Didn't realize JUST how long it has been since I blogged!

Hello folks~

I really didn't fall off the face of the earth, looks like since I last blogged its been 10 months!!! OMG!!! Wow............. well to catch up, lets see, we finally finished our house. We had a great big party last summer to celebrate (the house and me turning 40!) We got busy and back at life, 4 kids in 4 different school buildings, me subbing, here and there and everywhere. The boys combined for three football games a week last fall. I have gotten back to sewing (see the pictures!) I have been sewing for gifts, sewing custom orders, and just sewing some for us. I feel kinda rusty at blogging, duh, I haven't done it in a while.

Let's see what's currently going on with us? Kids have a dozen calves in the barn in preparation for another summer of showing. (I wasn't kidding, actually there might be a bakers dozen!) We just were out there combing, brushing, walking some of them. So far unfortunately they know David better than the kids, but we are working on it. I am about to begin a sewing series. Teaching 6 different beginner/quick quilts over the next several months. Plus I have about 3 or 4 sewing jobs (quilts) for others in the works. PLanning to use several of the samples from the series as Christmas gifts, so I guess I have already begun my Christmas sewing in MARCH! WOW!

Well, gonna cut this one short, busy day, mostly just wanted to share some pictures and see if I remembered 'how' to blog.........hopefully the next post will be sooner!

Enjoying the beautiful Spring day,

From Tulip~

KH

A few new house pictures

As we are getting closer to the end of the remodelling, or I like to hope that we are, I thought that I would add a few pictures and give an update. As of today, I have 2.5 partially working bathrooms, YAY! We have all the flooring that we are going to finish done for now. We have fell in love with how well the refinished 'old original flooring' looks, so have plans to have our flooring contractor return in August while we are at the State Fair and finish the dining and living room. We have purchased a new area rug and will have take up the old carpet and prepare the floor for him to do this while we are gone. Looking forward to it! We carpeted the three new kids rooms, haven't made any decisions on the two bedrooms that are in the orginal house, they both have hard wood under them and carpet that isn't in that good of shape, we could use new flooring in our kitchen as well..............so when we figure out if we have used up our loan money, that will probably help us decide what flors get more work and which things get added to the 'to-do' list....... hoping we can afford to do them all. I can't wait to get kids reshuffled to their rooms, the odds and ends 'projects' for updating their furniture done, etc............but is it ever ALL done, nope, not so far. Guessing that won't ever change either! Well I have door frames that need to be varnshed calling me from the basement, I should probably go and spend some time with them.

Thinking I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and hoping its not a train,

From Tulip~

KH

:)

PS--the picture of the 'hallway' is the original old hard wood floor, the pic with wood flooring AND carpet is all new stuff, and the vanity is in our new 'half bath'

Looking Forward

SUMMER'S COMING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know it is. Early indicators have come and gone. Cool days are fewer. Lawns have come to life. Our gorgeous and lush green pastures are generously sprinkled with beautiful black baby calves.

School is winding down. End of the year events are occuring daily. The Chapter FFA Banquet is history. So is the Prom. The coming week begins class picnics and field trips. Graduation is but a few days away and marks the culmination of the public school career. Goodbyes and tears, but also a celebration of life and its forever changing pattern.

The kids are spending more time in the barn. They are getting to know their summer romance--the show calves. While Summer does mean swimming, fishing, camps, and BBQ; for my family summer means fairs and cattle shows. We don't go on a traditional 'tourist-type' vacation. Instead, we take ours a day or two at a time all summer long. We put together our gypsy caravan--the stock trailer, the calves, lawn chairs, coolers, cookies, watermelon and so much more. I just can't wait.

By the end of most seasons I am always excited to embrace the next one. Winter was long and painful. Spring was sort of non-existent, and definitely short. The pains of winter have slightly dulled, but always present. Certainly realizing that new normal isn't necessarily a great thing. But I know there's someone who is so proud of our crooked rows of veggies in the garden and the black calves that will walk all over our yard daily and love the warm of summer at Hasekamp Farms.......

