On the Move

Last weekend, the 22/23rd found my family headed to the Kansas City area.  The purpose of our trip:  to pack up my sister's family's belongings and transport them to Iowa.  Yes, after over 12 years of married life in Missouri, Jim has accepted a new band director job in Iowa.  Here they come!  But first, here we go!  

My family started out Friday night and spent the night in Osceola.  We left home about 8pm and arrived at our hotel by 10.  We got a short night of sleep and woke at 4:30.  We were on the road by 5:30 and arriving at Amber's house by 8:30.  Whew!  Luckily, my parents were also on the road just a bit ahead of us and the boys were riding with them.  

We arrived and wasted no time in loading up our livestock trailer (their primary method for bringing their belongings to Iowa).  

Dad was in the neck of the trailer stacking boxes until there was NO more room!  And boy, did we have that area packed.

The trailer on the left and a pick up on the right.  The boys were helping load both of those.

Loading, loading and more loading.

Three pretty girls "helping."

Oh, wait.  We have to take the swing set, too.  Here are many hands dismantling it.

Snack time for the hard workers!

And snack time again for the boys!  This picture makes it look like they are the ones who loaded the trailer.


Eden & Alyssa dancing on the front step.

The swing set is loaded and ready to go North.

We were on the road by 2pm, headed back to Iowa.  We were keeping an eye on the weather which was bringing some rain.  The livestock trailer isn't air tight so we wanted to make sure their belongings didn't get drenched.  We did okay and avoided some rain, but not all of it.  But their stuff stayed dry.  It was an exhausting day of packing and loading.  Thankfully we get to wait a week before unloading.

Good-bye Missouri and Hello Iowa!

Pictures of the week, June 17 to June 23, 2012

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Happy Father's Day!  We absolutely love Seth and all that he does for us!

Monday, June 18, 2012

A cute dress that I made from a 2T shirt from my sister's alma mater.  I'll give this to my niece for her birthday.  

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

When I made the Honey Glazed Pork Chops, I dropped them off for the other gals to pick up.  Here is some of what I got in return.  Several varieties of hamburger patties, some pork chops and marinated chicken to grill.  I'll also get a pan of Cheesy Potatoes.  Sweet!

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Mowing the lawn is a family affair.  Ephraim and I are on the mowers.  Emmet drives the Cub with the lawn sweeper behind it.  The girls help dump the sweeper and Seth is the supervisor over all!

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Picnic lunch and playtime at the park!  And then a stop at the library.  

Friday, June 22, 2012

I've found a new yummy granola bar recipe.  It is a no-bake recipe and it only takes 5 ingredients.  Check out www.momonamission.me.  She has some great recipes!

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Moving day for my sister's family from Kansas City to Central Iowa.  Never fear, there are more pictures to come of this event.  

Pictures of the week, June 10 to June 16, 2012

Wow, it seems like June is going so fast!  I'm a bit behind in my Pictures of the Week posts. 

Sunday, June 10, 2012

It is inevitable on the farm.  You're going to have to bury a kitten at some point.  And there are going to be tears.  Sometimes you can arrange it so that "the kitten just disappeared, maybe it wandered off, etc" but not this time.  From our litter of 5 kittens, one was noticeably different from the others.  More black and with short hair.  And it wasn't quick enough to escape the pick up tire late at night.  Ugh.  So, on this Sunday afternoon we buried Blackie.  The kids took it pretty hard at first.  I realize that there are far worse things than this that can happen, but in their world at this particular time, it was heartbreaking.



Monday, June 11, 2012

Tball fun night, which I previously blogged about.  

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Late night photo shoot for Uncle Paul, previously blogged about.  

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Picnic with Uncle Marvin & Cousin Kevin from North Dakota, previously blogged about.

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Meet the pigs, previously blogged about.  

Friday, June 15, 2012

Bible Quiz practice--getting ready for the County Fair competition.  We don't know all the answers but we're giving it our best effort.  

