Celebrating FREEDOM!

I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG,

OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

AND TO THE REPUBLIC, FOR WHICH IT STANDS,

ONE NATION UNDER GOD,

INDIVISIBLE, WITH LIBERTY

AND JUSTICE FOR ALL!

In case we find ourselves starting to believe all the Anti-American sentiment and negativity, we should remember England 's Former Prime Minister Tony Blair's words during a recent interview. When asked by one Parliament member why he believes so much in America, he said: "A simple way to take measure of a country is to look at how many want in... And how many want out."
(I read that more than 4000 people will become US Citizens today...July 4, 2007)




Only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you:
1. Jesus Christ
2. The American G. I.

One died for your soul, the other for your freedom.



I could not have said it better.
HAVE A HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!

Two Boys Sentenced to Hard Labor!

Since Zach and Wyatt didn't want to go shopping today, they were sentenced to hard labor on the rock pile! Actually, they were asking for work to do, and hoping it would pay. I'd been thinking for some time about moving my pile of geodes to a new location, so figured I might as well take advantage of the help! It didn't take as long as I thought. I really thought I had more rocks. We made a pretty good team, and after the job was done, they got to play for a while. It's always more fun when Popo is here to play. He thinks of really fun things to do. For example, pulling the boys' bikes behind the four wheeler. You might not see it in the picture, but the bikes are tied onto the back of the wheeler! Certainly not something I would do with the boys! But, they were loving it. No wonder they always ask if Popo is going to be home when they come over. He is lots of fun!
Moving all those rocks was a pretty good job for the boys, and each earned two dollars. Zach took his in paper. Wyatt prefers coins, so he got two dollars worth of nickels. Next time they come over, they're going to bring their money, and I'm going to sell them "stuff". They love to play store, and I get my money back! What a deal!
This is a picture of one of the new places we piled the rocks, as well as a piece of one of the broken geodes. Below are few more of my beautiful lilies! I love those lily things, because they are the only flowers I've not yet killed!



The best moment of Zach's day might have been when Popo gave him permission to move the four wheeler all by himself. He didn't ride far or fast, but he did it all alone. I didn't think he could ride it by himself, but he proved me wrong again.

Main Street Music at Osage Beach!

We're driving to Osage Beach this afternoon to see the Main Street Music Show. Last year we were there with Zach, and had a great time. This time we are taking Dad (his Father's Day gift) and Mom. Bobbie is going too, and remember....where ever we go, there we are and you can bet we'll have a good time! We can't leave until Dennis gets his work done, so while we wait I will try mowing some more grass. We'll be driving back after the show, so it's going to be a "late night" for us old folks! These pictures were taken last year...and NO...that is NOT me in the red hat! Bubba Gumm had the audience cracking up when he came out in his Red Hat get up! We'll no doubt enjoy a fine show this evening. Just wish you could be there too!

Loons Are Beautiful!

I found a photograph of a loon, and since the loon sighting was one of the highlights of our Wisconsin trip I'm posting the picture. Understand that my camera was safely in the car while we were on the beach at Wood Lake, so I didn't get a picture of the actual loon we saw. But this is what he looked like.
Also, yesterday I found yet another one of those Lily Things that my friend Heidi is so fond of, so I snapped a picture of the beautiful blossom just to bring delight to the heart of my friend. Here's to you Heidi!

These Are My Beautiful Lily Things!

I'm posting this mostly for Heidi...since she showed off her lily blossoms on her blog site, I had to put mine on. I think mine is beautiful. The lavendar is also pretty, more so than the picture shows. Enjoy!

Wonderful Week in Wisconsin!

We had a great time in Wisconsin. The cabin was very comfortable and furnished with everything we needed, including towels! The day we arrived it was hot, so we ran the air, but then it cooled off, and we didn't need to use it again. We didn't actually do a lot, but just had fun doing pretty much nothing. One thing we did do a lot was EAT! I think both Wyatt and I gained weight! Good for him, bad for me.
Of course, as usual, the few things that we thought were really special memories didn't get photographed because the camera was in the car! One day we were at the beach on Wood Lake, and a loon popped up not more than thirty feet from us. He sat on the water for quite a while, preened a couple times, and then he dived under to resurface quite a lot farther. He never came close to us again, but we felt fortunate to have had the opportunity to view him so closely. We took Zach to Camp Forest Springs on Sunday afternoon, and while we were there we went paddle boating and a short hike on one of the well maintained trails. We might have walked longer, but we were not coated with Deet and were attacked by insects. At first, Wyatt didn't want to get on the paddle boat, but I pretty much made him do it anyway, and lo and behold, he really enjoyed it! I knew he would, and don't think I didn't remind him often about how smart I am when it comes to knowing fun stuff to do! He would have gone paddle boating every day, but we were not registered campers so we didn't have the opportunity to go again.
We stayed just long enough for Zach to get settled into his cabin, and then Wyatt and I went back to our little cabin. We did a little fishing, swimming, playing in the dirt, catching frogs and hiking. We went to bed pretty early (at least Wyatt did) and he also took naps most days. Wyatt couldn't figure out why he was going to bed because it wasn't dark yet, but I told him that it was the longest day of the year and would not get dark that night. He didn't understand it, but he went to sleep before it was dark. He also tried his hand at cooking and fixed us a really tasty casserole for supper. In fact, he liked it so well, we fixed it again the next night and he's going to make it for the whole family one day soon, perhaps for Sunday Dinner at his house. That was HIS idea! Anyway, it was a very pleasant and relaxing week. We enjoyed it. And I read three books!