Two more weeks of school, then we will happily embrace---SUMMER,

From Tulip~

KH

:)

May the 3rd is a Special Day

I think if I did my math correctly today would have been my Uncle Hank's 54th birthday. It's been 18yrs since he's been gone, and sometimes its hard to keep track of everyone's exact age in a large family. But this is one birthday that's easy to remember. My Uncle Hank was a special person in my life. My parents are the oldest and second oldest siblings in their families, so I have not only one, but two uncles that weren't gobs older than I was, Uncle Hank was 14 when I was born and Steve (he doesn't even get called uncle, sorry Steve) were sort of my big brothers.
My Uncle Hank was my dad's youngest sibling and only brother. While he loves his sisters, he and Uncle Hank were very close, so through that relationship, we were all pretty close. Now Dad and Uncle Hank liked hunting together and fishing and about all things outdoors. The love Uncle Hank and I shared was softball. I always looked forward to getting together with him and Aunt K and their boys as they came along, because chances are, a softball game would errupt. While it might be as basic as 'batting practice' which he was always great at helping me per-fect my stance or whatever issue I was having as I evolved as kid in the game. Or it might be an Angle Family Reunion most of which in my growing up years were held at Wilson Park in Granite City IL. There you can be 100% sure a baseball game would happen. Some of my happiest memories of childhood are of softball games and Uncle Hank was there.
Uncle Hank loved sports of every kind. He and Dad would always have to discuss the Missouri Illinois border wars game. They enjoyed MU football games, we all went to several St. Louis Cardinals games when I was a kid, back when you could carry in your picnic basket and cooler. He loved hockey, wrestling, and even played a little golf. Once his boys were born and got old enough to start playing sports, he added soccer to his long list of sports that he loved. I am not sure that there was ever a sport he didn't try if given the opportunity.
We lost him entirely too soon. He passed February of 93 at the age of 35 yrs old. He was playing a hockey game at the time. Loved his sports right up to the end. I think of him when I play ball with my kids. I think of him EVERY time I watch, Field of Dreams, another thing we both loved, that movie. I think of him (and Grandma Angle as well) when I listen to StL Cardinal baseball on the radio. I think of him when Missouri and Illinois play each other. And many other times. When you lose someone you love, normal is never the same, a good friend told me that and she was so right.
His family has progressed through this life in so many ways that he would be proud of I am sure. I think of 7 yrs ago today, when we all found out he would have been a grandpa, to the Angle Tripletts. I remember thinking at the time how Chris and Amy tried so hard to have a family and of all days to find out for sure, they did on his birthday and he sent them triple the blessings. Happy Birthday Uncle Hank, I know you are playing ball or fishing up there, the weather is perfect and someday we will play together again.
This is the Day the Lord has made, let us Rejoice and be Glad in it,
From Tulip~
KH
:)

So many projects, so little time........

