Spring is here, I think!

I had a very nice, relaxing weekend with my parents this weekend. They arrived on Friday afternoon, and we sat around visiting until Rustin got off work. We then went to A. Stella's auction. Thankfully we all took coats because as the evening wore on, it got a little chilly. Rustin helped his dad with the auctioning, so I got to bid on everything. We ended up taking a few tools home. Mom even bought a blanket and many cookies for the kids there. Afterwards we went to Rustin's parents for pizza. Saturday we slept in a little. After a waffle breakfast we toured Trico. My parents thought it was a neat little place. We had to drive around the yard because it was a big mud pit and none of us were too excited about getting muddy. Rustin and Dad went back to the house and Mom and I went up to Bent and Dent to get some deals. We left with only a couple of bags, so it wasn't too bad. It seems like when parents are around work gets done. I don't know if it's the motivation thing or if it's because there are more helping hands. Anyways, we cleaned out our basement and garage. We can actually walk in our garage now. We were storing a kid's 4-wheeler for some friends. Dad was pretty excited to ride it to their house. Too bad we didn't have the camera ready. We delivered all the goods and ate Subway for a late lunch. We found out that instead of having a two bathroom house, we now have a four bathroom house. While cleaning the garage, my dad thought this one room looked like it could be an outhouse. After moving junk around and some prying of boards, we found a two-seater. It was quite an exciting find. I guess this tells how old our house is. Thankfully someone had filled the holes in. The rest of the evening we played Rummikub and Phase 10. Grandpa, you should be proud: your eldest stomped us in Phase 10.
On Sunday we had butterbraid and eggs for breakfast and then headed off to church. Mom and
Dad enjoyed visiting their old friends and people they thought they knew; they just had to ask them their name. Rustin's parents are visiting ReKeeta and Eric so we checked the trap and fed/watered the cats. He has been noticing that much cat food has been missing, so this explains the trap. He suspected a racoon. Friday he caught a skunk, so we were hoping this was the end of it. Of course not! A huge racoon was caught in the live trap. It definitely filled the trap. We suspected it was well fed with cat food. Rustin shot it twice in the head, but it wouldn't die. We decided to leave it and come back later when it was for sure dead. It all grosses me out, so I just watched from inside the house. (When we came back later, rhigamortis (sp) had set in. Now we just have to dispose of it and clean the trap. After this excitement we went to Dave and Nancy Wulf's for a snack and visit. After much laughter and talking, we went home so Mom and Dad could get on the road. In the evening we were invited to U. Gary and A. Velma Domnick's. I was excited to learn that they were serving fish. I don't get it very often and it was some good Northern as usual.
Today has been spent doing much laundry. The awesome part is that I have my windows open and a short sleeve shirt on. I never thought I'd see the day of short sleeves. Spring has sprung!

Our Second Guest

Hope everyone had a nice Easter. We went to Rustin's parents house for a nice chicken dinner. I took jello and one of them flopped. It was a good thing I took two. I think I must have put too much liquid in because it didn't set right. The disgusting thing was that I have made this jello before and this never happened. I guess learning from our mistakes is our best teacher. On Monday I spent the entire day giving our house a good cleaning. Since this task isn't really my forte, it took a little while. Then in the evening I went to Amber Nohl's for supper. Doug and Rustin and some other men had to go move our A. Stella's stuff for the big auction coming up tomorrow night. The other reason for going to Amber's was to pick up Michelle Mueller, our guest. On Tuesday we woke up bright and early to go shopping in Willmar. The forecasters were calling for lots of snow so we decided to leave early and beat it. There is a fabric warehouse in Willmar, so that was our main intent for shopping there. Michelle bought some fabric and then we went to the Mall so I could return something. After a bit more shopping we ate at our favorite restaurant, Culver's. The closest Culver's is 45 min. away, so I take every chance I get to eat there. By the time we arrived in Hancock it was very windy and freezing cold. No snow, though. We visited Rustin at work, and unfortunately for Michelle, since it was so cold, we didn't feel like taking the Trico tour. We then went to the local Bent and Dent store. Michelle didn't act as impressed as I am with the store. I like to buy fruit snacks for Rustin there. In the evening we took the truck in for repairs and went out to eat at Pizza Ranch. While we were eating, it started to snow. It snowed through the night, and thus, ruined our plans for Wednesday. We were planning to go to Alec and shop around there but decided it would be better not to get stranded 45 min. from home. Instead we slept in and lazed around all morning. It cleared off in the afternoon so we ate lunch at the local restaurant, Buddies. It is the new bar and grill in Hancock. I have never been there in the evening, but they say that the smoke factor is a lot less in the afternoon. Rustin and I like the food and recommend it to anyone who is driving through Hancock. Later on, Michelle and I went to Morris and did a little browsing and picked up the pickup. For supper we made Polachinka (sp.) This is a favorite of mine and basically it is a thin pancake kind of like a crepe and I put jam or cinnamon/sugar on the polachinka, roll it up and sprinkle powdered sugar over the top. It is an excellent meal any time of the day. In the evening we went to church. This morning Michelle left at 8:30 to head south. Tomorrow my parents arrive for the weekend. The visitors are pouring in! We appreciate every one that comes, just give us a heads-up.

