K.C. Willis camp

Work is by a talented artist K.C. Willis. She has wonderful classes, which I would love to take sometime soon. I love following her blog. She is having a give away for an angel by your door. Please check out her blog it is quite fun. http://kcwillis.blogspot.com/2009/12/i-have-guardian-angel.html

Happy Cowboy Christmas

Another Christmas memories made with family. A wonderful memory it was and enjoyed by all.

My family picks a theme each year and this found us with Cowboy actors. I found it fit right into my cabin very well! The gift wrapping contest was quite fun and another winner was placed with her tribute to John Wayne. More picture on that fun time later.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas also. My time with my family was indeed great! I was very thankful ,they came early before the snowy and ice covered roads appeared.

Many blessings to everyone in their returning to home and safe travels.

Christmas Orny 2009

By the Sea Christmas orny made for my sisters. This past May, sister Brenda hosted us to her timeshare on the island of Kauai. Everyone was quite taken with the many sea turtles, we were fortunate to see on our adventures. The picture, I used actually was taken by my niece Brooke, as she swam under the sea. I then used... the pic on the top of Mom and Dad in an embrace on the beach. I can post this now, as my sisters have all told me.. they have it hanging on their trees. Christmas countdown is on and I must finish my other projects. How can this be Christmas week already?!

Christmas Wonderment...

This is our first great granddaughter's first Christmas! Does she know what it is all about?
The pose looks like, she is hoping for much fun and family time! Will there be presents for me?!
Christmas is the children and the sharing of families and friends, don't you think?
Happy first Christmas, baby Laura!!
{Not sure who took this lovely photo, i am guessing my daughter, I grabbed it from granddaughter's FB}
Great photo girls, Love it!

Christmas Can Bring Memories

Baby Jesus, Joseph, and Mary always complete my Christmas Decorations. I must have them placed each year to have the true feeling of Christmas with my family. When my babies were small and I was busy making each and every Christmas gift... I found these white ceramic pieces in a local craft store in Northern Iowa. I took them home and painted them brown and rubbed gold leaf on the ridges. The green fur that they reside on , I obtained at the same store.
Through the years they have had a placed of honor. My babies grew and now return home for the holidays each season, they will find them always somewhere in my home. When I placed them out each year, I see laughter and fun as my girls and boys enjoyed the celebrations of Christ's birth. Mary 's nose has somehow disappeared through the years and I believe happened during the years of playful children. I just touched her up with brown paint and she continued with her life. Through the years, I have thought to place them on different settings. It does not seem right without the green fur placement. Cherishing the feeling this decor creates and ...
Loving the memories

Festival of Trees Completion

Festival of Trees--- Thanksgiving I had a blog about the gingerbread men, I was working on for this project. I wanted to share the completed project. Blank Children's fundraiser was a success! It takes place Thanksgiving week with my fellow staff members, Linda Mitchell and Cindy Urquhart who are found working on this all year.. Linda is the head organizer and I am always amazed and delighted in the completion of final tree decoration. As you can see, the theme was Candy land. She used the game board as the format for every piece of layout and decorations on this tree. The tree did very well and was chosen in the 2ND tier of donations, which is a very good deal. Linda and Cindy should be very proud, as the ER staff is proud of them. Also thank you for allowing the rest of us at the ER to help.

I Must mention the tree skirt above the diorama, was cross Stitched candy land theme {of course},by Cindy. All ornaments were handmade and add so much to this theme.

The winner of the auction of these trees, then get donates them to many worthy organizations.

Hopefully anyone around DesMoines area on Thanksgiving was able to enjoy all the many trees that were at this exhibit.

Crazy Quilting for Book Club

Rebecca's Decorations .... The Host of Book Club Christmas

My gift for the exchange was this crazy quilt... i make a challenge for myself to create a gift that reflects all the books, we have read this year. My choice was to make a clutch purse. We have read 10 books this year. So my embellishments were sometimes, subtle hints or blatant clues as to each book represented. It was a joy to make and I was happy to see member, Valerie was the one to receive my gift.

