L-O-N-G week....

This is Friday, isn't it??? It's been one of those weeks where it is hard to keep track of what day it is.

I had another busy day of chopping hay on Wednesday, which was good, because I was down-for-the-count on Thursday! I knew Dan hadn't felt very good on Tuesday, but I got to experience it for myself two days later. Hopefully it will stop there. I got up this morning, as usual for chores, but couldn't force myself out the door, so I had to call and get Roger up to milk for me. That's not something I do lightly. I went down at 6:20 to help finish up (that extra hour of sleep really improved my outlook!) to find out that Roger had helped Dan set the milkers up and then threw up. He went and got John to help with the milking and he cleaned barn instead. I don't think it is the same thing we had as he was able to keep functioning, and besides his truck sat out this am like he had gone for his usual breakfast run. I had lunch at 2:00 pm today, first real meal since Wed. supper. I told Roger he could have my morning in tomorrow. I felt really bad calling him this morning because we had to roust him Tuesday (his last morning in!) when Dan was sick. (I know we could have called you, Linda, but that was pretty short notice.)

I remembered (at 10:30) that it was indeed Friday so I headed over to Doc Debbie's to do her invoices. There were quite a few as I hadn't been there since the 6th. Had to go through Amherst to get Dan's passport renewal into the mail. Got to get these things done in good time! His passport was due to run out on my birthday, so it wasn't all that early.

Going to the Post Office reminded me of a gripe I have. I had to go there first, as they have a LONG noonhour over which they are closed. From 12:00-1:30 pm you cannot access the counter. That is a bit ridiculous, I think. There are several people working in there, and you would think they could swing their lunch times so that someone would always be there. Grrr...

Let's see, I would rather close this on a happy note.....oh! Only 5 more days until Mara and Mike come, 6 days till Joshua, Debora, Thomas, Sally, Scott and Sam get here and 8 days till Sam turns one! That's all REAL happy stuff!

Oh - another good thing! When I was sick, Roger and John got the last of the hay chopped that wasn't going to be baled. So I am done in the field until second crop...

Happy 1st Birthday to Amelia!

WOW!

Happy Birthday to one-year-old Amelia Van Engen!

Amelia just moved to Tucson, AZ with her family,

so Grandpa and Grandma get lots more time with the grands!

What fun!!

[Amelia is BJ & Beth (Schmit) Van Engen's daughter]

L-O-N-G day yesterday....

You know it's going to be a long day when your bed-partner is sick ALL night! Dan had hardly gotten to bed when he made a mad dash to the bathroom - the first of many during the night. Then, somewhere around 12:30 am there was this awful noise coming from the bathroom. Sally agreed with me that men can take 'tossing their cookies' to a new level! Anyway, after that things settled down for the rest of the night (till the 4:30 alarm, for me anyway...). I offered to let him sleep a while longer, as he was just plain worn out, and he took me up on it. I had almost half the cows milked when Roger walked in. Dan had tried to get up and wasn't successful so had called and rousted Roger, who was having the morning in. My earlier start, together with 'Speedy Gonzalez' showing up, got me home for breakfast at 7:30. By then, Dan had gotten up and gone out to spray. He was back around 8:30 and down for the count. He was up briefly at mealtimes to try and force down some toast and yogurt, but other than that I didn't see much of him. By 9:30 am I was headed over to chop hay, home for lunch at noon, back at the hay by 1:00 and home in time to throw together what supper Dan felt like trying. Then off to chores again, this time with Nicole helping out in the parlor. We could have handled it with Roger helping me milk, but since he had to do that in the morning, and also this morning as it was our scheduled morning off, and Nicole was available, we went that route. This was our first milking together without Dan in the parlor and it went fine. There were the usual nasty beasts in the parlor, but we handled them okay. Or rather, Nikki told me "you can do that one, okay?" No problem. We even had a fresh cow, but at least it was a cow and not a new heifer. Again, I got home around 7:30, so it didn't seem too bad. I 'coaxed' Dan into going to McD's for an ice cream cone. That seemed to sit pretty good on his stomach. Plus it was nice to cool off with a ride. Not something we have done much of lately.

