(Installment 7) Dear Mom and Dad,

It was after blogging last night that we had our very unexpected, very welcome visitors (We love you Pastor T, Jo-Jo, Fritzy and Megs!!!). We were VERY glad to see Joey and Mikaya again! Twas a good visit.

The kids got to bed late that night.... so we also had a late start to our day. We decided to take a break from school and have brunch instead.
The rest of the day we did some relaxing, some cleaning, some visiting (with Becks) and some pizza making with the kiddoes (thaaaaats what we had for supper (lol) :).

Elijah has taken to smiling when he sees the camera.... SO cute. He has improved his crawling skills LOTS, although he still likes to crawl on his hands and feet more :)

Today passed without incident or excitement. So I'll quit with the words and move on to the pictures... I have LOTS!!!
Love you much and miss you MOOOOOORE!!!!!!
Love Jennifer

Caleb says:
No, it wasn't hard putting the cows back in, because they were right beside the broken fence, and the row of bales were in their way. Love you!

Zachary says:
This morning we didn't do any school and so we watched a video and had brunch. We went outside, came back inside, watched another video, went back outside, and made our own pizzas. We had a lot of fun today. Did you have fun today? xoxoxox Love Zach

Jesse says:
Today we skipped school and had brunch (sticky-wicky buns). We went outside 2 times. I have 96 eggs. I really miss you and I hope you are having fun! We watched videos. Then each of made a little pizza for us. It is -15 degrees Celsius. It's a nice lego set the Munck boys have we probably have half of their lego! I can't wait until you come back! The pizza was delicious! It seems really weird that that it is so warm there! xoxoxoxo Love Jesse

Nathan says:
Dear Mommy and Daddy,
Are you having a good time? We are having the best time ever! Today we baked pizzas and we went outside two times. It was very cold outside today. We watched some videos for about an hour on Netflix. We got 33 eggs today. I love you SO much! Hope you come back soon! Make sure you don't eat to much sweets! xoxoxox Love Nathan

Brooke says:
We had fun today. Kaya is back home. I'm glad she is home because I missed her VERY much... and I miss you VERY much too! I hope you are having fun.
I got 3 eggs today and Jesse has 96 eggs this week! We made our own pizzas. We had icky-sticky-wicky buns for brunch. What did you have for lunch and supper?
We are having fun tonight! We are sitting on the bean bag, and we put the bean bag on Caleb, and we jumped on the bean bag when Caleb was under it. We were also once sitting on the bean bag, Caleb pushed us off and the bean bag fell with us.
Mikaya was so glad to be home, and I was so glad that she is home. Zachary is playing us a story. Jaden and all the other kids are laughing. He does very funny stories! I'm glad to have my brothers and my sisters. Caleb is laying on the couch doing nothing with the bean bag on his head.  Jaden is dropping toys to make Zach yell at him.
I miss you! Say "hi" to Ruth Ella for me! I love you! xoxoxoxo Love Brooke

Mikaya says:
I got to make my own pizza. I'm very glad us kids aren't just alone. Now I'm at home. I got my own pizza to eat. I'm glad soon your coming here. We got to watch some videos. I'm very glad the other day I got to stay with Megan and Henry. We are having a good time at home! Its a very thankful thing that somebody is taking care of us. I'll never forget about your kisses and I'm giving them to Jen and Ker. A very thankful thing that were not traveling. I'm glad we are not going far away from our home. I remember that a long time ago all of us guys went to Tennessee with the Muncks. I miss you and I very, very, very won't forget about you! I love you and I won't forget about you!!

Josiah says:
We had fun outside. I hope you wouldn't die.

Jaden says:
We have pizza. I miss you.

(Installment 6) Dear Mom and Dad,

I woke up this morning to the words "The calf is born!".... you should have seen me jump out of bed :)

We did school, and spent the rest of the day working with the calf, chasing cows, making bread and cleaning the house. The kids spent a lot of the day outside. They seemed to have extra bundles of energy today.....

Most of the cows and calves are now hoarse.... so it's not so bad. They didn't keep me awake last night because honestly.... it was music to my ears! It meant that they were all in the right spots!

We just finished supper as I'm writing this. Ker is now playing the piano, Jaden is sleeping (missed his nap!), Elijah is jabbering and the boys (and Brooke! :) are outside..... AGAIN! You know how they love being out there in the dark :)

Dad, last night I dreamt that I shot that ornery fox, we both went to get him together, but I ended up getting him from far away, with a gun that was broken. You were pretty impressed! :)

The calf is doing really good. He is sucking on his own and is already trying to run :) This was the one thing that I was worried about doing on my own while you were gone.... mostly because of the weather. I'm glad that it is now over with!

