A miasm keeping me fat?

Anyone who has ever taken a radionics course has received the handout called, "Psychic Attack."  This worksheet explains how negative belief systems affect our lives.   A psychic attack can come from a parent, sibling, teacher--basically anyone that you look up to and spend a lot of time with when you are young and impressionable. 

These belief systems are put on us and we continue abusing ourselves with these harmful thoughts unless someone that we look up to and spend a lot of time with refutes them for us.  They differ from physical attacks in that the wounds are on the inside.  Never-the-less they are still attacks upon us.

I've seen this one psychic attack called, "Renewing Miasms" listed but have never had it come up before.  Today it came up and it made me curious.  What in the world is a miasm?  So I Goggled the word, "Miasm," as you can do for yourself, and I learned that a miasm is a belief system that is powerful enough to make us ill over a long period of time.  The longer the belief system goes uncorrected in one's thinking, the more powerful it becomes. 

After I got the basic definition, I went to my Kelly e-rate book and looked up the miasms listed there.  I asked, through muscle testing, which one I was supposed to run on myself.  I was utterly shocked when I read, "Weight/Fat implant--run rates to clear cell memory," and then the rates were listed. 

I let that sink in a little bit and then I began to ask questions.  You mean that I have an implant that makes my body store fat?  You mean the memory in my cells refuses to let me loose weight?  You mean THAT'S why it's so difficult for me to loose weight on things that work for everyone else?  You mean that I can run these rates for myself on my radionics machine and I will get rid of this thing which makes it impossible for me to get thin?

Guess what I did after all of that registered?  You got it--I'm running the rates RIGHT now.  As I felt the energies flow through me, I started to question, "Now where did I ever get a thought like that?"  DAH--what is the most frequent thought of my entire life?  "YOU'RE SO STUPID, FAT, AND UGLY THAT NO MAN WILL EVER LOVE YOU."  These words were drilled into my mind during my abusive childhood.  Although I usually focused on the, "No man will ever love you part," I guess I need to realize how powerful the, "You're so Fat" part has affected my life. 

I don't know if you're getting goosebumps, as you let these concepts penetrate through your brain, but I sure am.  What if shedding excess fat is possible with the running of these rates?  How many people could be helped?  That's not to say that we can eat donuts and drink pop all day, but I haven't ever done that and still I've been fat.  Now, I'm wondering if I've been fat JUST BECAUSE THEY TOLD ME THAT I WAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'll let that sink in for a few days as I have much to do yet today.  Still, I want to share things as they come up so that you all can pray about these things too.  Sometime soon I'll let you know what the results of this current development are.

I've been requested to share what of the things that I share here I feel really work.  That's on my to-do list but now I want to wait until I can see how dealing with this miasm (old belief system) will affect my waistline.  I can say for sure that I love working out with Kathy Smith but even that hasn't given me a body I'm pleased with.  It's better but it just feels as though there is always something holding me back from being fit.  I've even said, "It feels as though there is something that is actually holding me back from being thin."  Now I know that there is--soon it will be that there WAS!

Praise God for His incredible hope!

Dawn

July highlights

July has been a busy month of haying for the guys and working in town for us girls.  In between making lunches for everyone, we've been trying to get caught up with the garden.  Cora and I both are disappointed with how it has turned out this year.  It looks as though many of the seeds must have rotted in the very wet Spring as many of the rows have spots with nothing growing.  We are thankful, though, for the many volunteer tomatoes from last year so at least we ought to have an abundant tomato harvest.  The absence of garden pictures in our blogs this Summer indicates our disappointment in how it is producing.

One can't work constantly, though, so I'm thankful for Sabbaths.  Today was a lazy day at home but 2 weeks ago we had some excitement in our lives.  The little town of Robinson was celebrating it's 100th birthday so we went up to help them celebrate.  They had a wonderful parade with something for everyone.

