Blessed by Guests and Yes to the Dress

Our weekend started on Thursday when our friend Mike and his wife Mickey came to the lake for an overnight visit. Mike was our associate pastor back in the 80s, and it was fun spend some time together to visit and catch up. His son Aaron and his wife are visiting from Las Vegas with their 2 children, and they had a big time on the lake.

They did some paddle-boating,

and some tubing, along with some water-matting and water ski-attempting.

We enjoyed an evening boat ride, with card-playing on board. Who's driving the boat?

It was fun to see Aaron all grown up, and meet his beautiful family.

We had a campfire,

roasted marshmallows for s'mores,

and sat around the fire enjoying the quiet of the evening. The only thing missing was a guitar.

We got a group photo on the deck before they left on Friday afternoon.

On Friday evening, Andrew and Darci hosted their 'LSDR' weekend, made up of 4 couples, kids, and a new baby. Jim and I are happy to be able to share in the fun too.

They did some tubing on the new 'Big Mable' tube, which has been a hit so far.

A sunset shot on the watermat...

and another to see the cute faces. Buddies Matthew, Abbi, and Makenna.

The 'kids' all dressed up and ready for their night out for dinner.

They enjoyed their evening at Big Woods, as always.

Grandma Becky came to spend the day with this little guy, and got him tucked into bed before heading back north, leaving Jim and me in charge of the 6 kids, who were all sleeping soundly when their parents returned. (At least I think they were.)

On Sunday morning, I packed some cold water and met up with Courtney and her entourage for a wedding dress shopping excursion.

She had quite a group assembled to make the trip to Cincinnati in the Silver Bullet. She's a brave girl!

Courtney let each of us choose a dress for her to try on, and then she tried to figure out who had selected each dress. It was so much fun to see her model lots of beautiful dresses, and decide on the perfect one for the wedding in March. She said yes to the dress!!

Here she is with some of her beautiful bridesmaids.

And with her sister, her mom, her grandma and her aunt.

The whole group!! It's so clever how they have the board for brides to stand behind for a photo. It was a successful day, and so much fun to share in the excitement of finding the perfect dress. So many special days ahead for Courtney and Adam!

We wrapped up a very busy long weekend by celebrating my dad's 82nd birthday. Haleigh and Ella helped him blow out the candles. Happy Birthday, Boomie!!

First State Fair

As I mentioned in my Throwback post yesterday, I made a trip to the Indiana State Fair on Wednesday with Jennifer and Noah. Noah's first trip to the state fair! The fair chooses a theme each year, and this year is the 'Year of the Coliseum' in honor of the renovations that have been done to the building over the last year.

We were anxious to see the changes, so that's where we started our day.

It looks sooooo different in the concourse area that you can scarcely believe it's the same place. There are elevators replacing the stairs to the seating level, and brand new fancy restrooms. It doesn't appear that you can walk all the way around the building anymore, but it may have just been closed to the public. There are new plastic seats inside the arena, but we did manage to find these old ones placed in the concourse for old times' sake. I like those old wooden seats.

There was still dirt in the arena, and the side walls look the same, but along with the new seats, there are new video screens, and they were getting the stage set up for the concert that evening. I'm not sure if there will be seating on the floor of the arena or not. I also wondered if it was the same dirt that's always been there. When I helped with the Hoosier Horse Fair, there was always a 'dirt' discussion. Seems that different equine events require different footing, which requires different dirt. I remember discussing 'old dirt' vs. 'new dirt.' Not to be confused with 'old as dirt.' :)

Noah found a place where he could hold on and do a little walking.

We stopped to have a little lunch at the ribeye tent, of course.

After lunch, we walked past the midway entrance on our way to the other side of the fairgrounds. Riding rides at the state fair was never on our list. There are so many other things to do and see!

We stopped in the FFA building where the boys used to love to play putt putt.

Noah checked out a baby calf while we were there.

I always love going to the Pioneer Village, where you can see demonstrations of crafts, skills, and farming methods from Indiana's past. They have threshing demos, woodworking, broom-making, quilting, leatherwork, as well as tools and equipment displays.

We saw an old corn planter on display inside.

I'm not familiar with this piece of equipment, but I do recognize the brand.

This sign near the woodworking display reminded me of Jim's Uncle Gilman, as it was one of his favorite sayings. I actually always thought he made it up. I guess it's a universal truth. Yes it is.

