Amaze In Corn

On Sunday we took another road trip.

This time to St. Adolphe to get lost in A Maze In Corn

We divided into 3 teams.

• Team #1 Mark, me, Brooke, Mikaya and small fry.

• Team #2 Jennifer, Megan, Kerri, Caleb & Nathan

• Team #3 Joshua, Rebecca, Zachary & Jesse

Here were the rules:

• 8 posts

  

• Each post had a hole punch

• Punch as many holes in your card as you can

• No running


• Meet at the exit at 5:00

  
• Whoever had the most holes in their card wins!

The score? Team #1- 4 holes (Not mentioning that they had the 3 youngest which slowed them down a little and they had to pull out of the race 1/2 hour early because of tired little ones:) Team #2- 6 holes Team #3- 6 holes Lots of corn, lots of paths, lots of walking, lots of fun! And to end off a great day we went out for pizza.

Memories Monday

The Muncks started a Memories Monday.

We think it's a great idea so we decided to join in!

Here is a couple of pictures from a family trip in 1998.

We camped in a tent the whole trip.

Lots of memories, lots of rain, lots of trying to dry out bedding :)

But it was lots of fun all the same.

Top is Joshua (8) and Jennifer (7)

Bottom in Kerri (3) and Megan (4 1/2)

Even More Fun on the Pauls' Farm

This week we picked up another horse.

The girls were having fun riding Big Joe, but would like to ride together.

So we got a paint horse this time.

She doesn't have much 'paint' on her but she is registered just the same.

She also has pretty blue eyes.

Her name?????

Princess of course!

She's got quite a bit more spunk than Joe, and Jennifer is enjoying that.

This picture shows her beautiful eyes.

NOTE: Megan found out today that horses may even be harder to photograph than her siblings:) Maybe she will get some shots later.

Guess What We Did On Sunday?

Life Lesson

Do you ever wish you could re-live a few seconds of your life?

Wish you could rewind the tape and record it over?

That is how I felt yesterday.

It started out as a beautiful sunny day

and we knew that if everything went well

this would be our last combining day and we would be

finished harvest for the season!

So when it was dry enough, we went out to combine.

Everything was going great until I went to unload the combine.

I swung around to the truck and heard a sound

that I hope to never hear again.

A sound like I had hit something.

With my auger sticking straight out

I had failed to make sure my way was clear

and had indeed hit something.

I came to a dead stop, Mark gave me a

"I hope the damage isn't bad look"

What we could immediately see was that I had dinted the auger.

Dinted it enough that we couldn't unload the grain

and see the rest of the damage.

Have you ever had that sick, sick feeling deep n the pit of your stomach?

What we didn't know yet was what damage was under the grain.

As Mark went home to get some tools to start the fix-it job,

I sat there stunned.

How could I be so dumb? I have combined for many years,

I know that you always watch the auger!

I must say Mark was amazing through it all.

I have gotten more upset at our kids for

petty little mistakes they've made than he did about this huge one.

It's hard enough when he has to fix things that are broken

because they are worn out,

but when he had to struggle to fix something

that I had caused out of my own stupidity,

I felt really bad.

Things got worse instead of better when we found out

one thing after another was wrong.

We had to end up going home to get things fixed up

enough to be able to finish combining.

But as we were trying to get the grain unloaded

I prayed and asked God what I needed to learn

through this. Of course there was the obvious things:

humility, grace for others when they make mistakes,

joy in the midst of trials.......

But I figured there must be a deeper life lesson for me.

Almost immediately God spoke to my heart.

He spoke to me about Romans 14:10-12 12 10

But why dost thou judge thy brother?

or why dost thou set at nought thy brother?

for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord,

every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.

I then thought of the sick, sick feeling in my stomach

for the mistake that I had made.

And then I thought how many times worse it will be

when I stand before God and give account

for the sin in my life.

The ungodly attitudes and actions.

The things that I knew were sin, but still did them.

How many moments will I wish I could re-live,

do over again but it will be too late?

