I Am NOT Her Mother....!!!

(Started writing on Friday, July 30th.)


My sister, Brandei, and Me.....

Brandei....

Me..... (Nice feather in my hair.... It came off my mask.... I am a Superhero in disguise.... Didn't you know it???)

As many of you know, my sister and I are in the photo's above. Some may ask, "Who's older?" Or if they were smart, they wouldn't say a thing! Well, my sister is exactly 13 months and 11 days older than I am. Surprised??? Well unfortunately, most people are not surprised!!! I guess since I act more mature, and look more mature...... Anyway, the most important question to ask is ...... "Do I look like her MOTHER????"
Here is the story......

A few days ago, Brandei and I got to leave all our kids behind.... she also has four.... and have a couple days of shopping to ourselves without anyone complaining about being hungry or tired or bored. So we head up to Bismarck, ND.

My mission was to try and get all the stuff we would want/need to take back to Indonesia, and Brandei was along for the ride. And if we happened to find a great shirt on the sales rack for a couple of bucks, then great. We were having a blast! Then we hit the fabric store.......

We are in the fabric store for quite a while contemplating which fabrics our kids would like for new lap blankets. After about an hour, we finally had our choices and went up to the check-out counter.

I go first....

The lady asks me if I have one of those club cards. I tell her yes, but I have no idea where it is. ...It's not like I need one in Tembagapura. It's probably in some box in storage.... So she asks me for my phone number. I think back real hard to what our number would have been in Wyoming, and thought I was pretty good for having remembered it. Well, guess what? The number is not in the computer! So she asks me for my name. I give it to her and she finds my name in the computer. So before she rings me up, she has to change all my information. She starts to enter in the correct info, but she keeps pushing the wrong buttons..... So I pipe up .....because you know, I know so much about computers... ;) and start telling her which buttons to push and where to enter the information. The lady is a little frazzled at this time, because the store just put in a new computer system, and she missed the training for the register. But no problem.... I am a patient person, and figured all of us had been in her shoes before.

So finally she has all the information back in the computer, and rings up my order.

Now there is a brown bag sale going on in the store. Everything you put in the bag is 10% off! Wooh Hoo!! I am going to save Chris sooooo much money!!! He will be soooo happy.... you know like spend $100 and save $10!

Anyway... The lady goes to scan the coupon that is sitting at the register, and guess what?? It doesn't WORK!!! By now the lady is starting to sweat and getting a bit perturbed with the machine! So she starts punching the buttons and says out loud.... "The heck with it, I will do it the OLD way" So she manually punches in -10%. And let me tell you, she is pounding the keys!

Now we have my total.... it's about 10 minutes later.... and I give her my credit card. She goes to swipe my card, and then hands it back. I put it back in my wallet. And as I was stuffing my wallet back in my purse, the lady looks at me with these very frustrated eyes and tells me she needs my card again because the computer didn't read it. So I pull out my card again and hand it to her. The computer reads it, and about 15 minutes later, I am finally checked out!!!

Up next is my sister.....

The lady now asks my sister if she has a club card. My sister says no...... So the lady says... "We can just use your mothers!"

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*Sorry, This story has just been interrupted for a trip the the hospital and emergency surgery on Gabrielle to have her appendix taken out!*

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(Monday, August 2nd...)

Continuing..... So the lady says..."We can just use your mothers!"

Now I am standing at the end of the check-out counter, quite tired from all the shopping, thinking of all the things I need to get before I leave town and this thought penetrates my mind after I heard the lady ask that question......

"WOW!! She knows our mother! I know mom shops here a lot, but why would she be showing Brandei's and my picture around to the sales lady??? It's not like she is a new mom, and the string of pictures come out to show any stranger available!"

Let me tell you that thought went through my head in a flash! Then it was dead silent..... I snapped out of it, to hear my sister say, as she is pointing to me..... "That's not my MOTHER, that's my SISTER!!" WHAT????? As Brandei is saying this she is laughing her head off!!! And to make matters worse, I had to pipe in and say...."And the SAD thing is, I am YOUNGER than she is!!!"

So now the lady is totally mortified behind the counter. First she took forever to check me out, and now she had just INSULTED me!! ....She was so ready to quit work that day!.....

