this is my aunt and uncle's farm.

i spent a lot of time here when i was growing up and this beautiful farm holds a lot of special

memories for me. i spent hours playing with my cousins, washing eggs,

 racing my aunt from the barns to the house at the end of the day, standing on the

fence by their flock of sheep acting weird and trying to get them to

baaaaaa at us. we swang on the swing set, ate chicken in a bisquit crackers and drank schwans orange juice by the pitcher,

we helped with chores and auntie dora read a lot of books to us all.

we took a lot of baths in their porcelain tub and whispered secrets in the privacy 

of cousin brenda's bedroom.

  brenda and i were born the same summer

 and she, my sister and i have always had a special bond.

last week on the day that was my aunt's 80th birthday i was lucky enough

to be with her. she is my mom's twin and being with her was the next best thing

to being with my mom on her birthday.

uncle floyd turned 80 on new years day so we were celebrating both of their birthdays and

daughter tamara drove up from owatonna and brenda (in the middle below) flew home from

arizona to surprise their parents. since they've been told they aren't supposed to 

bring them gifts anymore, they showed up at their parents door in the morning with giant

bows on their heads~ most likely the best present that they could have ever

brought them!

what dora and floyd didn't know was that as the day went on more and more of

their family was going to be showing up to celebrate them.

this is their first grandchild amber lynn, giving her grama some birthday love.~

brenda, tamara, sister dawn and aunt dora having morning coffee with the cake dawn made.

i asked dora if she'd mind me peeking in the bedrooms on my way to the bathroom, because

i hadn't been in them in many years. she said that was fine and of course i had my

camera around my neck. : )

i LOVE this photo of dora and floyd's wedding that sits on their dresser.

 my auntie dar is peeking out from behind her sister. 
p.s. dar made us all chicken and noodles for the birthday lunch and they were amazing!!!

these two have been married for 58 years. what a blessing!

here are dora and floyd with their 3 children.

brian (middle child and middle in the photo) lives

just a couple miles away from his parents and now the sheep

that are baaaaaaa~ing in the barn are his. he and his dad farmed together until

about a year ago when uncle floyd finally decided he was ready to retire.

this is my beautiful aunt when she was the homecoming queen at

st. cloud state where she got her teaching degree.

(and my shadow while taking the photo- whoops).

when dora's daughter-in-law joan arrived with balloons, dora wasted

no time jumping right up on the dining room table to hang them from the light.

*if i live to be 80 i hope i still dare crawl up on a table.

how cute is she??? seriously~

this is the wonderful batch of grandchildren d. and f. were blessed with.

(they had one more, a sweet baby girl irena, that is their angel baby).

and these 4 (plus two more darling boys that live in texas and weren't able to make it)

are the 4th generation of lee's!

this is baby cora. she's the newest member of the family and named after her

great grama dora. the family affectionately calls dora "greatie" and floyd "grrr".

don't you love that?  : )

big brother harrison proudly modeling the  t- shirt and stocking cap that aunt bren 

knit him.

remember me saying that aunt dora always read to us kids?

this bible story book was a particular favorite. dora taught sunday school

most of her adult life and she brought these stories to life for us all. 

my sis asked her if she still had it and she knew right where it was and got it.

before we left that night i asked to have a picture taken of dora and her girls,

(on the left) and laura's girls, (on the right) together.

being with my mom's twin sister on what would have been my mom's 80th birthday

 felt very sacred to me. i admire dora so much and

hold her in the highest regard. she is an amazing wife, mother, grandmother and

great grandmother to this family.

she and uncle floyd have been a steadfast example of 

love, honesty, hard work and strong family values to their brood.

my sis and i just loved being part of their celebration. (thanks guys)
we had sooo much fun and there were a lot of -laugh until you cry- moments
 & that pretty much = a perfect day.

wishing them both the happiest year and many more trips around the sun!

xo, beth

i stood and giggled taking the picture below. 

this was brenda and tam's room and it is in this very room that

dawn and i found out the facts of life from brenda.

it's a hilarious memory of mine. we went to their house to visit on a sunday

afternoon and bren met us at the door and whispered frantically,

"get up to my room i've got something to telllllll you......!!!!!"

thanks brenda. without you i may still be stumbling around trying to figure 

things out~