A sad day, losing something and St. Anthony

On June 7, 2002 Jake gave me this ring and asked me to marry him. I have never taken it off, except when my fingers were too swollen to wear it during the last part of both of my pregnancies.

Yesterday sometime from when I left the Ohio Cattleman's meeting to when I returned home after picking up tires and a half of beef I lost the diamond out of my ring.  Jaelin has had an attachment to my ring since she was a few weeks old.  She rubs the diamond when she is sad, mad or tired. I often left my ring with Jake when I was going to late night FFA meetings when she was an infant for her to rub before she went to sleep.  She really isn't as attached anymore. However, last night Jaelin climbed up on the coach to sit next to me after I had gotten home.  She instantly grabbed for my ring and then looked at me and said "what did you do with it?"  I have looked everywhere and prayed to St. Anthony, the saint of missing things.

O blessed St. Anthony, 
the grace of God has made you a powerful advocate 
in all our needs and the patron 
for the restoring of things lost or stolen. 
I turn to you today with childlike love and deep confidence. 
You have helped countless children of God 
to find the things they have lost,
material things, and, more importantly, 
the things of the spirit: faith, hope, and love. 
I come to you with confidence; 
help me in my present need.
I recommend what I have lost to your care, 
in the hope that God will restore it to me, 
if it is His holy Will.

Amen. 

I still have not found it and very much disappointed.

What is the worst thing you have ever lost?  Have you ever prayed to St. Anthony?

The farmer and his quilt pattern.

I have laid out quilt tops long before I could sew.  Grandma Poorman would let us lay out simple block patterns and she would sew them together.  I now believe it was because she would rather sew than to crawl around on the floor moving block patterns and colors around.  However my Grandpa, Dad and Uncle John would often stop by to inspect our patterns.  They would look it over and say things like "oh you have two blues together".  I always found this behavior so annoying.

I am laying out my fourth quilt tonight in two weeks.  I am starting to feel like Grandma, I just want to sew.  Jaelin was laying out a quilt with some extra block on one side of the living room while I was laying out the pink John Deere quilt on the other side.  Guess who shows up?  Jake!  "That pattern is not correct", he started. "Oh, really," I reply as I was having flashbacks to my childhood.  He began to explain how he would do it and how the pattern should flow.  Finally I said, that sound like a great idea.  He is now designing the quilt.

Making Ordinary Days, Extraordinary

Today is June 14th, which means it's Flag Day and my father-in-law Robert's and his twin sister's Rosie's 59th Birthday.  Along with all these celebrations, it is Jake and I's 9th Wedding Anniversary.

ONE of my character flaws is that I expect a day this special to have some kind of major celebration. Nothing is ever big enough - I dream of movie star like celebrations. We all know this is not possible, but a girl can dream.

This dreaming is always interrupted by reality.

Last night we had a major catastrophe when some cows got out and ate someone else's corn.  This caused a late supper and then spilled over into this morning, when 22 more cows needed to be found and this group of cows would need to be hauled somewhere else.

Girls you get home right now - you are in big trouble.

I went to bed knowing this would change my small plans to spend the day with Jake (so I thought).  I also knew it would definitely change the plans where Jake and I would fly to NYC on the 4+ Feeders private jet for dinner and a show. Okay I really never thought that would happen.

I really was just thinking that we would take the girls to Bible School and spend a few hours alone and then maybe lunch. Then later we would make a great dinner including steak and maybe watch a movie when the girls went to bed.

But the day turned out a little better than I thought when Jake announced he would have to haul cows (you know the ones that ate the neighbors corn) after lunch to another pasture.

I've been driving a truck and trailer (an 18 ft. trailer) since a couple years after I got my license.  I would haul fat cattle for my dad to Producers and Muskingum Livestock.  I have average forward trailer driving ability.  Meaning I can't back up and I don't go through the drive thru at McDonalds.  I have always had a strong want to learn both of those skills.

Today I decided when Jake said A) He wasn't in a hurry and B) It would be just the girls, him and I, that today was the day I would try to hone my skills of backing a trailer. So I did.

The truck and trailer I drove today.  This trailer is 26 feet long.

My co-pilot.

Jake's rig.

Jake's co-pilot.

I have been backing up things since before I had a drivers license.  Mostly I would back tractors and at one time I was really good at backing a tractor with a square baler around a full load of square bales to hook to an empty wagon.  This skill proves to be a problem when backing a truck and trailer, where using the mirrors is detrimental.

I have a love/hate relationship with this thing.

After a small disagreement on backing techniques with Jake, I did improve my skill.  I have not perfected it yet.

Please share how you make an ordinary day - EXTRAORDINARY.
I would also love to hear who taught you how to drive a truck and trailer and the most challenging places you take a truck and trailer.  I may add them to my challenge list for the summer.

Oh- Jake, I and the girls ended up in Pennsylvania for a Texas Roadhouse dinner, which did include steak.

Wolfinger-Hanes Wedding (part 1)

The rehearsal dinner started Friday at 6PM at St. Mary's in Lancaster.  The church is so beautiful inside and so meaningful for Jake and I because we also got married there and both the girls were baptized there.  After everyone finally got there, the Priest got everyone seated and Calvin's mom was on the phone giving directions about wedding stuff.  The Priest was giving her the evil eye and the person on the other end of the phone was just not taking the hint that she had to go.  We all thought it to be very amusing, not sure the Priest thought so.

Our group had to practice twice, because we didn't get it right the first time or maybe because he thought we needed the practice.

