Graduation Question

Here's a quick survey question:

What's your favorite food that's served at graduation open houses?
Leave your answers in the comment section of this post. I'll be interested to see the responses!

This question comes because in a little over 2 weeks we will have company here for our oldest "child's" (he's not really a child anymore) graduation.

My menu is planned, so don't think I'm that far behind. My house is in the process of being cleaned. Items needed for the open house have been purchased and so has the graduation gift (I hope he likes it). We are looking forward to celebrating with friends and family.

Have a great weekend!

New blog candy spot to check out: Passion for Crafts

She's offering some amazing items. Check it out.

Jessica Lynn digital stamp

A good friend of mine has just been given the title of Design Team Leader for Jessica Lynn designs! I'm so happy for her. You can check out her blog and see the talent that she has that earned her this position: Cow Pies

I found this image on the Jessica Lynn web page and it is a free digital stamp! Yes, you can download the image for free from her website and use it as long as you keep the copyright information with the image. Brentwood Owl - digital download

The color challenge today was to use Real Red, Old Olive, and Black. The challenge can be found here: Color Challenge 216 These colors worked
really well for the image and the theme.

I decided to use a music theme because my son and 25 other kids from the high school are headed to the State Class B Music Contest in Minot this weekend. He is singing in at least 4 different events, including a solo and a duet. I'm so proud of him! I also was asked to ride along on the bus and stay with the kids as an extra chaperone! How cool is that! AND, my daughter, who is a sophomore gets to come as well. It's going to be a great weekend of music and fun!

Sympathy Card

A very good friend of mine lost her father yesterday. She is a music teacher and such a wonderful person. My heart goes out to her and the family. I created this card to send to her.

"Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him." 1 Thessalonians 4:12-13 (NIV)

The card is done for using the sketch challenge on SCS found here: Sketch Challenge

I used the Stampin' Up set called Garden Collage for the main image and Thoughts and Prayers for the sentiment. The main image was stamped twice so as to be able to cut out the bird and attach it with dimensionals for added depth to the image. I colored the image with Stampin' Up markers - Cameo Coral, Blush Blossom, Bashful Blue, and Gable Green. The image was cut out with a Nestabilities set of scallop squares and the Groovy Guava background was done with the same.

My heart goes out to the family. God bless you!

Cookies, Salad, and Soup

Yep, I've been cooking again. This time it's for the wonderful ND National Guard, US Geo. Service, and all the others who are working in our area to keep an eye on our dikes and also to help with the eroding emergency spillway at Lake LaMoure.

Yesterday saw my kitchen put out a HUGE bowl of pasta salad (that's already gone today) and lots of cookies - Chocolate Chip and Snickerdoodles. I sent 12 dozen over to them and saved a few dozen for our family. Tonight, I'll start getting ready to put together a roaster full of Veg. Beef Soup to have there for the noon meal. I sure hope they like it!

I also baked an extra batch of sugar cookies and froze them to send with the High School kids who will be heading to Minot on May 1st for State Music Contest. Shhh! Don't tell Robert and Alisha that there are cookies in the freezer, or they'll eat them between now and then! I also boxed up a care package for one of my brothers in Minnesota, I sure hope he gets more than crumbs by the time they make it thru the mail.

Highway 13 is now open from the west. I used it on Saturday coming home from the Regional Small Group Music Contest in Edgeley. Boy, did that save some time. Here are a couple of pictures as I went thru that area:
By Sunday afternoon, the water that had been over the roadway was gone. Things are slowly improving in the area.

Check out the wonderful blog candy at this blog:
Sugar Crystals


She's also got a lot of wonderful cards and creations as well.

More Flooding Pictures

I thought I'd add a link to some pictures that were taken Thursday of the LaMoure area.

Flooding Pictures

1. LaMoure - looking north
5-17 - Emergency spillway at Lake LaMoure
34 & 36 St. Ansgar Church, south of Lake LaMoure
38-41 - Emergency spillway at Lake LaMoure
42-44 - Lake LaMoure
47 - LaMoure looking northeast
48 - Looking north over the lagoon, just west of LaMoure and just west of the James River
52-55 & 59- Eric Larson home - north of LaMoure on a turn of the James River just before town
56-58 LaMoure - looking south
60-61 - LaMoure
63 - John Deere dealership just east of the James River
64&65&67 - LaMoure school
66 - LaMoure - Trinity is on the left side of the picture

Flooding in the area

Who could have ever imagined that the water could rise so high in the middle of North Dakota?

