Beautiful Baby # 5

The very first glimpse of our precious little one!

The night before any ultrasound I am a little hesitant, my mind often wanders a little to much sometimes! I catch myself thinking " I wonder if it will have all its fingers and toes, will the heart have four chambers like it is supposed to, will the kidneys and bladder be just right, how about the brain? Rachel's ultrasound came back and the doctor said that there was something a little wrong with her kidney and they would have to check it after she comes out. Everything was normal when she was born. It truly amazed me though that they could see all of that and know when something wasn't quite right. Usually within a couple minutes of my minds wanderings I fold my hands, close my eyes and give all my thoughts and worries to the Lord, knowing that He has a plan and a purpose! Then I roll over and fall asleep so thankful that everything is in His hands and I look forward to getting the first glance at one of the most amazing things being created right before our eyes! God is so very good!

For You created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's
womb. I praise You because I am
fearfully and wonderfully made;
Your works are wonderful, I
know that full well.
Psalm 139:13-14

Montana Trip

Special family, relaxation, celebration and beautiful mountains. This is what we were able to enjoy last weekend. We drove two full days to spend a day and a half in Montana then leave and drive another two full days home. It was worth it to see cousins, aunts and uncles that we haven't seen for four years. (That much time away from each other should be outlawed!) It is amazing how much kiddos grow in that amount of time! They hit it off like they had just seen each other yesterday though.

Special cousins! We got to MT on Fri night and it was not hardly 50 degrees and snowing on the mountains but then Sat it hit 70 and Sun around noon it had hit almost 75. Thank you Lord for the beautiful weather. The mountains were absolutely gorgeous with all the snow on them still. Sadly I did not get any pics of them, I was worried about getting all the cousins. You will have to check out my mom's face book page for all the pics she took (most of them were of the mountains.)



This is how we traveled in style. Dog pile on dad so we can all see the movie. Dad drove a lot of the way but the kiddos enjoyed it when he took off. Grandma was awesome and drove a bunch too!

Memorial Day

On Sunday we took the kiddos into the cemetery to see Great Grandma Ferguson's headstone. On this day we let them get out and look at it, Gideon read the name and the dates on it.
The kiddos and I never got to meet Grandma Frances Ferguson but I know that I am looking forward to meeting her in heaven! From the stories I have heard about her she sounds like an amazing woman. BJ has said many times to me when it is freezing cold and muddy outside and he is ready to go tileing that Grandma helped Grandpa every time he needed help. She must have been quite a woman! He also talks about how she helped him with his schoolwork and had wonderful coffee time when he would go visit. I am so glad that BJ had the blessing to grow up just a little ways down the road from his Grandpa and Grandma. I know he learned alot about life, and the Love of Christ thru them. I am so blessed to say that my children also live a little ways down the road from their Grandmas and Grandpas, and I thank God that they can learn about life and most importantly about the Love of Christ thru them. I know that not only are they covered in prayer by the grandparents that are still alive today, I am also thankful for the prayers of the grandparents that are waiting in Heaven for us!

Taylor Family Campout

Minute to Win it Games!
What fun! Rachel and John each had to stack 4 sugar cubes on a stick in their mouth and hold them there for atleast 3 seconds. Rachel got it done after only 3 tries.
BJ and Bryan worked together and stacked nuts on top of each other. They got it done just in time! Gideon had to get 5 tube noodles on one spaghetti noodle. He came really close but they all kept rolling or blowing off the table. Now we know why they play the real game inside!
I Don't quite know how this got in the middle of Minute to win it games but oh well. A nice thing about the weekend is the wonderful fellowship we have with all the families. It is such a blessing!
I do not have any pictures of the ladies sitting around visiting because most of our visiting was done in the kitchen cooking and doing the dishes. I will agree that it is always nicer to do your chores when you are surrounded by wonderful friends!!

Johnathon got all of his cubes on, on the first try and held them there for 20 seconds! More Tug of war.
Adalli loved to play in the dirt with her little shovel. Here Justena is breaking ground so it is softer for Adalli to dig it up and paint all over herself.
Feeding 4o kids and a bunch of adults always takes quite an undertaking but we manage to get everyone full and satisfied. I was going to take a picture of the mountains of dishes left over but I didn't get around to it, we were all to busy washing them!
A few games of Settlers are a must for the adults!
Fun memories and special times are the best about this weekend!
This year we did course races and that was lots of fun to do and to run!


Tug of war is always a highlight of the weekend!

Zoo Field Trip

Thanks to Grammie Melanie for taking the little kiddos I was able to join Rachel on her field trip to the Blank Park Zoo in Des Moines. We had a lot of fun and it was such a beautiful day!



This is Rachel's Kindergarten class. 12 boys and 9 girls.



Rachel's favorite was the Red Panda. He kinda looked like a mix between a fox and a raccoon not much like a panda or a bear. But he sure was cute.
I love the giraffes and their very long tongue!
We went with the first grade class also so these are a couple of Rachel's friends hatching out of a big egg.