Jacie and Jaelin were so excited to be Aunt Katy's flower girls.

I don't know what they were talking about at this point.  Maybe: Are you sure you have the rings? or Why didn't we elope? or maybe What kind of kiss it would be at the alter?

We then went to Calvin's parents' house for a pork chop dinner. It was delicious. We left as other people were finishing the decorating.  I was worried that the girls were going to be grouchy for the wedding day.

The next morning Jake dropped the girls and I off at the salon to get our hair done at 8AM.  I already feared the long day and how the girls would handle it. The girls played a game of go fish as I got my hair done.

Then Jaelin asked Katy if she could be next. Since Aunt Katy never tells her nieces no, she went next. Jacie got her hair done after that, and I was now hoping Katy would be done in time for pictures.

We now had been at the salon for 3 hours and the girls were doing fairly well.  They now were busing themselves reading some stories about Olivia the pig that Katy and Calvin had bought them.

Then Jaelin got bored with the books and found the camera and took this picture . . .

and this picture . . .

and this picture.

Then I realized she was a decent photographer so I had her take a picture of Jacie and I.

 4 hours in a salon and now we were just goofing off!

Then I took the tutorial on how to remove the veil.  Which was easy.  I really should have taken the tutorial on bustling Katy's dress again. That didn't go so well.

And then we were off to the church . . .

Katy's 2nd Bridal Shower

Katy's Aunt Peggy and Aunt Susan hosted the second shower at Shaw's Restaurant in downtown Lancaster, Ohio.  It was a wonderful afternoon of fun. I think they may have given more door prizes away then Katy got gifts.  They had several items on the tables, many of them antiques.  Katy picked which one she like first on table one and second on table two and so on.  Then we had to try to guess what Katy chose.  Katy and I have similar tastes, so I thought I would do fairly well.  Wrong - I only got two out of six.

It was finally time to open gifts.  Katy called and asked me to be her matron of honor almost a year ago.  I was so excited!  I immediately thought I need a really special gift to giver her. I have been working on a special double top secret gift for Katy on and off for almost nine months.  In July when Jennifer came to Nebraska and taught me to make quilts we picked up Amy Butler material at Material Girls in Grand Island, Nebraska and made a quilt top.  The colors I chose were what I thought she had described as her wedding colors.  Although the wedding colors have changed I still feel they are great colors and remind me of Katy.  Mostly because these colors are bright and cheerful.  Jennifer quilted this quilt on her long arm with bright and beautiful variegated thread.  I put the binding on with a "hidden" hand stitch this week.  This is the first quilt top I ever made (with the help of Jennifer) and I am so happy to give it to Katy.

Jaelin, Katy, me and Jacie

for the love of beef (part 8)

On Friday the 13th we had our rehearsal dinner in the neighbors farm shop.  It was a great evening and we had a wonderful meal planned by my mother in law and cooked by her and several other family and friends. It was a great evening!

It is now June 14, 2003, the house is not finished.  However we deemed it livable after the honeymoon.  Neither of us wanted to move back in with our parents as a newlywed couple.  We had no kitchen and carpeting went in a couple days before the wedding. It was a long summer.

It was raining that morning and I was a little bummed because we had plans for the wedding party to have a hay ride from the church to the reception.  I headed from my parent's house to Newark to get my hair and make up done.  Jake and his friends (including my brother) were supposed to be doing some last minute things for the wedding and reception.

Mary, Amber, Katy, Jamie, Me, Jenny, Marie, Kelly and Amy

Andy, Travis, Joe Lee, Ben, Jake and RJ, Lippy, Matt, Nick, Jason

By the time I reached the church it had stopped raining and my bridesmaids were gathering in the church basement.  They all had the same color dresses but each had a different top.  To compliment the differences they each got a different bouquet.  The boys were I have no idea where doing things I still don't want to know about.  My mother showed up with food for everyone, which saved the day.

It was soon time for the ceremony, where Father Dennis married us.  It was beautiful!

We then had several pictures taken.  By now the sun was shining and the hay ride with our bridal party to the reception was a great time.

When we reached the reception it was 100 questions for me music, toasts, cake, food, etc..  Not Jake, he was off talking with everyone. We had a wonderful caterer that served Wolfinger beef and homemade noodles that my Grandma Poorman and I spent most of the winter making. Every time we needed to dance, toast, take a picture or kiss we first had to send a search party for Jake.  We even had to find him when it was time to surprise his Dad and his Dad's twin sister Rosie with a 50th Birthday Cake.  We chose their birthday for our wedding day. Unfortunately I didn't feel like I got to see or talk to anyone.

No one had a better time at our reception than Jake's brother Andy.  He gave a wonderful toast and then danced with everyone there.

It felt like I turned my head and everyone was gone.  Jake finally revealed the surprise honeymoon would be to Cancun and I was excited to leave the country for the first time and lay on the beach.

We left soon after that and headed to change our clothes and head for the Hyatt in Columbus for our Honeymoon night.  We were leaving in the morning for Cancun.

We checked into the hotel.  We started asking a lot of questions about each other's day.  After all this was the first time we had really talked in 24 hours.  I found out that he had greeted almost all of our guests as they came into the church.  I was jealous because I was locked up in the basement.  I said I can't believe so and so didn't come and he would say yeah they were there.  By the end of the conversation I was saddened that I had missed a lot of our guests. The whole day seemed like a big blurr. However I was now Mrs. Jake Wolfinger and we were now working on the happily ever after.