RENAE AND DAN'S WEDDING

We attended the wedding of our niece, Renae, in Minneapolis on Saturday, and she was determined not to have a traditional wedding that cost a fortune, so she did it her way. It was in a pretty setting in a park, and started with her longtime male friends as "flower girls". They sprinkled rose petals down the carpet aisle from a cardboard box labeled "fruit jars", which caused a chuckle from the attendees. (I'm not sure if the box was planned or not.) She wore a white dress, but didn't want the traditional gown, so hers had a black waistband and she wore black shoes and jewelry. The bridesmaids wore sundresses that they could wear again. (As a side note, she and her sister Rachel, were the flower girls in our daughter Heidi's wedding almost 20 years ago, and all the girls could wear their dresses again. Their mother Linda told me recently, that the girls wore their dresses until they didn't fit anymore, and then Rachel wore Renae's. I hope that little bit of practicality influenced her to choose it for her wedding.) She also chose to do her own flowers obtaining them at the farmer's market, and she did a great job. Here are the girls in a "formal pose". Her sister, Rachel, is on the left.

The reception was held inside and outside, at an apple orchard. As you entered, you picked up a piece of "birch to set at your perch", otherwise known as a placecard. Some of us relatives were surprised when we found our wedding pictures hanging in a picture frame on the table-Don and I are on the left in the second row.

We were treated to a "picnic type" meal with hamburgers and brats, two kinds of potatoes and two salads. She doesn't like cake, so her mother made sugar cookies and truffles. She had yellow and white daisies in fruit jars on the tables. She wanted it to be casual and comfortable, so she and the bridesmaids danced in their cowboy boots. Everyone had a good time. Here's Don's brother Marvin, and sister Teresa.

The bride and groom with Grandma.

We all prayed that she'd have good weather and she did, until part way through the reception, when it suddenly just poured for a few minutes. It didn't dampen any spirits, because it was followed by a beautiful rainbow! I prefer to think it was sent to her from her Uncle Dick.

They did do a few traditional things, such as cut a small 2 layer cake, with a wooden bride and groom on top, made and painted by her father, the first dance, the dollar dance and a slide show. When it got dark, they had a bonfire down by the river and served s'mores and everyone lit the sparklers they were given. It's hard to see, but the bride lit the first sparkler.

Traditional, like our recent, Allison's, wedding (where I had camera trouble), or non-traditional like this one, we're just happy the girls were able to live out their dreams and have a wonderful start to a great marriage!!!

RED WING, MN

It was time for some down time to get the laundry done, etc., so we spent a week at the Treasure Island campground. We had a coupon for a reduction in a motel room rate, so they gave us $50 off and $20 in free play-not to bad a deal. One day we drove to Minneapolis and did some shopping and cemetery research, then to dinner at Jim and Mary Weingartner's home. We had a great time and a delicious meal! Another day, we drove to Rochester and spent the afternoon at the Olmsted Historical Library, doing research on the Friedell's. When we returned to town, we ate at Liberty's Restaurant-every trip to Red Wing we say we're going to try it, and finally did. We should have done it much sooner. It was delicious and at a reasonable cost. They have neat stained glass windows hanging in their windows, each with a different center etched glass picture. Very neat!

It's hard to see in this picture, but maybe you can see them hanging in the windows.

Each year, I think the Red Wing flowers can't be topped, but this years are awesome!

Yesterday, we drove to Maple Grove. MN for our niece Renae's wedding on Saturday. We joined many of Don's sisters and brothers and kids, and his mother, at Linda and Dave's house, (Renae's parents), for dinner. Another sister and brother will arrive today. It's always nice to see everyone! It's an outdoor wedding, so we're hoping the rain stops in time!

UPDATE ON ACCIDENT

We were headed to Red Wing, MN, when the claims adjuster called. I knew in my gut that the guy acted strangely. He gave us the registration from the previous owner from 4 years earlier. Wrong name, address, phone number, etc. It will be interesting to see if the insurance company can find him. Guess I'll send his picture to them, and hope they don't go after "Cliff" from Cheers! This was another one of those times when it was good for my husband to listen to me!

ST. LUCAS, IOWA

We went on to Decorah for Dr.'s appointments and to see friends. While there, we took a drive to St. Lucas so I could have walleye at my favorite place, The White House.

Since we were there a year ago, they remodeled and built a new kitchen, using the old one for more tables.

I ordered the deep fried walleye to get the flavor, but only ate little bits of the breading with each bite-you can see why. It was delicious as usual!!!

For those of you from Grinnell, the former superintendant of schools in Grinnell, Clem Bodensteiner and his wife Leona, are from around St. Lucas. It's a neat little small town, with a main street where the White House is located.

Looking the other direction, up the hill toward the church, there just happens to be a man on a lawnmower cruising down the road.

St. Luke's Church sits proudly at the top of the hill.

This is a view of the town as you approach it. One of my favorites!

FARMERS MARKET AT MULERTFEST

We actually did other things but eat at Mulertfest. Most everyone went to Adventureland and even though there were long lines in the heat, they said they had a good time. Pat stayed with Grandma at the motel until Don and I picked them up and went to lunch and then took Grandma to a quilt shop in Valley Junction. In the morning, we went to the Farmers Market in downtown Des Moines with Scott and Jeff, before they joined the others. It extends over nine blocks and has just about anything you'd like to find. This is one small area.

There was quite a crowd.

I thought this guy deserved to have his picture taken.

Scott had to have one of the brown ones in front-some ingedients were peaches, cocunut and rum.

I thought these were interesting-they're oyster mushrooms.

Hey man, they're still making these!

What can I say about this?

They also have beautiful flowers, great produce and wonderful artisan breads. If you live in the area, it's worth the drive on Saturday morning!

CHIPS AT MULERTFEST

After looking for a pizza place, we eventually ended up at Chips right next to the Country Inn motel which had pizza and other food. It was very good!

We were lucky to get our own private room.

MULERTFEST 2010-DES MOINES

We only had 21 at Mulertfest this year, but we still had a good time. (We'll get to see more relatives at Renae's wedding in two weeks.) The ones in a motel stayed in Ankeny and the campers were at Saylorville, a few miles away. Here's Linda guiding Dave into their parking space.

We had a nice view of the lake.

One night we had a potluck at our site.

Everybody had fun with Emily and Anna. They have three brothers, but are able to hold their own.

Jenny was happy all weekend-don't know what happened here.

Emily had more fun with her watermelon than everybody else!