Full fun day

I left for OGT about 7:15.  The semi was there to load.  Denny came and helped.  Karen texted and I left OGT and went to pick up Rose and Lincoln to take them to the farm.  We had a great time.  About 1 we all laid down for naps.   I slept by Rose, Denny lay down on the floor by Lincoln.  After naps we had snack under the tree, rides on the skate board, and 4 wheeler ride.  Karen came and got the 2.  Rachel M. invited home schoolers for a potluck supper. There were about 12 families with 62 people.  Nice night.  Everything got used, and the zip line was missed.  Wonderful day.  

                                                              

                                

                                   

Sunday at home

 We left Cooks about 7 so we could be at home before church.  It was a lazy afternoon after church.   I had put together flowers and brought them home to give to home schoolers on Tuesday night.  I looked for lighting fixtures for the bunk house.  Lord, guide me for Your glory.  Played with pic art collages. 

Golf in Storm Lake

 Fun!!!!  I headed to IG for pickleball from 7:30-8:15.  Hurrah!!! Dave F came early to play with me.  That was so nice of him.  I headed to Storm Lake Golf course and stopped at Joyce's on the way.  I bought some asters.   Brenda W and I played 4 gal best ball and our team shot a 36.  Pretty good for me.    Next I headed to SOS, then I stopped by Brenda's homeland got a vase from her.  I am putting some flowers together for her mother's 95th birthday.  I went and toured Mandy's remodeled clinic and miracle of miracles her last patient didn't arrive so we went to the Olive branch and shopped before she headed to take Jack to his first soccer game.  We had the yummy casserole that Mandy had me make on Thursday.  SO GOOD

                                       

Decking at Cherokee

 We are headed to Cherokee.  Denny's going to help Jason work on the front deck and I am making salsa with Mandy.  I finished digging up bulbs and picking some flowers for next week.  It was such a nice time.  The kids had wrap up ready for make and we had steaks for supper, you can't beat that.  Boys played nicely, Denny and Jason worked diligently on the step stringers and getting the angles right.  Mandy and I tried out the spin salsa maker.  Wonderful day. 

                                             

This was a review from a guest last week.  It kinda got my goat.  Lord, guide my response to it.

The location is very private and nice. Off the beaten path is what we have. It was truly like walking in to a clean and tidy 80s era location. The host communicated very well. I would encourage removing so many personal/ family photos and religious memorabilia from guest quarters. The dog and kitties were the friendliest and most welcoming of all.

My finial unfiltered responce:   Prairie Whole Farm is a century farm, the land has been in our family for over 100 years and we are proud of our heritage.  We have been married 48 years, we feel that is an accomplishment,  and we are very thankful for our family.  We use the "guest quarters" regularly for our family and the memorabilia mirrors our family beliefs.  We are not a hotel, but we are very happy to welcome anyone to our home which is a reflection our farm, family, and faith.   (We were not present for your stay so of course our animals were the most welcoming.) 

This was a lawyer's moderated response:  "Thank you for your feed back.  The guest quarters are used by our family regularly and mirror our beliefs.  We are very happy to welcome anyone to our home which is a reflection our farm, family, and faith."

Now to decide whether to post the moderated response.  Lord, grant us wisdom.   Do we just let things slide, or we take a stance for what we value????  What is the kindest, most truthful action to take????  The guest gave us a rating of 5 out of 5 in the four categories.    And we all need encouragement ... even though it is not my plan to remove anything as they encouraged me to.  

Well, tooo rainy for pickleball, so coffee

I headed into IG for pickleball, but it was too rainy to play so 5 of us went to Zimmies.  "Twas nice to visit with Kathy, Marilyn, Rebecca and Tim.  I got up enough guts to tell them that I got negative feelings 3 years ago when I wanted to join and play pickleball with them at the rec center, but their idea was "We four, no more."  Uffda!! Why should something so minor like that cause me to be so anxious.  (And it would be my desire to stand up like Corrie and Betsy Ten Boom and Not buckle in my profession of Christ as Lord.) Faith, get Real, you have to be bolder and not fear when expressing your thoughts.  The pickle ball thing doesn't even matter, but Christ does.  

The rest of the day was fine.  I dug up some bulbs, Denny worked on the electricity in bunkhouse.  I took some pictures of the abstract of our acreage that we keep in the bank lock box. 

The C boys

 I folded a couple loads of clothes and left for Cherokee about 6:30.  Fun day with the boys.  At 8 Jack and his parents went to the preschool get acquainted time where he and family were the only ones visiting the school and 3 teachers.  Pretty important step...  Tyler and I lost "track" of the time.  Jason came home for lunch.  Boys went down for naps.  At home Denny made a Walmart order and began doing some more wiring.  It was good to get some rain this morning.  Hopefully tomorrow I'll try to dig up some lily bulbs and move them.  It is too weedy where they are now.  I just mowed the weeds and plants down about 2 weeks ago.  Uffda!!

Patio Prayer

It was an early start to the morning, going to Brittany's Patio for prayer time.  Yesterday Diane emailed me to share the sad news that Molly's husband Paul died.  It is so hard to comprehend.  Lord, be with the family. Carry them thru these deep waters.   I came home at 7 and started another load  in the dishwasher and then went to IG for pickleball.  There were 10 of us and I played until 10:50.  I got flower vases from Maebelle and some wallpaper paste at Malcolms.  At home Denny was picking up some of the bunk house tools.  I started another load of dishes and cut up the smoked pork.   We went out to the bunk house to see the wiring and wonder what to do next.  Lord, guide each step of Your plans for this building.  

