Family wedding

I see it's been a few months since I updated my blog again. *sigh* I think it's a lost cause trying to keep it up anymore. I get busy doing other things, and don't remember to come write in it any more. LOL Thought I'd make a quick post with a couple photos I took at my brothers wedding this last weekend though. This first one is my adorable young niece (great niece). She was having FUN running back and forth playing.

I've been busy, busy lately, getting ready for the wedding. My niece and I threw them a wedding shower the night before the wedding...and getting ready for that was keeping my busy, along with cleaning the house in case any of the relatives came over while they were here. I tell ya, I was so thankful when it was all over...we were totally lazy the day after, once our company left! LOL Did nothing at all. Not sure how I had to prepare for a wedding two years in a row...but I'm so done with weddings! ROFL


This is my new Sister-In-Law!!! She seems really nice, although I haven't been able to get to know her as well as I'd have liked to. Hopefully I can as time goes on.

It was great to see those who came to the wedding.  It was just a small country wedding, at the same church hubby and I got married at, but love small country weddings.  ;-))

Looking forward to seeing all the photos from the official photographer, cause I've seen 4 and they are SOO much better than mine are.  LOL  I'm rusty....not to mention not as good at taking people photos, so am glad my brother listened to me and got this lady to do them, instead of insisting I did them like he asked me to at first.  I will admit, my inside photos turned out better than usual...but still, she came up with better ideas for photos than I would have...not to mention them looking better.  She even got my brother to SMILE!  That's unheard of in photos!  LOL

Now...I have to get ready for hubbies knee replacement surgery next month...so can't rest to long. I want to get some meals into the freezer, so when we get back I don't have to cook much right away. After his back surgery, it took me a little while to not be sleepy all the time, from the stress at the hospital, not to mention I'll have thanksgiving coming up that I will need to cook for...so would rather put my energy...what little I have...into that.

Prayers for rapid healing from his surgery would be appreciated!

The Personal Touch

I've known for a while now, that when it's my parents time to go, they wanted a super simple ceremony, with a homemade casket and the personal touch of us getting them ready for burial. I have to admit, I've been somewhat on the fence about that, mostly cause I wasn't sure I could handle the hands on part. Now I know I can...although for me it will be harder with my parents of course, since I'm closer to them.


While I love the old fashioned ways for the most part...doing an old fashioned funeral was never on my list things I wanted to do.  You know...where you use a homemade casket...and the women get the body ready for burial?  Seriously....Me?  NOT!  However, I'm also a firm believer in, you do what ya have to do, and since that's what Mark wanted...and I knew Mom couldn't do it herself, that meant it was up to me to help.


So since it's what my brother wanted, that morning that Clara died, my hubby went in and purchased the wood that was needed for the homemade casket, while my Dad was doing other things in preparation for the funeral the next day (a snow storm was forecast for Saturday...so we couldn't wait till Saturday to have it).  Then, when hubby got the wood home, my Dad started making the casket...while Galen and I went back to our house, to get ready to have people over after the funeral.


Once the casket was made, it was brought into the house, where Clara was laying, still in her bed.  We lined it with a pretty soft blanket, placed a pillow in one end, then placed Clara into it with the help of a lift and the guys.  Mom and I then went to work getting her "dressed" in her tartan skirt and shirt that went with it and fixing her hair.  Since it's the first time I'd ever done anything like that, I was not really sure what I was doing...but we managed to fake it, and things turned out pretty good I'd say.  Least everyone was satisfied with how she looked anyway. Most of all I discovered I really COULD handle giving that personal touch to the end of someone's life.


The next day, we gathered at the old country cemetery, where three of my grandparents are buried, along with my beloved Uncle and baby niece. Dad had hired someone to come open the grave, since the ground was frozen...and we are all old enough we don't need to try to dig a hole by hand anyway. Family and friends joined us as we said our last goodbyes to Clara. Bagpipes playing Amazing Grace played on our car stereo at one point during the service.


The pastor who married Mark and Clara (as well as Hubby and I...he is the Dad of my best friend from high school) did the service, with a touch here and there from another pastor friend that my brother went to school with. My brother stood by Clara throughout the service in his kilt. I naturally wandered around from time to time snapping photos...that's my beloved Uncle's influence showing, as he would take them at funerals too.


Once the service was over, people viewed the casket if they wanted, then it was closed, and several of the men who were there grabbed a rope and helped lower the casket into the grave.

You all may ask, if this was legal. To be sure it was, we asked the coroner what we could and couldn't do before we even got started...and he was there at the funeral to oversee it...so yes, it was all legal, least in this state.

After the casket was in the grave, hubby, Mom and I headed out to our house, with some of the people following, for the after funeral meal while my Dad stayed behind to bury the casket. He came after he was done and we all enjoyed time with friends and family till after dark that night.

It may have been a simple service...and it was certainly way less expensive...but it's the personal touch I keep being drawn back to. I'm glad now, that I was able to be in on it ALL.  I'm thankful for all the family and friends who came that day on short notice also, to help us say goodbye, and give us a few happier memories for the day too.

All in all, I think it went well...and while it may not be what everyone would want...I'm not opposed to it at all now...and kinda like the idea of the personal touch myself.  :-))

We lost another sister-in-law today.

My brother and his wife Clara.  May 2009

The past almost year, seems to be full of hard times for family members of ours. This time it's my brother's wife we lost.  They say things come in threes...does that mean we will get a break now since this is the 3rd we lost in the last year?

Clara, my sister-in-law, was in kidney failure, and spent several weeks in the hospital, till they finally almost kicked her out this last Monday, because she was on a swing bed system the last three weeks, and wasn't "improving" like I guess she had to do, if she was to stay there. (They were giving her physical therapy to try and get her up on her feet again...that's what wasn't improving.)  With no other place my brother could afford to put her, my parents put a hospital bed in their living room, and settled in to take care of her with a little help from me.

