Poor Poor Puppy.....

Poor, poor Dexter had to go to the vet today. He kept scratching at his ears non-stop so I figured he might have an ear infection. I was right :( he has ear infections in both his ears. It is the first time I have had to take him to the vet for anything other then grooming and his regular shots. He was not happy with the vet. He did okay when she looked in his ears but then when she came back to put the medicine  in he was having none of it. He tried to bite her. She had to call the vet tech in to hold him while she got it in. I am not looking forward to doing it tomorrow. At least it is only once a day and only for 4 more days. He was so sad when we got home. It cost me $111. for this 10 minute visit. It cost me $48.15 just to walk in the door. Who comes up with these prices anyhow. It can't just be $48.00 they have to add the extra .15 cents.

Last night I met Erica and Theresa in Owatonna for supper and a movie. It was great to visit with them again. We do not see enough of each other. We saw Hope Springs. It was a pretty good movie but it was a lot more serious then the previews lead you to believe.

I have been busy building Josie a doll house for Christmas. It is a kit that I got at a garage sale last year for $5.00. I was going to get it made for her last year but never got to it, so this year I started early. I have got it almost all the way done. I have to get some stain for the shingles and then I can get them on and the rest of the trim. After that it will be ready to paint and put flooring in. I think she will love it! I am going to get some dolls and furniture for it too. Now I have to find a place to hide it until Christmas.

I am back working weekends again. As always I am sad to have go work them. I wish I could have every Sunday off. It is my favorite day to just be with Rick and do what ever we want.

I was going to run a race on the 29th of Sept. but we decided to squeeze one more camping trip. We are going to go to Beaver Creek Valley State Park  near Caledonia. It is only 2 hours away and I guess they have lots of hiking trails and lots of trout fishing. It should be a good weekend getaway.

I gave in today and turned my air back on. I was going to try and hold out until tomorrow when it gets to 90 but I drank a caffeinated coffee this morning and it put me into a huge hot flash, so the air came on. It is only suppose to be hot for two days so hopefully we can turn it back off on Friday.

We have had a doe and her three fawns coming up to the house the last few days. Yesterday in the middle of the afternoon they were here. The dogs were going crazy barking and when I went out to stop them the deer were here. They just stood there and looked at me and then slowly walked away. I sure wish I could shoot them.

I guess I better get to the store and get some paint and stain for the doll house.

Later
Sharon

Who needs to sit down......

We had a weekend with really no big plans but ended up doing tons of fun stuff. Saturday Rick and I picked up Amy at 7:45 and made our way to Owatonna to run the Steele County Fair 4 mile run. Well Amy and I ran it Rick just watched. I ran it in about the time I thought I would. They have not put up the official results yet but as I ran across the finish line the timer said 37:37. That is about a 9:34 pace. That is about what I have been running, not as fast as I would like but since I hardly ran all of July I am happy with it. The last time I ran this race was in 2006 when I was in super good shape and ran at least 5 days a week I ran it in 31:10 at a 7:77 pace. I would love to be in that kind of shape again, of course it was just about a month after that race I was put on the sideline because I got a stress fracture in my leg. So I guess I should just be happy I can run at all. I now try and run three times a week and try to be happy with that! Oh Amy did good in the race also, coming in right behind me. I keep telling her if she beats me in a race I am going to have to quit running them......We have a couple more races this year for her to try :) 

 After we got home from the race we decided that it was time to move our deer stands. The land we hunted at in New Richland got sold and the new owners will not let us hunt in it anymore. Rick has been hunting in it for at 10-15 years so he was pretty bummed. He had two ladder deer stands in the woods that we need to get out. The picture above is the wood we took them out of. We had to get them down and apart and then carry them out across the bean field. It was a long ways! I carried the ladder parts and the braces. At first I said oh these are not to heavy.....then we started walking. By the time I got to the truck my arms were tired!

 Next we went to the other farm where we hunt in New Richland and put up on of the stands. Once again we had to walk over a half mile through a bean field to get to where we wanted to put it up. At least this time we were only moving one stand. And I was very grateful that they did not have corn planted this year! Once we got there we put it all back together and got it all set up. We forgot the saw in the truck and neither one of us wanted to go back and get it so we will have to do a little trimming when we go back.