Good Friday

Rustin and I had one of our first compromising situations this week. I prefer longer hair and he prefers buzzed hair, so we compromised that in the Summer he will have short hair, and in the Winter he will have long hair. So, for those of you who saw him last weekend, he looks totally different. Unfortunately for him, it turned cold after we cut it. He has received many comments on his nice haircut!
This last Wednesday evening was Morris' Easter Program. Each child up through 7th grade recited part of a poem or scripture which centered aroung Easter. Having grown up singing a song with my class, I was impressed that none of the kids got gun shy. They all did a good job. Throughout the evening the Bible Class and 8th grade sang Easter songs. At the end each of the children who performed and in those the audience received a bag of peanut butter M&M's.
On Thursday I awoke with Rustin at 6:45 which is very unusual. His mom and I went to Alexandria, more commonly pronounced Alec, to go shopping. I went along mainly for the social outing and for the monthly trip to WalMart. Nobody except his mom, Jody, and I appreciate Chinese cuisine so we enjoyed a delicious lunch at The China Buffet. We checked out the used book store in town and found a few bargains. Then we went to Ron's Warehouse, which is a store that you never know what treasures you are going to find. I decided I am going to have to go back when I have more time to browse. That evening Rustin had to help a friend move, so I stayed home and cleaned out our guest bedroom. Our second guest arrives next week.
Today hasn't been overly stressful. It's cold outside still, so it's better to stay inside. I have been filing papers for Rustin's dad and did the dishes. You'd be surprised at how many dishes two people can go through in a couple days time! Today I have also stopped and pondered at what our Savior went through on this day for us. It's unfathomable. Wishing everyone a Happy Easter!

The return to Minnesota

This was the sight I awoke to this morning. Actually it's after I shoveled, but it's a little windy. Whatever happened to April SHOWERS? It's only supposed to stick around until the weekend, and then next week is supposed to be in the 50's. We had a very nice weekend in Tremont. We arrived around 2 am on Friday and royally surprised my parents later on that morning. They even slept through the watch dog alarm. Everybody except Mom went to work or school, so Mom and us ate brunch at Bob Evans. We had to do a little grocery shopping for the weekend. It's amazing to me that I can go an entire week without seeing someone I know, and during the 2 hours I was in Pekin I saw at least 4 people I know. In the afternoon Rustin put together a desk that was Matthew's birthday and graduation present. I went to my hair thinning appointment. I haven't found anyone in Morris yet, so I have to get it done while in Tremont. Friday evening we had some people over for games and to try out our new icecream maker. It took 3 hours and it still wasn't completely done but it tasted okay. On Saturday morning we met Eric and ReKeeta at Cracker Barrel in Morton. We had good food and good visiting. For lunch we went to U. Dennis and A. Mike's for the annual Koch Potato Feast. It was awesome as usual and I ate way too much. It's kind of like with haystacks where you start small and all of a sudden you have a mound. In the evening my family celebrated Bob and Matthew's birthdays. On Sunday we went to church and it was good to see everyone there. People say "welcome to Tremont," but I don't feel like a visitor; I feel like it is still somewhat my home, so thats kind of strange. I know they are being nice, though. In the evening we went to U. Dean and A. Karen's for Easter. Once again a feast was served. We sat around and sang, visited and played games. Rustin and I left for MN around 8 Monday morning. We stopped in Minneapolis at IKEA and looked around. We plan to do our bathroom this summer so it's always neat to look at different ideas. Then we met his dad for supper. He was on business in the Cities so it worked out perfectly. We arrived home around 9 and crashed. As I said earlier, I awoke to 3-4 inches of snow that needed to be shoveled. Thankfully it won't stick around for weeks. The job hunt keeps going with more possible prospects.