The Muench Bunch

 We had Kellie do Jake's senior pictures within a week of scheduling. She is the favorite for photography and does a fabulous job. We had the photos taken around the shop, cow barn, and gravel road. Jake was being his witty self during the photos making the photographer laugh and brining out some good smiles. I was not a fan of the mullet for senior pictures. Someday we will look back at the crazy hair styles and wonder why. Jake was very cooperative and allowed me to put his hair back for some of the photos. I thought they turned out great and I loved the ones with his blue shirt and tractor. He is such a handsome young man! These are several of the favs.   

 We celebrated the announcement of the gender of Blake and Ali's baby. It has become a popular celebration for new soon to be parents. People have all kinds of creative ways to reveal the gender. Today the balloon pop was the reveal. Inside the large balloons was either pink confetti or blue. Bridget and Andrew got to poke the balloons at the same time with a pin. They were both beyond excited both hoping for a girl. Pink it was!! It was a fun day with food and family at Rod and Laura's house. The Muench side was well represented with several relatives and Bryce, Devin, Cade, Hannah, and Izzy on the Olson/Easterday side.  It was hot and the flies were thick outdoors, but it was a fun celebration for Ali.              Later was an even bigger surprise...

 My school classmate and friend Jolene had surgeries this summer. She went from mastectomy to complications with that and having to have a second surgery and then having to wait a year for the final phase. Then after a few weeks of healing, she had her surgery near her ear for CSF leak. She has had a tough go with so many surgeries and healing. It takes a toll! I took Jolene meals twice in July and briefly visited. On the first post surgery visit, Jolene had told me that the day before her surgery she tested Covid positive and they still went ahead with her surgery. That kind of blows my mind. She was fine, no problems. I took the meal to her and into her house knowing that and visited briefly. I never got covid. On one of my stops I visited with another high school friend in the same area, Tracie. She bought herself a new jeep and recently got engaged!! I am so happy for her and enjoyed meeting for lunch.  In late August I arranged a day with some classmates to meet up for lunch and h

  Another year of school begins. Jacob is a senior attending DMACC for Automotive Technology. He does not have any classes at the highs school, however being dual enrolled in the Ogden school, he is able to take the classes for college credit and we don't have to pay for it. It is a great benefit for us. This year will be a challenge with the time schedule. Jake will have to leave each day at 9AM, drive to Ames, take his class from 9:50 to 11:50. That gives me from 8am to 9am to do homeschool in the mornings with Jake and then try to finish in an hour or two after lunch each day. We are not looking forward to that. Afternoon school is hard. We all want to be done by then.Luke is an 8th grader this year and will be home most of the morning doing his school. He is also playing football for the first time ever. I don't think he has even played catch or kicked a football before this year. He attended a 3 day camp at the Ogden school to get a feel for it before he committed to a sea

  Good thing they had Jayden at the ranch, one afternoon, she noticed  in one of the pens,  3 deer had died and several others  were near death and many were crazy acting, running into fences and staggering. Jayden discovered the problem right away... an empty water trough. A water trough had been shut off earlier in the week and never got turned back on. The deer were dying of thirst. The instant reaction was to fill up the trough, but Jayden advised to do it a little at a time. If the animals were that dehydrated, consuming all that water would have killed many more. Hour after hour they only let them drink a little at a time. The worst part, the deer that die on the ranch must be reported and taken in to the local vet for autopsy, and only the head is needed. The rest I will leave to your imagination. Once again only the women were home.  While Jayden was back at the ranch saving animals, Noah, his brother, his dad, and his dad's best friend and son all went on a Christian retre

 In April, Mark started exercising with a trainer and has been working with him once a week. Mark had a goal to get get down to 200. He has been working really hard and doing great. He is strong and has the will and desire to reach his goal. He has cut his portions in half, eats way less, cut out sweets, lowered his carb intake, and works out. He rides his bike, takes walks, and sometimes will jog or use the exercise machine. I am proud of his drive to better himself. He is also trying to do things that help his spondylosis condition and exercise and movement are key. In August, Luke joined Mark a few times and got some coaching from the trainer as well. These boys are going to get buff together.    

 While in Texas, Jayden has become good friends with Noah's brother's girlfriend, Cynthia. The two girls are so beautiful. They occasionally do chores on the ranch together and hang out.   Noah's family likes to celebrate and go all out with big parties for birthdays. They celebrated summer birthdays for his mom, dad, and Cynthia while Jayden was there. Over the 4th of July they had a big grill out and with friends that turned into a rainy downpour. One of the parties was 80 themed and another was a luau. Noah's mom is all about themed parties and dressing for the occasion. It sounds like they know how to have fun.     I love this photo of the 4. These four have a lot of fun together and have taken Jayden in like family. On this day, the 4 gals were in charge of ranch chores while the men were at a retreat. 

 My kids are growing up and I see less and less of them. It makes me sad. Jayden was home all through high school. She really didn't go out much and we spent a lot of time hauling her to rodeos as a high schooler. We did a lot together, shopping, riding, tv watching, and rodeos, etc. Now she is about to finish college and then find a place to live, which will likely be far away. Jake has been working since last summer every chance he gets. During the summer when he gets off work he goes to the shop or hangs with his buddies. Some days he comes home for lunch, but most days he does not. Most days he gets in at 9PM, only because I insist he be home no later. On the weekends he gets in at 11:30/12 and I can barely stay awake to make sure he gets home at curfew safely. He will turn 18 in November and then graduate in May. He is already making plans to move out. He will be gone and I will probably see very little of him. I don't like this. Luke is only 13 and spends a lot of his tim

     This photo of the obese man is awful and funny at the same time. This is a cutout for a person to go and stand behind that represents and Iowa farmer! Really!??          Luke and I went to the Iowa Sate Fair to volunteer at Little Hands on The Farm. 4H members have the opportunity to sign up as a volunteer and Jayden and I volunteered 4 years. Jake never had any interest in it, but Luke thought it sounded fun. Luke and I woke at 5:30Am, got on the road at 6, and arrived at our location at 7:45 ready to start our 8AM shift. Turns out they started at 9AM. The jobs are all first come first serve, so we had the first picks and Luke chose pedal tractors, and I ended up at the chicken coop. Little Hands on The Farm is an interactive farm the kids go through to learn about agriculture. They make stops in a garden planting and digging up pretend vegetables, they go through a grain bin, sheep, dairy, beef, and chicken barn. They also fill their pedal tractors with Bio-diesel and pedal the