The evening was topped off by a call from Josh and Thomas - they are a package deal in the evenings. We occasionally heard Debora in the background, but imagine she was 'making hay while the sun was shining' - or rather, getting something done while Josh was watching Thomas. That little fellow has his first tooth, and is working on some more. Oh - check out Sally and Scott's blog for some cute, updated, pictures of Sam!

Well, I am expecting a call or drop-in from the guys any time now to tell me to head over to chop. When I hung out the sheets (picture me grinning) the grass was pretty wet, so it may take a bit for the hay to be ready to chop. Dan is over spraying by the Pipe House, but may not get to do much more than that as it is a little breezy out.

Here's hoping today is a little more sane!!

Happy 3rd Birthday to Julie!!!

Happy Birthday to our great-niece, Julie!!!

She is the daughter of nephew Paul and his wife, Stephanie.

Wow! Three years old today, and I haven't met her yet!

Looking forward to doing just that in September

when we go to Montana for Steve and Erin's wedding.

(her card is going to be late - sorry!)

Isn't she a cutie??

Let the Summer Begin!!

It's our day off today - yeah! And a beautiful one at that! Of course, today it had to be really calm at 5:30, so Dan headed out to do some spraying. He has to take advantage of the quiet as we have had so much wind lately. I got up as well and got some laundry going. It has been tough getting that done this week as we were busy with the hay. They got one silo mostly full yesterday and were letting it settle overnight. Roger and John will chop a couple of loads to top that off today and then it will have to be capped and another silo readied for filling. Besides laundry, I have to get to the grocery store sometime today. Hard to fix quick lunches when there isn't much to work with, and quick is all I have for time when we are haying. Other than riding with Dan the other night to go and get the plywood to fix the Richardton, I haven't been off the farm all week. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean I wasn't burning fuel....

When we came home from chores last night we worked out in the yard for a bit. Our neighbor (Roger) was also out trimming his lawn, so he came over and hassled Jack for a bit. Dan brought the skidder down and we moved the arbor that the kids had built at the time of their wedding. This is the smaller structure, the gazebo being the larger one. We had tried to grow grapes by the arbor, but it was too shaded so we moved it out into the yard more. It will take some getting used to having it there. If we decide to go ahead and get some goats (too much else going on right now to give it much thought) we had planned on putting them in that back corner of the lot and fencing it off, using the little shed for shelter. The arbor needed to be moved for that reason, and we moved the fire pit, too, as that would be in the way of any enclosure. It is now closer to the trees with the rope swings. A nice area, sheltered by the trees . We would like to do some more tree cutting (lots of scrubby locusts in the fenceline) and there were a couple of lilacs that didn't get it when we were trimming earlier this spring. It may not be the best time, but they are done flowering so it can't hurt too much. Dan tried the chainsaw again last night and was able to get it to run, so may get some of that done today. We also want to try and make some benches for inside the arbor. If it works out, I will take a picture.

The wildflowers are going wild! They are absolutely beautiful, although SOMEBODY needs to get out there and pull some weeds - mainly nettle. That is some nasty stuff. There is also quite a bit of chervil and white campion (cockle) that needs to be pulled up. Lots of color, if you get out amongst them to see! The daisies - my favorite (I would rest very peacefully indeed, if they were planted over my final resting spot!) - are beginning to wind down. They have been so cheery, greeting me every day as I head out to work, and welcoming me home again at the end of the day. They have popped up in some new places this year, so there are more bunches of them out in the yard, and amongst the wildflowers, too. Love 'em! The corner over by the willow is getting more filled in with them every year. They make my otherswise disorganized yard look like there may be a plan after all...

