amazing party

We went to a super fun grad party tonight at our friends' the Bonds house. Jack graduated with Anders. Just Brad and I attended the party and there were so many elements of the party that were just perfect. I'm heading over tomorrow to pick up some fun pieces they put together. 

day 3 in southern Minnesota and 13 quarts!

Day 3 in southern Minnesota dawned very much like day 2, but today, I walked to a neighbor's farm place roughly a mile from my home place. I was curious to see if the house or any other buildings were standing so hiked into the driveway to discover no buildings remained. It was the building site where Cory and Kyle sought refuge from a tornado back on June 28, 1979. *

Next, Kurt and I enjoyed breakfast together. Then Katie and I traveled to Mountain Lake to the Care and Share shop--found some fun items, had coffee at Sweet Fields and then traveled to Saint James to have lunch with Mom, go grocery shopping and spend about an hour just relaxing and preparing for our journey home to River Falls. As we were getting ready to leave, I thought "why don't I get some sweet corn from the Wacker corn stand?" so I did. 

On our way home, we stopped at IKEA for a few classroom essentials, to the Mall of America for dinner and then arrived home. At that time, I hugged Osten and Brad and immediately started to work on the 5 dozen ears of corn purchased at the Wacker farm stand. I processed 5 quarts on Wednesday night and finished with 8 more quarts on Thursday. We will be eating 6 ears for dinner tonight. 

What a fun adventure home to Saint James/Butterfield/Mountain Lake. Thanks to Mom, Kurt, Kelly, Kyle and Ryan for making it such a special trip for Katie and I. 

view from our lunch at Memorial Park 

*I found an interesting article discussing this date as the most active date for northwestern flow in recorded history with 27 tornado events in a 9 hour period in the upper midwest. 

day 2 in southern MN

day 2 in southern MN--woke up to a beautiful day on the prairies of southern MN in my last bedroom on the farm (most recently Stuart's bedroom). Rolled out in the beautiful living/dining room for breakfast and then took a stroll around the farm to enjoy the sights of summer. 

and then we went to say good morning to our loved ones at the Butterfield cemetery, then on to Encore Coffee and the Country Collage in Saint James and then to grandma's house for lunch. 

Off to a walk around town, dinner with Kurt and then for a walk around Butterfield Lake.

scenes from our visit to grandma B and Saint James area

Yesterday, we departed River Falls at about noon--stopped in Edina for some Panera and then arrived in St. James around 4pm. We went for a walk in the warm summer sun, received a snap from sweet niece Jenna with her beautiful baby Collins (and the little snuggy we sent her), ate dinner with Kyle, Kim, Ryan, Kurt, Mom, Katie and myself at the Hometown and then went for a stroll around St. James lake to see the sunset. 

We spent the night at the farm last night--watching the movie Dodgeball and drifting off to sleep. 

it's a sunshine day!

What a stunning morning. It's 65 degrees Fahrenheit, the sun is shining, the birds are singing. I'm getting ready to head south with Katie today to visit Blomgren family. In a few minutes, I will take Osten to summer school and then come home to bake some cookies for brother Kurt, our host for Monday and Tuesday night. 

Here are some photos of our yard on this sunshine day:

 

day at the lake

We spent the day at Wood Lake today. We took people powered craft out with the kayak, canoe and stand up paddle boards. Osten got some time to play with his cousin Ike and Katie had time to hang out with cousins Joe and Dehlia. We got to visit with grandma and grandpa, had delicious wild rice hotdish and strawberry rhubarb crisp. 

Ibby agreed to be a helper at Anders' grad party on the 8th. Our drive home this evening was absolutely beautiful with the golden light shining over healthy corn fields. 

weekly walk interrupted a bit but now we're back!

The last time I posted photos from our weekly walk was June 9. It's time for an update. We didn't make the weekly walk every week--a few weeks I walked solo as Katie was nursing an injured back. Last night we finally traveled together. Here are photos from the lapse:

June 17

June 28

 July 8

 July 14

July 24

season opener

Right now, Brad, Osten and I are watching the Twins vs. the Chicago White Sox. It's so fun to see a regular season game in the air conditioned comfort of our living room. We are in the top of the 8th and the Twins are leading 10-5. 

According to Twitter, this was the first pitch of the game tonight:

The Twins are wearing and RC on their uniform. It's to memorialize a minor league Twins player who died last November in Auckland, New Zealand. His name was Ryan Costello. 

the Pierson tribe unites!

Yesterday, my Mom and her two sisters, one brother and two sister in laws met at the Blomgren farm (thanks for hosting Kurt) to be reunited. Cousin Tammi took photos and shared them with the cousin group. 

Attending: Ruby, Kayo, Loie, Butch, Mom, Marilyn of the first generation--Kim, Kyle, Tammi & Jennifer from the second generation. 

Mom was glowing today when she recounted their time together. Kim prepared and served the food, Kurt came in for a sandwich as he was busy with field work and Kyle was a conversationalist. These moments are to be cherished. 

Tammi, who is a social worker at a nursing home brought shields for everyone to use and keep. Mom said it was so much easier to converse.

hike along the Willow

This morning, I spent the morning subbing for my friend Michelle a lovely Pre-2nd grade class. It was so wonderful to see the eager faces of two of my students and many others who are students in our district. Each classroom had 7 learners and I rotated to three different classrooms with a math task. I knew I missed teaching, but it became all the more evident after I got to hang out with these amazing children. I also got some fun ideas for classroom communications from the classrooms I worked in today:

Then I got the pleasure to spend a few hours hiking with my dear friend Julie T at Willow River. We saw the BEAUTIFUL falls and got a chance to catch up. What a delight.

Now I'm watching the Twins play the Cubs on Fox Sports North...such a thrill to watch with Osten John and hear his play by play.