The Muench Bunch

11/26/16 We went out with our good friends, the Buhr's. We always enjoy outings with them, this time was nice as we split off. The guys went to their war movie while us girls went shopping. Angelia is quite the shopper with a new baby girl to buy for. She definitely goes all out finding adorable outfits with shoes, fur coats, vests, and all.  All 4 of us met up after the movie at the Cheesecake Factory for dinner. It was a great time and good conversation. We are thankful for good friends that share the same christian values. 11/25/16 Jayden and I thought it would be fun to do some Black Friday shopping. Getting up in the wee hours and hitting all the stores bright and really didn't really sound that fun, so we left home at 9 AM. As crazy as the Black Friday sales have gotten and the mob of people, in reality there are very few items you cant get for the same sale price online or in another week. There is always that one giant sale that everyone is after, but is it really

This year Thanksgiving was a different gathering than what we have every year. This year Duane and Kellie invited all the families to their new home to celebrate Thanksgiving. They are the newlyweds and excited for their turn in hosting and having every come to see their new home. The live in the Iowa City area in a lovely home. It is spacious, new, and very nice. They have 5 bathrooms! How I would love to have more than one and a half bathrooms. We arrived at 10:30 being the first to arrive other than Karen and Orrie, Lavern and Verna Mae who had stayed the night. The others trickled in little by little until the last of the guests Burns' came at 1:00. They came at 1 and left at 3. The day seemed to go so fast and everyone came and left in such a hurry. Most years we sit around all afternoon and into the evening. The food was great and I enjoyed the change. There was all kinds of good turkey and sides galore. Kellie found some new recipes and had to make a lot of gluten free dishe

For several years I have passed the signs "Stop Eminent Domain Abuse" and "Stop The Bakken Pipeline". However I never paid it much attention until it hit near home. It seems everywhere I go, I am passing a construction site. On the way to Fort Dodge, any gravel roads near Dayton, hwy E-18 east of Pilot Mound, highway 30, and many areas we drive by are being leveled and dug up for the pipeline. Many farmers have the pipeline running directly through farmland. It is tough to see. Some farmers tried to plant an early crop in order to harvest something before they tore their ground up. Sadly they missed it by a couple weeks and the bulldozers leveled the crop. Mark's theory is Governeor Brnadtsad was taken down to Texas and big oil companies, wined and dined him  and he came back all for the pipeline. There is nothing good in it for us, in fact it doesn't make a lot of sense. Why are we taking a natural resource that can be used in our country and sending it un

 Saturday was a quiet day home.  Sunday we went to church, then to Karen and Orrie’s for dinner to celebrate Orrie’s birthday.  Family gatherings have changed so much in the past 3 years. There is little conversation, nobody asks about anybody. The girls have started pulling out old home videos to watch which everyone really enjoys. It seems to help cut the tension in the air. One day while feeding chickens, Jacob was shocked to see two full sized hens in with his chicken. Right away he ran in and told us thinking we had gotten him two more chickens. We didnt know anything about it or where they came from. We narrowed it down to Tony. He was the only one around with chickens. he knew that Jake was down to one chicken and donated a couple from his flock. We all thought that was pretty neat of Tony, especially Jake. Now "Dolly" has freinds. Jayden has been working with her colt, who we call “baby” until he gets a permanent name. He is very timid and unsure. She has got

11/16/16 Jacob is officially a teenager! He is growing up right before my eyes. He is a sweet boy, hard working, will do anything you ask without complaining, unless of course it pertains to school. He is so talented with is drawing and spends many hours with pencil and paper. He loves his animals and is a softie. He likes his chickens and cats the most. He likes to drive “his truck” that he has taken claim of that used to be his Grandpa Muench’s. He has added his touch with many decals and stickers, air fresheners, floor mats, and décor. He gets so excited when he gets to take his truck somewhere. He is a handsome boy with his blonde hair and dark blue eyes. He has been dressing less like a farmer and a little more trendy in the past year. He likes to wear flannel shirts over a solid shirt unbuttoned. He wears his cross necklace 24/7 and usually a hat. Jayden picked out his first official pair of Buckle brand jeans for him for his birthday. I have been spending $25 to $40 for his jea

11/15/16 We were right on the line of the time change so we were so confused in the morning. Our phones switched time and we weren't sure which time we should be going on. Georgia and Heather helped us get things ready and check out our colt. They brought out the stud sire, Peppy Pedro Badger, he reminded me of a small version of Ace. He is a pretty bay under 15 hands. The mare is a palomino. They had around 30 weanlings penned together, all different colors and sizes. They all had coughs and slight runny noses. They ran around as they sorted out the colt they had picked for Jayden. They were basing it on what she would use the colt for in the future. This baby would be bred cowy and speed in hopes of running barrels. The original colt they had picked out for us had some tiny upright front feet, so another colt was picked for us. He is a sorrel with a small white star. They ran the little guy into a chute to put his halter on then walked beside him and got into a couple tug of

