An action-packed week!

Things have been busy around the Schraefel farm! Clem has been trying to catch up with the weeds in the summerfallow. They`re dying quickly in this heat. The boys have been keeping the yard up to snuff. And I have been mostly in the garden!

We did take some time to socialize, though. We held the Avoca picnic at our place last Wednesday. Clem's dad's family attended the Avoca school, which was situated one mile north of our farm. The actual school became the Schraefel family home after a fire destroyed the original house in about 1961. The neighbors have kept the community going with monthly lunches and such, and we reinstated the community picnic last year. Everyone had a good time, so we thought we'd try it again. The kids seem to have the most fun, as they should.

Adam and his friend, Tyler, worked up a sweat helping to get things set up, so they took a dip in the dugout. They didn't stay in very long.

Lots of the neighbors came for the potluck supper. Thanks to the Wrights for supplying the hamburgers!

The little kids liked my laundry cart, and the big kids got a fire going to roast marshmallows.


We got everything cleaned up the next day, and headed for Chitek Lake on Friday after the boys found out they successfully completed the school year. My cousin, Chris Parnitsky, had his wedding there. The weather was beautiful (except for the two downpours Friday night while Adam and Stephen were in the tent!) and we all had a great time.
We rented a cabin from Clem's friend, and the boys had fun chopping wood. I'm sure the novelty would wear off if they had to do it for real!

Clem and the boys walked to the lake to try a little fishing on Saturday morning. No luck, but some beautiful scenery.


Saturday afternoon was the wedding itself, and lots of friends and relatives showed up to help celebrate.



What would a Schan wedding be without ``the girls``!

Now who`s looking like Jackie O!

And here`s little Cole, trying to be a photographer with a camera almost bigger than him! He was taking a picture of the real photographer when I snapped this. It was too cute.


Clem and Don seem to be enjoying themselves.



Here`s Derek with Tyler, who belongs to my cousin, Trent Heidt. They are the same age, and they had a good time getting to know one another.
Drake and Cole posed for a photo.


And back at the cabin, more food (before the supper, I might add!) Lots of good company, too!

Derek and Clem were invited to go fishing with Eric Spence, a friend of Clem`s, and fisher extraordinaire. They were out for about 4 hours, and Derek caught 7 fish. Clem and Eric each got 4. Derek must be a natural fisherman, since his biggest catch is getting bigger every time he tells someone about it.




Luckily, Eric is also a filleter extraordinaire, and he cleaned all the fish for the boys. We gave a few to Aunt Linda and Aunt Lorraine, and we fried some up for supper tonight. It was delicious.


It was a great weekend. The boys wanted to stay longer, but we needed to get home and get some things done. Hopefully we will get back there again some time.


It`s certainly a nicer scene than what went over the farm last Monday. Nothing came of it, but it sure looked like tornado weather.


It seems like I put a lot of pictures on here, but there are many left on the camera. Over two hundred! Thank heaven for digital cameras. So you`ll have to literally stop by for a visit if you want to see the rest. You better wait a couple of weeks, though. I`m off to Scotland on Wednesday for a two week holiday with my sister, Lisa. That should give the little camera a good workout!

See you in a couple of weeks!
Chandra