A Great Grand Visit

This past weekend, Kevin's grandparents came in town for a visit on Saturday. Kevin's parents drove them up so they could see us, but they were pumped to see our chickens & garden! They had many chickens & a huge garden in their younger years! We were so thankful for all their gardening advice - we tried to learn as much as we could. Here's some photos.

Kevin's brother & his family from Concordia, MO came over in the afternoon to visit as well. It didn't take long for a game of touch football to begin . . .

Look at Tyler off the ground. Just chillin'

The princess played with a tree frog b/c she didn't want to play football - HUH??? That didn't last too long though. . .

Our 1st Grader

"OUR BUTTERFLY PRINCESS"

Is she really old enough to be in 1st grade? That question has been rolling in my head over & over & over again the past few days. She is having "adult" conversations with us, she desires for all children in the world to be safe & have homes, she can't wait to tell people about Jesus. She is one unique creation that we feel blessed to call daughter. We have spent the last few days having our very own BACK TO SCHOOL BASH! Here's a sampling of our fun:

SUNDAY: ROCKVILLE ELEMENTARY SHCOOL - Louisburg built a new K-2 elementary school so we went to an open house & saw where her desk will be. Her teacher, Mrs. Lemke already had books on the kids desks. She was so excited!MONDAY: BACK TO SCHOOL PARTY - We had fun. . . . the day started with chicken fun & our 3rd egg! We were outside most of the morning - one week ago it was sizzling, this week it is gorgeous. Then we came inside for "Shaker People" craft time & to make our traditional back to school cake.

Our tame chicken - Isabelle's favorite - named "butterfly"

She can catch butterflies & they will hang out with her - it is amazing.

Our Shaker People!
Big helpers in the kitchen. I have to toot my own horn & say that I made the cake & icing ALL from scratch. It was fun & the kids loved the way it tasted, so fresh! Last year I made a pencil, but this year it seemed easier to do a small cake & cupcakes because everyone wanted to help! You can't tell, but I wrote Pre-K at the top for J.M. & 1st at the bottom for Isabelle. The blue thing on the left does say "08" though it looks like "AS"

TUESDAY: Our back to school dinner was chosen by Isabelle - TACOS!! (I know that is no big surprise for those of you who know her well - it was our back to school meal last year & our Christmas dinner) Then we celebrated with my homemade cake.

More fun phtotos!

WEDNESDAY - 1st day of school: We just dropped off our little princess at 1st grade. As I left, I was struck by how confident she is. She was so excited to go. She woke up with a gigantic smile & began talking immediately - she told me that she knew Mrs. Lemke was the "perfect teacher for her because God gave her to me." She asked me a few months ago if we could pray together every morning before school - so she remembered this morning & prayed that she would be a blessing to her teacher & that she would be like Jesus at school. We are so thankful that she has God's heart & sees every opportunity as an opportunity to be salt & light for Him. Family photo taken by J.M.

Before school out front - 60 degrees & gorgeous!

Outside of Rockville Elementary School

Isabelle was blessed to find 4 friends she knew already in her class - this is August who she met playing t-ball!

At her desk . . . she was so confident & ready for us to go!

WE LOVE YOU SWEET GIRL & ARE SO PROUD OF YOU!!!!

Getting Close with Lee & Tiffany

We were priveleged to meet Lee & Tiffany from "Gettin' Close" one of our favorite shows on the outdoor channel. We found out they were going to be at Bass Pro about 15 minutes from our house & the kids went crazy! They were so excited to meet them. Isabelle picked her outfit out a week ago & created a letter & picture of them shooting deer. It was really cute. They are so nice & very down to earth, just like they are on TV. Isabelle asked "When can we go to Iowa and visit them?" They have a huge farm in Iowa where they live & hunt.

Production Has Begun

LOOK what John Michael found in the chicken run (the yard they play in) . . .

Yes, our chickens are producing eggs - well at least one.
We'll be taking orders soon for farm fresh eggs!


Our production of SWEET DILL PICKLES is under way. Kevin's grandma Stucky has made these yummy pickles for years. Kevin remembers eating them on jelly sandwiches - yes pickles & jelly on bread. For those of you who think Kevin is just meat & potatoes this might be a shock. He had one of these delicious sandwiches for lunch today to prove to the kids that he actually likes it - they were grossed out!

The tomatoes you see here are just a SMALL sample of our production. We are going to be freezing most of our tomatoes for my homemade salsa! YUM!

Our butterfly bushes are producing amazing butterflies for us to see. Isabelle & I loved this one & were lucky enough to get close enough to get a snapshot.

It's Hot!

Well it's August & with a heat index of 109 today - we haven't been outside much. The kids don't even want to play in the sprinkler, it's that hot. Since we've been home from Branson, we have been busy getting ready for our August shows with Emergency Infomation Systems & the start of school - 1st grade for Isabelle & Pre-Kindergarten for J.M.