OGT and supper

Up and headed to IG for OGT.  I played pickleball around 9-9:30.  Then back to OGT.   It rained and so I didn't play more golf.  The smoked meat was done and Denny stored in the cooler

 

Golf at Holstein

 My alarm went off little after 6.   I put then laundry from airbnb in the dryer.  I picked flowers to donate as a door prize.  I went to play pickle ball in IG from 8-8:40, then to Holstein.  I played with Sue S, Shirley and Maebelle.  MY, we didn't play well and Maebelle hurt herself on about the 3rd hole.  We ended up with 45, and that was a miracle.  But all in all it was so fun playing, the weather was warm, but with a slight breeze.  We were all playing poorly ... now that's a good??? thing.    I got home and we moved the sunroom tv to the basement, so it would have a remote and then we went out to mow.  John and family came to our airbnb.  After a shower I showed them around the back yard.  The Nakasawas came over for tacos with the Lees about 7.  We just got an email that Pete and Carol were in a car accident and she broke bones and is heading to Rochester for surgery.  We called and talked to L&K and we'll see if Karen can go to Rochester, then I can go to watch the kids.  Lord, you are in charge here.   Protect and give wisdom to those we love.  

Heading back home

 Stayed in bed until Luke and Karen came down to say goodbye as they left for airport.   It was SO amazing to have them here.   It would not have been nearly as much fun.   We took showers, packed and headed to the beach for a cup of coffee in view of the ocean.  Then back to the hotel to share an omelette on the deck of the hotel pool.  The Lyft picked us up at 12 to take us to the airport, well, actually that was when she was scheduled, but tho she was late we made it to the flight check in okay.  There was just 45 minutes between our landing in Phoenix and out take off to Omaha.  We scurried and made it fine.  The rest of the trip wasn't not stressful.  Happily we made it home by midnight.  Wonderful wedding, wonderful weekend.  

Saturday August 22 Graham and Laura’s wedding

 I was up at the usual 5.   After the sisters phone call at 5:30 I went on the 6 block walk to the beach.  I knew Denny was sleeping and so I got coffee, listened to DAB, walked in the sand and just enjoyed my self.  We ate brunch with L&K, then went to the hotel to get cleaned up.  We got a Lyft for 3 pm to take us to the wedding site in Malibu.  It was a beautiful place with a big sycamore tree and green lawn area.  You could see the beach where Laura took surfing lessons.  From the wedding site we walked to an area for snack and drinks before the meal.  The meal was in another area.  We toured the house before we ate.  Good speeches and dancing and the venue closed at 10, so the party ended.  It took quite a while to get a lyft for the ride back to the hotel, but we didn't have to sleep along the street.  That's a good thing. 

                                         

                                        

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Friday August 20, To California

We were up fairly early even though Denny didn’t get to bed very early, he was working checking in for our flights and printing papers.  I washed (my poorly executed attempt) the Prius, did some laundry, and picked some flowers for Kathy in the chance we meet up.  We headed south about 10 and got to the place where we might have met Whitney’s, but after driving to the airport from there we decided just wait at the air and not venture out to meet them.   We sat and watched people waiting for our 7:30 flight.  About 1:30 I asked if it would be ok if I went and visited with AAlines.   And yes we could get on a earlier flight that went thru Phoenix and got to LAX about 3 hours earlier.  So away we went!!! There was an hour delay in Phoenix.  BUT we were still about 2 hours earlier that our planned flight.   Luke was aware and let us know where they were eating.  After we landed we got a Lyft to our hotel, then walked to the restaurant where L&K were.  Great food and especially nice to have them around for the weekend.  We walked down to the sand then back to the hotel.  Great day!!

 

The pass off is completed!!!

I was up and devo in the sunroom.  It is the hand off day.  The boys leave here and Anna P.  takes over in the Cook home.   I went into IG at 8.  Denny brought the boys in to IG before his 9:30 hair cut and I watched them at the purple park.   My haircut was at 10:30 and Denny took the boys on the trail, Tyler walking and Jack on his pedal bike.   We headed to  Hardees for chicken tenders before going to Cherokee.   Anna met us there about 1 so we could visit with the kids and let them know that when they wake up fro their naps and we were going back to the farm.   Happy naps, boys!!!  All was quiet when we left.  In Cherokee I got a manicure and a pedicure.  Boy did I feel sorry for her working on my dirty toes from going barefoot.  Uffda!!  At home I packed while Denny worked on the cleaning document for the airbnb.  Hopefully I can just take a carry on.  We're trying to make arrangement to meet Whitneys for a visit before our flight.  Lord, work it out if it be your will.  

                                        

Happy Anniversary!!! 48 years

Dear Jesus, thank you for my husband of 48 years.  It doesn't seem like it could be that long.  We are SO blessed.  ANOTHER DAY IN PARADISE!!!  

I went to Prayer on the Patio and afterwards I went to Johnsons and picked about 4 buckets of corn.  It was too wet to mow and I started the worn boiling outside on the grill.  Ii shucked the rest and put in a cooler until the first batch was cooked.  I continued as I mowed.  Tyler fell asleep on the pillow and I woke him up and the boys played while we finished mowing.  During naps I cut the corn off the cobs and bagged about 12 bags for the freezer.   Denny took the leaf blower and blew grass off the cement.  Then he sprayed the weeds.  We got the boys up from naps a little earlier in hopes that we can put them down and then grill steaks for us.