Saturday, August 29, 2009

Going Nuclear~a Walk in the Park

YIKES!! I just realized that summer will officially be over in 9 days and I have a couple summer activities I wanted to share. Since Grace is crazy busy with school and work she hasn't had time to post yet about Bolivia, I'll fill the space for now. In July when Randi's family came for a visit we drove 2 hours north to visit Jon's Mom(still working on tolerating travel since back surgery last fall). Jon also had to deliver ski's so I went with~I would not pass up any opportunity to spend time alone with Jon. We drove threw UMore Park along the way, Jon knowing(cuz where I go-so does the camera!) I would want to take pictures, pulled over(3-4 times) for me.
UMore Park is located by Rosemont MN in Dakota county. It was once farm land but during WWII it was turned in to a munitions area of about 11,000 acres designated to make smokeless powder. The web site above(is legnthy) has the most historical info that I found, so far. After the war it was then sold to The U of MN for $1. It is now used for ag research and development and other stuff.
Smoke stacks in the distance(I want a camera with a zoom lens). The barracks are visable from the road, but my pictures didn't turn out. Peole do explore the area, and I found a blog or two about that, the down side is if you get caught you could get a hefty fine.Jon told me these were to used for lauching nukes if needed, I found no evidence to prove or disprove that. He could have been pulling my leg, which he is very good at, but they do look like they were a back launch for something big. Then he took me here to Vermillion Falls in Hastings MN, we used to live in Hastings and would come here just for fun. The water is low this year, I have pictures with Jon and his brothers walking across that cement thing and the water was almost up to thier knees. The old mill is huge, it is now used in another capacity. I love the huge old gears, here again a zoom lens could give you some really neat artsy photo's. No more shameless plugs for a different camera. I did send my camera to The Boundary Waters with Avery a few weeks ago, he brought it back still in the zip lock bag~shucks!The view above the fallsThe view from a new platform. We once hiked down there and and took pictures of us right next to where the water hits the rocks. The view of my favorite part of the day.

Monday, August 10, 2009

Positive Negative

When you have kids you want them to take from you the good, when they are held up to the light you hope the area's where you have failed don't shine through.
You want them to be a bit like you but with their own personalities. You want them to do the things and to go places that you dream of while your raising them!
I love it when my kids love the things I love, when they have a heart for what breaks mine. I love missions, I enjoy missions Sundays when missionaries come and talk about life in distant places. One year I found a lady who brought her llamas to our Missions Sunday. My friend Cindy(she has since moved back to southern TX) and I were in charge of representing South America, we were going for the authentic look! Learning about the sacrifice's that missionaries make, how they have touched the lives of the people they are led to serve. And how their lives have been also touched by the people they went to serve, so much more than they ever dreamed of, this blesses my soul. I want one of those signs to hang above my back door that says "You are now entering the missions field!" It is a "grow where you are planted" frame of mind. Our Church library has a reality missions DVD series called Travel the Road that can take you around the world in your arm chair! If you have access to this resource I highly recommend it.
For me it is a blessing to see my love of missions rub off on my children. This was Grace all packed and ready to leave on a missions trip to Bolivia South America this summer. I'd tell you all about it, but I've asked her to do that herself! Stay tuned for some really neat stories and great pictures. She'll be here soon, right now she's off fishing!

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Two Much Fun

Our grandson came for a visit,
he brought his Mama & Daddy with.
He is 2 and honestly "two much fun"!
You can see him here when he was one.
We can take a picture of him on the numbers until he turns 8, the highest number on the track.
A little bit of grocery shopping.
(This has to happen when they show up 2 days early!)
Baseball with his buddy.
Blue eyed boy in big blue boots!
(he loves shoes~here)
Pudgy pinkies plunking piano.
Farm fun.
Making memories.
Berries for BenjaminCrooked Cracker Jack smile!
in THE END...
...he is bucket's of fun!!!