You May Have Been Wondering…

You may have been wondering what I was doing all summer. I wasn’t able to show you because I was working on lots of surprises.

It began last winter while we were still in Texas. I had offered to sew/quilt some clutch purses for Cathryn to give her bridesmaids. Since some of her family members read this blog, I couldn’t show them to you. I made a total of twelve of them for her to give to whomever she wanted. The main fabric matched the color of the dresses, but each purse was unique with either a different button or different lining fabric.

While in Texas, I also finished this counted cross stitch wall hanging for them.

Cathryn had lots of wedding related pictures on Pinterest. One of them was mason jar candles. I asked her if she would like them for the rehearsal dinner. The initial plan was to hang them in trees. While I was in Moorhead for the wedding shower, we visited the shelter at the park where the rehearsal dinner was to be held. The trees were all too big to hang the jars in. As I drove back to Wisconsin, I wondered how we could incorporate the candle jars into the decorations. We have several garden flag hangers, and I thought they might work for the candles.

We ended up hanging two jars on each of our six stakes. We staked them into the ground on both sides of the walkway going to the shelter. I think they looked very nice.

We set them up again on Saturday night at the entrance to the reception hall. As people were leaving, they lit the pathway for them.

My mom and I also made centerpieces for the tables at the rehearsal dinner. You can see them on the table in this picture of some of our family members.

I kept one of them to use as a decoration in our home. It matches nicely with our green décor. The rest of them I gave to Cathryn to use as gifts for people who helped her with wedding activities.

But, I spent the most time on a twin size double wedding ring quilt for Korey and Cathryn. There are over 1,400 pieces of fabric in it. I worked on it regularly for over two months. It is by far the most ambitious quilting project I have ever undertaken. I learned a lot while making it. It’s not perfect, but I’m pleased with how it turned out. I appliqued a B in the center for their last name. This was my first attempt at applique. I think they like it!

I hand sewed a circle on the back and appliqued the label in the center.

Cathryn is also crafty. She embroidered handkerchiefs for her bridesmaids and parents. Each one was a little different. I must say my hankie got used during the wedding service. She also gave us these hangers made by one of her mom’s co-workers to hang our dresses on. Very nice Cathryn.

Now that the wedding is over, I’m busy doing some spring cleaning (a little late this year). Yesterday I washed windows and screens. Today will be cleaning out the kitchen cabinets. Next week will be going through the other cabinets and getting rid of clothes we no longer need.

And, here are a few more wedding pictures. I love the colors in this picture.

Here are all the guys.

And, I really like this one. Three happily married couples.

Cathryn’s dad arranged for a vintage car to drive them from the church to the reception.

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

May We Present…

We would like to present the happy couple, Mr. and Mrs. Korey and Cathryn Breutzmann.

Yesterday was one of those life moments that you treasure for the rest of your life. The weather was beautiful, the event was fantastic, everything went off without a hitch, and our son married his love. Amazing!!

It truly was just a perfect day. Here are a few pictures I captured. I’ll post more when I get a chance.

Our boys clean up pretty well, don’t you think :)

Today we’re going to Cathryn’s parents home for brunch and gift opening. Tomorrow we head back home feeling tired, joyful and content knowing our son is happy!!!

This day I will marry my best friend, the one I laugh with, live for, dream with, love!

The Big Day Has Arrived!

It’s 6:30 in the morning, and I’ve been awake for over two hours. Although I’m tired, I just couldn’t sleep anymore. Too excited, I guess. After all, the big day has arrived!!

It seems the time has sure flown by since last November when Korey and Cathryn got engaged. I’m so thrilled the two of them will become man and wife today.  We couldn’t have asked for a better daughter-in-law. After six years of courtship, most of it living in different cities, the two of them will finally be together for the rest of their lives. I know she makes him very happy. A mother can’t ask for more than that.

We had lunch yesterday at Buffalo Wild Wings with most of the wedding party. A few arrived later in the day. As you can see, the guys were in a good mood.

After lunch we went to the hall and helped with some of the decorating. Kevin, Eric and I left a little early to head over to the park where the rehearsal dinner was to be held. We did a little decorating there, and then on to the church for the rehearsal.

Korey and Cathryn introduced everyone at the church.

The wedding party practiced their parts.

Qdoba does catering, and Korey had ordered the burrito bar for dinner. Everything was supplied, and it was easy to set up. The food was good, and there was plenty to eat.

My mom had helped me make some centerpieces, and they looked very nice on the tables.

