In my haste to get the blog up and running, I neglected to mention Papa's trip in the middle of July! (Sorry Lloyd! I feel terrible!) Papa came on a Wednesday and the girls had a wonderful time with him. They played outside and just spent some quality time together. We had hoped that Rob would be able to take some time off, but he had to work Thursday and half of Friday. Lloyd rode with Rob down to Fort Madison (very southern border) on Thursday and got to see some more of Iowa. The picture with his girls was taken at a local restaurant called The Machine Shed. It can be compared to a Cracker Barrel, but this is a family-owned local restaurant that uses produce and beef from local farms. In other words, the beef is FANTASTIC. The first time that I had a steak here it practically melted in my mouth. I guess there is something to be said for corn-fed beef! Anyway, we had a wonderful time with Papa and hated to see him go. We look forward to his next visit!


I had to include a picture of winter. Seems appropriate on a day when it is 90 degrees out with 61% relative humidity. (It is moist out!) We had snow literally from the day after we moved in, December 22, through March. We felt like we were back in Cleveland with all the snow! Those that ride snowmobiles loved it though! The snow was so deep that they had their own trails, with stop signs and everything, running parallel to main roads. People use them as main modes of transportation in the winter. In fact it wasn't unusual to see a snowmobile or four-runner driving down the middle of the road.

We hope all is well with everyone and that you are enjoying summer!