Hope you all enjoy this beautiful day! We may make it over to Marlene Sannes' for the Pipe School Reunion this noon. Sounds like an old folks' gathering to me! (Just kidding, sort of, as the school closed when Dan was in 8th grade - 1960 maybe?? I imagine I will find out if we go today!)

HAPPY FIRST DAY OF SUMMER EVERYBODY!!!!

We are busy haying these last couple of days, so no time for posting. L-O-N-G days!
Hope you are all enjoying the sun-filled day!

Congrats to Mara and Mike!

A big congratulations to you both on finally selling your house in Milwaukee!
(see their blog)

60 Years Together!!!

HAPPY 60TH ANNIVERSARY

MOM AND DAD!!!!!!!

Still 'kissy-face' after all these years!

Looking forward to helping them celebrate those 60 years in July!

Thanks for all the life-lessons over the years that have helped us to make our marriage a good one as well!

Happy Birthday to Leslie!!

Happy 24th Birthday to Leslie Onan!

(shown here with her trusty side-kick, Louie!)

Leslie is attending Law School at Ann Arbor, MI

and working in Minnesoto for the summer,

getting some valuable experience in environmental law.

Doesn't look the least bit slimy, does she...just kidding!!!!!!

(I'm sure she has already had her fill of 'lawyer jokes'!)

Catch Up

Looks like I may have a day to breathe and take stock of what I need to be working on.

Tried to start haying yesterday, only to run into a couple of different snags. Life on the farm! Either one of the problems on their own would have interrupted the work, but happening together it may take a bit to get everything up and running again. On my end, when I was dumping a load a hay that I had chopped into John's truck, it over-balanced (hay too wet and heavy??) and the arm, that hinges at the back of the wagon and helps the 'roof' open and close, broke off. While I did dump one more load after that, continuing with it in that condition would probably cause the one on the front of the wagon to break as well. There really wasn't any question of whether or not we did that because at about the same time the loading ramp that feeds into the blower, that blows the haylage up into the silo, tried hard to self-destruct! This ramp has a moving floor, so that John backs up to it with the truck that has a dump box and dumps his load. The moving floor then moves it up the ramp and into the blower. I'm not exactly sure what happened (and Dan is out trying to spray chemicals, so I can't ask him) but I think the feeder chain must have gotten caught on the 'floor' and everything came to a halt. The fix? Tear the whole thing apart, remove the floor (which consists of a (rotting) plywood base, covered with plastic sheeting to keep the silage/haylage from sticking) and replace with new plywood (which we were able to pick up at Menard's last night, in under the wire time-wise). I'm not sure if they can used the same plastic or not. I don't think the dump box will be near the problem to fix, but that almost sounds like a dare, doesn't it?

Over the last couple of days I got most of the yard mowed with the push mower, the store room pretty much finished up, laundry caught up (at least it was yesterday...) and did some calling and research on goats. We may go and look at some goats, but not sure if we will get any now or not. A lot going on at present to give it much thought or time. We are thinking of converting our little storage shed into goat shelter, and construct a fence around that and the trees in the back corner of our lot. Like I said, "thinking".

With my ''break" today, I may head upstairs and try to sort through some of the stuff in the girls' old room. No time like the present, so I better get at it. It's dump day today, so I will soon have an empty dumpster to work with...