Since she was to have dialysis three times a week, my brother purchased an older van with a wheelchair lift so we could get her in to her appointments, since she was now totally unable to walk (since she went into the hospital...although truthfully she wasn't walking to well before she went in), and therefore unable to get in and out of a car. We used it all of two times for her...once to get her home from the hospital and then in to one dialysis appointment.  :(

Clara and I weren't close like sisters, but she was family, and since we moved back here close to her we had some good times as a family getting together for game night and holidays.  (Game night was HER ...really good...idea!)  Sadly it only lasted a year or so before she was unable to get out to come to it...or even see to play the games as she was also loosing her eye sight.

After Clara couldn't come to game night, my parents decided winter wasn't a good time to try and get out at night...so we put game night on hold, and somehow last summer things were so busy for me, I never started them back up again. Hopefully I will manage to do better when spring comes...but as we all know, only time will tell on that one since I'm not exactly good at keeping up with things lately. LOL

Over the years that Clara was married to my brother (16 years), I learned she could be blunt, and say things I wouldn't to people, but we learned that was just her way. She had a kind side, least to certain people at times, that I have seen more of since we moved back here. She was always worried about my Mom which I was always glad to see.

She was a strong, opinionated woman, which doesn't always work, but it didn't seem to bother her when it didn't, she still went her own way. While I didn't always agree with her, I had to admire how she stood up for herself, which is something I could be better at. She was generous, always wanting to bring something to contribute to game night or planning and funding an outing for "just us girls" which was her, Mom and I.  She was also good at retelling things that happened...sometimes in a way that would have me laughing.

We really didn't expect her to go so soon...didn't know if dialysis was helping yet, but sure didn't expect THIS!  I won't go into details, as I don't think it's appropriate, but lets just say that something started in the hospital just before she was released...they talked to the doc, who basically said it's nothing, without actually SEEING her...so they sent her home and it got worse.  We called, they didn't seem concerned...and she was gone before the next morning came...less than three days out of the hospital.

While frankly, I think that hospital and the doc is just plain incompetent, Clara was ready to go, she couldn't get up on her own, or see and she didn't want to go back into the hospital, but that won't make it any easier for my brother to deal with loosing her.  It's heart breaking she died so young (52) but all I can say is at least she is at peace now, not in pain and stuck doing nothing because of her blindness and not being able to walk.  God knows what is best and he decided it was time to take her.

She will be laid to rest beside her daughter.

Prayers for my brother would be appreciated.

RIP Clara, I'm glad I got to spend a little more time with you these last few weeks.

Slowing down finally!

Just wanted to quickly share my favorite photo so far that I took at the wedding this last weekend. We are slowing down here a little bit...least I've actually been able to relax a little...but still haven't gotten all the photos ready for smugmug. Will be doing that slowly over the next week or so.

Canning is mostly done for the year now though...and while I LOVE to can, I'm rather grateful for THAT being done with again! It was a little much, mixed in with getting ready for the wedding. ;-))

It's laundry day today, so I need to get back to that...just wanted to share the photo and say I survived the wedding...although I HURT by the time we got home cause I was on my feet almost ALL day.  I MUST be getting old.  LOL  It was kinda fun though...so thankful the cake disaster was the worst disaster...and the day went well!

Praise God for my parents though...they helped a LOT at the wedding, with the food and clean up. WAY more than they had to, to say the least, since they aren't even related to our niece since she is from hubbies side!

I am so blessed with my hubby AND my parents!  :-D

Small break...

We took a small break from wedding chores (and boy are there still LOTS of THEM to do!) for a small family get together. My parents and niece and family came over for lunch today. I haven't seen my great niece since she started walking but she sure is doing a great job of that now! LOL She even managed to walk around on top of my dinning room table after lunch for a little bit.

Right after I snapped the above photo she got the cutest grin on her face...naturally AFTER I took the photo. I didn't have the camera ready to capture it either (of course). She is adorable...and full of energy and I bet she's a handful! Not seeing her very much I don't really know what she is like, but she acts like she would be. :-))

It was good to take a break from worrying about getting things done for the wedding...but now we have to get back to it, along with more tomato's to process tomorrow...I'm thankful for the tomato's, but sure wouldn't have minded a break for this week...but then I wouldn't have more for my winter's food supply, so I guess I'll take them while I can.  I am however letting a neighbor have most of our milk and cream this week...so I don't have butter I have to stop and do!  She is grateful, as am I!  :-))

The neighbor lady is canning some of the milk she is getting this week...and told me how, so guess what!  After the wedding, I'll have to do a little of that and see how it is, so I have some for cooking with, when the cows dry up.  LOVE learning about canning new things!  :-))

Gotta run!  Abbie's wedding is in less than a week now...and there is still SO MUCH to do!  :(

Chaos

Life seems to be in chaos right now...time is slipping away, and we are so busy between the wedding and canning that I'm looking for that peaceful life we used to lead...till our niece moved in with us temporarily...which is turning into a bit longer than temporary it seems.  I love her to death...but kinda miss that boring laid back life we lead before she interrupted our peaceful existence.  LOL

*sigh*

Oh well...God has his plan, and I'm trying to trust him and enjoy the time we have with our niece as much as I can...even if I do get exhausted sometimes by the drama that seems to come with having her here.


We went to pay for the wedding venue the other day, and then drove around looking for the best place to go for wedding photos after the ceremony.  We found the perfect spot...on a bridge by the water.  It will be even more perfect if there is GOOD fall color by the wedding!

Course, I'm a little worried about being able to get good photos.  Between being out of practice, and my camera being old I sure hope I manage to get something decent on the big day.  It seems to have some strange pixels these days...and I STILL can't afford to get a new camera, so I'm still using my first dslr that I love...but it's just not the new ones I'd LIKE to have.  LOL  I so want one that will take movies too...but that doesn't seem to be in the cards right now.  Thankfully Abbie isn't real picky...but sadly I am, and will sure be disappointed if I can't get some good ones for her.


