Blanchard Dam - Royalton, Minnesota

Blanchard Dam is a hydro-electric dam built on the Mississippi River in 1925 near my hometown of Royalton, MN.  It's absolutely impressive, the size is enormous, and I love the vintage feel of it!  The old Soo Line Railroad track, now converted to a walking and snowmobile trail, goes across the Mississippi just hundreds of feet in front of the dam.  It's absolutely amazing!!  The amount of water pouring through the gates is mind-blowing, especially when the river is high in the spring or after heavy rainfalls!  I knew this morning would be a perfect time to visit because of the recent rain we've received.  I got some shots with my iPhone, and a video in which you can hear the loud roar of the water!

Some panorama shots.....

From the side of the dam

From the Soo Line trail looking north at the dam

From the Soo Line Trail looking south downstream

From the side of the dam....

From the Soo Line Trail.....

The mighty Mississippi River

Insta-Friday - June 21, 2013

Sometimes I do get to places just when God's ready to have someone click the shutter. - Ansel Adams

I just love Insta-Friday because I love that I capture all the little moments, the everyday moments.  I don't care if the images aren't perfect.... but they are moments I don't want to forget.  And I love sharing them with you all!  I'm shannonbromenschenkel on Instagram if you want to follow!

Proud to be an American!

Some great thrift store finds!

My hydrangeas are blooming!!!!

Pretty "weeds".

Ugh.... allergy shots.

Snow in June????  Oh wait.... That is Lady Isabelle's fur! Silly me!

Super silly girl!!!

Waiting for grandpa and nana to arrive!

Whiskers

Ferocious!

Yum!

Annual eye exam.

Tasty.

Clover and bee.

My "little" boy finished driver's training today!

Oh and did you know Instagram now does videos!! I'm super excited about that!  Here's a video of Lady being all ferocious with my hand.... she loves to play!  Enjoy.... :)

Insta-Friday - June 14, 2013

Ok.... so it's technically Sunday again!  Weekends are loaded full of fun-ness lately, so I'm glad I can still link up with Life Rearranged a couple days late!  So.... I'm just giving you a teeny little warning, today's post is gonna be a long one!  Last Saturday was my Godchild Tessa's graduation and 18th birthday party!!  It was a beautiful day out at the farm next to where I grew up!!  It was so fun to see everyone and see things that I remembered seeing as a child. The day meant to so much to me and I will never, ever take it for granted that we are living back in Minnesota!  Truly a gift!!!!  First some random images from my week....

I spied this cute white husky sitting amongst quite the interesting yard!

I just adore this bridge in St. Peter, Minnesota!

Old General Store & gas pump in Norseland, Minnesota! Too bad it's not open anymore. :(

Super cute new Silver jeans.... I mean capris. When you are short, you can wear capris for pants!

Taken near Hutchinson, Minnesota. Edited with Pic-Tap-Go and A Beautiful Mess.

St. Wendelin Catholic Church and Cemetery in Luxemberg, Minnesota

Peeling Paint

Train Tracks - Rice, Minnesota

Sale Tooday.... LOL!!  Only in Minnesota!

Wish this was still an open antique shop - in my hometown... Royalton, Minnesota

Green Giant! - Le Sueur, Minnesota

The Scorpion snowmobile from my childhood! Loved riding this thing! My dad is going to restore it!

Beautiful hilly (and stormy) Southern Minnesota!

Got a hair cut.... and she curled it cute!  Getting highlights tomorrow!

Painted my nails guacamole green!

For those of you who don't know, we recently moved back to our home state of Minnesota after living in Michigan for 12 years.  Michigan was so rich in microbreweries.... we loved it!!!  So imagine my surprise when a local liquor store had a sign outside that they are carrying Bells Oberon beer from Kalamazoo, Michigan!!  Not only that, it was on special!!!  So of course I had to buy a six pack!! And the liquor store manager is going to give me their Oberon signs!

You'd like we live in the country instead of a subdivision!  Behind our house....

Also behind our house! I hope they never build houses back there!

Interesting sunset.....

Beautiful sunset.....

Beautiful blue eyes.  Sigh. I love her.

And now onto the photos from last Saturday!!!!  It was truly such a beautiful day out at the farm!!

Top to Bottom, Left to Right - 1. Silos, 2. Me and my beautiful sister-in-law Tonya matching! 3. I have always loved this green garage door!  And I love it even more now that it's old and broken and beautiful! 4. Me and my sister, Sheena! 5. Cows in the barn. 6. Me and my sweet nieces, Ella and Alivia! 7. Holstein Cow. 8. My sister Sheena and niece Ella! 9. Baby Holstein!

My cousin's son, Marshall, is the cutest little boy!!!!!!  Love his hair!!!  Those curls steal my heart!

Grace & Marshall

Getting tired!

Nobody is too big to sit on a Little Tykes chair! Love my daddy!

Comfort is.... seeing the pond behind the house I grew up in.  The memories of walking through the pasture and swamps and forests.... All day long without a worry in the world.

The gravel road to my grandpa and grandma's house.... walked this road more times than I can count!

Fence post.... and pasture.  

Bleeding hearts....

Dandelions....

....and Lilacs!

It's been almost a year since we lost my cousin, Ashley, in a hit and run accident.  He is dearly missed.  The week he passed away, he and his wife were supposed to find out if she was pregnant.  And she was. Shelly gave birth to Zachery in February! It makes me sad to post this on Father's Day, but knowing Shelly, Zachary and Whitney, their 3 year old daughter, have a beautiful guardian angel watching over them, gives me peace.  I got to finally meet Zachary last Saturday. He is such a sweet little boy, and looks a lot like his daddy!!!!!

Sweet Zachary and I! I am in love.

My Aunt and Godmother Linnea... Ashley's mom, Zachary's grandma

And then we visited his grave.  They recently got his headstone placed.  It was so beautiful!  A beautiful tribute to a beautiful man.  Ashley loved baseball.... and he loved the Minnesota Twins.  And he loved playing softball with his team at little country softball diamonds.  I love that incorporated that into his stone.  Stunning.

My sweet Grace cleaning bird poop off Ashley and Shelly's headstone! Darn birds... poop somewhere else!!

Thanks for sticking with me through this long post!!!  I couldn't narrow down any photos.... they are all just too precious to me to eliminate any!