Once upon a time, when it was still warm and the grass was green and not covered with snow, we had two large mushrooms in our yard. I wonder how many of the neighbors wondered just what I was up to, laying on the grass, taking pictures of mushrooms.

The mushrooms survived until a marauding pack of squirrels shredded them and scattered them in little bits all over the yard. It was a mushroom massacre.

Miss South Dakota came to our house to visit (and to go to her friend’s wedding) and we shopped like crazy women for 3 days, looking for things for her wardrobe for the Miss America pageant. We were worn out. Shopping like that is not nearly as fun as just shopping for entertainment. We had a MISSION. By the third day we were making sure to wear comfortable shoes!

And we fit everything in her ONE pretty small suitcase. Cute pink blazer from H & M, lots of good stuff from Macy’s, lots of shoes from Nordstrom Rack, we had hoot at Charming Charlies. Love the leopard shoes!

I did get some sewing done for my Mom’s community club bazaar. I have been able to attend and help a bit with the bazaar the last several years, but this year a friend of mine was getting married the same weekend, so we were in Sioux Falls. I made my traditional three southern belle Barbie dresses, complete with hats and petticoats, wrist warmers and a baby hat from Fancy Image Yarn, and denim pot holders that I found the pattern for on http://nebraskaviews.blogspot.com/2011/07/denim-pot-holder-tutorial.html. I am making some more of the wrist warmers for Christmas presents. I will be making more of the pot holders too, they turned out well. I am not sure why this is such a terrible picture, or why I didn’t take more, I think I was extremely pressed for time to get these in the mail and to my Mom on time.

Here is a picture from the wedding, featuring two very cool people getting married and a delicious and amazing cake. AND cream cheese mints. Cream cheese mints are very important at midwest weddings. I had a dear family friend make them for our wedding (ahem) years ago. I made them for my grandmother’s 90th birthday party. Planning on making some for Mom and Dad’s 50th wedding anniversary next year.

I got to see a niece and nephew. They were having fun jumping in the leaf pile.

We also took some pictures of us as a couple before the wedding. Of course, the one that turned out is the only low-res one. Probably will be unsuitable for printing up copies, darn it. This is seriously, the only one where I don’t look totally nutso.

I don’t know quite how that happened but I am blaming Instagram.

The visit to Sioux Falls was a good time. Got to see a bunch of people I hadn’t seen in a while. Had dinner with a college friend that I don’t get to see often enough. Went up to Brookings and saw my good friend/pageant producer and scanned in a bunch of Miss SD historical pictures, which I haven’t had time to edit yet. Had lunch with him, Miss SD, and Miss SD’s mom. Drove around the SDSU campus and were the typical alumni: “Wow, it has sure changed since we were here!”