We do have the mints made and in the freezer now...and are working on the cake. This week should see it in the freezer, and hopefully some practicing going on with frosting and cake decorating tips. LOL Before we made the mints, we went looking for new molds for making cream cheese mints cause I didn't have a heart shape and Abbie kinda wanted one but it seems that cream cheese mints are "out of style" or something, cause we couldn't find any molds in the stores and when we asked they acted like we were stupid for wanting them. LOL

 Oops, I guess I'm a bit behind the times as usual. ROFL

 That's ok, I still love the mints, even if they are not "in" at the moment. I've made them several times over the years, and each time (somehow) Abbie seemed to get in on helping to make them, so it's only fair that we finally make them together for HER wedding...even IF they are not in style.

If this wedding goes off without a hitch...I'll be somewhat surprised, but you know, it's the screw ups that make the day memorable, so thats ok.  Course, in the drama that surrounds us at times now, the wedding was canceled for a very short time...then was back on, so I guess nothing will really surprise me at this point. I can't say I will be sad for it all to be over...I want life to slow down a little bit again, so I can savor the fall color when it shows up and enjoy the beauty that surrounds us.

Hopefully we can enjoy a peaceful fall, once the wedding is over...and maybe even, if we are lucky....get back to normal around here!  Is it even possible?!  LOL  Time will tell!

This week we have a couple dr appointments to go to, which means I won't be around to help my Mom with her tomatoes since she plans on doing more on one of the days we will be gone, but will have to get a couple bushel of apples into our freezer, between cleaning and making sure we get more done for the wedding.  I also need to decide if I actually want to BUY a few tomatoes so I can make a little more pizza sauce and maybe diced tomato's before we get a frost and the tomato's come to a stop.  I wouldn't hesitate...but I'm afraid we won't have time, so haven't decided what to do yet.

I just finished up getting some beef broth canned, cause we butchered a problem steer last week...a bit earlier than planned but it worked out good so that's ok.  I cut up almost 4 gallons of meat into cubes and turned it into corned beef and then canned it and WOW, it really turned out GOOD!! LOVE it!!  I had made it twice before with a roast, and baked it in the oven, but this time I wanted more so decided to do it this way, so it was ready to grab when we wanted some.  It really makes great corned beef hash with my home canned potatoes too!  ;-))

That's just a few of the things I've been up to the last few weeks.  No time to update most of the time, but decided to get an update in here since Abbie is gone for the weekend and I had a little time.  Course my "quick" update, turned into a short book but what else is new!  LOL    :-))

Exciting Times!

We've been canning up a storm here, but we've also been planning a wedding!!! Our niece is getting married, and since she is living here for now, I'm getting in on the fun!

I never thought I'd be in on planning a wedding this much since we weren't blessed with kids, but since Abbie lost her Mom this summer and is living here, I get to enjoy the fun planning and shopping trips her Mom should have been in on. She told me earlier today she didn't think she could have gotten married this fall, without our emotional support, because she misses her Mom and couldn't do the shopping trips by herself since that's something a mother and daughter usually does together. I totally understand that, cause it was fun shopping with my Mom when we did MY wedding shopping all those years ago.

I do feel for her though...cause I know I can never "replace" her Mom, and I'd never try to. Hopefully I can help ease her through this sad yet happy time though!


Abbie is just having a small wedding, but we found the venue for it and it's beautiful! If all goes well, it will be an outside wedding, with the reception inside. If it's bad weather then, we can have the wedding right there where the reception will be...but we both are hoping for good weather, and hoping the fall color is popping really GOOD when the wedding date gets here in October!

With canning still in full swing...and the wedding to plan for, needless to say we are BUSY!  Money is tight for everyone, so we are trying to do this in a frugal manner too...but yet still give her as many nice memories as possible.  My hubby (who's Mom used to own a bakery...so he's had experience with making wedding cakes) will be in charge of the cake decorating.  It's been a few years since he's done that kind of thing though...so will need to do some practicing before he starts on the cake.  LOL  However, that will save some money, AND give her a nicer, larger cake for the money which is great.

I'm going to be the official photographer (poor girl!  LOL) so hopefully I can manage to get a few nice photos for her.  I'm so out of practice lately...so we will see.  I warned her she may not get anything GOOD...but she is ok with that, so I'll just do my best.  It's not like when our other niece got married...I wasn't going to deal with her Mother so I said I wasn't going to be the "official" photographer.  Besides...it's more fun that way for ME.  LOL  However...I know there is no money for a different photographer, so I will pray that God guides my hand and lets them turn out.  If it's nice weather so we can have the wedding outside, there will be a better chance that they WILL turn out, as my outside photos are usually better than the inside photos.  :-))

So anyway, cake is figured out...photographer is chosen *roll eyes*...venue is reserved...and invites are printed.  A little bit of shopping has been done...but still have lots to do as soon as we have the money together.  More plans will be made over the next little over a month, and cake and mints will be made in my humble kitchen.

Exciting times are certainly here!  Now you know what's been keeping me busy...not much extra computer time for me.  LOL  We will see if I can update at all before the wedding date gets here.  And yes...I realize I always have an excuse for not blogging lately!  *snicker*

RIP Dear SIL

Kathie our Sister-in-law died this morning. She went downhill fast, once she was diagnosed with ALS, but least she is at peace now. I pray her daughter, who was there for her till the end, can take comfort in that.

I'll think of her when my Iris bloom every year...Iris and Roses were two of her favorite flowers I think!

Rest in Peace my dear Sister-in-law.  We may have had our differences at times, but I'll never forget your friendship, your help, how you made me feel welcome better than anyone else did when hubby and I got married, and how you let us share our love with your kids as they were growing up.  Thank you for everything!

Updates

When I took this photo a day or two ago, we didn't know if the birds were moving in or not, cause while we had seen some, we hadn't seen them flying in with nesting materials.  However today, DH did finally see some flying in with grass or something so we think at least some of the apartments will have birds living in them this year!!!  Loving my new bird house!

