NBC-10-Philadelphia-kimwolterman

our wedding day

Yesterday was our 35th wedding anniversary. Wow! That just seems amazing to me. We got married in Des Moines in a church with no air conditioning - always a gamble in the heat of August. On the night before our wedding the hot and humid day ended with a burst of thunder and lightning, accompanied by heavy rains. Many times that results in more uncomfortable weather the next day. But our wedding day was perfect. The blue sky contained white, puffy clouds and the temperature was in the 70's. Though Jim's tuxedo doesn't seem so now, it was quite fashionable for the day. I made my wedding dress, and my mom crocheted the lace on it. With the people we cared about the most gathered around us, we professed our love and vowed to stay together in good times and in bad. The vows were ones we took very seriously, but I can honestly say the good times have far outweighed the bad. I am eager to see what comes next for us as a couple.

Prairie View Bed & Breakfast

Over the past weekend we drove up to the Lake Panorama area in Iowa to celebrate my father-in-law's 85th birthday. Some friends of the family own a condo on the lake, so the folks and Jim's sister stayed there. We stayed at a bed & breakfast outside of the town of Panora. The B & B was very nice and we enjoyed talking with the owners as well as the other guests who were staying there. Three women were sharing the large suite across the hall from us. They have been friends for 47 years and they try to get together once a month.

sunset on the lake

At the lake we were able to take boat rides, and Jim and I took a jet ski out Saturday afternoon. I was driving because I have control issues. Which is why you will never see me behind Jim on his motorcycle! We had been out about 15 minutes when I got pulled over by the water patrol. I have never even been pulled over by a cop before, so I was stunned. I had only been going 18-20 miles per hour as we like looking at the houses along the shore, so I knew I wasn't speeding. I had been coming around a bend and was watching out for the two speed boats heading my way pulling water skiers. Apparently that is when I went outside the buoy instead of on the inside of it. and just my luck, the water patrol was sitting right there. So he asked me to pull up to his boat, which I was afraid of hitting because it is hard to steer a jet ski on choppy waters when you aren't giving it any gas. Then he made polite chit-chat about how nice the day was (and it was beautiful - or had been) before asking if we owned the jet ski. We told him it was our friends, and he then wanted to know if we were new to jet skiing. I admitted that I was, so he went on to explain that I had missed the buoy, and why that was important. Then he told me it was a $50 fine. Whoa! But he added that he wasn't going to ticket me and just suggested that we might like to stay in the wide open area by the marina where they don't have any buoys. But he did write down the jet ski number so I knew I was going to have to 'fess up when we got back. When the owner asked if we had enjoyed our ride, I said it was all fun and games until the point when I was pulled over by the water patrol. Her mouth dropped open. I told her I didn't get a ticket, just a warning, and explained what had happened. Then everyone had a good laugh about it. I had a fuzzy navel instead.

The weekend passed quickly. We had lots to eat and got caught up on what everyone has been up to since we were last together. We got a few card games in as well. We did not leave Iowa until 4:00 Sunday afternoon, which got us back home at 11:00 p.m. With all the great food over the weekend and the fact that we were so tired, we decided not to go out to eat last night for our anniversary. Instead I made a nice roast and some lemon bars for dessert. We will celebrate another day, and in fact will probably take a trip later this year. In the meantime, happy anniversary baby, got you on my mind...

Jim & Kirby

On Saturday Jim and I drove up to my in-law's house in northeastern Iowa to celebrate Christmas this year. It was the first time in 27 years that we did not have either one of our children with us for the actual holiday. Just like we have done in our 34 years of marriage, Andy and Megan alternate which set of parents gets them for Christmas. They drove to Indiana this year. And since Katie is in Los Angeles with a newer job, she has no paid vacation time not to mention the fact that it would have taken her three flights to get to the closest airport in Iowa. She is flying to St. Louis tonight, and Andy and Megan are driving here from Indiana to spend a couple of nights with us before heading back to Indiana. So we will celebrate our Christmas a little bit late, but we know we are lucky that we can make this happen at all.

In addition to our kids being missing from the activities in Iowa this year, Jim's younger sister was unable to drive up from Kansas City due to work commitments, and his older sister (who lives in the same town as his folks) was so sick that she ended up going to the hospital to get some antibiotics. We did not get to see her and her family until dinner time on Christmas Eve. Though there were several inches of snow on the ground, all of those things added up to it not feeling too much like Christmas. We even went to Christmas Eve Mass at 4:00 in the afternoon, and that was different as well.

Despite all that we had a wonderful visit and of course ate way too much. Jim's mom is such a great cook, and I have little will power when her wonderful cinnamon buns and brownies are placed in front of me. We were able to begin videotaping Jim's mom as she reminisced about her early life, and that was something we all had been wanting to do. We have much more to cover, and we would like to get my father-in-law recorded as well. All in all, a great start to the holiday season and we are eager to see the kids tonight to continue the celebration.

On September 12th my niece's father-in-law died at the nursing home where he had been staying for the past couple of years. Ralph was 88 years old, but his mind and body had checked out a while back. I last saw him at our family Christmas gathering, and he was in tough shape then. One thing that hadn't faded was his sense of humor. He was quite a character! As Ralph and his wife Emily had no church of their own, my niece's pastor offered to have the funeral at their church in Cahokia. It was very touching and moving, especially considering the pastor had only met Ralph on a couple of occasions. One particular statement he made has stayed with me. "We can spend time or we can waste time, but we can never make time." As a veteran Marine of both WWII and the Korean War, Ralph was eligible to be buried at Jefferson Barracks Cemetery. They provided a full military ceremony, complete with the firing of the rifles and the playing of Taps. A military funeral is something that touches everyone in attendance, and there were no dry eyes in our group. R.I.P. Ralph - you earned it.

My mother-in-law turns 80 tomorrow, and we all traveled to Iowa last weekend to celebrate with her. Jim and I stopped at the St. Louis University Lay Education Center near Bowling Green on our way up to see what that was all about. It is a sculpture garden, and it has a cemetery next to it that was established in 1831. Very interesting! We also stopped at a few barn quilts on the way so that I could take some photographs. Unfortunately the day was dreary and we were on a bit of a schedule, so I only got to photograph 4 of them.

On Friday we attended the Charles City homecoming parade. It was fun to see all the kids in the parade, and strange to think that Jim would have been on the flatbed truck with the other football players more than 30 years ago. Saturday we hit the Farmer's Market in the morning and a quilt show in the afternoon before going to Mass. That night 10 of us took Lorraine out to supper in nearby New Hampton. Great food! Sunday Jim's sister had us all over for brunch before we had to leave for home.

Monday of this week my brother-in-law turned 65. On Saturday Jim and I will have 12 people here for a barbecue to celebrate this milestone. Emily will come, but we sure will miss Big Ralph!