The Muench Bunch

 The Nest home had two adoptions this month. Both boys were there when we served in 2013 and I remember them like I was there yesterday. Dwight was a bright eyed silly young boy with several of his front teeth coming in. He was Jayden's little buddy the day we all went to the beach. He had a fun and silly personality one you wouldnt easily forget. March 2022  Nest family, we have an amazing update on a child you may know. If you’ve been to the Nest, you definitely will remember Raymion (Ray). He has been living at the Nest for over 10 years…and yesterday, he officially came home to his FOREVER family! Praise the Lord for everything He is doing for our children. Since 2013, Raymion has been our sponsor child. We have given monthly to support him. Mark and I connected with him while serving at the Nest Home in 2013. He was the oldest child age 7 and stayed with all the little boys in a bunk room in the younger kid house. I remember him always wearing his Mario pajamas and loving to m

 In March, I visited Jayden and a  week later, cousin Jaynie flew out to spend a few days with Jayden. She saved her money and wanted to take her spring break visiting Jayden in Texas. I thought that was really sweet and helped Jaynie with traveling by giving her a discount using my frequent flyer points and giving her all kinds of travel advice. She was very appreciative and got along just fine on her first solo flight and second flight ever. They had a great time together. Jaynie has always been such a thoughtful girl and an awesome friend to Jayden. I am so glad she has her freindship.  Later in the month, Jayden went to Market with Cynthia for an event. 

 For our anniversary, Mark and I went to Mason City to a historical hotel. We just went for a night and explored the area. Carina and Wade gave us a gift card for Christmas for a stay. From Wikepedia-The Historic Park Inn Hotel and City National Bank are two adjacent commercial buildings located in downtown Mason City, Iowa, which were designed in the Prairie School style by the renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Completed in 1910, the Park Inn Hotel is the last remaining Frank Lloyd Wright-designed hotel in the world, of the six for which he was the architect of record. The City National Bank is one of only two remaining Frank Lloyd Wright-designed banks in the world. It was the first Frank Lloyd Wright-designed project in the state of Iowa, and today carries both major architectural and historical significance. In 1999, the Park Inn Hotel was named on the Iowa Historic Preservation Alliance's Most Endangered Properties List.[1]In 1907, when law partners James E. Blythe and J.

 Salford has gotten behind during the pandemic with assembling machines. Mark decided with our crew and with our shop and equipment, we could assemble. The boys got in on the task and were paid wages for their hours along with our crew.  Luke put in the most time of the boys and enjoyed the challenge. Jake worked around class, maintaining all his vehicles, and other things that he had to do. He worked a few full days. Conveniently most of the work was during spring break. The team put the Salford together in 6 days! It was impressive! I went to the shop every couple days and took videos and photos and made a video of the progress. The parts came in on a semi, with nuts, bolts, and parts all over. It was impressive to watch the progress and see the guys all working on it. 

 Ali is doing great with Titus and I know she will continue to. As I watch her hold and nurture her baby,  I have to keep in mind not everyone does things the same. It is hard sometimes because I want to step in. I watch her pull her cozy sleeping baby out of the car seat when she arrives somewhere just to wake him up. She changes his pants on the floor without anything under him and doesn't use a changing pad or changing table. In the cold winter as a newborn, she never put any hats on his little head and never put a onesie under his clothes. She seldom uses a burp rag, instead she will grab a paper towel or napkin, sometimes she'll use her own shirt. I have to remind myself, she is doing the best she can with what she knows and she really is a good mom. I know these things will make us laugh someday when we look back. Little Titus is growing a ton and doing well, what more could we ask for. Praise God for this sweet, healthy, baby boy. 

 Lace Joslynne was born on February 20, 2022 to parents Zach & Jossie. I am a great aunt again. I met the newest addition to the Muench families, little baby Lace 2 weeks after she was born.  I wanted to give mama and baby time to get settled in. It sounds like Jo has had visitors from the time Lace was born at the hospital all they way through.  She is a tired and exhausted mama, trying to figure everything out. She is so happy to be a mama and Lace is adorable. Love these precious gifts from God!  

 These are just a few photos I took in the month of March. I guess you could say, they love their pets.

The end of February, we had Blake, Ali, and Titus over for supper to celebrate Ali's birthday. I can't believe how fast Titus is growing. On Sunday, March 6  Karen and Orrie had our family and Ali's family over for lunch after church. She fixed a great meal with mashed potatoes and gravy and an angel food cake too. Little Titus is getting so chunky and heavy. He is over 16lbs. He is smiling a lot and pretty easy going. Ali had him in an outfit that was too small. No onesie on, so his shirt was all the way up in the front and the back and his baby belly was hanging out. I think that would be so cold. Titus is a happy baby and  easy going.

 The Ogden football program had a "sign on" day for the upcoming freshmen. The 8th grade boys planning to participate in football in next year's season would sign onto the team as future freshmen. It resembled a high school graduate accepting and signing onto a college football team or a college football player signing onto the NFL. It was a nice little presentation, a speaker talked to the boys, then one by one the coaches called their names. They went up front, picked out a jersey with the number they wanted, and put it on, and signed the form. The parents and families would applaud after each sign on. Luke fits right in with the boys, he is on the tall side compared to most boys. 12 boys make up the freshmen team. I may be biased, but I think I have the best looking young man on the team. I hope and pray he has a good football experience, I will be the mom in the bleachers praying at each game. 

 For my birthday, Jake got me a chocolate candy bar and some candle wax air fresheners. He is a thoughtful young man. Jayden bought me dinner when we were in Dallas. Ali and Luke, well they told me happy birthday. On my birthday, March 5, 2021 tornadoes touched down in Iowa with deaths, injuries, and extensive damage. Earlier in the day, Mark and I met my parents, Wade, and Levi in Ames for a birthday lunch at El Azteca. My parents had just gotten back from Florida and this was a great chance to all see each other and celebrate Wade and my birthdays. After lunch Mark wanted to take me to Des Moines for my birthday. His idea was to take me to the Jordan Creek mall and let me pick something out for myself. There was a lot of talk about stormy weather, thunderstorms and tornado watches. I really didn't like the idea of going to Des Moines in stormy weather. Mark insisted we go and wasn't worried about the weather one bit. Mark, Luke, and I went to Jordan Creek, Jake went to help h

            Feb 25th I flew to Texas to spend some time with Jayden. It was much needed for both of us. She left Iowa the end of December and she has been wanting me to come visit and I have missed her too. These miles between us make it so very hard. 16 hours in a car or around 5 by plane. It is a 2 hour flight to Dallas and 3 hour drive to the ranch. This time I took the 2 hour flight to Dallas, followed by an hour flight to Abilene, and a 1 hour drive to the ranch. I got in around 8 and Jayden and Noah picked me up. We stopped at the  main house to say hi to Ester and Bale before going to the hog ranch, Jayden has named "The Hog Palace". It was so cold when we got in and I was thankful her heat was turned up high. We talked until late and each slept in our own cozy queen size bed. The Hog Palace is a cozy one bedroom, one bathroom and kitchen living room home. It is like a BNB, as there are no closests, storage, or washer and dryer. Ideal for one person, yet missing a few