Brandei and I are now laughing so hard that we have tears running down our faces! The lady just can't check-out Brandei fast enough! As we leave, busting a gut, the lady then says, in a very sorrowful voice....."I hope you will come back sometime...." Not "thank you, have a good day" but "I hope...."

We just can't stop laughing.... We walk out of the store like a couple of nuts! Oh well, I haven't laughed that hard for a very long time. It was good for the soul!

So that's it. That's my story...."I am NOT her mother!" It may not be that funny on paper, but it was hilarious living it!

My (OLDER) Sister's Mother,

Robin

PS I hope that lady didn't quit her job that day! I told Brandei that we should go buy her a drink certificate to use after work.... She would probably need it!!

Forgive the mess....

I am trying to redesign my blog all on my own, so please forgive the mess...... And pray I don't delete everything! :)
Robin

Ryan and Katie's Wedding

On July 3, 2010, a miracle happened! My brother, Ryan, whom we never thought would get married, (Because there were no "perfect" girls out there, of course, other than his sisters,) bit the bullet, after finding the "perfect" girl, Katie!!
Congratulations Ryan and Katie! God's greatest blessings to you!
Doesn't Ryan just look happy!

Now because everyone has been waiting for pictures of the cake, I threw it in here, out of line of the rest of the pictures. And just in case you're wondering, YES, I made the cake!

This was the first time in many years that my mom and dad had all their children and their spouses, and their grandchildren together, all in one spot! There are 24 of us and counting...... hint hint!

My three brothers, my sister, and me.

Now you all can pick yourselves off the floor.... Yes, I am in a dress! And a pretty darn fancy one at that!

Now there are 5 kids in my family....which we always thought was a big number.... but Katie's family out did us! There are 9 in her family!!! And yes, all fourteen of us were there for the wedding. And I am not sure that I have the farthest distant traveled award.... One of Katie's brothers lives in China! What a blessing it was to have all of Ryan and Katie's siblings there to help celebrate their special day!

Wedding pictures are over, now it's time to start the PARTY!

Mersades and her cousin Autumn...

The pastor who married us 13 years ago, was at the wedding!

Teddy was just plain tired!

The Secret Service even showed up!

The girls with the bride and groom.

Momma and her girls!

Daddy and Mersades dancing.

Yummy and Daddy.

Mr. Gavin.

And I am sorry, Teddy. The only picture I have of you is when you were trying to sleep. But have no fear, I am sure there are pictures of you having a blast on the dance floor floating around out there on someone's camera!

So that's it. All 5 of us are married off now! Thank heavens! It was loads of fun, and everyone had a great time!

God's Blessings, Ryan and Katie!

Robin

Happy 39th Anniversary Mom and Dad!

This is what commitment looks like! For thirty nine years these two have been married. It's quite the accomplishment these days. I am sure it hasn't always been a bed of roses, but a commitment takes you through the thorns. So congratulations Mom and Dad! Here's to 39 more years of wedded bliss.....
Or is that Blisters????? Ha Ha Ha Ha
Love,
Robin
PS I get my sense of humor from the guy with the "platinum" hair!

The Corn Palace!

Well, we all here in South Daa-ko-tah have a Palace! Now it's not your usual palace... one with kings and queens living there.... decked out with gold and silver and precious stones.... No, this one is embillished with South Daa-ko-tah riches! ....Grains.... Corn, Wheat, Sunflowers, Barley... Yes sir! We got it all! We don't need no stinking jewels to make our palace shine.... All we need is some honest to goodness crops, staples, and hot glue! .......Ok, maybe not the hot glue. ;)
So here's what they do. Every year the college football team's, in Mitchell South Daa-ko-tah, summer job is to tear down all the old grains from the previous year and put up the grains in the new years design. .....Hmmm, I thought I would remember more of what they do from the tour I took 25 years ago with my mom and two brothers....... I guess not.... I guess you will just have to Google South Daa-ko-tah Corn Palace! (and if any of you misspell it, well then I guess you don't deserve to find out more information on the place!) Oh, BTW (that's "by the way" for those of you in Glenham!) If it was 25 years ago, no wonder I can't remember anything from the tour..... I was like FOUR months old! ;) Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!
Ok, sorry! I must not be getting enough sleep!!
Carrying on.....
It is truly a work of art. Here are the pictures to show how much detail goes into the planning.
Not sure why there are two of the same pictures on here... Like I said, probably not enough sleep!