I shed a tear when Aunt Laura sent us the picture of you two. We were so happy to see your faces! We now have it as our desktop picture :)

I sadly once again didn't take very many pictures. Only ones with the calf, my newly cut bangs and chicken pie (which was REALLY good by the way!)

Love you SOOOOOOO much, and I'm missing you even MORE!!!!
Love Jenny


Caleb says:
It sorta did, sorta didn't take long to separate the cows. And yes, they are bawling a lot. Today the cows got out from the pasture area because they were hungry. Love you lots!!

Zachary says:
We had a good day today. The hydrant is not working. No, I haven't made any lego inventions yet. Did you give James his gift yet? This morning we did school and then we went outside, came in, and ate lunch. After lunch we went outside again, came back in and watched a video. We went back outside and saw that the cows were out. We came back inside and read some books. I hope you are having a great trip! xoxoxoxo Love Zach

Jesse says:
I'm having my treat after supper. Yes, it is cold. Yup, the waterer is doing ok.
Today I did all my school except spectrum. We went outside lots today. We played in the drifts and played with our hut. xoxoxo Love Jesse

Nathan says:
Yes, most of the eggs are coming from the inside chickens and they are mostly brown. We got 5 dozen in 2 days! We got 21 eggs today. Don't sleep in to long! I hope you are having the best time in the world! We are having the best time. xoxoxoxox Love Nate

Brooke says:
Jaden is doing good on the potty! I miss Mikaya and I bet you miss me and Mikaya! We played in the hut today. We had lots of fun! We went outside 3 times! We read books and we had fun inside. Did you have fun today? I hope you did! We are having chicken pie for supper. I wonder what you are having for supper.... what did you have for lunch? I hope you have a good night! I love you! xoxoxoxo Love Brooke

Jaden says:

I wanna have soup. We had some buns. Elijah have his soother. I love you!

(From the house of Henry and Megan)
 Questions mom asked are in bold:

Mikaya says:
(Does it seem quiet at Henry and Megan's?) Ah, yup!
I have 3 kisses saved up. I am glad you are coming home soon. We played blocks and got suckers and got to cut all shapes and stuff with paper. I am taking care of Joey. I hope you are having a fun day! Sometimes we got to watch videos. Megan took a few pictures of me. We got some cereal and muffins for breakfast and we got to go shopping the other day.

Josiah says:
(Have you seen tractors?) Ahhuh (Have you been looking out the window?) Mmhum (Did you see Josh hauling grain?) No

Yes, yes I know..... the barn door is VERY dirty, it's the cows' fault!!!!! I forgot about it when I took the picture :)

(Installment 5) Dear Mom and Dad,

We reached the half way point!! We survived!!! :) Are you not just SO proud of us??? (lol)
Today was the day that I REALLY started missing you both. I mean, I have missed you since you stepped out of the door... but now I REALLLY miss you.

Ker and I were both tempted to just let the day slide today... not do school and just take the entire day off, but we decided against it and hit some middle ground. We did half a day of school (as the kids will mention several times :), did the minimum amount of chores and spent the rest of the day taking it easy.

The kids played outside, we made some paper snowflakes and kids played lego this afternoon.
Josh, the boys and I also separated the cows and calves (of course you know that already :) :) :)

I'm glad that we were able to text a lot today. It is easy to forget how far away you are when we can text as if you were in town or something.
Today was NOOOT a picture taking day for me.... but I think I sent you enough pictures and videos while messaging you to suffice :)

Well, once again, it is time to milk them cows!
I love you ever so much and I hope that you are having LOOOOOOOTS of fun!!!!!
Love Jenny

Caleb says:
Today I helped Josh separate the calves from the cows. Instead of doing Ancient History we went outside. Love you, and hope you have a good time while you are at the Muncks!

Zachary says:
I had a good day today. Yes we have been playing with lego.
We only did spectrum and math because we were late again today. We went outside and we played a little road hockey. We came inside and ate lunch. We went outside again and we moved the cows. We played with lego. We ate supper and then listened to adventures in odyssey.
I love you very much and hope that you are having a very good trip! xoxoxoxo Love Zach

Jesse says:
The hut that we made is behind the barn by the bales. Last night Jaden accidentally pushed a book holder on my head and I got a big bump, but it is almost gone now. I have already gotten 53 eggs this week! We played road hockey on the road and it snowed some more today. We put bolts in the cement where the waterer is. I am so tired that I'm almost falling asleep! We did reading, math and spectrum today and then we went outside.
I really miss you, and I hope your having fun!

