My favorite part of our vacation!!

This looooooooooooonnnggg bike path was my favorite part of our trip due to the fact that we had such perfect weather, and it was Oh, so quiet and relaxing on the bike path!! Also there was plenty of wildlife around. Squirrels, rabbits, birds, deer, hawks, golden eagles and even a few bald eagles!! Now those are some majestic birds!! (Eagles that is.) I literally spent hours out on the bike trail,....just listening to all of nature's song!

A rippling creek that ran next to the bike path.

A picture of a true Iowa deer in a full body mount at the museum on the bike trail. (Nice rack there!!)

Misc. Iowa Pics

The beautiful rolling hills in Iowa were fantastic to see again!!

Lizzy tuning up her violin in anticipation of the wedding of our cousin, Kerstin.

Here Emily gives our ever-helping Grandma a hand with the dishes. I don't know if our Grandma ever sat down for any length of time while we were there. She is working or helping out somebody constantly!! God must have blessed her in a special way!

Game time!!

Truly, some of the best fellowship is to be had around a card table with a board game, rook, uno....etc. Here, James displays his "winning" smile while his dad, (Uncle Derek) Eli and Luke practice their poker faces.

Here, Emily prepares to challenge somebody in the age old mind challenge of Mancala.

The Main Event: Thanksgiving Dinner!!

The oldest

The youngest

And the ones in the middle!

Iowa trip!!
(Even though Kaity already beat me to it! :o)

Eli and Connor in the van and ready to roll!!

Lizzy with two of our cousins,....Meagan and Jessica

Vacation Pictures

(Original title, wasn't it?) Well, while I was posting on the wedding, I figured why not just go ahead and do a few more too! So we'll begin at the beginning, when we had all piled in the van and were finally on our way....

The whole of us children, minus Jack, who was taking the picture.

At the beginning of trip everyone is happy and excited....

... even though it's a little bit cozy at times.

But after a few hours of travel, people can start to get just

a wee bit restless!

The little cyclone and I... he was thrilled with his new

surroundings and all the possibilities for, shall we say, adventure?

Aiden with cousin Timothy.

Liz and Jessica are not only cousins, but good friends as well!

A boy and his food - absolutely inseparable!

Dad and Uncle Ed, enjoying good fellowship.

Joel and Kerstin Jessup

November 25, 2006

During our vacation in Iowa, our cousin, Kerstin Hannahs, was married to Joel Jessup. This is one of the many "sets" of pictures that we will post from vacation.
Jack will post some and I will post others. He told me, "You do the wedding!" :-)
The wedding was beautiful and sweet and I was glad we could help out/be there!

The newly married couple.

Bridal collage

Joel with his nephews and niece.

Kerstin, shortly before the ceremony.

3 siblings of the bride.

Bridesmaids, left to right: Jessica (sister), Nicole (friend), Kelsey (sister).

Kerstin and mom.

Couple with grandparents.

Opening gifts.

Cutting the cake (Grandma made the cake!)

A very HAPPY Mr. and Mrs.!

Ready or not... here comes vacation!

-

The suitcases and clothes are beginning to fly this week, and the house is getting a good going over, as we prepare to leave for Iowa.

There is always a flurry of activity when it comes time for a family vacation. Some family members will be packed by Wednesday, while others will wait until a couple of hours before we take off on Friday. To each their own, as long as they are ready by the time Dad is pulling out!

14 people, multiple suitcases, musical instrument(s), purses, food, diaper bag, pillows and whatever else we happen to be bringing are carefully packed in by the master van loader, Jack. We all get in and then begins the drive... this time it will only be a 7 hour drive, which isn't bad.

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A snapshot of Emmy and I, Jack took last week (in the van).

Going on 20!!
(At least that is how Kaity views it!)

Kaitlyn prepares to extinguish the cake before it burns to a crisp from all those candles!! Eli looks on with obvious interest at the delectable treat.

Kaitlyn, my only older sister, has been such a blessing to our family and others around her. A few words that come to my mind when I think about Kaity are, cheerful, helpful, patient,..and occasionally late at night....wacky!!

Case in point.

After we had desert the kids started an age old contest of true skill...Nosy spoon balancing!!
Try it sometime, It's fun!!
(As long as you don't mind people laughing at you :o)
(See!! long noses are good for something!!)

Luke's 10th!!

The delicious desert that Luke had for his birthday was as follows: A fresh baked brownie, topped with a large scoop of vanilla ice cream and drizzled generously with chocolate syrup.


Luke has been described as being a bit "unique", but he makes up for it with his great atittude in everything he does!!


This was one of his crowning moments,... when he got to wear a full fireman's suit. We children got quite a laugh out of it too, watching him try to walk around with all that weight on!!

From Seed to Stalk

Some folks say we live in the country, while other simply declare it "the sticks". I must agree with whichever you choose to call it, of course, seeing as the road is similar to an oversized sidewalk, the scenery is corn and bean fields, and the neighbors... hhmmm, what neighbors?

I think the whole process of the fields is rather amazing to observe. Here are a few pictures from throughout the summer and autumn months.