Minnesota memories~

Babysitting is done for the week; unpacking is finished; some sleep was caught up on; and I can now turn my attention to blogging once more! :)

Josephine and I had a wonderfully uneventful road-trip to MN and pulled in the Dalquist's yard a little before dark Thursday evening. The next few hours were spent in visiting with Michael and his parents.

Friday, Michael had some work to do, so we tagged along and kept him company. 

Did you know that chickens like cow-feed? 

 Michael put some more ground feed in the barn...

 Josephine and Lily...

 Shortly before noon, Michael's sister, Rachael and her husband, Nicholas arrived. It was great meeting them finally after hearing so much about them.  They brought some games along, so we played one of them for several hours that afternoon, as it was a lot of fun. Kathy (Michael's mom) had to say goodbye and leave Friday after supper, as she had prior obligations for the weekend. While she was gone, Rachael did most of the cooking for the rest of us, and yes, she's a very good cook!

The 5 of us young people went for a walk. Thanks to Josephine, we have this picture... 

L to R: Michael, myself, Rachael, and Nicholas 

 Oh, and we can't forget about Sam...

It's really pretty there, with all of the trees and water!

Mr. Tall and I...

I feel so blessed to be in a courtship with this young man!!! It's truly a dream come true. 

Praise be to God for how HE works in mysterious ways, His purpose to accomplish.

Prayers would be appreciated as we seek out God's will from here.

That evening, Michael's brother, James and his fiance, Jenny came for a couple hours to visit (lots of talk about wedding plans) and we played 1 game of Settlers of Catan. :)   

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 I so very much appreciate what a hard worker Michael is...and that he truly believes in and implements the principles of organics and that he desires healthy land, healthy animals, and healthy people.

 Michael & his sister... It was really neat observing how they relate to each other.

Saturday afternoon, while Rachael went to a baby shower and Nicholas got some reading done (and Michael's dad, Dale went fishing), Michael, Josephine and I went on a little adventure.

My lovely traveling companion and friend, Josephine...

 Michael took us to his friend, Randy's place. There, he showed us Randy's workshop and showroom, both of which contained some amazing taxidermy works-of-art....

 Michael took a class from Randy a few years back and some of his animals were there still. I think he said the fish at the top right in this picture was one that he did.

 Michael and his coyote...

Want a rhino anybody??

Michael had Randy's permission to go explore the trails in his woods, so the 3 of us squished into this handy machine and bounced around for a while.  We saw the small field-plots that Michael has planted for Randy in the past. We even got temporarily stuck, but Michael pushed us out. :)

 Definitely a different kind of view than we see here in my part of North Dakota!

 We decided not to attempt going over the part of the trail where the culvert collapsed, 

leaving no trail for several yards.

 M&M (Michael & Me)...and yes, it was windy.

I really enjoyed helping Michael with the barn chores every morning. Since his mom wasn't there, I was able to do some of her work, like feeding the chickens and horses, and Michael & I both took care of the 3 ducklings and the little chicks. Oh, Saturday morning, we went up in the huge hayloft of the barn in search of kittens, which Michael found. :) Spring is an exciting time on a farm!

Sunday morning, Rachael made us Swedish pancakes. Mmmm Mmmm good! Then, after getting cleaned up/changed, we went to church in Cushing. Josephine & I reluctantly left after Sunday school, as we had 6+ hours of driving to do to make it to her niece's first birthday party in time. It was hard saying goodbye, but I guess that's a good thing. 

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Mikaylee's birthday party was very much worth the hours of driving it took to get there. She was so fun to watch as she helped her dad and mom open her presents. :)

After a very delicious and filling meal (and present opening, of course), we played 1 game of volleyball before it was too dark to see anymore.

Sometimes I think what my/our life would have been like if Sarena hadn't come over that one time (about 3 years ago) to buy a computer that Andrew had listed on BisManOnline, and then come again for a computer related problem. After the 2nd time she was here, she decided to bring Lauretta to meet us, and the rest is a happy history! We've done so much together over the last few years. What a blessing from God these friendships have proven to be! They are like the sisters I never had.

~ Josephine, Sarena, Lauretta, & I ~

I got home close to midnight Sunday night. My bed felt so cozy!

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On Monday, I brought the girls (and the boy) over here for a visit, as they'd been asking to come for some time already...

 This was Vonn's first visit to our house. Think he'll remember it?

 Zach built the girls a really neat tire-swing at their place...

 I took this picture of some of our babies last night, as I was helping Jacob feed the cows...

And that brings my blog up to date again! Mostly. I mean, I'm sure I missed some things while I was gone. Mostly, Dad and Andrew have been doing a lot of grain cleaning (even in the very strong wind). Jacob has been working for farmer Roger/farmer Aaron, and yesterday for farmer Kyle. My mom has been miserable, but has kept things going in the house. There have been several fires in our state in the last 2 days, and yes, we're in a drought. Please join us in praying for rain.