Loading the bus for the drive home. What a fun day at the zoo!!

Geo Thermal

Here is the "finished" project. Not counting the flattening out of the dirt, smoothing and reseeding so we can have a nice yard out back. Much to the dismay of the kiddos as they really like to play in the dirt/mud! It truly amazes me how you can never fit back all of what you took out of the hole :)
Just for your information you can also run geo thermal in the bottom of a pond. I think it is a toss up on what is the easier way. Supposedly this takes less dirt work :) A pond is on my wish list but I wasn't thinking my back yard. I would prefer it in the front yard. I was informed yesterday when I quietly brought it up that "mom had to wait until she was 50 for that," I suppose that means it will go on my 50th birthday wish list. :) That is just fine! I am so grateful for all that has been given already!!

Don't forget to have at least one coffee time break in between especially if that is all you will get paid with. Thanks again for all the help everyone, it is greatly appreciated!

Lay it down in the hole, pray it doesn't cave in before you crawl out, cover with a small amount of dirt then run another roll over the top. You do this four times in four separate trenches. Praise the Lord no one got caved in on and it was finished in a day thanks to good help! Now we are waiting on the plumber to hook it up. Thank goodness it has been a pretty cool spring otherwise we would be cooked in our non air conditioned house. Oh the luxuries that get taking for granted!
This is the tubing that they use to run the water thru. It goes in the bottom of the very deep hole. On a wet Saturday BJ, Steve and some of his brothers spent most of the day zip tie-ing the pipes into the slinky that they are in these pics.


Here are a few pics of how huge a process putting Geo Thermal lines in the ground can be.
First dig a long, very deep hole. I would put the dimensions but I don't quite remember them, so next time you see one of the guys feel free to ask. All I know is that it was deep enough that the walls kept falling in.

Computer Problems

I think Stacy passed her computer problems to me. Just kidding. Anyway for some reason it will not let me post any pictures on our blog so I am going to be even more behind. Oh bummer!!
I will be trying at a different time of day here soon I hope so maybe that will make a difference.

Stay tuned :)

Easter

I was talking with my sister the other day about how when we grew up I never really remember doing anything much for Easter. I remember slightly one time when we got together with my aunts and uncles when I was little, maybe 8 and we found real hard boiled eggs that we colored, they did not have any candy in them :). One other time in Colorado when a kind older couple from our church invited all the children over for an egg hunt. We looked for eggs in about 5-6 inches of fresh wet spring snow. Otherwise, it was a day that we went to church and thanked Jesus for giving His life for us. I told my sister, I was so thankful to be in Iowa close to my kiddos grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins so that not only is it a day that we can reflect on all that Jesus did for us but we can celebrate as a big family that Jesus died for us and rose again so that we can be saved and have eternal life through Him!

But He was pierced with our transgressions
He was crushed for our iniquities,
the punishment that brought us

peace was upon Him,
and by His wounds we are healed!
Isaiah 53:5

The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know
that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.
He is not here; He has RISEN, just as He said.
Come and see the place where He lay.
Matthew 28:5

Thank You Jesus!!

Myrtle Beach

On the 10th of February BJ, Addi, my sister K her husband Ben and baby boy Zander, my mom and dad and brother Micah and I loaded up in our Excursion and drove 24 hours straight thru to Myrtle Beach South Carolina. Wow, what a long drive to tackle straight thru (I do not recommend it!). Once we got there we had a wonderful time! The weather was very nice 50s and 60s and the ocean was beautiful. It had been a long time since we had been to the ocean. And the older kiddos were a little bummed that they had to stay home and Addi got to see the ocean before they did.


Adalli had so much fun walking with bare feet in the sand and the waves and digging to find shells and rocks.


We went to Hunters Beach and they had a neat visitor and educational center. Addi could stick her fingers in and feel the fish and shells. She wasn't quite sure about it though. We had a wonderful time and recommend this place for sure.

Too Long!

Here it is almost two months past Johnathon's birthday and I am finally getting his Five year pic up. Lots has happened in the last couple months so I will try to get you somewhat up to date!




Johnathon is in preschool this year and really enjoying it! He loves helping dad with whatever he can as well, but his favorite is checking cows and calves. He is growing more and more each day. BJ and I are so thankful for such wonderful children!

Adalli is ONE!

Adalli Grace Boender is now one! I cannot believe how quickly that year went. What a blessing our little girl is to our family! She has been the happiest, most easy going and flexible baby I have ever had. Praise the Lord!
Adalli is getting very close to preferring walking over crawling, she loves to go upstairs and sit at the top and holler for some one to come get her, she claps, plays peek-a-boo, says dada, mama, bye bye, baby, uh oh and is really close to saying no.
We thank the Lord every day for each one of our healthy and busy children.