Autumn Beauty!

 I truly love the autumn months.  The colors changing on the trees and the briskness

that inevitably comes in the air.

There is such a freshness about it all.

We have close to 100 trees on our property and my favorites are the blue spruce

and the maple trees that have gorgeous colors this time of year!

Look at this tree up close - isn't it just gorgeous?

We went over to the lake yesterday evening and I got a few pictures of the

beautiful trees there also.

After some nippy days several weeks ago, we are now enjoying a beautiful Indian Summer with 

temperatures in the 70's and the low 80's.  

Harvest!

 We are fortunate to live right on the edge of a farm field.  Last year soybeans

were planted, and this year it was corn.

Soon after we returned the farmer began the harvest and it was fun to watch.

This was to the west of us - the green is part of our yard, and the corn belongs

to the farmer!

This is taken out by the backyard - to the north of us.

This is all part of the rhythm of life - seed time and harvest.  Always on schedule.

I couldn't resist taking a picture of  these Trump 2020 bales that we

saw on our way home from church one Sunday!

After the harvest, then came the cows to clean it all up!

Electric fence was put in first, of course.

Willie, the dog, DOES NOT LIKE THE COWS BEING THERE!!!

The boys were picking up sticks in the yard, and also threw corn cobs that had made it

into our yard back over into the cows' pasture.

It's truly the best of both worlds for us.

We are right in the country, but close enough to Lincoln to get things that we 

need there.  We are very much enjoying this!

HOME!

Our trip home was uneventful, and the weather was lovely.

All was well at our house.

Time for more unloading!

A Few Days With Rachel's Family!

 We decided to head into Tucson Sunday morning since there were scattered storms all around the area, and they were supposed to increase as the day progressed. We were sorry that we were not able to attend church like we had planned.

Once we got to Rachel and David's house, we felt as if a huge load had rolled off of our backs.  The farm was sold, we survived the massive rain storm, and now we could enjoy a few days of relaxation before we headed back to Nebraska!

Elenna's fifth birthday had been several days before, so we celebrated her first!

Rachel fed us all very well while we were there!

Love this daughter of ours so much!!

We went to the neighborhood park, which was fun for all four kids to burn off some energy!

David had to work during the day, but we all enjoyed great fellowship and just hanging around!

Thank you, Rachel and David, for your wonderful hospitality!  We were well rested and well fed as

we left your home to head back to Nebraska!

Deluge!!!!!!

 Joe and the boys got the silver trailer all loaded.  The rented dumpster was almost completely full We had already signed our closing documents, and had arranged for the electricity to change over to the new owner. 

Finally, it was all winding down.  We were going to attend church one last time and then head to Rachel's for a few days before heading north.

The dumpster!

That Saturday was to be our last day of cleanup before the final walk-through by the new owners' realtor early Monday morning.  But the skies started looking more threatening and rain was starting to 

pop up on the radar.  Did I mention that our road turns to slop in heavy rain?

With our truck totally full, the silver trailer packed to the gills, and the Monday morning 

inspection looming, we decided we had better make it out when we could.  There was 

certainly no room in our schedule for a truck and trailer stuck in the mud off in the ditch.

We emptied our remaining personal things in record time, loaded us all up, including Willie 

the dog, and just left.  Five minutes later,  and when we were on blacktop thank goodness, the 

sky let loose.  I mean REALLY REALLY let loose!

People later were talking about 3-4" rain totals. 

Wow.  We seriously got out of there just in the nick of time.

We went to The Boxcar, officially called Big Tex BBQ, one of Willcox's great restaurant, and all got soaked getting inside.  It was the "Rib Special Day", so we all ate their delicious rib platters and watched the torrential rain come down.

Notice how wet Joshua's shirt is!

By this time it was too late to drive to Rachel's house and there were still storms

on the radar.

So we decided to spend the night at the local Holiday Inn Express, which was unusually

full because of all the storms.  It seems that we weren't the only ones deciding to not

drive on the interstate!

This picture was taken the following day, after all the massive puddles in the parking lot

had dried up.

This is part of a field behind the Holiday Inn showing lakes of water!

But we were so grateful that we had gotten everything out of the house ahead of time, and that

God had given us such good weather up until that final day!

We were greatly relieved to be out of there!

Jonathan and Rachel !

Rachel and her children, and Jonathan, came out during the week to get a few last minute things.  Time was winding down and we had to get everything either loaded in our truck and silver trailer, passed on, or trashed.

We were absolutely exhausted, working a good 15 hours each day.

Joshua is so good at playing with Elenna and Joshua!

I got some special snuggle time with little Nathan!

Jonathan was a big help in getting some of the bigger leftover items out to the porch in preparation for Bear's Vintage Thrift Store, who would be coming the next day!

That's Isaac behind the dresser above.......that boy could easily have his own moving company when he's grown.  He loves to "lift" and had his hands and muscles on almost every piece of furniture!

"Bear" said he would take as much as he could.  Oh my word, he and his crew took things that I would consider trash for sure!  But what a blessing to have them basically clean  out the remaining things in the house and in the Palace and shed.

Wow.......we were stunned, but it was so helpful!

One man's junk is another man's treasure!!

Afterwards, Isaac took it upon himself to completely clean out the shed by sweeping it 

and organizing the few things that were left for the new owner. 

Good job, Isaac!

Both boys swept out the Palace and made it look great!  This entire clean-out

job was a group effort and these boys really rose to the occasion.

We were/are so proud of them!!!!

We spent the remaining few days cleaning up the main house, and Joe and the boys finished

loading up the silver trailer with things that we were taking back to Nebraska.

Our plan was to go to church one last time on Sunday, and then head to Rachel's house

for a few days of relaxation before we headed north once again.

Did I mention that we were exhausted?  Beyond belief.

The weather had been marvelous for us, even during this monsoon season.

Our road can easily become impassable if there is a lot of rain, but each day was nice and dry.

However.......that was about to change.