South Dakota (Part #1)

We are home from a wonderful weekend in South Dakota...taking in all of the tourist sites we could come up with.  My parents wanted to have all of us together to celebrate their 50th Anniversary as a family, no party at church, no open house...just back to good ole' South Dakota.  I will try to do our trip in order, but in a few posts.  Too much to write in one place.  

Our family left Waukee early Wednesday afternoon and made a stop at the Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD to see it.  My Dad played basketball there in High School. 

 Inside the Corn Palace, the gym my Dad played on is the gift shop in the summer months

Tommy not so thrilled about this photo op, but okayed it to go on blog just not social media. :)

We thought this was lovely on my Love...

What a beautiful drive...like a painting

Sunset in South Dakota...chasing the sun all day long

 Most of us then met in Pierre SD on Wednesday night. Our oldest niece Ariana couldn't get out of work to be there until Saturday so we started the adventures without her.  

Thursday Morning....

We loaded it up and headed from the hotel.  

We visited the Capital on Thursday, my Dad worked there as a lobbyist and my Mom a secretary when they were first married.  (that was news to me that Mom worked there too)

 South Dakota State Capital

 We pretty much took over the place

Shislers on the steps

 Posing as statues

More posing

We visited the Veterans Memorial they have in front as well, it happened to be the birthday of my Uncle Harold Lee that day which choked me up a bit.  He would have been 82 I believe.

We then headed west towards the Badlands.  We stopped enroute to visit the Prairie dogs and feed them.  Only in SD would there be a Prairie Dog spot.

 

 Max posed this picture...so funny

 Worlds largest Prairie Dog

Then onto the Badlands, what a beautiful place.  Just a random surprise as you are driving to have completely different landforms.  Beautiful.  We got out for some pictures and were praying there were not going to be any rattle snakes around.  Mom especially was praying.

 My Mom canNOT stand snakes...NOPE not one bit

From the Badlands we headed to Wall Drug...can't be on 90 and not stop at Wall Drug.  We had a donut there, just okay and headed back on the road.  

By 6 pm we were in Custer National Park at our cabins at the Blue Bell Lodge.  Tired out and hungry. We unpacked quickly and headed into Hill City to have dinner at a place my friend Ginnie suggested that serve only Filet Mignon and amazing desserts.  It was a farther drive than we anticipated but it was worth the drive.  

The next morning the kiddos and I went for a morning walk and everyone ran and greeted Papa.... 

More to come...

Cabin time

Some quick pictures from our 2 weeks at the cabin.  It was fun and relaxing, for the most part.  The boys LOVE it there as much as I do.  We had everyone there for the first 5 days then it was just me and the younger 3 boys for a week, then the Erickson girls for one night and then Charlie and Alice came back up for 3 nights and Mom for 2.  Did you follow all of that?  

Some fun pics...random but fun

 Darth Vader at the cabin

 The 2 sweet ones fell asleep on my chest on a boat ride, it was so wonderful and sweet. 

 Fishing with this one...

 Sunset from the boat

 Busted these 2 jumping on the bed, ahem, aren't they cute?

 Happy 16th Birthday to Tommy

 4 of my favorites

 Planting a tree with the grandkids...

 Fireworks...

 My blue eyed Loves....

 All fun until this burning lantern almost got stuck in a tree and burned it down, that wouldn't have been so fun.  But it was funny since it didn't happen.  

 MY FAVORITE part of Motherhood, watching brothers love on brothers. 

 Drew teaching Max to fish.

 Naptime...rainy day

Emily fishing and snacking with Max

 Chicken nugget picnic at the beach

 Check out the Northern Charlie caught with the assistance of Drew and the encouragement of Jack...LOVE it, they were ALL so excited

 LOTS of fish time in this boat.  Ahh independence they say.

 Lake day perfection

Tomrorow we leave again to spend a long weekend in South Dakota and visit Mt Rushmore.  Time to pack it up again..more pics when we get home.  Celebrating my parents 50th anniversary there...

Home sweet Home

We are back home in Waukee.  Arrived on Wednesday afternoon. So nice to be home.  It was wonderful to have a nice chunk of time away as well.   But I missed home.  Scott was MOST pleased to have us all back under one roof.  It has been kind of a chaotic few weeks.  He has been on the ROAD a LOT...and Tommy has been with him for a BUNCH of it but some alone for him as well.  Think he said he put on 3600 miles since July 2nd....that's a LOT!  It caught up with him yesterday afternoon, he came home from meetings and just crashed.  He RARELY does that and when he does I know he is BEAT.  We woke him for dinner and after that, he was fine.  Went to bed earlier than normal which helped too.

I am busily trying to get caught up around here, house work, unpacking (which I despise by the way). mail, groceries, bills...luckily I did laundry daily at the cabin so that isn't all piled up.  Scott had kept up here with his and Tommy's stuff.

We leave for South Dakota on Wednesday for a long weekend to celebrate my parents 50th Anniversary....my entire family will be there which will be fun.  We were all together over the fourth as well other than our oldest niece who is working in Chicago.

