4th of July Vacation

We found out that it was our sixth year renting the lake house in Cumberland. No wonder it is starting to feel like home when we are there. And we have it reserved again for next year! We had beautiful weather the entire week, which enabled us to do a lot of fun outdoor activities.

We started off with the annual Doonan family
picnic on Sunday, July 3rd. Around the circle are
Dennis and his wife Margie, Doreen, Becky, Jan,
Kelly, Zack, Justin, Jolene and not pictured, Tim.


Of course Natalie was there. She hung out
with Grandma! Only Grandma was allowed
to change her poopie diaper. What an honor!! lol

Doonan cousins family picture
(Jolene, Jan, Kelly, Doreen, Tim, Dennis)

We went on our annual trip down the Namakogen
River. It was an absolutely beautiful day for it.
We had a group of five canoes this year.

Dave and Jan's oldest son, Sam surprised everyone
and showed up at the house. He lives is Kansas City, MO.
We rented a pontoon boat for four days and really enjoyed
being out on the lake. Sam caught the first big fish.

Dave caught the second fish. Kelly has a
baby sunfish on his line so he wanted me
to take his picture with Dave!

The next day when we went fishing Kelly caught
an 18 inch, 3-4 pound bass. It was fun to watch
him reel it in as it flipped up out of the water.
Good job Kelly!!

We were able to make it to the Spooner Rodeo
this year. The great part is a lady gave us
five free tickets so it didn't cost our
group anything. What a blessing!!

I was able to meet up with two of the girls I
went to WITC with in Rice Lake 31 years ago.
Sharon (middle) and I met last year. This year
DeAnne was able to come up from Eau Claire
and spend the afternoon with us. We met for
lunch at 11:00 and then spent the rest of the
time at the beach/park. We hope to make
this an annual reunion.


It was a great week and we really enjoyed spending time with family and friends. Now it's back to reality for all of us!

Sheilda

Strawberries!

Well, all that rain was actually good for something. There is a bumper crop of wild strawberries in our field. Kelly and I picked and got the blue bowl full! The hard job was cleaning them all. I think I'll be seeing strawberries in my sleep!!

Berries almost ready to be made into jam.

Here is my reward...23 half-pints of homemade
strawberry jam. My sister-in-law bought me the
cute checkered lids. They will look awesome at the
craft show this fall! I kept a record of what I made
last year and it was 13 half-pints. WOW!!

And just when I thought I was done...I picked
some more on Sunday. There is still a zillion
of them out there. I better go buy some more
jelly jars!

Blessings to you all. I hope you are enjoying your summer!

Sheilda

The Wedding

On Saturday, June 11, 2011 Zack and Becky were married. It was a beautiful day, beautiful wedding, and a wonderful time with friends and family.

Dave, Jan and Sam Ellenbogen drove up from St. Louis, MO
and stayed with us. They went and played BINGO with us
on Thursday. Dave almost won $1,000 (enough to pay for
the damage a deer did to his vehicle on the way up to Minnesota).
Unfortunately the caller called the wrong G number!

Here we are at the Rehearsal dinner.

The wedding party!

A family picture with our Marine.

Grandpa Ray, Granny and the grandsons

Kara and Travis came and stayed with us also.
It was great to have them!

Lots of picture taking going on!

Shane and his girlfriend Alecia.

Eric, Zack and Shane...together again.
No picking and whining this time!

Uncle Shane taking Natalie to dance the
Dollar Dance with her daddy!

What a precious picture!

Last but not least...the bride and groom.


What a wonderful time we all had. Thanks to everyone who came and shared the day with us. I am so grateful for my family. I love you all very much! I am truly blessed!!

Sheilda

Mother's Day and More

Just when we think Spring is here it turns back into Fall. We are patiently waiting to get our garden planted. Hopefully we can do it Memorial weekend. Below are pictures from Becky's bridal shower, Mother's Day weekend, and Kelly's new toys.

BRIDAL SHOWER

Becky's Aunt had a shower for her the end of April.
Natalie is helping her mom open gifts.


