Wisconsin Love

Well during the middle of last week Matt and I got word that his Aunt Helen or as we called her, Aunt Honey, passed away. She lived a super nice long life and went to be with Jesus at the age of 92...or 3. I'm all of a sudden forgetting. Either way she lived well. Matt's originally from Wisconsin and that is where Aunt Honey lived, along with Matt's uncle, grandma and several other family members. As soon as we got word about when the services were going to be, we made plans to head to Wisconsin.

I love Wisconsin, but this was my first time visiting in the middle of summer... what an underestimated state. So gorgeous and so full of cheese and beef. Really you just can't go wrong. I apologize to any vegetarian readers, I do enjoy beef and always have the best meals up in Wisconsin.

It turned out to be a wonderful 2.5 days. I had a great time visiting with Matt's immediate family, his brother Mike is always entertaining, and we were not short on laughs.

It was also wonderful to hear stories about Aunt Honey. She was a huge part of the town she lived in and was so highly respected by her community. She was definitely a lady you would long to be like. So now I will share some photos... if you get a random chance to go to Wisconsin, do it. I wish I had taken more pictures of the rolling farm land--it's unbelievable. But I did get quite a few pictures of food... food is good.

One of my favorite things about Wisconsin are the Supper Clubs, this is where we are in the next picture. We indulged in fried cheese curds, yes... fried. cheese. curds. and beef. This is a picture of Matt, his brother Mike, their Mama and their grandma.

 The whole family at the funeral. Beautiful church... where Mrs. T grew up and even where they were married. Beautiful. I would have been in the picture... but I was taking it :) 

Matt's mom's family owned a bottling company so when we visited the Historical Society we got to see a whole bunch of stuff from their families business. Just so neat. We have a few bottles from the bottling company, but seeing more stuff all together, including soda recipes, billing sheets and so on... just so neat.

And then there is the cheese factory! Um, yum! This factory is right outside where Matt's mom grew up... so on almost every visit to Wisconsin she brings us back cheese curds. If you have not had a cheese curd, find them fast... and eat them.

Fresh cheese curds come out warm and are extremely squeaky and delicious. I had no problem eating too many.

Matt's nickname from long ago is Cheese, and still is. It's probably the most fitting nickname he could have. He was born in Wisconsin, he loves cheese and when he cooks, almost every meal consists of cheese. Still not sure about his cholesterol.. (which honestly scares me) but recently we have cut back on our cheese intake with the exception of this Wisconsin trip. 

Samples.

And a shot of fresh cheese curds... 

Cool old church or school house (?) on the side of the long country road. 

And then the evening before we had to head home we went out to Elkhart Lake for a nice meal and a beautiful sunset. I love Matt, I love his family and I love his birth state. 

And in memory of Aunt Honey... 

Thanks for all you have done for Matt and I. Not sure we will ever be able to thank you enough.