A Visit to the Onan Farmette

We ran over to Connie and Mike's this morning to see their newest acquisition: 4 goats! Actually, they told us one of the goats was purchased on our behalf, but we weren't able to get very close to them, much less catch any of them. I was partial to the one labeled 'Daisy', and Connie was able to get the one she calls 'Frieda' to come close enough to get petted. The other two were not having anything to do with us. Whether we are able to take one to our place will depend on how tame they get. Connie emailed me tonight that she had Frieda (that spelling doesn't look right to me...) eating apple out of her hand, but Daisy didn't quite trust her that much yet. There is hope. We are looking to tether the goat in our yard to help keep the grass down. It's kind of an experiment, so if it doesn't work out I hope they won't mind taking her back. All four of them are milking goats that the farmer was not able to breed back, so basically they are just hay (grass) burners. Onans are also getting another Nubian goat through Mike's brother, Gary. The others are most likely mixed breeds. They seem to have quite definite characters. (Debora, after seeing the pictures, said there was quite a bit of Alpine in the three mixes.)
When we got over there, Linda was already there checking out the new arrivals. I asked if she was learning all about goat care. She is our resident animal care-taker whenever any of us go anywhere. This time of year there won't be too much to do with their goats, as they have a large pasture and a good size water tank. Winter will be another matter. Not sure how/where we would house a goat(s) in the winter, either.
They had quite a few fish in their re-done pond and LOTS of polliwogs. Beautiful flowers were growing everywhere! Connie denied it, but she has a touch.
Mike's chickens were doing quite well, too. That little chicken coop is adorable! If the chickens don't pan out, it would make a wonderful playhouse for the grandchildren.....just kidding, as I don't think Connie would ever feel she could get it clean enough for that.

We finished up our afternoon by going down to visit the folks. They are doing well and were happy to see us. We don't get down there very often, and that will get worse before it gets better as we will be starting haying this week. FINALLY! Roger finished planting soybeans today!!

Well, Dan is on the phone with Josh and Debora, and I told her I would try to get the goat pictures onto the blog, so I better wrap this up and hit "publish". Talked with Sally, Scott and Sam earlier today also. See their blog for some cute pictures! Also got an email from Mara - busy girl!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!!

Here's wishing all you Dads (e Pais) a WONDERFUL day, hopefully with some time spent with your child(ren)!
A special greeting to all of you first-time Dads! You're in for a great ride - hang on!

Dan is getting something special for Father's Day - stay tuned for more information....

PUT YOUR FLAG OUT - IT'S FLAG DAY TODAY!!!

YESTERDAY'S NEWS....
I got a good stroke of business done yesterday, on organizing the downstairs bedroom/storeroom. I need to attack the closet yet, but otherwise it is mostly ready for habitation. The cats think I put the bed in there just for them! I have to keep it covered so the bedding doesn't get all full of cat hair. Anybody need a cat??

Dan and I ran into Waupaca to do a bunch of errands and grab lunch. It wasn't until we were on our way home that it hit me that it was Friday and I should have done Doc Debbie's books in the morning! I called her right away and she was glad I hadn't gone over as she didn't have very many invoices ready for me to enter. That worked out fine this time, but I don't know where my head was at!
Looking at the entry I made yesterday, I even commented on it being Friday. Must have gone right out through my fingertips!

Roger and Dan spent quite a bit of time yesterday removing the box elder. It looks so different down at the farm now. Besides that tree, they took out the tree from in front of the little house. Grandma B always called that a mock orange. I'm not sure if it was or not, but it is a moot point now. They also removed the lilac that was furthest to the west of the three bushes across the driveway from the little house. The box elder had fallen on it and pretty much wiped it out. The mock orange obstructed their view when pulling out of the driveway, so it really needed to go. Oh, Dan also took the spruce down that had been in front of the big house. It had gotten badly damaged at the time of the fire.

Roger is hoping to plant beans this afternoon, and I just saw him headed that way with his truck loaded down with seed, so that is a good thing. Dan was going to go over and pick some rocks out of the field before Roger got to planting. If nothing else, we sure raise a good crop of 'winter potatoes'!

I have to get back to work - have a good weekend!

Full Day Yesterday

Let's see, I think it rained again yesterday. Yes, I'm sure it did. At least we didn't have to bail out our basement like the Stokes did in Green Bay - what a bummer! And when you hear about folks getting 10 or more inches of rain in one day, it's almost unfathomable. (fun word, isn't it?) And the poor folks where there have been tornadoes! I hope I never have to live through one. Hmmm....let me rephrase that: I hope one never happens here! They can sure make a mess of a silo and other farm structures. There was one that went through south of Rural a couple of years ago - such havoc! Whenever I see pictures of tornado or hurricane damage (they have hurricanes in northern MO, you know - just ask Mara!), my first thought is: How do you start to clean up?? And what do you do with all the debris?? I guess we will deal with not having all of our soybeans planted or the haying started yet. I don't know if I dare breathe it, but the sun is shining at the moment....