 Rick is up in the deer stand after it is all up and pretending he has his bow :)

 Not a very good picture of me but I put it up because I am wearing my Vote No shirt and I am going to take every opportunity to remind you how important it is to Vote NO in November.

 After we left New Richland we moved unto Faribault to Dad's woods to put up the last deer stand. We also put out a new salt block. You can see from the picture above the deer have been going crazy at the spot where the old one was. I am actually going to have my ground blind by the salt block.

 We found the perfect tree for this stand. We both have seen lots of deer in the area when we hunted here the last couple of years. Hopefully we have good luck this year.

 Here is the view from the stand.

Can you see the stand in the tree? I think we have a good spot.

After all of that we finally made it home and spent the night on the couch watching a little UFC.

Sunday was another great day. We decided to take our bike down to Mankato and bike the Red Jacket trail. It is one of our favorite trail to go on since it is so close. We biked 29 miles. I told Rick we should have biked up and down the trail another mile so we could make it 30 miles....it just sound better then 29.
When we got back to town we decided to head on over to Owatonna for the Steele Count Fair. I had never been there and everyone is always telling me I should go so I figured I better. Really what I wanted to go for is to look at all the campers. I have hopes that in 3-5 years we can upgrade to a better camper. I want one with a bathroom in :) I did not even eat anything bad at the fair, the only thing I got was a root beer float. It was delish.

Yesterday I spend the whole day cleaning. The house needed it! I also lifted yesterday  it was tuff since I have been slacking on lifting and doing more running. Plus I was sore from dragging the deer stands all over.

Today I went for a 5 mile run and then I did a little baking. We have a neighborhood supper to go to tonight so I made some bars to bring.

That is about it. I have to work tomorrow :( I sure wish they would pay me to stay home!

Later Sharon

Grandparents

Firetruck!

 Oliver enjoying his very first paddle boat ride with Grandpa Rick and Daddy

 Mitch giving Oliver his very first 4-wheeler ride. He cried when it was done because he wanted to keep going!

 Night time on the lake

 Rick was playing with the camera and all the different settings and took a million pictures of the fire. We all laughed at him but some of them are pretty cool looking.

 Linda and Beth

 Oliver wanted to play the ring toss game too and Great-Grandpa had to talk him into giving the ring back.

 Finally he got to play rings!

Rick was having lots of fun playing football with the Slinger boys!


Well we are back home from vacation again. It is so sad to back home and know the next vacation I am going to get is in February when we go to Vegas. I am not even going to get to go to the IA Pro-Am this year because it is my weekend to work. It is a good thing that I had lots of fun this weekend!

We got up to Diane and Rod's around 11:30 on Thru. Christa, Jese and Oliver followed us up so we pulled in together. It was cold and windy when we go there but that was just fine with me. I am totally sick of the hot weather so cold was great! It was in the upper 40's at night so it was soooo nice sleeping.

The rest of the weekend was beautiful. It was sunny and in the low 70's  Everyone played games, went fishing, 4-wheeling and just relaxed. It was Oliver's first camping trip so he was having lots of first. His first night in the tent was a little ruff but after that he was very good. He took all of his naps and slept well at night. We got to meet Jeff's boyfriend CJ, he is very nice and he managed to survive spending the weekend with all of us!

We had some fun nights by the fire. Jese got to celebrate his birthday up there so we all had to stay up to help him celebrate. Everyone got pretty silly.

Rick got to do some fishing, which he was very happy about. The fish were not really biting but he did get enough for us to bring home a meals worth. I did not go fishing at all. I could have a couple of times but I let Jese go so he could get some fishing time in too.

