Carolyn, Katie & John

During one of our weekends back to WI, Benji stayed behind with Ben's parents (who brought him back to IA in about 2 wks), so that is why we don't have any pictures of Benji. The 2 girls loved to pose for the pictures. John, who know is 10 mos wasn't too sure about the dry, picky grass, hammed for the camera too.

Backyard Fun

We have fallen waaay behind on our blog, so now we'll play catch up. The kids all love their big swimming pool. (John included, although he got stuck in his little pool more often) The kids loved to eat out on the deck. It was fun for them, but I think they just didn't want to waste "swim time". The picture of Benji and Carolyn, is them making chocolate frosting; Carolyn would pour water and Benji faithfully stirrred it until he tho't it was good.

These pictures were taken at our house in Denison. Also during the summer Ben's parents came twice, one time they brought our nephew Jacob too. My parents also made a trip out to see us.

Happy Fathers Day!

Happy Fathers Day to the greatest dad.... ours!!! We love you Daddy... xo Benji, Carolyn, Katie & Tubby (aka John)

p.s. Today is also Ben & mine's 6th anniv! Time sure has flown, because it seems like yesterday we just got married.. now we have 4 kids.. and 6 years under our belt.

John Henry: 9 mos

John is 9 months already!! At the dr this week he weighs 21.2# and is 28 1/2" According to the dr he's only 60% for weight and height. I find it funny 2 of the 3 pictures are when he's eating :) He now has 4 teeth (2 top, 2 bottom) John still does the army crawl, pulling with his arms, pushing with his feet.. but boy, can he get around. He's starting to pull himself up on things too. The kids love it now that he "chases" them around on the floor.

Everyday in Iowa

These are some pictures from the 1st few weeks of being in Iowa that I tho't were adorable (but I happen to think all pictures of our kids are cute, so...) Benji caught a "little" bullhead and brought it home to swim in the bathtub :) Benji thinks because he's 4 1/2 yrs old now he doesn't need any help from mom or dad. So now he helps himself to fruitsnacks! Katie colors in the highchair or strapped in a booster seat for this very reason. Her markers USUALLY don't end up on the paper :) As you can tell.. the kids are getting along great... well at least on 2 pictures ;) But actually, they have been doing quite well at their new house.

Home Sweet Iowa

Well, here is the moment most of you have been waiting for. Update and pictures. Mid May Benjamin was offered a job on a ranch by Denison, Iowa...so we moved. Right now we live in town (quite an adjustment to the 40 acres we were "used" too), but we are in the process of locating a "country" house.

Our current house is nice, for in town. It's a bi-level: downstairs consists of laundry room, bar/family room area, upstairs is living room, dining/kitchen, master bed/bath, 2 bedrooms. The yard is large for in town.. We LOVE the fence around it, the kids love the rocks and split level they can climb on. Another new joy for them... CHECKING THE MAIL. Benji asks ALL day to check it, and if there's nothing, it means that the mail truck hasn't come yet, so we need to go out later.

The kids have adjusted quite well. (This past week we were in WI, so we'll see how they adjust going back;) We've been welcomed so warmly by the workers and friends. Although the faces are different, it seems like we're back at home. The whole "Iowa" thing came about in an unusual way. Yet it all fell into place, and we were reassured we couldn't have picked a better spot to plant ourselves.

For the time being we are keeping our WI address, just having mail sent out to us, as we are hoping to relocate soon. If you need to get in touch, you can reach my parents, or Ben's parents, both know how to reach us :) Ben enjoys working on the ranch. I should know how many cattle he runs, but I don't... It's a couple hundred feeders, plus more... (No dairy cows for those wondering) He stays busy during the day... but we all LOVE having him come home for supper!! That is something we rarely had when he was trucking. We "exploring" the little town, finding parks, lakes, etc..

We will not have a computer in Iowa, so updates won't be too often. But while we're back in WI, I'll try to catch up!!

Going Private

We have decided to make our blog private. Please notify me ASAP to let me know if you would like to be included. I won't make any changes until the end of this week. Email me at country_rhythm@yahoo.com Hopefully I'll get some updates done later this week also