This coming week is a big one in Ennis, MT. People come from all around to enjoy: 1) the Fireman’s Pancake breakfast 7:-10:am at the FireHall, 2) the old fashioned (step back 50 years) parade at 10:00 am, 3) a walk around our quaint little town for a couple hours, 4) the Lion’s Club BBQ at Lion’s Club Park at noon, and 5) the rodeo at 4:00 PM … or is it later? (there’s also one the night of the 3rd)
Here are a few pictures from years past to help you see what a great set of events it is:
The parade is an event not to be missed!
The rodeo is always fun!
I love the way little kids dress up for the holiday! The adults go all out, too!
There was a space Where weeds were growing A promising spot Where neglect was showing.
So the Nursing Home Auxiliary Started a No-Show-Fundraiser And hundreds of givers Gave to hire the labor
Weeds were removed And a concrete pad was poured A pergola was built The residents and staff were floored!
The pergola looked bare So barn quilts were added Flowers in the flower bed Some benches (no, not padded)
The Lion’s Club bought the benches For a sprinkler system the MV Woman’s Club paid A resident’s daughters donated the flowers Amazing improvements were made
This inviting space brought joy To the residents and staff alike More flowers and colors were added It matched all the fundraising hype
This Friday there will be an Open House A Thank You for all the kind folks Who gave to make this possible Come have a look and share Rootbeer Floats
That’s as close as I could come to a rootbeer float!
Well, they won’t be THAT fancy!!
Ecclesiates 3:11
“He has made everything beautiful in His time.”
We are making everything beautiful in our time, too!
Come and visit our beautiful, inviting, peaceful space. We’d love to sit a spell and chat with you!
2:00 to 4:00 PM Friday, June 30 Madison Valley Manor 211 N Main St. Ennis, MT 59729 madisonvalleymanor.com
When I chose my word for 2023, “Ready” back on January 1, 2023, I did not know what I needed to be ready for. But I told myself, “Whatever comes my way, I will be cheerfully ready!”
This past week, we had the privilege of hosting my niece, her husband and 16-year-old son, and her bff from Utah, Melissa. And mid-way through their visit, our son and his wife came for 3 days and 4 nights. A house full! Was I ready?
Yes! When your guests are happy, helpful, and relaxed, it’s easy to be cheerfully ready for them!
A day in Yellowstone was a highlight. We all were ready for the bubbling geysers and pools, bison and other animals. Old Faithful always was a hit!
Are you ready to visit Yellowstone? Are you ready to ooh and aaah?
That photo captured only about 1/4 of the herd. It was the largest group of bison mamas and their calves that I’ve ever seen!
We were ready to see the elk and deer 🦌 So, yes, they did not disappoint us! We even saw a black bear. Rare!
My grand-nephew, Liam and I were ready to have our memories of “Artist’s Point” captured by a kind tourist. It’s my favorite Yellowstone spot!
And the guys were more than pleasantly waiting with alacrity for their day of fishing on the Madison. Each of them caught at least one fish … some caught three. No, we didn’t have a fish fry! The Madison River has a “catch & release” policy.
What are you ready for today? I hope you’re anticipating it with alacrity!
Bob & I met in the summer of 1958 at a hometown dance. We had many mutual friends because he came from his little town of Hughson, CA in to the bigger town of Turlock (about 15 miles) to church every Sunday. I didn’t go to that same church, so I didn’t meet him while I was in high school.
That summer after my freshman year in college, I returned home to Turlock and attended a dance at the War Memorial building. It seems like all our mutual friends decided it was time for us to meet.
“Fine to meetcha!” he would say each time we were introduced. “What did you say your name is?”
It took two weeks after that introductory dance for him to call and ask me out. And it was three and a half years later when I was graduated and teaching, and he was stationed at an army base in Germany, that we married and I went to Wurzburg to join him.
Here’s the guy I fell in love with in 1959
I don’t have a photo here of us in Germany, but it was a magical 9 months. I got a job teaching on the army base … a darling first grade. And when we returned to the states, I resumed my teaching career and Bob finished college.
His job at Shell Oil in San Francisco lasted only a year or so. Then he went back to college and earned his teaching credential. Bob taught at Hillsdale High in San Mateo for nine wonderful years. During that time our children, Ty & DeAna were born.
Bob with De (3) and Ty (5)
We moved back to the Turlock area in 1969 and our kids attended school in Modesto while I taught in Ceres & Hughson and Bob returned to his roots: beekeeping. The rest is history!
I just want you to know that I thank God every day for the love Bob & I have shared these 60+ years – and the gift of family God has given us.