We always have great fun with all the gifts and wrappings. Of course, it is a game to get each gift and much laughter and thoughts were done trying to guess which book the gift represents. My list of books read 2009 are on a earlier post.

My gift was from the book "The Guynd" it was a wonderful Victorian lap writing desk with a pitcher of Royal Dalton and antique dollies. Thank you Linda, I love my gift. You chose gifts from your book, a lovely book about an American renovating a Scottish ancestral home.

I must now get busy with my decorating and Christmas projects...

A Thankful Day

Our Little Great Granddaughter's very first Thanksgiving. She gaves us all joy



Thanksgiving Day at the E.R.

It truly was a thankful day. We had such delicious food from everyone. Laughter was shared with all the great food. Later, I was able to share with my family. Joy for me 10 minutes from work.! So off to see the family... Little Laura was just waking from her nap and everyone were sharing laughter together as I came into the family cluster.

It filled my heart as always to share with those, who are closest to me. The family members unable to attend were missed very dearly.

Thank you family and friends for a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Book Club Annual Christmas

Time for another ending year of reading books at the OMBC. The Christmas night and reviewing of books read will be tomorrow night at my daughter's new home.
It has been a good year of chosen books. These are the ones, my members have picked and we have enjoyed this year.
Luncheon of the Boating Party.... Susan Vreeland
The Book Thief... Markus Zusak
The Penny... Joyce Meyer & Deborah Bedford
Julie & Julia...Julie Powell
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas...John Boyne
The Guynd...Belinda Rathbone
The Lost City Of Z...David Grann
Slumdog Millionaire...Vikas Swarup
Mad Dash...Patricia Gaffney
Secrets She Left Behind...Diane Chamberlain

What fun we have had meeting each month to discuss these great reads!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone

I am truly thankful for my family. My youngest granddaughter put on FB... I am thankful for a family that loves me. Well said, Maddy !
I will be sharing the Thanksgiving dinner with my work family today. I am also thankful to get off later today, for a bit of time spent with family at my wonderful MIL home. My family will be gathered there for a feast. She has been spending days preparing. Mother In law will be 80 this January. When other family members offer to host, she states,.. she wants to continue to host as long as she is able! So thankful that MIL & FIL are very healthy and live a blessed life together.
Have a safe and happy times spent with family and friends today.

Thankful for Wonderful Friends

Just wanted to mention what wonderful friends I have... The pics of them helping me have a great Sister Retreat this October. Lorena gave a very knowledgeable nature walk teaching with laughter and demo stations of our Iowa's indigenous grasses and wildflowers.
Brenda gave us a wonderful trip back into "Days gone by" of the one room schoolhouse and living in the 1900's. She prepared a wonderful picnic at the round barn complete with table decor and a welcome unmatched by any other event. She even brought girls from her classroom to share a piano recital at the church. All this was on the grounds of the Allerton historical site.
Everything was just perfect and such fun.
Thank you so much ,dear friends!

Bradley Hall

Weekends past so quickly and this one was a cloudy, but warm one in the low 50s. DH and I
went to the neighbor town of Centerville to entertain ourselves. We stopped at Bradley Hall. It is a mansion built in 1909 during the Gold Coast era. It has 22 rooms, which are now filled with different vendors of many types of decor and foods. We spent quite some time wandering around the beautifully display items. On the third floor used to be the ballroom, we found filled with local artist work. Love to of taken more photos, but sadly did not check the camera and my batteries were blinking done. But the above photos were in the entrance and caught me in the spirit of the season.
We then went to another mansion on the North side of the town square, called the Columns. It has many wondrous items as well and seems to carry more of an antique flavor, which I love. Sorry no pics.
Then conclusion we ended up at the Double R, where the best tenderloins are made. They have been there since 1966. Same owners and family continue the same delious menu. Love it! Unfortunately, there are only open during fair weather. Thankfully, they stay open till weather becomes severe. The owner Andy Ragona was heard to say to us, that we were very faithful good customers. We have continued to visit through our high school years till present. Plan to continue to make it a weekly treat... Hopefully another week or two is left this year!