We always have a great time up at Diane and Rod's and next time we go up we need to plan a little bit longer trip. There is so many bike trails in the area that we really want to try but only being there 2 full days there is not enough time. Next time we go up for sure we will have to go at least one more day. Well that is if they will have us.... I was not a good sister and left without saying goodbye to Diane and Linda since they were out on a walk when we left. I am sure I will never hear the end of it since I already got a lecture from Mom about it :(

 We had an uneventful trip home yesterday other then it rained. It was raining lightly when we got home so we had to unpack the camper in the rain. I hate that because then we cannot put it back down until it is all dried out.

It is back to work for me tomorrow. I acutely have to work my full rotation this week. It will probable kill me...

Later Sharon

Yearly Checkup

Once again it was time for my yearly checkup. So being the responsible person that I am I made my appointment for the checkup and my mammogram. On Thursday I had the mammogram and on Friday I had the yearly checkup. I am happy to say that my mammogram came back clean so at least my boobs are in good shape :)
In the last month I had a couple bouts of severe bloating that have lasted 3-4 days. Now I just figured it was from eating something I should not have and did not think to much about it other then it really hurt. Well I had a bout of it last week and was still feeling it when I went to the Dr. on Friday so I mention it to her. First she said I most likely need to take more fiber, which makes sense to me. Then she pushed on my lower abdomen and it hurt like crazy. So then she decided that I  HAD to have a CT scan to make sure I did not have diverticulitis . She said she wanted to eliminate the possibility of it  before I had my colonoscopy that I get to have since I turned 50 this year. Well of course I said okay since the Dr. knows best. So I had to take off work on Monday and go have the CT scan. Yesterday I got the results back.....yep you guessed it, it came back fine. I am very grateful that I do not have diverticulitis because that is not something I want but I am not happy that I am going to have to pay for 20% of the CT scan to tell me that more then likely I just need to eat more fiber. I am not even mad at the Dr. for ordering it because she is just doing her job and using the tools she has to make the correct diagnosis,  but I just wish it was not going to cost me another $400-$600. 
Next Monday I get to have a Dexa scan, which is a test to measure your bone density. My doctor already warned me that my insurance will more then likely not pay for the test but she really thinks I should have it. I am considered high risk. My orthopedic doctor also wanted me to get it. So I am getting it done.
And lastly there is the colonoscopy. The doctor that does them in Faribault is booked out until November so at least I have a couple of months before that. Maybe by then I will have all the other test paid for.

Well enough of that. We are on going on vacation again. We are going up north to Diane and Rods house on Thur. morning for the weekend. I am looking forward to getting away again, but am very sad that it will my my last vacation until we go to Vegas in Feb. I guess I better take a few months off from vacations so I can build up my vacation time again.

 Saturday was Oliver's 1st birthday party. Here is a picture of him enjoying his very own birthday cupcake! He was a very happy boy and loved all is new toys he got.

 Josie has been growing and growing her hair. She has not had it cut in a long long time as you can see in the picture. She finally told Amy that she wanted it cut now and even tried to do it herself on Saturday. So Amy made her an appointment and had it cut. She had 10 inches cut off and even donated it to Locks of Love. Who would have thought that at 3 years old she would have so much hair. Amy did not have any hair until she was almost 2 years old. She looks super cute in her new hair cut.

 Eli also had his very first hair cut. Amy tells me he sat very still for it, what a good boy :)

I figured I better put up a picture of Liam too so here it is....

So that's it. Have a great weekend everyone and I will update again after my vacation. 

Later Sharon 

Not Ready To Say Goodbye........

I have been so luck  to have so many living relatives in my life. I have not had a relative die on the Becker or Trenda side since 1979 when my Grandma Becker died. All my aunts, uncles, cousins , sisters, nieces, nephews parents and even two of my Grandparents were all living.  That changed on Friday when I found out the my Aunt Joann  died unexpectedly. She was a mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister and aunt and will be missed by all of us.

I am not ready to say goodbye..........


Later Sharon

Back From Vacation....

 Sorry it has taken me so long to update. It is always so hard to get back into the groove of things when you get back. We had a wonderful time and once again cannot wait to go back. We left Waseca at 5:00 A. M. Hannah decided to jump in our truck since it is a little more comfy then Jane and Paul's truck. On the way out we did the Bad Land loop. The picture above is of Rick's truck at one of the stops on the loop.

