Walking Tours, Wisconsin, and a Wedding - May in a Nutshell

I am currently in South America and scheduled this to post while I'm away - enjoy.....

    Over a month ago, we left home to begin our trek to Wisconsin for Aaron and Joyce's Wedding.  We left several days early and vacationed through some new territory. We had a wonderful time touring old landmarks (which included LOTS of walking) and meeting up with good friends! Once arrived in Wisconsin, we had a lot of preparations to complete for the Rehearsal Dinner and then the Wedding itself.  Wish it could've lasted longer, but regardless of the length of time spent, it was definitely wonderful.
     After a first day driving all the way to South Dakota, we spent a relaxing evening at our motel - which included a "mini-waterpark" {slides, waterguns, etc.}. Then we were up and on our way next
morning. First stop: DeSmet and all things Laura Ingalls Wilder.  :-)

The Ingalls Homestead - on the left, my siblings check out the well Pa dug

We walked a LONG way to see this church

Wagon Rides



Here we pose by the Cottonwoods that Pa planted {If you've read the Little House books, you know where these are}

A monument to the Ingalls Family - True Pioneers

Pa, Ma, Mary & Carrie's graves at the DeSmet Cemetery



The School Laura & Carrie attended in DeSmet - where Almanzo's sister Eliza Jane taught. We also toured the Surveyor's House, and the final home of Ma & Pa in DeSmet, but were not allowed to take pictures inside.

     After we finished, we drove on to Minnesota where we stayed the night - and I found that I don't like roads in that part of the Country. Speed Limits of 55mph get old really fast. After a good night's rest, we drove the 30 minutes on to Walnut Grove and the Dugout Site of Laura Ingalls Wilder.

Asa as Charles Ingalls - Caroline as Caroline Ingalls - Amelia as Mary Amelia Ingalls - Laura as Laura Ingalls

     Playing "Pooh-sticks" - LOL

This big rock was most likely the big rock Mary & Laura raced across - side-by-side.
Time has a way of changing things a bit!

     After finishing in Walnut Grove, we made our way to Bloomington, Minnesota and the Mall of America. Catching the shuttle at our motel, we spent the entire afternoon & evening there. It was so fun!

Those "paintings" behind them are actually lego mosaics!

We met up with our friend Meagan for supper and then spent the rest of the evening chatting and catching up. I can't wait to spend three weeks with Meagan in Ecuador!

     Next day we were on our way to Wisconsin and super excited about the Wedding. After arriving around noon on Thursday, we spent the afternoon shopping, picking up Aunt Donna from the airport and cooking for the Rehearsal Dinner. Friday was spent decorating the Rehearsal Dinner venue and more cooking and prep. The location was gorgeous and we loved the end result.

Norwood Pines Supper Club in Minocqua, Wisconsin

     Then of course, the wedding followed the next day. And it was amazing - what a great day! Then we had a long drive home, and it was right back to work. Mostly preparing for Aaron and Joyce's Oklahoma Reception which was held the 30th. We wanted to give an opportunity for anyone who could not attend the wedding {since it was so far away!} to be able to meet and congratulate the couple. We had about 100 people come to the reception - all of whom {save two} had been unable to go the wedding, so we were glad we had put it on.

We held the reception at Camp Clearview

We showed the wedding video in the chapel

We served refreshments in the Multi-purpose building {it still needs some work, but it's getting there!)

Chateau Wedding: Steve & Debra

The first weekend in July, we headed down to Texas to shoot a Chateau Wedding. Gorgeous location, beautiful bride, and a serene setting made this wedding a joy to photograph. We loved getting to know Steve & Debra and capturing their day! 

     The bride's daughter Carly was Matron of Honor - and her daughter Tallie was the Flower Girl. We enjoyed capturing these few images of their family ..... so adorable!

Steve with his children: Alaina and Jordan

The Groomsmen

After getting the reception started, we snuck outside with the Bride & Groom to capture them together..... love the results!

South America - Here I Come!

     Only two days now and I will be on my way to South America via Florida. I am so excited to see what the Lord will accomplish in and through our teams. I want to thank each of you for your love, support and prayers - they mean a lot to me! If you wish to follow my trips, you can use the following links:

• GE Facebook Page: Usually something posts from the team at least once or twice a day. This is the place to go for up-to-the-minute updates. You don’t need a Facebook account to the view the posts.
• GE Instagram Feed: Usually something posts on here at least once a day and we often repost pictures from other team members so it’s a great collection of team members' viewpoints.
• GE Trip Blog: We post longer stories and more pictures on our blog than we can add to social media. This is where people can get the more in-depth story.

I will be in Ecuador from July 11th - August 2nd. I will have a 2 day turnaround in Florida before heading to Guatemala from August 4th - 18th. I'll be on the Photography team in Guatemala - using and teaching photography as a way to share the gospel. Here is a recent request for our photography team. Please consider supporting this:

 We've put together a fundraiser for five new student cameras. Our 15 student cameras have been traveling the world for a few years and some of them have taken their last picture. We also gave away a few at orphanages where we taught photography. On the whole, I’ve been impressed how well the cameras have held up, but they’re not indestructible.  Here’s a link: https://www.tilt.com/tilts/cameras-for-missions.