A Wonderful Autumn Weekend

Where does the time go? It flies by so quickly and sometimes I just can't keep up! I spent last week preparing for an incredible weekend and this week I've been recuperating from it...

We spent a long Columbus Day weekend celebrating my parents' 50th wedding anniversary in the scenic historic little town of Galena, Illinois. My parents, my sister's family of four and my family of four rented a five bedroom home in The Galena Territory of Eagle Ridge.

The leaves were starting to change and the countryside was just beautiful. The weather could have been better - we had a snowstorm on Saturday and we didn't really get past the 40's all weekend, but it didn't slow us down a bit. The boys cut the golf in the snowstorm to only 9 holes and we decided to pass on the outdoor craft fair, but otherwise we didn't miss a thing.

Here are my parents shopping on the bustling Main Street and trying not to shiver too much! Aren't they sweet together?

Chestnut Mountain Lodge is a ski resort along the Mississippi River. During the off season they have an alpine slide where you ride scooters down the ski hill and take the chair lift back up. The boys loved it, but I took a pass with my fear of heights :)

The view was beautiful from right where I stood.

We explored the back roads and did a little antiquing.

We even had a few visitors at the house...

Galena is very hilly and after breakfast on the last day the boys decided to climb the steps up to the next street.

They made it!

The best part was just spending time together - playing dominos and mancala, talking and reminiscing.

My incredible sister took all the family 8mm movies from 1958 to 1972 and converted them all to DVD! She even made a copy for each of us to take home! She also converted the VHS tape of me and my husband's wedding 24 years ago too! We spent each evening watching these movies remembering our loved ones who have passed on and laughing at ourselves. How special to see all of us in our younger days and to see movies of our parents dating, marrying and honeymooning. This was the very best part.

What a blessing to relive our memories and create new ones too.

My sister learned a new hobby on our trip - needle punch! And my sister and niece both took to it like a duck to water! (I on the other hand will stick to cross stitch and wool applique lol.)

I did a little hand sewing during our time and finished a Maggie Bonanomi kit that I have had for some time. Here's the outside of my new needle roll:

And here is the inside:

I just love the fabrics that Maggie chooses. And what a wonderful keepsake of a wonderful weekend.

We have a quiet weekend ahead, thank goodness. I hope to catch up with everything, but plan to keep the joy of last weekend in my heart...

Blessings, Patti