Getting Caught Up

We are getting things caught up from being gone for a week.  There is still plenty of fall work to complete tho.  We finished cutting silage and covered the pile with plastic tarp before we could leave for the wedding.  

One of DH's older sisters and her husband (both retired) spent the week at the ranch while we were gone.  They made sure everyone stayed on their side of the fence and all the water tanks were full.  Feeding Lambie Pie and all the cats were on their list of chores too.  We are so thankful for their watching over things for us--it really helped us to relax and enjoy our time away.

We rented a two bedroom condo on Pensacola Beach.  We were on the 10th floor.  The views are beautiful from the balcony.  We loved drinking coffee every morning and watching the beach action. The waves were still high from Hurricane Isaac.  There were a lot more shells and sand bars too.

Ryan's parents and family rented a four bedroom condo on the beach.  He has two sisters and a brother.  They are all married and have families already.  We went to their condo on Friday night and met them all.  It was nice to meet and visit so everyone knew each other before the wedding the next day.

Ryan's brother took the official wedding photos.  It all went so fast, but I did take a few to share with you.  The couple had made arrangements to have the ceremony at Fort Pickens, but  Isaac spoiled that plan (no refund for the permit fee either). 

 

Here is DH and the barefoot bride.

 

 

Ryan's father performed the ceremony.

 

 

We had supper at the Holiday Inn Resort.  It was lovely and the food was wonderful.  (Jen now has six nephews and one niece.)   There is beautiful DD 1 coming in the door with her friend and DH.

The couple spent a few days in St Thomas on honeymoon.  They are back to the real world and settling into everyday life.

 

We attended my niece Erin's wedding this last Saturday 9/22.  It was a beautiful wedding of fall colors.  She and her groom rode away from the church on his motorcycle.  It was a fun day with family.

 

Thank you for all your good wishes and comments on the last post.  We are stacking and hauling hay bales for winter feed.  It is sooooo very, very dry.  We have to be very careful as the fire danger is so high now.  The ground is hard as a rock and the dust flies everywhere we drive.  We will be moving the cattle home from the north soon and letting them graze the fall pasture and corn stubble.  We will need to do some sorting and culling.  Feed is going to be at a premium this winter. 

 

 

 

 

Beach Wedding

 

 

It was a beautiful wedding.  We had a fun week of activities and preparations.  I'll share more later.

 

 

Fun Week End--for me

I attended a wedding in Pierre this week-end.  Michelle was a bridesmaid for a very special friend of hers.  It was 105 degrees on the bank sign as we went into the church for the 5:00 pm ceremony.  The church was lovely and cool.  The humidity was very high--hard on make-up and hair dos.  The heat didn't put a damper on the wedding fun tho.

Michelle and I especially enjoyed seeing some of her classmates from the high school class of '99.  Rocco enjoyed the cool hotel room. 

DH stayed home to work.  They are silaging the oats for winter feed.  The wheat in this picture is quickly ripening in the heat and combining will be next very soon.  All the way to Pierre I saw combines in the field harvesting.  It was equally hot on Sunday, so Rocco and I headed home right away.  It was about 8:00 pm when it finally cooled off to 80's and I mowed the grass.  It has been a very hot July and the AC has run day and night.  The humidity has been much higher than we are used to.  It has been raining in July--unusual for South Dakota. 

It rained last week a couple times.  I took this picture one evening when we didn't get any rain, but others did with high winds.   Thankfully we have missed any damaging storms.  I'm surprised there hasn't been more violent storms or tornadoes with all the heat. 

DH took his lunch today, so I hope to get back to sewing.   It is suppose to be over 100 again today, so Rocco and I will be keeping cool inside.

John Wayne Arrived

The biggest news in the family--the baby has arrived.  John Wayne was born yesterday weighing 6 lbs 15 ounces and measuring 20 inches long.   Here he is with his proud parents Kelly and Clint (DH's nephew, who was born on his birthday).   Interestingly enough it was my sister's birthday yesterday, so it will be easy to remember this little guy's birthday.  The baby is named after his two great grandfathers.  Every one is doing great.

Here are the proud gramps and granny, DH's youngest sister.  What a wonderful day for them all.

Now to get Down on the Farm completed!! 

I added some clouds to the sky.

A few crows in the sky above the scarecrow.

I did some loop de loops in the sashing borders. 

And a lovely scroll stitch in the yellow border.  (Bernina #146  -- 3.0 length)   I still have the outer border to quilt and then I can do the binding and label.  I plan to do that today if there are not schedule changes.

Michelle and I drove to Minneapolis, MN for a wedding (6 hour drive).   We left on Friday and returned on Sunday.  The wedding was for a very good friend and high school class mate of Michelle's.  They were married at the Basilica.  It was beautiful.

It was a wonderful day for November. 

Rachel was a beautiful bride.

A mother/daughter picture at the reception.   It would have been nice to include Rachel and her Mom, but there were just too many people and not enough time.  We had a wonderful time.  The best part of the trip for me was the 12 hours in the car with Michelle.  We got caught up on all kinds of visiting.  DH stayed home with Rocco and hauled hay to the feed yard.  I think they enjoyed that much more than the wedding trip.

I'm getting caught up from being gone and hope to get the quilt finished for the new baby.  I can't wait to start the next project or go back to one of the old ones. 

The weather continues to be gorgeous here.  It was 70 degrees yesterday--unreal for November in SD.   Today is suppose to be almost as nice and then the cold front is coming.  DH will finish hauling hay today.   We still have sunflowers to combine and calves to wean.  The days just seem to fly by.

Rocco is so enjoying his time outside with his friends in the sunshine.  Every nice day is a bonus for him and us.  Have a wonderful day where ever you live.  Hugs........