I don't speak of it often but I truly do love horses. I guess the reason that's such a big secret is that in 2002 my favorite horse, Gabe, the one that the children all loved, got West Nile.  The vet came and treated our Gabe.  He showed Robert how to give the treatments and we all stood out in the dark, after Robert got home at night, holding the lantern for the process.  It ended up that all 3 of the children got bit by infected mosquitoes and got West Nile too.

It was a nightmare week for us and it ended with Gabe's death.  I remember crying my heart out as Robert loaded Gabe's body in the tractor bucket and hauled him out to the pasture.  He dug a big hole for Gabe in the side of a hill and we buried him there.  All the way back to the house, I wept and I promised myself that I would never love another horse again as long as I lived.   Then I went into the house to my 3 sick children and tried to comfort them somehow.

 I've never given my heart to a horse since then but I do love their beauty, the way that they carry themselves, and yes, even the way that they smell.  I wonder, if I would do some BT on Gabe's death, could I possibly ever truly love another horse????????????  I know that I love to watch these magnificent creatures work together as a team and I'm very thankful to those who bring them to parades for us to admire! 

This little guy was filling his hat with candy that the folks on the floats were throwing out. 

Do you recognize these folks?  We've been staying away from parades (as far as I'm concerned) because we always got so much candy.  Even with using sparingly afterwards, we'd end up with colds 2 weeks later.  I never imagined that we'd be collecting any now but Andrew had a bag tucked away in his camcorder bag so we came home with some anyway.  I guess larger bodies can handle it better as nobody has had any sniffles yet. 

I thought that this couple was so cute together.  They had matching shirts and she was riding by her man just as proud as she could be.  Oh, how I love being part of the farm community! 

 This young lady had her pony all dressed up for the parade. 

 There were lots of family farms who had floats.

 The guys liked this cool rig.

 After the parade, we took our picnic lunch to the park and watched them set up the bouncing palace for the little people to jump in.

 This looked like a good inexpensive idea for fun.  It was just a large piece of plastic on the side of the hill.  An adult had a garden hose running on it and the children were sliding down with great squeals of delight.

 As we ate our picnic lunch, the trucks and tractors started pulling in for the tractor pull.

 Cora snapped this of me.  I'm going to look at this picture next Winter and remember how roasting it was that day.  My goodness was it HOT out!!!!!!!!!!

I got this one of Cora in return.  The guys were over looking at the trucks and tractors.

Here they are.  These guys are real die-hards as they sat out there almost 5 hours in that wretched heat.  I guess that goes to show that you can tune out the heat when you're really interested in something.

When I couldn't handle the heat anymore, I went under the tent.  You couldn't see much from there but it sure was a lot cooler.  I got a couple of great shots for my newest photo fancy which is catching parents with their children bonding.  These 2 were inseparable all afternoon.

These 2 were great buddies too.

At 6:00 Cora and I went over to the rodeo arena and watched the cowboy rodeo.  We didn't know anybody but started cheering for this cowboy with the paint because his mother was sitting beside Cora.  I'm sorry that all of these photos have the corralling in them, but that's how it was. 
This was a ranch rodeo and there were 6 different ranches that supplied teams.

One fun event we've seen at the Mandan rodeo.  The team of 4 men has to get the steer in the stock trailer.  This one was VERY ornery as you can see he had 3 of the cowboy's ropes on him before they got him in.  Man do they ever have brakes when you want them to move.

These pictures got mixed up but here is another team who went through the parade.

Here is one of Jacob's favorite entries in the parade.  He sure loves them loud hot rods.







My big purchase for the month was a juicer that Dr. Mercola recommended for getting more greens into my diet! 










Here Cora snapped me opening the box. 








This is a photo of the pulp that came out the first time I made juice.  It was apple/carrot juice and it was wonderful.  The children all enjoyed the juice and I took the pulp; added peanut butter and coconut oil; stirred it up; and had it for breakfast!  YUM!  I've liked all of the juice that I've made so far except broccoli juice.  Maybe it'll grow on me.

Here we are after Sabbath feast last week.  Cora surprised us by making doughnuts. You know, as much as I love going away for fellowship, the sweetest fellowship is right here at home.  How I love my precious family!

