Niagara, part 2 of 3 of our April Round-Robin-Trip

We had beautiful weather and roads as we traveled East to a small town of Niagara, ND.  Just a few miles North to the farm that I call home, where I was brought up and raised.  This was the first visit to the farm and to visit my mother since January when my father past away.  It seemed different knowing he would not be there to give me a big hug as he always had in the past.  I am thankful to have had him in my life for so many years and thankful to still have my mother of over 91 yr old.    

Below is the landmark "Red Barn" from our farm.

 HEY LITTLE CALF, AREN'T YOU ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE FENCE?

 Who Me?   Are you talking to me?

 My mothers brother, Uncle Ed came to visit and make some music. He enjoys having someone to play with and we enjoyed listening and singing along.  He has been playing and singing at retirement and  nursing homes for many years.

 He really liked the sound of Jeffs Mandolin so they traded for a couple songs just to see if he could play it.
He did a pretty good job with a few tips on cords from Jeff.

I just couldn't come home without a visit to my dads grave.  Even though I know He is safe in Heaven in the arms of Jesus I wanted to honor him with a cross that Jeff and I made.  I had to tromp through some deep snow to place the cross but I mostly stayed on the top of the snow drifts.

 We saw amazing wildlife. Just at the end of the farm driveway was a dead deer, more than likely "roadkill".  We watched 4 big beautiful Bald Eagles eating on the deer carcass.   We tried very hard to sneek up for a nice picture but as you can see,  they noticed us way too soon and flew up.  Also, notice the heard of deer in the East field. One evening I counted close to 40 deer.  They were there every evening and sometimes even came right up to the yard, picture window of the house after dark.   We also saw many birds and a fat Raccoon checking out the cat dish for leftovers.

My Niece and her husband have twin girls and a 4 yr old boy.  
We only got to see Kenzie and her mom since the others were sick with stomach flu.  She was as cute as can be and here she is loving on her Uncle David.  We did have a fun gathering with the rest of the family.  Below you can see we are all gathered in my mom's kitchen.  It is always nice to get together. My nephew, Jamie, grilled hamburgers and hotdogs.  Everyone brought a salad, buns and desert and we had way too much to eat.    

 More cute calf pictures.  They were very brave to come quite close for the picture.
 Below are more of Jamie's cattle, cows and calves. The bottom picture is a close up of one of the
 cow's getting a drink of cold water. .

 This is what and who you will find most every morning around my mothers table for coffee.  My sister-in-law, Kathy and my first cousin Harriet are a big help and support for my mom.  Jamie is there several times a day and dose a lot to help mom.
  It makes it easier for me to leave knowing she is cared for and in good hands.

   Speeking about leaving,  We were very happy we had taken the 4 wheel drive Tahoe as we hit a snow storm.  We were snowed in at Watertown overnight and until 10 Am the next day.  We were in a wonderful warm Hilton Hotel with a lot of coffee,  tea, hot chocolate, fruit, treats and full breakfast.

 We did need to clean of the Tahoe and shovel a bit before headed South toward Charitys.

 The roads weren't the best but we drove slow, 35 - 40 MPH 

until we got to Sioux Falls and then then conditions got much better.  

The ice did make the trees very full and beautiful.  There was a lot of damage around the Sioux Falls area.

Coming soon,  part 3 of April Round-Robin trip