Photo of the Day!

Love this photo! This was NOT taken by me. It was actually taken my the Columbus Telegram and published in the paper. This is my Nephew Sheldon Boschen in the 1600 Meter Relay Race at the Nebraska State Track Tournament. 

Now there is another reason I love this photo. Because the whole team wore Wrestling Singlets. Yes, they really did. Just for this relay, but it was awesome! That Singlet that Sheldon is Running in was one of my favorites. That was the one that Says Newman Grove on the back, my personal favorite. 

He really did do a great job running. I was so proud of him. As I always have been and always will be..........

A Gold Medal moment.......

It all happened so quickly yesterday. It passed in a flash. Right before my eyes. Watching the Newman Grove 1600 Meter Relay Team at State Track. I waited all day to watch my Nephew Sheldon participate in his last High School/Career Athletic competition. The boys did such a great job. They ran their hearts out, but their time just wasn't fast enough to place them higher then 7th. But Sheldon gave me one last good cry......THANK Gosh I could wear my Sunglasses :) They won their heat and for one glorious moment, Sheldon, Tatem, Tom and Troy were all gold. I am still proud of them, they did great.

Kenize's Day

My first experience at State Track was an experience to say the least. Ron and I went to watch our Goddaughter and niece Mikezenie at the Nebraska State track Tournament.

We are so proud so proud of you Kenzie. You did awesome. I am so sorry it poured all day.

The new and Improved Blog....

In an attempt to blog more, I decided to combine all three of my blogs. So welcome to the combined versions of Diamond Daze, Gone Scrap Crazy and my 365 Photo a Day blog. All my previous posting at all three blogs have been merged. There are some duplicate posts, especially from my Scrapbooking blog, but I think I will eventually get all the duplicates out. I hope my friends and family who have been following my blog will continue to and to those who are new followers, nothing too earth shattering happens on here but every once in a while you'll get one lively post or two out of me.....if your lucky :)

This blog will continue to change this week, so don't be surprised if there are finally some new things happening here. So welcome to my blog.

Sheldon's Graduation Quilt

Typically, I make my nieces and nephew's a scrapbook for their high school Graduation. But Sheldon's Mom and Sister have done such a great job putting all of Sheldon's photos and memorabilia in books, I thought I would do something a little different for him. So this idea of a photo quilt popped into my head. It was a grueling process this quilt. All I had to do was pick out the photos and fabric :) BUT it was most certainly a challenge and hard to pick out the photos. After all I was limited to the number of photos I could use. 

This was one of those gifts that I wanted to keep for myself. I couldn't believe how perfect it turned out. From the colors to the design to the label on the back! I loved it! 

I think Sheldon was genuinely surprised and pleased with his quilt. I sure hope so cause that gift came straight from my heart. I enjoyed seeing him smile and his reaction while he was looking at the quilt. I hope it truly is something he cherishes forever.......

PS....if you click on the collage, you can see a larger version!

For you Sheldon

Ever since you were a little boy, you have always been "my boy". You always had a special note, story, or homemade gift just for me. I loved you then, I love you now and I'll love you always.

You are just something special to me. If I had to pick a son, I would want him just like you.

 It breaks my heart to know that all those times we spent watching you play sports are almost over, but like Uncle told me at State Wrestling...."Don't cry because it is over, Cry because it happened" There have been Wrestling matches, Football games, Baseball games, Track meets and you don't have to be a champion. I never cared about one single Championship I only cared about you. 

So on your graduation day.....all I can remember is this little boy who I love so very very much......all I can see when I see you is you with Grandpa. He loved you so much. Don't ever forget him. 

I promise when life gets you down. I will be there. I promise if you are in a pickle....just call me. I promise, if you need a helping hand...I'll be the one. 

You are such a special and wonderful young man. 

I LOVE YOU A MILLION TIMES Sheldon Boschen...................A MILLION TIMES! 

Snapshots of Cheerio.....