The only other bit of news that we have is that we had an unexpected guest for lunch yesterday.  Chris S. called us yesterday and said that he was in Napoleon.  Seeing as it was lunch time, we invited him to come out and join us for lunch. 

You may recall him bringing his family here when the baby goats were small and sharing with us about the John Birch Society?  We've been spending some time reading the literature that he left us on Sabbaths and we are very impressed with the organization.  Well, when he asked us this time if we'd like to join, we were ready.  After lunch, we filled out the paperwork and are now members.

We visited a little bit and before Chris left he said, "You guys have been Birchers all along, you just didn't know it!"  OH, SO THAT'S WHAT WE ARE!

I'm excited to be part of a network of others who see hope for our country in getting back to the Constitution that our country was founded on.  Who knows what kind of wonderful people we're going to meet now.  Who knows what kind of interesting meetings we're going to attend......  I know that you all know the answer to those questions.  God knows.  OH HOW I LOVE KNOWING THAT MY LOVING HEAVENLY FATHER HAS A PLAN FOR MY LIFE.  The song that I used to sing when my voice was a wee little girl's voice is ringing through my mind now, "AND ALL I HAVE TO DO IS FOLLOW!"

Have a great week everyone!

Dawn

Our first radionics class

 I believe that I posted this picture once before but, seeing as this is a post about our radionics class last month, I thought that I'd start at the beginning.  Ed and his office manager, Cathie, sent up all of these boxes for the class.  Some of them were teaching materials; and some were demo materials; and some were the rental machines for the class. 

On Sunday, June 26th Jacob and I drove to Bismarck to pick up Ed from the airport.  How wonderful it was to see him again.  We brought him to the farm to meet the rest of the family and to discuss final arrangements for the class.  That evening, Ed took apart some of our instruments and showed our guys the working parts of a wonderful KRT instrument. 

 Here is our classroom with all of the machines set up.  We had 10 students.  With Ed as the instructor and myself as the instructor in training, there were 12 us in the class.  It was a major thrill for me to have my entire family taking the class from Ed.  It was a wonderful 3 days together!
 Did I mention that we held the class at the Kelly Inn?  I thought that was so awesome how the Lord welcomed Ed Kelly to North Dakota by having us hold the class in the hotel with the same name.  I discussed accommodations with Ed after the class and learned that he loved everything there!  The staff was very friendly and helpful; the classroom spacious and well lit; the food was great; and his hotel room was nice too.  Ed said that he would definitely hold his classes there in the future so I was so thankful that he was happy with the arrangements that I had made for our class!

 Here is my wonderful family all studying radionics together.  It was so wonderful to have everyone learning the same thing at the same time.  Here Andrew is asking Ed a question. 

 Our wonderful instructor and new friend, Ed Kelly.  How can we ever thank you, Ed, for coming all the way from Georgia to teach us?  What a great instructor this man is.  He listens to our questions and explains everything so patiently.  I couldn't ask for a finer man to study under. 

Our family had lunch with the group at Minervas the first day of class so that we could get to know the other class members a little better but after that we packed our lunches.  What interesting meals these were as we all discussed what we'd been learning and how it can apply to our farm's needs.

 Forever a preserver of memories (I think he got this from his mother), here Andrew was catching some shots of class.  How I love this awesome young man with his curious nature!

 Right before class ended, one of the members treated us all to this birthday cake in honor of her friend.  That was soooooooo cool!

 Here is a photo of most of us in class.  Two of the group members decided that they didn't want to be photographed so they opted out.  Notice how my children cosied up to Ed.

 This was taken during one of our snack periods.  I'll say again how wonderful it was having my family all together during these awesome 3 days!

Right after our class had ended and Ed was making his final sales, I headed over to my office to work on a client.  When I was finished, I went back to the Kelly Inn.  The children had headed for home to take care of the farm chores and I found Robert and Ed visiting.  It was so wonderful to watch these 2 men throughout the class time, from way different backgrounds, learn from each other.  Robert gleaned radionics information from Ed and Ed grasped agriculture concepts from Robert.   Both have such marvelous minds that I was happy to see them getting to know each other.

