Cairo Cornstalk Festival

Today was the Cairo Cornstalk Festival. I had to do a Smilebox - I had too many pictures!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Putting up corn!

You'd think I'd be sick of corn, huh? One of the great perks of my field inspecting job is that I get all the free sweet corn I want. The growers have a patch, and if you can pick it, you can have it. Sooooo... Allen wanted to put up corn. We called his cousin Lori to see if they wanted in on the goods, so we went to picking! Cael and Hayden had to test out the corn, just to make sure it was good enough. Don't worry, we picked the white corn! YUM! Cael had two ears of it! Lori working at the stove. Allen, Randy, and Lori bagging. Lori's also complaining that I took another picture of her. We ended up with 23 quart bags. Not bad! And it really didn't take that long once we had a system and we all pitched in. We had a good time! Cael's favorite part was asking Randy to light the fire pit so we could make s'mores! Ok, so it was my favorite, too.

Church Camping Trip

Here's Smilebox of our camping trip! Enjoy!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

A day off...

Finally! A day off from seeing miles and miles of corn! Usually we don't have a day off like this in the middle of the week, but I guess there is a lull, and we'll get back to it tomorrow. For those of you who don't know, I'm a roguing crew leader with Pioneer(that's where you walk through the field looking for corn plants that don't belong and chop them out with a big stick with a sharp hook on it). Yesterday was so muddy! Sometimes it's just easier to walk through the irrigation water than try to walk around it and get stuck in the mud. I'm also a field inspector for a different seed company. That's where I walk through fields and randomly count different spots of corn silk and pollenating tassels. There's more to it than that, but that's a general explaination. This next Saturday and Sunday, Cael and I get to go to Johnson's Lake by Lexington for our annual church campout. Allen has to work, so he can't go. I'll make sure I have a camera! This is the first year that Cael is going to stay in a tent. We'll see how it goes. I have the devotions Saturday before supper, so I'd better get planning.

Just a little behind...

The camera got left at church last Sunday, so I have several posts for you to read. I'm working with two cameras actually, so I get confused as to which pictures are on which camera. Sorry!

Birthday party

Since Pastor's birthday was the 4th, and he turned 60, the party at the lake was a decoy for the one at church on Sunday. Gary Theis came and spoke about missionary work, but then was the MC for the roast that we had planned. Lots of people stayed to enjoy lunch and celebrate with Pastor. Allen wrote the "Top 10 Ways You Know Your Pastor is From Oklahoma." It got a lot of laughs. Pastor's son Casey did a funny commentary on their family's growing up (5 rowdy kids = lots of stories), and then ended with a very touching speech of how he hopes that he can be a good dad just like him. They actually got 60 candles on the cake. Of course several were trick candles.

Swimmers!

We went out to Allen's sister's house (Kerrey) in Arapahoe to see her family as well as his sister Kim's family (they live in Denver). The kids had a lot of fun in the blowup pool! Cael and Reese investigate the hose. Cael "dunks" his head. Kerrey holds Reese and Tessa as they try to dry off.

Fun on the farm

When we were in Arapahoe to see the families, we went out to the farm where I grew up. My sister has her horses, and my bro-in-law has the tractors and equipment out there. Cael had to "drive" the tractor, and Daddy had to take him on a threewheeler ride.

Our Boys

Here's a picture of our boys!

They Did It!!

Allen, Cael and I were at the gym when the boys broke the world record. It was very emotional for everyone. Everyone was laughing and crying all at the same time. I'm so proud of all of the boys who sacrificed so much. There were TV cameras, newspaper reporters, and radio announcers all milling around interviewing people afterward. Apparentely Allen and I were on a local station. I haven't seen it. Here's the link to the video from our newspaper: http://www.theindependent.com/multimedia?vid_id=bL7y5HHGUlc Kevin Liess was interviewed and then shown hugging his dad and crying. That one really got me because he lost his mom this last May to breast cancer. I know he was wishing she was there to see him. Thanks for everyone's prayers and thoughts for our kids!

Bad news over the holiday

We learned Saturday morning that a good friend, Les Scholz, passed away (unexpected heartattack). He worked with Allen at Super Saver, but was in the meat department. I teach his daughter, Sarah, at HLHS. A great, Christian, loving family. Please send a prayer up for his family as they grieve their loss of a great husband and father.

4th of July!

This was the first year Cael actually stayed up to watch the fireworks! He liked some better than others, of course, but he still tells everybody who will listen that "We watched the fireworks!" Since Allen had to work, we went up to St. Paul (NE)to our Pastor's house at the lake. It was his 60th birthday, so we had a big party. The "pyros" that were setting off our stash. Yes, Allen was one of them. There were about 30 people there to celebrate. Pastor's family from Oklahoma even came!

Pictures of the world record game in progress..

Allen and I stopped in to see the game for a liitle while yesterday. They're pretty tired, but they're still going! Pastor Kip did chapel before the game.

World Record!

My school is trying to get the world record for the longest basketball game played. Our newspaper did a great piece on it. (It's a video) Here's the link. http://www.theindependent.com/multimedia?vid_id=vIg1StyOgz4 You might need to cut and paste the address. It's so cool to see my boys on the video and know that they're so pumped to be doing this. I'm providing breakfast Sunday morning for them. Allen is reffing (yes, the wrestling coach is going to ref basketball) for a little bit. Our coaches support each other pretty well. Coach Wagnitz would help Allen if he needed something like this. Pray for everyone so that no one gets hurt or sick! Thanks!

Not much

Not much is going on with us. I was supposed to start roguing last Friday, but the weather has put us off until next Monday. I'm a crew leader with a teacher at Trinity. I just want to get going, because the sooner we start, the sooner we finish. I'm also field inspecting for Remington seeds again this year. Hopefully the two won't overlap too much, otherwise, I'll be a walking zombie! Hope everything is going well for everyone else!