decorating decorating decorating!

Yesterday,  I had the pleasure of heading home to St. James to help Mom choose some decor for the entryway of Homestead apartments. We headed to Mankato with Kyle and visited several stores but settled on an octagon mirror and a lovely vine wood/metal piece that compliments the new couch/carpet of the entryway.

It was really great getting to spend time with Mom and Kyle. The weather was hot hot hot, but the company was super cool.

bouquet of the week

A few years ago a lovely family from my class gifted me with this sweet little vase. This summer, I'm going to try and select a bouquet of the week...featuring flowers from our yard or area near our home. Here's my bouquet for this week:

Also worth mention, our raspberries are producing lots and lots of fruit! Here are the first three fruits.

back to 4 strong

Today I picked Katie up from 4H camp...she had a great time, not a lot of sleep and a small mound of dirty laundry. She "accidently" brought her candy bag from the Railroad Days parade with her to camp. It's great to have a nearly full house again.

Here are some of the pretty posies outside:

winnings from Bunco

amanda lily pre-blooming

Ross clematis

Amanda Lilies in bloom

blooming Amandas

blooming Amandas

Mother's Day flowers

Mother's Day flowers

this changes everything

This morning we dropped Anders off at our church after having a nice breakfast at McDonalds. He and 18 other teens from Ezekiel are heading to Houston for the 2018 National Youth Gathering. I was lucky enough to attend the 1988 conference in San Antonio. Rejoice in the Lord Always was the theme then and now the theme is This Changes Everything. I have very fond memories of my trip 30 years ago, I hope Anders has a similar experience.

camp round 2

Yesterday, I dropped Katie off for her 2nd of two summer camps. She was very happy to see her friend Maggie there at the bus pick up...she was feeling anxious when she didn't see her immediately.
Camp Kinnissippiwa here they come!

It did rain overnight, so I'm hoping she is warm and well this beautiful morning.

Katie with friend Maggie, sister Addie and friend Bailee 

silver foxes

Happy 25th anniversary to the lovely Kyle and Kim Blomgren.

2018 Pierson reunion

The Pierson gathering of 2018 was wet and wild! We got to the shelter in Memorial Park in St. James at 11am. Brad, Katie, Osten and I prepared the tables by washing them and got the counters washed before the delicious food was put upon them.

We dodged the rains until about 2pm when we snuck the traditional photos in and then retreated to the shelter. Many of the people who attended are people who I don't think I can name, so hopefully Mom and Ruby can help me with filling in the blanks.

Nels and Annie Pierson had six children--Beverly, Ruby, Sonny, Vivian, Loie and Butch.

Beverly and Larry had four children--Barb, Debb, Craig and Jody
Ruby and Eldon had four children--Sandy, Shari, Dan and Doug
Sonny and Kayo had five children--Christina, Ericka, Andy, Johanna and Nels
Vivian and Clarence had five children--Kent, Kurt, Kyle, Cory and Karen
Loie and Leo had three children--Tammi, Randy and Trudi
Butch and Marilyn had two children--Missy and Jennifer

Those who were there yesterday--

Barb and two sons--Travis and Kevin--Travis' daughter Chloe--Kevin's wife Dani and children Emerson, Eden and Everett
Craig and wife Binga
Jody and husband Dave

Ruby and children-Sandy, Shari, Dan and Doug
Sandy's husband Rod and their daughter Ashley--husband Dustin and son Henrick Shari's husband Ron and their daughter Kylee, husband Kevin and son Gregory, Dan, Doug and Michelle

Kayo and children--Christina, Ericka, Andy and Nels
Andy's wife, Sheila and sons Lukas and Ryan, Nels' wife Nicole and children Sonja, Mardoche and Nels

Vivian and children--Kent, Kurt, Cory and Karen
Kyle's kids Liana and Ryan, Cory's wife Joan and son Trenton, Karen's husband Brad and children Katie and Osten

Loie and children--Tammi and Randy
Tammi's husband Duane and Randy's wife Kay

Butch and wife Marilyn

What a wonderful gathering and thanks so much to my Mom for making this happen for the past 12 years!

journey south

On Saturday, we departed River Falls destination--St. James. On our way, we stopped at my students' lemonade stand. Patrick, you pour a mean cup of strawberry infused real lemonade (made with real lemons)

Then we journeyed to Minneapolis to purchase a replacement chimney for an oil lamp. We decided to take a gamble on a new to us restaurant called the Red Cow. It was really interesting/unique. We had a free appetizer of donut holes--Osten and Katie had kids meals, Brad had a beer that he said tasted just like Germany and a Double  Barrel burger while I ordered and loved the breakfast burger (burger, peanut butter, overeasy egg, bacon, Wisconsin cheese on sour dough and a wedge salad.

We also got to see the opening minutes of the World Cup game of Sweden vs. Germany--they are the two countries of my heritage, so that was pretty neat. Germany ended up winning the game.

On the road again we arrived in St. James, checked into our hotel and then went to Mom's for a tasty tater tot hotdish. We then drove to the Railroad Days parade and were wowed, by the amount of candy we received.

What a fun day! Thanks to all who made it possible!

campers are home

I purchased photos from the week of camp because I knew Katie wouldn't have an opportunity to take photos while being busy at being a camper. Here are a few photos from their week at camp:

Maddie, Grace, Katie, Siri, Tahlia

Amie (counselor) Evelyn, Tyra, Jordan, Avery, Sydney (counselor)

Katie near the back middle--Osten and Ivan front far right in yellow shirts

Some of Katie's friends: cabinmates, Andrew, Isaiah, Matthew, Joe most of the kids from Ascension cabin

Favorite meal: French Toast and Sausages

Favorite song: Love Round