Ed, Robert, and the children had everything boxed up that we'd need to return to GA.  Thankfully there was only about half the number of boxes that needed to be returned as all of the rental machines were sold to those who used them in class--it was GREAT!!!

We were all 3 tired so we sat and visited for a little while about the class.  I was surprised when Ed looked at me and said, "We're partners now."  I stuck out my hand and we shook on it.  Robert said, "I want to get your picture together before we leave."  Here is the result.

 Did I mention that Ed offered me the opportunity of becoming a dealer of his incredible KRT instruments?  It's kind of a joke in the family as I am the person who has the least bit of technological knowledge and he makes ME the dealer.  I know that it's because of my being an energy worker but truly I do view my dealership as a family dealership. 
I got Robert and Ed's picture then too.

After we took all of the boxes out to our car, we decided to take the time to eat together at Minerva's.  Actually, I was STARVING and the guys said that they were hungry too.  We had a wonderful time discussing plans for future classes over our meal and I took this picture of the information board as a remembrance of our wonderful time together.

All 3 of us were tired then and we still had an hour's drive home.  Ed needed to get some sleep as he had a long flight home the following day.  A part of me has always dreaded departures as the sanguine part of me aches to be with people as much as possible.  When you live in North Dakota on a farm, there really are not that many opportunities to spend time with people, so I treasure times with others. 

This was when Ed gave me probably the greatest gift that he ever has.  How I dreaded seeing him leave and the class that I had worked so very hard for to be over.  I could feel the sadness creeping into me as Robert and I moved towards the door and Ed started going towards his room. 

I was trying to think of how to say, "Goodbye" to such an incredible person.  This was when Ed turned towards us and said with his big booming voice and his big grin on his face, "See you soon." 

I could only smile then as I knew that it would be at least a year until we would see Ed again.  Still, I saw the wisdom of his closure and I gulped out a returning, "See you soon," and left the hotel with Robert.

I wrote to Ed later and thanked him for this wonderful gift.  I meant it, for as I learned from Anne Shirley, true friends are always together in the heart.  THANK YOU, ED, FOR ALL OF THE WAYS THAT YOU BLESSED OUR FAMILY! 

God bless all who read my ramblings and who bear with my melancholy times.  I love you all!  Have a great week in the Lord!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dawn

OK--I give

I can recall my mother snidely asking me about 10 years ago, "How many diets are you going to try?"

I smugly answered, "As many as it takes until I find the one that works!"

Anyone who has read here for any length of time knows how I struggle with getting off this excess weight.  Between miscarriages, cancer, and the lenghthy illness with shingles on my brain, I have been forced to be sedentary much of the time this past decade.  One still must eat to keep living--that IS the idea you know. 

Then, when eating was one of the few things that I did as a child that pleased my mother, I ate to comfort myself as she taught me to do.  I know that there are probably people reading this who will snoot me off and say, "Excuses, excuses.  All you have to do is eat less and you will lose weight."

Well, I've tried that too.  I've fasted and cleansed and lost weight and put it back on again.  Every natural thing that I could find, I tried and still there was something that kept me fat.  Now, thanks to my dear friend, Sarah, I just may have discovered what that something is.

I called Sarah earlier this week to see if she'd like Cora's help with the children/housework for a few days.  Would she!  Well, I love talking to Sarah as she is an avid reader who is always searching for the answers to her health challenges just like I do.  This time she had some VERY good news to share.

"What's new, Sarah?" I asked.

"Well, I lost 50 pounds since the baby was born," she replied!

Then she had my full attention. Sarah proceeded to tell me about a supplement that supplies the body with iodine for those who are suffering from hypothyroidism.  Now, I was tested for that I don't know how many times but, as I learned at the following website, doctor's tests are far from precise enough to detect this problem.