I was cleaned up a little in our office today, or at least attempting to rearrange the stacks so that it looks as if I have cleaned. And in that process I got very distracted with fabric, it happens, to me A LOT. See our farm office is ALSO my sewing room, maybe not for much longer, haven't decided where its going to be, or if the sewing stays and some of the other misc that also occupies our office will go, time will tell. Because much of my free time has been taken up with errands and chores related to remodelling our house, I haven't gotten the time to sew near as much as I would like. Not that it has stopped my 100mph creative side of my brain from taking a pit stop, oh no. So here are some recent sewing updates to share. Recently sent to the quilter were Marshall's Farm Quilt and a Graduation Quilt, that also served as sample for a recent sewing class. Currently in the works, Mom's birthday quilt is being bound, when I get five minutes to sit WHEN it is daylight outside, so yes you ppl who know her birthday is in June, and for those who might not know the whole story, this quilt was LAST YEARS gift! YIKES, but my momma got a lot of my time, handquilted, which next to NEVER happens! :) A tote that I am not really sure who is getting, I have a person or two in mind, we'll see. Another tote that has a potential 'owner' its one of those, why did I start out making this project this way, kinda things, I am stipple quilting it on my machine, which just typing the words stipple made my shoulders momentarily ache....... Let's see have special orders for a Apron for Jennifer, that she has been waiting on very patiently for quite some time, Lanyards for Billie Sue, and Graduation quilts........oh my, let's see there's Sloane, hers is about done, there's Jon, hopefully soon I will be able to say his is about done and then there's poor Andrew, I have your fabric buddy, and my rotary cutter is just sitting there itching to start cutting, hopefully soon. Let's see while I am on the subject of quilts, lets just throw out a Wedding Gift and my sweet Aunt E's birthday........ those are just the ones that are leaving our house that are in process. I have two friends wanting quilts made, hopefull Betsy and Toma, you will be on my list for summer! Now for my hopes, dreams and plans for this house.........Jenna and I have been making her a quilt for a while now, she's doing most of the sewing, so its taken a while, made one for Sam last fall that will go on his bed, Cody's is cut out and a few squares are made, and poor little ol' Seffy, well sweet pea, your fabric is here, and your momma hopes to complete your quilt before you lose interest in the cute western cowboy fabric that has been purchased for this project. Oh, there are many other projects in the works, in my mind yet, like the fabric that I purchased for someone very special to me. I bought the fabric thinking of her, and lo and behold she recently announced a quilt giving occasion that is coming up in her life, so need to put the stack of fabric to work......

Now for our house and the sewing that I have in mind creating for it. Guess I should have mentioned in the 'quilt' list, I would like to get a quilt made for our bed. I have certainly had the fabric long enough, I wanted to make it for our 20th wedding anniversary which was LAST summer, MAYBE I will get starting cutting it out before our anniversary THIS summer, who knows???? I have fabric for Jenna's curtains, Seth's curtains and ours. Not sure what is going on in Sam and Cody's rooms, but the backlog of unsewn fabric is getting tall enough that I am not feeling to bad about not having purchased theirs yet. All of these projects makes me look so forward to summer, not so much because I think that there's any chance that the kids will help me with them, or actually in my anal retentiveness I would let them. I know when summer hits, I will be able to work on MY schedule, and sew until dawn if I choose to and not have to worry about the early morning, can you sub today call?

Some upcoming projects I am dreaming of are a Sunflower purse for my sweet neighbor Janey who loves her sunflowers. It's a fun project that included the Clover Yoyo templates that I purchased at Material Girl Quilt Shop. I have fabric, well fleece for a 'football blanket' for us. It's black and white pawprints, and plans for that are to have some thing warm to either sit on or under at football games this fall, of which we will likely be attending 3 per week throughout Sept and Oct and hoping to see a few in Nov as well, yes it will be a 'season pass' year for us, with Sam in Middle School and Cody probably playing both JV and Varsity, but I look forward to it.

Well I think I have rambled on until my pics uploaded, if what I THINK I uploaded is all here, you should be seeing pics of Seth's fabric for his cowboy quilt, Andrew's 'batiks' which I am planning to sew into a 'Contemporary Nine' and the fabrics for one of the quilts I am dreaming of making, that one doesn't have a pattern yet............. Okay back to the real world for me, more 'remodelling stuff' and this week I am baking up a storm for a catering job, so its not likely that I will progress on any of this for a few days, but I have enjoyed thinking about it while adding this post.

Hearing the timer go off and loving the smell of cookies~

From Tulip,

KH

:)

Easter 2011, just some thoughts

Easter
The time of renewal.
The time of new life for Christians in the sacrifice and resurrection of Christ.

Easter brings about such precious memories. Some of my earliest ones are of Easter baskets, a new dress and a bonnet, probably not unlike most children. I fondly remember one year when we hosted an Egg Hunt. I remember Mom making baskets out of construction paper. It was a lot of times a weekend that Grandma Angle came to visit, sometimes some of my Angle cousins as well. I still have a few ceramic eggs that Grandma gave us in the era. I remember the year I got a stamp collecting kit which started a childhood love of history and government that was the basis of my interest in both still today. Memories of family dinners with Grandma Barnes making her traditional Angel Food Cake, but decorated with green coconut 'grass' and jelly beans.