Festival of Trees

One project completed! Blank hospital, where I work has a festival of trees. Every year different staff members and others volunteer to decorate trees to be auctioned off. The last few years our dept have had a Pediatric E.R. tree done. Linda Mitchell is the the decorator. She organizes us all and everyone is willing to help. My contribution is these gingerbread men. Our theme this year is Candy land. Next week, we will bring all the decorations together and set up the tree. Many also volunteer for that event as well. Linda is busy getting everything ready and I thank her so much for the job she does each year. If you are in DesMoines during Thanksgiving do stop in and view the trees it is worth the time. Very inspiring and Festive. So check out the website and maybe stop in to see the trees.
www.festivaloftrees.com
So off to work and hopefully another project will be completed next week for me.

Holiday Time is Near

What busy times... Many events I have attended these past few weeks. In between working working. It can leave me breathless, but fill with joy.
In October after the sister retreat, we had many of my kids birthdays and attended granddaughter's volleyball games.
Also I attended the AQS quilt show in Des Moines at the Wells Fargo Arena. It was a honor to be able to attend this wonderful event. Much to my enjoyment, they had quite a large display of antique quilts. Anita Shackleford's collection of red and greens was awesome to see. Kalona also had their quilts from their Antique Amish Quilts collection. Browsing after that became overwhelming, as I walked through the many vendor's and beautiful quilts displayed from around the country. It was so very exciting for Iowa to have the American Quilt Society come to Des Moines. This was their 2ND year to come to our capitol.

Then the first weekend of November... I went to Louisville to share in the celebration of my sister Bev's 50TH birthday. I spent the day riding with my other sister, Brenda. The long ride shortened by sharing time together in the car. Much catching up with each other was done both on the way to Louisville and home. It was fun but exhausting sharing with all my siblings and Bev's lovely family.
This past weekend we celebrated my Husband 60Th birthday. A fun time shared with our children and families along with my MIL, FIL. It is always a joyous event when shared with our kids and family. My husband's mother will celebrate her 80TH in January. Looking forward to planning this event. But she informed us... not to celebrate! Imagine that?! Not going to happen!
Thanksgiving is fast approaching and many are making plans to share together. Mom, 79 years young will be hosting the event. She takes great pride and joy in this and really loves to have all her family around her. She wants to continue to be the host as long as she is able.
For me, my family is planning on coming and have fun each year. I will be working at the ER.
But being, she lives so very close to the hospital... I can catch the later part of the festivities and share some time with family.
Now on to the jobs, I need to complete today before heading back to work tomorrow.

Remembering Veteran's Day

Our thoughts today to all who have served not only W.W.2 but all Wars.
Thank you and blessings to all the families, who have sacrificed for our country.
United States Coast Guard, Army, Navy, Marine,and the Air Force.

Sisters

Sisters--- How do people make it through life without a sister?
I have 3 sisters plus 3 sister-in-laws. They bring much joy to my life and laughter.
I cherish those memories and look forward to many more.

A sister is a gift to the heart a friend to the spirit, a golden thread to the meaning of life.
---Isadora James
Blessings to the many sisters everywhere and to mine. :]
Thanks for the gift.

Happy November

by Shabbycottagestudio

pic by Jared's camera at the back cornfield.

So wanted to wish everyone, a happy November. I find myself with the closure of October and many of my family birthdays now over. It leaves me breathless with the activities and comes with a few more events to celebrate this month. My sister, Beverly will be having her 50Th and my DH will have his 60Th. then on to the holidays. Many fun things to do and get ready to help the celebrations. Tonight will be book club at Valerie at a nearby town and look forward this evening. We have been reading "Mad Dash" by Patricia Gaffney

Tomorrow back to work schedule. Love my job, but sometimes it can, get in the way,

of my projects. So onward to those today...