11/14/16 The plan was to leave for South Dakota on Friday to get Jayden’s weanling. Mark and I had the week to prepare. Luke mentioned he heard there was going to be snow in South Dakota over the weekend. A little snow didn’t scare me too much, however when I looked at the forecast, it didn’t t look good. Along with the snow was blowing winds, and a gigantic drop in temperature, down as low as the teens. I did not want to be traveling in that kind of weather, let alone hauling a trailer and hauling a young horse.  It was 8:40 when I came to the realization that today was the only option we had to go. With a 10 hour trip, the sooner we left the better. I knew Mark didn’t want to make the trip and my Dad did, so a quick phone call and he packed his bags and headed down. Mark came and got the horse trailer and washed it and the truck. He and Tony got to work building a wooden partition for the slant load so the baby could be in his own section without getting hurt. We had to take a buddy

11/11/16/ Friday the boys went to a birthday party for  Tyson Nelson. He is in between the boys ages and was turning 11. The boys went to his home and played outside and ran around being boys. That included playing bull riders. Alex S was also invited and the kids all had a good time. Sister Morgan and little bro Mason joined in on the fun too. While in Fort Dodge, we took Allie and her boyfriend Blake out to dinner. They have been living together in his home since the end of September. She didn't take care of her apartment and ended up with mold all over her apartment, carpet, cupboards, and the new bed Karen and Orrie got for her. It was a great excuse for her to move out and in with Blake. We are not happy about that and it makes thing very awkward. Dating is one thing, but living together is just problems waiting to happen. Conversation was very difficult. It is hard to talk about much when we don't discuss Allie's other side of the family as most of them are in jail or

11/9/16 We awoke to news of Tump winning as our new president. I am relieved to know that Hillary is not going to further damage our country. I am not a huge fan of Trump. I think he is loud, arrogant, and crude. However he may be the kind of person to make things happen. He is wealthy, successful, knowledgeable and doesn’t put up with much. I look forward to positive changes in this country. I will continue to pray for him. I pray that he will turn to God and put his trust and faith in him. I will pray for his choices and those working with him and for him. I will pray for the choices that will change our country. I will pray for all people, that we can find peace and unity that our country must have in order to survive. Without God, that is not possible. People are turning against people because of political views, race, gender, religion, and more. It is getting ugly. There are riots going on and there is a lot of unhappy people. It makes me sad to see so much tension. As one descri

  (10/3/16) Recently Jayden and I have been researching colleges and trying to pick a major and some colleges to visit. Obviously Mark and I would love for her to stay close to home at ISU or ICCC. Both have a college rodeo team and are close enough she could have her horse nearby and a truck and trailer handy and don’t’ forget about parents to help out. Jayden has rodeo as her major and is trying to find the best college for that. I don’t think that is how it is supposed to work. 11/7/16 Today Jayden and I attended an Experience ISU college visit. I had really hoped Mark would be able to go with us and I know he would have gotten a lot out of it. We arrived to smiling faces and volunteer students around every corner leading us to where we needed to be. The hospitality was impressive. They were so organized in getting us signed up and ready to go. We only had a few minutes to check out all the booths and went to the College of Ag booth. They were so helpful and informative. We then

Birthdays for your kids are always a time to celebrate and reflect on the growing up and changing over the years. However, when they turn 17 you realize your time with them at home is ending soon. All the years of watching them grow and mature, teaching them and guiding them, praying with them and over them. Things are going to change as they begin to enter the world on their own. Of course the praying over them will never end. I only have a year and a half and Jayden will be on her own in this big world. I know God's got this, I know it is in his hands. I know that he has a plan and I trust in him to lead her there. It is going to be hard to let go and see her make her own decisions and go her own way. Today my little girl turned 17 today. We started the day with balloons in the hallway and Jayden woke to them. Luke and Mawgee were in on that plan. Jayden opened a few gifts from us, one being a halter that was personalized,"2016 IRCA horse of the year". Also a purity ri

11/4/16 Coach Bailey- Just yesterday I asked my mom what was going on with Coach Bailey. I knew that he had cancer, but saw lots of pictures of him on Wednesday with his family in the hospital. I wanted to know if he was having chemo or treatment or maybe a surgery. Mom was going to find out and get back to me. I thought I would send a card or see what hospital he was in. She called me this morning to tell me that he died last night. My heart sunk and I felt so awful. I had wanted to send some encouragement and prayers to them. I had no idea he was that bad. I did not even stop and pray. When I tell a person I will pray for them, I stop what it is I am doing and pray, so as not to forget. This time I was waiting to see what was going on with him so I could pray specifically.  Now my prayers are for his family. Coach Bailey was a character. He was a goofy, funny man that could be tough mean and strict. He could be happy and smiley caring and kind. He was a family friend, coach, and tea

Nov 1-3 Mark and I took a little trip in the middle of the week. It was a much needed getaway for both of us. Post harvest and a chance to get away from the farm ans homeschool stresses.  We drove to Dubuque for a two night stay. We stayed in the Hotel Julien, a historic older hotel that we really enjoyed. On our first night, we found a restaurant within walking distance that was Italian called, Vinny's Wednesday we woke up and had a big breakfast, went to some ship museums, and drove to a nearby park with a beautiful view of the river. In the afternoon we had a couples spa massage that was so relaxing. In the evening we went to the nearby casino for an incredible steak dinner. There was a lot of excitement in the air as the Cub's were playing in the World Series. Each night they were one game closer to winning it all. And sure enough, the Cub's won the World Series. That made for a lot of excitement. It didnt matter what floor in the hotel you were on, you heard peopl