As I got older, I too, began to embrace the joy of cooking and crafting in preparation of Easter. The first time I attended Hasekamp Easter, I made my first 'Easter' cake to bring along, covered in coconut and decorated to look like a bunny. (I HATE coconut, LOL) After growing up and marrying, Church Services switched from Sturgeon First Christian to Tulip Christian Church. The tradition at Tulip was an egg hunt at the end of Sunday School Class. The first year we were married, David was Sunday School Superintendent. We learned the hard way not to wait to buy Easter candy. In the following years we started being green before it was the in thing to do, we bought the plastic eggs to fill and recycled them year after year.

After we started our own family, we started some of our own traditions. We dye Easter eggs. We make Easter Story cookies. In the last several years we have hosted a large family dinner, at supper time. For the first several years it was only our own children hunting the eggs, but in the last few years the hunters have grown, now our nieces and nephews hunt with the kids. It's sometimes the first 'outside' gathering we have had, so we like to barbeque or fry fish, that has sort of become a tradition as well as Easter Bunny Kathy gets all the kids new swimming suits.

Our children have offered many Easter memories. One that comes to mind would be the Easter of 2002. Our family was getting ready to grow although no one knew it. YET. During the childrens sermon, our pastor at the time Bobby Stanford started his lesson with 'Have you ever had a secret?' To which Samuel (then about 3 and half) frantically raised his hand and began 'Pawecha Bob, Pawecha Bob' Trying to ignore him a little, Bob tried to begin the lesson, Sam wouldn't be denied, so he called on him. Sam blurted out loudly and plainly 'My Momma has a BABY in her Belly!' You could have heard a pin drop. Eyes looked around at us from all over the church. The look on Bob's face was priceless. He looked out at the congregation, repeated his original question, 'Have you ever had a secret? How do I top that?' :)

Easter memories are sweet ones. That's probably why this year not getting to add to them has made me so sad. I did however look forward to this mornings' message of hope in the Resurrection, can still hear the music and congregation singing while Susie played 'Up from the Grave, He Arose'

Still learning to accept 'new normal' and not particularly thrilled with it,

From Tulip~

KH

I'll take mine Well Done, PLEASE!

Do you ever wonder if as a parent you are doing your job well? Notice I didn't say right or wrong, as there are so many varying opinions as to what is right or wrong as there are individual parents in this world.
But how do we define a job well done? What is a picture of success? Especially on a subject like parenting. One that is held in the highest of regard by some. One that is abused and exploited by others. It's kind of like the Army used to say 'the toughest job you'll ever love'.
What are the rewards of a job well done? What are the drawbacks of not constantly striving to be a success?
Rewards can be as small as a smile or a snuggle with your child. They can be as big as your imagination or that of your child can take you--truly the sky is the limit.
The drawbacks can be as small as maybe not getting the rest you need or eating a meal at the time and temperature you prefer.
Bigger drawbacks come in the form of emotions. Like saying goes, 'to be a parent is to forever know that your heart has the ability to walk outside your body.
Oh I could get nitpicky and list off other things, I suppose. But the thing is most people who are truly striving to be good parents don't generally see any of those things as major drawbacks. In the heat of the moment while arguing with a teenager about curfew or being so sleep deprived you wonder how you will be able to continue to walk the floors with this newborn--we might all momentarily question--but most of us don't see those things as bad things. Just part of it. As we realize there are many people who wish they were in our shoes and soon enough we will trade the 'tennis shoes' necessary for the active life of parenting small and growing children to the more comfortable shoes of a parent of grown children.
I've mentioned the good, the bad and the ugly that is experienced on the personal level. While personal success is important: What are some outward examples of success or a job well done?
We seem to be a results driven society. Raises at work are many times based on the successful accomplishment of goals. Good looks and charm will only get you so far. But with parenting sometimes its hard to see if you are truly doing a job 'well done'.
I read somewhere that taking care of children is like shoveling the snow before the storm is over. And yes the dog days of childhood may seem redundant and boring at times for adults; it seems to me that the happiest and healthiest children are those little 'creatures of habit.' So if as a parent I do the same thing everyday, over and over---where's the success?
I think that success is measured many ways. From potty-training and learning to tie shoes to teaching them to drive and balance a checkbook. I think we can call ourselves a success as parents when you can look at your child and know that you've taught them to not only survive but THRIVE in this world. We as parents can point them toward happiness--when they seek and find it; I think that's a job 'well done'

