this last week

I was going to get up and mow this morning (we're at my in-laws), but as we were eating breakfast, it started to rain and thunder so...I guess I will do this instead. It's kind of cozy updating while a morning storm occurs outside!

This last week found me in south eastern North Dakota for a day and then at the lake for a day. So a quick, quick trip but a heart-filling trip! I had lunch with my best friend from high school and learned all the ransom county news. I then met my mom at my grandparent's farm and walked around the farmstead, remembering when they lived there...

We then headed back to the lake for the night. The next morning, while riding horse, my mom suggested riding over to our neighbors that we had never met and, we found about three miles of trails! After our ride, Will came out and took our picture. Thanks, Will! Mom and I do a lot of riding together, but never get our picture together.

After the lake, I trekked back to my in-laws for a wedding reception on Friday. Congrats to Jessica and Nolan! And every morning while here we've been getting acquainted with a very persistent yellow bird that wants to get in in the worst way. I feel kind of bad for it! It will peck and peck at the window, stop to breathe heavily with it's mouth open, panting, and then go back to fluttering and pecking at the window.

And then this morning, when I went to let Ruger out of the garage, there was a beautiful sunrise behind the silo...picture doesn't do it justice! So it looked like it was going to be a beautiful day, but, we are now in a severe thunderstorm warning. Oh well. 

And that's a wrap of another July week!

"Some old-fashioned things like fresh air and sunshine are hard to beat." - Laura Ingalls Wilder

It was a beautiful evening, after Eileen's visitation on Friday, so I decided to take Rue for a walk down the gravel road by my in-laws place. I have started to really love taking walks, even more so with Ruger off the leash. He's able to sniff and explore at his own pace but is always alert and aware of where I am.

I'm still thinking a lot about Eileen. It seemed weird going over to her and Vernon's farm and she wasn't there. I can just picture her in her kitchen, asking about my grandma and telling me tidbits about when she stayed with them in the 40's. She was very spry...probably the most spry person I knew. Which was why it was a bit of a shock when we heard she had a massive stroke. Aaron was just talking about stopping to see her that Monday on our way home from my parents.

The memories though, not only of Eileen but memories of my own grandparents come rushing back to me. I am so thankful for their examples - in the way they lived and the way they were. I'm appreciating it even more as I get older.

The past week

Once every year (until we have kids anyways) I would like to go on a trip with Aaron. This year, the first plan was to go to Colorado. And then it changed locations to a place a bit closer - Wyoming. And then it changed again to the Twin Cities. I've come to realize, that even though it would be awesome to go somewhere new, just getting away from home with your other half is nice.

The Twin Cities - we spent the night at my sister's the first night, went to Valley Fair with her and Kate the next day, walked around the Mall of America for a bit the third day, and ended our trip with a Twins Game. Most surprising thing about our trip? I actually really enjoyed the Twins Game! I wasn't really thinking I would, mainly because baseball doesn't really interest me. I told my mom before we left, "I'm not real excited about the Twins Game, but I think it's something you should attend/do once in your lifetime." (attend a major league baseball game) The weather was perfect, the food was typical yummy baseball food, and learning about how the game of baseball works in the outside stadium with sky scrapers in the background as the sun goes down...it was a great night. As we drove back to our hotel, Aaron mentioned, "now I want to go to a Vikings game". I do too! So a Vikings game may be in store for this winter.

After our cities trip, we fought some awful traffic heading back to the lake. We should have known though, being it was the fourth of July weekend. Not being used to bad traffic, it was a bit frustrating.

 At the lake we pontooned out to the sandbar, and en route saw there was a live band performing on the lake. We'd never seen that before! We also brought the paddle boards and attempted to float on those. Aaron gets the award for the most persistent - he would fall off and then hop (literally hop) back on. Then I tried to get on the paddle board with him, and then Elizabeth got on too. It's safe to say the paddle board was completely submerged with the three of us trying to balance!

 

On Saturday we got a sad call that Aaron's grandma had had a massive stroke, and was responding very little. So shortly after meeting on Sunday, we headed back to Jamestown to be with Aaron's family. I plan on blogging a separate post about grandma Eileen in the next few days, but for now I'll just end this post with the sunset picture I took on July 2nd. What a comforting thought knowing Eileen is headed to somewhere much, much better. It is so hard to see her, and it was so hard to see my grandpa too, their last few days on earth, in the state that they're in. I'm thankful I got to know Eileen these past 6 years Aaron and I have been together.