Saturday, June 16, 2012

My own meteorologist (Ephraim), camera man (Emmet) & producer (Eden).  It was pouring outside and since we haven't seen that kind of rain in a while, the kids were having fun standing by the window reporting on the weather.  Perhaps they were also excited that we do not have plastic on the inside of the window and the view of the rain was very clear!  

Father's Day 2012

Happy Father's Day 2012!  We celebrated Father's Day on Saturday night and all day Sunday.  I already posted the pictures from Sunday afternoon.  Here are the Sunday morning and Saturday night photos.  

For Father's Day this year, our church encouraged the men to drive their favorite mode of transportation to church.  There was a nice selection of old cars, a golf cart, several motorcycles, a jeep, lawnmower and of course, several old tractors.  Seth wanted to bring in the Farmall Cub but we couldn't drive it the whole way.  So, in typical redneck fashion, we loaded it up in the livestock trailer and drove the truck and trailer to church.  Then we parked a block away and Seth and the boys drove the Cub to the designated parking area.  

After church we took a picture of Seth with the children.  

"Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord."  Ephesians 6:4

A family picture outside of church.  

"However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband."  Ephesians 5:33

Then it was time to visit Seth's Grandparents.  

As our visit was wrapping up, Seth snuck out and went to the trailer, unloaded the Cub and drove it around front.  We were going to surprise Grandpa & Grandma with it.  The Farmall Cub originally belonged to Elmer's brother Wilfred.  

Emmet did a great job pushing Grandpa down the hall.  

Taking a picture with 4 generations, three fathers and 4 children.  

"The righteous man leads a blameless life; blessed are his children after him." Proverbs 20:7

Adding Grandma to the picture.  It was a perfect afternoon to be out taking pictures.  

A tender moment between Great Grandpa and Eliza after the official picture.  Too precious.  

Great Grandpa is pointing out the wording on the tractor to Ephraim.  I just love how happy Grandpa looks in this picture.  I think seeing the tractor brightened his day.  

Okay, now back track to Saturday night.  With the rain, Seth was in for the evening a bit earlier than usual.  We had supper and got the children cleaned up.  Then it was time for Daddy to open his presents.  But first, the obligatory picture with everyone!

A joyful moment with Emmet trying to take a peek in Daddy's gift bag.  

Oh look, a Veggie Tales Movie.  We also got Seth the latest What's In the Bible DVD and the Courageous DVD.  

From my card to Seth:

You're a Wonderful Husband

and a Great Dad

"What a father gives a child is

 part of who he is 

and who they will become--

his love, wisdom, and example

will shape them for a lifetime.

We have to have our children's heart."

--Courageous The Movie

I'm thanking God today for so many things--

my amazing husband, who you are as a dad, 

what we have as friends and lovers,

and all the dreams yet to come. 

I appreciate you every day, and I hope you know

that I realize how blessed I am to have you.

Happy Father's Day!

Seth's last gift was a set of booklets written by R.C. Sproul.  Seth had seen one and I knew that he wanted the whole set.  R.C. Sproul is a popular Christian author and radio host. 

Probably the best gift we could have given Seth was RAIN.  And it came. Eight tenths on Friday night and 2 inches on Saturday night.  Praise God, it was just what the crops needed!  It is amazing what some much needed rain will do for our crops and our attitudes!

It truly was a blessed Father's Day.  

Father's Day, Part 2

(This is our Father's Day afternoon.  The morning pictures will be coming soon.)  We spent Father's Day lunch and the afternoon with Seth's family.  We had a nice time visiting and the kids had fun playing outdoors.

Just some neat pictures of the girls on the rope swing.  I didn't get many pictures of the boys . . . they were too busy running around chasing each other.  After a while, it was time for a 4-wheeler ride to the back of the field.  Some rode the 4-wheeler while the others rode the E-Z-Go.  

They had a blast going through the little bit of crick water!  

Seth even had time to squeeze in a science lesson on corn.  The kids were excited to see the original corn seed in the roots of the corn.  

Here is Seth explaining about compaction, the colors of the corn and the formation of the leaves.  

And one last jump on the swing before going home.