On your marks, get set, stack!!! We couldn't miss the annual Davis county cookie stacking competition. Every year at the fair kids stack them high in hopes theirs will take top honors. Adam and Matthew were in the same heat and did great. Poor little Adam had the tallest tower, but when time was called his champion tower didn't last. It has to stand alone for 15 seconds and his tumbled and crumbled. A puny little girl at the other end of the table took their age group. That's okay... we'll be back next year.


After our heated competition the boys went for a little pony ride. They thought that was pretty fun. Hot, humid, smelly Davis County Fair fun.

The boys first fishing trip...

For family home evening we decided to go fishing. Jonathan bought a Lightening McQueen fishing pole at Wal-mart for the boys to share and we were off. Mom was supposed to dig worms with Adam in the garden, but never got the job done so we decided to just buy some on our way to the ponds. Serious Iowa worm shortage. We went to 4 different stores and non of them had worms. We decided to try corn and marshmallows. We fished for awhile but weren't having much luck. Jonathan managed to catch a monarch butterfly and we threw that on the line. Adam caught a 12 in bass! Hooray! However they have to be over 15 inches to keep so we threw it back. The saddest part is I didn't get a picture of the fish. We had hiked back in a ways to the back of the pond and the camera was in the truck. Bad Mommy. Nonetheless we had fun. Adam has a canning jar filled with dirt in the garden he keeps adding worms too whenever he finds them. He's determined to have worms next time. I haven't had the heart to tell him they probably won't make it to our next fishing trip, but he's gathering in the bait until then.

So Guilty...

Someone made a mess but I can't quite put my finger on who it could be...

Jonathan was in one of his sleep deprived modes during Sunday School. He was nodding in and out and asked who the Sunday School teacher was, I informed him it was Brother Scoonmaker. A few nods later he woke up again and said, "You know what sounds good... scones." I thought that was a little random, but he said Scoonmaker sounded like Scone-maker and he wanted some after church. So we invited our inspiration for scones, the Scoonmaker family, out after church and we made scones. We were just saying bye to them when I went to get Matthew to have him say bye and found him making a second batch of scones... all by himself. So helpful. The amazing thing... mess made is less than 4 minutes.

Home

As requested here are a few pictures of our home... The view from our front porch... a hay field.
The very back part of our yard where the garden is.
Matthew at the garden by the bluebird house. We have LOVED watching all the little blue eggs hatch. Momma bird doesn't like us snooping around much. She has been notorious for dive bombing our heads.
Part of the deck and our lower walkout area.
The fenced part of the backyard... once a dog run this will become our kid run with swings eventually.

The path through the trees and ravine to our shed.

Our shed... which we rent out because we don't have much to put in it.

Grass and trees behind the shed... more of the reason it takes HOURS to mow the lawn.

So there it is... or at least parts of it. We have a really beautiful flower garden as well, but it is in progress. So once it looks a little better we'll post. Come visit us any time. We love company and we're sure we can find a spot for ya to pitch your tent.

Crusin' the cornfields

Living in Iowa has necessitated a few changes.

1. Sticky is still clean. I am now okay with the companionship of damp clothing and don't have to shower after every trip I make outside. It is humid here. All humans beings, male and female, young and old are going to feel nasty. Welcome to the Midwest. The beans and corn love it. Have another bomb pop, they're nice n' smooth.

2. Gotta have a truck, the ol' VW doesn't get r' done any more. So... for the sake of my father's sanity here is a picture of our new Iowa wheels. We have found it to be a bit of a necessity in owning 6 acres covered in trees. She hauls firewood, old dilapidated dog houses and goes fishing with the best of them. Jonathan says she needs a boat for a companion. We found one for $1500 that the owners swore still worked. I'm sure it would have been fun, but Ms. Practical Britches says a few more student loans have to go first. So Dad - here's the 2008 Chevy Silverado... equipped with diapers and wipes in the front console.