Our walk took us all the way around past the harness racing barns, to the swine barn. Most of the pigs were gone, but we did see the champion sow and her litter,

as well as the largest boar. He's a big one!

The horse barn was also empty of horses, but we did find some equines in the Blue Ribbon Pavilion. Mules. And donkeys. This little guy has a particularly interesting forelock.

This one turned and smiled for the camera as he took a little rest in his stall.

Noah stopped to meet some mini donks. It was just coincidence that one of the Wednesday Hodgepodge questions asked about the last time I had seen a donkey, and we actually saw these on Wednesday.

Of course, we had to stop at the dairy bar for a milkshake. I had chocolate, and Jennifer tried the salted caramel. Yum!

We did not try the deep fried red velvet oreos, snickers, or cookie dough. They also have deep fried butter. Deep fried butter?

We made a few purchases, ate some fair food, walked a mile or two, and had a great day at the Indiana State Fair!

Saddle Up at the State Fair #TBTStories

Jennifer, Noah and I made a trip to the Indiana State Fair yesterday, which I hope to blog about in the next couple of days. In the meantime, in honor of our great State Fair, I wanted to do a Throwback Thursday Stories post featuring Jennifer's years at the ISF 4-H horse show.

We had these photos laminated and used them to decorate her stall at the county fair for her last year showing. Sort of a trip down memory lane.

Here she is on Calipso Kid, affectionately known as 'Pee Wee.' For most of her show career, he was her trusty partner. He knew his job, and he was good at it. This photo includes her cheering section for that year: Jonathan, Caroline, and little Adam with his red belt and boots, Garth Brooks t-shirt, and his broken arm.

It was always cool to have a photo taken with your horse's halter off, standing obediently with no lead rope attached. Pee Wee posed no risk of running off, though he did sometimes attempt to eat the fake foliage.

In 1999, Jennifer and Pee Wee were champions in the horsemanship class. She gave a speech once, about the excitement of sitting on your horse in the center of the arena when they call your name as the champion. Pee Wee was 17 and Jennifer was 13. Now, good ol' Pee Wee is 32, and living out his retirement at Andrew's place on the cattle farm. We love him.

She showed Hope's Classy Lady, 'Bert', in 2000, leased from a friend.  It was a good experience for Jennifer to learn from and show a horse different from Pee Wee.

The next year she was back with Pee Wee. Another halter-less photo for showmanship.

And a vest I made her for horsemanship. I think there was glue involved. :)

In 2002, she showed her new horse Zip to Elegance, 'Ellie.' They won the showmanship championship that year. They made a great team.

Jennifer and I both loved our years in the horse barn at the State Fair. Early morning check-in, late night practice in the Coliseum, picnics in the lot during that looooonnnnng wait for our turn to enter the fairgrounds, eating a ribeye sandwich with Dippin' Dots for dessert, having your horse randomly selected for drug testing, banding a mane, missing a lead, forgetting to back, and, best of all, getting your name called when the placings are announced, are just some of the special memories we share from the Indiana State Fair.

Key to the Hodgepodge

It's Wednesday Hodgepodge day, and since our hostess, Joyce, is planning a relaxing trip to the Florida Keys this month, she has given us some 'key' questions to ponder. I'm a teensy bit jealous of her time away, but I'll try my best to 'key in' on some answers from my less exotic location. Be sure to click on the button to visit Joyce and the other Hodgepodgers.

Here are her questions and my answers.

1. What would you say is the key to success?

Hmm…. I don't know…. hard work, perseverance, prayer.

2. Have you ever been to the Florida Keys? Any desire to visit that part of the US of A?

I visited Key West for the first time earlier this year when our cruise ship made a stop there. We enjoyed some of the touristy spots, which I wrote about here. I would love to go back to spend more time and get to know the place a little better. I liked the quaint buildings, the history, and the eclectic people that live and work there. I would also like to visit some of the other keys. I think you really need to have a boat to fully experience the Florida keys. Anyone have a boat?

3. When and where did you last see a real live donkey? Monkey? Turkey?

Our county fair was in July, and I'm pretty sure I saw a donkey down at the horse barn. There was definitely a turkey in the poultry barn. And I saw a monkeys at the zoo last week.

4. An old Portuguese proverb says, 'Beware of the door with too many keys.' What do you think this means? Share an example of how this has proven true or false in your own life. 

I think it can have several meanings, but I'll take it to mean that we shouldn't make things harder than they really are. Which is my motto, really.

