Summer's End

My vacation was very productive and I enjoyed every minute of being home. I canned beans, zucchini relish, candied cucumbers, hot pepper jelly and of course salsa. The days went by WAY too fast and all of a sudden I found myself back at work.

I had been seeing turkeys in our garden, but one
day I looked out the window and there were four
of them heading to the bird feeder. I quick got
their picture, but they heard me and quickly
took off running to the woods.

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Zack asked me to watch Natalie last weekend.
It was perfect timing because we had our Fall
Family Fun Fest at Church and my work had
an Open House. So there was plenty to keep
her busy with.

This was her first time in an inflatable bouncy
house. At first she wasn't quite sure what to do.

She quickly got the hang of it! Some of the kids
helped her up the stairs to the slide. She
LOVED it and kept saying "do again".

She got a sucker and a tattoo (not as many or as
big as Uncle Shane's though). :o)

She is proudly showing off her Tinkerbell
tattoo (and her blue lips).

The girls helped her make her way through
the BIG obstacle course and down the slide
(about 5 times).

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Our garden is winding down and we had to
pick most of the hot peppers and tomatoes
because of the early frost. I have about 5
bags full of tomatoes! That means more salsa
and spaghetti sauce. This weekend I made
what's in this picture (salsa & pickled hot peppers).
It took me all day Sunday. I love to can but it is
time consuming!

We are getting a new shed (finally). The one we
have has a big hole in the floor, a leaky roof, and
is mice infested. Kelly cleared a spot in the back
yard, between the two gardens. We should have
it in about 3 weeks.

Blessings to all! Shane if you are reading this...Dad and I love you and miss you!!!

Sheilda

Garden Tour

I know it has been over a month since my last post. Summer gets to be a busy time especially when the garden starts ripening. I froze corn for the past two weeks, which I had to do during the week after working all day. All I kept thinking is, it will be wonderful to eat corn on a cold winter's day! Below are some pictures of what's been happening lately.

I went to my sister's to help out with a garage
sale. My sister and niece both got blood hounds,
Karl and Klara. They are brother and sister and
they love each other. They think they are lap dogs.
Here they are all worn out after playing.


We watched Natalie one weekend. I had gotten
her a pool and she had to try it out.

Here she is after she discovered she could
throw water on Grandma who was sitting
in a lawn chair watching her. She cracks
me up!!!

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GARDEN TOUR

My first year planting Brussel Sprouts.

Our first pumpkin to turn orange. We did
pick it and I hope it keeps until Halloween.
Otherwise we'll have to designate another
pumpkin for Natalie (she usually gets the first
one that turns orange). There is A LOT more
on the vine to choose from!

One of the many watermelons. I picked this one
because I thought it was ripe. NOT! Now I
know to leave the others alone....it's too early.

Yes, this jungle is my tomatoes. They went
crazy this year. Some of the plants are taller than
me. We had to stack them along with having them
in tomato cages. Salsa, Salsa, Salsa!

I have had the best crop of green peppers
I have ever had. I can't keep up!

This is what I picked two days ago. 26 of
them! This is after I have picked at least
4 dozen!!

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STATE FAIR

We made our annual trip to the State Fair
on opening day, August 25th. It was a
beautiful day and we always enjoy our time.
Hopefully in a couple years Shane can join
us again!

Kelly has to get a corn dog....the highlight
of his trip to the Fair!

As we were leaving we got someone to take our
picture by these cool horses made out of moss.

I will try to post again sooner than I did this last time. I am on vacation until after Labor Day so that should help. I call this my "stay at home Mom week." I used to take this time off to get Shane ready for school and celebrate his birthday sometime during this week. I love being home and pretending I don't have to work!! lol Miss you Shaner D. Happy 21st Birthday on the 28th. You are our blessing from God and we are truly grateful for you and are very proud of you!

Blessings to all,

Sheilda

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.

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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