Iowa pictures

Here are the pictures I promised from Iowa. This is my dad (in the middle) with his two brothers.



From left to right this is me, my mom, my aunt (dad's sister) and her husband. This was taken in a steak house that had very good steaks.



My dad wanted to show me the Middleburg Cemetery, where his parents, aunts, and baby sister are buried. It was a lovely day, and a very beautiful setting; very peaceful and quiet.



Here's my grandparents' gravestone. The date of my grandfather's death is 1935. My dad hardly remembers him... even though he does have a memory of being in that place during the funeral.



Here's the gravestone of his baby sister. She only lived for a month. Even after 80 years that was very sad. There were several gravestones with little lambs on them, all of infants.



Here is a picture of the bustling metropolis of Middleburg (or should I say smallville?); picture taken from the cemetary. There was a store there when my dad was young, a couple of churches, and maybe 1/2 dozen houses.



I was a little surprised that I didn't remember how beautiful NW Iowa is; rolling hills and "fruited plains." On our way there and back we went through windmill farms:



(The box on the top of this windmill is as big as a car!)

The family was very happy we were back. Here's P modeling a Halloween ensemble, a witches hat, a spider bracelet, and a self-propelled broom.



He greeted me with a litany of disasters that happened while I was gone: P & C and momma got locked out of the garage and were late to school (that one was my fault); math homework was a bear one night (it took two adults and a boy to solve the story problem); and "someone" dropped the toothpaste in the toilet. Hopefully everything will be better now I am back. It is nice to be missed.