Meet Me in Montana!

I've mentioned before that Hawkeye Sarah's heart is in the West. She and Todd lived in Denver for about eight years where she honed her wildlife photography skills and practically lived outdoors whenever she could. They loved it.

A few years ago, work took them back to Iowa City. To my surprise, she was able to continue filming wildlife and even began monitoring several bald eagles' nests for the DNR.

This summer she entered several of her Iowa wildlife photos in the Iowa State Fair.

Second place in Adult Color for Animals/Insects/Wildlife

and an Honorable Mention in Black and White Wildlife.

Well, life changed again for them. Todd's job offered him a position in the state where Sarah and Todd have always said they wanted to live - Montana.

With Trinity's help, they put their house on the market, packed up their home and loaded it onto a truck, and headed west.

Todd's new position began August 1 so there was some immediacy to the move. Sarah stayed behind in Iowa to wrap up her job and sell their home. 

Trinity, a newly minted nurse, decided to move to Montana, too, and found a job at a hospital about two hours away from her parents. She's moved into an apartment and starts working right after Labor Day.

Rather than make a snap judgment about where to live, Todd and Sarah have rented a home for a year. Once Sarah has finished in Iowa and moved out, then they will look for a permanent home.

No surprise, they are living very close to one of Yellowstone's main entrances so that they can hike and take wildlife photos.

Todd has always done a lot of hiking or running, and already he has been hitting the trails all around them.

He took these photos on one of his hikes the other day. I have no idea where he is except that he's somewhere in Montana! LOL

Such a beautiful place to live! The harsh winters won't be a surprise to them, not after their years in Denver and Iowa. (Want to read some chilling history about pioneers and what they endured? Focus on Iowa - you might be surprised at the hard winters they have.)

Congratulations, Sarah and Todd, on this new chapter in your life!  I am hoping that I will get to meet you in Montana for a visit soon!

Happy Birthday, Todd!

For 2025, I decided to recognize the birthdays of our kids and their spouses.  Due to all the recent tornado activity, I'm two days late for Todd! 

Sarah and Todd's wedding, June 19, 1999, St. Louis, Missouri.

Todd has been married to our oldest daughter, Sarah, since 1999. He is a speech language pathologist and works for a company in Sweden that manufactures surgical tools and machines needed for throat surgery.

Our sons consider him a brother and they all get along really well. (Cole, Curt, Kyle, and Todd.)

Chatting after a holiday meal at Curt's home.

Every holiday season Todd makes Oreo Cookie Balls and Ritz Cracker Tagalongs for the family.

They don't last long. (I don't think I got any last year. Double for me this year, right?!)

Making a pizza run with help from Trinity, Ian, and Lukie last summer.

Todd always pitches in and is usually the first in the kitchen and cleaning up after a meal. We have tried to beat him to the dishes, but he comes in anyway and grabs a dish towel. (Thank you, Todd. But please this year take a break, okay?)

His parents live in Nashville, so when he, Sarah, JC, and Trinity go to visit them, they also stop by Cole and Emily's home for a while.

Todd is a huge football fan (like the rest of us) and even had the audacity to wear his Iowa gear when Iowa played here at Purdue. (That's my sister Jenny in red.) And then he even cheered when Iowa beat Purdue! (We still love him despite that egregious behavior. LOL)

Hanging out with Abby. The angle of the camera makes her look like a pony and Todd like a giant!

A family dinner when JC and Trinity were younger.

Not only did Todd and Sarah celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary this summer, their oldest son JC got married in August. It was quite a summer for their family.

Todd, you are a blessing to all of us and we are so glad your path crossed with Sarah's way back when you were in college. We love you. 

Happy Birthday!

Memorial Day 2024: Sarah's Tornado Begins It

It started with the tornado sirens blowing.

Twice.

I had just sat down to write yesterday's second post of the day when I received that video from Hawkeye Sarah and a one word text.

"Welp."

Welp, indeed. She and her family were preparing to drive from their home in Iowa City to ours and a line of tornadic storms had just reached them. Thus began a flurry of texts between us.

The tornado passed their home by less than a half mile but they were safe, thank goodness. Iowa City suffered some damage, but compared to other recent tornados in Iowa this spring, the city was fortunate.

