This spring, we said goodbye to Jeff’s uncle Joe and Dawn’s Aunt Judi. The time with family is so precious, and when a loved one passes from death into life, we are reminded of this.
At the end of June, we took a road trip to meet up with our Washington friends. We drove to The Bluff to check on it, then headed the next day to Livingston, MT where we stayed at a lovely inn. Along the way, we had a fun dinner with Jeff's cousin Greg and wife Rachel - whom we had not seen in decades! Next stop was Cle Elum, WA where our friends Kip and Lynn hosted us in their stunning new home. We had the best time touring around the area, doing some hiking and catching up with them. We got in a brief visit with Mark Hauge and his family as well.
Next, we journeyed with Kip and Lynn to meet up with Sherri and Glen in Priest River, ID. That area is absolutely breathtaking as well. We had a great time playing on the river, watching fireworks over the river on the 4th and visiting with dear friends.
We took the whole family to Lake Okoboji in Iowa in July to watch Justin participate in a triathlon while Kayla ran the 5k. Both kids exceeded their personal goals in the competition so were quite happy. We pulled the boat down and had a nice time playing on the water with all the kids.
In August we were thrilled to host Greg and Kathy, friends from Washington. Greg had been racing in Minnesota, so they showed up with their huge rig. It was so fun to see them as it had been several years since we’d been together. Later in the month, we drove to Miller, SD to meet up with our college friends Sue and Michelle (AKA Mush) and their better halves for a few days. We were able to help Mush with some projects on her home as she was getting ready to move/downsize.
Fall, in my opinion is the best time to be in the Hills. We were back at The Bluff to do more projects, but we also were able to squeeze in a little 4-wheeling adventure here and there. The family spent some time there and we even got Mark and Janet to join us at The Bluff.
One of the advantages of being in the Hills is quality time with family. For example, we were able to attend the baptism of our great-niece Addison.
Thanksgiving was wonderful and we were able to get together with the kids and grands to celebrate and count our many blessings. In fact, Justin and Kayla had a big reveal over that weekend. Justin blew up some Tannerite to announce that they’re expecting a boy next spring. We are so excited for them.
Jeff’s mom is doing quite well. She lives in her home and enjoys working at the thrift store in town. This year, she turned the hosting of Thanksgiving dinner over to Mark and Janet. They were super hosts and though there was a change of venue from other years, the family had a great time. Jeff’s brother Bruce and wife Nancy are hosting the family (not a small group) for a Christmas gathering as they have done for the past several years. They have a wonderful setup with space for adults to visit and kids to romp around.
December is getting away from me, but the stockings are hung by the chimney with care and we are looking forward to gathering with family as we celebrate the Reason for the Season… we cherish the memories, time with friends and family and all the blessings 2025 brought as we look toward 2026 to see what it has in store for us.
What a different kind of year 2025 has been. It’s hard to know where to start, so I’ll start with our big project – Boxelder Bluff. This is a home in the Black Hills that we purchased a little over a year ago with the idea of having it as a family landing spot in the Hills as well as opening it up as a vacation home rental when we can. The first order of business was a major remodel of the upper floor. We took a pretty much unusable floor plan and did a major gut job and converted it into much more usable space. We were working on “The Bluff” most of the winter – spending more time there than at home. We finished what we called phase one in May and were able to get it on the vacation rental market in June. It was booked quite a bit through the summer and fall which was great.
Now, this fall, we are beginning phase two which includes HVAC upgrades and sheetrocking/finishing the lower level which is a walk-out basement on two sides. Once complete, the house will be five bedrooms, four baths and will sleep 14 (the limit according to the county).
Check out the year’s progress with photos on our website: www.boxelderbluff.com. We hope you’ll keep Boxelder Bluff in mind if you’re in need of a vacation rental (Booking Link) for your family or group in the fabulous Black Hills!
The other big change for the year involved my folks, Connie and Jerry. In May, we moved them into an assisted living facility in Rapid City. Then in September, we moved them again when a two-bedroom apartment opened up at the complex which was their first choice. They are settling in and adjusting but unfortunately, Dad’s health has been deteriorating. The damage to his lungs is making it quite hard for him and he requires a higher concentration of oxygen now. He’s had several stays in the hospital both in Sioux Falls and in Rapid to deal with these lung issues.
We are thankful for The Bluff so we can stay in the area and spend more time with the folks and help them as needed.
With the folks being out of their home in Winner, much time has also been spent going through over 50 years of treasures accumulated there. The hope is to get the house emptied out in order to sell it in 2026.
My brother Ted visited from Texas in April and he came back along with his sons Jon and Brandon in October. My cousin Lyn has also been great support in helping with projects at The Bluff and in Winner this year.
Given how much we’ve been gone, participating in our normal activities in Minneota has been challenging. We are still bowling on a couple’s league with Jeff’s brother Mark and S-I-L Janet and are pretty involved with our local Boxelder Bug Days committee. We were home most of the summer so were able to get season tickets to the Prairie Repertory Theater’s season at SDSU, which is always fabulous.
I am in the Route 68 Big Band, church choir, PEO, Lyon County Farm Bureau Board, the church call committee chair and the scholarship committee and I play Bunco with a lovely group of women. This summer, I took up playing pickleball and have had a ball with that… it’s pretty addictive. My other big accomplishment was getting up on one ski – it’d been years since I attempted to slalom ski and I found it’s still a rush!
Jeff has joined our church board and is doing a major project involving reconstructing the churches’ data. He put some tile in this fall and did some dirt work at Aubree and Joe’s new house. He went on a guy’s camping weekend with Justin, Joe and Will. In general, he just never seems to run out of projects at either house!