This week--quickly

This summer vacation, although pretty great so far, has definitely not been conducive to writing.
And so, I will provide a brief summary of what I have done this past week--

1. Attempted to fix a water heater and watched husband do the same. Unsuccessful.
2. Flooded the utility room.
3. Traded the water heater for a new one on my second trip to Aberdeen in a day.
4. Fell on my butt stepping off the back of the tailgate in the Menards parking lot. (Forgot I had short legs for a brief second.) Was helped up by a nice young man. Quickly drove away.
5. Enjoyed a nice warm shower after my husband installed the new water heater.
6. Watched Nathan hit his first out-of-the-park home run--and also 4 other teammates' homeruns in a row. Wildcats won 11-1.
7. Hauled water to the sprayer in the field. Actually hooked it up correctly!
8. Realized that the pump was out of gas and filled the tank without anything disastrous happening, i.e., starting my arms on fire.
9. Went to the second week of our women's study group at church, which is already a blessing for all of us.
10. Sent my boys off to Eureka for a looong weekend. Tag, you're it, Grandpa and Grandma!
11. Pre-ordered the NEW GARTH BROOKS ALBUM! It was just like college, only now two new songs magically appeared on my phone, so I didn't have to go to Musicland to reserve it and and then pick it up. (What's Musicland, you ask? Ask your mom.)
12. Listened to the new Garth Brooks songs--love, love, love them!!!
13. Listened to Teresa strum a guitar. She asked me if she was better than Garth Brooks. I told her no.
14. Hauled more water out to the field. Forgot to let the pickup cool down and killed the engine. Hero husband to the rescue.
15. Went to the Faulkton Pool for the first time this summer on a beautiful sunny afternoon.
16. Watched the progress on our house/garage project and picked out a little tile, too.
17. Did the boys' chicken chores and successfully avoided the rooster.
18. Heard "Mom!!!!" a zillion times.

In all of this, and the little moments I haven't mentioned, I know one thing for sure.
Life is so very good.

Dust Storm

On June 1, we experienced something we had only heard about from our grandparents--a dust storm.

I had been outside and saw a front approaching. As it got closer, it became "as black as night," (as they say, because it's true!) I rushed the kids down to the basement and looked at the weather app on my phone. There weren't any weather warnings for us--just strong winds and dust. So, we came back upstairs and watched the dirt blow and blow!

Conditions had improved a bit by this time.

This storm brought no rain to speak of, but did damage soybean fields, which has led to many farmers replanting them. Some ditches are covered in blown corn stalks and dirt. 

Thankfully we were blessed with over an inch of rain this past weekend to give our fields a little relief from the hot days.

The dust storm reminded me of a powerful book I read a few years back about the 1930's. It is amazing what our ancestors faced and what they survived. . . .

A Little Baseball

If you know me, you know I love some summer baseball! 

Just Nathan is playing this summer and we are already three weeks into the Northern Prairie Little League schedule. So far their Midget team has won 15-10 (Warner--this photo), 18-1 (Ipswich) and 9-7 (Miller). They are off to a good start, despite having only nine players on their team. They recruited a few Pee Wees to help them out last night and the littlest guy had one of the best hits and the best catch of the game, too! 

Nathan is still looking for his first out-of-the-park homerun. A deep hit to left field didn't quite make it last night, but it did get him a few bases! He loves to steal bases, too.

After this first game in Warner, we were able to take a quick trip to Minneapolis to watch the Twins.

It WAS a beautiful day for baseball!

*Laura's Twins Travel Tip--Get your tickets the day of the game on StubHub. It won't be sold out and you will probably get some pretty sweet seats for not a lot of money. This strategy has worked for our family twice now! We even briefly made it on the big screen, but no Kiss Cam for David and me this time. :)

Rachel's goal for the entire day was to get some of that cotton candy she remembered from 2 years ago. After we found that, THEN she could have fun.

Part way through the game, a nice man caught a ball that was tossed in the stands and his gave it to Teresa. She was pretty excited to have a real ball that had been pitched in an MLB game!

Despite Teresa putting on her rally hat, and one heck of a rally from the Twins, they came up just a bit short against Cleveland and lost by 1.

We still had a beautiful night of baseball!

It was a quick trip, but it's always such a blessing when we can fit one of these games into our summer.

Memorial Day

 Our Memorial Day weekend was definitely one to remember.

We packed fun and remembrance into the few days.

We started our weekend at the Neises Reunion. Unfortunately I was so busy visiting and watching the cute baby cousins that I do not have any photographic evidence from that day. :)

We went to Eureka (My-Reka . . . whose Reka is it anyway?) on Sunday. The girls went for a swim in the lake and Nathan went fishing.

I still think that I come from the prettiest hometown anywhere. . . .

He had a few nibbles, but no bites. Maybe next time!

David and Landen joined us for supper and Papa Butter's 68th birthday cake, decorated by Teresa and Rachel. 

On Monday, three of the four kids participated in Cresbard's Memorial Day Program.

Nathan read a poem he had written for the Auxiliary Poetry Contest. (He received 2nd and Teresa received 1st place for her Poppy Poster this year.)

The girls sand "God Bless America" in the children's choir.