What's In Your Wallet?

You've most certainly seen all those ridiculous commercials for a particular credit card where at the end you are asked, "What's in YOUR wallet?"  I have to confess that I'm not carrying the card they are promoting in that commercial, but I like the question.  Well, I like the fact that it asks you to "look inside" or to check your "wallet".
I've recently been reminded that I have a very good indicator of what's inside of me! An easy way to "check the wallet of my heart" so to speak.  Jesus said, "...for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks" (Matthew 12:34) WOW! I've heard that before.  In fact, I'm sure I've heard or read that verse many times.  What I so often fail to do though, is just listen to myself!  Do I grumble and complain? Am I critical? Am I judgmental?   Sadly, I do, and I am!  God demonstrated His love and gave His only Son, Jesus to die so that I could be redeemed, not that I deserve it, but because of God's infinite and unending love, His mercy and His grace. I want His love, mercy and grace to so fill my heart that it overflows onto everyone I meet.  Let me be filled with gratitude, let me be thankful, let me encourage, let my speech be gracious, and let me speak the truth in love.   
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my Rock, and my Redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)  Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes...incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain. Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things and give me life in your ways" (Psalm 119:33-37) 
Listen!  What's in your ....

Oh Where, Oh Where Has the Summer Gone?

Summer "vacation" seems to have gone much too quickly!  I think it seems extra short because it was so wet and cold for the first few weeks that it really didn't seem like summer to me.  Nevertheless, here we are, just one short week from our first day back to school.  I will be working again with Ms. Myers in the Central Lee Elementary.  While I am looking forward to a great school year, I could use another month of summer!  I've also been offered an additional position as a bus driver, and after much consideration have accepted that role.  It's "long term temporary sub" for now and could become permanent.  I was very hesitant to accept a bus driving job again, but had no real good reason to refuse it.  Since I would be driving to school every day anyway, it will simply increase my income and add a couple hours to my time away from home.  I'm thinking this "extra" will fund my current project.

Our "Current Project":

Ours may not look just like this, but this is the general idea. A very ambitious project for one with no carpentry skills!

Earlier this summer, we were introduced to Cowboy Action Shooting.  It's fun, somewhat competitive, and it's something our family could enjoy doing together.  So, that's what we've been working on for much of the past few weeks.  We have a perfect location to set up some stages and a shooting range.  The site was quite overgrown with multiflora roses and quite a lot of poison ivy as well, so I did a lot of "clearing" with the chemical weeder.  After killing the nasty brush off, the boys and I worked at just picking up and burning the sticks and logs that were small enough to handle.

This was after I'd sprayed and we'd picked up most of the dead wood we could carry without cutting it up first.

 Last week, Dennis went down and cut up all the big stuff and we burned it.  The boys, along with Dennis and I, worked for two days clearing and cleaning the area. And what a difference it made!  We did take pictures of our work in progress, but they really show much.  Now that the area is cleaned up and cleared out, we are ready to start building the "stages" and targets.  That's my current "priority project", as I'd like to have it up and going yet this fall.

Zach and Wyatt helped haul several big loads to a ditch for burning at a later date.

While much was hauled off, we kept several fires going to burn the small stuff we had raked up.

Zach raking, and Wyatt ready to light up this pile of dead wood.

The coming weekend is going to be a weekend of celebration around here.  We'll be celebrating 42 years together and since Zach and Wyatt will be staying with us we plan to let them enjoy dinner at the Hotel Nauvoo with us.  The Hotel Nauvoo has become an annual tradition for our anniversary.  We'll also celebrate the "last free weekend" before school resumes. We plan to invite family and friends to a swimming party and wienie roast, weather permitting, of course.  If we were rained out we wouldn't mind a bit since we do so need some rain.

Summer Time, and the Living is Easy!

Wow! From January to July....where do I begin?
We took our first cruise last February.  Cruising was something we'd always thought we would never care to do, but we set sail from New Orleans on the Navigator of the Seas and visited Cozumel, Grand Cayman and Jamaica.  It was wonderful!  We enjoyed everything about the cruise and might just do it again someday!

Coming in to Cozumel

Both Zach and Wyatt kept us running to ball games through June.  Zach played on two teams, so had many games, and Wyatt played with the Montrose team.  We enjoyed watching them play and cheering for their teams.

