Katie & Michael marry

Time to celebrate! Mr. and Mrs. Michael Tanner start their married life together.

(Pictures compliments of Schanina Tanner Bennett)


Katie and Michael exchange wedding rings.

Proverbs 31:10-12 

"A wife of noble character who can find?  She is worth far more than rubies. Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value.  She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life."

Wedding Preparations

Michael and Katie in the midst of a guy's Tool Party, Girl's flower arranging party, and her birthday party! Tomorrow (08/17/2008) is their Wedding Day.  Katie and Michael waited many years for each other. They are a wonderful example of Matthew 6:33 - " But see ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." During the the wedding ceremony, Katie's message to Michael was that she loved him because he loved God even more than he loved her. As mentioned in their Best Man's wedding toast, may Proverbs 27:17 define their marriage: As Iron Sharpens Iron, so may Michael and Katie Sharpen One Another.

Katie shows the bridal boquet she has just arranged with the help of her many friends

Meet 5+ more family members - what a blessing!

Adri and Jared are planning to present us with a 6th new family member around the 2008 Holiday Season. 

Katie joined our family on August 17, 2008 when she married our 4th born son Michael Allen.
Kristin and Ryan added Michael David to our family on February 3, 2008.
Adri and Jared added Elena to our family on October 1, 2006.

Kristin joined our family on December 17, 2005 when she married our 3rd born son Ryan.
Adri  joined our family September 5, 2004 when she married our 2nd born son Jared. 

Dayton Familfy Get Together

Kevin & Sharon together with their 4 sons for the first time in 4 years. 

L to R: 

BACK - Michael & Ryan 

FRONT - Perry, Kevin, Sharon, Jared

(missing: Adri & Elena, Kristin & Michael David, Katie)

We were sitting by the fireplace preparing for Michael's Groom's Tool Party (guys) and wedding flower arranging with Katie (girls) when I viewed a rare glimpse of our 4 sons together & asked for a quick snapshot. We also planned to do a formal photograph of our entire family together (our girls and grandchildren included) at Michael & Katie's wedding. However, illness caused Ryan (the original best man) and Sharon to be out of commission; we were unable to be together on the wedding day for a group photo. 

Bubbles

Bompa Kevin makes big bubbles for granddaughter Elena.  Elena and her parents, Adri & Jared, paid us a visit in South Dakota. It was a rare treat to have one of our Air Force sons come to our home.  Jared & Adri were able to see 1st hand what a wonderful town Faulkton is.  Now their family is moving to Fairchild AFB at Spokane, WA where Jared will be flying the KC-135.

Sweet moments

Phylis, Kevin, and Adri threw me (Sharon) a surprise 60th birthday party at Orin & Phylis's home. They totally fooled me. Some of my favorite people were there:

Kevin

Jared, Adri, Elena

Orin & Phylis

Dwight & Denise

Ellen

Joel

Char, Brandi, Jori

What life is all about - sharing life with those special to us.

Me too!

The chicken house's roof and fascia were finished last week also.

Outbuildings Done!

Roy Holmberg finished the soffits, fascia, and roof of our quonset. We no longer see daylight when we walk into the building.

Steel Working

  First picture: Kevin removed the old shingles from the Chicken House, put new OSB 4X8 sheets on the west side, and is now nailing each board down.  He then covered the Chicken House with a fabric to waterproof. The roof is now ready for Roy Holmberg to cover with steel.

Middle picture: Roy Holmberg is in the far left, putting steel on the south side of the quonset. He also put gray steel on the soffit and fascia.

Last picture: Roy Holmberg is putting siding on the east gable of the quonset. It matches the house.

A Bail Out and a Fall Out

The BAIL OUT. Dad Hilton's tractor has been in the quonset for years. Kevin decided to start it (took a while to figure that out since it had to be done manually). Then he drove it over to Bruce Wherry's, filled up the tires, and then parked it in back of the quonset. I remember Dad moving snow with this tractor, and giving us rides in the front bucket it had.

