Meet My Brother...

This is my brother Jansen. He is only 5 years younger than me, give or take a few months, but is truly a kid at heart. One of his favorite Christmas movies is "A Christmas Story" (see t-shirt at left) and he and Damian (see hand waiving in cropped picture at left) share very similar senses of humor. Needless to say Jansen's wife, Kim, and I are not always laughing along with them! :-)






This is Jansen and Kim...don't they look sweet together? (Sorry Jans, I couldn't resist.)











This is probably how my brother prefers to be pictured. Harassing one of his nieces and sporting a blue mohawk. The hairdo is to show his support for the Wichita Thunder hockey team...he's a BIG fan! Someday this will go over big when he comes and watches his nieces and nephew play at Bluestem, since our colors are blue and gold.

Occasionally he likes to surprise us with a festive, holiday hairdo.








This is their daughter, Shye, one of Brooklyn's very favorite friends! She is about 11 months younger and they have a ball playing together!

I forgot to mention that in addition to his sense of unique style, my brother is super smart and a talented writer. He plays guitar and writes various works, mainly just for something to do. I thought I'd share something of his that I particularly like...

A letter to my dearest love...

Minutes pass like days as I await the moment when I can again hold you. To feel the subtle weight of your delicate frame as you hang onto my neck. To caress your graceful curves – the very essence of femininity. To have my fingers dance along your slender neck.

Every time I find myself in your presence, a beauty of such perfection startles me; surely, it must have been crafted by God’s own hand. Even the harmonious voice with which you sing to me stirs emotions in me that have long lain dormant within my heart.

They say with love comes a price, and truly, I feel that I shall forever be in your debt just for the opportunity to be with you. My heart swells with pride when I see the way others look at you; the way they envy me, and the disappointment they must feel on the realization that we’ll never part.

I still remember the pain that I felt in longing for you and fearing that you would never be mine, and I can’t begin to describe how fortunate I feel knowing that you are there waiting for me. I can only hope that I am able to prove myself worthy of your grace, your beauty, and your elegance.

I’ve often heard that there is no accounting for taste, but I know in my heart that there is none more perfect than you - My Fender Stratocaster: The World’s Greatest Guitar.

Moody Blue Monday...

This morning Damian made Brooklyn oatmeal for breakfast. It is his special recipe and all the kids love it...not me. :-) He takes quick oats, adds enough water to cover the oats, nukes it in the microwave for 30 seconds, then sprinkles with semi-sweet chocolate chips.

This PARTICULAR morning he made a SMILEY face out of the chocolate chips...all HIS idea...totally something a MOM would do, but this was ALL him! It was so cute, that I told him I wanted to take a picture of Brooklyn with her cheery bowl of oatmeal when she got up to the bar to eat it.

Can you guess how LOVELY our morning was??

Ag Education

Today we hosted a group approximately 50 people from eleven different states on an agriculture tour with Kansas Farm Bureau. Damian and his brother Dallas are both very passionate about agriculture and take every opportunity to educate anyone that has a desire to learn about the subject. Damian shared about our hay and row crop production as well as the equipment we use. Dallas explained how the cattle operation works and about the practice and benefits of burning pasture in the early Spring.

My job was to bake lots of cookies and brownies and keep our dogs, Milo and Maisy, from being a nuisance. If anyone likes wildflowers, this is a great time to pick maximillus sunflowers and they look beautiful in a vase. An added benefit of hosting something like this is that it motivates Damian to clean up around the yard and get rid of the junk that has been accumulating around the out buildings! :-) We have been privileged the last few years to have similar groups visit including Todd Thiart and his staff as well as a group of producers from the Netherland's on a tour with Agco. Here are some pictures of Damian doing his thing!




























This is my mom and dad and they were such a HUGE help today. My dad works for Prairie Land John Deere and they provided the pop and water that we iced down in the bed of the Ranger...it makes a GREAT cooler! He helped arrange things for our guests and took pictures. My mom helped me get the snacks around and arrange the table. She also ran into town to pick up Brooklyn after preschool and took her to the Big M Steakhouse (aka McDonald's) for lunch, which was a special treat for her. I'm so lucky that my parents live close enough to help out and be a part of special things in our lives like this!

This is a picture of Damian and I with the current Miss Idaho. Her platform centers around promoting agriculture and she is such a sweetheart! It was such a beautiful day and things couldn't have gone any better!