Once the temperatures started warming up, the grass started growing.  Most of May and June were spent behind my Skag mower!  When not watching ball games, I was mowing.

We hosted the Keokuk Aqua-Naut reunion on June 28-30.  We enjoyed visiting with many friends over the weekend.  Many of them were folks we'd not seen in many, many years!  The weather was perfect for it and I think everyone had a good time. We certainly did!

We've completed several "projects" on the place and have several more still in the works or at least on the list to be done.  Much of it requires heavy equipment, so it has to be worked in when Dennis has the time and the ground is dry enough.  We have several springs on the place and need to work on the drainage so that it can drain off.  Right now we have a big old swamp with stagnant water, which provides habitat for reptiles.  Totally NOT acceptable! I don't mind frogs or turtles, but I don't like spiders or snakes!  

We are now members of the Single Action Shooting Society (SASS) and my top project is getting a shooting range ready to use.  If you are not familiar with SASS, you might enjoy this informational video:

Introduction to Cowboy Action Shooting SASS

We spent a week on the Lake of the Ozarks and had a wonderful time.  Did lots of skiing, swimming, sunning, sharing time with friends and family and making memories.

Aaron loved riding his new "skis" and as you can see in the video, he knows how to signal the driver.  He gave us the "put me down" signal, but he then jumped off instead of waiting. I guess the driver response time was slower than Aaron thought it should be. 

Certainly much has been left out.  Some things are so routine it's hardly worth mentioning, and some took place so long ago it has slipped the mind. So, for now, that's the update.  Going out to enjoy more sunshine, heat and humidity!  I Love Summer!

Happy New Year!

NYE .... To me, it's a name, but once a year our name becomes an acronym and makes headlines all over the media.  New Year's Eve.  And as usual, we celebrated the end of the year with good friends and family.
We enjoyed good food, fireworks, fun and fellowship all evening at the Rockhold home.
After taking the men home, the NYE girls (Gariann, Bobbie and Susie) went "first footing" and surprised Erma Potts!  Erma brought the first footing tradition to us from her hometown.  We learned today that the tradition originated in Scotland.  It was the grandmother of the little girl who was flower girl at George and Erma's wedding who brought the first footing tradition to Dana, Indiana.  When George and Erma came to Keokuk they shared that tradition with their congregation.  Basically, it's being the first visitor to come calling in the new year.  The way it was done then was that one would go to the home of another to make the first call of the year, and then those folks would join their visitors to go on and visit another person.  Each person receiving first footers would then join the group and proceed to the next place to visit.  Eventually, the group would wind up having breakfast together....often at the last home visited.
We didn't proceed beyond Erma's home this morning, but we did take her by total surprise.  We arrived just minutes after midnight and stood on the porch playing harmonica, clarinet and banging pans.  We made so much noise the neighbors were turning on lights, but Erma was back in her kitchen with the radio on and didn't even hear us.  We feared the neighbors would call the police, so we went to the back porch and started making noise.  Finally, Erma came to see what all the racket was about.   I didn't get the picture of when she met us at the door, but we did take a couple snapshots once we were invited inside.

Winter Storm Draco...Just In Time for Christmas!

School's cancelled, winter storm warnings are telling people to stay home, so Bobbie and I went to the Sheriff's office so she could apply for a permit to purchase firearms.  By the time I got home, the much anticipated "blizzard" was in full swing.  The wind was, and is still, the worst!  The snow is beautiful.  I actually love that part of it, but could do without the 50 mph wind.  Dennis and I have been enjoying our warm home, sitting in our sun-room watching the snow swirl and pile up.  It's so wet and heavy that the trees are covered.  Even with the ferocious wind, the snow clings to the branches, causing them to hang low. Our flag is the one colorful spot in the landscape.

On Tuesday, the Miller crew started on our new building.  Dennis had called the one-call to make sure there were no gas, power or telephone lines to avoid.  They marked the work site as "clear...OK to dig", so the first thing the crew did was set the poles.  Would you believe, they hit a big telephone cable!  All the neighbors from our place on down are now without telephone service.  We are so glad that we called the one call people.  I feel sorry for the guy that marked the site "OK" though!  They told Dennis yesterday that it would probably be several weeks before repairs are completed!  Glad we have cell phones.  I just wish that our cell phone reception was better here. 
I'm adding a few more pictures of the snowy views from our windows, and then I'm going to go light the Christmas tree and wrap some presents. 