Since it was another rainy day yesterday, I decided it was a good time to try and reorganize our sleeping arrangements. Over the 4th we will be fortunate enough to have ALL of our kids, their spouses and the babies here! What fun!!! Last time that happened, Mara and Mike got stuck sleeping on the couch and daybed downstairs. That was at the time of Grandpa's funeral, so I didn't have much time to prepare for their arrival. It will be much better this time around. I'm also tackling those cleaning projects that get pushed back until you have a rainy day. Guess we got that, so no more excuses. Now if I only had one of those HUGE dumpsters!

Well, I better get at it. Hope you all are having a great week. Looks like it is Friday again, for those of you with M-F jobs. Hope you all have wonderful plans for your weekend!

Finishing the Job

Here are a few shots of the reclamation work.
It will definitely look different when it is all finished,
especially with the box elder taken down. The tree had
a lot of dead stuff up in the top, and might have landed
on top of the garage (that gorgeous building!) if left
to come down on it's own.

Even though we had flood warnings for our county for earlier today, we were never in any danger of that. Some areas in the state have sure had more than their share of rough weather already this spring. (it's still spring for another 10 days or so) We didn't get more than a brief shower early this morning. Roger is over trying to plant some of the last beans. I'm not sure that the ground is ready for him to finish them all, maybe that is where John is.

They are calling for rain again tomorrow - quack, quack, quack...

Too bad our "boys" aren't a bit older....

The high hoe operator arrived early this
morning to start digging out the foundations
of the two houses.

Over an hour later he has made quite a
bit of headway.

Hope he doesn't fall into the hole!

Just the west wall to go, plus the basement
stairs, the porches and underneath the
kitchen. Then over to the little house to do
the same....

The hoe operator moved over to the little house sometime after 3:00 this afternoon. Not sure if he will get done today or not. Dan hopes to have him take down that half-dead box elder tree by the garage, too. He has been pushing the debris over the hill on Ed Hebblewhite's dump area with the skidder, as it is hauled over in the dump truck. Dan missed his dinner because Mr. Hawke didn't take a lunch break, but worked straight through. I took him something around 3:00 when it dawned on me he hadn't had anything since breakfast. I had gotten busy and lost track of time. He hadn't faded away yet, but was thirsty because he hadn't taken anything with him. He did have his phone, though...

Just Another Manic Monday...

Not really, but I got you to look, didn't I??

Pretty low key around here today. I did manage to finally put the finishing touches on my Crazy Gatfly's Quilt, so that is done and on the guest bed. Whew! On to other things. Pretty mundane things, actually. It looked like a good day to put away the winter clothes (or at least most of them) and do some general straigtening up around the house. I don't think it actually rained, at least after we got home from chores this morning, but it was pretty humid out. Only in the 70's, so it wasn't unbearable. My daisies are in full bloom, and the yellow roses by the milk house are opening sweetly - what a wonderful smell! There are a few wildflowers trying to come amongst the weeds between the two houses here, where I planted them for M&M's wedding. I really need to get out there and yank out the usurpers! Also the bed we put in further back has some lovely irises blooming, and some other things which I forgot the names of. That also needs some work.
In going through the clothes today, I realized, anew, that most of my clothes are very old. Somehow the oldest stuff is the most comfortable, and I find myself using the top layer in my drawers over and over again, never really getting down to the bottom of the pile. Yet I can't seem to part with any of it. Silly, isn't it? I think I managed to put about 3 things in a bag for GoodWill today. They probably don't even want it.
Well, my man is home and it is still daylight out for a bit yet. Maybe I should go out and pull some of those weeds.....

