Day 8 - Pictures are worth a thousand words

Our family threw us a beautiful party to celebrate our 45th anniversary. Msgr. Russell Bleich witnessed the renewal of our vows as did many members of our family and our friends. It was a glorious day and has made us so happy and given us some great memories.

Thanks Jim for taking so many pictures.

Day 7: More Celebrating

Friday we finished up a lot of work around the house and then headed to town to pick up a few things. The family arrived in the evening - The Omaha Buck's - The Carlson's and the Gladtone Cleary's. What a fun evening with a little reminiscing and and a some laughing and visiting. Thanks to those special people who helped make the upcoming days so special.

Day 6 - I couldn't wait

I had planned to give this to Ronnie on our 45th Wedding Anniversary on November 12, 2011.  I actually finished the top on September 11, 2011 and then put the binding on while he was on his camping trip with the boys the end of September.  I have had it hidden, but not forgotten, in a duffel bag in my closet.  I could not bear to wait so here is a picture of the celebration quilt that I made.

This one is for the girls

Celebrating 45 Years

Day 1 - Ronnie gets a new guitar and he loves it.

Day 2 - Celebrating Mass and the day with our awesome Omaha family. We got to see Anna's volleyball team play while we were there.

Day 3 - Going to Waukee and seeing our 5 year old granddaughter, Katie, get Star Student of the month for the energy and enthusiasm that she brings to the classroom.  In the evening we found out that our youngest grandson, Will, was elected to the student counsel for his class and president of the whole student counsel.

Day 4 - Lunch at Wendy's and shopping in town with each other.  Fun day.
Day 5 - Preparing for the big party to celebrate this coming Saturday.  Lots to do and the family will be here on Friday.

A New Pillow

I made the decision to take an old red and gold pillow apart and make a new cover so Ronnie could use it when he lays back in his new recliner.  The pillow was not shaped like other pillow that I have made and so I had to make things up as I went along.  I used old scraps and cut them into 22 inch strip and different widths ranging from 2 inches to 4 inches.  It was the ends that gave me the most trouble.  I cut ovals and basted along the edges trying to get a good fit.  Sorry to say it looked ridiculous and I had to resew the ends by hand.  I made the ovals much to large.  It is not perfect but not bad either.

Shopping with Kathy

Kathy and I did a little shopping on Saturday.  I got new boots.

A Cruise to the Woods

Wish we would have taken more family pictures but here are a few shots from the Cruise To The Woods this past weekend.  Uncle Dick said there were 13 family members at the cruise this year.  What fun we had and what beautiful cars.

Rich and Kathy in their '68 Super Sport Camaro

One of my favorites. 1956 Ford Crown Victoria 2-door hardtop

A beautifully restored 1957 Chevy Belaire Convertible

Our PT may be a candidate for customizing.
It could become a collector's car someday since production of them ceased in 2010. There was one displayed this weekend and it isn't the first Cruiser we've seen at car shows.

There are two new quilts at our house

The first quilt is one that the girls lovingly call "The Ugly Quilt".  This year at the girls weekend we were each given a chance to bring home a quilt that my Mom had the material for.  Fran put it together with her hands and it is about to become the family traveling quilt.  All had their names in a drawing and guess who brought it home first.  Girls, I really could not see the names.

The second quilt is one that I started in Ocober of 2009 and just finished it last night.  I think there have been pictures on this blog of its progress before.

This is our living room before the big purchase.

This is how things looked after we sold our furniture and.......

 

Here we are now and we are loving it.

Morning Humor

When I woke up this morning, I turned to Ronnie and said "Happy Fall".  He turned to me and very seriously said, "Don't say fall to an old person."

Each day is an adventure.

A weekend of Fun

Last weekend began with happy hour at Bud and Mary McCarvilles'.  We got the chance to break in their new deck.   They have such a beautiful back yard and deck.   Several of the monthly gang attended and had a great time.

Saturday morning I asked Ronnie if he would like to go to town with me as I needed to pick up a prescription at Target and I wanted to stop at Younkers because I had a lot of coupons and I was interested in Fiesta dishes. Off we went and look what I got. Notice my pretty bundt cake in the background.

Sunday morning brought Mass and the Moorland Fireman's Breakfast. That was yummy. We spent the afternoon cheering for our Nascar favorites but it didn't work out this week. Get going #88 and #24.

Peach Jam

Friday morning found me in the mood to can peaches.  I bought a lug on Thursday when I got groceries. 
As I started getting the peaches ready I decided to try my hand at making jam.   I boiled water on the stove and filled a pan with ice and water in the sink.  After cutting an x in the bottom of 8 peaches I put them in the boiling water for one minute and then moved them to the ice water.  The peels came right off and I sliced the peaches into a pan and mashed them a bit.  I then added 5 cups of sugar,  2 Tablespoons of fruit pectin and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice.  I brought the mixture to a low boil for 20 minutes, remove foam from the top and put the mixture in to hot jars.  Time to hot water bath for 20 minutes.  The finished product looks good and we will be enjoying it for awhile. Maybe some homemade bread is in order.

A week in the life

Tuesday I had lunch with a couple of my favorite people, Tina and Cleo, from Target. So nice to catch up and have some great laughs and conversations and a little gossiping among the girls. Wednesday, I got a body perm from Jodi at the Headquarters in the morning. I love it. Not too much curl but just enough body to keep it looking good. Thanks for coming through for me Jodi.

Wednesday evening we went for dinner with our Moorland friends at Mineral City.   It was great and for once, everyone was able to make it.    As always we headed to the Dariette for some lemon ice cream after dinner.  We rode with Joyce and Dick and so they stopped back for coffee when we got home.  It was a fun filled evening.

Thursday I decided that I needed a few things in town.  Ronnie was busy staining/sealing the deck and so I headed out on my own. 

I went to a new store in Fort Dodge called Real Deals for Home Decor. Of course, I made a couple of purchases for the bathroom. From there I walked down the street and browsed around a reconsignment shop. Younkers just happens to have 75% off on some of their summer clothes and I picked up a couple of dresses to wear around the house. A trip to the bank was next and then I headed to Hobby Lobby and bought a new clock for the living room. This is really fun. Menards was my next stop and I picked up spray paint for the wooden frames that Dick made for us. I was getting hungry so I bought some pretzels too. Target here I come. Luckily they had some of the groceries that I needed and I do love just wandering around in there and seeing all of the good deals and the old friends that I made. My final stop was HyVee for groceries. Is it really 6PM? Time does fly when you are having fun.

Summer is coming to an end

After the boys went home to Omaha after their visit I started to realize that summer is almost over.  All grandchildren are back to school and it is a definate sign of fall.  After spending Saturday night and part of Sunday in Omaha we headed for Moorland.

Monday was a big house cleaning day.  It was necessary after being gone so much and having so much company.  As the routine goes, Ronnie does the floors and I do the rest.  I love that he is so willing to vacuum.  It is definately not one of my favorite things.  While I was cleaning I thought it was time to make a little coffee bar near the coffee pot.  I am crazy for change and always trying something different. Take a look.

After enjoying my coffee bar for a couple of days, I decided to take the Pioneer Woman's advice and make iced coffee for us. Sorry Starbucks but it is outstanding.

Here is how I made it. I put 8 ounces of Kona coffee in a large bowl and added 4 quarts of water to that. I let is sit on the counter for about 10 hours. Dick Silvey stopped in and wondered why I had brownie mix sitting around in a plastic bowl. lol

Here is a picture of the final product. It was so yummy and we are still enjoying it. Come for coffee you are always welcome.