It is a beautiful Sunny November day and blessings and joy to you.

Poetry Missed

A Friday at my great job has a tradition of poetry and chocolate. It may only be a few moments amid phone calls and patients... but a fellow team member will take it upon theirself to read a small paragraph. Each week a cherish moment can take us away from the stress of our job and remind us ... that joy comes from working together. The conclusion of the reading we are all offered a bit of chocolate. Our dear unit secretary and organizer of our E.R. is always the one, who remembers to bring the organic chocolate choices. Actually, she who began this special time! The chocolate came with a poem inside the wrapper and she decided, we needed the reading done aloud. So it began and we have enjoyed Friday treats much more. Of late, we have been so busy with the many sick children, it is very hard to find a moment, when we can all appear at the station at one time. We miss it and I wanted to share a poem this week--- just in case, I am not able to share this Friday.

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore---
while I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping
As of some one gently napping, rapping at my chamberdoor---
"Tis some visitor," I muttered," tapping at my chamber door---
Only this and nothing more."......
http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15638

Edgar Allan Poe

Now have a piece of chocolate...

Granddaughters

What joy they bring.. I have three granddaughters, whom I love very much. Two of them have October birthdays, so we have been celebrating their life. It always gives such pleasure to share my passion and fun with them. They grow so quickly to be young ladies. But most of all, I take pleasure and wonder at how they are developing their own joys and passion. I continue to learn so much from them as well. The wonder and excitement they have can leave me breathless. My heart is always filled with the sound of their voices.

My sister, Beverly has recently been witnessing the joy of having a granddaughter. She speaks of sadness upon returning home after sharing the love from the eyes and arms of her granddaughter. It just makes all and every moment with them even more precious.

Thank you granddaughters for all your love... you give... and for the gift of your life.

Fun Times

Such good times were had with my sisters,
but now it feels as if the fall is past. I have sweet memories of sharing my part of the world. Those Days Gone By....
The nature walk with Lorena was so inspiring and our day with Brenda at the One room school house the best. Enjoying the Pioneer Festival at the museum with Wayne county was an added as a bonus, that worked so well with my theme. I must lead you to Brenda's blog, for our times at the one room school house. She has a beautiful blog on our adventures there. The Fried chicken dinner was excellent and the almond cake under the tree superb. Thanks again Brenda.
http://www.simplepleasures-bb.blogspot.com/
Later, I will share the beautiful fall flowers and grasses we discovered with Lorena.
I will leave you with another Pumpkin Recipe...

Kay's Pumpkin Dessert

1 Pkg. yellow cake mix--[minus 1 cup of the mix saved out}
1/2 c. butter melted
1 egg
Mix and press into greased cake pan 9by 13

filling: 3 c. 1 lb. 14 oz. can pumpkin pie mix
2 eggs 2/3 c. milk

Topping- 1 c. reserved cake mix
1/4 c. brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 c. butter cut in together

Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes
Serve with whipped cream topping
delicious.... a favorite at my home.

Sisters Retreat Food

The Sister Retreat was a success. Weather held for us... Because today is a bit chilly with 32 degrees.
Days Gone By was the theme. You must have a theme, to pull all your plans together. My dear friend, Brenda from Simple Pleasures [www.simplepleasures-bb.blogspot.com] gave me the wonderful suggestion. It was her help that gave the climax of the weekend its success. We had many exposures to Days Gone By. We even had crazy quilting projects. But much more of the tidbits on our Retreat at a later post.
If you may have guess, Food is a important part of our Retreat. We must eat well!
So, of course all things pumpkins were use along with other side special recipes.
I heard discussion of plans to form a sisters cookbook. So I will share some of favorite recipes.
So I will start with sharing this one... Some requests were heard for this one.