Thanksgiving In June!

We are so thankful! Sunday looked for sure like a storm was coming our way with heavy rain, but somehow it completely missed our hay field! We are blessed beyond measure every day, yet so often we just forget to be thankful. We started baling at about 1 o'clock, and the first round was a little rough starting. We had tangles in the twine, and the knotter wasn't tying knots right, so we broke several bales, and had to run them back through the baler again. Once we got that taken care of though, all went smooth as silk. We had a lot of good hands helping. In all there were six young men and an old couple. I am the machine operator....which means, I drive the tractor and baler. Dennis gets to stack it all in the barn. Today, Jeremiah was stacking the wagons, with the rest helping Dennis unload. The boys putting the hay in the barn took turns stacking wagons with Jeremiah. Although it's hot and dusty on the wagon, it's really hot inside the barn! We were all done by 6 o'clock. We plan to mow the rest tomorrow, and bale again on Thursday.

Sunny Saturday, Time to Mow Hay

It's haying time! Dennis mowed our 10 acre field today, and we hope the sun will continue to shine until it's all in the barn! Tyler and family came over again today to ride motorcycles, so I rode with them most of the afternoon. This evening, Bobbie came out and we made some scrapbook pages. That's about all I have to tell. I can say that the days are going way too fast!

Where Did The Week Go Wednesday!???

I can hardly believe that nearly a week has gone by since the last day of school! We've had a busy week, that's for sure. Monday was Wyatt's birthday, and he and Zach came to spend the day. We went fishing, read stories, and lots of stuff. Played Crazy Eights too. For lunch, we had T-bone steak....a gift for Wyatt from old "Burger King"! As you can tell by these photos, Wyatt really enjoyed his steak! I cut it all up into very small pieces, and he ate the whole thing. Wyatt is our picky eater. Over the past year he has learned to try new foods, and in so doing he has discovered that there are lots of good things to eat!
Tuesday was Travis' day off, and he was able to plant 108 acres of beans. They had planted 53 acres Monday night after work. And they finished planting today! So, thankfully, all our crops are in the ground. Now we have to start watching for a few dry days to bale our hay.
Sunday (going backwards) we had a bunch of riders here. What fun we had that day. We had seven motorcycles and two four wheelers tearing up the trails. Again, no one hurt, but a few really big crashes. And naturally, I was not able to capture those moments. Take a look at this group. Might be some you recognize!
Yep, that's TJ. He went flying right over my head! It was a lot of fun watching them all, but I didn't get many good pictures. Too nervous, I think. I'll put in a couple more pictures, and then I must stop for now, because Dennis is home and hungry. I have lasagna in the oven, but need to get back to the kitchen. Here are just a few more pictures.













Wyatt likes to ride with Dennis better than with me, because I'm too scared to go fast and jump over hills. He rode all day with Dennis.


That's all for now! Oh! I took a picture of our gorgeous sunset sky this evening.

Celebrating JUNE!

Wooo-Hooo! June 1st was my first official day of summer vacation! Zach spent the night with us, and he and I went to find some new music for his MP3 player. We had a great day, and then he went home to get ready for his second baseball game of the season. Dennis and I went to the Celebrate School's Out party at Argyle. That was really fun, but we didn't get to stay long because we wanted to go watch Zach's game. Only five kids showed up for the game, so it was pretty short! Zach had some good hits and plays, and we enjoyed watching him. The game was in Donnellson. They have a really nice park, and it was the first time we'd been there. Wyatt was there to cheer for the River Hills Village team, too! He says he's not going to play baseball. I wonder if it's because he got hit in the head with a baseball bat about a month ago, and he's decided he wants nothing to do with that!
Today, Mom, Bobbie and I went to Monroe City for their sesquicentennial celebration and parade. It was a very nice parade, with perfect weather too. There were some really nice entries. Actually, they were all very good, but I'm just posting the two or three I liked the best. The folks on the Opera House float were singing and I thought they were good. They seemed to be enjoying themselves too. I also liked the Garner Funeral Parlor entry. I noticed the funeral parlor as we were walking to the parade route from where we parked. It looked like a really nice place, and we commented on it as we walked by, and then noticed that they had this horse drawn hearse in the parade. Very nice! Another float I really liked was "Saturday Night" Fidelis. I am guessing that it was the Fidelis family, and they've been around for 150 years. Whatever, I liked the float. And, of course, there were the Budweiser Clydesdales....and the dalmatian! Very impressive.
As usual, I failed to get the best picture of the day! We stopped on the way out of town to visit a few minutes with Heidi and Ambrose. I didn't even think about getting the camera out to take a picture of them! I'm so sorry I didn't because Heidi....if you are reading this....you are looking absolutely wonderful. Keep up the good work!
We then went to Quincy, did a bit of shopping and lunch and then back home. We (at least I did) enjoyed the day very much.