Reunion

Sorry for the blog overload...I'm off work until Thursday so have plenty of time to catch up! Brice's family had their reunion this past weekend. We enjoyed lots of good food and conversation. We had to run for an overnight in Des Moines for something else, but otherwise got to participate. Seemed like a whirlwind and everyone was gone! Here's some pics:

By the time the weekend was done, Gabbie had the idea that Katie lived at the Carrollton

Luca was such a rock star catching candy at the parade; until his bag broke! The horses had to go around the pick up crew :-)

Everyone chatting after church

Pastor Will, yeah right.

Jeanie's float for 50 year reunion

He didn't bother going to catch candy, since everyone was bringing it to him

Derek, Natalia, and Brice

Gabbie wanted the umbrella to shade the sun at the parade; too bad the umbrella is quite old...15 years or so for sure

We were being really attentive to the kiddos :-)

Swimming

Pizza Ranch fun

I tried, just not much cooperation from the boys, mostly the youngest one

Will didn't want a mustache; he just wanted the girls to get away from his doughnut!

Cousins!

Gabbie & Will with cousin, Jackson, celebrating new cousin Hannah's baptism. Thank goodness we had uncle Jon to clean up everyone's left over cake!

New cousin Hannah, born in early July. Another cousin is on the way in January!

Picture attempt: successful enough!

Here are picture attempts of "second cousins" (I think is what they would be...they are kids of Brice and his cousins)

Again: successful enough!

Summer update

We made an attempt at T-ball :) They had 4 sessions and a game in June/early July

Time to pick cherries! This was our nights for over a week. They were good! And we got a few quarts in the freezer.



Just playing with Jean, our new kitten



Enjoying homemade ice cream!

Farm kiddos



We enjoyed a night in Okoboji to celebrate our anniversary (8 years!) early. We did lots of swimming, I ran the Okoboji half-marathon, and went out to eat a few times, ended with some mini-golfing. A short 24 hour trip, but fun!



Farming the green shag carpet!

Patiently waiting for Gabbie's turn at the pedal pull at the Sac County Fair

Making an airplane, duh!


And now we are headed to the park...Gabbie was to go with Grandma Linda to "Planes" tonight, but a momma decided to go into labor a couple hours beforehand and Grandma can't get away from work. Obviously Gabbie was excited so I thought we better find a distraction. Maybe another night! We are loving this summer weather!

Lots of things growing around here...

1. My patience for cleaning up after paint

2. The sibling bond :-) Brice was out of the house before 6 one morning, so of course Will had to wake up before I'd gotten ready for work. I played for awhile but finally had to get in the shower. He cried for a bit, then left. Later when I went looking for him I found him curled up next to his sister in her bed. Of course I didn't have my camera set right, and he heard me and moved before I got the next picture!

3. Will continues to grow as well as his constant on-the-move attitude!

4. The lake grew back!

5. 'Growing' new friends :-)

6. Everyone's tolerance continues to grow to Will's "pick me up, let me down" demands, each of which last less than 10 seconds

7. Gabbie's imagination! She thought she was Ariel the Little Mermaid. Hope the lake is as clean as they say it is!

8. Little Kennedy is growing! As well as my bravery as I made the cake for her special day. Main lesson learned: don't do homemade fondant on a hot, humid day

9. The chickens are growing!

10. I'm growing...older. My back is bothering me more in the garden this year. I spend 5 hours weeding one Sunday and have been in pain since. So...I was about to give it up as the enjoyment was gone. However, I have a new best friend! A tiller I can handle. Less back pain, less time, and I love gardening again.

11. With growing older my insanity is growing. 25 cents for plants, but not sure where they will go!

12. The roses are growing; so awesome this year

13. My landscaping project last year wasn't a total failure! The plants are growing! Apparantly the grass is growing as well and needs mowed also!

14. More of the plants growing, and the butterflies they attract

15. More of the landscaping...obviously my happiness is growing that it all didn't die!

16. The baby goats in the background are growing, and the turkeys up closer are growing-on my nerves. Gabbie was in the pool but somehow ducked out of the pic!

17. The garden is growing! Obviously still has weeds, but looking much better!

18. My garden abilities are growing...these 2 rows of tomatoes were all started in the house from seed in late Feb. And they look good with no chemicals/fertilizer used!

19. Basil growing. I LOVE the smell of Basil...we are gonna have some good homemade pesto!

20. The rabbits are growing, because they are getting meals from my garden :-) They have been good at eating the broccoli.

21. The cherry trees are growing and producing

22. So are the plum trees

23. Our house is going to 'grow' again. I have started to gut the bedroom downstairs, where we lose a lot of heat every winter. We are still in dicsussion with what to do with it....there is a bathroom in it now. We are debating a bathroom again, or a walk in closet, or seeing if it can be used to expand the kitchen (which is on the other side of it). For now I'll just hammer out walls :-)

24. The kitten is growing...which we have had for 2 weeks now. She has incredible patience for how she is handled by 2 small kids!

25. Gabbie's talents are always growing! She made a cake

26. Silly picture, but my foot is growing! Medially that is. I was trying to get a photo of the swelling at the end of the day to take with to my 4th opinion...so far the concensus is the bone can not be removed, but they can do a tendon reconstruction. Which will put an end to my running. I figured that was fine, I'd just back off running a bit and do more swimming or biking. Lately I can hardly stand on it at the end of the day without having to take something for pain, so I'm frustrated but will figure it out! I think what bothers me most is I see Gabbie's feet and they look like they will have the same issues as mine someday. We'll have to keep her in good shoes!

Okay enough of the growing theme! We are having an awesome summer. Well, the kids and I are. Brice is having a terrible summer. That will happen when you are still trying to plant crops on June 22nd. And when you spend an afternoon getting the tractor 'un-stuck' from in the field.

I've been continuing making adjustments to our lifestyle, thanks to some 'real food' blogs I've been reading. As far as I know the house is free of aspertame, and as of last Sunday we are free of a microwave. I only got 1 angry phone call from Brice over a lunch hour about "how am I supposed to heat up these lima beans!!" Only 1 box of Mac and Cheese left, thanks to my new fear of yellow dye #5. We have our own eggs, cows milk, and I've been trying to do all homemade bread but haven't been able to keep up with our demand! The garden will help, and already we've had homegrown spinach salad.

That's all from here. Mostly boring to everyone I'm sure, but I keep a blog mostly as a diary to myself anyway. I figure if you are bored you can close the browser window anytime :-) Just kidding, thanks for reading! Have a great weekend and week~