I was thinking about going to KC today, since hubby had to take some Amish friends down there, so I could see our niece and sister-in-law.  However, my niece decided she needed a break from the rat race she's been running and from the city, so she came up to us this weekend. It's been so good to enjoy the day with her...and she cooked supper for the most part, so I didn't have to!  Gotta LOVE that!  LOL

 Her Mom is not doing well which in turn is making our niece a bit upset (naturally) so hopefully a day or two in the country with her Auntie (and Uncle) will help her deal with the stress better and give her the break she needed.

Her Mom just went into a nursing home...which is why she was able to get away as she was caring for her at home till she went into the hospital again. However with the health problems our niece has (bad back...plus other things), it's almost impossible for her to care for her Mom now that she's gotten so she can't walk.

The end is near for Kathie, our sister-in-law.  She has gone down hill fast, which I'm not really surprised at, cause I figured she had had ALS for a while now...just hadn't had it diagnosed, since she hadn't been to a doctor.  She is on hospice now...and while they haven't given a time frame, Abbie, our niece said they are saying it will be "quick" now.

Abbie is just hoping her Mom lives till the first of May at least...so Abbie's birthday (which is the 30th of April) isn't ruined.  I'm hoping she lasts through next week, cause we have a LOT going on around here next week (two barn raising's for our Amish neighbors and a trip to KC with my parents).  But...God will have it happen, in HIS time.

Course, who knows...maybe she will surprise everyone and hold on for a while longer!  It's happened before, I've heard.  I just know she is having trouble breathing at times and if that goes...she will.  :(

Enough of the bad news...our niece is here so I'm going to go enjoy her company!

I'm just so glad we are close enough to be here for her, in this sad time in her life.  While I know an Auntie's love can never take the place of a Mamma's, and I'd never DREAM of trying, I do hope I can help her through the pain and stress of loosing her Mom at least a little.  I LOVE being an Aunt...since I wasn't blessed enough to be a Mom!  Love all our nieces and nephews...but the few who keep in touch are in my heart the most!!

Prayers for strength for our niece...and mercy for her Mom...would sure be appreciated. God's WILL be done!  :-))

Sad Times

Years ago, when I married my hubby, I had high hopes that I was gaining another large family with his many siblings, nieces, nephews and all the cousins in the extended family. DH was the baby of 5...and his Dad had a BUNCH of brothers and Sisters who had a bunch of kids...so the family is really quite large, even larger than my own which I thought was pretty good sized if you count all the extended family.

Being the shy type (I know, you wouldn't know it from my blog...but really I am! LOL) I'm not good with talking to people, but a few of DH's family were pretty good at talking to me so it didn't matter to much.  Course there were also some who weren't real good at that, and there were even some who decided they didn't like me to well because I wouldn't come up and start talking...or even say Hi to them, unless THEY started talking first.  *sigh*  I've never had a problem saying Hi, to anyone who said it to me...but don't always think about saying it first, which may be a little rude...but seriously, why is it such a big deal for ME to say it FIRST?  *roll eyes*

Anyway, I quickly figured out that I didn't marry into a "hallmark" family...you know one of those cool ones that were close, and while they may not always agree, would always be there for each other no mater what, and circle the wagon's should the need arise.

For the longest time I held on to the idea that we could still be family....even if not real close, but that finally pretty much got blown out of the water a few years ago when DH's diabetes got out of control, because of to much stress caused by family, and the Dr told us we had to get rid of the stress if we wanted to get his numbers back to doing better.

However, through all the trial's and tribulations....first with me joining the family and trying to get used to new people as a VERY shy young woman, through the final blow up with DH's sister (that also encompassed one or two of his brothers in the end), there was one Sister-in-law (Kathie...married to the one brother who still talks to us from time to time) who stuck with us...and welcomed me into the family not minding that I didn't talk much because she was really good at talking herself and could do it enough for both of us.

I may not have always agreed with her and what kind of wife and mother she was, or even fully trusted her in some respects...but she was always nice to me and didn't make me feel bad if I didn't talk all that much.  In fact, she made me feel comfortable enough, that I COULD talk to her lots better than with most of the rest of DH's family.  We had times we didn't talk much...especially the past few years (because of a few things that happened) but I've still always considered her one of my favorite sister-in-laws...cause at least SHE would talk to me, when we were together.

She was the only one who would let her kids come visit us for a week or two at a time in the summer when they were teens...there was at least one summer, that we had a couple of them several weeks.   It was wonderful to have the kids visit, since we weren't blessed with any of our own and I was so thankful she was willing to share them with us.

She enjoyed some of the same things I did, including flowers (especially Iris) and I'd spend some time at their house while DH was working out of town, when we first moved to Nebraska...because I couldn't go with him then.  She helped us out when we moved to our first farm...and again in the move here to Missouri...although I think she was a bit off at that time, I just didn't realize why.

I didn't realize it, but one thing she  had in common with me was her aversion to going to the doc.  LOL I don't go as far as some people I know...I do realize that doctor's have a place...but I'm not one to go for every little thing, I just didn't know she was that way too.

I hadn't seen her for some time...she lived in Nebraska, and since we moved we didn't go back to visit...we have to much to do here for that, not to mention not much extra money. I talked to her Daughter Abbie some...and Abbie would visit, cause she lives in Kansas City...just a couple hours away.  Abbie told me she thought her Mom had had a stroke last fall, because she was having trouble talking...but couldn't get her to go to a doctor because her Mom wouldn't admit there was anything wrong.

To make a LONG story a little shorter, Kathie moved in with her daughter a couple weeks ago, and her daughter finally insisted she go to the doctor...actually the emergency room, because she was getting weaker and weaker.  Since she was now living with her, she could more easily see the rapid decline.

