Life on the Farm (trip cont).

It is so nice to come back to the farm (although not the one I grew up on anymore) and relax. The pace of life is so much slower and it is so quiet and peaceful! It usually takes me a day or so to settle down from "city" life where it seems like you are always on the go and you have all of the luxury of stores around you, to life where there are more gravel roads than blacktops, Target is an hour away, there are more livestock than people! I must admit growing up I didn't appreciate it, because there was always work to be done, you had to drive SO FAR to go shopping, and everyone knew everything about you. Now, I have to laugh, because as we were sitting at the farm, we were watching a crew pick rock in a field nearby and I hope someday my children can experience that type of farm work. I'm sure my step sister will hire them when they're older and we're back......right, Janelle! It is definitely different, but I'm thankful we have the opportunity to get back, let the kids run free without fences and anybody else's yard to be concerned about, chase after cats, drive tractors and 4 wheelers and just be a kid. What a great opportunity!

Here are some pictures of our kids enjoying farm life.

Silas "helping" Amma plant flowers. I wonder if they are still alive!

Grandpa Shippy teaching Silas all about the tractor as they prepare to drive it.

Silas and Grandpa driving around the farm.

Nathan's first tractor ride. He really liked it!

Grandpa showed him the horn, so he really liked the tractor!

Nathan just hanging out in the tractor.


Grandpa Shippy and Nathan walking around the farm.

My Grandparents (trip continued)

It is such a blessing to still have my grandparents at home in such good health. It was so nice to be able to visit them while we were back in Iowa. They truly are a role model for me, to see them continue to live out their faith at their age and still serving people and their family. If they are here on earth and still able, they will continue to serve! I also admire them in their marriage staying faithful even during rough times financially, spiritually and emotionally. I know they would say it hasn't always been easy and they haven't always done it right, but they are living proof of faithfulness and endurance. They have established a legacy for our family and I pray this will continue through the generations. I love to hear especially my grandpa pray, because he always prays for our extended family and I think to myself....yeah, I'm being prayed for everyday by my grandparents! What a blessing that is to me and my family! We love you "Great" Grandpa and Grandma Conklin!



Nathan and Great Grandpa Conklin.

Nathan, happy as ever in Great Grandma's arms.

Silas giving Great Grandpa a hug.

Big hugs for Great Grandma from Silas!

Small town Iowa fun (trip)

You just have to love small town festivals. There is nothing like their parades that include handmade unique floats, horses, tractors (all sizes, models and ages!) and of course, the firetrucks. Oh, last but not least, the amount of candy being thrown at you. Yes, this is what overstimulated Silas so much that I'm not sure he really saw any of the parade, but that is the life of a child! Anyways, we went to Fredericksburg Dairy Days while we were back home. I remember this festival from back when I was a child, because sometimes we were in the parade and then we tap danced afterwards. So it was nice to again be able to go and enjoy time there with friends and family. We brought quite a few family members and then enjoyed a nice meal at one of the local churches in town. The kids also got to enjoy some rides, so it was a very nice time by all!

I wonder how many years total Grandpa and Grandma Conklin have participated in Dairy Days?

Here are our family members awaiting the parade.


Silas and Alec on the swing ride.

Ann-Marie directly behind them enjoying herself.

Here was the kiddie roller coaster that actually went pretty fast. The boys loved it though!

Can you tell they are related? Both of them have their hands in their mouth....funny!


Ahhh...the merry-go-round.

The kids propped up waiting for their turn to ride on this. How cute!

Happy Father's Day, Daddy!

We were sad that Kurt was gone today, but are so blessed to have him as a Daddy. If I were Silas (also speaking for Nathan), I think he would say he is thankful that Daddy throws him "up, up in the air". I'm just thankful he catches him...... Silas would also say, thank you for the "yummy blueberry pancakes", for "singing Sisas's song", for "playing with me", and for "airplane rides". These are just a few of the highlights we hear about Daddy.

I Wuv you, Daddy.....Silas and Nathan.

These are pictures at the farm in Iowa.

Iowa Family Time (trip part 2)

One of the best parts of the trip was to be able to spend so much time with family. All of the kids are growing up so quickly, time sure does fly by! It was only 6 months ago that we were all home together, but there were clear changes in the children. What I appreciated most was how everyone played together regardless of the ages. I remember back in December when we were home, that wasn't necessarily the case. I know specifically, Silas didn't want anything to do with anyone else but Kurt and maybe me...... This time, he wanted to be a part of the action, especially with Alec. They are about a year and a half apart in age, but they found ways to entertain one another and it was so fun to see. Silas still asks about Alec, so I can't wait to see them grow and mature as cousins.

Here are some pictures of our family time in Iowa.
The kids all swinging together at good ole' Hauth Park! I think I swang on those same horses....

Alec and Silas playing together. Aunt Jill blessed us with older toys so the kids could be entertained at Grandpa and Grandma Conklins. This is a true jack in the box toy and boy did they get a kick out of it!

We didn't get to see Aunt Janelle and cousin Brock much, but we were happy to see them!

Amma Shippy reading to Ann-Marie while holding Brock. She was a busy "Amma" that week with entertaining us, cooking for us, baking wedding cakes and being a special "Amma" to the kids.

When you have 9 grandchildren (6 of them being 3 and under!) this is as good of a photograph as you get!

Our Trip (in pieces.....)

We're home safely and thankful to be back in our beds and hopefully in a routine again soon. We had a wonderful trip to the Midwest and are so thankful for everyone we got to see along the way. I'll recap our trip in pieces because there is a lot I want to include and soooooo many pictures to upload.

We began in Minnesota. Kurt had some work to do there and so I had the boys by myself in a motel for a day. I was a little bit nervous and wondering what are we going to do feeling so cooped up. I knew I couldn't take them swimming by myself so I had to be resourceful! God blessed us with amazing weather that day (He definitely knows what we can and can't handle!) so we were able to take advantage of a beautiful park and play area within walking distance. I packed a lunch and we set out for a walk. Although I think I ended up more exhausted than the boys, I successfully wore them out enough that by the time we got back to our motel, we all took naps and it wasn't long before Kurt got back.

Our motel was connected to a play area and pool. We had an absolute blast climbing, sliding and literally getting lost in this playground. It is the largest indoor playarea in the Twin Cities and some of the slides are 3 stories high. Thankfully Kurt took Silas and did that while I played with Nathan in the baby area. We then went swimming for a little while. The pool was rather cold, so Nathan and I opted to watch while Silas and Daddy swam. It was a fun time by all and I feel very blessed to have had that day with my boys in Minnesota.

Silas and Nathan at the park. I tried to get them to pose, but what you don't see is Silas is kicking Nathan. Oh well, we got an ok picture out of it before it got too bad!

Silas climbing.

Hmmmm...wonder who he takes after.

Silas "helping" show Nathan how to use the sippy cup.


Nathan in the baby play area. Pucker up!

The playarea had a huge window that let sun in and as you can see it was right on Nathan, so I love this picture.

Daddy and Silas climbing in the playarea.