Needless to say, I never finished that second post of the day - I had some errands to run and some cleaning to finish before they arrived. (They ran into more heavy storms on the way, including one as they pulled into town.)

The hay in the neighborhood hay field was baled and ready to be taken to the barn.

I don't know if it was picked up before the storm system blew through here; I hope so.

We laid in a supply of necessary snacks - always a priority because we will be playing games late into the night all weekend.

Sarah and her family met Tammo for the first time. They'd brought Blue and Rhett with them, and we were a little surprised that Blue accepted Tammo immediately. (Then again, look at that face. Of course she did; wouldn't you?)

We'd ordered pizza for dinner. Lukie helped carry the boxes in. (With some help from Cousin Trinity.)

The pizza pick-up crew. Trinity, Todd, Ian, and Lukie.

The games began right after dinner. The adults were still sitting around the dinner tables and chatting when Lukie piped up, "Aren't we going to play cards or a game or something??" (Craig, Todd, Vanessa, Curt, and Lisa.)

Curt, Lisa, Sarah, and Trinity.

Of course, we played Bank, a game that can have lots of people (regardless of age) playing all at the same time.

We had some very high rolling games!

Okay, I am hearing noises from the guest rooms and Blue, Rhett, and Tammo have all popped in to say hello. (Pepper got up with me and is by my feet as I type.)

Posting may be sporadic this weekend, but I'll do my best.

Stay 'tooned!

Purdue/Iowa Football Game

Second post of the day.

Saturday, Purdue played Iowa here at home in football. Since Sarah and Todd live in Iowa City and are big Iowa fans, they came over to go to the game with us.

Clockwise from bottom left: Lisa, Ian, Vanessa, Curt, Craig, Lukie (with Mila peeking out under his arm), me, Todd, Jenny (my sister), and Sarah.

It was cool, rainy, and terribly windy with 50 mph gusts. (I have two former students who are on the field and playing in Purdue's Marching Band. Not that I could pick them out.)

The Purdue team coming onto the field was fun to watch

until the Boilermaker Special had engine trouble and needed to be pushed off the field. (Another of my former students is one of its drivers.)

The world's largest drum.

Surprisingly, Iowa (who has not had a good year) beat Purdue (who has.)

That made two of the family's biggest Iowa fans very happy.

The Purdue fans of the family took the loss with grace and we all gathered at our home for dinner afterward. 

With the Iowa fans buying. 

Chalk Art & Family Fun

This past Saturday we had one of those perfect spring days. Even better, our son-in-love Todd, was in town and spent the weekend with us. Naturally Teacher Daughter Lisa and Local Son Curt and his family came over, too. We all took advantage of that beautiful weather and spent most of the day outdoors.

The morning was spent hiking in Purdue's Horticulture Park.

Curt helps Cowpoke Ian balance on a fallen tree.

Nash and Lukie both have an affinity for sticks of all sizes and tussled over several. Luckily there were PLENTY of sticks in the woods and they both were easily distracted with offers of "better" sticks.

After lunch, we played outdoor yard games. That's Craig and Todd playing bags; look to the left and you can see that we had croquet, lawn darts, and bocce out, too.

Pony Pal Mila graced our walkways and driveway with chalk art and she drew two special pictures just for me.

"This is Abby, Grammy," she pointed out. "I even put her spots on her."

"And here's Pepper next to Abby."

Unfortunately, we didn't out to the barn to see the horses. I'm struggling with more spinal issues and am scheduled for a second spinal fusion in April. After all that hiking and the yard games, I just was not up to wrangling horses, gentle though they may be.

Still, it was a wonderful weekend, and as you might imagine, I am hoping that we won't get any rain for a few days so I can continue to enjoy that chalk art.

A Horsie Mama License Plate

Moving to Aurora, Colorado as Sarah and Todd did last summer most definitely has its advantages for them and JC and Trinity. Scenery, an outdoorsy lifestyle, wildlife...

... and horses on the license plate.

Todd spotted the PERFECT one for me today:

Yep - a horse and my personal xoxox "signature" that I put on all letters, texts, and emails to my children and grandchildren combined into one license plate.

Perfect for me!

Unfortunately, Indiana doesn't have license plates that reflect me like that, so maybe I should move to Aurora, too??