Sarah explained that we live in the goiter belt of the nation.  This means that we aren't near enough to the coast to benefit from sea breezes that supply iodine from the salt in the sea water.  Goiter is the extreme lack of iodine but many people have health challenges much sooner than the goiter stage.
 As Sarah talked about sea breezes wafting in the iodine rich air, I recalled feeling absolutely fantastic when I was breathing the air out in CA last Fall.  I told Sarah that the day after our flight, when I thought I'd be recouping from jet lag, we walked 8 miles.  I felt so strong in that air that I didn't want to leave the shoreline of the San Francisco Bay.  Could it be it was the iodine in the air that was making me so strong?

To summarize, so that I can prepare for Sabbath here, I did order the product that she took which is called, 'Iodoral" and it came quickly.  I started taking it 2 days ago and am waiting to feel the affects.  I'm assuming that I'm VERY depleted as I haven't felt any difference yet.

You can read about Iodoral at this website:iHerb.com.  I decided to stick with this product as it is the one that Sarah lost 50 pounds in 4 months with.  However, I was also led to read on this website:
http://www.1-thyroid.com/lowthyroid.htm  In fact, I was so encouraged by what I read here that perhaps I truly have found the underlying physical answer (not the emotional ones that I've been working on with BT) to my weight issues.  I took their test to see if hypothyroidism is my problem.  Goodness, if you score over 70 it's a BIG problem and I had a 137.

I urge everyone to go to the link above and scroll half way down the page.  There's a section called, "Am I thyroid deficient?"  Click on, "Online analysis," then on, "Low thyroid symptoms."  Check off every symptom that you're experiencing and the computer will tally it for you.

So there I spilled the beans.  I wasn't going to until I could show you a nice AFTER picture of my new slim body.  However, the reason that I have this blog is to share the things I learn so that you can get started ASAP too.  Perhaps you will get nice and thin right along with me?  WOULDN'T THAT BE WONDERFUL???????????????????

Blessings to all you who keep turning to nature (God) for the answers.  Keep searching for them! It may take awhile to find the key to the your particular lock but we read in Scripture, "Ask and it shall be given you; seek and ye shall find; knock, and the door shall be opened unto you."  Mathew 7:7
God has a unique healing journey for each one of us.  I get to witness this every day and it is so fascinating!  I just love it!  God is trying to teach us things each time we have a health challenge.  He is trying to draw us closer to Him through our difficulties of all types.  All He wants is to have a relationship with us.  CAN YOU IMAGINE THIS?  God, who made Heaven and Earth wants to be YOUR friend!!!  Is it time for YOU to open the door of your heart and let Him come in and be your best friend ever?  He is waiting for you to let Him into your life.  Why keep God waiting a second longer??????????????????

Come to the Lord all who are weary and heavy laden and HE will give you rest.

Blessed Sabbath rest to all God's children,

Dawn
PS.  I decided to include the questionnaire here for those of who need a little push to take the online test.  There's no charge, and it could change your life, so I urge you to go for it!  Just a reminder, taking the "Test" here will not get you any feedback from the company.  Use the link above for this.
PPS.  Did I ever mention that my hair is falling out a lot this past year?  How I pray that this is the missing link in my health care regimen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Online Questionnaire for Thyroid Function (Hypothyroidism)

The following are some of the major symptoms and signs associated with an under active thyroid. Some symptoms are more significant than others. Read each line carefully. Click the box next to the symptom if it applies to you. Your score will be tallied up below.