Too many times my heart wanders from what I know is right.

Too many times I reject the proddings of the Holy Spirit in my heart.

Too many times........

So even though yesterday was a hard day,

a day I do not want to re-live,

I am glad for the life

lessons that I learned.

I am glad that in a moment of chaos God can still speak to us.

So the saying goes...

'The rest is history'

but in this case Mark only wishes the rest was history.

We still have a combine that needs some major fixing :(

But we were able to finish up harvest and for that we are very grateful :)

And unfortunately I will always have a reminder of that day

every time I combine and unload grain,

every time I drive past 'that spot'

And fortunately I will always have a reminder of that day,

because I don't ever want to forget the life lesson I learned.

Just Mommy & Mikaya

I think Mikaya has missed me the most these days!

When I come in the house her face lights up "Da, Da"

(we're working on that! Mark says he will share the title for now:)

And then we cuddle for a bit.

This is from the other night when we shared a piece of licorice (my favorite pregnancy snack).

Things Aren't Always As They Seem

I have been spending many hours in the combine the last little while.

The weather this fall has been very rainy and cloudy, so when it is sunny

we go will all the man (woman:) power we have.

So this year I get to drive the big green machine (John Deere for those

of you who are not farmers:)

Every day I have some little ones to keep me company.

It changes from day to day, sometimes from hour to hour.

But I am glad they come with me and that I can still spend time

with them in this busy season.

One day when Jesse was with me Mark informed me over the 2 way radio

that I might want to try to go down the next row backwards.

For those of my friends who are not farmers I will explain.

It is easiest for a combine to pick up a swath the way it was swathed.

If you don't, we call it going backwards down a row.

It sometimes doesn't work so well.

Am I making any sense?

So anyways, when Mark told me to try going backwards down

the row Jesse had this funny look on his face.

He looked at me and laughed, "It won't work to combine backwards.

The combine won't work if you go backwards!"

He was thinking Mark was telling me to drive in reverse down the row :)

It's moments like this that bring a light into a busy day,

a smile to a mamma's face.

So I want to know.

What have your kids said lately?

You know, those funny moments that just make you smile.

Maybe I can print out your comments and get Caleb to

read them to me in the combine tomorrow.

See if you can keep me entertained all day:)

Even if I don't know you, if you've been reading but haven't commented.

I'd love to hear from all of you.

Action Speak

The other day when Caleb was in the combine with me he was reading his picture Bible. He was reading about Moses. The particular story he was reading it didn't mention Moses' family being with him. Caleb asked me why his family wasn't with him. Because I was driving I wasn't sure which story he was reading and couldn't answer many of his questions. But it was obvious it bothered him that Moses' family was not with him. As I thought about this conversation later, I realized how much our children just pick up things by what we do and how we act and re-act to situations. In our family it is a priority to spend lots of time together. As a couple we make it a priority to do most things together. We don't talk a lot about it, we just do it. And obviously this has affected Caleb. When he saw that Moses' wife and children might not have been with him, that bothered him. It was normal for him that family would be together. It is not always the words that we say that influence our children, either good or bad. Our actions speak loud too. How we interact with our spouse speaks.... Our reaction to trials speaks.... The way we relate to God speaks..... The way we treat others speaks...... The body language we use speaks..... The way we treat our family speaks..... How are you speaking to your children today?

Sand Dunes

On Sunday we went to the Sand Hills near Glenboro.

We went on a hike and then played in the biggest sandbox ever!

A great time was had by all.

A romantic walk (with kids :)

Nathan and Jesse writing in the sand

Kerri and Caleb racing

Zachary and Megan racing!

Zachary and Brooke walking hand in hand.Caleb relaxing

Left to right: Kerri, Jennifer, Rebecca and Mikaya

RACING????!!!!????

Josh and Zach racing!!!!Josh and Rebecca Beautiful view

Jennifer flying??

Go Caleb

Zachary sand diving

Mikaya taking it all in We were quite a train.

Milking Time

On and off over the years we have milked cows to have milk for our family.