A FALL OUT. Yesterday, the Faulkton Farmers' Elevator had structural failure and lost a massive amount of grain. What a blessing that no one was hurt. They called Jim Melius to see if he could use some of the spilled grain; he said "no" since it would have concrete in it. So sad to see THE Landmark of Faulkton damaged!

July Happenings

Greetings! 

Kevin & I went to Harr Motors in Aberdeen to get some touch up paint for our car. It happened to be their Grand Opening. They encouraged us to sign up for a free trip or gas card. The next week they called up & told us we could have a NASCAR trip to Kansas City or a $1500 gas card. Guess which one we chose! Now we can drive with that $4.00/gallon gas  to our son Michael's wedding & family reunion in August.

These are "The Girls" in my exercise coffee group. 

L to R: 

Linda Vogel

Virgene Wagner

Rosalie Vogel

Sharon Tanner

Each morning we meet at 5:50 AM to exercise for 1/2 hour. Then we visit until 7 AM.  Our social time is at BerMac's during the summer and at the Community Center in the Winter. I appreciate their friendship.

Wild West Days: Where the action is!

On July 3rd, the Melius cousins gather after the 212 Cafe Thursday breakfast. Faulkton is sparkling clean, decorated, and ready for a celebration!

   Bill Melius prepares his wagon for the Wild West Days 4th of July parade. He is in Jim Melius' large back yard.  The wagon and horse team are new, recently purchased by Bill for this occasion.

   The day before this photo, Bill had a haircut, so he would be freshly groomed for today's festivities.

   Bill Melius is taking his wagon & team for the first test drive before the parade. 

    The horses are a mix of Clydesdale & Percheron. The team is unbroken, so we all held our breath when Bill single-handedly maneuvered the massive animals into position to pull the wagon.

    At 6 AM, we parked our pickup in front of Main Street's Mini Mall, next to the parade announcer, so we could enjoy all the action. Brenda & Lee Bruns join Sharon in the truck bed.

   The young families are in front of us, helping the children gather candy thrown from parade participants. You'd think it was Halloween, but much more festive.

Bill Melius now drives his new team and wagon on Main Street by our truck. He purchased $100 of candy for this celebration - and throws fist fulls our way. Note the side riders (3 in all) carefully watch Bill's "unbroken" team. We don't want a stampede, especially since Bill's grandchildren are in the wagon.

Come join us for future Wild West Days!

Slideshow comments

    Kevin is enjoying the slide show on the right. He notices that all the Melius men have the same hairline - that they have hair! Some of the Tanner pictures are not perfectly labeled. Eg, is Doris with Harry really Doris with Harry Perry's father? And what was Harry's father's name? 

    I am going to give Kevin my computer to sharpen up photo comments. Kevin said he can date Willard's pictures by his hair line! 

The Berm Progresses

Sharon is putting mulch on the new front yard berm. Maybe the new plantings will get more moisture & survive when we are at Michael & Katie's wedding. 48 more days!

Birth of a nursery

Kevin is moving dirt with his skid steer from our west yard to the "new nursery" in our back yard. Now for the baby plants!

Benefit of wisdom

"He who pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity, and honor." Proverbs 21:21

 May God grant this wisdom to each of you.

Starting a front yard berm

These 3 pictures were taken at the start of our front yard berm project. Dad's pet rock needs a new resting place. With his skidsteer,  Kevin gathered the dirt into a mound which we are now shaping into a berm. A prairie fire crabapple (bare root) has been planted on this berm. We have spent our budget this year. Next year, we will put perenials on the berm, lay pavers, plant grass.

Introduction

Greetings!  Kevin & I are experimenting with this "blog" idea.  Adri & Jared have been our inspiration. Hopefully, this blog will be a satisfying way to communicate with family & friends who are interested.

We would love to hear your comments.