Wow - 34 Years Together!!

HAPPY 34TH ANNIVERSARY TO

CONNIE AND MICHAEL ONAN!

When I met them in 1975, they were newlyweds of one year.

A lot has happened in those 34 years, hasn't it??

We hope you have a wonderful day!

Introducing: Princess Stella!

She saved the best for last! Or, the last shall be first! You are about to meet the youngest and most fascinating of the Bacon's owners - moi!

My name is Princess Stella, although I usually go by just Stella. But that doesn't mean you don't have to treat me like the royalty I am! I walk like a queen, and all my subjects (mainly the other cats, who are all lowly males) respect me. The dogs treat me okay, although Dusti sometimes gets a little personal (I have heard others complain about that as well), and I get back at her by going and lying on her bed when she is outside. That really trips Jack's trigger, too, although he generally ignores me. I don't always get the respect I deserve out of my human companions, either. I come the closest when Linda comes to visit me. She understands me completely! She knows I simply must jump up on the counter stool to be greeted and admired. The humans that live with me don't usually afford me this right.

One of my favorite things to do (although there aren't any pictures to prove it!) is sit in the kitchen window to watch the birds. Although they don't like to share this experience with me, it is also a favorite occupation of my humans - not the sitting in the window part, that would be too funny! That is why every time they step out the door, even if they are coming right back in, I will jump up on the counter (another no-no in their eyes!) and climb up into the window, so I can see the pretty birds better. Unfortunately, the little dears get all flustered and take off on me, but if I am very patient (and what is a cat, if not patient?) they will come back. Then I try to 'catch' them - but all I usually do is knock things out of the window. Then just watch Her get all upset about that! I haven't broken anything (yet), but you would think it was the end of the world! Good grief!

Want to know a secret? I like Him best! Usually he will let me climb up and sit in his lap and then he will pet me for a long time. He likes to watch TV alot, and if I climb up there when he is doing that, I can get in a pretty good petting session. I don't think he even knows he is doing it half the time, but I do! Sometimes he will take out the brush and make me more beautiful than ever - if you can imagine that! Most of the time we get along famously, but once in a while he will think that the chair is HIS and he will rudely push me onto the floor - the disgrace of it all! Being treated like a commoner! But all is forgiven after I wheedle myself into his lap (sometimes he looks down at me in surprise, wondering how I got there!) and he atones himself by giving me some attention. He may say he isn't very fond of me, but I know better!

Like the rest of the feline population living here, I spend my nights 'kenneled' in the storeroom - what an indignity for someone of my stature! Sometimes when we are called in for supper and bedtime, I run the other way! Oh, I know it's naughty, and I usually come 'round before they go up to their own bed, but sometimes a lady just has to make a statement, you know? They need to be reminded about who I am!

If you come for a visit, I may or may not grace you with my presence. It all depends on how I feel that particular day. I may come when called, but in my own good time, thank you. Unless of course, you are Linda!

A bit windy??

I did manage to get the sheets hung out (sort of) and the blue ones, which are lighter weight, were dry in 15 minutes. Of course I think I had to re-pin them about three times! I left the others out for about 10 more minutes and they were dry, too! Mmmmmm.....fresh line-dried sheets!

Note the brown blob on the left - our little wussy Jack apparently doesn't mind the wind as he was laying out there chewing on his bone. Dusti opted to stay in the utility room. Also you can tell just how far I got with my mowing....

TGIF?

Whatever that means! Not much, here on the farm I'm afraid.
The sun is out at the moment, but we had a nice shower during milking this morning. I'm not sure I"ll ever get the rest of my lawn mowed. Oh well. I'm heading over to Doc Debbie's first to do invoices, then home to work on the monthly farm bookwork. It is supposed to be in the 80's today, so I'll have to keep the house closed up. That is my A/C. I close it up in the early morning while it is still decent outside, and it is very refreshing to come in later in the day when it is steamy outside, and cool inside. It also helps to keep the shades pulled when the sun is hottest. This works fine, but it has to be below 70 at night to do any good. Once it gets over that there isn't much we can do. Fans...to blow the hot air around. It is quite breezy out at the moment, maybe I better get my sheets washed quick!
Weather in Wisconsin - you have to love it! I think I dug out my long johns just last week....
Have a great day!

