Happy Birthday Dad!!

Sixty years ago on this day, my dad was born. After 3 days of my poor Grandma being told to go home and vomiting wieners. Yuck. But I have to admit, its a story I will always remember.

So this morning I got up a little early and baked dad a scrumptious "funfetti" cake (is there another kind?) and frosted it with white whipped frosting and decorated it. In orange. And purple. I put tinfoil on it and took to Gma and Gpa's for coffee this morning. Mom had also brought a birthday cake. German chocolate with that fancy pecan and coconut frosting. So dad is extra loved i guess. 2 cakes in one day. I had to get a picture. Mom is even smiling, gee how did that happen? (Just Joking)

So Happy Birthday Dad! Thanks for being my everything. I love you!

PS. HaHa I really didn't cut off the chocolate cake on purpose! Even though it may look like it;)

Welcome to the World, Laura Lee and Levi John!!!

The Steffan Ranch is abuzz with excitement these days! Sure, it's harvest and the men are busy in the field but, last Thursday God blessed us some rain that provided a break. Brenda made use of this break and she --ok the BABIES decided they wanted to come out and play with their big brothers!! So, September 4th is now the birthday of Laura and Levi!! YES, They had a GIRL!! She also came first weighing 6lbs 7oz. and was followed by her brother Levi who weighed 7lbs 2 oz. Brenda was only 6 days short of her due date and was ecstatic when they were able to meet face to face! She was able to come home on Saturday the 6th and yesterday Dave and I went to meet the new babies!!

I am holding little Laura and David is holding Levi! Roman (5) took the pictures! A budding photographer I think! He didn't even cut anyones head off!

John is still trying to adapt to the sleep deprivation! Levi snoozing in his carseat!

The twins aren't the only new babies at the farm! Mama Cat (I know-original name) has 3 little kittens that I am smitten with!! Oreo, Midnight, and Jr. Mama Cat (not even joking-Roman named them) Speaking of Roman, that's him on the new little tractor! This is like the one Dave bought this fall except Dave's will have a cab. It will be our snow removing tractor! I'm excited to learn how to drive it!! Roman will have to teach me, looks like he has mastered it already!

See? He has mastered it. First the tractor, then the WORLD!!! MMMWWAAAHAAAAAA!! *evil laugh* The second pic is of Dave and Jack and the tiny shovel. I bought that to dig potatoes at the old house and Jack spied it when we were cleaning the garage. We decided to give it to him for his birthday in June. He LOVES that thing--its just his size--just like our chair! This pic also goes to show that you can take the man out of the sandbox, but you can't take the sandbox out of the man! Dave used to spend all summer out there as a child. Just helping to keep up the tradition!

Roman had to show me the forts they made this summer. Those kids were very busy little beavers!! They made different rooms and made stick walls! You can tell Roman is proud of all his hard work!

We had a wonderful day welcoming the babies! Look forward to my future blog on Baby Keira!!(She isn't born yet--we have a couple more weeks to wait)

Gateway to Comfort........and Coffee!

What can be special about a door? Not much I suppose. You turn a knob and enter buildings. Some have windows, some are wood and some are metal. What makes this door special is that it is a gateway to comfort. For as long as I have been alive, the door to my grandparents house meant a sweet treat, a hug, a cup of coffee, a place to play, a place to be silly, and a safehaven for when things go terribly wrong.

THIS door is always open to friends and family! A hot cup of coffee or a cold can of beer usually wait for you inside! My Gpa and Gma welcome everyone who steps inside--unless you are a Jehovahs Witness. Then you will be met at the door with a Bible and the knowledge of a 90 year old faithful man who has an answer to anything you throw at him!

This summer Dad and Jamie replaced the "Gateway to comfort" with a new door with a bigger window and more capability to keep the elements outside and keep the Comfort in!!!

Lightening!

Lightening last night as the storm came through.
You can see the cell phone tower lights and the headlights of a car on the highway 1and 1/4 miles to the south. This was at 10:00 and it was like midnight.
This is also lightening.

Jesus Loves the Little Children

Sunday morning brought glorious sunshine and the Baptism of Leah Hope. Dave and I traveled to Larimore, at a very fast rate of speed due to 1) We left home at 10 and needed to be there by 10:30 and we live 30 miles away and 2) Bill brought an ionizer to put in my car to help get rid of the smoke smell and it was making us light headed and confused. Since Dave NEVER drives over the speed limit I choose to blame the latter;)

When we pulled into the parking lot at 10:25 John and Brenda, Zach and Katherine and the Kids, and Janice and RoseMary had all just gotten there and were getting out of their vehicles! We walked in and I immediately felt at home. What a nice church!

Since Kirk is the Pastor and the father of little Leah, I wondered how they were going to pull that one off!! It was neat. The sponsors they chose live in Iowa and couldn't be there for the baptism so it was just Kirk, Jenn, Leah and William, the big brother, and Jon--Kirks' brother-shepherd of Will. Kirk was pretty emotional as he read from the Bible about Baptising the little children. The hymns we sang were perfect! The one was "When He Cometh, He Cometh" It likens the children to the jewels of Jesus crown. Anyway, it was interesting when my old high school principal was an usher!

