Is your door bell ringing tonight?

It’s trick or treat time!  

Not many rings here at our door.  We live in the country and don’t usually have trick or treaters but the grandkids did stop by earlier in their costumes. 
Stinkin’ cute, I say! 
Quite literally as Ava was skunk.
Owen was a monkey.

Did you trick or treat when you were young?  We did up until about age 10 then we were “too old”.  What did you dress up as?  We never bought costumes.  But then when I was growing up, the costumes you could buy in the store were pretty cheezy anyway.  We always came up with our own out of things around the house.  I can remember many Halloweens being a hobo and wearing one of those really hot and stuffy rubber masks.  Once, I was a clown but only once.  Clowns kind of creep me out.  How about you?  The one I remember the most though was a “go-go dancer”.  Can you tell what era I grew up in?

We let the boys pick what they wanted to be as they were growing up and I usually made their costumes.  Son, Jon always came up with the most difficult ones.  One year he wanted to be Cousin It from the Addams Family.  Off to the fabric store we went to buy lots of fur.  I couldn’t find a picture of that costume thought, darn it.  Another year he wanted to be a can of Coca-Cola.  Now where does a kid come up with an idea like that?  It took us a little while to plan that one out. 

I dug around a bit and found some pictures of Halloween’s past.  They sure bring back memories.  Now that I have grandkids, I wish I wouldn’t have sold them on garage sales.  It would have been fun to let them play with them.

We got lots of miles out of the very first costume I ever made….a mouse suit.  It started out on our oldest when he was a year and half, then the twins, nieces and nephews and friends children.

This year Joe was a cat, Jon as the mouse and Luke as a box of crayons.

Here’s that mouse suit again, only on nephew Nathan this time.  Luke as a “Top Gun” pilot (again, can you guess the era?), Jon as the infamous can of Coca Cola (he fell down alot that year as he couldn’t see his feet and where he was walking), mouse Nathan and Joe as a ghost with extremely crooked eyes!

This year, Jon was a prisoner, Nathan in an indian suit that Luke had worn a previous year, Joe as an old farmer with one of those nasty hot masks and niece Amanda as a princess.

There was usually a group of us Moms that would take the kids out, then come back to our house for a bowl of chili or some kind of “hot food” as Halloween always seemed to fall on a cold, windy night.  The Dads rarely joined us in taking the kids around town as most of them were farmers and in the field combining.  However, they always seemed to make it in time for supper.   Go figure.  Do you think they might have planed it that way?

What Halloween traditions do you have?

Remembering…

Thinking and remembering…

Harriet Anna Gesin
October 29, 1929 – November 4, 1983

Miss you Mom!

Two Days of R & R

Day Two…

You just couldn’t wait to see where we went next could ya??

We were attending a wedding on Saturday in Dubuque so we opted to stay overnight in Independence, Iowa.  We had some time to kill the next morning and visited a neat little museum next to our hotel called Heartland Acres Agribition Center displaying past agricultural practices as well as cars and other antiques. 

Watching the storm brew in the distance. 

They even had a real “Cow-ch” 
Brother Tom & Sister-in-law Sue


My favorite though was the farm kitchen pictured above.  
If you get through there and have an opportunity, it’s a nice tour at a very reasonable price.

On to the wedding we go…the reception was held in the Grand Ballroom at the Julien Inn.  Very elegant.  The Julien is a very old hotel that just went through a major renovation, but they were careful to keep the historic feel of the old hotel.  I would love to return for an overnight sometime.  But of course, I didn’t take one picture of the hotel itself.  I was too busy taking pics of the grandkids, I guess…
Don’t Owen’s baby blue eyes just make you melt?  even with the crumbs on his chin. :) Miss Ava thought she was pretty important drinking champagne (white grape juice) like all the big people.  By the strange looks we were getting from the table next to us, I think they really thought we gave the kid champagne.
and a portrait of the “Miller Women” – myself, daughter-in-law Heidi and granddaughter Ava.

Sunday we had a baptism celebration at church and Monday it was back to reality again.  I hate it when reality rears it’s ugly head, don’t you?  

Faculty come back to campus this week and classes start on Monday.  So much for the peace and quiet of the summer schedule.  Let the chaos begin!

Two days of R & R

Day One…

Dan & I as well as Dan’s brother Tom and wife, Sue left Friday morning to attend a family open  house at the company our son works for. 

Luke’s a service tech for Hagie Mfg and services agricultural sprayers.  He works mostly out of Central Illinois but gets into Missouri and Indiana on occasion.  The company itself is located in Clarion, Iowa. 

  Sprayers in1959

  and sprayers today…
 
The booms on this particular sprayer were 120 feet long.

Luke even gave his ol’ mom a ride.  Now that was fun!  They bounce along pretty fast and I only covered my eyes once!  Aren’t ya proud of me??

We drove in rain most of the day but it turned out to be a gorgeous summer evening.

Stay tuned for Day Two – You’re sitting on the edge of your seat in anticipation, aren’t you???  I just know you are.

Deck Party

We used to entertain alot, especially in the summer using the deck and fire pit.  The last couple of years, not so much.   Not for any particular reason.  The timing didn’t work out or just didn’t feel like it.  A week ago, DH and I were eating supper and decided it was time. 

I shot out an email to a bunch of people from church saying last night was it.  We had a great turnout (38 total) and served BBQ pork.  We provided the meat, beverage and table service.   

Everybody brought a dish to pass which makes the work for an event like this so much less.  These are pies I made(sorry I forgot to take a picture until they were dug into).  I saw a picture online and thought it would be a fun “fourth” thing to do.   One was strawberry and the other cherry with a mixture of blueberries and blackberries in quadrant with the stars.  They were actually pretty easy other than I tried a new pie crust recipe.  Big mistake, it didn’t want to hold together.  I should have stuck with the ol’ tried and true.

We kicked back around the fire, played bags and ladder ball.   

Guests also tested their skills by picking up an egg with the backhoe and placing it in an egg carton.  
above – Nephew Nathan supervising our pastor :)

Placing it ever so gently in the carton. 
Three or four were able to do it without breaking the egg. 
Myself?  I didn’t even attempt it as patience is definitely not one of my stronger qualities.

Hope you had a great holiday weekend as well!