Is Natalie trying to help? No...she saw
the candy dish that was sitting on the
table.
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MOTHER'S DAY WEEKEND

Kasey and his adorable little boy Carson.
When they were leaving, I was so excited when
I got a hug from that precious little guy.

My beautiful sister-in-law Ruth, and my
beautiful Trego Mom Audrey

It was so fun to spend the weekend with
my wonderful Mom and sister. I love you
both very much!! Hopefully this summer
we will get to do it more often.

On the way home from Spooner we stopped
at Zack and Becky's. Natalie modeled the
dress she'll wear at the wedding. How
adorable is that!!! She melts my heart!!

She loves the ribbons on her dress.
She'll probably be twirling them as she
walks down the aisle.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
KELLY'S NEW TOYS

Kelly finally got his wood splitter and chipper.
Zack came over this weekend and helped him
put them together and get them running.
This was the test run. See the smile on their faces!
Zack was in his glory!!!

Success!!

Thanks Zack for sharing your mechanical talent,
you did not inherited it from your father.

Blessings, Sheilda

New Appliances Arrived

Well, after much research, searching the internet, stopping at stores and being totally confused we finally bought new Kenmore appliances at Sears. I have to say that I am loving my new washer and look forward to having clothes to wash. Our friend from Church came out on Tuesday and hooked up the stove and dryer. The old ones are sitting outside waiting to be picked up and be recycled. Below are before and after pictures. What a difference!!

The dryer is one Kelly had bought used before
we were even married, so it is over 23 years old.
I can retire the pliers I used to turn the dial...YEAH!


My new Kenmore Elite Washer and Dryer (with
knobs that actually work).
I LOVE them!!

The Montgomery Wards stove came with
the house, so it is 23 years old. Someone
had to hold the door open while I got what
I was cooking out of the oven. Otherwise the
door would spring shut on you.

My new Kenmore Stove with five
burners. It will be GREAT for canning
this summer. I might actually start tyring new
recipes and surprise my husband!

We watched Natalie two weekends ago so Zack
and Becky could go out and celebrate Zack's
25th birthday. We were on our way to Church
so she put her sunglasses on. It was too cute to
turn the right way. She says "go to Church...
see kids."

All I can say is seriously....the calendar says it's Spring!!!??


Have a Blessed Easter. He is RISEN and someday we will all be together with Him in Heaven. Amen!

Sheilda

Natalie's Birthday Party

We went over to Natalie's birthday party today. It is hard to believe that she is already two years old. What a precious little girl! She is definitely LOVED!! She kept singing the Happy Birthday song. It was so cute.

Becky said she picked out her outfit for the party! (The sunglasses she is wearing was one of her presents.

Busy opening presents!

Grandpa Kelly and I got her this little car. Once she opened it she was done with all the other gifts (which was mostly clothes)

Waiting for cake!

Enjoying cake!

What a fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon!

Sheilda

Miss Natalie Visits

We got to have Natalie overnight last weekend. We really missed her! Kelly and I had not seen her since New Year's Eve. We will not let that happen again. She is getting so big and has such a personality. She turns 2 years old on March 20th.

Becky had gotten her this little tutu skirt.
She looked adorable in it. She is enjoying
a snack on "her" stool.

I don't know what she was doing here. I just
happened to capture it on film. LOL

After a fun weekend with Grandma
watching Barney videos, she is
ready to go home to mama's house.

Love those big blue eyes!!!

She is back at home. After hugging her mama,
she went directly into her room to play with
her toys. Becky said she must have missed
them.

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I went to a craft show this weekend and found this
Eagle, Globe and Anchor metal plaque. I just had
to buy it. It looks awesome on the house and
Shane will love it when he sees it.

Another shot of it. The flag on the door is
called "Blue Star Mom's" it's for when you

have a child in the military. One of the guys
at work got it for me.

My other purchase at the craft show. The
guy who made my pantry and table was there
and this new piece fits just perfect in the little corner
of the kitchen where our phone is now located.
The best part is because I'm such a good
customer he gave me an awesome deal!!

Have a wonderful week and don't forget to "Spring ahead" next weekend.

Blessings,

Sheilda