Where do I start?

Well, hello dear readers (if I have any left after my long absence). :) 

What a busy week it has been!  

I'll try to update you quickly on some of what has happened since I last wrote.

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Last Tuesday morning, I packed my bags and headed for South Dakota to visit Dorena...

 Dorena was staying with her friends, the S. family in Glad Valley, so that is where I went.  Dorena and I had fun visiting while we weeded the garden and cooked. I asked her to be one of my bridesmaids, and she very enthusiastically said "YES"! :) 

The next morning, we headed for the B.'s farm (about another hour West of where we were). Dorena's sister-in-law, Amber's sister, Rebecca B. was getting married on the 4th of July, so the B.s needed some help getting things ready for the wedding.

Dorena, spray painting...

 It was SOOOO wonderful to see my dear friend again!!!!  

 Wednesday night, Dorena took me to a concert in Hettinger, ND. 

 The family band playing was called, "Link Union".  They were from Missouri.

 After saying goodbye to my old friend and new friends, I headed for home. I made a slight detour and stopped in to visit at David & Susanna D's home for about an hour...

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Once home again, it was time to clean off a bunch of eggs and go up to Carrie's for milk and to deliver eggs. Then, when I got back, my uncles, Russell (Montana) and Rick (Las Vegas) and cousin Ben (Grand Forks) were all visiting, so we spent the rest of the day with them.

The next day (Friday), it was back to painting again. My family accomplished a lot while I was away, as it was too wet to do farm work.

Jacob and I climbed up onto the top of the camper and scrubbed it clean. Then Andrew and I grabbed a roller and paint brush and painted on some rubbery paint stuff that is supposed to make surfaces completely waterproof. Andrew put on another layer after the first one was dry. Hopefully that does the trick. We also scrubbed Andrew's pickup clean.

 Next, it was back to painting in the new house...

(See Mom's flowers?)

 We all grabbed rollers or brushes and got the large family room done. 

 Now all that is left is some closets.

 I gave my brothers their much needed haircuts, then after supper, Josephine came over and she and my mom and I wrote up and printed off several bridal shower invitations on the paper Josephine had picked out.

  Lauretta and I are having our bridal shower together, since we both would be inviting many of the same people anyway and we're getting married around the same time. My mom and Josephine are the hostesses, but I'll be helping for Lauretta's sake and she for mine, so it's a group effort really. 

 Late that night, Michael arrived!  He stayed until early afternoon today. It was a wonderful treat to have him here for so long....and yes, he was a distraction, which is why my blog has been silent. :) 

The next day was Independence Day.  My dad and Andrew went to the parade in Mandan, and the rest of us joined them up there in the evening for the rodeo (and the huge fireworks display after that). The guys brought Grandma to the rodeo too, and then Uncle Rick and Cousin Ben met us there also.

 We got home a little before 2:00am. Nobody got up early the next morning.

Below: Me and my handsome cowboy. :)

The next day was engagement-picture-taking day!  Andrew offered to be our photographer, so we went to a few different places (as far as Linton) to get pictures in God's beautiful nature. 

Here is a small sampling of our pictures. The rest are a surprise....for the time being. ;)

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We also went to Strasburg to look at cars. Michael & I need to get a more reliable vehicle sometime before our honeymoon. How do you like the one below? ;)

 While in Linton, we bought a few more fireworks, just because...

Oh! On Saturday, my mom's childhood friend, Anna and her husband, Bill came from Grand Forks to visit and they stayed a couple days.  Anna has her own sewing business and regularly sews wedding attire. She has also been a cook for camps and things for many years, so we talked with her both about food and clothing for our wedding.

Sunday evening, we all went outside to watch the guys light off the fireworks they'd purchased.

 My mom really likes sparklers, so Michael was lighting one for her...

 Bill, Anna, and my mom......"Sparklingly" happy. :)

 Yesterday, Michael & I worked on other wedding plans (invitations and such). At 4:00, we met with Pastor Kyner and his wife in Jamestown for our first pre-marriage counseling session.  They're such loving, Godly people. I have a feeling we'll be very close to them by the time we're done with our weeks of counseling. After an hour and a half of talking and question answering, the Kyners took us out to eat at Paradiso. :)

On the way home, we stopped at Steele to get pictures by the giant Sandhill crane....

 This "landmark" is just 20 miles away, yet I'd never had my picture taken with it before. 

Too close to home to seem worth stopping for, I guess?

 As usual, it was very hard to say goodbye to Michael. Please keep us in prayer as we still have many important decisions to make---especially the one of where to live. 

This afternoon, I helped Andrew with getting the yard looking nice again (mowing and weed whacking), then Mom and I pulled weeds in the garden for a while. I also discovered that there were ripe raspberries!!!!  Picked some strawberries too. 

~Delicious~

Now you're mostly caught up again. Time to get off of here before I start going cross-eyed. 

