~ JULY ~

The summer harvest day begun

With cloudless dawn and flaming sun;

Ripe grain the sickle flashes through;

The sweep of scythes in morning dew;

The nooning underneath the trees

Made cool by sea or mountain breeze;

The thundershower, the clearing sky,

And sunset splendor of July !

This poem reminds me of the summer days my sister Sandra and I would spend on the farm with our grandmother. We would go up to the farm in northern Minnesota when Dad was stationed at different air bases. I can remember the times when the grain was cut, loaded on trailers pulled by horses, and riding to the farms in the surrounding area. This was such a fun time. At noontime, the cooks would have huge dinners and the food was yummy.

Grandma always made sure my sister and I did our chores, pulled weeds, and fed the chickens. These are memories I go back to now. The days were always full of fun things to do, lots of work, and then at the end of a day, Grandma always made her wonderful meals. She was from Germany and was a wonderful cook and pastry maker. To this day, I can still "taste" some of her goodies !! Yum...I have often heard that childhood memories stay with us throughout our lives. I am thankful I have such good ones.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY !!

Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful father's past, present and future. May your day be special. You are the father's that have stayed with your children, not walked away when it suited you. And even if you did leave, you made sure your children knew they were loved. Many father's simply leave a family, mostly through divorce, and never look back. This is exactly what my first husband did. He left his two daughters without giving them a thought. This leaves a child with the feeling "what did I do wrong." The child didn't do anything wrong. It is just a selfish man that thinks only of themselves, their wants and their needs.

A father is so important in the life of a child. He gives them direction, guidance, knowledge and stability when the children are young , growing and developing.

My second husband Ned is the perfect example of a good father. He is hard working, loving, caring, supportive and always there when needed. He still worries about his daughters to this day.

A special thanks to my dad for the values and lessons he taught my sister Sandra, brother Tom, and me.

IT TAKES BOTH PARENTS TO RAISE A HAPPY AND HEALTHY CHILD

TO MY DAD ~ WITH LOVE~ON HIS BIRTHDAY

This is a picture of my Dad, sister Sandra and me. I am the one in the middle. You know what it's called...the middle child syndrome !! Dad and Mom would always take us on picnics (the simpler things in life) and we had a ball. Dad was always there for us kids. He was the disciplinarian and Mom was the buffer. My sister and I, and later on our brother Tom, had the best of all worlds with the parents God gave us.

Dad doing the thing in life he loved the most. His beloved flying. Dad taught pilots from all over the world how to fly. Flying was Dad's first love...and he was very good at it. One of his students ended up teaching at the Air Force Academy, in Colorado Springs, CO...then went on to reach the rank of General. Another was a Captain for Delta Airlines. Dad knew flying, and passed on his knowledge to his students.

Dad was born June 13, 1911, in Kanaranzi, MN. His parents were of German extract (in case you haven't figured that one out.) Dad was an only child, and began flying his very own airplane at age 16. Dad was born with flying in his veins. Dad left us on July 8, 1974.

There is a little poem I posted earlier in my blog about having good parents. The title of the post was 'My Mom and Dad', and the poem was: 'Blessed Are You Who Have Been Given Holy Parents'. The old I get, the smarter I find my parents were. Now isn't that life !!!!!

DOING GOOD

JoJo had his big cast taken off and replaced with a walking cast. This is his foot where the surgery was. Notice the pins and all that good stuff.JoJo sporting a brand new, blue walking cast. He will have this cast on through July. What a brave little boy to go through all this..

JoJo is doing really good. He was quite sick right after the surgery, but seems to be bouncing back quite nicely. He is in a full cast right now, and Matt and Dayna are having to pick him up and carry him around. In about four weeks his cast will be changed to a walking cast.

I have to admit to having a really bad senior moment !!! Ned and I gathered up lots of goodies for both Joel and Emme, and I sent the package. Well, guess what.....and guess who !!! ..put their prior address on the package. ME !! I put the address for Colorado Springs CO where Matt and Dayna were stationed prior to their transfer to Las Crusas NM. Needless to say, the package sat in Colorado Springs for about a week before it got routed properly. It's a good thing there weren't any perishables in the package, just toys and other goodies. So much for having a serious senior moment !!!

Sorry JoJo and Emme...but enjoy the package when it arrives this coming Friday, June 19th. Love you lots. G & G