Sarah and I will head to go pick blueberries before it gets too hot and then I’m just not sure what we will do.

Last evening, in the heat and humidity, Sarah had a volleyball workout and Luke went and played basketball.  When they got home, Luke’s shirt was soaked!  I asked him if that was all sweat and he assured me it was and then said, “That’s what happens when you want to win every game…you get sweaty.”

Today he’s off again to bale more straw and then will take his Farmall M to a tractor show a few miles south of here.  JW is in St. Louis at a NASCAR race.  He is mounting and balancing tires for Comp Tire.  They provide all the tires for the racing teams and he gets to go to the races and do his tire thing.  Last weekend he was in Chicago for a race and the highlight of the weekend was that Danica Patrick (sp?) said “Hi” to him.  He was all smiles.

Now I’ll leave you with a few baseball pictures that I neglected to post this spring!

Luke dumping the gravel out of his newly painted catchers helmet.

Yep, it’s July, already and I can’t believe how I have neglected this blog the way I have. This is ridicules!!!!

Let’s just not worry about how longs it’s been but just move forward. 

It’s a beautifully, hot day here on the Knolltop! After walking this morning I was going to pick blueberries at Jennifer Lewis’ place but decided to take the kids swimming instead.  It’s just too hot to do anything else.  Now I’ve decided to update this blog!  For those of you who may not know, Sarah, Jake and I went to Montana with my parents for my nephew’s wedding.  Here is a story about how it went. 

It was a 1600 mile drive, the longest drive I had ever made to sing at a wedding. But then again, this was no ordinary wedding.



After encountering heavy rain, downed power lines, detours through back roads, wrong turns in the mountains of Wyoming, 20 miles of gravel road in the middle of a destitute Indian Reservation, a western store where the sales lady tried to sell me a $100 shirt and one of the best Italian restaurants I’ve ever enjoyed, my parents and two younger children made it to Joliet, Montana where my oldest nephew would say his nuptials under Big Sky Country….literally.


I missed the memo saying the ceremony would take place in a branding lot where we would be tripping over rocks and stepping over dried cow pies. I was in a panic when I realized my pink silk dress and heels might not work too well in amongst the sage brush but I soon found this would be the least of my worries.


After greeting the family and seeing how tall everyone had gotten, I asked my sister what time the rehearsal started. She replied, “Fifteen minutes ago.”


My thoughts began to run wild….What? We’re late? I’m a part of this wedding and I’m late! How rude! The bride will never forgive me! She’s got enough on her mind without worrying about the vocalist being late! What a great first impression I’m making on my niece-to-be! Get on it sister! Let’s Go!


Seeing the wedding spot across the hills, it was only about a mile or so as the crow flies. Unfortunately we had to take the long way around and that was a 15 minute drive down winding, hilly, gravel roads dodging grazing cows.


Thinking I would meet an anxious bride, tapping her toe, looking at her watch, we arrived only to find the bride and groom laughing and joking and absolutely nothing happening. There was also the absence of a sound system and only a few chairs set up. What was happening?


They walked through the rehearsal and I asked the bride if there was any way I could do a sound check the next morning when they set up the sound system. She assured me it would be set up by 10 am and available for use.


The next morning came and no word from anyone about any sound check. I waited and wondered most of the day. By now it was wedding time, I pulled on my silk dress, slipped into my heels and headed for the hills. Arriving an hour before the ceremony I felt confident this would be plenty of time to work out the kinks. But it was when I saw the absence of a sound system…again…that I really began to wonder about this western way of life. Didn’t they have watches? Do they know what time it is? Do they just round off to the nearest hour and go from there?


Trying not to be the bossy Aunt from Michigan, I smiled faintly while the groomsmen joked around and slowly…ever so slowly put together the sound system. But it was when guests began arriving and they we were still saying…..”testing..one..two…three…testing….” that I said enough was enough. I stood up, took charge and began giving orders like a drill sergeant. You get the sound system running, you three go get your wedding clothes on, you go get the cord we need for the iPod and do it quickly!


With young men scattering in different directions, I felt a sudden rush of control and the feeling that all was right with the world again. Within minutes the ceremony began and the entire event was beautiful and quite memorable with the big sky and mountains in the backdrop.


Sitting in the second row watching my nephew and his bride look into each other’s eyes and proclaim their love for one another, all of a sudden, sound checks, cow patties, silk dresses and sage brush paled in comparison to a blushing bride and her handsome groom in his wranglers and cowboy hat. Bending her over in his strong arms for the wedding kiss was the icing on the cake on this beautiful day in a branding lot turned wedding chapel under the big Montana sky.

It was a great time!  Next: updating the pictures!