Our first show is Wed & Thursday of this week with a group of Educators. Our other show is near the end of the month at a Children's Fair in Overland Park, KS - last year this show had over 5,000 attendees so we are hoping for that & more. (You can click on the link to the left for more info)

Isabelle starts school on Aug 13th - only 10 days! WOW - time flies. I can't believe she is going to be in the first grade. This summer she has seemed to grow up before our eyes. She wants to have "alone time" to be in her room to play without interruptions from little bro. But then there are times like right now, where football/WWF are happening between the 2 of them right here in the family room. She loves to watch hunting with her dad - can't wait for the start of deer season & has requested her very own bow for her 10th b-day! :)

J.M. & I will be starting pre-k here at home the week of August 18th. He is SO excited! This summer he has successfully learned how to write his own name without any help - and that is a feat when you have 2 names & it is 11 letters long. We will be attending BSF together & doing some different community service projects together. He loves to ask questions & understand how & why. Everything is "why?" Tonight's question was "why isn't Peyton Manning not playing in the game?" (For non-football players - Peyton is the quaterback for the Indianapolis Colts & a regular household name around here. The Colts are playing right now in the Hall of Fame game.) We tried to explain he was injured - "why? Why can't he play? Why isn't he at the game? Why don't they want him there?" And it just kept going.

In the coming days, we are looking forward to hanging out with my niece Olivia as my sister & her husband have a shoe show to run at the MO State Fair. The kids are very excited - Olivia gets way more attention than I think she wants at times. They are always in her face!

We pray you have a blessed week & would love to hear from you - so leave us a message!

Fire in the Hole

The Redford Family
(Richard & Sarah & son Jaden - far left, Brent & Shannon & kids Tyler & Samantha - middle, Judy & Hal - far right, & Us in the front middle)


We just arrived home from a week vacation with the Redford family in Branson, MO. We spent much of our time at Silver Dollar City, White Water, & Celebration City. We had a great time. The kids are older this year & can ride more rides - a favorite is Fire in the Hole . . . unfortunately I have no pictures of it because it's an inside ride. But here are some other photos we wanted to share. . .

3rd car - Jaden, Hal; 2nd car - Isabelle & Kelly; 1st car - Samantha & Shannon

Water Toboggan Ride - Richard, Jaden, Sarah, & Isabelle - WET FUN!

The Clogging show was a highlight for Isabelle. She loved it! This is Blake, one of the lead dancers. Isabelle is hoping to learn someday!
We took JM, Isabelle & Sam to see the VeggieTales show - "The Invention of Silliness". It was so cute . . . and we got to meet Bob & Larry when it was all over.

Can you spot Kevin in the 2nd row all by himself - his legs are dangling as he begins to go upside down on Wildfire?

Isabelle, John Michael, Shannon, & Samantha riding a ride that went straight up & dropped them down. It was a "mini" version of the adult ride many people like to ride.
WELCOME TO WHITE WATER!

Shannon & Kevin racing down the HUGE water slide at White Water . . . it is a straight drop down - 9 stories high. YIKES . . . they love it, I hate it!Kevin, Brent, Tyler & Shannon racing down the 4 man slide - Kevin won, sorry Brent we have it on film. Maybe next time you'll get him.

Isabelle & Samantha at the end of our day. Isn't this adorable?

We allowed the kids to pick out one souvenir from our trip to remember our vacation. JM picked out a car that he got to build with his dad at a new store called RideMakers. It was really fun & a dream for a little boy who LOVES monster trucks & cars. Isabelle picked this rag doll at Silver Dollar City. She actually made the doll & one for a friend who helped take care of our chickens. Her dolls name is Princess Ellie. She too loved the process of making her very own doll. They made great choices that I'm sure they'll treasure for a long time.

Our last night in Branson at Branson Landing. We had a great dinner & time to walk along the Boardwalk . . . a perfect shot of the cousins to end our trip.

Happy 4th of July

We have made it to St. Louis, actually Washington, MO (south of St. Louis). We are visiting our my moms best friend & her family. We arrived Thursday on the Amtrak train. It was a blast. The kids enjoyed walking up & down the aisles fo the train. We were in the last car - and the "snack" car was the 1st car - so after 3 trips to the front car for necessary items (bagel, pretzels, skittles, water, & root beer) we were FULL! Well, I was, but JM seems to be continually hungry. Waiting for the train . . . it was so chilly!

Isabelle holding Olivia while Holly feed her. Isabelle & Olivia LOVE each other so much!

JM sitting with 2 new friends. They were 2 boys sitting in front of us with a movie. They were from south K.C., the mom graduated from St. Thomas Aquinas in '97. Fun connection. He enjoyed the boys.

Yesterday was a full day of swimming activities & more food! As we approached the evening, the kids were like zombies - they were exhausted. After dinner, we made smores & then headed for fireworks - without my sister & her family & John Michael. He was too tired & my sister's baby was already in bed. Holly told me that JM was so tired when we left that he almost ran into a table. She had to dress him for bed because he couldn't himself.

Papa John, John Michael, & Isabelle playing in the pool. (above)
Isabelle doing the "star" float (below)

Here's a few more . . . enjoy!