorrow. We have barely begun to see all there is here.

We saw so many dead fur stuff on the road here. I have totally lost count. However I have added some new species to the list.

A not quite dead flopping bird the car in front of us hit.

2 smelly dead skunks!

Off to bed.

Peace

Laura day 6

2011-06-04T22:12:00.000-07:00

On the shores of Plum Creek/Walnut Grove.
Daisy and I had a hard time going to bed last night so we slept in later today. House keeping was in a fired up hurry to clean our room. Then as a crowning touch to our morning we had no hot water. So we got off on a sketchy start in Minnesota as it was. We reached the museum in Walnut Grove. It was an OK museum but not our favorite so far. It has very little that was actually Laura's. It just has a lot of period pieces. Not much personal things. It is mostly about the TV show. Which in its self wasn't a bad show, just wasn't the story of the books. So that wasn't our favorite place. Then we headed out to the site for the dugout on the shores of Plum Creek. It was beautiful! It looked just like Laura described in her book! It might be better at a different time of year but I don't know when. It was soooooo awful with the gnats! They were swarming us! I kept trying to swish them off of Auntie and she kept swishing them off of me. I was afraid to talk. I just knew I would inhale a swarm. IT WAS SO GROSS! Auntie got the worst of them. I will not miss Minnesota because of the gnats. HORRID!

The Museum

Auntie in the wagon. We were glad to have our air conditioned gnat free car!

This place was just beautiful!

We could just imagine Laura and Mary playing here.

To bad about the bugs! It was really a beautiful place.

We looked for 3 different letterboxes today and got skunked all 3 times. I don't know if it was us or if they were missing.

Our animal count is rising.

5 more dead dear. One of which I mean DEAD! Think of the way someone play acts and "dies" with all 4 feet straight up stiff in the air... EXACTLY how one looked. GROSS!

1487 dead fur somethings.

1 fly raccoon

1 couch cushion

Tomorrow we are just going to go up the road a ways to a better motel and then take a day off. We need a little break. We have been moving pretty steady and covering a lot of territory. We are hoping that S. Dakota is a little cooler and a lot more gnat free.

Peace

Laura Day 5

2011-06-03T22:09:00.001-07:00

Daisy and I were up and on the ball this morning. We were both very excited! We were headed to where it all began. The Little house in the big woods. It's about 7 miles out of the town of Pepin. We were off!

The plaque outside the house.

The little house in the big woods.
It's not very woodsy anymore but you can look out the window's and imagine how it must have looked a very long time ago. The little house is a replica on the original spot. It is such a sweet little home. The house is very tiny. They just lived so simply. The house is a tiny 3 rooms and a loft.

We found the Letterbox we were looking for there. The stamp is hand carved and is so sweet! We were pretty pumped to find it.

One end of the little house.

The other end.

There was another letterbox we wanted to find. It was another direction out of town about 8 miles. It was called the Plum School. It had nothing to do with Laura Ingalls Wilder but sounded very interesting. When we got there Daisy said Oh Nikki this is just like the school your Mom and I went to! It was so sweet!

The letterbox stamp.

My Daisy reading from a primer on the desk. It was a very sweet place. It's hard to imagine so many kids in a one room school house.

It even had a bell tower with a bell and we rang it!

Then we went to Durand Wis. which was the county seat at the time of the Big Woods and Pa had to go there to do business regarding the land. It was a sweet town except the sign in front told a story about a man who murdered 2 lawmen and was lynched right in front of the courthouse! Just drug out and hung from a tree.

Old Durand court house.

Us on the shore of Lake Pepin. We stopped at Lake City. Which is where the Ingalls crossed when they headed West.

We then headed South towards South Troy. It is where Charles and Caroline's son "Freddy" died and is buried. His grave was unmarked and they don't know where it is. Just that it is in the area. They were visiting Charles brother there when he died. He had never been a well baby.

This is just a little marker along side the road. We are by far not the first people that have taken on this journey.

This afternoon while we were driving I looked over and there was a little bug on my aunts neck, I picked it off and said is this a tick? YES! Squish! Only my aunt in one little walk around a school house would get a tick. We have and will spray tomorrow.

Now we are headed on to Walnut Grove.

Peace

Laura Day 4

2011-06-02T21:28:00.000-07:00

Miss Daisy and I got up and got on the road shortly after 10. Our first goal was Burr Oak Iowa.
Laura and her family lived here for about 18 months. Laura didn't write about here because it was a bad/sad time for the family. Her brother had died and the locust had eaten the crops the year before. So there is history about the time but she didn't write a book about it.
The museum is the only building of Laura's that is the original building on the original sight. It's very tiny but 3 floors. The kitchen and the room where her whole family slept is in the basement. The main floor had the parlor, and the front room and 2 bedrooms. The upstairs has 3 bedrooms and a landing area where someone could sleep. They have some original things and some are just period pieces that have been donated to them.

The Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum - Burr Oak Minn.

The entire collection of Ashton Drake dolls - The Ingalls family plus Nellie and Almanzo
I want to write it so I don't forget it. Almanzo was only 5'2" and Laura was 4'11". They were tiny people!

Original letters Laura wrote to school children.

Her books are in MANY languages. She is loved all over the world.

Bank front now the gift shop and start of the Museum tour. We had our own private tour and tour guide. It was VERY interesting and she was very sweet and was as excited about our trip as we are.

After the tour we went and looked around the cemetery. Laura played in this cemetery and there are several pictures of headstones from that time.

This is one of them that Laura would have seen.

I had clues to a letterbox that was suppose to be hidden here but could not for love nor money find it. Better luck next time.
I have been to Iowa as a kid, I didn't realize then how pretty it really is. We passed some beautiful farms. There was several signs for Amish buggies. We saw several but no Amish.

Iowa barn quilt

Dinner on the Upper Mississippi River. A barge pushing stuff up the river.

Crossing into Wisconsin. Tomorrow we tour The Little House in the Big Woods.

Peace