After many many tests, and a stroke and cancer being ruled out, the doctor finally decided she has ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease).  And...she is pretty far advanced in it I would say...not just getting started with it.  She has lost something close to 80 lbs in the last 6-8 months and isn't able to walk much now, without some sort of help.  She is having breathing difficulties, and chokes so it's hard to eat a lot.  Needless to say, she isn't doing to well...and we aren't sure how much longer she will be able to fight the disease, although at this point she is still in denial that she even HAS it, which knowing her she may never get out of the denial stage.  LOL

My heart goes out to her daughter...I know at MY age, I'm not ready to lose MY Mom, and Abbie is so much younger than I am (still in her 20's) so it has to be hard for her.  While I haven't been as close to Kathie in the past few years, (we had our issue's...even though we got along for the most part) but it's so sad she has to go through this...and sad to think that the one sister-in-law who would talk to me on DH's side will no longer be there at family functions (if we EVER get invited to any again LOL) to hang out with.

I will remember the good times...the laughs we had and fun conversations we enjoyed together.  The help she gave us, and comfort she offered in the troubled times.  I will remember it ALL...but will try to concentrate on the fun times, because there were plenty of them and even with some of the issue's we've had...I still am more comfortable being with her than most of my other sister-in-laws.  (I'm fine with my brothers wife...but that's a totally different situation, cause it's MY family dynamics...not DH's.)

I have been blessed by many things in my life, and will continue to count knowing her as one of my blessings, for the memories she gave us with her kids, not to mention the fun times her and I had.  Thank you Kathie, for your love and support over the years, and letting me be a hands on Auntie to your kids.


P.S.  In better news... I will share photos of Shasta's baby calf that was finally born this morning when I can get them off my camera!  May be a few days...depending on if I'm home tomorrow...or gone like may be the case.

Cuteness Overload

I haven't shared any photo's of my little great-niece on here for a while (not that I'd actually taken any new ones....so I couldn't share sooner.  LOL) so thought I'd do that today. She came for a short visit last week with her Mom and I enjoyed the visit, and getting a few updated photo's of her. I'm almost out of practice with my camera I think, but managed to get a few cute ones...least I thought they were! LOL



She isn't walking by herself yet, but she sure does like walking with help...and when she is sitting she is still "moving" a LOT. She waves her arms around, claps her hands, bounces up and down and side to side. She loves to "dance" when she is sitting...it's to cute. I just wish I had half her energy! I sure don't envy her Mom in a few months, once she is walking by herself...course if I were around her more I'm sure I'd get used to running after her, but since I'm not she would sure wear me out once she is running around by herself. LOL


She is such a doll, and oh so precious and it was so good to see her and her Mom!

In other news...it was in the 60's yesterday, and suppose to be again today...I think Spring may have finally arrived, although I realize it can get cooler again still.  But it's so nice to be able to have the windows open...love that fresh air!!!

Well, I have things to do...so better run.  Enjoy those warmer temps if you are getting them, after the COLD winter they sure are nice!  :-))

It's been a BERRY good year!

ROFL I couldn't resist that title to the post, because of all the wonderful berries we found to buy from the Amish around us this last spring. It really WAS a BERRY good year for berries! LOL

Wasn't to shabby for us in other ways too. Yes, there were trials...gotta have them, and tribulations....gotta have them too, but there were also good times and while our large family doesn't seem so large anymore, with so many holding grudges, that's ok too. God has his reasons for things happening, and I don't have the energy any more to worry about it so much. What will be will be.  I enjoy seeing family when they come around and thank God for those we have who are still a blessing in our lives.


Our animals are some of our best blessings and they have blessed us with good times again this year! Yes, we lost a few...sadly it was Autumn's year to go...but we gained some too.

While Belle, our newest doxie fur baby,  has been a little more of a challenge to train cause she likes to do her OWN thing, she has been a blessing too in her own way. It's been so good to see her and Peaches play together, since Peaches never was able to really play to much with Autumn...they tear around the house after each other having a ball at times, which in turn makes me laugh!

The cows have really been enjoyed, both for the milk, their meat, and their babies! Loving having a couple calves around to see them romping around the pasture again! Course Pearl (our horse) is always a pleasure to look at, she's so pretty and adds some interest to our menagerie.


There are so many things we enjoyed this year! The beauty around us being one of them of course, both in the colorful sunrises and sunsets...


...the beautiful fall color we get here in Missouri...


...and the oh so pretty wild flowers along the road sides here.


The time we spent with family, (Having my Aunt and Uncle stop in one afternoon when they were back in the states was wonderful! We haven't seen them all that much in the last few years, but sure enjoy them when we do, and it was so good to laugh with them and make more memories.)...


...and friends, were of course the high light of our year. Having Galen's best friend spend a couple weeks with us...and not just cause one of those weeks he spent building Galen's shop...was great! We had some good times, laughing, playing games and just hanging out when they weren't off doing something on their own. The new friends we've made here have also added to our blessings for the year.


As much as I loved all of the above mentioned things, the BEST part of my year was spending it with that wonderful hubby of mine!  He lights up my life and is so understanding, I've never know anyone who understands me as well and is as accepting of my limitations.  That's not to say he ALWAYS understands why I do something...LOL...but he understands more than anyone else ever has.  I love being with him, and watching him with our animals, because he is so gentle and kind to them...kinda like how he is to me.  I am SOOOO BLESSED!!!! :-))


All in all it really was a BERRY good year! Good friends, family, furry friends not to mention all the good eats we've been blessed with this year has really helped us settle in for our first full year back in Missouri.

 Here's hoping that 2014 is at LEAST as good! I'm sure looking forward to berry season again...between the berries and the peaches I'm longing for warm weather and fresh fruit! LOL

Hope everyone had a wonderful year...and will have an even better 2014!!

 Happy New Year!

Another Digital Scrapbook page!

I grabbed a photo of my cute little great niece last night, and scrapped a page for it. It didn't turn out as nice as I had hoped, but it takes me forever to figure out how to do a page anymore, so when I saw I was running out of time to work, I gave up trying to figure out what else I could put on the page...plus I'm not real good at clusters, so...the page isn't as interesting as it could be, but it's got her cute little chubby cheeks on there so it will do! LOL

Kit Credit: Baby Girl Heartstrings Kit, Template curled and folded #1 &Alpha pack 1.

