"Oh say can you see..."

Sandra and I had the honor of singing the National Anthem for the opening night of the rodeo at the Madison County Fair on Wednesday, July 11th.  You can find a couple pictures on the Madison County Fair's Facebook page.  Look under Wednesday 2012.  We are pictures #170 and 172.  I have a couple here, too.

It's the waiting that kills ya'.

"Oh say can you see..."

"...gave proof through the night..."

Aunt Linda says we are now committed for life to do this every year...at least as long as she is on the fair board.  Neither of us minds that idea, I think.  :-)

No Western Like It

Have you seen "Into the West"?  It was a mini-series on TNT.  I am watching the DVDs from Netflix.  Steven Spielberg was the executive producer.  The music and backdrops are awesome.  There are folks in it you'd recognize.  I dozed off during the first episode and missed some stuff, but I don't blame the show.  I haven't been sleeping well and was exhausted.  I think I spent the second episode's hour and a half bawling my eyes out.  People were dropping like flies!  Here's someone trampled by a cow.  There goes another falling out of the wagon during the river crossing and drowning.  Then the ever classic "You have died of dysentery."  (I'm quoting the old computer game "Oregon Trail" - just explaining for you youngsters out there.)  Well, no one said that exactly, but you get the idea.  Now I'm sad I don't have the next disc yet.  Anyway.  If you get the chance and have any interest in westerns, you should watch this series.  I might have to add it to my wishlist.  The DVDs must be on Amazon somewhere.

Remember those hamburgers?

Remember the hamburgers I wrote about in a previous blog - the ones I made ahead and froze?  I said I'd tell you how they turned out.  The onion ones weren't anything special, but the ones with the steak seasoning were awesome (just had one for dinner last night and the other for lunch just now)!  I am looking forward to the ones with the Italian seasoning.  I'm thinking it might be yummy to use spaghetti sauce and mozzarella (pseudo-cheese to avoid the lactose) instead of the usual ketchup.  Sounds so good!

Anyway, there you go.  It worked out pretty well.  I will definitely be doing that again sometime.  :-)

Stupid Computer!

So frustrated!  My computer has pooped out or something.  I just need to get a new one.  It killed my power cable and the battery, so it is just sitting on a table being useless.  I've had to use my work one for everything.  (Including right now.  Don't worry.  I'm on my lunch break.)  A computer guru I know says I should wait until October when Windows 8 comes out.  Um...I need my computer!  It has my budgeting stuff and my church music data on it.  I hadn't recently backed it up, so I don't know which bills I paid already this month and which ones are left and I can't search in my music except going through the files by hand which takes forever!

So now I can't decide what to do.  I really could use access to what's on my original computer...and will at some point need to get all of that off there and on to a new one anyway.  But Jon has a point that I should wait until October (which would also give me time to hopefully save up some money).  And school sales will be coming soon, too.  Feel free to give me your opinions/advice.

As We Gather at the River

Ever seen the Platte River?  Mom and I drove over it on the way to visit Grandma Geu in Aurora.  (Yes, she really is "over the river and through the woods.")  I had to stop and take some pictures.  It was quite the sight to see.

From here it looks like a river of sand.

And it practically is.  There's barely a trickle on this side and the other.

Sand as far as the eye can see...and just a tiny bit of water.

The Platte River has always tended to be shallow or dry, especially in times of drought.  But this - this is intense.  You know it's getting bad when the rivers dry up.

Party Recovery Day Part Four

Last one from Party Recovery Day!  There are more cute dog pictures, but they are cute Nikki pictures, too.

The prince's horse gets ready for a boat ride before the building of the castle.

Um...Nikki, usually pillows go underneath someone's head.
I'm sure Samson appreciates you putting it on top instead.

Peek!  Hi, Samson!

"Auntie, your dog is nice."

"Paws" for Cute Dog Pictures

Of course I took some pictures of my pup while we were outside playing Sunday, the 8th.  Have to take a moment to stop and show them to you.

