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