I recolored the Alpha on this page by clipping a colored layer to the Alpha.  I think that is the BIGGEST reason I'd miss ps if it decides it doesn't want to work for me.  It is still showing thumbnails in the mini bridge...so that's a biggie.  It seemed to hang now and then last night, when I was working but not so much it slowed me down LOTS, so...I'm still on the fence as to if it's going to work, but leaning towards the good side of it working.  LOL

This little sweetheart will be a year old at the end of the month!  My how time seems to fly!  It's hard to believe in some respects, but...then it was hard to believe her Mom was old enough to HAVE her, so...what can I say.  *giggle*

Anyway, gotta get off here...have things to do, that won't get done if I continue sitting here yacking with my fingers!  Hope everyone has a great weekend, stay safe out there if you have bad weather in your neck of the woods, we are just on the northern edge of the expected snow line here, and for that we are thankful!  Don't need to much bad weather, I worry about my niece having to travel so far in it to get to work and back (not that I know if she has to work today or this weekend, since we don't get to chat much)...not to mention us having to get out if the need arises, so I if I had any say in the mater I would prefer some snow, but not ice...or not so much snow we get snowed in!  LOL

I'm also hoping it really does warm up to above freezing like they say it should on Monday!  Gotta cow to butcher if all goes well since we didn't get it done this week!  ;-))

Our little day trip!

Well, as you can see, I didn't get to share on Sunday about the little day trip we took with my brother and his wife. We had a storm come through, which knocked out our internet for part of the day on Sunday...so I did other things, instead of getting my photo's off my camera and uploaded. LOL We then canned the next two days, so this is the first chance I've had to post!

I've been wanting to go back to the Kansas City Renaissance Festival for years!  We went to a little one in Nebraska one year, and while it was entertaining, it wasn't near as good for the most part, as the Kansas City one is...course some of why we think that is probably cause we had been to the Kansas City one before...if we hadn't of been, we would have not been quite so picky.  LOL


My brother in his kilt at the ren-fest.
The last time we were at the KC ren-fest, was 12 years ago the day after we got Autumn...she went with us and enjoyed being held a lot.  Last weekend was the Highland Games weekend at the ren-fest, and my brother wanted to go and wear his kilt, and invited us to go with them...they even bought our ticket (it was a buy one get one free weekend with military (or VA) id...so they didn't have to buy us BOTH a ticket!  LOL  Gotta LOVE that!

We had a really good day, but boy am I getting old or what...I was ready to stop walking before we had seen everything!  LOL  It's a BIG place, with lots of different shows and food and things to buy.  Thankfully other than food I managed to behave myself and not buy anything...which is good since we are kinda low on money this year, although I eyed some earrings and a chainmaille necklace.  LOL

We watched a few shows and enjoyed spending the day together...and even managed to hit a couple stores on our way home to pick up some things I forgot on our monthly shopping trip.  All it all it was a lot of fun, even if I did get wore out from all the walking up and down the hills.  It makes me wish we all had more time and money so we could do more fun things together!  :-))


The cool thing about THAT weekend at the KC ren-fest was hearing the bag pipes playing as we walked around. We all love the sound of bag pipes, so it was the perfect weekend to go to the festival, not to mention the weather had cooled off so it wasn't so hot, which made it much nicer.


As usual, my favorite part of the ren-fest was the jousting and other games they had before the event. Can't help but love a knight in shinning armor...even if he isn't REALLY a knight. LOL


There was a sword fight after the joust, to determine the winner...and it was much more "real" than the sword fights they had at the LAST ren-fest we went to by Omaha Nebraska...they had clunky wood swords there, where as they looked and sounded more real in this fight. LOL  All in all, it was a good time, and the best man won!  The other one was to cocky for my taste, so I was happy to see the one we were rooting for win.

While we were happy to get home to our fur babies (and boy were THEY happy to see US!  LOL) it was a FUN day...which is always nice to have!  It was a nice break from our busy late summer/early fall work!

There ARE more ren-fest photos in the ren-fest gallery on smugmug if you want to see more.  Nothing fabulous, but...they will work for memory keepers, so that's good enough for me.

Hope everyone else had a good weekend too...and is having a good week!  :-))

Playing in Photoshop

Speaking of my Aunt and Uncle visiting....we took some group photo's just before they left to go home (my Dad had already left, which is why he isn't in the photo's) and since I didn't set up my tripod so we could get everyone in the photo, my Uncle wanted me to try to add myself to the photo of everyone. So...DH took a photo of all of us (and I actually had a brain and stood behind and to the right of Uncle Mike, (not to the left LOL) NEXT to where DH had been...so I could actually add myself into the photo of the rest of them easier.  It's far from perfect, and wasn't quite as easy as I thought it would be (cause I have done something like this before) but finally managed to get it "good enough" I hope.

I have to say, even if I'm not managing to do any scrapbooking...and have forgotten a LOT of what I used to do in photoshop, it is still FUN to play now and then with my photo's if nothing else.  All those years of scrapbooking really has made it so I am able to do a little more with my photos than I ever would have been able to, had I not been scrapbooking.

It was fun to manage to play in photoshop, for a little bit again...more than just cropping and lightening up my photos!  Just thought I'd share the end result...like I said, it's not perfect, but hopefully workable.  :-))

Ok, better get off here...have to set this up to post tomorrow (hopefully), as we have plans...and then get to bed, so we can get up early!  Poor fur babies will NOT be happy campers, since they will have to stay home by themselves, but hopefully we will have lots of fun, on a day trip with my brother and his wife!

Have a wonderful weekend, and I'll share photos if I get any good ones on our day trip as soon as I can find the time to get them off my camera...hopefully Sunday, but no promises.  :-))

Old and New News.

