Nonna's Gardens

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Isn't my mom's yard gorgeous??

animal planet at Island Park {hawk excitment} ...part 1

In late July, after tennis in the morning, we had been noticing a large population of hawks hanging around in the trees at Island Park.  I decided to bring my good camera on this particular day(July 21st) so that I could get some close ups of what they were up to.  I'm going to warn you that there is some blood and guts involved so do not scroll down if that will bother you.  The hawks were busy eating...

 

 

 

Then, out of the blue, a tussle broke out.  It was quite exciting!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This guy won.  Are those intestines????

the hawks at Island Park ... part 2

 

 

 

 

 

needless to say the kids thought this was all pretty awesome!

Mary Beth's dance pictures

These were on instagram but I don't think I ever posted them here.  They are from MB's spring gala.

Fargo German Festival {Rheault Farm}

On July 21st(I'm a little behind with this one!!) we spent the afternoon at the German Festival.

Jeffrey discovered the blacksmith at German Festival.  And was going to stay put until the Fest was over.  We mentioned to the blacksmith Jeffrey's ambitions of becoming one himself someday and before we knew it:

He was putting on an apron and helping out!

They let him do everything... and he was in HEAVEN!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The finished product...

His own iron hook!  He was so proud... and so were we!

Earlier that day we also made these beautiful ornaments from clay and antique German molds.

But sadly,

we ended up leaving that day without going back to get them.  I guess the blacksmith experience distracted us too much!  I'm so upset we left them but maybe they will do them again next summer.

Adoption Update: State Seals from Secretary of State... DONE!!!

YAY!!!!  Today we received our dossier documents back from the ND Secretary of State office.  They had to go there so that all of the notarizations could be certified.  I also had to send my birth certificate to the Wisconsin S. of S. because the documents have to be certified in the state where they came from.
So why are we so excited about this?  It means that now we can mail off all of this to Washington DC where a courier service(that we have to hire) will hand deliver our 13 certified dossier documents to first the US Department of State and then The Embassy of the People's Republic of China.  Once it is done at those two places the courier service(we are using The Assistant Stork) will pick them up and overnight everything to our agency in California.  Next step... it will all go to China!!! Which is a very good thing.

To celebrate we had everyone's favorite meal!
Happy Day around here!

Junk Market 2013 {adoption fundraising}

Today I spent the day in the Modern Textiles Booth At Junk Market in the Echo Chic parking lot which happens twice a year.  How did this come about, you ask?  Well, I met the fabulous gals of Modern Textiles on a few occasions and they so kindly and generously offered to let me sell my chandelier hoops and mini scrappy fabric garlands at their booth- keeping 100% of the profits for our adoption fund!  How lucky was I??  So I kicked it into high gear the week before(amongst all the crazy adoption paperwork and planning/throwing Mickey's birthday party) and produced enough product to participate without it looking too silly.

The morning started out great- no rain and a light breeze.  I was making sales right off the bat and everyone commented on how cute they were.  Plus, as an extra bonus, I got to hang out with Roxanne and Connie and get to know them better!  They are 2 of the nicest girls around by the way. :)

Across the way, The White House Boutique was very kindly displaying the rest of the costume jewelry that was donated to us during the yard sale... remember that story?
Look how cute she displayed it all!!!  I'm so happy I met Katie- she is another kind, generous soul and we definitely share a love for junk and painted furniture!  I got to peek in her house btw and it is SO GREAT!!  I felt so blessed to be given this opportunity by these wonderful ladies!

 

Unfortunately, about 1 hour or so in, it began to rain... and it only steadily got worse from there.  Despite the pouring rain, people still showed up and I ended up selling quite a few garlands and hoops. None of the jewelry sold, however, but I am confident that I will find an opportunity to make that happen in the future.  Anyone know of a place that would be interested in buying some and then reselling it??  I'm all ears!