July 6, 2021

August on the Farm

9  comments

Today we are here blogging a little “Home on the Farm in August” installment. 
Most of the time we were too busy to take pictures, but we managed to get a few of the farm/home action from the past month, and here they are!

We arrived home early the morning of August 3rd and found this waiting for us—gifts, and a big signed banner from our church. They are such a blessing to us!

We are so blessed with an incredible crew of hired guys who keep the farm running while we are gone. Our main employee, the one who runs the dairy, left us a sweet welcome home note and cinnamon rolls and cookies from our favorite local bakery, Golden Delight. Such a treat! =)

Perks of arriving home at 3am….you can get several hours of work done before standing in the front yard to watch the sunrise several hours later!

Y’all, its HOME!! Complete with one of our beautiful, weed-free overgrown gardens!
HOME is beautiful, but some of the sights we saw were, um, discouragingly beautiful. You know? =/
#bigfamilyreality
Unpacking….
We hit those gardens first thing Monday morning!
Mom + Hudson
The gardens have been producing in ABUNDANCE! We are so blessed!
Liz weeding in one of the flower beds. 
This hydrangea bush went to town growing while we were gone. It is so beautiful.

As always, there are orthodontist appointments, and grocery shopping, and errands to do!
Sometimes these things call for special sibling time + treats together!

In the midst of everything going on, we were thrilled with all the friends we got to host and spend time with again! We love our Iowa people! Again, we missed pictures of so many, but managed to get a few here and there.
So good to be back to all our baby friends @ church!

For the republican presidential primary debate, we hosted a party in the hotel lobby. We had a great sized group and enjoyed watching the debate together and eating yummy snacks!

More home projects…such as trimming all the trees behind the house! 
Above, Josh running the skid loader, and Carson running the chainsaw. They make a great team. 
The flower beds are looking better. =)
We enjoyed the monthly get together with dad’s side of the family…
…and a few of us also attending a gender reveal party for some friends!
Alli + I with our friend, the expectant mama of a baby BOY!

We are so thankful for God’s protection + faithfulness in so many ways! Just one example is the above picture. This particular night I had gotten home late. I pretty much ALWAYS park the car on the right side of the cement pad but this night for some reason I backed into the left side this time.
During the night we had a huge storm, and the next morning I saw this when I looked out the window.
So grateful I didn’t park on the other side! Or my car would’ve been toast, I’m afraid…

Target shooting with friends one night.
Salsa making 101. These troopers are such a great crew!

On our big salsa making day, almost every member in the family popped into the basement kitchen at some time or another for at least a little shift. Many hands make light work!
It is really a miracle that any salsa made it into the cans, honestly!
Looks like we have an artist in our midst. =)
It has been the season of MUCH harvesting + canning produce from the gardens! Almost every single day someone is canning salsa, or pickles, or tomato juice, or pizza sauce, or hot sauce, or ketchup, or…something. =)
(above, jars cooling before being wiped and put away in the can room)

We have littles in and out of our home as often as possible! Mom always loves to get them involved in the garden/outdoors, just like she used to when we were little.

A few of us took off one weekend to attend a dear friends’ wedding in Tennessee. It was a flying road trip…from the time we left to the time we returned was about 40hrs, and more than half of that time was spent driving! It was so worth it though-it was a beautiful wedding and we got to see SO many good friends.

Tennessee mountain beauty, on the way home.

Cleaning out freezers and organizing to make room for the chickens + hog we had butchered.

More company, and great times together! In the middle of the month, Allison hosted a girls retreat (recap coming soon!) and some of the girls ended up staying for 1-3 days after the retreat. We made so many great memories!

Violin/piano duets!
Game time late one night. We work hard during the day, and then party with friends in the evenings. =)
We are so blessed by friends who come to visit and just pitch in with all the things we have going on! These girls were awesome–not just any friends would get excited about my crazy determination to pick green beans in a torrential downpour. =) We were SOAKED and so muddy by the time we were finished, but it was a blast. I also think its so neat how the three of us are sixteen, and twenty-four, and thirty years of age, and yet we had the most wonderful time and great conversation together. I think life is a lot richer with friends of all ages!

A highlight for our family was the opportunity to participate in the Rally for Religious Freedom.

Hudson

While we did sound check, mom + the littles got to cover the 2500 seat auditorium with Cruz support sign up cards and materials.

We’re all in!! =)
Ready to go…
Rebecca 

It was a phenomenal night. You can watch footage from the rally (minus the music) here at this link.

We took some pictures as we were waiting for the elevator to come back up, to load/pack up all of our sound equipment afterwards.

She’s quite the child…=)
Babysitting some of my favorite kiddos….
Allison spent many hours this month working the desk and also doing housekeeping and various other “catch up” projects at the hotel.

Cookouts at the campsite don’t happen nearly enough but whenever we do take the time to get away and spend the evening there, we are always so thankful afterwards.

Our potatoes have yielded an abundant crop this year! Here, Denver + Hudson are cleaning/sorting the potatoes before filling up the potato bin in our basement can room.
Reading aloud and snapping green beans!
Liz has become quite the profficient little chef. She makes breakfast for the family every morning, and also makes an assortment of yummy granolas, energy bars, and snack mixes.

Ah, we do love our brotherhood! They are so good at doing things for us. =)
Recently Carson told Allison that he felt bad that she always gave him free haircuts. (I think he was comparing his good luck to his bachelor friends who have to pay a barber, and he realized how much $$ he was really saving!)
Anyways, he asked if there was anything he could do for her in exchange. And…she thought of something! We have been redoing our room this summer, and wanted a long shelf hung across one wall for our books. Carson was just the man for that.

We spent a very brief but very blessed Saturday eve-Sunday morning with some friends of ours at their beautiful cabin in southern Iowa.

We got to have a mouse chase while we were there. =)
Mitchell, hard at work scraping lots at one end of the farm….
….and Denver, hard at work at the other end, power-washing the calf huts.
Hudson, all smiles while picking tomatoes!

New life on the farm. I love this!

By now our gardens are looking much better than they did at the beginning of the month!

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
“And whatsoever ye do in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, 
giving thanks to God and the Father by Him.”
Colossians 3:17


{posted by Chelsy}

Tags

family, farm


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Leave a Reply
  1. Lov this post lov the cute an funny and fun pics an that one of josh he's looking good can't wait to see more hugs lov u guys an God bless u guys 😎😋😉☺️

  2. Sounds like y'all have been busy in the past month. I smiled at the "green-bean-picking-party-in-the-rain" photo…If I had been there, I would have been out there with you!=) Yes,friendships with all ages and stages is the best!

    looking forward to the retreat recap, Allison! Just curious…what was the quote that was on your bedroom wall? I was trying to read it but couldn't make out all of the words:)

    Blessings, and see y'all soon!

  3. i love all of the canning!! looks great! you guys are really busy i bet!! you guys have such packed lives!! lovely! our family is so excited to see you guys at family camp!! you and the wissmans were such a blessing to our family last year!!every one was!! see you soon!

    blessings,
    the werner family =)

  4. Hello!

    I really enjoy your blog and what you do. I have read your blog for quite awhile now and I also participated in Bible Bee for several years (but haven't gone to Nationals).

    I know that you all support Ted Cruz, which I think is great! I support him too.

    I was wondering…

    1) What do you think of Ben Carson?

    2) What do you think of Donald Trump?

    Have a blessed evening!

    In Christ,

    Marie

  5. You sure all look happy to be back at your beautiful farm again, but we certainly wouldn't mind seeing and hearing (!) you again in Manitoba next year!

    Christian & Esther and kids

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