Depression
Weight gain
Difficulty losing weight
Low energy – fatigue
Cold natured
Ice-cold hands or feet
Dry skin
Hair loss (alopecia)
Slowed thinking, poor concentration
Brain fog 
Memory problems
Insomnia, poor sleep
Waking up exhausted
Tingling in hands and feet
Muscle pain
Edema (swelling in ankles)
Constipation
Slow heart rate
Low blood pressure
Elevated cholesterol
Thickened tongue
Anemia
Thinned eyebrows
Muscle cramps at night
Slow reflexes
Your skin itches in the winter
Recurrent headaches
Decreased sweating
Multiple miscarriages and infertility
Pale, puffy, pasty skin
Decreased body hair
Vertigo (dizziness)
Hoarse voice
Fibrocystic breasts
Low body temperature (below 98.6 degrees)

Total Score

• 0 – 9 Unlikely you are hypothyroid
• 10 – 19 Mild hypothyroidism
• 20 – 29 Moderate hypothyroidism
• 30 – 49 Profound hypothyroidism
• 50 – 69 Severe hypothyroidism
• 70+ Hypothyroidism so bad that blood tests may be abnormal

Copyright © 2009, Women's Health Institute of Texas.

Busy day tomorrow

I am weary tonight and am asking for prayer for tomorrow.  It's been a busy day of sessions and cooking and laundry and trying to find homes for all of our new possessions that we inherited from our dear neighbor, Gladys.  I will always call her my neighbor because she is so dear to my heart even though she now lives in Fargo.
  Please pray for me tomorrow as I am seeing 5 clients plus I need to empty the van of all of the items of Glady's that we are moving on for her.  I'm going to bed early so I can get an early start tomorrow.  I am so thankful for all of you who pray for me! Even though I never had a close family growing up, it is so wonderful to have been a part of the family of God for 42 years!  Also I am so very thankful for this awesome family that I get to enjoy these days. 

  Keep watching here for news about the new iodine supplement that came in the mail today.  I am eager to see how it will help to improve my health. 

  Much love to all those who serve the King--especially those who pray for me!  May God bless you with His richest blessings for all of your compassion for me over the years!!!!!!!!!!!  I'm especially thankful tonight for my dear cousin who likes to giggle into the wee hours of the morning with me EVERY CHANCE THAT SHE GETS!  :)

Have a great week!

Dawn

PS.  Just a hint as to the affect I'm hoping for with the iodine supplement--one of them anyway.  This can be considered a before picture.

Prairie Days 2011/Saturday

As you all know, if you've spent any time reading here at all, Prairie Days is one of the highlight's of our family's Summer.  This was the welcome people received when they arrived at the Dagley farm.

Like I've said before, this PD was so awesome because my cousin, Kristi, brought her family all the way from WI.  Here she is with a dress Cora had sown for a former PD.   Kristi's daughter, Rachel, is wearing a dress that Kristi's mom sewed for her when she was a little girl.  All of the wonderful old-fashioned dresses are one of my favorite part of Prairie Days.

Music is a big part of Prairie Days which is one of the big reasons that I love it so much!  Many families share some of their favorite songs with the group during meals.  However, there is also lots of impromptu music springing up from all over the Dagley farm.  The campfire, of course, is a favorite place for me as we sang and sang until my throat was sore on Friday night. 

This year there was a new feature at PD which was an instrument petting zoo.  Everyone was encouraged to bring an instrument to share but, needless to say, my piano is not transportable--too bad for us piano players.  I did, however, use my voice (which is also an instrument) to share one of my favorite songs.  You can see the video of this down below if you haven't already seen it. 













Families are at the heart of Prairie Days.  One of my favorite things to do is to watch parents interacting with their children.  God's plan for continuing the species is so incredible and I loved it that for 2 days I got to feast my eyes on scenes like this one.

This game is an old favorite at PD.  It's so simple to do as all you need is a log cut in half and a rope of some sort.  Two people stand across from each other and tug on the rope hoping to catch the other off balance.  At just the right moment, a slight tug will land the opponent on the grass which is out.  The person left on their log is the winner.  The game is very fun and VERY addictive.

Two old friends, Andrew and David D.  In fact this is where they met each other 9 years ago at the very first Prairie Days.  Have I publicly said, "Thank you" to the Dagley family for all of the hard work that you do every year to give us PD?  If not, I am now.

One neat addition this year was the opportunity to dress up and portray some famous person from history.  Any guesses who James and Amanda are portraying here?

For my Jacob, the zipline continues to be the main attraction at Prairie Days.  I've never seen the creek so full before.