Pumpkin Pancake Recipe given to me by another friend Cami Wright.

2 cups of flour
1/4 cup of Brown sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. allspice
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cup of milk
1 can 15 oz. pumpkin puree
1 egg
2 Tablespoon vegetable oil
2 T " vinegar
Mix together with a wire whip may add a bit more sugar and if too thick may add a bit more milk.
Tip.. I found if you make them too thick in the skillet .. they are hard to completely cook through.
Smooth out a bit thinner for a faster cook.
May add some pecans on topping with the Maple Syrup
So very good.
Thanks- Cami.

The Bee Sister Time is Near

This is the year, I am the host for our annual sister retreat! I am so very excited about the sharing time and activities planned. I know... they already started gathering at Mom's. Bev arrived last night to Illinois. The sisters are meeting up at Mom's. I feel her excitement as her fun has begun she so loves sharing with us. So with Mom, they will be traveling to my cabin on Friday morning. I must wait to share the plans later as not to give out any secrets early. So keep circling bees safely and buzz over here soon. The Queen is busily preparing for fun!

Happ Birthday Stephen

Last Saturday, The family drove to Iowa City. We were... to surprise the birthday boy.

Labor Day, he had moved from sunny Florida to Chicago. His dear wife, Rachel had the wonderful idea of meeting at Iowa River Power Restaurant. We have missed many birthdays, while he was living in sunny Florida. The ploy was to meet Kristin to pick-up his bikes, because she would conveniently be at a meeting there.. We had fun hiding and waiting for Kristin to signal the time to jump up and yell ...Surprise!!! The employees of the restaurant were quite helpful in making sure everything was perfect. Thanks guys.

It was a quite place with much history and beauty. At the turn of the century, a flour mill operated on the site, because it sits right on the river. Construction on the present structure was completed in 1902 to house a power generating station that operated until 1968.

It became a Restaurant officially in 1977 .

We all enjoyed the beauty of the river and waterfowl that floating back and forth around the bridge. The food was wonderful. The birthday cake creation was done by Rachel's mother, Linda.

And It was perfect!

The best part was being with family and sharing good times and memories.

Have a great day today, Stephen ...We so enjoyed sharing it with you.

Fall Has Arrived

Brr.. clouds and 59 degrees.
The first very full day of fall. A day, we have 12 hours of sunshine and 12 hours of darkness with moonshine.
Our turkeys are moving around and getting caught up on feeding. Enjoying the fall seeds and bugs.
Vultures are still swooping the skies.
The Hummingbirds seem to be hitting the feeders fast and furious. So much energy and strength to store up for that long flight to the southern hemisphere. I better fill those feeders one more time then they will be off... They are always the first to leave the Midwest.
Enjoy this day and blessings it gives us all.

The Moving Wall

A visit to the Moving Wall at Allerton. The board of the Historic Round Barn Site sponsored and hosted...
We could not miss the opportunity to honor the Men and Women of the United States who served in the Vietnam War.

The Wall is 1/2 size replica of the Washington D.C. Vietnam Memorial that is touring the country. So many names... 58,175 are listed from 1959 to 1975.
We discussed people and remembered classmates, who we have known, whose names are there.

" IN HONOR OF THE MEN AND WOMEN OF THE ARMED FORCES OF THE UNITED STATES WHO SERVED IN THE VIETNAM WAR. THE NAMES OF THOSE WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES AND OF THOSE WHO REMAIN MISSING ARE INSCRIBED IN THE ORDER THEY WERE TAKEN FROM US."

Many thanks to the people, who duplicated this wall and gave us an opportunity to see...
Thanks to the people of Allerton for bringing and hosting the Moving Wall for us.

Summer Days & Full Moon Evenings

the Moon by Kari Hendren....

Summer afternoon by my pond...

Do you not feel joy by this?! I do hope... everyone took the time to share in the beauty of a full moon and those so perfect days of cool breezes and warm sun :}

These days have been the best.. don't you agreed?