Lots of cute pictures from the cabin....but won't get to those tonight.  But wanted to let you know that we are here safe and sound.  

July 13, 1963

50 Years Ago today my parents said "I do".

50 Years Ago today they promised in front of God, family and friends that in sickness and health, for richer for poorer until death do they part they would BE together and LOVE each other.  And what a legacy of love that leave for not only me and my siblings but for our children. Our boys are blessed by their love, by their commitment.

I have never known my parents to NOT love each other and I know that not everyone can say that about their parents.  I can and I don't take that for granted.  They have taught me so much about unconditional love.  They have taught me how to really LOVE and be there for our boys.  Their example has often said more to me than they know.  Their willingness to always drop anything for us, to this day, blows me away.

They have lived out LOVE and have shown what being married to your best friend looks like and what that means. I know there have been hard times, but they literally grab each others hands, and pray themselves through it and keep on.

This has been their wedding verse....enjoy the photos.  I cannot tell you how very blessed I feel by their love.  Happy 50th Mom and Dad!

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Beautiful Bride

The men...including my cousin Dave

Uncle Dick and Dad

Mr. & Mrs. 

The wedding party

 With My Grandma Lu, one left...and my Grandma Alice and Grandpa Harold

Grandma T made the wedding cake. The reception was in the basement of the church.

 "Mother Larkin" whom my Mom lived with when she met my Dad helped with the coffee

My Aunt Marilyn and Aunt Carolyn on right served the cake..

married to Dad's older brothers Dick and Don.

50 years

This Saturday my parents will celebrate 50 years of marriage...they didn't want a party or a big "ta-doo" as my Mom calls it.  They are quietly celebrating where they honeymooned...Mackinac Island, Michigan and then Naniboujou Lodge in Duluth, MN.  Retracing their steps.

Mom has been sending pictures or the views, the beautiful flowers Dad gave her, the horses, the sunshine...the moments of their trip.  (mainly because she doesn't have any idea how else to get the pictures to Costco other than through me...:)  ) But I am LOVING seeing their trip moment by moment.

I feel SO blessed to have the legacy of their marriage in my life.  To have parents who have loved and been married for so long...who have gone through so much for better or worse.  Who still adore each other.  Who have taught me SO much about marriage and the commitment and unconditional love that it requires.  Parents who pray together daily....SO very blessed.

Here is a fun side by side to share....honeymoon and today.  As I tell our boys ALL the TIME... It MATTERS who you marry.  Next to loving God it's the biggest life decision you will EVER make.  What a joy and blessing to share this with my parents.

Have fun Mom and Dad....holding down the fort at the cabin with the boys...loving every minute of that.

Love YOU

Sweet 16...maybe Cool 16? How about Tommy is 16.

Not sure what boys call their 16th birthdays....We girls called it Sweet Sixteen.  Tommy not so much.  But our oldest, kind hearted Tommy turned 16 on Sunday.  And since we have been at the cabin since last Wednesday the blogging has taken a hit.  And we are still here....although Tommy and Scott are not.

Back to the point of this post.  Tommy turned 16 on July7th.  Be STILL my heart and YES he can STOP growing up now.  Be done.   Let's stick with 16...well most of 16 just not the parts of that age that aren't so fun.

He woke up to all of us saying Happy Birthday, Grandma and Papa serenading him in the kitchen...and ALL of the rest of the family here, but our oldest niece Ariana....coming in and out and wishing him a Happy Birthday.  He requested eggs and bacon so we whipped some of that up while people left the cabin in shifts...some to Wisconsin, some back to Eden Prairie and a couple back to Edina.  We opened a few gifts.  By lunchtime...Papa was the only one left with us.  We met him for lunch at the A & W in Nisswa *closest small town* for his birthday lunch at his request.  (I have pictures but not on the computer yet will add to post later)

Back here for a bit of playing around by the lake,,,,he mainly worked on pacing the dock to add steps to his new pedometer thing he got that morning....

A little bit later our good friends Scott and Jennifer Erickson stopped over enroute home from taking their girls to bible camp.  So we visited with them....went for a pontoon ride. They even brought Tommy an ice cold Powerade as a birthday gift...sweetness.

And not much later Scott and Tommy were off...headed home to Iowa.  A stop in Edina at Pot Belly's was dinner and then in Owatonna for my his favorite Peanut Butter Crunch Blizzard, they only make at certain DQ's and that one they do.  Home by 10:30.  A long day and kind of a hectic way to celebrate your birthday but he didn't seem to mind.  Summer birthdays are a bit hard that way.

This morning he finally had time to go and get his license so guess he can drive wherever he wants now....eegads huh?  Not sure he has had a chance to do a thing between basketball camps in the mornings and then baseball is wrapping up this week so he has been VERY busy.

But didn't want to miss wishing him a Happy Birthday on the blog and letting him know how VERY much we love him, how proud we are and how much we are praying for him.  These are BIG years, formative in so many ways....a lot of growing up, a lot of choices.  We love him so very much.

Poster

They made this very cool baseball poster for the DMC boys JV/Varsity

Tommy is #7...2nd from the left on the bottom