A couple weeks ago one of my Aunt and Uncle's came up to see us! I didn't manage to blog about it, with all that's been going on...plus getting our new little fur baby pushed it back further. However, I did want to touch on it, and say how wonderful it was to see them!

This is my Mom's baby brother...well next to youngest baby brother. It's always wonderful to see them, but we don't get to much anymore, because they are missionary's in Africa, and don't get back here as often as it would be nice. I sure miss having them around closer though!

I loved seeing them when I was growing up, although we didn't a lot then either, as they lived in Colorado, but when we lived in the city, just after my beloved Uncle Orison died, they lived down there too and we would go see them now and then...when we had time to anyway, which still wasn't as often as it would have been nice to.


Uncle Mike was always fun to be around, he and DH joked back and forth a lot when we would see them. He also loves dachshunds, which of course we've always had since we got married, so that's always made him "our kind of people" too! LOL


Aunt Pat was always fun too, we saw her a little more growing up, cause she was able to come back to visit, while Uncle Mike had to work. She was always fun to have around too!

It was SO NICE that they were able to make it up to see us, before they headed back to Africa!  Wish we could have seen them more while they were here, but I'm just thankful we were blessed with their company for a little while...after all any is better than none!  :-))

Hope you both had a good trip back to Africa, and stay safe over there!  Love you both!!

It's been another busy week here this week...more canning got done...and we dried some tomato's in our dehydrator's too, as well as our monthly shopping and Azure pickup.  Mom and Dad's tomato's were really producing well the last couple weeks, so we had 4 buckets to work up each day we did them till yesterday when there were only a couple...but that may have been because we did them a day earlier than usual.

It has cooled off here finally!  It's been down right hot till yesterday...and today is even cooler than it was then.  It was a bit nippy when we first got up, but is warming up now so it's just NICE out.  Suppose to stay at least in the 70's for a few days, so that will be wonderful!  Should be a WONDERFUL weekend, since it's not going to be so HOT!  :-))

As for our new addition...Belle is thriving!  She's a little stinker, but oh so cute with it.  Her and Peaches are actually starting to do better together, and Peaches has actually tried to play with her a few times.  She still snarls here or there, but never jumps on her and tries to kill her like Autumn did with Peaches, so I'm feeling a little more comfortable with them being together.  I don't mind if Peaches keeps Belle in line...just didn't know if she would try to kill her.  LOL

Belle actually growled and barked at Peaches this morning, when DH put his oatmeal bowl down for them to clean out, and Peaches backed off...so I'm thinking even more than I did before that Belle may be the top dog eventually! Poor Peaches.  LOL  Belle LOVES food...she is eager at meal times, cause she thinks she should always get some of OUR food...I thought Autumn was bad when it came to food, but I think this new little one may be WORSE!  LOL  We have some work to do about teaching her not to be so annoying at meal time...but she will learn.

She's been doing pretty good this week with the potty training thing...Monday she was locked in our bathroom, on the lino, while we were gone shopping, so Tuesday she wouldn't let me get to far away from her, but since then she's been better at entertaining herself, when I'm busy and I've not even had to chase her down outside, when it's time to come in cause I started bribing her like I did Peaches when she was little.  *giggle*  It's so cute, she lets me pick her up when it's time to come back in, and then I set her down when we get inside the door, and she runs over and sits in front of the fridge, and looks up all cute like, waiting for her little bit of treat that I keep on top the fridge...I don't give her a big piece, since she has to go out way to often still, but just that tiny piece of treat gets her to come in, even when she is having tons of fun outside with the cats.

I need to figure out how to get her to do better inside now...cause she likes to be in a couple rooms I block her out of some of the time...unless we are in them with her...and likes to try to get away from me so I can't pick her up when I don't want her in them.  I'll have to work with her more...as well as start training her to sit, lay down etc soon too, but keep busy with everything else so am just doing the basics now.  Hopefully we can start the rest in another week or two...even though we will also be starting apples soon, so will be even busier with canning.  

Fall is in the air finally...food is still getting stored for winter....and our babies are keeping us entertained, so all is well in our part of the world!  Hope it is in yours too!  :-))

Growing baby!

We don't get to see our newest little great-niece very much, even with her only living three miles away from us, but Mom and I happened to see her and her beautiful mother in the store when we stopped for a few things on our way home from the big bad city with my Dad.

I had my camera in my purse, so snatched it to grab a quick photo, since I haven't been able to take one for a while, with not seeing her. She kept her attention on the musical toy her Mom has strapped to her car seat, but it was cute how focused she was on it. She is growing and her car seat doesn't look like its way to big for her now!

We couldn't stand around and try and chat very long, cause my Dad was laying down in the back seat of the car and needed to get home as soon as possible but it was nice to see her anyway!

I had hoped to see my newest niece a little more often (not to mention her mother), so I could end up taking better photos of her...but will make do with whatever I have, if I ever manage to make her a book of photos as she gets older. Hopefully one of these days I can come up with one I really like, so I can hang one on the wall...While I will treasure any photo's given to me by my niece, I really prefer ones I've taken myself now, for my wall (and especially for my books)...but we will see how long it is, before I manage to get one I've taken up there on my wall with the rest of my family photos.

Her parents seem to be even busier than we are between their work and play. I try not to bother them to much, cause I never know when they are home, or when they are having quality time together which I know is really important, especially for a young married couple. My beautiful niece's happiness is more important than me seeing them...so I try to avoid bothering them to much and cutting in on the small amount of time that she can spend alone with her hubby and sweet new baby. She has enough other family bugging them all the time, she doesn't need me.

Least that's what I try and tell myself, when I'm wishing I could see her more. LOL

Anyway, this is why I don't share to many photos of her on my blog (cause I just haven't been able to take any)...and why when I have some they aren't usually "great" ones. I have to have time to take more than a few photos, to come up with some good candid ones...and time is something I never seem to have enough of...with her and her mother, or for anything else it seems.

Thankfully my life is full of other things, so I manage to not break down and bug them to much and with God's help, am thankful for the times I do see them.

