Home again, home again, jiggety jog.

Last weekend my mom, a friend and her mom took a trip to MO to see an elderly family friend of theirs and to do some sightseeing. We stayed in a quaint little town and travelled around to different areas each day. We had a great time.

This is a little crooked house at a "heritage seed" place. It cracked me up and I get the "Little Crooked Man" song stuck in my head each time I look at the pic.

They have a little pioneer village where there is a "pioneer day" festival the first weekend of each month.

They had beautiful gardens...

...with beautiful flowers...

...and very unique flowers.

They have a miniature donkey who cracked us up and reminded us of "Donkey" on Shrek. So stinkin' cute and absolutely full of himself.

And little mini horses too. I love minis.

We stopped at several antique stores and I got this pic for A.

This is D, hanging with her homies, sportin' her bonnet.

There were gorgeous sunsets.

You know how I love a sunset.

 We went to the Laura Ingalls Wilder home place and museum. This is where all of the "Little House" series of books was written. Rose Wilder Lane wrote several books here too.

Mom and I.

We saw the little rock house....

the setting....

and the gorgeous front door of the house that Rose had made for her parents.

We visited Amish country...

scooped the Amish Loop....

saw farms, bought tomatoes and baked goods and had fun with/watching the Amish. It amazes me that their lifestyle is still so well preserved in this world.

And to top it all off there was a rainbow when we were just about home.

Three years ago yesterday we brought J home after a 4-year wait. He continues to do very well, thank God. He has some attitude issues but he is a 14yo boy. So far this school year he is doing his own homework with just a little help now and then. He is earning gum by doing it himself. He has a part in a play at church for Christmas and I hope he can pull it off. I asked him if he was going to remember all those lines and he said, "If dey turn de projector around and I can see de words I will remember dem!" Smart boy. Turn the projector around and shine the words on the back wall. He's always thinking.

A started her sophomore year at college on Monday. So far, so good. She isn't driving her car with the standard transmission yet but there were title issues.

Remember our refrigerator saga from 2 Christmases ago? We are having a dishwasher saga now. We bought a new one and it was leaking. It was determined that there was a crack in the tub. A new tub was ordered and a service call set up. They didn't come to the service call. It was rescheduled and they came today but when they opened the box the new tub had been bent and possibly cracked! So, a new, new tub has been ordered and another service call has been scheduled. Sears in case you are wondering. It's really laughable if you think about it. What are the chances? Apparently high at this house. Too funny!