Grandpa passed away.

Jacob and I returned home from attending Michael's grandma's funeral (yesterday), just in time to say goodbye to my own grandpa. He passed away this evening. My parents are still up in Mandan with Grandma. My brothers and I were up there this morning. Please keep the whole family in prayer.

We started the day off by getting the cows in and sorting off the open cows and loading them on the trailer. My dad and I then took them to the Napoleon salesbarn, then ran around town getting parts and taking extra sunflower seed back and depositing checks.

(The line in front of us)

 (The line behind us)

 When we got back, we went across the road to see how things were coming with the house. The electrician was just finishing up there...

 ...and Nathan in the house was back to working on mudding the cracks shut. He has at least one more day of that left.

Jacob and I mowed/weed-wacked the lawn. Oh, and we scraped out the stock trailer, which was a not so delightful job, as it hadn't been done recently.

(One of my Columbines blooming)

I made a quick trip over to Zach & Paula's, as Paula had picked something up for me in Bismarck (something that I want to take with to MN). 

My grandpa could sure use prayer. Grandma called this morning to talk to my dad about the option of Grandpa having a feeding tube. Later in the day, Dad got a call from Uncle Ronald, saying that Grandma had called him just then with news that Grandpa had some heart trouble during dialysis and she was asking her sons to come, so my parents left right away. I'm still waiting for their return.

Also, please pray for the Dalquist family. Michael's grandma passed away this afternoon. Jacob and I plan to head East tomorrow...

Busy days. We never run short of things to do or people to pray for.

My blog will once again be silent for a few days.

A picture post

Last Sunday morning, Michael helped us tag 10 or so calves because a buyer was coming the next day to take all of the pairs and most of the bred cows too.

 A fawn that Michael & I saw by a fence...  

It was so tiny and cute and just held perfectly still while we looked at it.

Monday was a very full day! The guys from Centennial Homes came to move the house onto the site...

 ...you know, the polka dot site.

 It was pretty amazing to watch!

 Directing the driver...

 Around 1:00, the cattle buyer and the veterinarian arrived to PG (pregnancy check) the cows.  We had a few troubles with the cows not cooperating, but everyone was kept safe, thankfully.

Michael, my very dear friend. :) 

 The cows the buyer didn't take...

 After loading up and sending one small trailer down the road, we all went over to watch the house moving project some more. It wasn't long after that when Michael said his goodbyes to my family and I and headed back to his land of lakes... :(

 Mid-afternoon, the truck pulled in for the rest of the cows and calves.  Pretty adorable little herd here, huh?

 "Shoooo babies, shoooo."

 My dad, Andrew and I went up in the trailer with the buyer and his daughter to help them retag and band the (bull) calves...

 Then it was back across the road again. 

Dad and Jacob in the "breezeway" of the new house...  ;)

 Serving the two workers (and us) some ice cream in the middle of the house, as it was such a hot day...

 Jacob, bringing the skidsteer over to do some cleanup work...

 Yesterday was another sweltering day...but much got done in spite of the heat.

 Paula brought Vonn over so I could babysit him for a few hours while she went to Bismarck. He slept for a little while, but then was curious about everything that was going on.

 I got to see the girls when Paula came to pick Vonn up again. Love getting hugs from them!! 

They brought an ice cream cake AND...

 ...a cute little chick----because we lost our chicks, you know, 

and this one should NOT be tempting to cats!  Paula is so thoughtful and is teaching the girls to be so too. :)

I spent part of the morning in the garden and found these lovely daffodils blooming...

 My mom planted the rest of our flowers in the front flower bed...

 I tilled up a couple spots where we'll plant the tomatoes, cabbages, broccoli, and cauliflower that we started in the greenhouse. I got the peppers and 14 tomatoes planted before it started to rain, and it's kept sprinkling here and there all day long.

 That made this day a lot cooler for the guys and they were still able to work out of doors. They got the siding finished...

 My dad was over there helping all day. There were 2 guys working inside the house today, and the electrician came; the plumber was here yesterday; and the propane tank arrived this morning. It won't be long now and my folks will be able to move in!!!  Hooray!

Andrew left early this morning to go to MN. He will be gone until Monday, I think, working on a film project with several others.  I'm sure he'll have a marvelous time.

There, I'm mostly caught up now. 

There still is at least one more days worth of blogging to share at a later date... :)

Please continue to pray for my grandparents. Grandpa Earl had surgery yesterday morning and will hopefully start to feel better now. Also, Michael said that his grandma is really close to the end now, so please keep their whole family in prayer. 

Returning...

Where do I even start????  So much has happened since I last wrote! I have so much to tell. :)

But, it is late, and it isn't really the best time to start the tale of cattle selling and new house projects and other things, so this will have to wait a while longer.

My dad did finish seeding today, thankfully, and I ordered new chicks this morning to replace the batch the cat feasted on. Oh, and Andrew is leaving tomorrow to go to MN to help produce a short film, so he's going to have an exciting few days! 

Much more another day...

Flowers and dead chicks...

This evening, after I got done babysitting, my mom and I got the flower bed and pots ready to go and planted some lovely things in them. :) 

 Mom, enjoying the improved view...

 Lady seems to like it too?

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 This day did NOT start out very well....

 I went out to do my usual chicken chores and, when I lifted the pallet-lid to take care of the chicks, out hopped a CAT!  ALL of the chicks (about 50) in there were dead. I heard one cheeping outside of the tank and found it hiding, so took that one in the house, where it is currently residing. Apparently, the cat dug underneath the tank and went on a murdering spree. I was SO mad at that cat!!!

One of the best parts of the day was when I opened my mail tonight and found a check I wasn't expecting for an amount that will greatly help with purchasing new chicks to replace the ones that were lost.

 Praise be to God for how He works in wondrous ways.

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I had a request for more pictures of the new house... I took these last night.

They plan to come on Monday to begin the task of moving the house on the lot and putting it all together.

 The living room is currently cluttered with supplies for finishing up the house.

 The kitchen is spacious and full of cupboards! Mom is going to love it here. :)

I plan to live in/rent our old house for the time being, and Andrew might stay here too? Maybe.

~~~~

More good news:

Michael is coming sometime tomorrow!!! :)

It's here!

Piers!

I was gone babysitting, but my mom got a lot of pictures of the new-house project.  

Andrew, packing things down...

 The pier-guy, pretending to be a gopher?

 Thankfully, God kept the rain away and they were able to pour the cement today too...

Exciting times!

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Please join us in praying for my grandparents as they wait to see how Grandpa does and decide if he can go home from the care center or not. ALSO, please pray for Michael's grandma, Violet who took a sudden turn for the worse today and may not have much longer on this earth. 

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Yesterday was a lot of fun, spent with Lauretta and her mom, sisters, niece, future mother-in-law and future sister-in law....wedding gown shopping. I'm pretty sure Lauretta decided on which one she wants, although there were many pretty ones. After that was over, Josephine and I did some more shopping in Bismarck (plants mostly) and then I drove us to Laurettas' house, where some of us stayed up talking til late and I spent the night. This morning, I brought the flowers/plants home so they wouldn't suffocate in my car; did my chicken chores; then headed over to babysit. 

Andrew is almost done working on his big lawn mower. He took it for a test-drive tonight.  Jacob was working for farmer Dave all day.

Busy days!