Many of the attendees played some games. It looked like everyone had a good time. I challenged Eric to a game of bean bag toss. He was confident he could whoop his mother. He did beat me, but only by one point.

By 9:30 pm we had everything cleaned up and were headed back to the hotel. We were able to visit a little with Kevin’s brother and his wife who drove in from Iowa yesterday. We sure do appreciate our friends and family members driving in from out of state to celebrate with our family!!!

This day I will marry my best friend, the one I laugh with, live for, dream with, love!

Getting Ready

On Wednesday we left Wisconsin around 9:00 am for an uneventful eight hour drive to Moorhead, Minnesota. We’re here for our son’s wedding this Saturday.

We’re staying at the Days Inn, Moorhead. Our luck has been pretty good with this hotel chain, and we get Wyndham reward points which will lead to a free night eventually. There is a very nice pool and hot tub and an indoor mini golf course. Our room is on the second floor with patio doors leading to a balcony overlooking the central domed courtyard with the pool and mini golf. There are tables and chairs on the balcony which will be a nice gathering place once more people arrive.

Our son Korey (the groom) stayed with us Wednesday night. On Thursday we picked up the suits for Korey and Kevin. Both fit fine. There is a very nice suit shop called Halverstadt’s in the mall in Fargo. They got the suits for $150 including the shirt and tie. That’s about the same cost as a tux and they can keep the suits. The suits are grey with white shirts and teal ties to match the dresses. The two dads have ties that are a shade lighter. I’m thinking the men will be looking very dapper!!

Next we stopped at the Fargo/Moorhead visitor center to see the displays from the movie Fargo. Fellow blogger Judy had visited this visitor center a few weeks ago, and I laughed so hard when I saw the picture on her blog next to the woodchipper.

So, here I am playing tourist wearing the ear flap hat pretending I’m in the movie Fargo. If you haven’t seen the movie, it is a dark comedy that takes place in Fargo. I must say, the people we’ve encountered here don’t have the heavy accent like in the movie. But, I have heard uff-da a few times :)

 

The mascot for the University of North Dakota is a bison. There are a number of these decorated bison throughout the city. Thanks Korey for posing for me.

The ladies had manicures and pedicures in the afternoon. Cathryn, her mom, her sister and myself enjoyed some pampering. Here’s the bride to be getting her nails done.

Our son Eric arrived from Wisconsin in time for dinner. Cathryn had plans with her family so the four of us went out for dinner at Granite City. Then it was back to the suit place to get Eric’s suit. His pants were too long so they are tailoring them, and we’ll pick up his suit today. Three of Korey’s groomsmen from Wisconsin arrived in town at the same time as we were picking up Eric’s suit, so they were all there picking up their suits as well. It was good to see the guys. All of them have been friends with Korey since middle school. Korey spent the night with some of those friends at their hotel. Eric is staying with us. Musical beds :)

Now, we’re off to lunch with all of the wedding party members that are in town. Then on to the hall for decorating. After that, we’ll do some decorating at the park where the rehearsal dinner will be held. Then the rehearsal itself and back to the park for dinner. Another fun and busy day.

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Now We’ve Seen It All

Just when you think you’ve seen it all, something new shows up that surprises the heck out of you.

Yesterday we were sitting outside enjoying another amazing summer day, when I saw a vehicle pulling a trailer holding a picnic table coming down the road. Now, that’s not that unusual. But, wait. The picnic table has big drums attached to it, and they’re pulling into the boat launch.

This I’ve got to see. We walked over to the pier, and sure enough. They already had their “boat” in the water. It had a trolling motor with a battery box attached under the table. I asked permission to take their picture, and they were totally willing. Apparently, they had seen this on YouTube.

The guy wearing the hat and his dad built it, and yesterday was it’s virgin launch. They had paddles to help with steering. We saw them leaving about two hours later with the table back on the trailer, so they must have had a successful first time out. Too funny :)

We had another busy weekend in the park. We weren’t totally full, but the people who were here sure bought a lot of firewood. We sold almost $200 worth which is a lot for us. I was a little worried they’d be up all night with big fires, and we might have some noise complaints. But, everyone behaved very well.

Last Monday Kevin and I played golf at one of our favorite courses, Kestrel Ridge in Columbus. We both had decent rounds, and the weather was great. In fact, after the cold snap last weekend, the entire week was beautiful.

