Oh my gosh, it's been awhile since I've blogged and I feel like I've forgotten a lot of eventful experiences. So let's see what I can remember, in no random order.
Jonathan, 3rd oldest grandson who is now 14, spent six weeks with us on the farm. It was his turn to come and be his grandpa's help. And big help he was. He was Johnny-on-the-spot whenever Grandpa needed something and he caught on quickly how to bale and swath hay and move big bales. He stayed from Memorial Day weekend through July 7. We were able to enjoy the antique cars at the Sugar Valley Rally, and the classic cars at the Classic Car Show. We spent a lot of evenings playing games or putting puzzles together. Jon has always been good at piecing puzzles.
We celebrated the graduation of our first grandchild, Jakob Andreasen. Jakob has since enrolled in Nebraska Wesleyn University with hopes to major in Engineering and to play college football. He had a very successful senior year football season in the fall of 2015, and Tim and I travelled to Lincoln every weekend for 9 weeks to watch him play football his senior year.
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| Tim, Jakob, Sandi |
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| Jakob ready for his freshman year at college football |
The BIG event of the summer was welcoming twin grandbabies, Charlotte Eva Stricker and Wyatt Thomas Stricker on June 10. Charlotte arrived first, and weighed 5# 1 oz and Wyatt followed weighing 5# 9 oz. Sister Penny has since proven to be a big mother's helper with the babies.
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| Wyatt Thomas and Charlotte Eva Stricker - June 10, 2016 |
We enjoyed a very successful Stricker family picnic on Saturday, July 30 at the park in Scottsbluff. There were 86 in attendance, including my mother and my cousin Sharon Allen who brought my mother here from Billings so she could see all the kids and grandkids. Tim's Dad has always worked diligently to make this picnic happen, and this year was no exception. At 92 years of age, it was his goal to get as many here as possible. It was a fun time with a lot of new young children. As usual, the little grandkids loved the farm animals.
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| Great Grandma Esther with Charlotte |
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| Great Grandma Stricker with Wyatt |
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| Penny and Willa admiring the pretty flowers. |
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| Willa and Penny with Grandpa in the hay shed |
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| Willa loves the cows. |
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| Grandpa and Willa on a mission! |
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| Good to have my three children home together again! |
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| Cash and Jakob always have to have their arm wrestling competition |
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| Val always enjoys the little children - here with Penny and Willa |
For the first time ever, we actually took our dog in for a haircut and good bath at the Doggie-Do Salon. It is something we just never did with our on-the-farm pets. But Merle was shedding so bad in the house wee needed to clean up his shagginess. Below are the before and after pictures of Merle.
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| Merle before his haircut |
And then there was the chicken in the sky. . . .