Right now we are milking 'Sally', a jersey cow.

We get around 2 gallons per milking and milk twice a day.

That's a lot of milk, even we can't drink all that :)

Here's a peak into our milking chores.

Sally like to smell "everything"

If there is anything different in the milking barn she has to smell it.

Here she is sniffing out Zachary.

I milk in the morning, Jen milks in the evening.

Someone loaned us a milking machine so we cheat.

It is a lot faster to do the actual milking, but it still take a bit of time to clean out the machine.

The cats wait around patiently for fresh milk.

Got Milk?

And finally the cats get their fair share

Today I Married My Best Friend

20 years ago today I married my love.

I would never trade these years for anything.

They have been the best years of my life.

On my 16th birthday Mark and I officially started dating.

We had eyes for each other before then, but my parent only allowed me

to start dating when I was 16, and now I am very grateful for that. And knowing

what I know today, I wish they would have made me wait longer, or better yet

encouraged courtship. But this was they only way they knew of, so that's just the

way it was.

We always knew that we were meant for each other and by God's grace saved our

hearts for each other. I am so grateful to Him for His protection.

In spring of '88 Mark and I went with a team on a mission trip to Mexico.

We had talked of marriage many times by then and were just waiting for God

to show us His perfect timing.

On our mission trip, every evening we would go out to the slums and set up a

projector and show the 'Jesus' film. This particular night was an amazing night of

ministry to the Mexican people. We were able to pray for others and see

God set people free from bondage. On the bus ride back to our motel, Mark and I

felt overwhelmed with compassion for these people. It was a feeling I don't think

either of us have had since, and one that was very hard to put into words.

When we got back to our motel, Mark and I sat outside on the curb talking about

the nights events and how our hearts were touched. Before the words came out of

his mouth I knew that he was going to ask me to marry him. And he did. And I said

'YES'. Not thought out, totally unexpected, but we felt a moment planned by God.

It was hard because the rule of the mission trip was that couples were not allowed to

touch one another. So we just sat there, gazing into each other's eyes overwhelmed by God's goodness. We decided at that point that we wouldn't tell anyone because we had heard rumors that the trip before a couple had got engaged and they threw them a big party. But when

they got home they broke the engagement off. So because of this we thought we would wait

until we got home and tell people then.

But when I got to my room that night my room mate took one look at me and said, "You

are glowing. What happened to you." So then it all spilled out. But I told her that she could

not tell ANYONE.

The next day it was quite obvious that the word had indeed leaked out. The congratulations

started coming in. And they did in fact throw us a engagement party! We felt very honored.

So on our way home we had a day of shopping somewhere in Mexico (can't remember)

and we went ring shopping and bought my engagement ring and our wedding rings.

We planned our wedding for Sept. 10, the first Saturday after my 18th birthday.

And the rest is history :)

Actually history is still in the making :)

God's grace through it all has been overwhelming.

We were young, but in love and God has been with us every

step of the way. He has been so faithful.

And here we are 20 years later planning the wedding of our oldest son.

Time has went by so fast. Life is so short.

So here is to the love of my life, my sweetheart, my best friend.

I love you more than you will ever know and I look forward to

(Lord willing) the next 20 years together.

Happy Anniversary!

Here's the song Mark and I sang to each other during our wedding ceremony

Household of Faith

Here we are at the start committing to each other

By His word and from our hearts

We will be a family in a house that will be a home

And with faith we'll build it strong

Chorus:

We'll build a household of faith

That together we can make

And when the strong winds blow it won't fall down

As one in Him we'll grow and the whole world will know

We are a household of faith

Now to be a family we've got to love each other

At any cost unselfishly

And our home must be a place that fully abounds with grace

A reflection of His face

Corn Coming out of Our EARS!

Last week we did up lots of corn. There is still more out there to be done this week!

But it doesn't take too long when you have this many helpers:)

Here is some of the sweet yummy stuff

Cut, Cut, Cut

Ready For The Freezer

I hope we get the rest of the corn before this critter's friends do!