Fishing

After carving out our pumpkins we headed to the pond to take in a little fishing.



The fish were pretty tiny but we had a great time and enjoyed the warm fall weather!

Pumpkins!

Gideon and Rachel did not have school on Friday so we decided it would be fun to do pumpkins. Thanks again to grandma Jan for a wonderful pumpkin patch! First we picked out the best ones for each of us, then we headed home to get dirty.
Adalli loved every minute of being outside!




They cleaned out and cut out their faces. I am not a huge fan of Jack o Lanterns but it is always fun see what you can make from these fun fall vegetables. I am almost to the point where the older kiddos can clean out the slime all by themselves without me having to get dirty.

More Fall and Harvest pictures

Here are some seed pods from a Candy Lily that Stacy gave to me. I think they are very pretty and a definite sign of fall.
The woolly caterpillars have been everywhere this year! I have had so many in jars and containers all over, we have let them make their cocoons and come out but they are kind of ugly moths; so we try not to keep them inside their cages for to long. I much prefer them to stay and make moths outside of the house!



These are my volunteer baby pumpkins that came up and vined all over my air conditioner unit. We must have dumped some there last year. I love that about Iowa, you can grow about anything, even when you are not trying. I suppose that is not always the best thing, but for this Northern Colorado girl who needs all the help she can get when it comes to growing things; it usually works out for my advantage:)
The progress we have made on our house is amazing and we are so thankful for all the help we have had in getting us this far. This is our very own farmstead that God has richly richly blessed us with!
This is a neat picture of the John Deere tractor's reflection in the chrome stack of the semi.


Here is Rachel and Adalli in the combine. Adalli loves it!


Adalli and dad with matching bald heads! Driving the grain cart tractor for Grandpa.

Signs of Harvest

Here are a few signs that Harvest is upon us!
Tractor's and combine's are everywhere now days! Thank the Lord for a beautiful week so far. They can get so much done when it is beautifully sunny out.
Here is picture of my washer with corn in it. That is definitely a sign of harvest.
An empty chair where BJ sits for supper,
along with empty fields . It is always nice to check off another field for the harvest, knowing that the corn is delivered and God has once again provided for our needs. We have had poor yields this year but on a continual basis God has shown His unending faithfulness!

First Day of School.

Okay, I know that I am a month late on these but they were to cute to not post. :)
Rachel, Gideon and Leah waiting for the bus.
Johnathon goes to preschool Tuesdays and Thursdays. He does very well and seems to enjoy it. The only time it is hard to get him to go is when he knows dad will be in the combine without him.
Gideon with that look of "I am to old for desk pictures mom."

Plaster and Lathe

Before and after pictures of the kitchen, back bedroom and dining room in the house. They got wet with all the rain storms we had this summer so we had to take all of it down piece by piece. BJ, the kids, and I all tackled it one Saturday and got the ceiling all down, then with Mom L and Jeremiah's help got the walls out this week. We should be able to get the electrical done and then start insulation.
The kids started wearing helmets because it kept falling on their heads. Good little thinkers.

One wore out and very dirty crew!!
Finished! Now to pull and pull nails. I kept thinking; wow, can you imagine putting all of this up in the first place? Thank goodness for drywall:)

Our House

This has been consuming all the "free" time we have had since this spring and it will continue for atleast two more months. We have made wonderful progress, our goal is to be in it before or right around Christmas. We have lots to do yet but thanks to all of the good help we are moving forward!
I like the angles in this picture. This is a dormer on the outside,
this is one on the inside.

Summer

This is just a few summer pictures. Playing at the pond was a highlight of the summer!
State Fair was awesome! Thank you Brian, Becky and boys for the great company.
The kiddos thought this grand prize pumpkin was a fake.
Little Hands on the Farm is always a favorite!
Here is just one flood picture. This is actually a road!
Johnathon was always a little nervous to get on the tube last year; this year he did so awesome and even enjoyed going by himself a few times.
These are just a very few of our summer adventures this year. Come on over anytime and we would love to show you all the many pictures we have!!

Trip to New Mexico

It took us about 6 hours to get to Rehoboth, New Mexico from Lake Powell. On our way we went around Shiprock, we also saw a bunch of rock formations and an Indian house in the rocks.

More Lake Powell Pictures

This is the second place we parked for the night. It was a lot easier to get the boat anchored to the small rocks versus the big rocks.

This is the double arches. You could barely see thru the top arch.