We Are So Blessed!

After our medical fiasco in South Dakota, our medical bills started to roll in.  They weren't pretty!  Because of the insurance Becki had, most things weren't covered.  Also, since it happened out of state, some things weren't covered due to out-of-network issues.  So, to help pay some of our bills, Becki's boss (local Chick-fil-A owner), offered to hold a Spirit Night in honor of Becki (see the brochure below).  The whole experience was humbling for us and we knew that God was in the midst of everything that was happening. 

The night of the 27th was an amazing night.  So many people came out to support Becki and our family.  Some people from every aspect of her life (old friends, new friends, church, school, work, etc).  It is a wonderful feeling to know that you are loved by so many!

Up to Our Ears in Corn - Ha, Get it???

One night, our small group (from church) got together for dinner.  One of our friends mentioned that his work had access to corn and it needed to be picked in the next week, before it would go bad.  So, we all drove over to the field and picked to our hearts delight.  The kids had a blast!  What a fun memory for them!

It is hard to see how full our van is since it has a sunk-in back compartment.  But we shared 4 dozen with Becki's sister (who shared with her neighbors), 3 dozen with Becki's mom & dad (who also shared with church friends and neighbors) and a few dozen to some friends.  Even after all the sharing, we had over 70 ears of corn!  We ate a few dozen over the next 2 weeks and then froze the remaining ears.  We look forward to eating corn this winter! 

We love that God continues to provide for us in ways that we never anticipated!  Not only did He provide this corn, but He provided it in a way that we will never forget.  What fun memories with some very dear friends!

The kids enjoyed seeing how tall they could pile the corn on Becki!

School Time Again!

Where did the summer go?  Before we knew it, the summer was over and school was starting again.  This will be a transition year for us as we start to have children in more than 1 school.  We are blessed to have a neighbor who is willing help with pick-up and drop-off.

Unpack Your Backpack Night...

 Maddie & Will both have Mrs. Larvenz this year.  We are so excited that all 4 kids were able to have her as a teacher!

 Alex started her 4th grade year with Mrs. Masias...but was changed to Miss Marlowe's class when a grant was given for another teacher.

 We got to meet some of Katie's teachers as we unloaded her backpack into her locker. 

The next day, we were up early and ready to go with time to spare!  We left early enough and dropped off Katie first then drove to Roosevelt for the twins & Alex's first day.  We stuck around to take some pictures before giving hugs and kisses goodbye.  It was very sweet to be able to pray with my children before sending them into school as the next year started.  

Maquoketa Caves

 We drove up north a ways to hike the Swiss Valley Nature Area, just south of Dubuque, IA.  We've been here a few times and it is a beautiful area to hike.  There was a new letterbox, so Matt has been determined to hike there for the past few months!  After finding the box, we headed down to the creek bed and the kids played in the water for a bit.  Upon returning to the parking lot, we decided to see if the nature center was open so we could use the restrooms.  It was open and we ended up spending another hour in the center.  They had some wonderful displays and even got to pet a snake that the ranger brought out for us!

 We left Swiss Valley Nature Center and headed south a ways to the Maquoketa Caves State Park.  We were actually allowed to enter the caves again after being closed the past few years due to a national epidemic with the death of so many bats.  We didn't do much crawling, but had fun hiking and poking our heads in some of the smaller caves.  We enjoyed being able to go through some of the bigger caves.