This one just makes me laugh.  :-)

Aww!  Happy dog!

Glamour Shot

Party Recovery Day Part Three

More playing outside!  It was the perfect day for it.  :-)

Sandbox Time

"I'm scared of bug bones!"

Hanging Out

Swinging Good Time

Party Recovery Day Part Two

Hula-hooping was just too darn fun to not keep playing on Sunday.

Nikki and Ivy give hula-hooping tips to their aunts.

Woohoo!  Go, Dad, go!  Who knew?!

Hey, Sandra. Can you hula hoop and catch a ball at the same time?

Let's practice counting.  Count the hula hoops - 1, 2, 3.

Now how many hoops are there?  Let's count - 1, 2, 3, 4!

Mom finds her hidden hula hoop talent.

Even Branden couldn't say 'no' to Nikki asking everyone to hula hoop!

Party Recovery Day Part One

Another day full of photos to split up into groups...The day begins...

The party continued on Sunday...well, sort of.  We drug ourselves out of bed, had scrambled eggs for breakfast, and in general enjoyed the nice weather of the morning.

Having Devotion Time

Look, Auntie!  It's a catfish!  Oookay.  Pretty catfish.  :)

Nikki works hard on her chalk drawing.

"Chalking" Up the Sun

Party Part Seven: The After-Party

You've made it to the epilogue!  Just a couple final pictures.  Some of us crashed after the last movie, getting to bed about 2:00 or 2:30 a.m.  The "kids" stayed up a lot longer.  (I don't even want to know how late it was.)

Playing with a barn kitten while preparing to play cards

Apparently instead of my coach turning into a pumpkin at midnight,
I start to turn into a Smurf starting with the bottoms of my feet.

Party Part Six: Movie Time

This year's feature film was "Maverick."  (I love that movie!)  We had a last minute double feature choice of "Wild Wild West" (that kept us up past 1:00 a.m.).  But before the feature, we had something for the kids.  It was still a bit on the too light side when we started the cartoon, but I think even the grown-ups watched every minute.

*singing*  "Duck Tales!  Woo-oo!"
(For those of you too old, or too young to know, that's part of the cartoon's theme song.)

Watching "Maverick"

Party Part Five: Hula Loopy

No, that's not a typo.  It was hilarious!  Some people need to practice more before next year.  :-)

"Hooping" in the new relatives

Ready...set...

Go!

New participants

Pretty sure Sandra won as she was the only one who could keep a hoop going...and swing more than one at a time, too.  Little over-achiever!  She doesn't need any more practice.  :-)

Party Part Four: Food! Glorious Food!

Food?  You bet!  And lots of it!

Eating Cheetos is serious business.

Open flame makes the best hotdogs.

The birthday trio gets their just desserts.
(L-R: Tim, friend of Sandra; Sandra; me)

Whoops!  This marshmallow's a little overdone.

 

Party Part Three: Dance Break

Nothing but fun here at the Haack Farm, right?

Right!

Therefore...It's not a party without the Chicken Dance!  DANCE BREAK!



I think Nikki is embarrassed of us and Ivy draws the line at the Chicken Dance.

Can't you just hear the music?

"You've got to move it, move it!"
(No, there are no lyrics to the Chicken Dance.  Watch "Madagascar" again.)

In the polka groove!

If dancing's not your thing, think of it this way.  Those squats and do-si-does are great exercise.  :-)

Party Part Two: Chips for Everyone

I believe this was Dad's brain child...and we had so much fun!



Choose your weapon!

Dad demonstrates the ancient art of Greek discus throwing.

Brandon gets mentally prepared.

I don't remember this guy's name, but he was the braver of our strangers.  :-)

There's the wind up.

Don't worry.  He didn't throw the baby out with the cowchip.
Nikki was braver than Ivy on this one.

And those germ-o-phobes out there can rest assured we had wipes for cleaning our hands afterwards.  They were really dry chips, so we didn't actually get anything interesting on our hands anyway.  lol