Prairie Days 2011/Friday

This was the most awesome Prairie Days for me ever because my cousin, Kristi, and her family came all the way from Wisconsin to spend it with us.  They arrived at our farm at supper time 2 days before  PD started and we had a great evening visiting. 



The next day we were lazy and visited all morning while Kristi tried on various of Cora's vintage dresses with the hopes of finding one that she liked--actually she found 2.  Here we are in my kitchen making lunch together when Cora snapped this photo.







The boys enjoyed renewing their acquaintance with their second cousin Hristiyan who was here last Summer with his mom.  Kristi told me that his name sounds like Christian but with an H in front.

Here Robert and Michaeljon were renewing their acquaintance too.  Of course, Millie had to be in the center of things.

We all loved little Jason who is one of the Murphy's adopted children.  There's nothing quite so fun as swinging with a buddy on the double swing.

Andrew organized an informal Appleseed shoot here for the Murphys who were planning on shooting at the Dagley's farm.  He is a natural leader and, I might add, a VERY good shot.

We had an early supper at home before taking off for the Dagleys.  The trip went quickly as we made last minute plans for PD.  Finally we arrived and Andrew found his dearest, lifelong friend Jonathan Bartlett who is the state AppleSeed organizer for North Dakota.  These 2 met each other 9 years ago at this very spot. 

This was our welcoming committee--a delegation from the Dagley and Martin and Balyet families.

 Here is the Murphy family setting up the "Girl's" tent where I spent 2 lovely days and giggly nights with my cousin and her daughter, Rachel while Cora slept with the single girls (14 one night).  Below is the guy's tent  which was actually ours that we had bought for the event.  It was great fun talking back and forth with the guys until they yelled over, "You girls go to sleep."  Of course, that just made us giggle all the more.  I could hear Jacob groaning over "Next door".

 Just as soon as possible, I got my hands on a baby.  This one was James' and Amanda's little David.

 Here comes Andrew with our air mattress which he had taken to the shop to fill.  I had refused to camp anymore after the last time when my back ached for days.  However, for only $20 apiece we purchased 2 of these and they were WONDERFUL!  Notice little Jason following Andrew and laughing non-stop. 

 Finally the big day arrived.  Kristi and I had been talking about this for several months and we had a ball.  I admit that we did not always hear the instructions and were hounding Michaeljon for directions but he didn't mind.  He knew that we were just so happy to be together!!!!!!!!  That's Jonathan in the red and he was the shoot boss.  Jonathan did a GREAT job of organizing AND running the shoot.

 Here Jonathan and Chris are showing the key points of how to shoot well in the prone position.  Chris and Andrew were assisting Jonathan for the day.  Jonathan keeps inviting Andrew to take the orange, "Instructor in training" cap officially but he hasn't yet.

 At noon we all went inside as the day was damp and nobody wanted to sit outside and eat their lunch.  You can see me with my friend, Yvonne, who camp to the shoot and had a blast!

Here is our end of the firing line.  There were 22 shooters in all.  Kristi, myself, Michaeljon; Jacob; Hristiyan; and friend Seth are working on improving our aim in the prone position.

When my neck got tired, I laid my head down for a rest.  I told Kristi that this is what I did during our shoot here in '09. She said, "Yeah" and laid her head down on her arms to with her rifle laying safely in her arms.  I thought, "Wow, Kristi, you have come a long ways to be that comfortable with your rifle."  Cora told me later that she was trying to get the picture of us with our heads down together, but just then Kristi lifted her head.

Here is a picture of the awesome Jackson family that we have gotten to know in the past couple of years.  There are some good shots in this family PLUS their character shown through.  I was so happy to have these folks there with us!

Here my friend, Chris, stopped to share a few pointers on how to improve my aim.  I'm sorry to say that Kristi and I were having too much fun being together to really care all that much about how well we did.  I guess RifleWoman will have to wait until the next shoot.  I really was a little disappointed with how I did but the wind was atrocious; my foot was bothering me; and I was more concerned about Kristi having a good time than how well I shot.  IT WAS A WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE!

Here is the other end of the firing line.  Some of these folks came from Minnesota just to shoot in this Appleseed AND to experience Prairie Days, of course.

Here is "My" Andrew.  He helped lots of people that day and I keep wondering if his future includes an orange hat or not.

After the shoot was over, I helped a little with supper but my foot was pretty sore.  I made my way down to Dagley park where Mark was holding a spelling bee.  It was great fun but I'm sorry to say that our team lost.  Here we are scratching our heads with some of those hard words.

Happy Independence Day everyone.  Oh, I forgot to say that this morning my brother, Russell, called me to wish me a happy Independence Day.
 He said, "How are you?" 
I was surprised when I answered him, "Independent."  I hadn't ever thought of myself that way but I did mean in reference to my family of origin.  Why cling to people who so obviously loathe you and what you represent?
Russell's chuckle warmed my heart and I rejoiced that I have at least one family member from my childhood family who cares about me.  We talked almost half an hour and then I informed him, "I'm calling you on your birthday (which is on the 9th)." 
He laughed and said, "I'll be waiting."
After he hung up I thought, "Who would have ever thought that he would be an ally?"  Isn't life strange?
GOD BLESS, MY DEAR FRIENDS!
Dawn