Nathan says:
Not everyone was there when we were giving out eggs.
We got 27 eggs today. We are having a lot of fun, I hope you are! Make sure you charge your phones! xoxoxoxo Love Nate

Brooke says:
I had fun today. I miss Mikaya, I miss you too! I hope you are having fun. We went outside. Love Brooke

(From the house of Henry and Megan)

Mikaya says:
It feels good to be at Henry and Megan's! She is putting me to dishes work. Be safe, be safe. I hope you are having a fun day! I hope you are still alive!

Josiah says:
I hope you wouldn't die.

(Installment 4) Dear Mom and Dad,

This morning we got a late start to our day. I think everyone was suffering from "party crash". But everyone is glad to have gotten back into our daily routine.
The house feels so empty without Micks and Joey!!! It makes you realize how each member of the family makes up the family. When one or two (or four :) are missing, It just isn't the same!!!
We all miss them already.....

We did school with the kiddoes this morning. Afterwards we had a relaxing day.
Becks came over for lunch as Josh gone hauling grain. We chatted and played "Chatterbox" :) After that Ker and I played "Phase 10" while the kids played Wii.
I went for a run and guess what!?!?!? I ran 13.1 miles!!!!! EEEEEK!!! :)

Kerri is sad because her juice is gone. (lol) We were listening to "songza", Brit Nicole came on and I turned to ker and said "I like Brit Nicole" and without skipping a beat ker said "I love my juice" all the while holding her empty container of juice :) (lol) you had to have been there!!!

Elijah was extra happy after he got up from his afternoon nap today. He kept working on crawling all day, just little bits here and there.

Your Christmas cactus is REALLY pretty! I'm hoping that it will hold on to it's blossoms in time for you to see it!

It was an odd feeling when you texted us and told us you had arrived at the Muncks. Imagining what you were doing at that moment..... wishing we were with you, yet REALLY excited that you were there!!! Make sure that you enjoy being with them EXTRA lots for us :)

Well, my cows will be upset at me if I spend any more time working on this post.
The kids had LOTS to say today!!


Caleb says:
Hello! I hope you had a good day. The chickens are doing fantastically, incredibly good! I haven't been able to fly my helicopter because the tractor, semi, and F-150 are in the way. I helped Josh vac the bins into the semi. I went to the next level in "need for speed" on career 3.
Hope you are having fun at the Muncks! Say "hi" to Madison for me! Love you and wish you a good rest of the week. Feliz Navidad!

Zachary says:
Did you bring James' gift for me?
Today we didn't do Ancient History for school because Caleb had to go help Josh.
We had bread for lunch. The girls had hamburgers and onion rings.
We went outside for a little bit. We tried to play fox and goose but we didn't have enough people. We found a few tunnels in the bales and then we thought about making secret hideouts there. We then pretended that we were capturing people, and we made a little fort to pretend that it was their jail. We had just finished making the jail and then we went inside. We played Wii.
Jen then went out running for 2 hours and 10 minutes so she couldn't make supper. Caleb made tomato soup... and it was delicious! Say "hi" to James for me! I love you!! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
Love Zach

Jesse says: Are you having fun? Please tell Stephen "hi" for me. No, I did not shovel off the cement.
It made me feel weird when Jen told me that you said you saw someone tilling! We did 1/2 of our school today, we didn't do reading because we didn't have enough time and we couldn't do science because you are gone, and Ker said that we would do iPad in the afternoon but we didn't.
We (all of us kids) made a little hut out of wood. Our waters were frozen this morning because we forgot to bring them in last night, they thawed out in 4 hours. It snowed some more today.
I miss you very much, and I can't wait until you come home! Have fun with the Muncks!

Nathan says: Yup we have been following you on the map, I colored in Iowa. Jesse got the most eggs last week... And speaking of eggs we got 29 today. Make sure you don't have any bed bugs! Say "hi" to William for me! Love you and I hope you have fun! Love Nate.

Brooke says: Yes I do miss Mikaya. No, it is not cold outside. We had fun today and we went outside once again. I won Caleb on "need for speed" today!! I hope you are having fun!

(From the house of Henry and Megan)

Mikaya says:
I hope you are having a fun day. Be safe. I hope you are having a good day. We went shopping. I won't forget about your kisses.

Josiah says:
I hope you are still alive.