Swanhorst Reunion

Because one reunion just isn't enough we also attended the Swanhorst Family reunion the day after the Melius Family reunion. Yikes! The Swanhorst reunion was a little bigger. Three Meliuses married three Swanhorsts, so you still had a ton of Meliuses there, but also from Denver, we have more cousins that aren't Meliuses, but they're Swanhorsts. Can this be anymore confusing  because I really don't even know what I'm writing.

We hung out in Aberdeen, SD for the day and visited Storybook Land where I'm sure it was over 90 degrees outside with 90% humidity. Seriously. Storybook Land is an adorable little park filled with storybook characters.

We met the three little pigs,

went down the old lady's shoe slide, found Cinderella's carriage,  Uncle Conrad treated the children to rides on the carousel,

Then we found the Wizard of Oz characters and followed the yellow brick road.The scarecrow showed us the way to go where we found the wicked witch's castle, 

the cowardly lion,Glinda, the good witch,

and of course, we found Dorothy and Toto! After all that walking we headed back to the park to chat,  and swim in the lake.

A long day in Aberdeen called for beer and wine to unwind after a long day. Thanks to David and Laura for hosting us. We had so much fun with you guys! To see some more awesomeness from our South Dakota trip check out this link.

On the Road Again

As much as we wanted to stay in South Dakota it just wasn't an option, so we eventually hit the road again and headed home.

People are always curious as to how we pack all of our children and our belongings in our vehicle. I don't how we did it, but it seems like we had more room on the way home. You can actually see out the back window, which wasn't the case on the way out.

With word of blizzard conditions on our usual route home we stayed north as long as we could and even crossed the Missouri river. How pretty is that?

It doesn't take much to keep our children entertained. Books on CD (The Chronicles of Narnia this time) and some cowboy boots do just the trick.

We finally hit some snow on our very last stop in Chugwater, Wy. This was actually the worst of it. From here on out the roads were pretty clear. There was just a small amount of snow coming down and the roads were just wet until we were a few miles from home.

We came home to this. My husband won't pull into the driveway until it's been shoveled. We don't want ice patches later.

There was quite a bit of snow in our neighborhood. No blizzard though. 

With half the driveway shoveled we were happy campers to be back at home again after 10 1/2 hours in the car.

It's been 2 weeks since Luke's funeral. Please continue to keep Rick and Katie in your prayers.

I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13

Checking Cattle Again

Since I packed my cowboy boots and calves could be born at any time we headed back to David and Laura's to check on the cattle again. I was even prepared, since I had my boots, to help deliver a calf if needed. I know, I know. This is all so funny isn't it? Really. I was ready.
When we arrived Landen, age 8 was herding the cattle into the barn. I was going to hop the fence and help him, but I thought you'd want to see these photos instead.
Can you see Landen there? He's that tiny little thing in the back.  He did a perfect job getting the cattle in. They were only scared off when we arrived and Callie, the dog started barking.
David's got this high tech video camera where he can keep his eye on the happenings in the barn while he's still in the house. During dinner he told me that it might be my lucky night. I was so excited. Turns out we missed the birth of this little calf by just minutes. Bummer

All of the cattle watched intently. Their eyes were all on the tiny little calf.

Okay, maybe they were watching David who jumped in there. He was hoping the calf was a bull, but it wasn't. Well, at least you've got about 197 more chances. :)

Watching that little calf try to walk and find its way was so amazing.

Here's David and Laura. Can you believe Laura just had a baby 6 weeks ago? 

This is Eric and his wife Laci. Eric is Joel and Dawn's son and my Lutheran Stud's cousin. Got that?

Here we have the two Rachels in the family. There are also two Davids, but we forgot to snap that photo. Out of all of the Melius families I have to say that our two families have the best taste in names. ;)

Then, of course, we had to attempt the all children photo when the children are exhausted and crabby and ready to go home. That's the perfect photo opportunity. 

The Catteless Farm

Back in the day my Lutheran Stud used to spend his high school summers in South Dakota on the farm. His Uncle Joel and Aunt Dawn's house is like a second home to him. We spent the majority of our time at Joel and Dawn's house during this trip. Elizabeth was a little under the weather for this trip, but was still an easy going traveler.

Dawn taught the kids how to play solitaire. They all ended up playing for hours each day.

Thomas needed a little help, but started picking it up quickly.

You can't play cards all day long because there's always work to do on the farm. These grain bins have stuff in them and something must be done with the stuff in there. :)

While we were there it was time to haul corn. That's my Lutheran Stud showing off for the camera. 

The corn gets loaded up on this belt auger.

From the auger it goes into the semi.While that's happening you just stand around and wait. Stay away from the corn because that stuff will get into hair and clothes. Then you'll be itchy all day, so I hear.

Once the semi starts to fill up you'll have to move it ahead a bit, so the corn doesn't overflow out of the semi. That could get messy.

My Lutheran Stud was kind enough to climb up to the top of the highest grain bin and capture some aerial shots for me. (I'm deathly afraid of heights.) There's Joel and Dawn's huge house and our tiny little car.

Joel and I are in the semi here. 

My dear husband was even kind enough to take my camera when they brought the corn to the elevator.

Now, the corn gets dumped onto these grates and there is some secret area underground where all the corn goes. Pretty intriguing if you ask me.

These bins are just huge. I don't think you can really imagine it unless you are there in person.

Somehow all of that corn ends up here. This is where it's stored until. . . until, I have no idea. I just know that this is where it sits until someone else comes to get it. There.

After a few runs to the elevator it was time for Dawn's world famous sloppy joes. She won't share the recipe with me, but don't worry I tasted them and now I think I'm going try and figure out how she made them. :) They were fantastic, best I've ever had!

Strangely enough the weather in South Dakota was pretty incredible for January/February. The sun was out and the wind wasn't even that bad. The kids played outside and took loads of corn to the elevator. Me? I just sat inside and watched. :)