Alaska, The Last Frontier!

Mendenhall Glacier near Juneau

I signed up for the Whale Watching and Mendenhall Glacier Tour.  We went out in a small boat and saw lots of whales.  First we saw humpbacks, and while watching them spout off and dive, I noticed some dark triangular fins coming toward us from quite a distance.  Our guide told us that only about ten percent of the tours they take out get to see the "killer" orca whales.  We saw fifteen of them.
After the whale watching, we were dropped off at Mendenhall Glacier.  Our coach driver told us to synchronize our watches with his, and he would be back at 4:15 to pick us up.  He would take us back to our ship at 4:20.  First sign of a problem for me, I didn't have a watch! So, the shortest trail I saw was the trail to Nugget Falls, which the sign said was a 45 minute walk.  Figuring that if the average tourist could do the hike in 45 minutes, I could do it in less, I hiked out to the falls.  It was beautiful. In fact, it was so big and pretty I took lots of pictures.  As I hiked back, I wondered how long I had been out there taking pictures.  When I got back to the place the bus was supposed to pick us up, there was no bus.  It was 4:28.  Eight minutes....late! I missed the ride and figured I'd have to walk back to the ship, hoping I would find my way. But, another bus came and I hitched a ride back with them.  What a relief!

These guys played a lot of the old rock and roll from the 50's and 60's.  They did a lot of the early Beatles hits, and I thought they sounded great.
There were quite a number of musicians on the ship and all of them were outstanding.  

Still light at 10:45PM

I tried to stay up until it got dark, but gave up at 11:20PM and went to bed.  It was still light enough to see.  I was on the top deck again by 4AM, and even at that hour, I'd already missed the sunrise!  

11:15PM and still not dark!

4:00 AM

View of Decks 9 and 10 from the Viking Crown lounge.

 The crew decorated the ship in red, white and blue.  They had a nice 4th of July celebration (without fireworks).  One of the ship's crew sang the national anthem and it looked like the entire crowd was singing along with him.  There was thunderous applause at the end, and many folks were wearing their patriotic outfits.  We saw lots of red, white and blue everywhere!

Uncle Sam (one of the crew) was greeting everyone as they came into the Windjammer for lunch.  Mom got a big hug from him.




















 Our last look at Seattle as we headed back to Minneapolis.



The flight back was pleasant for the most part.  We did have some turbulence, and the landing was really rough!  I'm sure Jane wasn't really worried, but when she saw me snapping pictures, she put on the "nail biting worrier" face.

It was a great trip!  My first cruise, first commercial flight, first visit to Alaska, first time in Seattle, first time to Minneapolis, first time to see the Mall of America, first time through airport security check! 

I have more pictures on my Facebook page if you care to look.

Longest Day of the Year!

My daily vacation spot---a great place to relax and refresh!                                                                                                            

June 21!  It's the longest day of the year.  And what a beautiful day!  Travis and Gail came with the grand daughters, Kathy brought the boys and we splashed around for a while on the pond.  The girls were a little slow to warm up to the idea of swimming in water that doesn't smell of chlorine, but after a short while they were enjoying it very much.  I believe they plan to come again tomorrow.

Sunday, (Father's Day) we gathered at the swimming hole for some family fun. All the guys enjoyed the raft. 

Both Wyatt and Zach had games this evening.  Wyatt's team played well and won, which was very exciting.  The opposing team had been undefeated until tonight. Zach's team also had a win. Go, Hawks! Baseball is winding down.  Wyatt has only one game left and then their tournament.  Zach's team has five or six games left, most of them home games, so we'll not have to travel to watch.
Happy anniversary to Travis and Gail!  Sixteen years ago, we were attending their wedding.
Also, it's a big birthday for my cousin, Nanci. And it's also my brother in law's birthday! 

Hay Day!

We baled today.  It was a perfect day, we had a great crew, and the counter said 357 bales.  After all the hay was stacked in the loft, some of the crew enjoyed the water.

Gage, Trace, Rick, Zach, Blake, Cole and Donnie

Wyatt's Celebration #10

More fun in the water.