Devan the Deerslayer

Everyone has seen deer, but this was Devan's year for getting the big ones to come past him.  The first one was during muzzle-loader season..... a 10 point with 16" spread.

And the 2nd one was the last weekend of shot gun season in Nov.  Another 10 point (it had a broken brow tine if you are only seeing 9 points) with a 19" spread.

Now he can only shoot a doe.  

Back to school

After searching most of the summer, Dwight now has his own wheels.  He ended up with a 2008 Honda Accord with just over 100,000 miles.  Hopefully it does him well for a few years.

 And here he is getting ready to head off on his first trip to OH all by himself.

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Renae and Devan are excited to be back to school too, although they would say that they are not....  This is Renae's last year of high school and Devan is a sophomore.

Extended Family Time

We enjoyed some extra family time with the Helmuths this summer.  First was a Miller family reunion (Jolene's Mom's family) which was held in Minnesota. 

These are Jolene's aunts & uncles that were there.

This is all of Jolene's immediate family except for 4 grandchildren.

1st cousin puzzle time

Even had time for a bit of fishing on Bray Lake by the cabin.

Enough for a fish fry!

Then, a few weeks later, most of the Helmuths traveled east for Darryn & Danae's wedding.  We shared a house along the Youghiogheny River in Confluence, PA, and enjoyed a bit of hiking after the wedding.

We were thankful that Bill & Joy's families were able to come on to DE for two more nights.  We were able to enjoy a day at the beach and a crab feast together.  

Cape Henlopen

Photo credit for most of these pictures goes to Jolene's sister, Joy.  Thank you!

June 29, 2019

It's been awhile since we have had any updates on our blog.... but here is one on the biggest, main event of the summer..... Darryn & Danae's wedding.

The celebration was on Mt. Davis in PA at the Maust Memorial Cabin.... a cabin owned by Danae's extended family.... not far from Salisbury, PA. 

The lovely couple....

The weather was great....

The attendants were looking sharp.....

The bride radiant....

The food delicious.....

And the fellowship sweet.

Welcome to our family, Danae!

Death Valley

The end of January, Lyn & I had a wedding in Las Vegas.  We decided to take an extra day to spend in Death Valley National Park.  What a unique part of the country.  Winter is a perfect time to visit there.... it was 75* instead of the 120*+ of the summer.

Some areas reminded us of the Badlands in ND.

There is a glimpse of the salt flats in the valley.

The Sand Dunes

This area had 14 acres of beautiful soft beach sand.  The only thing missing was the water & waves.  It seemed very out of place among the rock mountain terrain and desolate flats.

Shorts would have felt good!

We walked out a ways on Badwater Basin.

A view of Badwater Basin from Dante's View

Artist's Palette

This area had many different colors of rock.

It's another National Park we can cross off our list of places to go and it was a relaxing, much needed day away.

And the reason we went to Vegas in the first place was to celebrate with Lyn's great niece, Holly, & Luis on their special day.

This was after the "money dance."  

A Spanish tradition.

Our gang

Here is probably the last family picture of us while the kids are all still single.  So glad they humored me and squeezed in time for this on Thanksgiving Day.

Dwight (18), Ericka (21), Lyn, Jolene, Devan (14), Renae (16), Darryn (23)

Photo credit: Esther Mast

Engaged!

This is old news, but in case you haven't heard, Darryn popped the question on Dec. 23rd and Danae (Mast) said, "Yes!"  A June 29, 2019, wedding is being planned.

Photo credit:  Esther Mast, Nov. 2018

Aunt Viola

This week Lyn & I made a trip to Walnut Creek, OH for a business retreat.  This was being held about 10 minutes from my Aunt Viola's house.  After a bit of encouragement from Mom, I decided to see if I could get up with her and touch base at least a bit.

Let me just say that it was the highlight of the weekend.  Aunt Viola seems to be doing well and at 80 years of age, was just hired this week full time at her job which she has worked "temporarily" at for several years.  She works at a factory where she does soldering.  It's my impression that she is very good at what she does and the company sees her as a great asset.

Viola spends the week at her daughter Leann's house more than an hour away which is near where she works, and then spends the weekends at her home in Sugarcreek.  It worked perfectly that she got back home on Friday about the time that we had a 2 hr. break.  I went to her house and she showed me around.  Here is the front door which my Dad made the glass inserts for.

From the inside

The light didn't want to cooperate right, but you can still see what a beautiful door it is!

She took me on her elevator down stairs and showed me two quilts that she has been working on for her children.  They are so neatly done.  I found out that she has put these together totally by hand sewing... NO SEWING MACHINE!!  She will have an Amish lady quilt them for her.

This one is called a Missouri log cabin (I think).  It needs borders on it yet.

This one is done and is being marked for quilting.

Her son, Lamar, and his family are living with her in Sugarcreek.  They have 4 young children.  Lamar has his office there at the house, and I was able to talk with him as well for a bit.

I invited Viola to join us for supper at the Der Dutchman, which she readily agreed to, so that gave Lyn & I another hour to talk more with her.  During this time, she showed us pictures of cookies that she decorated this past year.  These cookies were works of art.  The next morning I got a call from her that she had left something hanging on our truck mirror for us.  She mentioned that it was fragile so we waited until we were home until we opened it.  The gift was several of her "left over" cookies.

Look at the details...

This star one made her think of my Dad (her brother).....

My two teenagers wondered if they could eat them.  Ummm....No!  I am planning to preserve them and make tree ornaments out of them.  They will be a treasure to me.

I know that my Aunt Viola has not had an easy life.  There are many, many things that have been hard and disappointing and even things currently that are not as she would like them to be.  However, I was challenged by her ability to find beauty and happiness in life and feel like somehow her creative outlets have helped bring healing and balance to the craziness.  And it was a reminder to me to keep in touch with my aunts & uncles if I am able while they are still with us.  Their lives are rich with experience.