Nothing much....

Not too much going on here, with the rainy weather and all.
Dan did finally get in to see the ENT today (should have seen him last week). His nose looked pretty good, but there was some scar tissue that the Dr. was concerned about so he poked around up in there and put in a light packing. It had been restricting his airway some (Dan had noticed this), so I'm glad he went in.

This rainy weather has held haying up some, although Roger was able to get some of the beans in. He still has a couple of fields to go. The corn has really popped up and is starting to stretch it's little arms. I'm reminded of the country song that talks about "watching my corn pop up in rows"! Of course, the corn isn't all that's popping up...

The damp weather also made it easier for Dan to take off for his Dr. appointment, and Roger had an appointment with the Farm Service Agency, while John had a funeral to attend - Marina's Grandmother Sievwright, who had been in King with Alzheimer's for a number of years passed away on Monday. Our condolences to the family.

I got a bit of the lawn mowed yesterday, but it was so muggy I didn't get that much done. At least the part where I look out the window while I sit at the computer is done, so I can pretend - still hoping for a goat or two....

Well, that's about all I've got for today. I am heading up to work on finishing up those buttons on my quilt. Need to finish that project before I start anything else. Have a great day!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY!!!!

Happy Birthday to our youngest child, Sally EB Aho! Somehow we feel older saying that our "baby" is 27 than saying our oldest is 30 - how does that work??
We are very proud of our Sally - she chose a good man in Scott, is a wonderful Mom to Sam (she's a regular 'Earth Mother') and on top of that, she has a degree in Social Work and has a good job at a nursing home in Minnesota. (sorry about the vagueness, I wasn't sure about all the titles)
We love you and hope you have a most wonderful day - you deserve it!!

Nothing like a baby in a front pack....even now!

Joshua was about 10 months old, and Thomas is 5 months old here. My front pack back then was a home-made affair, which I mostly wore out with the three kids! I never went anywhere without it. The newer one is a bit more complicated to put on, but works about the same. What fun to carry Thomas in the front pack for a while. Brought back lots of good memories!

Hungry Hummer!

When Dan was going to take the hummer feeder back out, the hummingbirds were just swarming around outside the window, so I grabbed the camera to see how long it would take for them to find the filled feeder. Dan didn't even get to hang it up and one was grabbing a bite! (the blur on the right side of the feeder) The gray strip on the bottom of the photo is an error when using Photosmart - not sure why it happens occasionally. I was cropping the photo at the time.

Dan saw four hummers feeding at once - unusual! We love watching all the birds!

Happiest of Birthdays to You Both!

Happy Birthday to Michael Syring and Michelle (Syring) Stokes! The BIG 3-0! Congratulations!!! Dan said I had to be nice and not post the picture their Grandmother sent to me....they were about 12. (oh, and Michelle assured me that 29 was just fine with her, but Mike could be 30!)

Michael is our daughter Mara's husband of nearly 3 years. He is attending school along with Mara, but working on his degree to teach. Michelle, his twin sister, is married to Chris Stokes, and is the mother of Jackson, a yearling. We have found, to our enjoyment, that when your daughter marries a twin, you get more than just a son-in-law, you gain another daughter, too!
We hope you both have a wonderful day - and your cards are in the mail(box)!

A Weekend with Thomas and Family!

