Monday, April 13, 2009

Easter Weekend




Way back last August, my dad turned 70 years old. We had planned to celebrate it then, but with 4 adult daughters, all married and 7 grandkids, scheduling a time for all of us to get together gets a little hairy. Time passed and various parts of the family were busy, so finally in January, we tried again to schedule a time to get together. We determined that Easter weekend was the next time we could all get together.

Saturday morning we gathered at my sister's house in Yankton and her friend who lives nearby took family pictures. I can't wait to see them! She did the whole group, the grankids, the daughters, my parents, the couples, etc. She was done in 45 minutes! She is amazing!! Looking forward to seeing those as soon as possible.





We grabbed a bite to eat back at my sister's house. Another sister loves making and decorating cakes and really outdid herself.





It is a white chocolate cake, that she made into a torte with strawberry jam. Since we celebrated the birthday so late, so made a slight adjustment to the number on top. That is 70.5 if you can't make it out.


Then we loaded into vehicles with walkie talkies and drove to see where my dad and my grandparents lived growing up. We saw the country school my dad attending in the late 1940s and the house that my grandma grew up in. Amazingly, the house is still standing remarkably straight and incredibly intact for being at least 90 years old and probably older. My grandmother was born in 1919 and she is the third of four kids. The oldest would have been something like 97 years old this year if she were still living. The only remaining sibling turns 93 this summer.




When we were finished, we stopped at my folks for a quick snack and roadtripped to Red Lobster. This is where my dad wanted to go, so all 17 of us went and stuffed ourselves.

We went back to my folks and sisters' place to sleep and then attended church services and then dinner at my folks that afternoon. Unfortunately, my camera died and I didn't get any pictures of the rest of the day.





Friday, April 10, 2009

Iowa Mamapalooza 2009



This picture shows most of us, however, one mom had to leave early.
With concerns about impending snowstorms, nearly a dozen Lutheran homeschooling moms descended on rural Hinton, IA two weekends ago. We arrived from several Midwestern states: Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri, Iowa, South Dakota and Minnesota. Two other moms planned to attend from Wyoming and Illinois but late winter snowstorms prevented them from coming.



We had a little wine (okay a lot), a little chocolate (same as before), great food, lots of time to visit. We did some sightseeing on Saturday, stopped by a candy store and then ate a delicious meal at Luciano's. My favorite restaurant, by the way!! Then back to rural Hinton for a rousing game of Apples to Apples and Catch Phrase, before we headed to bed.




Sunday morning we attended our hosts rural church for services, then returned for a quick lunch before everyone headed home. Old friendships were renewed, new friendships were made. We laughed a lot (so hard that we cried). We stayed up way too late and when I returned home I promptly took a 2 hour nap. Anyone that knows me well, knows that I never nap, so I must have been exhausted.

We had great fun and I look forward to doing it again soon.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Tuesday Fun

I received the link for this incredible video from a friend and had to share.

This team of jump ropers is comprised of 4th, 5th and 6th grade girls and they are amazing! I can't imagine the amount of practice and choreography that goes into these routines.

The next video after this one, says that they performed at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade and the 2005 Inaugural Parade.

http://soonereyo.blip.tv/#1762059)

Enjoy their amazing feats!