It Was A Hard Day.

Saturday was a very hard day.  A special young man was laid to rest, my niece, Marla's son-in-law. He was just 22, with so much promise and much to accomplish, but though he was so young to leave a sweet young wife and two precious little ones, he had already accomplished a lifetime of dedication to his family, community, and his country.  Justin left this life Tuesday morning when someone fell asleep behind the wheel and plowed head on into Justin on his motorcycle, not much protection there. 
Justin was an EMT, fire chief of the local fire department, and in the National Guards.  He had a military memorial service, but was flanked by his fellow firefighters, emt's, and his motorcycle club members.  His memorial  service was held at the gymnasium of the school he attended, and it was packed.  If you had any doubts of Justin's character his fellow guard members, firefighter and emt buddies would have changed your mind.  To a person they all spoke of his caring attitude, his willingness to help others, and dedication to doing the right thing. He had just returned in April from a year's tour of duty overseas.  He at times gave up family time to help someone in need, but have no doubt, his family was his world.  His wife, Katie, said their little thing they always said to each other was "I love you more, then the other, "I love you most", then Justin would say, "but I loved you first".
I do not question the sovereignty of God, but on the way home I asked Bob, "why would God take this young man home now?", his answer was, "because it was Justin's time to go home".  It is as simple as that and yet complex to those who love Justin and just want him back. 
May God grant peace to Katie, Paityn, and little Colby, and all of Justin's family who will miss him so much in the days ahead.

Justin

A misty, foggy morning on the way to Uniontown, Ks.

Winding road east of Eldorado, Ks.



Some pretty scenery along the way.

 

 

Lake Fun!

For several weeks Hunter and I have been planning a lake trip to go treasure and lizard hunting, well, we decided that last Thursday was the day even though it was cool and rainy.  Rained on us all the way over there, and we were beginning to wonder if it was going to work for us, but just as we got there it slowed to a little drizzle, then stopped, YEA!  So we went first to the Sandy Cove camping area, and, nope just too cool for the lizzards to be out, so on to the beach to look for treasures.  Was a fun time, and mema got to get a few pics for her photography class assignment.  We'll try again on a warm, sunny day to look for those lizzards for Hunter's reptile cage!






This looks like a good place to dig!



Beautiful sight, sunflowers everywhere!! Have never seen them on the beach like this!

Loved this lone clump of sunflowers!

And this one looked so perfect for my macro shot!

Look at all that yellow!!

Rain moving on!!



This was one of my treasures!

More sunflowers!

Think this is a good place to dig, Mema!

Love this little guy!

Last but not least, more sunflowers!

Early Morning Rainbow & Little Helpers




We missed out on the rain, but we did get to see a beautiful rainbow early the other morning!

This little guy was quite the helper!  He did a good job cleaning my window!

Little bit of baking soda and vinegar makes an interesting mix!

Love Winston's mischievous look behind his blankey!!

Hunter's short haircut for the summer is gone!  This is his new look.  Even has a little curl in the back now!

Searching For Scenes!!

I'm taking a basic digital photography class with Marshalene, and it is basic, but fun!  Mainly we are learning the settings on our cameras and a few different shots to take with what we learn.  I am loving it, and it is really fun to watch for neat things, people, and places to photo.  My main interest is landscapes, old buildings, sunsets, and animals.  I don't have a lot of luck with people.  They won't hold still like scenery and old buildings do, so here are a few shots of what I have I focused on (no pun intended) lately.





Our beautiful Gloss Mountains to the west on a hazy dusty evening!

Pretty mushrooms growing in my front yard.

Sun glowing through the crabapple tree in my front yard! 

I have a beautiful view of our sunsets on So. 14th every evening!

Not even Sissy can get away from my camera!

My macro shot of one of my remaining zinnias.

Of course, there had to be some sunflowers!!

Old tractor on the hill just east of Burrell's.

Sun's going down, but work not done!

Our neighbor to the north!  Pretty baby!

Rustic old barn west of Fairview.

Sunflowers and pretty mountains!

Canton lake on a beautiful sunny afternoon!

Soon we'll see some reds here too!  Can't wait!

Days gone by.

Meadow Lake & Little Boys!!

After a quick trip to the doctor Friday for little Remington, we decided to get lunch at McDonald's or "Old McDonald's" as Hunter calls it and go to the park for a picnic!  This was a first for me having never had a picnic at Meadow Lake park before.  The weather was perfect, maybe just a little warm, but not bad, and the little boys, mema and mommy had a good time!
Loved watching them feed the ducks and run around the train track they have in the park.  It is really a neat park and a great place to relax! 







Beautiful day to relax at the park!

Marshalene and her boys enjoying a fun day!

Of course, where Hunter goes, he has a little shadow!!

Winston feeding the ducks!

Hunter too!

Little brother wishing he could just be out there with his brothers!

 

More Trains!!

It's a cool cloudy day, and we're on our way to another train expedition! This time daddy and Papa got to go along, and we actually got to ride on this train.  It was 2 engines pulling a string of cabooses.  It left from the Water park in Enid, and made a roundtrip to Drummond and back.  As you can tell from the pics the little boys, and the big boys really enjoyed this trip. They do this little trip 2 times a year, May & September, so mark it down on your calendars for in the spring!

We're on our way!
 

These are what we will be riding in!



Waiting To Get On.



Let's Go!!



This will be beautiful in a few weeks after a frost!



Summer still hanging on!



This little guy and mommy having a good time too!





Love the expression on Hunter's face!  Think he's having a good time!

 

I think they'll remember this trip a long time!

Just about done for this time!





This is the caboose we all got to ride on!  Looking forward to going again next time!