Update!

Tomorrow it will be 2 months since Michael and I were married!!!

  My, how the time does fly when you're having fun. :)

This is our home that we're renting from my folks.  I took this picture on a beautiful frosty morning last week.

 One of our wedding presents... :)

 We now have 2 guest bedrooms. The quilt on this bed was handmade by Rachael (Michael's sister) and was her wedding gift to us. Isn't it lovely?

 Our 2nd and smaller guestroom...  

Michael MADE this bed-frame years ago. :)

 The denim quilt was also a wedding present. Our friends were SO generous!!

 One of the largest of the 4 turkeys we "did in". It weighed 30lbs, dressed.

 A gift from my sweetheart...

 The honey we extracted from the honeycomb Michael discovered in SD...

 My beloved installed a new shower in our home! He's so handy...

 "They" sent us the wrong shower door home, so we used just the shower curtain until last night, when Michael brought the correct door home and put it in where it belongs. I love that man!!

He also dropped my rings off to get them bonded and it feels quite strange to be ring-less now.

 Here's picture proof that he even helped me write out some of our many thank yous 

(still a work in progress as there were 193 to write, but the end is drawing near).

And now, our big news!

It's about our new addition....

....to our farm....

Does this give you a hint?

 YES, we bought a milk cow!!!

 It took a while to decide on a name, but the matter is now decided.

Meet IVY...

Date of birth: July 10th 2013

Breed: Brown Swiss

Purchase date: 12/21/15

Bought from: Prairie Diamond Ranch, Steele, ND

Status: Milking for one month

Temperament: Very docile, but she does have the Swiss stubbornness and if you want her to go somewhere, it's best to let her follow you rather than trying to herd her.   

Notes:  She has quickly adjusted to being hand-milked, even without the kicker. Last night, she let Michael and I milk her at the same time, one sitting on either side.  We're highly impressed and pleased. 

We hope she'll be around for many years.

 She likes to eat...but that's no surprise.  She is a cow, afterall.

We are still waiting for wedding pictures to come from our photographer, but have a few to share.

Consider this a sneak-peek of our special day:

I bought my wedding gown on the Internet, as it is hard to find modest gowns locally. I wore my mom's wedding veil which was altered a bit (sequins were added and the front headband part was removed) by Michael's Aunt Joy.  Our colors were Watermelon and Sage. 

The flower girls, Amelia M, Johanna M, and Tracy Jo M looked like little angels. :)

Our ring bearer/wagon puller/wagon-sitter-baby boys were: Michael M, James M, and Vonn M.

My bridesmaids were: Anna U, Heather C, Miranda G, Dorena W, and Lauretta H.

Michael's groomsmen were: James D (his brother), Grant D (his cousin), Andrew B, Jacob B (my brothers), and Nate A (his college friend).

 My groom with our ushers:

Michael's cousins, Garrett and Ethan; our brother-in-law, Nicholas; and my second cousin, Hristiyan

 Michael's Aunt's sister, Katey has a flower shop (Paws Floral) and did all the flowers for our wedding.   She put these flowers in the bows on the chairs in the sanctuary a couple hours before the ceremony began.

That's all for now.

Happily ever after~

Hello everyone!  This is Mrs. Dalquist writing. :)

I've had several inquiries as to when I'd be getting back to posting on my blog and, well, maybe now is the time to start?  Life is by no means slowing down, but I do want to record some of the special moments of my first month+ of married life here so as to remember them better later, so I'll give a quick update.

Michael & I went on a 2 week honeymoon, traveling as far as Arizona to see the Grand Canyon. We had SUCH a great time and saw so many amazing things. My favorite memories are of being at Yellowstone National Park and the Coral Pink Sand Dunes, oh, and driving through snow in the mountains of CO. Michael also took me to see Cora, WY--a very tiny town. :)

The following 2 weeks were mostly spent in SD, helping my dad and brothers tear down 2 buildings which will later be rebuilt on the farm here and up at Andrew's place. We will be going down there to hopefully finish up that project next week. 

On November 22nd, we went to Mandan to celebrate my grandma Marly's 81st birthday and Thanksgiving with my extended family.

Last week, my husband and I went to MN to visit his family and to go to his grandparent's house for Thanksgiving. It was great to see everyone again and to get to know my new family better. Michael did the morning cow-milking for his dad while we were there to give him a little break. He says he doesn't mind not getting up at 5:20am every morning anymore though. 

This last week, Michael & I were finally able to get our house mostly in order and to work on projects that help to make this house our home. :) It's been a delight filling our kitchen and home with such generous wedding presents... 

