A Walk Down Memory Lane

Well, we're back.  We left right after church on Sunday and headed for the north woods to see Roger's Aunt Betty, sister to Roger's dad, Alfred Klumb.  She spends the summer up near Hayward, WI, nearly 8 hours from our house.  She had written us and asked us to come up.  We needed to get away for a while and thought this was a great idea.  Actually, we had no idea where Hayward was and didn't remember that Roger has jury duty from August 20-September 10.  So, we called when we arrived at Ladysmith, 7 hours from home and although the trial scheduled for Friday had been settled, the one for Wednesday was still on.
Wouldn't know if that was settled until Tuesday after 6:00pm.  All that way for such a short time.  Well, what could we do?  Make the most of it, I guess, and that's what we did. 

We went to see Betty Monday morning.  Roger helped her with a few things around there and then by 2:00 we were headed back home...we didn't want one day of eight hour driving again.  We stopped in Eagle River and walked there for a little bit, and even found his cousin, Chuck"s, store.  Chuck had gone home for the day, but his wife stopped in just as we were there...usually she's not in on Monday afternoons.  So we got to visit with her for a few minutes and then we were off.

We drove through the Menominee Indian Reservation for old times sake, and then stopped in Shawano for a drive down memory lane.  We saw our old house,

saw the elementary school with its huge addition,

went to Hal's Halmark,

checked out a wall with a stone for our family,

and

went in to some of the stores.  We even ate a meal at a restaurant that was there when we lived in Shawano...Anello's Torchlight.  It was delicious.

Pretty soon it was time to head home...don't go by way of hwy 47 until next year...major construction and horrible out of the way detours.  We finally arrived home late Tuesday afternoon.  We then called the courthouse again and?!?   You guessed it.  The trial scheduled for Wednesday (today) had settled and Roger didn't need to check back until the night of August 29th.

So, all in all, we had a great time, did too much driving, were under a time crunch, but were able to get home, relax and know that he didn't have jury duty the next day.  Needless to say, we won't be planning any more adventures until his term expires around September 10th. 

Surprise!

Well, this turned out much better than I expected.  In fact, you might say I'm still reeling from the shock of it all.  It  all began a couple of weeks ago when I received the dreaded driver's liscense renewal form.  This happens every 8 years, and it's nothing short of a trauma.  You have to go to the DMV...the horrible, dreadful, DMV, stand in line forever, only to be treated like crud by the people who work at the motor vehicle department.

I decided to end the worry, tough it up, and just go in today.  I planned it so I'd get there around 11:00 am, hopefully before people decided to come in on their lunch hour.  Imagine my surprise when I pulled in to the parking lot and there were only 3 cars there.  As I was getting out of my car, people came out the door.  Could this be possible?

I warily walked in and saw to my complete surprise, that the entire place had been remodeled...how nice...and that no one was standing in line.  Did you get that?  NO ONE, not any, nil, zip people were in line.
So I walked up to the red line you're supposed to wait behind, and I was called right up to a window.  The vision test took no more than 15 seconds.  I paid for my license and was told to take a seat so I could get my picture taken.  I was sitting for less than 1 minute when my name was called.  The nice lady took my picture and I sat down.   One minute later I had my new license and I walked out the door.  I still can't believe it!   I called Roger to tell him and he couldn't believe it either.  Besides the fact that the whole thing took such little time, the DMV people were actually nice to me.  DMV and NICE don't usually go together.  They do today!  I'm one happy camper, and  I'm good for another eight years!!!! Surprise!!!

My dear friends have returned

This morning Roger and I went for our usual walk in Harrington Beach Park.  He took along some sunflower seeds just in case we heard a cardinal or a chickadee.  We were talking together and I happened to look behind me and there was my dear deer friend...the one we've been feeding for several years now...the one I pet last winter.  She casually strolls out of the woods with her two spotted fawns and walks right up to me.
We gave her some sunflower seeds for a reward!!!  Deer never do that...at least they've never done that to us.  Typically, the doe has her baby, disappears, and when winter comes and the food is tight, she magically reappears with her fawn(s).  My little buddy walked right up to us with both her babies in tow.  Even Roger was impressed by that performance.

Ah, yes, just another day in the park.