The front of the Palace with the kids.

Ok, I seriously must be have been sleeping when I uploaded these pictures!! Another set of the same pictures!

Here is the side of the building. You can barely see the guys working.

Here is where they get the grains ready to put up on the building.

I guess I wanted a picture of the guy's face.... :( Sleeping.....

Here is a closer picture of guys standing on a platform looking like they are working. :) You can better see some of the different grains.

More workers...

Inside the Corn Palace are many pictures of previous year's Palace designs. Here is one of those designs... This was when they did the whole palace.... Way back in the day!

These are some of the grain designs inside the palace. (Sorry, but the pictures are a bit blurry.) These I believe were all done in corn.

And yes, every Palace has a mascot.... or not....

It was fun to go revisit some of the places I went to when I was younger. I do believe though, I have the skills of a tour guide, that my father had when I was a kid. "Look kids.... there's the White House...." Never did get out of the car to see the White House. Maybe I need some counseling on that. :)

Mine was more like.... Hurry up kids..... look around...... take a picture..... let's go.....!! I guess, at least I let the kids walk around! :)

So here you have it.... One of the riches of South Daa-ko-tah!

Enjoy,

Robin

More Fishing...

Just another day of fishing in Paradise! On this day, we had to get up at the crack of dawn to beat the other boats to the "hot" spot. By the looks of these next few pictures, we didn't make it. These were taken on the road to Pollock, SD.... a 40 minute drive from Glenham, SD.

When we finally made it to the docks, we still had a 15 minute boat ride to the "hot" spot. The breeze was cool that morning along with the wind from riding in the boat. Raquel and Gabrielle were trying to keep each other warm....

Ok, now ladies don't go getting all excited about a guy with his shirt off! Q-1 is married!!! I think he caught the first fish of the day. It was the biggest of the day also. Some people have all the luck!!!

Yummy and her fish. I know ladies, Q-1 still doesn't have a shirt on....!

Teddy with his fish.... Taking after Q-1.... no shirt!

Gabby catching another fish.... But what I really wanted to point out was the superb net job by my sis-in-law, Raquel!!! She has to do something in order for Q-1 to keep taking her fishing! :) ha ha ha....

Me with my fish.... I caught the 2nd biggest of the day! That's really a look of utter shock on Q-1's face... I actually caught another fish this summer!

PS You may be asking, "Why is Q-1 in the picture with me?" Welllllll, I DO NOT touch the fish! Maybe it's from having so many brothers. I never had to take the fish off the hook. I always had someone to do it for me. I also have NEVER cleaned a fish! That's a boys job! ;) I will say however, I do bait my own hook..... as long as they are worms or minnows.... but absolutely NO LEECHES!!!!

PSS Yeah, Q-1 still has no shirt on. I on the other hand have jeans, t-shirt, and a jacket on. It really wasn't that warm out!

Some of the catch from that day.

Mersades and her fish. She was really excited!

Gavin's fish...

Now for the tough job.... Cleaning the fish! Once again this is left up to Q-1, professional fisherman...

Look at the total look of disgust on Mersades face. I don't think she has ever seen this being done before! Well I guess, if you catch them, you gotta clean them, and you gotta eat them!

Wait a second..... Is that Q-1 with his shirt on? Nice socks....!!!

Very thankful for my baby brother, Q-1, who is willing to take a bunch of amateurs out on the boat to try and fish. We were either learning from his LACK of teaching us, or we were just very, VERY lucky! I will go with the second one!

Walleye..... Mmmm, Mmmmm Good!!!

Robin

Summer Lightning Storm

I love thunder and lightning!!! One night we had a huge storm building across the river. There was lightning everywhere. There wasn't much thunder with this storm, which was a bit disappointing, but all the lightning made up for that.
So I put the kids to bed and grabbed my camera and headed for the windows to take some pictures. Well I surly took some pictures..... 500 of them! Oh how I love digital cameras! Of those 500 pictures, about 30 of them ended up with lightning in them. Here are some of my favorites.
These first two, I forgot to open the screen door. Never the less, they look pretty cool!

Interesting....

But these next two were the best of the night! And they are awesome pictures! The lightning was so bright, it made it look like daytime at midnight!

This one was especially bright!

Sometimes, as an amateur photographer, I get lucky with my camera. This night I was very lucky!!

Loving Prairie Storms!

Robin