Whatever is going on in these busy times of our life, I do feel energize by these sights.

Thanks Kari for sharing your wonder at the Full Moon from the Sky's of Colorado.

Special Times Shared with A Granddaughter

The final days of summer always zoom by so quickly.... but times spent with family are the best. Last Friday, Miss Maddy and my daughter enjoyed meeting at the movie of Julie/Julia . Which was quite enjoyable. Maddy then came home with me for the weekend!

She had not been able to spent as much time, as we would of liked this summer. Growing up so quickly and now has become very active in summer activities at home .

But, she wanted to see the painted turtle. I learned much trivia about the life of a turtles.

She has a passion for wildlife and in particular all things turtle. We also spent time fishing at the ponds and having discussions on the wildlife of Iowa ponds.

On Sunday, we worked on creating a project by "Reduce, Recycle, Reuse" We took an old pair of jeans and sew them into a school bag. Got to love the designs, she created on the bag!

You will find her favorite things drawn and highlighted.

One other trip this summer, she spent several days making a project with her Grandpa. Their speciality together is always with wood. Maddy needed a fish tank stand for her room. The stand was made of wood from our forest around our home. You can see she is quite proud of their creation.

I do believe this girl will grow up to have desires to create and enjoy the creatures and life around her.

What a joy for us to share in a granddaughter's zest and wonder of the world around her.

Joys of Wildlife in Summer

What a blessing to share life with these creatures.

So unique and beautiful in God's wonder of creation.

A day to be amazed and thankful...

Iowa State Fair

A final week of trying to squeeze all of summer's finest moments. The weather has been a bit rainy, but beautiful just the same...

We spent a day driving to the capital to partake of Iowa's great attractions!

We actually drove to the Capital Building, parked, then caught the bus to the fairgrounds.

Walking to the bus stop, I became distracted with the beautiful sights and monuments at my State's Capital.

Will have to share that at a later time.

but on to the Fair...

Where else can you see Iowans gather together, in wonder, of many food stands. In fact 45 different foods on a stick! I heard snicker on a stick was great~ did not find it, good deal for me.

Another great wonder of the fair was Schultz's Peanut ,all done in Butter.

{1st 2 pics are comments of the Iowa State Fair website.}

We ran into my eldest granddaughter and her close friend Jared. They had plans of enjoying the tractor pull. So after a quick visit they were off on their own fun.

I found my way to the Textile competitions. Many~ Many quilts but sadly, there does not seem to be many Crazy Quilters in Iowa. I saw a couple of very small projects by a Marty Martin.

a little sweet purse and very small pillow. Beautiful work , I cheered her on, to create more for next year.

Loved seeing the cultural building as well. Photography was great, but I thought my dear friend Brenda from http://www.simplepleasures-bb.blogspot.com/ had photos, that would of challenged them.

Many Iowans artist were found at this fun building. I enjoyed them t all.

The man who paints the big rock at Adair county was there also. The Freedom Rock. He was painting a rock inside this area. Every year, {since 1999 and he was only 19 years old} he paints a new painting of our soldiers fighting for freedom along the highway 25 to Greenfield.http://www.thefreedomrock.com/

So many wonderful things to see, but~~~

The walking was quite enjoyable, but found, we were both ready to head back to our bus stop and return to the Capital.

Paris Box

Sharing my crazy quilted box. It was my first attempt at covering a box. I must admit the gluing part was a bit tedious. I enjoyed all the stitching of course.
Omaha Retreat with Lisa Caryl was the artist for this idea. The techniques learned, and many of the supplies were from her. She had much to offer with her wonderful ability to teach and share.
Some of the techniques that were new to me, that I placed on this box were...
the sequin flower
origami flowers
basket charm filled with beads
The box itself... I do not believed I would of tried without all her tips.
It was fun seeing the different members in the class arrangements with her many trims and beads she gave us that day. Including the box and fabric trims.
Hope more of you out there, share your boxes, when they are completed.
Thanks Lisa... It was fun.

