An Autumn Ball of a Bygone Era

I contemplated naming this post "A Ball in the Fall" but somehow it didn't seem elegant enough. Anyway...

Once again, my dear friend Libby hosted another Civil War Ball! Valerie, Stephanie, Laura, and I all went up to visit for the weekend, and had a wonderful time.

Thanks to Hannah (and Noah, for filming) for this video of the square dancing we did at the end. Lincoln and Jed are calling. I can't believe how good they are getting! Hannah also has two other videos uploaded: another one of the square dancing, and a contra.
Most of the dances were contras, but occasionally Mr. S. would put on a waltz or a polka.

 Valerie and Laura doing a polka 

 

Andrew and Amanda, Libby and Jed

 

"Wagon-wheeling" (when several squares merge into one big circle)

That's the fun way to do an allemande left!

 Valerie and I - we didn't know we were being photographed!

 

Lexi and Laura

 

 

Valerie, Amanda, and I

 

 

Hannah and Libby

 

 

~ the four sisters ~

 

 

Amanda, Libby, Hannah, Lexi, Jed, Lincoln, Paris

 

 

Little Dagny - at the last ball she was just a baby and Shelby was the one sitting at the piano!

~And a few bonus pictures from the farm~

 

Sunset - see the old school bus?

 Visiting with "North" Dakota (not to be confused with the IL horse we know named Dakota)

 

Aurora smiled for the camera

Laura and Stephanie reading in the living room

 

Aurora and Sierra in the store

 

 Baby Elizabeth

7 Home Alone 2

We had one week to pull it off, and I have to say it was only by the grace of God that we did. Considering that we did the last one in 24 hours, you'd think it would've been a breeze, but no. Drama, you know. Still, it was a lot of fun. Love these people! Anyway, enjoy our sequel...

Thankful Thursday: Boredom is a Choice

I'm thankful for learning... learning domestic arts, learning mandolin, learning trigonometry, learning Advanced square dance calls, learning how to work with new situations, learning how good and faithful God is. The learning never stops, and I'm so glad!

And in keeping with the post title, here's proof that our home is never boring...

 

(learning how to make videos...)

Belles of the Ball

One of the highlights of my recent trip to Wisconsin was the Civil War Ball, hosted by my wonderful friend Libby S. Besides waltzes, there were old-fashioned country dances, called by Mr. S., and some square dancing, called by Libby's brothers.

     ^ The Ladies ^

   ^ (some of) The Gentlemen ^   

Aleks and Amanda

Lexi

 

Laura and I. I made Laura's dress. My dress was borrowed, but just right. Hoops were an interesting adventure.

Me and Libby :)

Anna and Shelby

Cutie-bug Shelby

Wonders of the West

Our recent road trip to California & Arizona was amazing, with so many highlights - one very special one was meeting Kenton for the first time! The video, however, is made up of the best of the nature photos. Enjoy!

Watch this.

In my blog reader, where I can see new posts from the blogs I follow, there are 6 posts in a row that are about the exact same thing. I will risk being called a copycat. It will be worth it if one more person can glimpse the majestic wonder of The Gospel. 12 minutes isn't that long. Please watch it.

The Gospel is so much more than "fire insurance", or a 6 letter acronym. It is life and freedom and it is real! We never stop needing it, and it only gets better! Oh, what a Jesus!

Mute Monks Provide Words for Wednesday

Ice Rink! (pictures and video)

It's here! After many hours of cold, hard work, our backyard ice rink is up and functional! We are having lots of fun, especially Valerie, Stephanie, and I. We three have used it almost every day. It's 35 x 45 sq. ft. We thought it was funny to tell people that we used buckets to fill it, but actually we used hoses. (More than one because our back faucet stopped working for some reason.) We were very careful to not let water freeze in them.

Chris putting some water in the rink.


A couple kids out on the ice. Closer zoom-up from the same day.










It's great having our own private rink. You can do anything from "change direction whenever you want" to, what else, square dance! :) (Sorry for anyone who can't watch the below video... it's not too amazing :P)