And then summer comes to an end

School has started for many children and more start tomorrow. Summer has flown by - sort of. Memorial Weekend does seem a while ago. Hard to believe that in those weeks, we/I made 3 trips to IL to help at the Bible camp, attended a softball scrimmage of granddaughter Emma, attended one of her orchestra concerts and Cole's school program at the end of the school year. We had sister in law Wilma come to visit while attending her own class reunion and got to see her again when she and more family came for a 90th birthday party. 

In the midst of our summer, my Aunt Eva Onstad passed away at age 93. She was married to my dad's twin brother. We spent several days each summer as I was growing up, on the farm with their family doing whatever they were busy doing, helping with harvest, running errands, doing some sightseeing and visiting other family. I treasure those memories!!! She was such a special person - so funny, so hardworking, so caring, so full of faith. Above are photos from the cemetery in Parshall, ND. 

It was wonderful to see so many of my Onstad family while attending the funeral.

Above are photos of the family as we gathered on the home Onstad farm, at the Legion Hall in town and at the home of Steve and Jeannette Hoff, who farm the home farm my Aunt Eva grew up on just north of Parshall. They are a wonderful group of people. I treasure them all!!!

Below are pictures of my flowers. The Asian Lillies bloomed in late June and July, the Hydrangea has been blooming for several weeks - starting in mid July. The yellow daisy flowers are still blooming and now I have Phlox. It has been a very nice summer - plenty of rain - nice temps all summer long, and the plants show it. 

So now we enter the month of September and the trees will start to change color, the humidity will disappear, and the chance of first frost will draw closer. 

Summer is officially here!

 The longest day of the year. I love it and hate that is starts to turn around soon. 

Since my last posting, I have been back to Rock River Christian Camp and helped in any way I could. We have been to our grandson's 4-K graduation, and continue to be busy with the lawn and flower beds. We just had a hot humid weekend but today the skies are blue without the humidity and temps are just perfect. We did get rain overnight with wind. The rain is good after a few hot days with a strong breeze. 

Here are some of the latest bloomers. The Asian Lillies are always so gorgeous and last so long. The daisy type flowers also bloom along time. My Clematis are looking so nice this year. 

The hanging basket I got from our daughter Katie is still doing so well. I just love it!!!

As we finished May and start June!!

Our busy spring continues. I spent 3 days in Chicago watching over 3 grandkids and running them to school, meals etc. It was good to be with the boys. From there I traveled to the western side of the state and spent Memorial Weekend with our daughter Leslie and family as Family Camp began. I mostly ran errands for her. Lynn did carpentry work for friends so we were gone a full week. I had left our lawn completely mowed and trimmed when we left and when we returned, it was like a hay field. I spent all of Memorial Day mowing and trimming it all. Today I am doing some house cleaning to get things caught up. 

On Sunday after our return, we placed flowers on the graves of our parents. It was a rare time home to do this job together. A flag is placed at my dad's military marker each year.  

Spring Planting, concerts and grandkids

This is such a busy time of year - planting crops, flowers, concerts, school events, mowing the lawn, on and on.....It's such a great time of year.

Cole and Emma visited us recently and I took Cole to Sunday School class. Jerry and Beth were the teachers. Emma went with Lynn to his adult class. They are at a fun age to visit. Lots of things to do. Emma brought her softball gear along. Lynn took the kids fishing and we met with their Tucker grandparents in town for pizza. 

We attended Emma's last elementary school orchestra concert earlier this week and while there, the kids had gotten hanging baskets for both me and their Grandma Tucker. Cole said the purple one was for me - Grandma Tucker got red. So pretty!!

The apple tree above is our oldest apple tree and has started to blossom today.

Below is my Herb garden. I planted that today - 5/7. I also have two tomato plants and one pepper plant. I moved them this year to be sure no disease would attack the plants in the former spot. 

The photo above is of a young Honey Crisp tree we got from a nephew who loves to grow Apple trees. It started to bloom today. 
Below is a picture from the recent trip to Emma and Cole. We try to make S'Mores anytime the grandchildren are visiting. Tradition!!!!

The picture below is of Emma before her final elementary orchestra concert. 

Greg and Vanessa sent me two miniature Hydrangeas, a small Calla Lily, and another small plant along with a cute box. I put the Lily and small plant in the box, while the Hydrangeas are now in the patio flower bed. 

Above is the new paint on our walls in the family room and dining room. It's been way too long since I last painted. Now they are fresh and everything is dusted and vacuumed for now. 

Above is the planting box and flowers I received as a gift. I love it!!!

When Emma and Cole were visiting, Lynn enjoyed table games with the kids - mostly Emma. He enjoys that so much!! Emma is a good player. Cole tends to ignore all rules and does his own thing. 

Lynn is busy planting the fields to Soybeans. The corn was planted down at a neighbor's yesterday. I have mowed the lawn one time and am starting all over again. I still have trim work to finish the first time. I have started planting flowers and Herbs. More to do.....

Spring trip to Rock River Christian Camp to see family

This past week we spent it with our youngest daughter and family. One evening I traveled with Leslie and another staff member to a sponsoring church to promote the camp. The photo above is of Leslie by the computer video they showed to the middle and high school class. 

Another part of our trip, Lynn helped a group of others who were sponsoring the building of a new Hogan for their wilderness camping area. They now have 4 - two for the guys, and two for the girls. They also worked on the roof of an older hogan and will enlarge it. 

It was good to spend time with the granddaughters!! 

Book read and Easter gathering

I just finished reading a new book about the man behind the REVENANT movie. Hugh  Glass was mauled by a Grizzly in what became northern South Dakota. He was left by two of the party he was with to die. They were suppose to stay with him until he died, which he did not. He slowly recovered and eventually made his way to find these two men with help from some Mandan Indians, and his will to live. One of those who left him reluctantly was Jim Bridger who went on to fame as a mountain man. Hugh Glass was eventually scalped by the Arikara who hated him. His life is very interesting. 

We enjoyed having two of our grandkids for Easter. We are glad they were able to make the trip. They will be back for a weekend visit in a few weeks. 

A belated Happy Easter to all!  We had a nice weekend with daughter Katie and family. Lynn took the kids for the rides on the ATV, played board games, attended church, and enjoyed a delicious dinner with friend/relative Brenda. It was a cloudy rainy weekend. Today the sun is out and it will be a warm day. 

Spring is here and soon yard work will begin. I have one flower bed cleaned out - more to do.  Patio furniture is out but need to set things in order. 

Snow melt, high water, and the Applegates - missionaries we support

We received a lot of rain early this week and then some snow. All the area creeks and rivers are flooded and it is the same all the way to the Mississippi. The pictures above are the Deertail Creek which we cross as we head into town. One picture is of a field next to the creek. It often floods but this is really high. We have had water in our basement all week. 

This week the missionary of the week is Tracy and Noah Applegate who work with YWAM and are presently based in Madison. 

We have had rain the past 24 hours and now it has turned to flurries. You can see by this photo that it has rained quite a lot. Lynn had to pump water out of the basement this morning. 

This coming Sunday our featured missionary will be IDES. They are a ministry primarily supported by Christian Churches to provide help in times of disaster- feeding the hungry and sharing God's love. IDES.org is their web address. 

On Saturday I spent some time working in a flower bed. I noticed as I walked around the yard, that my lilacs are starting to bud, as well as some other bushes. I also noticed that some of my Asian Lillies are beginning to peak out of the ground. This is really early. Frost is nearly out of the ground and is in many places. This winter has not seemed so long. Really only two months long.