Book Club Fun Nite

I was not disappointed by looking forward to this evening. Brenda was well prepared with touches and welcome everywhere. It invited us back to the 1950's and remembering Grace Kelly and family times in St. Louis.

Her chosen book,"Penny" was a hit and received great reviews from all members.

We enjoyed Basil pesto, pasta with heirloom tomatoes on her lovely deck among all her Basil plants. Then we returned indoors to discuss the book and enjoy a delicious dessert with blueberry topping. Please blog recipes-- Brenda.

Everything was just perfect.

Bonus all members were able to attend! So I had to snap a group shot in front of fireplace.

Got to love those evenings out to book club. As always such a treat!

Tall Corn Fields

Iowa corn is growing and growing.... I couldn't resist sharing this great Iowa Cornfield/Ragbrai shot of that team Jorts. It is from my son's photos. It speaks of all the fields those bikers rode by & by. The corn is definitely getting taller.
Work weekend is over and tired i find myself. I am managing to do some stitching from that front porch. As always it renews my spirit.
So looking forward to tomorrow, as it will be Book Club night at my friend Brenda. I can hardly wait to see her vignette. I know Brenda will be inspired from her book choice. "Penny" Also I know the food will be wonderful as well.

Road Trip To Antique City

A road trip to Walnut, Iowa. A prime city to find antiques... Actually it ended up being a fun day to share with my friend Brenda. We had a beautiful sunshine day and began searching through the many stores the town had to offer. I do believe, we both had high hopes of finding wonderful vignettes of fun bargain treasures. We saw many many treasures, but prices were a bit high for our tastes. We did spend a time sitting in antique chairs going through a great collection of quaint old postcards. We both brought a few of these home. I also found a great antique school book that we will both enjoy and two beautiful handkerchiefs.

We enjoyed delicious sandwiches on fresh baked bread at a street front bakery. Then a few more visits into stores and back on the road. One pit stop was made at another quaint Iowa town. It claims status to have hosted Bonnie & Clyde in the days of bank robberies. Oh my!

Thanks to Brenda, the day was not a total disappointment because, being with a dear friend always brings joy to the heart.

Balloon Ride Engagement

A grand summer ride for a dear nephew and his girlfriend. Brad always loves adventure and lots of outdoor activities in his life. He has a very dear friend and companion for a bit who shares lots of those adventures. In fact last year, they did the Ragbrai trip together. But this year college and jobs got in the way, but during Ragbrai week... he chose to take Danna for a balloon ride. He then proposed high in the sky over a lake. She definitely said, YES, I will continue our journey of adventures with you by my side!
Congratulations Brad & Danna!!!

Team Jorts

Today was the final day for the riders as they dipped their bikes in the Mississippi River. They will all be returning to jobs and homes far from Iowa. The Bethlehem church was a fun stopping place for many on Thursday Morning. This picture was taken by Des Moines Register...

The collage is my favorite Team. Team Jorts! {Pic my me} They traveled to my cabin and spent the night of rest in the countryside not far from Bethlehem. My son Stephen and friends were in this fun team of riders. They enjoyed showers and jerseys washed and supper and breakfast with us. DH and I enjoyed hearing all the stories and adventures, they had to share. They were having so much joy and even with a few soreness in muscles, they were ready to continue and take in all the fun and sights left of the week. Kari Hendren told me, she did not remember all the beautiful wild flowers of Iowa. She admitted, she did not appreciate them while growing up among them. Some of others commented, they never seen the stars so bright as they were at the cabin!

I hear, they are already making plans for Team Jorts next year gathering on the roads of Iowa.

By the way, they explained Jorts means... Jeans cut off too short and made into Jorts!

So with the jerseys that resemble tuxedos on the ride, in the evening, you find them sporting their Jorts...