Happy Anniversary to Kevin and Sharon

Kevin and Sharon

There is nothing like a kiss in front of the cattle pen.

I just love this photo of Kevin's joy as he and Sharon hauled cows to the pasture for summer.

And yet more photos from Memorial Day

"What should I do with the frog?"
Reminder - you can 'click' on the photo to see it in a larger view.

Well, if you are Anna, you pick it up and pet it.

My Dad and Mom

Garrett, were you hiding those dirty hands from your mom Kelly?

Garrett seems to be proud of his muddy hands.

More photos from Memorial Day

Kevin and Joey - did you two stay up too late the night before this photo was taken?

Baby Sam the ham and his grandpa John

Sharon and Colleen

Debbie and Jody

Jody and Nancy

Happy 96th Birthday to my friend Christabelle

Frances, Nancy and I helped Christabelle celebrate her birthday on Tuesday

Memorial Day - Dorrance style

Memorial Day in Dorrance starts with a trip to the cemeteries to place flowers on the graves of family members and loved ones. Nancy, Susan, and I started at 7:30 with a trip to the Catholic cemetery to place flowers on Joe's grave.

Joe's military marker

The highlight of Memorial Day in Dorrance is participating in the parade from the American Legion Hall on main street to the city cemetery. We just dress in our red, white and blue and decorate our vehicles (bikes, 4-wheelers, wagons, etc.) and walk to honor those who have served our country and are no longer with us. Garrett and Anna rode in Karna's Polaris.

We first gather on main street for the parade. Even Sam was excited to be a part of the festivities with his grandma Jo.

Then we walk (or ride) to the cemetery. You can see Sharon on the left side of the photo as she and I were taking a picture at the same time. Joey carried Sam part of the way, Nancy is on the right.


Mick and Garrett drove the Polaris. Left to right: Colleen, Jo, Jody, Nancy, and Joey. Reminder - you can click on any photo to see it 'larger' in a new window.

Kelly, Anna, and Sam (when Joey wasn't carrying him) rode in the back of Karna's Polaris.

My Dad was able to attend the services. It meant a great deal to him because he served in WWII and flew 33 missions on a B-17 from England to Germany. Dad also spent many years as part of the Memorial Day service as part of the firing squad that you can see in this photo.

The color guard lead the parade. The bagpipe player on the right, Stan Langhofer, played Amazing Grace as part of the service.

I love this photo of Dad with the flag in the background and the big smile on his face. Dad, I love your choice of a cap.

Dad and his three daughters: Susan, me, and Debbie

A few tears and a lot of storm watching

Kevin, Debbie, and Sharon shared a tear as Joey read the message on the back of the quilt that Debbie made to honor Kevin and Sharon's amazing two and a half years at the farm. The message read - Made for Kevin and Sharon in Memory of Kevin's dad, Joe Thielen. Minnesota Roads, started January 2006, finished May 2008. You made a difference when you were needed the most. Aunt Debbie Brenneman

Kevin (the quilt), Debbie, Garrett, and Sharon

Joey and his daughter Anna and son Garrett

Kevin gave us the 'wink'

Debbie, have you been drinking again?

You can see the storm clouds in the background of Sharon

The best dog in the world - Kramer Siefers

Joey and Anna cheesed it for the camera

Jody and Nancy enjoyed a little time on the porch before the storms hit. We did spend a little time in Susan's basement Sunday night because of tornadoes in the area. Fortunately, nothing hit in the Dorrance area.

Weekend in Dorrance - well Saturday anyway

Kelly and her parents John and Jo Reilly and Kelly's son Sam

Garrett loves to wear his cowboy hat in the summer

Sweet Sam the Ham

Sam always smiles for his mom

Aunt Joan - every photo I have of you includes a bottle in your hand!

This Siefers family stone is in front of the house in Dorrance where Joey, Kelly and kids are living. I think Nancy and I might end up in this house at some time.

Garrett

Anna enjoying the day in the windy conditions

I attended my 30th high school reunion in Dorrance on Saturday night. I had 30% attendance from my class - 3 of 9. My classmate Cindy and I enjoyed telling a few stories from our high school days in her orange Vega.

Mom, Aunt Joan, Susan and I posed in front of the stone from the high school building that burned in 1983. This was the 25th reunion of the last class to graduate from Dorrance High School.

I took my Dad to his 65th class reunion in Wilson on Saturday afternoon. Dad is in the front row on the left side.

Nancy has another surprise - braces on her teeth

First the retirement, then the hair and now the teeth - Nancy is becoming a new woman. Nancy had braces put on her top teeth today, they are clear so it is difficult to see them. She will have the bottom braces in a couple of months, I think they will be metal. Her orthodontist believes it will take anywhere from 10 to 18 months to do the job. After all these major changes in her life, I am anticipating her next surprise. Does anyone have any thoughts what her next surprise might be? Maybe a new sports car? Tattoo? Move to Dorrance? Jump out of a plane? Run naked through Aggieville?

Happy 1st Birthday to my Blog

Yes, that is right. It is the first birthday of this blog. Can you believe it? One year has passed since I started posting on this sight. And for a lot of you reading this, it has been one year of reading about (or looking at photos) about my life. On the day I received the news that I had cancer, Nancy and I went to Best Buy and bought a camera. I think it was probably an impulse buy. When you get a diagnosis of cancer, it seems as though you will treat yourself to gifts. And what a good gift it has been for me. (As of this moment I have taken 3287 photos with the camera.) I knew I wanted to share my journey with others and a blog seemed to be the way to do that. So, on May 21 I created this blog. I really didn't think about posting photos, but it just seemed to be a good place to share them. Anyway, back to the blog. I have posted 233 times in the last year and YOU have posted 271 comments in that time. All I can say is that I never would have guessed that this blog would become my connection to so many of you. In fact, since I started a site counter last July, my blog has been accessed 14, 896 times. Thanks for being a part of my life and thank you for supporting me in my journey with cancer.

A quick health update - I FEEL GREAT!! In fact, I feel better now than I have in a couple of years. Maybe it has to do with giving up pop or maybe it is just that I am getting my energy back after chemo and surgery and infection. You know this whole ordeal would have been a lot easier if I had not had that damned infection. I have a bone scan and a ct scan scheduled for July 16. If that goes well, I will definitely put this cancer thing behind me. Actually, I feel as though I have put it behind me, but there is just something that is keeping me from throwing away lots of my medicines from the last year even though I am not taking them anymore - I do take femara (the anti-estrogen drug and will take it for five years.) I feel if I do throw them away, that I will jinx myself. So, the medicine is still sitting on my bathroom counter. I think I will leave them there until the scans in July. It is almost as if I am saying that if I leave them on the counter, I will not need them. Do you ever play games in your mind like that?

Happy birthday blog and thanks for everything you have given me.
Mary Kay

Graduation and flowers

My friend Chris Lydick made the long walk up the stairs at Bramlage Coliseum on Saturday.

In a few years Chris will be doing this again for his PhD. Hopefully I can go to Seattle for that celebration.

My sister Debbie is responsible for the flower beauty at our house. These are just a few pots of the many that she planted.

Ok, so I am practicing closeup photography - enjoy the photos of my flowers. This is a geranium.

petunia - you can click on the photo for a larger view

Moss rose - it reminds me of my grandma Kaufman because she always had these.

marigold

petunia

I don't know what this is, but I love it.