The Muench Bunch

 Jayden and Noah have restored their relationship and want to spend all their time together. I really think they both realized how to appreciate one another and what they had when it was gone. They traveled 6 hours back to his parents ranch for the weekend. The weather in Texas was nice in the 70 and 80's. Jayden spent several days hunting, walking many miles and sitting in tree stands. She killed her first deer, aimed and shot and hit right where she was supposed to hit. She was so excited. She even helped Noah gut the deer. I never thought Jayden would be the hunting type. I never imagined her shooting a deer. She continues to amaze me. Her and Noah sure do enjoy life together. I pray for them everyday.       Over Thanksgiving, Jayden spent the whole week in Texas with Noah and his family. I missed her and wished she could be here. She was having a blast, hunting, enjoying great weather, spending time with Noah, and helping with the big Thanksgiving feast. They had so much food!

Nov 19, 70 degrees is my kind of perfect day. Anywhere from 70 to 80 if the wind is calm, I think it's perfect. I would love to live in a place that stayed around 70. Maybe because Iowa has the most miserable weather, extreme heat, extreme cold, extreme wind, and extreme humidity, we appreciate the good days more.  Today was one of those days. It was a bit breezy, but the day before was 25 mph wind. The sun came out and made for a lovely day. After we did school, I spent the afternoon outside. I took Buster's collar off and walked him through the invisible door to freedom. Every once in awhile I let him run and hunt in the giant hay field west of the house. He runs himself so hard that he gets wore out, thirsty, and heads home after about 20 minutes. I get my exercise too by taking a nice walk. I swept lots of leaves, strung Christmas lights, wormed the horses, bedded the chickens, cleaned a stall and just enjoyed the outdoors. This is the day that the Lord has made, I will rej

     Luke likes to fish and hunt, he always has. He recently spent $100 of his money to buy himself some traps. We recently got him a checking account, so it was fun to see him write his first check to make the purchase.  Luke has been setting traps out near creeks and areas on our farms. He got his first coon and went to skinning it. He watched videos on how to do it and did his best to figure it out. It was a gross and stinky and a multi-step, multi day job. He was doing great until he left it in a bag a little long when it wasn't fully dried. His experience will help him next year. He has added all kinds of things to his Christmas wishlist for future trapping. I love that all 3 kids have their own unique interests that they enjoy. It is fun to see the talents, interests, and gifts that God has given them.

  After Harvest, Mark wanted to spend as much time roping and riding as he could. Knowing his upcoming his shoulder surgery would prevent him from riding for awhile, we all joined in. Mark worked with Jake's friend Keaton who really wanted to learn the ins and outs or roping. He picked it up really well. It didnt take long with our newest addition Roany for him to learn. Roany is an older rope horse that Tony was going to buy for his son. We ended up buying him on the condition that when Tony was ready, he could buy him back. The timing just wasn't right for Tony and we have been enjoying him. He has a good disposition and does really well in the box and roping, ideal for learning. He has been quiet and fairly sound. We know he is a teenaged horse, but not quite sure his age. Jake and Keaton hang out in the arena practicing roping and sometimes riding too. It's a great hobby for them to do in their free time and keeps them out of trouble. It also helps that chicks dig it. 

     Happy birthday Jacob. My boy is growing into a man. I can't believe Jake turned 17.  His  height 5'10 and weight 150, jean size 28 waist and 36 length. With that size he wears a belt and the jeans are a little long to fit boots. He is probably a 27x34. We are proud of the fine young man Jacob has become. He is hard working, enjoys work, doesn't complain when given many odd jobs, chores, and to do lists. He never likes to leave an unfinished job and likes to work until it's completed. He washes a lot of vehicles, does animal chores, drives tractors in the field, hauls dirt with the loader and drives the dump truck. He will do just about anything he is asked without hesitation. He is a happy kid most of the time and seems to be enjoying life. He likes his classes at DMACC and taking a math class in Ogden.  At 17, Jake has a clean record, no tickets, no getting into trouble with the law, and always making it home for curfew by 11:30PM. He has made good choices and has

  After harvest, Mark enjoys a weekend getaway to celebrate finishing and just to take a break. We booked our trip to Bellevue Iowa to our favorite Bed and Breakfast. I had taken Mark for his birthday 3 years ago. This time we invited our good friends. We planned to stay two nights and they stayed for one. The Saturday evening Murder Mystery Dinner is one of the main features with  amazing food, entertainment with costumes and all. Another favorite is the amazing morning breakfast served hot and fresh with more food than you can eat. Due to our unpleasant intruder named COVID, both were cancelled last minute. We decided it was in the books and we still wanted to go. It was quite a drive, 3.5 hours. Mark and I stopped for dinner along the way and got in to the B&B after dark. We were staying in the "East Room". Each room has a name and theme. The entire house was built in 1893 and has quite a history and a number of owners. At one point there was a massive fire that destro

Nov 6- Jayden's birthday did not go the way she had hoped. She was excited about her 21st birthday and wanted to celebrate big. Last year on her birthday she hauled her horse Astro off to be sold., It was kind of a sad and lonely birthday for her. This year she wanted to go big and have fun. She wanted her family to be with her, and that we did. In the late hours of the evening, things turned into a mess and Noah broke off their relationship. I found this out through a text Jake got from Noah.I didn't waste a minute and headed straight to Jayden's house where we cried together and I held her. Nothing made sense and she cried knowing he would never speak to her again and would never see him again. She told me he had surprised her the morning of her birthday and made her breakfast. She was finally happy with life;  she felt content , happy in her relationship, horses doing well, college going good. Now she felt her world was crashing down and regretted feeling so good. She ke

 We surprised the boys by stopping and staying at the Great Wolf Lodge. We made this into a little birthday surprise for Jake. He really enjoys water parks.  Mark and I made reservations and didn't tell them anything until we pulled in. Mark and I were also looking forward to something that would bring us out of the frump we were all feeling. The boys were so excited and our room was big and cozy with a second floor loft.  I found a good deal for the stay online and saved a lot. We were at the waterpark a couple hours, then went to eat. The COVID restrictions were just like everything else, they made no sense at all. You were to wear a mask at all times in the hotel and halls. Once in the waterpark you took them off. The waterpark was busy and crowded with kids and families everywhere. There is a definite need for people to get out and try to enjoy life and maybe live a little. There was no social distancing, the lines for the waterslides were crowded and long waits. The lazy river

        Our family decided last minute to go a day early to Oklahoma to visit Jayden. Her birthday was Thursday and we had been planning a trip out to celebrate with her. Noah needed to leave to help at a hunt for the weekend and would only be around Thursday. I was really hoping to spend some time with him too, so that was  disappointing.  We had been planning for months to surprise the boys by taking them to the dunes to ride with Noah. Jayden continually reassured me that would not be a problem. To make sure we got to see Noah and ride the dunes, we left a day early staying just outside of Kansas City. We arrived in Alva around 3 and checked in our hotel where Jayden met us with her pup Sage. She was a hit and we all got some cuddle time. We didn't waste much time and headed 30 minutes to Waynoka and then to the dunes. My parents planned their trip to see Jayden the same time, so they were already in town. Jayden took her White Dodge, that would soon be Jacob's truck, into t