LaMoure and the county have been suffering the effects of the James River. Here are a few photos that we took today, Wednesday, to share with you.

This is a view of the river on the way out of town to the north.



Driving out of LaMoure to the north.
This area is supposed to be a field.













This is a view of the Hwy 46 bridge over the James River near Adrian.
The water should be only in the narrow area under the bridge.















Here's a view of the sandbagging done at the church and a view from just passed the house adjacent to the church:



























We worked on Saturday to help fill sandbags for a couple of hours. Then, Easter Sunday afternoon the kids and I worked for 3 hours on sandbags again. Tuesday, all 4 of us went to Adrian to check on the church and also move some items and then eventually sandbag the church and 2 other homes in town. Wednesday brought more sandbag filling as well.

There are many new sites in town, new levies to keep out the rising water, closed roads and bridges, National Guard troops to help keep an eye on the levies for leaks, etc.

Keep the people of North Dakota in your prayers and others have it just as bad and worse than we do here in LaMoure County.

God bless all who are fighting water issues and those who are helping and fighting along with us.

Rising Water

Yes, the title is correct. We are looking at the James River rising again here in LaMoure again this weekend and into next week with a crest sometime Wednesday. This time they are expecting a possible crest between 17 and 19 feet - possibly 2 feet higher than in March. The US Corps of Engineers will be coming in with contractors to add to the current dikes, add more dikes and the bridge to the west will be cut off at some point as well.

Please keep the people of North Dakota in your prayers. The flooding is not just in our area, but a great portion of the state. Some of those having the toughest time are those in the more rural areas that are having to sandbag their homes, etc. using their own families, friends and volunteers.

Maundy Thursday

Today is Maundy Thursday, the day when our Lord celebrated the Passover with his disciples before he was betrayed and handover to be crucified.

It's good to remember what Jesus had to suffer for US on that Good Friday. Nothing about that day seems good, except what it earned for us
- forgiven of our sins
- the debt of our sins paid in full at no cost to us
- life eternal in heaven with Him!

These cards were made with images from Our Daily Bread Designs. You have to check out their website for a great selection of stamp sets!


I made these cards to be used for Confirmation's coming up in the very near future.

The challis is colored with Sparkling H2O's and has a sparkly, shiny look to it. The rest of the images are colored with blender pens and ink.






Have a blessed day!

Easter Egg

Easter is only 1 week away. How time does fly!

Our Sunday School will be doing an Easter project tomorrow and we will be using the Easter Egg from this card. We are going to make cards and fill Easter Eggs to send to the residents of the Assisted Living facility across the street from the church.

I think the kids will enjoy coloring Easter eggs and also sharing their creations with these wonderful people.

The stamp is from Holly Berry House and is called The Egg's Egg. For this card, I stamped the image 3 times and cut out layers that are attached with 3M foam mounting squares to give it some depth.

The card is mounted on a Groovy Guava cardbase with Certainly Celery and some SU designer series paper as complimentary layers.

The Easter Wishes sentiment is from the Stampin' Up set called All Holidays.

Blessings to all as we prepare for this Holy Week and remember Jesus' gift that He purchased and won for us on the cross.

Walk by Faith

This verse seems so appropriate for the past couple of weeks and the weeks we have to come.

The water in the river is starting to go down, but there is lots of snow to melt and more water coming from upstream. We are fine and God is good.

This card was done with a verse stamp that Tom picked up for me on a trip to Fargo. I love it's message.

The flowers are done with a Sizzlits die from Stampin' Up that was run thru my Cuttlebug machine. I also used a blender pen to add a little extra color to the inside layers of the pink flower to give it a bit of depth.

Have a great day!

April Fools

I love the challenges on Splitcoast Stamper and one of them is a sketch challenge. The hostess gives a layout and you use that layout to create your own card. Well, this week, it lands on April Fool's Day and she gave an "April Fools" sketch to start out. Well, it got my creative juices running, and this is what I came up with. I hope you like it. I used some of my scrap pieces that are from other projects for the "quilt" and the stitching is done with a pen.