We had a special guest who is a George Washington look alike. They did castings of his face and learned that he really DOES look like our first President.  This was fascinating.  He even knew what kind of crops were grown at Mount Vernon.

A friend snapped this picture of sweet Cora and I.  I'm wearing the dress that she sewed several years ago and she has on her brand new one which she created for the event.  My elderly neighbor lady, Gladys, had given me some of her jewelry.  In it Cora found a small cluster of yellow daisies.  When she saw it, she brought it to me to wear on my dress.  Every once in awhile, I feel the Lord urging me to finish my first novel--YELLOW DAISIES.  I'm sure the time will be available when I am to finish that immense project!

Here is a picture of everyone who wanted to be on the group picture-- a first time PD tradition.

Can anyone guess who these cute prairie girls were?  These are the 2 youngest daughters of the awesome Stevens family who was here last month.  I regret that I didn't take the picture of their whole family, minus Pristine, when I had the chance as I never saw them all together again. 

Yes, these are Mary and Laura Ingalls from the Little House series which I read when I was about "Mary's" age.  One of the books in the series is about life in SD, which was my home state, so I loved the stories.  Later on, the series was televised as, LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE.

Horses have always been a part of PD.  Every year someone comes and shares how they trained their horse.  I imagine that there are as many ways to train a horse as there are to train up a child.  I remember telling my mother, when I was a teenager, that I'd marry any man who bought me a horse.  Oh, how I loved to ride in those days but now, since my illness, I guard my neck carefully.  Who knows, maybe I'll ride again some day.

Cora had a demonstration time to share old fashioned ways to make hair pretty.  I am so blessed that she does this here at home as, since the pain in my neck and shoulders in 2006, I haven't been able to do much with my hair.   I never had a sister so I love when Cora does my hair and I guess she must too as she likes to work on other's hair too.

Here cousin, Kristi, is pondering purchasing one of President Washington's DVDs.  Isn't this an awesome shot?

Here's the campfire where young and old gather together to visit or eat or sing....  This is one of my all time favorite places in the world due to the special time spent around the fire with loved ones.

Dagleys but we had other plans.  We look forward to PD for months ahead of time so leaving is a dreaded thing.  Looking back over Dagley Park one last time, a certain gloom settles on the heart.  When will we see everyone again?

So here we are in Eureka, SD at the 125the birthday celebration of the church that we got baptized in.  Wouldn't you know that it was on the same weekend as PD.  We wanted to go, though, to see old friends AND to sing in the mass choir.  BOY, DID WE RAISE THE RAFTERS!!!!!!

This is one of the sweetest ladies in the world.  This is Pat G. who was our choir director during the first years of our marriage.  She led the mass choir for the service so it was "Just like old times."  We asked someone to take our picture as many years ago, Pat, Robert, and I got baptized together in this church.  Did you ever hear the expression, "The best friends are OLD friends?"  Well, I think it's true.   Singing with Pat was so wonderful--seeing her smile up front brought back so many wonderful memories.  It made me realize that I really DID have some happy times in that town.

Last but not least, here is the picture that I took when Robert drove me by my childhood home.  There are new owners there now.  A new car in the driveway; a new woman working in mom's flowerbed; a new man mowing the lawn.  GULP.  I was totally surprised that this all had an affect on me at all.  With all of the nightmare years that I spent there in fear and self-hatred, I was sure that I would be glad to see it gone.  Still, it did make me feel a bit nostalgic.

Thanks everyone for listening to my ramblings.  I know that there are a variety of topics all thrown together here, but that weekend was a weekend of great emotions for me.  I was still dealing with the cancer then, so I had some pain issues, but any time that I can be with people my heart is lighter.  I certainly was with a LOT of people--some of my favorite people in the whole wide world--so I was happy beyond imagination. 

I hope that you have enjoyed this picture post.  I know that I will come back here from time to time to recall those happy days in Dagley Park.  Is it too early to invite you to join us there next year?

Come and visit when you can!

Dawn