Fond Memories... and I have a winner!

Hello, I am back from the Hills and it was so good to spend time with my mother and husband. We visited loved ones and places we once loved that are now gone and just fond memories. My grandparents farm house is gone along with all the old buildings just the trees still stand and slabs of cement where the chicken coop once stood. 
My in town grandparents house is gone also  but the garage and grainery is still standing. Main street is gone,  just one original building is left and one elevator. It was good to walk down the gravel roads and see the landscape, that they can't tear down and I still can see what it looked like from my childhood perspective. The general store where I could walk up town from my grandparents house and get penny candy and sunflower seeds.  My grandfather was a blacksmith in town and he also had acreage he farmed. I was the first grandchild so I have many wonderful memories of his laughter while teasing and playing with me. I remember he would take me up town to the bar on main street, it was more a social gathering place than a bar, it had a potbelly stove and an ice cream counter. I would listen to all the farmers sitting around that stove playing cards and talking, mostly about the weather, while eating my ice cream and wondering what that "stuff" was in the pots on the floor by the bar.

Here is what is left of my childhood...

Population 65

Looking down main street...

Farmers Union gas station, the only building left.

This is all that is left of the school my mom and dad attended. All grades including high school, they met here - fell in love here and married on an overnight pass during WWII.

The town itself was very clean and kept up, they have tore down all the old buildings that needed repair. We talked to a few people we still knew in town and a lot of the houses had water damage from too much rain including my grandparents home.

 This is all that is left of my dads home, the garage, grainery and the barbecue pit my grandfather made. 

(couldn't resist that chippiness)!

My moms mom moved from the farm when she couldn't manage any longer, to a house in town across from my grandparents house here. That house was gone also.

The church has been added onto but it basically looks the same. I remember walking to this church from my grandparents home down the street. I can still taste the snowflakes on my tongue as I walked hand in hand with my grandmother on Christmas eve, so excited to see the Christmas play.

And last a visit to the cemetery...

 My mother's entire family is here...

...and on to the Badlands and the Hills. I will just let you look at the beauty of the prairie. There is something so peaceful about the openness of the prairie that I find soothing to my soul.

Headed for Deadwood...

We stayed in one of the older hotels in town called The Franklin. Deadwood is so rich with the old west culture, my husband and I love the history. And I of course love the old stuff period. All the hotels in town have open gaming and my husband had to try his luck at Black Jack... but I am afraid Lady Luck was not smiling on him.

Mom and I relaxed...

 Thanks for coming down memory lane with me and sharing a little of my vacation.

I now have the winner of the 500 follower GiveBack...

and the winner is,

Terri Gordon of Terri Gordon Designs
Please visit Terri, she has a wonderful blog and she is showing many wonderful handmade treasures right now.


I am also getting ready for the Christmas Open House event at Horton's in Tipton IN. November 6th, if  you are anywhere around the area don't miss it. Donna at Everyday Elegance has been working so hard on all her handmades and any event she puts together is spectacular.

I will leave you with a few pictures from a family wedding we attended before we left on vacation. It was my ex-husbands daughter and some of the grandkids were in it. I can't resist... 
This is what happens when you only get a chance to blog once a week... a very long post,  sorry friends. This is where you might want to take a break...

Leah as flower girl

Savannah as flower girl

Zachary as greeter

Luke as greeter

Sam as usher

Dancing with daddy

Zachary dancing with sister

Hanging out with Grandpa

My angels

My son James, daughter Jody and Savannah

Daughters, Nicole - Kerri - Sarah

Sarah and her lovely family

Bride and Groom
Cassie and Nate

 and finally...

I also want to include an article from the Chicagoland newspaper, 
The Daily Herald 
that came out yesterday. It is on the history of our home and some pictures of it. 
Thank you Sammi, for putting my thoughts and your research down into such wonderful words.

  Thanks for hanging in there!
Many Blessings
Rebecca