Josh, Debora and Thomas arrived sometime before we got back from Milwaukee on Friday, at 10:30 pm or so. They were visiting with Uncle Roger when we got home, and we debated just slipping up to bed and seeing them in the morning (we had to milk Saturday am), but didn't get away with it - the pull of a grandson is too strong! Before he went to bed, he had his bath-in-the-sink at Gatfly's. He is a creature of habit, and it was so funny to see him getting so excited about his coming bath when his mamãe started undressing him. Then up to nurse and fall asleep. What a good boy! Of course 4:30 came way too early the next morning, but some things you can't replace - like time with the grands!

We had a busy day on Saturday with the trip over to the cemetery. What a surprise when we drove up (last ones, of course!) - there were a lot of cars there! We were afraid there was another funeral going on, but no, it was just the Bacon Clan gathering to say good-bye to one of their own. After the committal service, we spent a little time wandering through the headstones and "meeting" other generations. Then it was off to the Waupaca Woods in the Mall for dinner. Everyone who came to the cemetery met us there for dinner. It was a special time. We missed Jim and Ione, and had tried to call both Grace's house and their's from the cemetery, but were unable to reach them - our fault for not giving them a reminder call earlier in the week. Too many things going on, I guess.

After dinner we went home and put our feet up for a bit. Then Debora and I went out-on-a-mission. Can't say just what here, in case this is read by the wrong folks....hee, hee. Then I had a special treat, as Josh milked cows with Dan in the evening and I got to spend some extra time with Debora and Thomas! What fun! We had tacos ready when they got home, along with cheesecake for dessert. Saturday night, when we could have stayed up a bit later as we didn't have to work on Sunday, we all crashed early - in bed by 10:00.

Sunday off! What a treat to have it fall on a weekend when we have company! We had a lazy start to the day, eating, shopping, eating some more, visiting Great Grandma and Grandpa Hansen, then home for the bath routine. Nice, full day. Lots of good Thomas-time and visiting with his folks.

They were able to stay through lunch today, so we got to go down for the pictures at the farm. We also dug up some suckers by the lilacs which they will plant in their yard at Ottumwa. They took all three colors that we have here. Good luck with them! They headed out about 1:00 or a little later. Not too bad.

After they pulled out, I had my ritual of wiping down the changing pad (from Lorrie) and folding it up until next time. That's always a bit sad, but then I got busy with these pictures and it was all good again. I hope you enjoy them!

June Dates-to-Remember

1 - Dusti, our Lab (7 years)

3 - Michael Syring (Mara's husband) - 30 years old!!

3 - Michelle Stokes - (Mike's twin sister) - 29 years old!!

(just kidding!)

4 - Sally Aho - our baby is 27 today!

8 - Connie & Michael Onan - celebrating 34 years!

11 - Doc Jon (our Best Man) - 61 years

15 - FATHER's DAY :)

16 - Scott Ehr (Marina's son) - 27 years

18 - Leslie Jean Babykins - oops, Onan - 24??

19 - Lewis & Alice Hansen (my folks) - 60 years together!!! Wow!

23 - Julie Hansen (Paul & Stephanie's daughter) - already 3??

27 - Amelia VanEngen (Beth & BJ's daughter) - turns 1!

27 - John Golke (my friend, Anita's husband)

Beth and BJ's Wedding

I didn't get the best photos, but these are what I took. I like the picture of Heather and me - not often we both get cleaned up at the same time! Ha, ha.... We enjoyed sitting with Cari, Rob and the kids. It tickled Dan that both kids took right to him. Elyse was a picture in her summery dress and Eric was "Puck" personified - very cute!
Memphis and Amelia did a great job - Memphis was very accommodating to the photographer! I think they must have put velcro on Amelia's bottom. Don't know how they kept her in that wagon otherwise. She was a regular little princess in her carriage! Beth was a beautiful bride, of course, and BJ a handsome groom.
We were able to stay for the dinner, but had to head home after that. I hear we missed a good party. Oh well. As it was, Josh and family beat us home by a bit. They took advantage of their time and visited with Uncle Roger.
Congratulations again, to Beth and BJ, and Memphis and Amelia too - a great little family!