Good afternoon from the Knolltop!  It’s cool, a bit windy but not a cloud, well, maybe a couple of clouds in the sky! I just got back from walking outside, yes normally I walk on the treadmill, but today, I ventured out while Sadie was sleeping.  I have to sneak out like a mom with an anxious baby.  Sadie loves to go with me but she is getting so old, blind and deaf, she doesn’t hear cars coming and of course she doesn’t hear me calling her.  Yes, I know what you’re thinking….put a leash on the dog gone dog!  Good idea….but it’s easier to sneak out.

The boys have a game today at home. I will take my trusty camera and get some pictures.  It occurred to me I have no baseball pictures and I will need some for JW’s open house.  Oh my heaven’s I said the O.H. words! Every time I speak or hear those words I start to cringe!  I’m not organized enough to have a full fledged open house…doggone it I said it again (cringe, cringe, cringe)

I’m getting this thing planned and progressing along and I feel pretty ‘ok’ about it.  Just as long as I stay away from other mothers who are more organized and I don’t have to listen to how they have the tent ordered the food is finalized, the picture collage is done, the ice sculpture is in the freezer along with all the home made cookies, cakes, pies, pastries and every other delectable thing you could see at an open house.  Come on people….this isn’t a wedding reception!!!!!! (deep breath, phew…almost had a full blown panic attack!)

Nope, we aren’t doing all that food, people can have their main course at the other 20 open houses, they will have to suffer through ice cream sundaes at JW’s party.  Yep, that’s what we’re serving, ice cream with all the toppings, root beer floats and brownies! What else would you expect from a dairy farm????? I think I’ll order some of those M&M’s with JW’s name on them…those sound so fun!

Okay, now it’s time to make subs for half the baseball team.  Every time I take the subs into the boys, they tell me, “Oh mom, Tommy wants a sub next time!”  Oh, okay, just call me “Subway!”  JW, Luke, Jake, Dewey, Dave and Logan today…..I wonder who we will add next week?

Gotta go!

Taking me a long time to get something gathered up for my Dairy Agenda Today blog, I finally got around to what I wanted to post, something that wasn’t too personal, too mother-ish, too condescending, too preachy, just something that everyone would want to read about(it took copious amounts of graham crackers dipped in melted chocolate) and I finally thought I would just put up a bunch of pictures and then the site went down so now I can’t post there so I’ll post here instead!  This blog has become such a step-child!  Isn’t that awful! 

Anyway, Luke and JW have a game today at Jackson Christian.  Sarah had a tournament last weekend and they did rather well.  They were first in the Silver division.  Today I have to bed the barn before I head to town and get some lunchmeat for subs for the boys before they go to their game.  Then I’ve got to vote for the schoolboard, which is a joke…not going there!  And then I’ve got Bible study then back for dinner before the game.  Why am I still sitting here?????

Here are a couple of pictures for you.

It’s a beautiful morning here on the Knolltop!  And I’ve got some good news.

For those who hadn’t heard, I’ll start at the beginning.  During basketball season, Luke took a hard fall and hurt his knee.  Like I always do when the kids complain, I just say, hmmmm….keep an eye on it, and usually it goes away.  But this time Luke kept telling me his knee hurt and it wasn’t until he told JW that he couldn’t go “catch” him early one morning because it killed him to squat, that I stood up and took action. 

I made an appointment with the doctor, we were sent to the Orthopedic surgeon and after X-rays and an MRI, we sat and waited for Dr. Anderson to come in and tell us the news.  I was prepared for the worst but Luke and his father weren’t.  You see, his first game of the season was that afternoon at 4 pm and Luke thought he would suit up and squat behind that plate, frame those pitches and be just fine.  But when Dr. Anderson said, no baseball, put this brace on and keep it on for 4-6 weeks, the real pain and anguish of sitting out for a season of his absolute favorite sport was written all over his face.  I wanted to jump up and hug him as his face got red and his eyes began to water.  But I remained in my seat and prayed instead.

That was a very dark day for this 17 year old.  But God was just beginning His work.  As I shared this news with my small group and asked them to pray, those warriors went boldly to the throne of God on Luke’s behalf and quietly they remained steadfast in their prayers for the next three weeks. 

As the season started, JW was also disappointed that he younger brother wouldn’t be catching him.  Instead he would be taking over the catching duties for the other pitchers during practice and even donned the catchers gear for a game or two.  JW garnered a deep respect for those catchers and the work they do while Luke garnered a deeper respect for the ability just to play the game.  He stood on the sidelines and cheered on his team.  And when they came in from the huddle, I watched his stiff legged kid pat his teammates on the back and pick them up when they were down…waiting and wondering when or if he would get in the game.