Kirk and Jenn had prepared a dinner for all of the family. It was a special day for everyone!!

Leah Hope and William Espen!

Happy Birthday Michigan Part 2

After the parade Jamie and I went to the dedication of the Veterans Memorial Park located where the old depot sat. Father John Aerts had a prayer and Steve and Sally Simonson sang a beautiful song about a woman making sure her son a fallen soldier

was remembered for more than being "Just a name on a wall". Then Governer Hoeven spoke about the war on terror and the freedom we have in America to gather and celebrate because of the Veterans past and present. It was pretty moving! Then Milo Elgin, a World War II Vet from Michigan spoke about his experiences at the Battle of the Bulge.

We ate outrageously expensive nachos and taco salad for lunch under a shade canopy which blew apart in a freak gust of wind. I say freak because it was a very light breeze and that single gust of wind, was the ONE and ONLY gust of wind ALL DAY.

Dave, Jamie and I met up with Aaron and Casey to tour the old school which is now a wiring harness factory. Dave was showing me all of his old classrooms and at 3:25 pm, the bell rang. Schools out!! It was kind of a sad reminder! We went to the bar had a couple of cold beverages and to get out of the sun for awhile, and then home to take a nap so we could go back to town for the streetdance. They had fireworks. Beautiful. Loud. Fireworks.

LOOK! A burnin' ring of fire!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MICHIGAN!!! Part 1

Well, it has come and it has gone! Michigan's 125th celebration is now but a fond memory! *sigh*

We had SOO much fun! I spent Friday cleaning and preparing for company but in town, the coed softball tournament was in full swing. Jamie played on a team but they lost both games:( Then while the 800 registered alumni from Michigan high ate their $25 baked potatoes in the sweltering heat of the Tesoro station, David, Jamie, and I enjoyed our supper of grilled steaks, cole slaw, chips and dip, and the charcoal broquets formerly known as "Garlic Toast". We all rode into town together--knowing Jamie and I would be consuming a few alcoholic beverages and wanting to avoid the rumored checkpoints, David drove. He doesn't like to drink ever since the Prairie Fire incident in 1992. Anyway, the streetdance was fun, there were so many people to talk to! Dave and I quickly found our good friends Tom and Shannon, and found our "groove". I got to see some of my old classmates as well. Daves' brother John was there and later his sisters Barb and Katherine came in with their husbands Tom and Zach. Carol and Bill came in for awhile too!

Saturday morning started early at 6:30. I had to let the dogs out and decided that it was no use to go back to bed so I started breakfast for everyone! Soon after, we started to see the "Mapes to Michigan Fun Walk/Run people going by. They were on the road just south of our house. They could be dropped off at 3 different points, 6 miles, 4 miles, or 2 miles. Then it was off to town to get a spot for the parade!!!! Mom and Dad brought Grandma and Grandpa to watch and ended up with a great spot in the shade! Jamie and I however sat in the sun but had a great location to get pictures and CANDY!!!

HERE WE GO!!!The Color Guard! That's Joe Zharadka fixing his cap!

The Grand Marshall: Governer John Hoeven and his wife Mikey Hoeven.

. Beautiful Sarah my "unofficial niece" on the Nelson Cty. Pageant float. She was Miss Nelson County in 1999.

Daves' sister Janice riding in the manure spreader with Johns boys!

Smile pretty and wave John!!!

The Keystone Cops! He saw me taking the pic and posed!

Vasicheks Implement float.

Happy Birthday MICHIGAN!!!

Our friend Jo. She works with Amber and threw us LOTS of Tootsie Rolls!!! Thanks Jo!!!

The OLD Petersburg fire truck. JJ and Jeremy in the passenger seat with JJ's son Titus on top!

Kenny Shirek on the Buffalo mobile!! This is the farm that gave birth to White Cloud the albino buffalo now at Jamestown.

We were right in the intersection, the place where the Shriners and their sprint cars go crazy!!

The black car is Scott Vasicheks', a classmate of mine and the white car is Dave Blaseys', the husband of Ambers friend and coworker Kristen (Landeis) Blasey.

Snow Plow driven by Larry Landeis.

I liked their "glove" balloons!
CLASS OF '95 ROCKS!!!!!! My class float driven by Mary and Mandy!!

Aaron Mork with the Town Pump II float. Adults get beer in our neck of the woods. Casey came down and handed Jamie and I each a cup of beer. I gave mine to Gpa!!

Rainbow Lodge float. Again handing out beer!

What is a parade without a horse?! Our neighbors the Anderson family .

I have sooooo many more pics of the parade but it would take me HOURS to post them all. I am happy that we had such a beautiful weekend for the celebration!! Oh and I filled Dad's little cooler half full of candy. We knew nearly everyone in the parade so they would throw us candy. We had NO kids around us. It was just like being a little kid again, with the added bonus of being over 21!!! 280 floats and an hour and a half later, we were sad it was over!! Not bad for a town with the population of 350!!