5. Besides your home, vehicle, and special jewelry, what is something you keep under lock and key?

I'm not very good about keeping anything under lock and key. But let's just keep that between you and me. Ok? :)

6. When did you last get keyed up about something?

I have five kids. I don't get too keyed up about much of anything anymore. When I did get keyed up, it was watching my kids compete in a big game, meet, or speech contest. These days, I mostly get keyed up when my team is playing. And the season opener is less than

WHO DAT, my friends!!

7. Who thinks we need an easy one right about now?  Key lime pie...yes please or no thank you?

Yes please. This is key lime pie from the Southernmost Beach Cafe in Key West. You can't visit the keys without trying key lime pie now, can you? (I recently saw a photo of deep fried key lime pie? My oh my!)

8. Insert your own random thought here.

School started this week, and with it some adorable photos of my excited grands.

Matthew started 5th grade. How is that possible?

Haleigh (4) and Ella (3) are so excited to be in preschool together.

And soon to be one-year-old Noah is too young for school, but he is learning about cabinets, and clapping, and climbing into his stroller.

Have a great Wednesday, okeydokey?

Looking Forward, Looking Back

We had an exciting weekend at the lake, as Adam and Courtney entertained and 'officially asked' their friends and family to be a part of their wedding party. Courtney's dad made special wooden boxes, which were then stained and hand painted with each bridesmaid's name. In the box was a monogrammed insulated cup, coral nail polish (named 'Sunday Funday'), a cookie that said, "Will you be my bridesmaid," and a special card from Courtney for each girl. So cute!!

Erin, Emily, Britney, Chellsey, Shylah, Jennifer, and Darci were all there to receive their special invitation. Only Megan was missing, and she said yes from afar. We are looking forward to sharing Adam and Courtney's big day in March.

Guys don't really go for all the cute little details, but Adam asked David, Andrew, Jonathan, Bryan, Nathan, Kyle, Alan, and Clark, and they all agreed to stand up with him when he says "I do."

There was golf at Whispering Pines...

and flippy cup on the dock...

and a boat ride or two, complete with Jon and his Haleigh eyes. :)

The girls are much more agreeable about posing for a group photo,

and they will make a fun and beautiful group of bridesmaids.

It is such an exciting time for a couple, and we wish God's blessing on the planning, and on their marriage. xoxo

The looking back part of the post came on Sunday afternoon when a woman and her teenage daughter came walking past the side of the house. Turns out, the woman's parents built the house around 1981, and they moved there permanently when she was a sophomore in high school.

I loved visiting with Ronda and her daughter (who only barely remembers being at the lake when she was about 4), and hearing a little about the history of the house. I learned that her dad had placed the concrete dalmatian, which still graces the landscaping below the deck, because they didn't own a real dog. I told her of the discussion we've had about painting him black and gold, which she thought was funny since her dad was a die-hard IU fan.

She told me that on the main floor, there was originally a sliding door on the left and a window on the right (kitchen side), and no window at all in the middle where our sliding door is now. Upstairs, she remembers coming up with the lined stucco design on the ceiling, and she helped her dad with the application. The red room was hers, and the pink room was her younger sister's. They were the 3rd and 4th of four girls in the family, and the older two were already gone from home by the time they moved there permanently. There was no dishwasher in the house, as her dad said they didn't need one since he had 4 daughters. :) They heated the house with the wood-burning furnace still located in the laundry room, which still has the original linoleum floor.

She remembers building the dock from property line to property line, which was unusual at that time. They built it using heavy pvc pipe filled with gravel and concrete, and it remains sturdy and solid today. They even had a phone jack down on the dock, and it was fun for them to be able to take a call lakeside.

Her dad built the benches on the dock, and the picnic tables near the fire ring. She spent a lot of time helping him, and learning lots of useful do-it-yourself skills. She told of special gatherings throughout the year celebrating Christmas, race weekend, 4th of July, and, of course, the leaf-raking parties. (We'd be happy for them to join us for that last one, just for old times' sake. Ha!)

We looked at the wooden 'S', still up in the pitch of the porch roof, which was for their name, Scott, and now works for Stewart. I'm so glad they came, and that I was there to show them around and hear her stories. I love the opportunity to learn and celebrate the history of a home or a place, and to know who came before us. Ronda will return to her home in Wisconsin, knowing that our family is continuing to share special times making memories on the shores of Sweetwater.