Our “children” – Ty & DeAna
I pray that you other moms & dads out there can look back as I do, and feel enormous gratitude for the person God gave you to be co-creators… may your children honor you this day, dads.
I have another post by this same title that I did this week, but I couldn’t find it., so I recreated this old one… and then I found the 2023 version. “He’s the One” defaults to this one written last year. I retitled the new one: “He is the One” You can find it by clicking on the title in the right hand margin.
Oh well… This 2022 version still is pertinent in its sentiments! Go ahead… enjoy!
Hello, WordPress friends! I took a break over Father’s Day and Juneteenth long weekend to concentrate on The One.
My Special One: Bob
I hope you had a memorable weekend, too. Bob & I shared time with friends, Celebrated the joy of a loving family (even if the are 3 states and a continent & ocean away) and enjoyed a delightful church service and a Juneteenth concert (on TV).
I am grateful that the final (delayed by 2 years) emancipation of slavery is at last being recognized as a national holiday. It’s time for that freedom to be real… for all people … freedom from war, from oppression, from the injustice of inequality. Freedom from all forms of prejudice… We still have a long way to go.
But, the world IS changing. Have you noticed?
My blog title today is a salute to The One (not my God and Savior in Heaven, this time, but the One here on earth!).
I thought I created a brief salute on Father’s Day – using my cell phone – but it didn’t save as draft when I told it to! Oh well … you wouldn’t have had time to read it anyway!
(This year – 2023 – we just finished a week of fun with my niece, her hubby, best friend, and our son, Ty & Monika)
Bob with our son, Ty
We had a nice FaceTime chat with our son, Ty, in California. (And this year we just face-timed with our daughter, DeAna) That was a bonus for my sweetheart who, like me, was missing the opportunity to be with the larger family on this Father’s Day.
Our daughter, De (on the left top here) called the next day. Her Father’s Day was really busy!!
Three years ago in Montana with our Swiss family and daughter #2, Laina.
Our daughter, De, and her hubby, Andre’ came from Switzerland with his mom, Denise, and two of our three grandsons three years ago. Our daughter #2 (Laina from Glen Burnie- near Baltimore) joined the family, too.
Last year we went there to Vissoie & Sierre in Valais, Suisse – to see the family and celebrate De & Andre’s new chalet/hotel/restaurant. What a treat! My “One and Only Sweetheart” is such a good traveler… a good sport. He’s willing to go again this year – in August, God willing – because our oldest grandson, Mike (the one in the cap in the picture above) is getting married! Can’t miss our grandson’s wedding! We thank God that we have saved enough $$ that we can afford the trip! I’ll post updates so you can travel vicariously with us, OK?
De & Andre’s chalet Relais de Melezes
Since our daughter married a man from another country and we HAVE to go there, isn’t it nice that it is such a beautiful country? We are blessed!
Have you ever visited Switzerland? If not, I highly recommend it!!
I am so grateful to God that He told me “He’s the One” when Bob and I were dating back in the late 1950’s. God was so right! Isn’t He always?
My Sweetheart, Bob, with our ice cream treat last week.
By the way, my left hand is gaining strength and the fingers are becoming more flexible by the day. It was a month yesterday – the anniversary of my fall that resulted in the dislocated/broken pinky. I am going to PT twice a week and following the instructions to ice/elevate/exercise three times every day – and wear the compression glove to keep the swelling down. Thanks for your continued prayers for healing. God is good!
(Update 2023 – I can’t make a fist with that left hand – It won’t close all the way. But, it’s not my dominate hand, so I am not complaining!)
The dreary, cloudy, Saturday in February of 1962 that we chose to be married made the stained glass window in the University of the Pacific’s chapel rather dull in color. But the moment the UOP choir blessed our vows with “The Lord Bless You and Keep You” – at the top of the three fold amen (or was it a seven-fold? You need to listen!) ~ the sun came out!
That is my “Favorite Moment.” It was definitely a memorable, beautiful, defining moment when God smiled down on us and blessed our marriage.
God has certainly blessed this union!
Then, 25 yers later, out daughter, DeAna, wore my wedding dress and married her sweetheart, Andre’ in the same chapel.
Happy Father’s Day, Andre’ – – – you and De produced three delightful boys. We are so blessed!
And our son, Ty married his sweetheart, Monika, a year later. What a beautiful union that is! They have given us four more grandchildren!
Happy Father’s Day to our son, Ty, too!
What is your most “Favorite Moment” ???? Is it related to your wedding day or an experience as a parent?
