Our Farm Girl

This was taken in September, she already looks so much older than this!  They're growing like weeds!!

E-Card for my Grandma in Iowa

This is my Grandma.

We have the same middle name. (Irene).

She graduated Valedictorian of her high school class.

With her sweetheart on their wedding day.

Here she is with my mom, pregnant with my uncle Danny

I love this picture of her with her foot up on her leg. 

This says January 1973 along the side, so my mom is 15 here. :-)

Grandma raised five children, then four more who are her grandchildren, now she cares for her mother. She  can best be described as nurturing.  She's very good at what she does, and boy does she know babies...

My Grandma used to collect owls, now she collects roosters.  I respect her a lot for changing her mind.  Sometimes you just want something different.  My Grandma likes to laugh a lot and my Grandpa likes to make her laugh.  She's a pro at entertaining, and can whip up a giant spread of food in no time.  I didn't know it, but it turns out she's the world's best cookie maker.  If you've been wondering who that is, you've found her!  {By the way, Grandma, I tried to make the chocolate chip oatmeal cookies like you said, and they did not turn out anywhere near as good as yours.}  Sometimes people just know what they're doing.  

She loves cards.  Specifically, she loves to pick out the perfect card just for the perfect occasion for someone. She sends between 10 and 15 cards a month out.  She always writes a letter to go inside or at least a nice note at the bottom of the card.  I have several cards from her hanging on a string above my window right now.  Yes, I did send her a real card. 

Like her hubby, she devours the Word of God.  She likes to wake up, drink a big glass of ice water and read her Bible.  Then you'll catch her reading it again a couple more times in the day.  Below are some memory verses she has above her sink.  She devoutly attends church and shares God's Love with others in everything she does.  

Happy Birthday, Grandma!!  We love you, love you, love you.

Hope your day is as delightful as you are!

kids make traveling hard...or do they?

Mi amiga, Clara.  She brought us what I call "Dead Bread" last night to help me finish leftover Mexican beans and rice and to celebrate la dios de los Muertos or the day of the dead.  It's very sweet and yummy, especially with ice cream.  This holiday also happens to be election day (yes we did), and my friend Chrisie's birthday and her friend and my long time bloggy friend, Deanne's birthday as well!  Happy Birthday, ladies!  

Solar Panels on our chicken coop**.  Why, you ask?  Well, to keep their water from freezing this Winter, possibly keep them laying longer and save my husband from running electricity all the way up the hill.  Makes sense to me!  Besides if it works well heating them, down the road we may try the same for us.  For now, this is one pampered puffy cheeked chicken (aka. green egg laying Ameraucana). 

Today two kids played and played and played with their new quilts which arrived in the mail from their Grandma and Grandpa (my folks) who live in Germany.  My mother lovingly made each one out of flannel.  Thank you, Mom...I mean, Grandma*!!! They're BEAUTIFUL!!!

The box got it's fair share of play time in too (quilt under bottom).  

Tonight we had a wonderful Singaporean meal made by our resident Indonesian with Amish chicken parts.  It was served with Mexican "spicy" (aka pop) that was on sale at Buehler's and topped off with German cookies which came with the quilt from my parents.  This is our new mode of world travel...

...tomorrow, back to Guatemala (or down the road) for mutual Spanish/English lessons!***

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*Reference to an inside joke about how every time I call my mom or dad,, "Mom" or "Dad", my little Z adamantly protests, "That's not "Dad", that's "Grandpa"!!!" or "That's not "Mom", that's "Grandma"!!"  He does it even when I'm talking to them on the phone, we have to laugh because he's so good at policing me in this!  

**Don't ask me what the chicken coop story has to do with traveling, it was blog worthy, I thought, so I threw it in there. :-)

***Aren't they adorable?  Like their aunt and parents (who work all day), they speak no English.  They hang out with Z and Juju while I try to teach their aunt English with the itsy bitsy bit of Spanish I know.   Hablo poquito Espanol!!!