 Michael has been helping up at Mid Dakota Grain as needed.  I got most of my name-change paperwork finished (social security # changed; new driver's license; credit card companies notified; bank accounts changed; local gas station card changed; etc...). We also did some shopping and spent our wedding money on buying a beautiful new bedroom set. Michael went to pick it up today so it will be very exciting to get our room set up tonight!  He also bought a pickup box so as to fix up his truck and picked that up this morning. We're now pondering buying a milk cow and stopped in at Carrie K's last night to look at what cows she has for sale. Prayers would be appreciated, that we know if we should buy a cow now and which one.

So, you see, I HAVE been busy, but no, I have not forgotten about blogging and do hope to keep writing from time to time in the future. There will be wedding pictures posted here when we get them from our photographer. In the meantime, if you'd like to watch our wedding (and slideshow AND the Kingery's concert), you may do so here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Re9vNZIJwHc

Have a wonderful December~

PS. YES, I am LOVING being married to Michael David Dalquist!!!

Last night...

Busy, busy days!!!

Tonight is the last night that I will spend in this house as a single woman. Tomorrow night, some of us will be going over to the church with the camper and will stay there until the wedding is over.

Michael just arrived and it is his last night of staying over at my parent's in their guestroom too. :)  He brought the last of his things. What exciting times!!  Please pray for his folks though, as I know they'll miss Michael and all that he did to help keep the dairy farm running well.

My mom and I went to Bismarck today. I got my nails done (first time of ever doing that), so that was fun. I think we're almost ready for Saturday now!

This will be my last post as a single woman too, come to think of it!!

May God bless you all and all of us.
Lots of love,
  Cora Bornemann

Head in the clouds...

I confess. I'm on cloud 9 and not thinking the clearest at times! It just might have something to do with the fact that I'm getting married in 6 days?

I'm more than a little excited!!!  It's been great corresponding with old friends, especially hearing of people who are planning to come share in our joyous day. 

Andrew and I spent our spare time yesterday (and the day before) putting together a slide-show for the wedding.  I finished packing for Michael & my honeymoon today. :) I also cooked up a batch of tomato soup and canned it. I think the rest of the garden produce can now wait until post-wedding.

Saturday, please hurry up and come, and Lord, give me patience! 

9 days...

I'm getting SOOOO excited!!!!  In 9 days, I will become Mrs. Michael Dalquist!!!!!    He is SUCH a blessing to my life. He even brought me flowers on his last visit here. :)  God has blessed me almost beyond belief.  While Michael was here, we worked on several wedding projects (one involved varnishing), and did I mention that my dearest lady-friend, Lauretta GOT MARRIED last Saturday???  :)

She was such a lovely bride and the day was very special. I was honored to be in her wedding party with her sisters and we spent all morning of the wedding curling hair and styling it and talking.... We got to wear hoop-skirts, so that was a new experience.  Michael came to the wedding too so, of course, we had to get a picture together:

I'm so very happy for my friend!!!

 Awwww.... :)

My mom and I spent the day in Bismarck, buying wedding supplies and such.  We'll need to go up one more time next week, then hopefully will have our lists checked off.

And now, I'm exhausted and am going to bed (after talking to my sweetheart for a bit first)!

What a great day!

Michael and I had our last counseling session with the Kyners (we took them out to eat this time) AND got our marriage license in Jamestown. :)

Wedding favors...

My mom came over this afternoon and helped me by finishing up the wedding favors I made for the big day. (They're still a secret.)

I'm caught up with the tomatoes now, so somebody please tell the pink and green ones to stay that way for a month. ;)

Michael is a sweetheart!!  He's been very helpful and interested in the wedding planning project, even when the 304 miles separate us. I just learned today that my childhood friend, Kjersti (and her little family) is coming to the wedding, so now I'm even MORE excited!!  My other childhood friend, Lindsay is also coming, so maybe we can get a picture together, for old times' sake? The three of us used to be inseparable.

Tomorrow I get to start on the big project of baking/decorating cake and cupcakes for Lee & Lauretta's wedding on Saturday, October 10th. I need to get everything ready anyway.  This is going to be a WONDERFUL weekend!!  I'm so happy for my dear friend!  AND Michael is coming on Friday. :)

Please keep my mom in your prayers in the next 2+ weeks. She's had some heart issues lately and I just hope she can enjoy the wedding and not stress about anything.   October 10th is ALSO my parent's 35th wedding anniversary!  So much love and joy!

I probably won't have time to update here until after the weekend....

God is SO good!