So Much To Do...So Little Time

Whew!  It's been quite a busy week.  We started out in Baraboo.  Hung out with the Justus's and later the Krehbiels came, followed by the Klumbs (Roger & Brittany), and finally rounding out our family with the coming of the Meeusens.  Molly was blessed by her father.  Then it was over to Heidi's for a birthday party for Molly.  Everyone was there, including Eric's parents, Sharon and Jim Justus.   After eating and more eating, we all watched in awe as Molly selected a golf ball from a tray of items placed in front of her.  According to Korean tradition, whatever she chooses indicates the path her life will take...in this case, that of an athlete, much to her father's sheer joy!

That was on Sunday.  On Monday Roger and I were off to Rochester to help Chrissy and Jeff move into their new home!!!  What a wonderful house they picked, and judging by all the work they're doing, it will truly be a home in short order.  Unfortunately, we took only 2 pictures as both their new house and their old townhouse are in varying stages of moving...hence, boxes piled high, no pictures on the walls, etc.  Wait until you see it though, you'll all be impressed.  Oh, and before Roger chastizes me, we did make a trip to Austin, MN, home of the SPAM museum!

We left Rochester Wednesday morning, arriving home about 1:30pm.  Then I remembered.  Our good friends, John and Maria, were coming to dinner the next evening.  What exactly did this mean for me?  It meant doing laundry (we had been gone since Saturday), vacuuming, dusting, cleaning the bathrooms, and making the dessert for Thursday night's dinner.   That was all done Wednesday evening while Roger was at a
meeting at Lake Michigan Ward.

Thursday we went for a walk, I picked a pile of lettuce from our garden and cleaned it, ran to the grocery store, frosted the cake I'd made the night before, set the table, made dinner and...ding dong!  There they were, but I was ready.

So, in celebration of the aforementioned events,  I snapped a couple of pictures for all to enjoy.

  And now...Friday night...I'm making cookies and then putting my feet up as I savor a few minutes of reading and doing very little else.

Notice Anything Now?

All we wanted was a little piece of brick to set our grill and our fire pit on.  What we got is 2 days of backbreaking artistic work that we just love!!!!  The green around the edges is covering the grass seed...yes, they even seeded after they were done.  Amazing!!!!

Do You Notice Anything?

Okay, so today I was busy making food for Dad's birthday party tomorrow like last week when I was making food for his Father's Day party...whew...so many parties....that I was a little surprised to discover that I actually had some time do a little project I've been wanting to get at.   At any rate, I did it, snapped a photo of my accomplishment, and thought I'd let you see it.  What do you think?

And Then There Were Six

For the longest time I couldn't think of anything to write about. Now I have think to about condensing all the things I have to say.  In a nutshell, we have a wonderful family.  We do fun things, enjoy doing things together, and I always think "the more the merrier"!  Well now, we do all of the above and have one more member of the family to do things with.  Let me explain.

First there's Mother's Day where everyone came to celebrate.  It was great and I had a wonderful day!

Then Greta and Adam went to Chicago and we got to have Joey and Lily stay with us for a couple of days.  They kept us hopping, but we sure had a good time with them.  Their favorite thing?  The swimming pool!

Then came Memorial Day when Greta, Adam and the kids came for dinner and we all enjoyed a few hours together.

Next there was a trip to Baraboo to see Lara star in a play about Old McDonald's farm, Lara being Mrs. McDonald.  She did an exceptional job! We were happy to be able to spend a couple of days there and have fun with the Justus family.

Finally the day we've all been waiting for arrived.  Friday, June 4th, we went to O'Hare (Roger and I and Greta and Lily in one car, and the Justuses in their van) to pick up Molly Jo Lynn, who would be coming to Heidi and Eric's family from KoreaMolly arrived, cooed, smiled and seemed to really enjoy her new family, and we, in turn,  fell head overs heels for our new 10 month old granddaughter.  What a great day!

Not to be overlooked, Roger and I went to Kaukauna the very next day (June 5) to a 50th anniversary party for Roger's long lost cousin, Patty.  After 37 years of marriage, I finally got to meet Patty and Mary Sue and Lee and Margo and Dorothy and Lois Ann.  We also enjoyed a nice visit with Donna & Bob.


And so here it is, Sunday afternoon.  I'm finally reading my e-mail and writing on my blog.  It's quiet here...no company... no little children....no one but Roger and me.  What a fun couple of weeks!!!!   But now it's time to switch gears, put my feet up, close my eyes and zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.