Today I decided to just pick out some cute snapshots of Cheerio from the last couple of months that I haven't uploaded anywhere or scrapbooked. Just some ones that I thought were cute....

The boy and his bed full of toys.......they go in, he pulls them all out and then they all go back in :)

Sit in a chair, with a blanket and you always have a visitor on your lap. 

 Ahhhhhhhhh I am one happy and spoiled little dog!

Happy Doggie Mom Day

to me from Cheerio Boy :) Somehow Cheerio managed to arrange Mommy getting a pretty little Red Rose on Mother's Day. He's one smart doggie........

HAPPY COLLEGE GRADUATION DAY....

to my beautiful and talented Niece Alicia (Boschen) Knust!!! I was happy to have the opportunity to attend Alicia's college Graduation from the University of Nebraska at Kearney. I am so proud of her. It was a special day for her. You are an amazing young woman with such a beautiful life ahead of you! I love so very much!

Honoring those that are gone.......

and there are so many.

In the last year I have gone to too many funerals to mention....and most of them were too early and as a result of an accident or early illness. Is it fair? No absolutely not, and I hate it. It is hard for me to list all of them but recently the loss of Diane, Jim, Adam and Norm have really gotten under my skin.

First my Mom's best friend. The sweetest lady in the whole world who made my Mom happy and I know my Mom cared about so deeply. Diane got so (pardon my french) screwed out of seeing more of the wonderful things her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren will accomplish. I truly enjoyed being around her. She was such a kind and gentle lady, but that woman knew how to have fun too. Her smile always made me smile!

Then there is Jim. Jimmy O always had some sort of plan with Ron. Those two, they were something when they starting chatting and don't EVER put them in a plane together :) His famous name for me? Scrap Iron.....in reference to our company Big Iron, I was Ron's little scrap Iron. That ALWAYS made me laugh. Hard. Really hard. The first time I heard it, Ron looked at me and said "That is such a cute name for you" I will never forget how there was just no way to say no to Jimmy O. If he pulled up in his boat.......your WERE going for a ride.

Then there was Adam. Why Adam. A bright, talented young man with a beautiful family and a little one on the way. That one just made me down right mad, almost bitter. I remember Adam stopping by late last summer on the rare occasion that we were actually in St. Ed and he was looking for Ron. We had the best little chat . There hardly wasn't a couple weeks that would go by that Ron wouldn't say to me "I talked to Adam Jarecki today" and there was always a good story or something interesting he learned from Adam. Ron had the utmost respect for that young man as did I. Adam made just a casual conversation fun.

And Finally, Norm. We actually conducted a Traditional Auction for Norm in Belleville Kansas. Shortly after that Norm started working for us as a Part-time Sales person. All I can say about Norm is that he had the most infectious and fun laugh ever! OK that is not ALL I can say about Norm. He always had a little hug for me. Greeted Ron like his best friend that he hadn't seen in 20 years even though it might have been the week before. Always made sure there was work getting done, but also enjoying every single minute of life. That is what I loved about Norm. He had the same thinking as Ron. "Work hard and play hard" I just can not imagine there being no Norm around. He was a special man and very special to me. He as one of my "surrogate Dad's" and a mighty fine one. (Side note: NO ONE could ever replace my Dad EVER!) but it was always nice to know there was an extra one if I needed one.

So with that...........this is my way of making myself feel better and get the sad crap off my chest because Norm would  NOT want me to be sad. Tomorrow is his funeral and I intend to remember Norm as the great man he was.

I found this little memorial stone and it is perfect. Norm was a huge Husker Fan living in Kansas.  :) and of course I now have another Angel watching over me.

The gifts for Deb from Ron and I........

Photo of the Day

Today I splurged and bought some Sweet Corn at the Grocery store...ok it was 99 cents an ear......Ron and I saw the corn and said we needed to have some of that....doesn't compare to the fresh stuff out of our field, but it sure curbed my craving :) One of my very favorite foods is Corn on the Cob.......YUMMMYYYYY in my tummy!