Good night----and God bless and lead us all.

Going on a mini vacation...

The last two days were partially spent on painting in my parent's new house. Our whole family worked almost all of yesterday in there, and then Lauretta came over and helped too, so we got a lot done, but there is still much to do.

Dad, putting tape on the trim in the living room...

 My mom painting her bedroom...

 Me helping Mom in the master bedroom...

 Andrew took curtain rod holders and outlet covers off....

 Jacob, doing more taping in the living room...

 Painting the kitchen ceiling...

 Lauretta painting in the dining room...

Lauretta stayed over last night and she and I had fun talking 'til all hours of the morning (mostly about wedding plans....imagine that!!!). She is such a dear, dear friend!

In the morning, I'm going down to SD to visit another dear friend, Dorena W. :)  I'm so excited!!!  It's been way too long since we've seen each other (2 years?). 

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

Painting and Prairie Days....and paintings AT Prairie Days~

Yesterday, my mom and I started the big and rather tedious job of painting all the ceilings and walls in their new home.  It took a while to get everything set up, but then we got the ceilings painted in the master bedroom, bathroom, and a good sized storage closet. It will be more fun when we're actually putting colors on the walls instead of just painting white over white. :)

This morning, Andrew & I headed West to attend the Dagley's annual Prairie Days. We've gone to Prairie Days every year (except last year) for 12 years. It was really good to see so many old friends and to get caught up a little bit on what's going on in their lives---and to update them on what's going on in my/our lives.

 There were so many new babies to see too!

 My long-time friend, Susanna, figuring out how to use a drop-spindle...

I played croquet with friends for a while...

And yes, there was a (water color) painter at Prairie Days: Mrs. B...

It was really neat to watch her work.

It is such a blessing to have Christian friends---to encourage and pray with and yes, even to struggle through life together with at times, reminding each other to keep looking to God for the wisdom and strength and comfort needed. Many people face challenges that we know nothing of when we see their smiling faces. Then, we discover the trials they're really going through...and see how much trust and courage it takes to keep that smile going....and it is just a good reminder to keep ALL our brothers and sisters (in the Lord) in prayer as God brings them to mind, as they may be struggling in ways we'd never have imagined.

Update time!

I realized tonight that I am WAY behind on blog-posting! 

There is SO much to be said and so little time as it is already late, 

so this will be the condensed version of a very lengthy tale...

I don't remember if I mentioned that my chicks came in the mail last week? They are doing very well now and the cats are not happy with the cat-proof floor we put down, so I'm pleased. ;)

 Michael came on Saturday and was able to stay until Tuesday. It was a great delight and comfort having him here while we worked through the sadness of Grandpa Earl's funeral (Monday).  I thank the Lord over and over for sending such a wonderful, caring man into my life to be my future husband!!!

 There was a viewing/prayer service on Sunday that we all went to. My mom took the picture below. I was not feeling well at all during the funeral, so I wasn't thinking about taking pictures at the time. Please keep my grandma Marly in your prayers as she adjusts to life without Grandpa now. I talked to her on the phone tonight and she sounded pretty well, but I'm sure she has some challenging days ahead of her.

Pastor Steve K. and his wife, Vangie came from Jamestown and Michael's Pastor, Dan H. came all the way from Little Falls, MN to attend Grandpa's funeral. While we had both pastors in one place, Michael and I talked to them a bit about our upcoming wedding. We'll be going through counseling with Pastor Steve and his wife once the books arrive that he ordered for us.  Pastor Dan came to our farm after the burial and visited and spent the night too. It was really good to get to know him better.

Michael & I had some time to work on wedding plans (and have been working on it ever since too). Please pray for God to open doors for a church to hold our wedding in. By the looks of our guest list, it will need to be a large church (much larger than either of our churches).  We're hoping to have our wedding somewhere in between my place and Michael's place, so everyone will have some driving to do. Ideally, we'd like to get married in a country church, but do you know how hard it is to find a LARGE country church? There is one option we've found South of Fargo and Michael talked to the Pastor there this morning. They will discuss the matter at their meeting sometime next week. I'm trying not to worry about it, as I know God has everything planned and very much under control. BUT, if you'd add your prayers to ours for wisdom and for doors to open, it would be very much appreciated!

Another big decision/prayer request is knowing where to live once we are married. There is a possibility that Michael and I would live in North Dakota! We're checking out all our options at present. We even drove around and looked at some farms while Michael was here, so that was a fun little adventure. Lots to think and pray about these days...

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Tuesday afternoon, Paula brought Vonn over so I could babysit him for a few hours. He is growing up so fast. Look at the way that he wanted to drink his bottle: 

He already pulls himself up on things and crawls pretty well too. Won't be long before he's keeping up with his sisters.

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 On Wednesday, I went with my brothers to Dickinson. 

From this picture, do you want to try to guess why we went there and what we were buying?

