August Already!

Where's Waldo (Doug)?

Life is just peachy for Julia. Sara said they have

picked 200 peaches so far!

Garden on August 11th

Second fruits of the harvest :-)

Blooming beds....

Too bad the theme for Thanksmas

isn't the letter "p"

Laura, Susie, Sara, Julia, RJ, and Johnny

The "gang" of family members at the Cleveland

Guardians baseball game. Donna treated everyone. 

Sister Judy is wearing an Indians shirt

with "Feller" on the back. Bob Feller pitched

for Cleveland from 1936 to 1956.

and even had Chris's birthday on the big screen!

There was lots of food, and, of course, cake.

After the game (Cleveland lost), 

the kids were allowed to run around the bases!

Julia's batting "lefty" here with RJ and Ian

She must be a switch-hitter--she's batting right-handed

in the family pic: Doug, Julia, RJ, and Sara

I asked Donna why there was no 

full-length mirror in the condo,

so, of course she had Doug put up

the mirror squares!

Back to school: Matthew, Junior; Luke, grade 5;

George, troublemaker; Grace, Freshman;

Mary Kate, preschool.

Selfie group at Iowa State. Tom, Annika,

Caiden, Jett (and friend), Trina 

Jett's dorm room looks bigger than his bedroom at home!

Caiden...looks like he's on a roof?..

Yes, Trina said. The roof of a parking 

garage taking Senior pictures!!!

He is our next high school graduate. :-)

Last Music in the Park...hamburger picnic

and "Simon and Garfunkel" singing

a variety of songs on Wednesday night.

On Saturday, the 23rd, Bob decided that we should

take our pickup camper to Jimmy who needed

an extra bed for another hired man.  So, we went

to church in Rugby on Saturday, then to

the Eagles for the Meatball Supper. We left 

at 7:00 a.m. on Sunday, and I followed him, 

again, in another pickup. 

Bob had spent the last couple weeks working on our

old Fix Or Repair Daily pickup, so we could

put the camper on it to take to Jimmy's.

En route, he stopped to check for an oil leak.

Jimmy and Bob at Jim's Bin site, discussing

the condition of the old pickup (among other things).

Jimmy has all his machinery marked!

We stopped at Jimmy and Kelly's farm 

to see the kids, and then headed to Medora

for the pitchfork steak fondue and Musical.

When all the kids in the audience went 

on stage, the cast taught them to sing,

"This Little Light of Mine".

And of course, part of the show was,

"Coming Home to Medora".  A lot of new

songs for the 60th year anniversary,

and new dances, too.

After breakfast at the Cowboy Café on Sunday,

 we headed home but first stopped

at the Painted Canyon, a part of Theodore 

Roosevelt National Park. Then we drove to one 

of Jimmy's fields and helped move two semis

across a field. I drove the pickup and got stuck,

but put it in 4-wheel-drive and got out. 

From there we went to the DQ in Killdeer

for lunch and then went through 

the mountains to get to Highway 2.

En route to the farm, we stopped 

in Minot at Schatz's truck stop to eat.

Finally got home around 9 p.m.

Caiden and Annika are back to school

at Alburnett high school.

Ariana is a senior at Loras College.

She plans to graduate in December!

 

 

 

Going Fourth in July

Uncle Sam was in the Rugby

4th of July parade!

I think he headed here for

lunch afterwards!

We went up to Lake Metigoshe to our camper

after the Rugby event, and this awesome

fireworks show was just below

the parking lot at Twin Oaks.

On Saturday, the 5th, Diane played pickleball

with some of our local club members.

Later, we went to Steve and Barb's cabin

for a picnic and 70th birthday party for Bob's brother.

My flag cheesecake was a big hit!  It was gone

before we left for the water ski show at 6:30.

We went back to Steve's for a bonfire

and birthday cake!  Steve and Barb's kids 

were all there and all seven grandkids, along

with Bob and Steve's sister Kathy, Barb's sister

Diane, and their former hired man Dan

from South Africa, who is working for 

Maureen's brother-in-law in Watford City.

Weeded and watered the garden this morning.

Corn was knee-high by the 4th of July.

The garden is green because it gets watered.

The color of our grass shows you how dry it is here!

Wow! Sara's kids making one big noodle. :-)

Music in the park Wednesday night.

Ron Vossler told stories using German phrases

that were popular in his parents' and 

grandparents' generations. He said the phrase

in German and then explained what they

meant, and some of the misunderstood meanings.

Ana and the girls arrived for the Germans from Russia

convention on Thursday, the 17th. Jimmy, Kelly, 

and kids came on Friday.

We celebrated early for Grace and Bob's birthdays.

The kids enjoyed the hot tub.

Mary Kate and George played in the kiddie pool.

The water slide was a favorite, even though

the kids got scrapes and ruined swimwear!

George and George met at Scheels while we were shopping.

The kids had fun at the dance on Saturday night

doing the two-step, waltz, and polka!

                                                And even got to do a "modern" teen favorite

called "The Church Clap," 

thanks to one of the dads who had music

on his phone. Mary Kate (age 5) and Brother 

Placid (age 88) were learning. I am still 

trying to get this video straight.  Might take

a few days. 

Thursday, July 24th,  Cody, and his hired

men from South Africa Marnis, and Lewie,

helped Bob load up our dining room furniture

and the piano to take to Iowa for Trina.

My mother did the needlepoint backs for the chairs.

It took her three years, but she quit smoking!

 

They are from tapestries at the Cluny Museum in Paris.

Theme is "The Lady and the Unicorn: the five senses

and whatever your heart desires (King's chair)

The table opens up to 108", the same

length as the church pew which came

from our parish when we got new pews in 1995.

Mother and Daddy bought the dining room set

from Aunt Vicky Otto in 1939 for $75.

Aunt Vic wanted something more modern! 

The set has been in our house on the farm

since 1974 when Mother moved out of the house

on Lake Avenue into an apartment.

Mother's piano arrived in the same Allied Van Lines truck

along with her living room chairs and two bedroom sets.

Aunt Ida flew up with my mother to meet the truck!

I drove the Mustang and followed Bob down the road.

We made it as far as Wahpeton, ND,  on the 24th

where Bob and Jimmy went to school.

The Five Seasons ski team theme was

The Wizard of Oz. Tom was the emcee,

Jett, Caiden, and Annika were part

of this 4-tier pyramid and other events.

The meet was supposed to be in Albert Lea,

MN, where we had hotel reservations,

but due to poor water conditions it

was held in Waseca, MN. 

Tom was the Wizard trying to get back to Iowa! LOL

After the show, we drove back to Albert Lea,

then Bob drove the pickup pulling the U-Haul

and I rode with Trina in the Mustang 

back to their home in Iowa. Since the boys were

still at the ski show, Trina had some friends come

to unload the truck.

Bye-bye Mustang...some time soon, Doug

is coming to pick it up and drive it to Virginia.

Trina and Bob with Oaklyn, Annika's Labradoodle

Anni and Oaklyn

Found 150 pea pods in the garden

when we got home!

And picked enough lettuce and tomatoes for a salad.