Flowers and the City

There I was...driving my Dad to his surgery appointment yesterday morning, through early rush hour traffic in the big bad city (Ok, the traffic wasn't to bad yet, compared to what it can be later in the rush hour on the freeways of Kansas City...but it wasn't good, compared to the country traffic I prefer! LOL) when my phone tells me I have a new text message. No way can I check a text while I'm driving, especially in the traffic, so I ignore it, then forget about it completely. LOL

Once I get settled in the waiting room, I remembered I got a text, so pull my phone out and look at the screen...First I see there is a photo with a message under it that said "Good Morning Dear!" from my sweet hubby (Mom, Dad & I had spent the night in a hotel so we didn't have to get up quite as early to head to the city the morning of his surgery)...then I scroll up a little to see the complete photo and gasp...he sent me a photo of my daffodils blooming! He planted them for me last fall, and I hadn't realized they were so close to blooming, last I looked, the green leaves were still short!

Mom asked "what?" so I show her, and said "I'm missing my Daffys!"  LOL  Dad assured me they would still be blooming when I got home.  He was right, I grabbed a photo of them between rain showers this morning.  Kinda lonely looking, cause they aren't in clumps yet, but still nice to see!  We have flowers here on our Hillbilly farm now!!

Between when we left, Monday morning and when we got back last night, it sure greened up around here!  It's hard to believe how much it can change just overnight!  It's so pretty out there now...once the trees green up it will be downright beautiful!

My Dad's surgery went just fine, and they let him out the same day!  I was praying hard that they would, cause I sure didn't want to spend ANOTHER night in the big city if at all possible, not to mention that meant things went well and there didn't seem to be any complications, which is good!  He is home resting now...and starting the process of recovering.  He's not one to go to doctors, so it's been a different, not to pleasant, experience for him, but sometimes ya just gotta.

DH is doing Dad's farm chores now, even if Dad felt like being up and around, he won't be able to do much lifting for a little while, so it's nice we are close enough to help him out for a change!  It's really shaping up to be a busy spring/summer!  :-))

Now we wait to see what other flowers manage to bloom that we planted last fall.  DH planted a few roses this spring already, hopefully they take off...but I'm totally bummed that the old fashioned roses we brought with us don't look like they made it.  I've moved them with us everywhere since the first REAL home we had after we got married.  Guess the drought last year didn't let them make this move...even though they were watered from time to time.  I called those roses my "Kansas rose" cause they were moved from that farm we rented in Kansas after we got married...and were the ONE thing I wanted to survive the most, plant wise anyway, that we moved.  *sigh*

Makes me wonder if the parent rose bush is still there beside the garage in Kansas...to bad it's to far away to go see!  It breaks my heart to think that I'll never see the wonderful pink blooms it would be covered with in the spring, as well as the fabulous sweet scent they gave off.  It was "my" first rose bush...and made me fall completely in love with roses.  There are worse things that could have happened though, so I'm grateful for what did survive, and grateful for being here now so we can hopefully be of more help to my parents.

After a trip to the city, and especially after having to spend the night there, I am always so grateful I don't live there any longer!  Praise God I'm a country girl!!  The further I got from the city on our drive back home, the more relaxed and soothed I felt.   Life is good...when you are blessed enough to live in the country!  :-))

Great-Grandparents

I remember my great-grandmothers on my Dad's side of the family. Both of my Great-grand fathers died before I was born. I don't remember any of them from my Mom's side, but I don't think they lived long enough for me to.

While they didn't have as much influence on me, as my grandparents did, I do have some fond memories of them, especially my Grandmothers mother.

I love seeing photos of me with my great-grandparents, even if I don't remember them.


I FINALLY managed to get a photo of both of my parents holding their great-granddaughter...Kali's sweet little baby. She is really growing! She is still small, about what she should have been when she was born, but least she isn't SOOOO tiny anymore!

I took these photos a week ago...but just got them off my camera yesterday.  *sigh*  Yes, I'm slipping!  LOL  Hopefully I start doing better, so maybe I can post a little more often.

If all goes well, I'll share the new addition to our farm tomorrow or the next day...as soon as I get the photos off my camera!  LOL  No...it's not another cow, much as I'd LOVE to get one to replace Honey.  It is in fact something we've never HAD before, so don't go guessing any of the animals I've talked about having, on my blog.  ;-))

Hubby and his animals.  *roll eyes*  LOL

PS, sorry to those of you who get my blog in a reader or your e-mail...I started this post yesterday, then had to stop to drive DH and my brother to pick up the new addition (they walked her home) so pushed the wrong button and published my half done post, instead of just saving it.  So...I went and unpublished it, but not before it went through the group and onto your readers.  So...here it is again, with a little added to it!  LOL

Time Flies

Wow, where did this last week go? I can't believe how fast it seemed to go...or that I didn't get in here to make a new post till now. I didn't get these photos off my camera till today, and I took them last weekend. LOL

Last Saturday night was game night, so my family gathered at our house for supper and a night of fun. Since my niece is still off work from having her baby, she was able to make it with her family, and naturally we had to get some photos. I finally got one of my brother holding his Granddaughter.


And his granddaughter holding his hand...she is so tiny! LOL


In fact, when she got put back into her car seat, to head home I had to get a photo, cause it REALLY made her look tiny!  Yes, I am STILL not used to her being so small...so keep harping on it.  LOL

We kept busy this week, not doing anything special...just busy.  I'm still working on bone broth, managed to get the last of the bones either in one of the crock-pots  or stuffed into the full freezer...so once I do several batches of broth off the bones I have in the crock-pots now, I can switch to chicken broth, which we need more of...and then stop for a little while.  LOL

Other than that, and the "usual" things, I really don't know what I did this week, but I kept busy enough that the week just flew by!  Guess that's better than it creeping.  LOL Anyway, better get off here, have several things I need to get done this morning (still) so better get at it!   Have a great weekend!  :-))