Back into a Schedule (kinda)

 Wow, lots has happened in life since the last time I blogged.  This is a pretty random selection of the last four or so weeks of our lives.  First day of school pictures! Gideon is in 6th, Rachel is in 3rd and John is in 2nd. Wow, where has the time gone?

 Adalli doesn't start preschool until next fall but she thinks she is ready to take it on. On this particular day Rachel was her teacher.

 The first two and a half weeks we got out of school around noon because our school doesn't have air conditioning so it gets very hot in the building. On those hot days the kiddos would come home and cool off in our "new pool" which is actually an old stainless steel milk storage tank from an old dairy that some friends gave us. It works wonderfully for cooling off after a hot day!

 This is the last batch of fresh sweet corn for the summer.

 Natalie helped me with my Lima beans on this day. I have tried to grow Lima beans before and have never had very good luck so this year I was determined!  I tried hard to keep them watered and weeded and they turned out very good! I look forward to planting a bigger batch next year!

 Harvest has started and is in FULL swing! I love fall in Iowa! I enjoy riding in the combine, the cooler temperatures and watching the guys enjoy bringing in what they worked so hard for all year! God has blessed us richly again this year and we are excited to see how He wants us to use it for His glory!

 The little girls and I rode a while with dad on this day. They really enjoy "helping" daddy! The big kids love to ride also but by the time you get mom, dad and 5 kiddos in the combine we really don't stay to long!

 The girls like to put the corn in their pockets and save it for later. They usually forget about it and I end up with a lot of corn in the washer.

May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for You rule the peoples justly and guide the nations of the earth. May the people praise You, O God; may all the peoples praise You. Then the land will yield its harvest, and God our God, will bless us. God will bless us, and all the ends of the earth will fear Him. Psalm 67: 4-7

Boender Family Vacation Part 2

 Loaded up and ready for a ride!

 I thought this looked funny. All the rangers and four wheeler filling up at the gas station.

 Kurt and Emily did a great job of leading us through all the trails!

 This is a lighthouse on Peninsula Point on lake Michigan. It was really neat because you could climb up all the way to the top and look out.

 The kiddos all beat us up to the top.

 The view from the lighthouse on one side.

 The lighthouse stairs.

 There were all kinds of rocks with shell fossils in them. So the kids enjoyed finding them.

 Gideon caught a frog and John climbed a tree.

 These are pictures from a beach on Lake Superior. If we would have had more time and our kiddos were a little older I would have loved to take a kayak or a boat out onto the lake so we could see more of the pretty rocks!

 Natalie would get her hands full of sand and then go wash them off in the little waterfall. She did this so many times while we were there.

 Beautiful blue lake!

 Cousin picture with Grandma and Grandpa

 BJ tormenting the boys when they can't defend themselves. They did ask to be buried tho!

 Adalli was a trooper on the hike!

 Daddy and his little girls.

 Pretty waterfall that we hiked to. It was one of the shorter hikes ( a little over a mile round trip) perfect for wearing the kiddos out so they could nap on the ride back to the cabin!

We had a wonderful trip and really enjoyed seeing the new and different places. The U.P. of Michigan is very beautiful! Thank you to all for making it another wonderful Boender vacation!!

Boender Family Vacation Part 1

 Loaded up and ready to depart.

 We made it to Oshkosh, WI on the first night. The kids and guys went swimming and the girls went to an outlet mall for some shopping. The next morning we had some time to kill so we stopped at a nice wooden park and very small zoo. The guys had as much fun as the kiddos did.

 At the zoo we found a great place to take a cousin picture.

 Kristin found us an amazing cabin that fit our family perfectly! Lots of room to run and play. It would be wonderful if we could just take this cabin to every vacation spot we wanted to go!

 BJ was the grill master!

 The cabin even had a small kiddo table!

 This creek was right outside the cabin's back door. The dad's and kids had a great time catching crawdads. It was pretty cold too.

 BJ and the guys cooked and tried the crawdads. They all said that they tasted pretty good. I took their word for it.

 When we weren't on the rangers riding the kiddos ramped the trailer and rode trikes.

 It was a perfect spot to just chill and relax.

 I just had to put this on here. This is what Natalie looks like when Grandma gives her a truffle. Oh my, it's a good thing she is cute!

 Addi did pretty good at not getting completely sticky after her smores tho.

Stay tuned for pictures of the Ranger rides. lighthouse and a day at Lake Superior.