Tractor Pull

Here are pictures of the Tractor Pull I promised everyone. Eric and Merlin both came in second in the classes that they pulled in. We had alot of fun just hanging out with friends all day and eating fair food (yummy corn dogs!)

Eric thinks the black smoke makes this a great picture.
Merlin getting ready to pull.

A shower for Lacie

Last night we had a baby shower for Rachel Clark and her sweet baby girl Lacie Elaine. Sorry I did not get any pictures of the baby, she was passed around and I had to "run" the shower.

I took a picture of the entire table but alas it was fuzzy, so here are some pictures of each section. These are some Turkey Tortilla Roll ups and the very cute napkins I got for a dollar a package. I love a sale.
This is a Snickers Cake from "Yummys Bakery" their cakes are really good.
And my favorite the yummy vegetable pizza, I even have left overs. Yeah
And last but not least the punch and good ole water.
And here is the mother holding the blanket that my mother in-law, sister in-law and I gave her along with a set of pink decorative boxes. We had a great time and she received my oohs and aah's over the cute little dresses, blankets, towels , etc.
I guess I'd better get off the computer and go mow my yard so I can be done in time to go to the Tractor Pull with my husband. I don't know if he will pull or just Merlin, but I will be sure to take plenty of pictures to my faithful readers can see what kind of fun country people have. We will be at the fair so I might just have to sneak in a trip to the goat pens as well, I want a goat but husband says no. Well I hope everyone has a great weekend and I will post more for you at a later date.

The cow's in the corn...

This morning I woke up and saw something that I don't usually see. Someones cows in the bean field across the road, a few minutes later they were on the gravel road and then across the road. And then they were in our corn field. We had some pretty nasty weather last night and I guess the fence was broke or they were just out taste testing every ones fields. Well anyway that is about the extent of the exciting things happening here. I have to get my house cleaned, we are having Rachel Clarke's baby shower here tomorrow night. Hope everyone is having a great week and I will post more of our exciting life later.

Pretty Flowers

Here are a few pictures of my beautiful flowers. The daylilies in the front flower bed are full of blooms and make the house look great. Sorry about the odd angle, I turned the camera a little too much. My alligator guarding the house. Payton would not touch it until I touched it first, she must have thought it would bite her.
This pot is on the back patio. There are more pots out their but the were too thirsty and did not want their picture taken.
This Clematis was here when we moved here and every year it looks like this, I never have to do a thing with it. As you can tell I love my plants. I will have more pictures when the other daylilies start blooming.
Hope everyone has a great weekend. We are so happy the rain has stayed away and the guys are getting the beans planted. Although I have hardly seen Eric this week, it will be nice when they get done.

Quick update

I will give everyone a brief update on what is going on around here and I will post some pictures later. Yesterday evening we started VBS, the first night went very well, the kids were so good and we had no trouble makers. I am doing the crafts for the 4,5 and 6 year olds, the are alot of fun. Pray that we have a successful VBS and get some new families coming to church.
Another exciting thing is that is has not rained since Thursday! YEAH! Eric was able to start planting beans today. This is wonderful and we sure hope the nice dry weather continues. Bye for now.

God is Good...

After all the rain, wind and destruction we looked out and saw this wonderful sight.

It was a full rainbow and you could barely see part of another one (a double).

I think this was God's way of telling us that He will always be with us and

protect His children. We just thank the Lord that none of us was hurt and

the damage was nothing that we can not handle.

Tornado or Strong Wind...

Yesterday evening was quite scary for me, our weather radio went off and said a tornado was heading towards the area of Jefferson County where we live. I called Eric and told him about it and then I went to the basement. There was lots of wind and rain but never any noise like you hear about. When it was over and I called Eric he told me the big grain bin by the shop was gone. I found out that he was in the shop at the time it happened, thank God he was OK. We only lost some tree limbs and one apple tree at our house.

The bin and a "river" of water. I was standing in the doorway of the shop taking this picture, so you can see how close it was to Eric and Merlin.

The roof of the bin.

A wall and part of the roof were either blown away or on top of the tractor. This was at the machine shed at Merlin's house.

Here is what the bin did look like. This was taken last summer, Candice was climbing it.

Iowa Tractorcade

Well,you city folks miss out on exciting things like tractor rides going through your neighborhood. Yesterday the tractorcade came through Fairfield and down the road past our street. I was coming home from town and got stuck behind the first group, what is usually a 10 to 12 minute drive took me 40 minutes. You got to love country people. Well anyway it was alot of fun sitting at the end of the road watching them go by. They said there were about 460 tractors and they had them divided into seven groups, we did not watch them all.

That's me in the car at the end of the line, going 10 mph or less the whole way home.
One just happened to need some work. And Eric was able to grab some tools

from the shop and help out.
Ladies, how about this laundry dryer. I don't think Eric would drive around like this.

Italian for the eveing...

Last night we went to the First Friday Artwalk on the square. The theme of the evening was All Things Italian. We had a great time eating pizza, cannoli, Italian ice and just having a good time listening to Italian music, watching dances and more. Here are a few pictures of the evening.

Eric eating my cannoli, he didn't think it looked too good, until he tried it. It was our first time to eat is and I sure will be getting one next year.
The gazebo on the square.
This was so cool to see. This guy is a world pizza champion. He is on a team and they go to Italy to compete. It was very fun to watch him. I tried to video it but it was to dark. Just me and my honey!

Well I hope everyone has had a wonderful week and will have a great Sunday.

Keegan Brother

I went to visit Shawna, Payton and Keegan brother today.(Payton likes to call him that.) He is such a sweet little thing, she said he is a very good baby and he has the quietest cry. I had fun holding him and playing with Payton so Mommy could take a shower. Payton doesn't quite understand why she had to be so gentle, she tries to "push" the swing and all kinds of other things.

Here is my big girl in her "Bling-Bling" glasses. She was so happy to see me and kept asking if she could go to my house, I am going to take her for the day next week. Eric is having Payton withdrawals, it is amazing how these little ones grow on you. Well I guess I'd better get off here and get some house work done. Ugh!

Summer Sights

Well I am back. I thought that once I was not keeping Payton (her mom had a baby and will be off 8 weeks) my life would slow down but I was wrong. Saturday and Monday I worked with my mother in-law and when I got home last night I mowed the yard. But today it is raining again so I guess I'll stay inside and relax. Anyway I thought you might want to see some of the sight we have seen in the last few days. We saw this turtle on the dirt road by our house the other day, he was covered in slime, moss and slugs. Yuck!
I have a great husband! He took me to a field just down from our house and helped my pick these daisies. I just love them, they are my favorite flower and they look so good on the kitchen counter. Thank you Eric for doing this with me.
And last of all a pic of Payton in her new shirt. I am planning on going to see them this week, and will take some pictures.