17 Years

We celebrated our 17th anniversary this month. It's really hard to believe it's been that many years already! 

Look at us, so young and in love! ;-) 21 and 23, ready to take on the world together!

Look at us now...not quite as young but still in love! I can honestly say that I love him more deeply now than I did on the day I said "I do". 

God has used marriage to refine both of us, in many ways. Marriage will quickly show you just how selfish you actually are...yikes! Marriage will also pull you closer to the Savior (if you let Him).

I have been so blessed by this man for the last 17 years...

1. He is quick to apologize.

2. He is forever acting like a junior high boy...most of the time it makes me laugh...and now we're at the fun stage where he can make at least on of our kids die of embarrassment with his antics!

3. He loves me better than anyone else on earth could possible love me, especially when I am completely unlovable.

4. He works hard. Crazy hard. And he does it so I can stay home and raise our kids. He rarely complains about the long hours he often puts in. 

5. He is a man of integrity. Which has a lot to do with how many hours he often works.

6. He is such a good father to our brood. He has worked really hard to give each one of them special one-on-one time with him, even if it's just a game of checkers every evening. 

7. He listens (well, most of the time...) and he is almost always quick to do better (except for the dirty clothes on the floor.....haha!)

8. He has a one track mind. Sometimes that drives me CRAZY, but it's the reason he's such an amazing husband and father.

9. He loves the Lord and has really been striving to continually draw our family closer to the Lord.

10. He's hot. What can I say? ;-)

11. He makes me laugh and he lets me cry (but that still really bothers him!).

12. If he sets a goal, he's going to reach it. *see number 8*

13. He's a good friend. He's my best friend.

14. He compliments me every single day. Sometimes it's ridiculous (see number 2), but he makes me feel loved every single day.

15. He goes along with my hair-brained ideas. To my credit, they've always turned out great, but he's no longer surprised if he comes home from a weekend away and I've completely rearranged several rooms of the house...or torn out carpet...or painted. HA!! 

16. He's willing to jump in and help however he can with homeschooling the kids. Unless it's math...

17. He is the perfect match for me. It is so evident that God created him to be my husband. And I love growing old together (yes, we're getting old!), dreaming dreams, and working hard together.

Happy 17, baby! Here's to many, many more!

Beauty in the Storms

 We have had more than enough rain this spring already. We've had so much flooding...some days it takes us an hour to make the 26 mile drive to the "big town" because so many roads are closed due to flooding. Farm ground has been decimated from floods, too much rain, strong winds or even hail. It's almost July 4th and most people around here were only able to cut for one day before rain stopped them again. 

But through all the heartache and damage from these rains comes some pretty spectacular skies. Pictures just don't do it justice, but here are some anyway.

Where has June gone?!

Wow...June has flown by in a hurry! I can't believe it's almost July already. Here are some pictures from the month. We've been busy with VBS, helping Papa with the flip house, and softball games for the boys and Aaron.

Aunt Cara has been sewing again! Grace LOVES having a matching dress with big sis. And this is about the only way to get Anna in a dress. ;-)

Grace spent a few evenings at the flip with me while the bigs were at VBS. She was a good helper! She really had fun vacuuming out the cabinets.

 One Saturday, Jacob spent the whole day working with Papa at the flip house. When we went to pick him up, the other kids pitched in and helped for a while. They're learning to just find something they can do to be helpful and do it, no matter if it's a job that will have to be done again or not. 

One Sunday, we took a trip to Menard's to look for some new doors and some things for the flip. Papa came with us, so Anna had to sit right next to Grace in the car. Grace is most definitely loud most of the time, especially in close proximity. Anna was getting REALLY frustrated with her, so I reminded Anna that she had prayed for many years for a little sister...and God answered her prayers! Grace had been looking out the window and not paying any attention to us. Immediately after I said that, Grace turned to Anna (just a few inches away), made this face, and yelled right in her ear! Oh Grace. She keeps us on our toes!!!

Mulberries and More!

Not sure if it's all the moisture, the cooler Spring temps, or just a good year, but the harvest is plentiful at Ponderosa Trails this year (except for my poor garden)! We picked some mulberries and crab apples last year, but not enough to speak of really. We made a few small jars of crab apple jam. The kids ate the mulberries before anything could be made with them. This year, the crab apple tree is LADEN with fruit! And we've found more mulberry trees on the property!!

We also found Sandhill Plums! Everywhere! We thought that's what a lot of the bushes along the trails were, but they never had any fruit on them last year. Hopefully I can harvest enough to make some jam with them this year. I remember Shirley Saxton always making Sandhill Plum jelly and bringing it to church to share with everyone.

Soooo may mulberries. The tree is so tall we'll never be able to reach all of it. The kids ate the first bucket-full in short order (granted all but 1 of the grandkids were out that day!) We discovered another mulberry tree next to the one we picked off of last year...it's a white mulberry tree!

I climbed as high as I could on the 10 foot ladder and basically could just reach the lowest branches! We need to get back out there to harvest some more. Mulberry jam sounds really good!

Kansas Skies

All the storms have given us some gorgeous skies and sunsets! It's hard to beat the wide open skies of Kansas. They shout the majesty and creativity of our Creator. There's really no reason for sunsets to be so varied in color or so brilliant in display, other than the fact that God loves us. I could sit and watch the storms roll in all night long. I love to sit and watch the sun set and watch the sky change colors a dozen times in just a few minutes.

My Roses

I love flowers. Especially roses. And Peonies. And....ok, it would be quicker to just say I love flowers!

Grandma Mary's peony bush that she transplanted, first from her parents' farm to her farm, then from her farm to Ponderosa Trails. Peonies rival roses for heavenly scent!!

Anna picked out a new rose bush this year for my flower beds at home. She picked one for Ponderosa Trails, too, but it hasn't bloomed yet. We discovered it is very aptly named! Every morning, we're excited to see just what the roses will look like on this bush. They change color almost every day!

When it first started to bloom, they were this beautiful swirl of orange and pink.

Then they turned yellow with just a tinge of pink on the very outer petals.

Then they turn hot pink with just a tinge of yellow at the very center! So beautiful. And so fun to watch them change every day!

 My other rose bushes are blooming like crazy this year. I planted them several years ago. They're all just slightly different shades of a bright pinkish-red. I don't remember the name of these ones.

My yellow rose bush a sweet friend gave me several years ago for Mother's Day. It has smaller, wide open buds that start out a beautiful yellow and fade to almost white.

A dual colored mini rose bush mom gave me for Mother's Day this year. Sweet little pink and yellow flowers.

Flowers make me happy. Aaron says it's fairly cheap therapy, so he knows if we go in a store that has plants and flowers, it's very likely that we'll be leaving with some!