Yesterday we went to the doctor again for a check up.  Luke climbed in the back seat of the truck with his baseball gear that had been gathering dust for the last three weeks.  There was a game that afternoon and Luke was sure he would be dressing for it while I had again, prepared myself to hear that he would be in that brace for another three weeks.  I tried to warn Luke that he might not hear good news, but my warning fell on deaf ears.

We entered the exam room and Dr. Anderson came in shortly after we arrived.  He took the brace off and examined Luke.  Bending his leg, pressing on his kneecap, asking if anything hurt.  Before, Luke would whince in pain, now nothing hurt.  The doctor kept asking, “Does this hurt? Does this hurt? What about this?” And Luke’s answer was always ‘No.’  I watched his face carefully for any indications of pain, there were none.

Then the doctor said what Luke wanted to hear and what I wasn’t prepared for, “You’re good to go!”  I asked, “So if he wanted to play this afternoon in his baseball game, he could?”  And he said yes.  I kept giving him scenarios and he kept reassuring me that as long as Luke began slow and did certain exercises, he would be fine… he was healed!

Luke walked out on cloud nine and was all smiles.  As we dropped him off at school and I walked him into the office to give them the doctor’s note, I told Luke, “You know this is God’s answer to prayer, don’t you? There have been a lot of people praying for you the last three weeks, especially all those ladies at my Bible study and God did this for you.  He’s given you the desire of your heart.”

A small grin came over Luke’s face and he said quietly, “Yeah, I know.”

Because of this injury, Luke’s desire to play baseball is stronger than ever.  This morning I came in from milking and he had already been up, run four miles and was showered and ready for school.  It’s amazing how God appears front and center when we encounter a setback.  He’s always there, ready and waiting for us to come and ask for help….and then he provides it….the perfect kind of help we need!

Last Saturday evening, JW took off in my dad’s truck and picked up Leah for the prom.  JW is not a conventional prom goer.  He picked out his own tux, no help from no one, he didn’t want to eat with all the other people, (they went to her prom, a different school,) he wanted to eat alone. And they didn’t spend big bucks at a fancy restaurant, instead they went to Culvers.  Yes, that’s right, the home of the butter burger.  I didn’t not teach him to be so unconventional, he got it all from his father. 

So when I went to Leah’s home to take pictures of the prom couple, he was goofing off and making faces and she was trying to get him to behave.  I was standing a little ways away, but with my zoom lens, I was able to capture the moment.  You know, when he was putting up the peace sign and then she was asking him, gently to put it down and then had to take his hand and push it down. 

But of course, that didn’t stop the strong-willed JW.  He snuck his peace sign in, unbeknownst to Leah.  He’s 18 but reminds me of when he was 3!

And then I finally got some nice pictures.  They had a great time proming it up! Leah said she it was the best prom night ever.  She is a sweetie to say the least!

When I came in from the barn this morning I came in the south door and I walked past the magnolia tree and smelled the sweetest fragrance!  After a long, cold winter that is such a welcome sign of spring.

It’s spring break around here so I’ve been trying to keep the kids busy with jobs.  I just sent Jake and his buddy out to put down some mulch while Sarah is folding laundry.  She twisted her ankle last night at volleyball practice and so she’s hobbling around.  She can still do dishes and fold clothes, so it’s all good!  Does that sound like a compassionate mom or what? NOT! 

Seriously, I do hope she gets better, we are going to the New York Spring Carrousel in Syracuse to cover the dairy show for Dairy Agenda Today and I would hate to have her hobbling around there.  Sarah is the only one who has never been to a major dairy show, so I think this will be a lot of fun for her.

Well, lots more to do, so I’d better get back to it!  I haven’t even blogged on my Dairy Agenda Today blog yet!

Yep, it’s the slacker from the Knolltop! I’m back….here on a sunny, warmer Knolltop!!!

I’m not going to bother with what’s happened in the last month, pretty much business as usual…but I do have a blessing today. A gal from my small group from church came out today and is doing my housework! How blessed am I?????????????

Sheri Bean showed up while I was bedding the barn and started in helping out there and then we came to the house and she hasn’t stopped yet! Oh my heavens is this wonderful or what????

So I’m working away in my office while she whistles away in my dining room dusting stuff in my jelly cupboard that hasn’t been dusted since I moved it in 8 years ago!

Okay, now for a basketball update. Luke will play districts Wednesday night and I hope they win, although they haven’t been too successful this year.

And while at our favorite ice cream place, the Udder Side, the owner mentioned my blog….I had no idea he read this blog…so I’m hoping if I mention it again, that wonderful place to get the best ice cream creations called “Creamations” he might give me a discount????? HA!

Back to work!