Memories

Alan brought back this owl picture  we had given to Mom and Dad some 35+ years ago..it hung over their living room entry all that time..mom and dad owls, all 10 kids..its  held up well, don't you think?..I hung it up in our living room now...when we first were married, several of the children were still living at  home...these little owls looked over the family,( wish they could talk)....weddings, birth of grandchildren and great grandchildren, aunts/ uncles coming and going, loads of laughter and love, Bible studies, hot coffee and cards during the long Iowa winters. Birthday parties and anniversaries..over 40 Christmases all in a tiny house that had been built in 1898...the house has  been remodeled several times...

its just pecky cedar, with knots for the owls with googly eyes but means alot to us....so glad Alan was able to bring it back with him. It hangs above this wall  hanging below...

This Iowa wood wall hanging we bought one year in the Amish country, outside of Independence...there are many Amish farms with little shops on the properties....we would go with Mom and Dad...buying  treats and a few things to bring home...we used to drive back to Iowa every year before we had kids..after that we took the train, getting a sleeper berth..the boys have many happy memories of train travel as do we...the train we went on, no longer runs unfortunately. We both are  hoping to be able to get together with the other siblings in the next year..Mom wanted the kids to stick together..she wrote a wonderful letter to the family before she passed.....
The first year we went back to Iowa, I was a new bride and had never been out of California.....it was quite an adventure....I remember one night, sleeping upstairs in the loft..they had a summer thunder storm...I'd never seen anything like it....the sky was crashing, and bolts of lightening seemed to fill the little window where I perched, Alan, of course, slept through it....Dad came upstairs and sat with me, worried that I was scared..I was a little scared, but more in awe and wonder at the amazing storm...