 On day two we went for a 15 mile bike ride on the Mickelson Trail . Rick and Paul dropped me and the bikes off in Custer and then they dove to Hill City and left Rick's truck there. It was nice to be able to ride the trail only one way. The picture above is one of the many beautiful views we had from the trail.

 This is me wishing I had biked a lot more before coming out to SD. The first 5 miles of the trail were up hill. I realized just how out of biking shape I am! Good thing we got to go down hill for most of the rest of the trip. It was a quick but fun bike ride. Next year when we go out I am going to be in better biking shape so we can do the trail from Deadwood to Rochford. It is the hardest part of the trail because you have to go up hill for something like 12 miles . It will be something to work up to next year :)

 This is picture of the trailhead sign for the 15 miles we biked. We got to see Crazy Horse from the trail, it was pretty neat to get a different view of it. That is the thing about the bike trail, unless you are on it you never get to see the sights we saw. You really miss a lot if you just see the sights from your car. Make me want to stay in shape so I can continue to bike and hike!

 Here is a picture of Paul, Jane and Hannah on Needles Highway. After biking we went back to camp and met up with them again. After a late lunch we took off for Needles Highway and then went on the Wildlife loop in Custer State Park .

 I am very happy to say that we saw tons of buffalo this time!

 We also got to see lots of burros. As you can see this one was very hungry! We brought carrots just to feed them. I know it says you are not suppose to feed the animals but it is okay to feed them carrots :)

 On day three of the trip Rick and I decided that we were going to go for a hike while Paul, Jane and Hannah went to see Mount Rushmore. I had done some research and found that the Harney Peak Trail  was the one we should do. This is a picture of the beginning of the trail. We were going to go up the trail on trail #9 but by mistake we took trail #4 up. This is not surprising since we both tend to get lost. We figured it out after we were about half way up. Anyhow I am glad we did it that way since trail number #4 is a much more scenic trail then number #9 and also we only saw a few people on the trail on the way up. We saw a doe and her two fawns also on the way up. We almost walked right by them.

 This is Rick on the trail and the picture of me is also on the trail, it got lots steeper the closer we got to the top, and a lot more rocky.

 This is a picture along the trail

 Here we are about a half mile from the top. That last half mile was a killer! It was a good thing I used my inhaler when we started, the air was thin!

 Finally we can see the look out station on the top! This was the hardest part of the trail even though it had steps. The steps were not made for short people!

 Once we made it to the summit you could take the steps to the top of the lookout station. I could not do it! They were sooo steep and it was so windy up there. I got about to the window in the picture and had to turn around. Rick is much braver then me and made it to the top.

 This is me at the summit, the wind was blowing like crazy as you can see by my hair.

 This is a picture that Rick took from the top of the lookout tower looking straight down. You get an idea of just how high we were.

 Read the sign in the picture above. You explains just how high we were.-7242 feet!

 This is a picture of the lookout tower from the way down the trail. I was pretty zoomed in when I took the picture but you get an idea just how high and far we hiked. It was a total of 7 miles both ways. It took us 2 hours to hike up 3.5 miles. The total trip took us 4 hours, that was with the time we spent on top. It was so worth it to hike up there!

 This is the campgrounds we stayed at. I was very happy with it. I wanted to stay right in Custer State park but they were all full so I found this place on line. It was a nice place to stay.

 On our last day there we did a little fishing and a little swimming and a little hiking. Hannah was the big fisher person getting three keepers. We hiked round Sylvan Lake. It is only a 2 mile trail and pretty easy. It is a beautiful area.

 Here is a couple pictures of Rick fishing on Sylvan Lake

On Sunday we got all packed up and made our way home. On the way out of town we had to stop at a great Bakery called Baker's Bakery & Cafe. We found it last year when we were out there and had to go back for there great carmel and cinnamon rolls. They are huge and I am sure about 1000 calories!  I figured it was okay with all the hiking and biking we did.

Rick and I both love it in South Dakota and we are already planing our trip back out there next year. There is so much that we have not seen yet. We are ready for a new adventure!

Later Sharon