Dirt Work

With the nearly 50 inches of rain we had this spring and summer, lots of work was needed to get the fields back in shape. We're thankful Mark has kept busy with his track hoe this month! It helped (financially) make up for the lower than normal crop yields. It's wonderful how God provides and gives us opportunities to support our family! Not only does Mark enjoy working with his track hoe, he is good at it which makes it all the better! Mark cleaning out our neighbors ditch.

It's amazing how much dirt he moves in just a couple hours!

When we brought Mark some coffee time Elijah and Amelia took a little ride.

Elijah LOVES track hoes! His favorite toy right now is a little toy track hoe. He also has a little semi with a trailer that he uses to haul his track hoe around the house to different "jobs". Another fun thing he does is sing. He makes up little songs with one to three words that he sings over and over. Most songs have track hooooe, track hooooe in them. :)

Girls Night Out

My sister-in-law Suzanne had a special birthday this month so we thought it would be fun to take her out. We had a fun evening out with only the sister-in-laws! We spent our evening in Des Moines getting our nails done and going out to dinner. It was a very fun evening and I look forward to our next night out! Thanks to all our babysitters!

Cassia, Suzanne, Kristen, Becky, Me & Emily

All of us getting our nails done.

Hmmm, the CAT dealership doesn't look like a usual stop for 6 ladies on a "ladies night out" trip. Seems we didn't totally get the evening totally off, but at least we were helpful and brightened up the CAT guys evening a little. :)

Dan & Ang's Wedding (Part 2)

I've gathered a few more pictures from my sisters wedding. She has nearly 1,000 pictures to choose from! If you have facebook she is slowing getting them online if you want to check more out there.

The entire wedding party.

Amelia ended up carrying her little flowers as well as the ring bearer pillow for Elijah, who wasn't sure what was going on. :)

A good looking family, Ang, Dan & Ben!

Ethan was so excited to tell his cousins that he now has 3 uncle Dan's and 2 cousins named Ben! :)

As if our outdoor pictures weren't cold enough!

Actually the short ride to the reception wasn't too bad. We had coats and blankets to keep warm with.

Me with my handsome hubby!

After a fun couple days celebrating with Dan and Ang we headed home. We had lots of interesting sights, a few horse and buggies and at least 50 or more dead deer strapped to trailers or cars.

NICE! Welcome to Missouri Ang! :)

Dan & Ang's Wedding (Part 1)

Last weekend my sister Angela got married. We traveled to central Missouri to a little town called Bunceton for their wedding. I was very excited to be her matron of honor, Amelia was a flower girl f(this was the third time this year) :), and Elijah was a "fill in" ring bearer. I'm looking forward to getting many more pictures from family and friends to post soon.

Ang bought all of us scarves and gloves as part of our gift. They were very much needed! It was a cold and windy day!

She married a farmer so it's only fitting to take pictures around the farm.

My nephew wasn't thrilled about the whole wedding/traveling thing. So we decided to put his tux on Elijah and have him walk down the aisle with Amelia.

Ang picked the most beautiful flowers ever! These are our bouquets sitting on the bar.

Ang and I in front of an old barn in their yard.

The wedding party at church.

Dan made this bar out of barn boards in part of a day. It turned out very well went perfectly with the rustic fall decorations around the shop.

Ang and Dan in front of their old barn.

One of the my favorite things about the area is the beautiful old barns everywhere!

We've had nice weather for the past couple Sunday's which makes being outdoors a priority! Mark's motocross tracks have been busy with riders enjoying the few mild days of fall. Last weekend we had over 30 riders with a bunch of spectators and the Sunday before brought several new faces as well. Motocross riders weren't the only ones out enjoying be beautiful day, Gary Hanson (GJ Hanson Photography) was also at our place taking pictures of the guys riding. He was very kind to give me some pointers on photography and even sent us a CD of pictures he took of Mark and our family. Here are a few of my favorites from Gary.

I love the leaves behind Mark!

Mark and Brad

Mark rounding a corner.

Amelia looking cute!

Karl & Kristen's Wedding

This past weekend we enjoyed being a part of Karl and Kristen's wedding. Karl is the last of Mark's siblings to get married. We had a great time and wonderful weather to celebrate their new marriage!

The beautiful bride and handsome groom

Amelia and Rachel posing after getting their hair done.

Karl and Kristen's wedding party.

Finishing touches before the wedding.

Karl watching his beautiful bride walk down the aisle.

A pretty little flower girl handing out rose petals.

The wedding party near the mill in Lynnville.

Mark and I were the first to get married in his family. Here is a picture from our wedding 11 years ago.

A current family picture, oh how the family has grown!