June Photo Dump

 WOW did June go fast!  Seems like I JUST did the photo dump for May!

Rayna and her boyfriend Hezekiah came up one day for lunch and fun!

We had guests from Kansas!!  Becca and Kayden came out for a few days to Colorado and spent a night with us!  I DID forget to take a picture of both of them so she texted me this pic taken at Manitou Springs!

Glenn and Kayden took a ride in the razor - check out Kayden's hair - WOW - I had to touch it!

And we also had Tasha come for a night as she was heading to Mueller State Park for a night of camping but couldn't get a reservation for Saturday night so we were glad to have her stay!  She brought me these beautiful flowers!

And speaking of flowers - they finally got a new batch of hanging plants at the feed store in Florissant so Glenn and I went in early one morning to get a couple!  I absolutely LOVE this plant BUT if you don't water it every day, it droops!!  Kind of a pain to take care of but certainly worth the way it looks!

I love the view of my plants and porch!

Jaime had a dr appt in Denver one day so I rode with her and we stopped at Red Robin for yummy burgers and sweet potato fries!  Their strawberry lemonade is also fantastic!

One of my favorite soup recipes is Green Enchilada Chicken soup!  I had the ingredients on hand so decided to make a batch, even though it was warm out!  As I'm pouring it into the crockpot, I noticed the side of it said HOT!!!!  WHAT?????   Anybody that knows me well, knows I can't tolerate anything very spicy - in fact, sometimes the MILD is too spicy for me!!  But I went ahead and made it (with a note to myself to look more closely the next time I buy it!!) and added some extra broth and chicken and a baked potato in the frig just to try to kill some of the heat!  Trust me, it was still pretty darn HOT for me and I used plenty of sour cream when I ate it!

Iowa has flooding - and still does!  Neal and Jen had to evacuate the house and the water DID get up there!  This is a drone pic and that's their house front and center - the water is now receding and they are back in the house but dealing with a very wet basement!

And that's a wrap for June!

Iowa Fun

 Iowa is all about visiting - and eating - and visiting - and eating!  HA!

The weather was quite cooperative while we were there which made the trip very enjoyable!  Unfortunately Neal and Jen were on vacation that week but at least we got to see their 2 kids along with Nedelle!

Chance and Maggie were staying at friends' so we got their addresses and picked them up around the Blencoe area and then headed to Onawa to pick up Nedelle.  We let the kids choose where they wanted to eat and Mexican was the choice!  The meal was great and we enjoyed catching up with them!

Papa and the 3 grandkids!

Chance and Maggie are getting taller every year!

Sitting in golf carts at Leonard and Patty's place is the evening entertainment - or just sitting outside on chairs having a drink and talking!

Patty and Leonard puchased a golf cart also so Patty took me for a ride!

Late afternoon one day we had our annual farm meeting - Jim always handles everything and it's always good to know how the farm is doing!  Then we headed over to Woodbine to eat - always have a great meal and drinks there!  We opted to take desserts home as we were all so full!

Patty and I walked up to Jim and Brendas' one evening to take pictures of the sunset - they have a wonderful view at their place!

Thursday early evening we met with Glenn's 3 sisters (and one husband!) at the Country Club in Onawa!  It's always fun to catch up with Geri and Carl, Sherry and Deanna.  Glenn got to talk to a couple of people that he knew and we had a wonderful evening!

Sometimes the "full moon" is actually better the night before the actual date of it and this night was no exception!  I love how it was lined up with the old Soldier water tower!

Glenn got to spend time with some old buddies during the week - Patty, Brenda and I headed to Mapleton to have coffee one morning - and Patty and I spent a lot of time just talking!  All in all a great trip to Iowa!

This Is MY Hometown!

 Memories - great memories of growing up in this tiny midwest town - with not a lot left in the town but the wonderful people who band together in times of need!

I love getting up early in the morning and walking around and around the main street - there's no traffic - occasionally a car or truck would go by but for the most part, silence!  Probably just how the town people like it!  There's no grocery store anymore - just a gas station that carries the necessities and makes some great pizza!

The Community Center is STILL used!  Probably not as much as it used to back in the day but they still hold fish frys there and school reunions, along with other things I'm sure!  My FAVORITE memory of this place is playing in the band "Mosby and the Raiders" for dances!  I'm not sure how many times we played at this place but it was a lot!  Great times - Fantastic memories!

I have no idea what this little place is that's tucked back off the main street and I always forget to ask Patty what it is - it just reminds me of Colorado so I took a picture because it's cute and makes me smile!

This wasn't here when I grew up - but what a beautiful addition to the town of Soldier and I enjoy reading the names of the men who served.

Main street - a bank, a bar/restaurant, and a small gift shop - but right around the corner is the tiny library that is really busy for a small town - Patty and I went there one afternoon as there was an author that came to speak on her books!  They have had several that have done that!

This is down the one side street that ONCE housed a lumber yard and a feed store (where I worked for a few years) AND the grocery store ( which is now a book warehouse) where I once did the books!  And further down is where the school stood!

And this is the view looking down to the highway - this is where the gas station is, along with the elevator and the old football field!  There used to be a restaurant at the bottom of this little hill where all the kids hung out back in the day!

And now back up to Patty's house where she has the most beautiful flowers growing around the side of her house!

The flowers are absolutely gorgeous and day to day we could see more blooms pop out in their hot, humid weather!  

I walked up by the church but didn't take a picture - the church is absolutely full of memories too - playing the organ for church, leading guitar services, youth group, funerals, marriages, special dinners, ladies aid, etc   And the list of memories goes on and on!

It's WONDERFUL to have grown up in a small town atmosphere and I wouldn't have traded that life for anything!

Iowa Bound

 Luckily I woke up early to check on the time because it WAS time to get up AND I had the alarm set for 5:20pm instead of 5:20am! 

I had taken just a small bag into Jill's along with the small ice chest so it didn't take long to pack up and hit the road!  We headed to Cheyenne so we could just get on I-80 there - I found a Scooters RIGHT off the interstate as soon as we got on, so we stopped there for breakfast sandwiches and coffee for the road!

The nice thing about leaving so early is that the traffic isn't quite as bad and we took turns driving!  Stopped somewhere for lunch at Arby's - I took a picture since it was Fathers' Day - not a very exciting one, ha!  But their shakes ARE the best!

When we get close to the Mormon Bridge, we know it's only 1 more hour to get to Soldier!

It was great to see Patty and Leonard!  Jim and Brenda came down later along with 2 nephews so we had quite the crew around!  Leonard grilled up pork burgers for whoever wanted them and we had a great evening!

Monday morning we headed up to Don and Nadine's place - they are both in their 90's now but still getting around great - their niece Kristin was there also!  I had brought a lemon bundt cake for Patty and we took a plate of that to have with our coffee, along with fresh bread Nadine had made!

It's always enjoyable catching up with them and we all loved our time spent together!

Back to Soldier for a quick lunch and then we headed out to see the farm!  Last summer the guy who had bought the house and acreage finally moved out and Gran Family Farms purchased this area back!  The house was in horrible shape so it was pushed into the basement, covered up and all smoothed out.  The barn was also taken down!  Oh my gosh did it look different out there!  The guys had reseeded it with grass and planted 4 fruit trees - it all looked amazing!!  It was sad to see the house gone that we basically grew up in but it was so nice to see the beautiful countryside!

Jim, Patty and I in the area where the house used to stand.

Then it was on to the Soldier cemetary to see Amy's gravesite - such a beautiful area!

It's hard to believe she's been gone almost a year!

So we accomplished a LOT on our first full day back!