Not much else new around here other than wedding preparations. Yesterday we loaded the beverages and coolers for the rehearsal dinner into the truck. Korey wanted to have the dinner at a park so people could mingle more. They are planning some games. It should be a fun time. He’s having it catered by Qdoba.

We rented a shelter at a park in Fargo. My mom and I made some centerpieces, and I have some other decorations to spruce things up a bit. Here’s one of the centerpieces. I’ll have many more pictures after next weekend.

The extended forecast for next weekend in Moorhead is looking to be pretty much perfect. I am so looking forward to all of the festivities. We’re leaving Wednesday and will come back the following Monday.

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Baby It’s Cold Outside!!

Last summer we suffered from extreme heat and drought. This year we are above average in rainfall, and now we’ve set a record for the coldest high daytime temperature on July 27th. Yesterday was overcast with a few rain showers, and we reached a high of only 61 degrees. Nighttime temps were in the high 40s. Brrrr!!! I had the fireplace on most of the day and night. That made it nice and cozy inside.

Our campground was full again for the weekend. We even had someone camped in the overflow site next to the woodshed. Several of the families camping here have daughters playing in softball tournaments in the area. I bet they were cold. Although, I’m guessing they’d rather play in this cooler weather than the blazing heat of last year. We sure sold a lot of firewood!!

The birdfeeder has not had much activity lately, but yesterday it was very busy. Maybe the cold temps confused the birds, and they thought winter was coming and they needed to fill their tummies. I’ve had a hummingbird feeder out all summer, and yesterday I finally saw the first hummingbird. I don’t know where they’ve been all summer. Of course, it was too quick for me to get a picture.

There is a cardinal couple that occasionally visits the feeder. Yesterday it looked like they were kissing. The male would turn his back to the female and they both looked like they were eating. Several times the male turned around and looked like he was kissing the female. I’m not sure what that was about. Maybe he was giving her food. I choose to believe he was actually kissing her. How cute!

The soybean field behind us sure makes a nice backdrop.

We had some very beautiful summer days last week. On Thursday we washed the truck and car. I had seen and ordered a new product mentioned on an RV forum. It’s called the Love Bug Eraser and is supposed to clean bugs off your vehicles without doing any damage to the finish.

I had ordered the 3 pack for $14.27 including shipping. Both vehicles had lots of bugs on the front due to some nighttime driving in rural Wisconsin. This product worked great. Although, I did have to rub hard in some spots, the bugs came off much easier than anything else I’ve tried. The erasers are reusable. I’ll be interested to see how it works on the front of the 5th wheel. Those bugs just love to smash against that front cap.

Less than two weeks to the wedding. I spoke to Korey yesterday and all is ready. He can’t wait to marry his sweetheart Cathryn. She spent the weekend in the Twin Cities for her bachelorette party. Hope the girls had a good time!

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

More Visitors and a Ballgame

Last week we had two more visitors. On Wednesday our friends George and Norma came for a two night visit with two of Norma’s grandchildren. Kevin and George worked together about 30 years ago and have remained friends ever since.

They visited us last year in July as well. Both times the weather was very hot and humid. We teased that they need to pick a different time when it’s not so hot. Even with the heat, we had a great time and hope they come back again soon.

On Thursday I had lunch with a group of ladies I used to work with about 10 years ago at Kennedy Middle School in Germantown, Wisconsin. The group is a book club. Although, we do enjoy reading and discussing the books, most of the time is spent chatting and catching up on each other’s news. It was fun seeing them again.

In our old life, Kevin was in a Sheepshead card playing group with some guys he worked with. They would try to get together once a month. Our son Eric ended up joining the group several years ago. They still try to get together a few times a year when we are in Wisconsin.

On Saturday the group came to the campground. Eric came a little early and spent the night which was a bonus for me as I got to spend some extra time with him. Another of the players Art came with his wife Dawn in their new to them 2006 Gulf Stream motorhome. What a beautiful rig! We are so excited for them.

Another one of the players Paul brought his wife Anne, so I had fun visiting with the ladies while the guys played cards. We enjoyed a beautiful evening relaxing around a campfire.

Last night we attended a Milwaukee Brewers baseball game with Eric and his friend Jeremy. It just so happened that Major League Baseball announced the suspension of Ryan Braun just hours before the game. He has been one of the most loved players on our team. What a disappointing turn of events. The Brewers lost, but we still had a good time, as you can tell from the goofy grins.

Only 2-1/2 weeks until the wedding. The excitement is building!!

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!