If you guessed it, you should get a prize!! :)

 Yes! We pooled our money and bought a camper (a '99 model). Now that we don't have many cows to care for, we might actually get away from time to time?  It should come in handy for farming in SD next year (if that happens) and also for packing full with wedding supplies this year. ;)

 Inside the camper:

There are bunkbeds in the back room and a queen sized mattress in the front. The couch is comfortable enough to sleep on too.

Comfortable, Andrew?

 It needs a good cleaning, and a few things need fixing, but then it should be ready to go.

 I like how cheerful the kitchen area is. It has a refrigerator and freezer; stove-top/oven; microwave; and there's even a washer and drier. 

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 I spent most of today out in the garden, trying to get caught up there. My dad cut hay. Mom went to Bismarck and bought paint for their house. Andrew worked on the camper, and Jacob used the tractor to clean out the south pole-barn (where we'll store hay).

I've probably forgotten something, but I can post that another day. 

For now, I'd better call it good and get some sleep.  

Until next time~

Very big, exciting news!!! :)

Remember the last time Michael came to visit? He arrived on a Friday and, unknown to me as I was tired and went to bed early (at 11:00), Michael talked to my parents for a few hours and asked their blessing on his asking me to marry him!!!!----and they gave it!

 I love the following song, as it makes me think of what it must have been like for him to do so:

Saturday morning, Michael proposed!!  

He asked me to be his (future) wife, and I said YES, of course. :) 

Oh what a day of rejoicing that was!!!!  It felt like we were living in a dream. I've dreamt of that super special moment for most of my life, and when it finally happened, it didn't quite seem true at first. Now it does. :)

I love Michael David Dalquist so much already and am forever grateful that we met (I'll tell that story another time). God is SO good and truly answers prayers! The Lord has blessed me with the gift of a Godly, honest, hard-working, gentle man who desires for me to marry him. How wonderful it all is! I hope and pray that I will be a good wife.

Through our courtship (when we were praying and discussing many things, determining where our relationship was to go), we had agreed not to hold hands (outside of meal-time prayer, when we all do so). 

After discussing it, we agreed to hold hands now that we're engaged, and I'm so glad we did. It is bonding. For those who are curious, yes, we are saving our first kiss for our wedding. :)  It is very special having such "Firsts"!  

Andrew got out his big camera and took some pictures of the two of us on our happiest of days...

Yes, the rose Michael picked for me did smell very sweet...

Please pray for us now as we make many big decisions (where to live; when and where to marry; who to put on the guest list....). :)

We didn't know Andrew was taking this picture, but it ended up being one of my favorites...

I love, love, love him!

Can't (and don't want to) stop smiling! :)

The following day, we went ring shopping. We picked out our rings at Riddles Jewelry, but the rings needed to be resized and the jeweler wasn't there that day so, sadly, we had to wait a while.  Paula actually ended up picking them up for me (thanks again, dear friend!), just in time for me to take them along to MN when Jacob and I left last Friday to be with Michael and his family during his grandma, Violet's burial and funeral service.

It was a week after we got engaged that Michael got down on his knee and, after making sure I hadn't changed my mind ;), he slipped this gorgeous ring on my finger... 

It was very hard not to tell my blogging and facebook friends about our great joy, but we desired to share the news with family first before telling everyone else (and wanted to have the ring picture too, when we did share!).

Here are a few pictures from our MN trip:

Amidst the funeral planning and family coming and going, the Dalquist men got some hay chopped and blown up into the silo...

The milk cows enjoying the buffet-style mineral feeder that Michael made for them... (He has since then built a cover for it too so as to keep the rain off).

Jacob, for some unknown reason??? likes when cows lick his fingers...

Dale (Michael's dad) feeding some haylage...

We helped the D. family clean out some of the things from their grandma's apartment. They (Violet's children) generously offered many useful things for James & Jenny's and Michael & my new homes, so Michael & I now need to figure out where to live so we can start getting our home ready. :) James (Michael's brother) & Jenny are already fixing their place up.

On the way to the apartment, Michael took Jacob and I to see the dam in Little Falls... 

It looked like a good picture-taking spot, so....

I rode with Michael for a few rounds while he chopped hay on Sunday...

Trying to get a good ring-and-us picture on Monday (the day of the funeral service)...

I love wearing Michael's ring! I took it off for a little while today while I was baking and it just didn't feel right, so I put it back on as soon as my hands were clean.

Michael plans to come this weekend to be with me/us as we bury my Grandpa. It seems a strange way to start our engaged life---each of us burying a grandparent, but maybe God knew we all needed some joy mixed in with the sorrow?

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Yesterday, I went with my parents to help make funeral plans at Grandma's place. Today, my parents went up again. The funeral will be on Monday.

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Well, I still have things to accomplish this evening so, bye for now,

~The future Mrs. Michael Dalquist   :)