Just letting the thoughts roll out tonight,
From Tulip~
KH
:)

Spring, Signs of Life and Sewing

Well after a long dark winter, I think I can safely say that Spring has sprung. The winter was harsh in so many ways. Bitter cold, lots of snow and saying goodbye to one we love so dearly. Maybe it was appropriate that Bob left us in winter, at the end of the life cycle. Now as we look towards Spring and its renewal, we realize the cycle of life just keeps turning. Renewal and revitalization are wonderful things to look forward to. With Spring has came, little calves everywhere, a new niece, the beginning of the spring planting.

Some things are wrapping up that were what kept us plugging along through the winter. Wrestling concluded, a little before we were ready for it too. Sam ended up qualifying at the Regional Tournament, but his 5th place finish, while considering the competition was good, wasn't high enough to advance him to State. Seth tried wrestling this year, thinking he's maybe a little young, as he wasn't particularly interested in the actual wrestling but loved running during the conditioning part of practice. Everyone has to have their own thing, right?

With Spring the school starts coming to a close with all the hub-bub and activity that entails. Cody is playing golf. Shooting in the mid 40's.........golf ability must skip generations, Dad loves and Cody does, I used to like to play, but this thing called, life and kids have made it a near impossible activity, but I am glad that they have a sport that they can play together and enjoy doing it. The schools are getting ready for MAP testing next week. I have been subbing quite a bit so I have seen firsthand the work the teachers and students put in to prepare for it.

Sam got to try his hand at turkey hunting this spring with my Uncle Steve. They didn't get one, but enjoyed the time spent together. With the abundant wildlife on our farm, I wouldn't be upset at all if my boys want to continue on this new adventure. This year after deciding not to participate in the County Fair Sale (so for us, no ham curing this year) Cody and Sam took shooting sports through 4H. They each are trying a different discipline, Cody with archery and Sam with rifle. They both got their Hunter Safety cards and are looking forward to time in the woods.

For my littles life isn't quite as hectic, thank goodness I say! Jenna is our resident Barn Diva and out checking on the show stock and keeping track of new calves. She loves them all, thats for certain. She has a show heifer and potentially 2 steers, depending on how many we get broke to lead. She's taking part in the 'calming down process' and can get a hand on most of them and has starting combing them most days when Dad and Uncle Jason remember to tie them up, I know with her it won't be long and she will be tying them herself.

Jenna got picked for a special local honor this spring. My Mom has worked at Shelter Insurance for many years. In front of the home office is a fountain that every year some child or grandchild of an employee gets picks to turn on the fountain. Mom says that every year when she has had a child or grandchild between the ages of 5 and 10 she's put their name in and this year was the first time one of us had gotten picked. So at a little local mini celebration of Spring, Jenna got to turn on the foutain.

Seth is still getting used to life as a fulltime school student. By the end of most weeks, he still takes a nap when he gets home, and bedtime is never a hard sell to him. I think that he likes school and loves his teacher almost as much as she loves him, I worry about that woman, ha ha, love ya, Laura! :) The Kindergarten has their Spring Musical performance next week, where Seth will be Tikki tikki timbo, no sa rembo.....etc etc, I can't remember the whole name, bu the has his lines and the rest of the kids' all memorized, so we look forward to that.

Spring means graduation, and for me that means sewing. We have some kids who are special to our family who will receive quilts, if I get them done, and amongst the million other things that go on in my day, I am making progress, one almost complete, two others in the progress, but two more to do, YIKES, that stresses me out, putting that on paper....... :/ I have big plans of curtains and quilts for the kids new rooms that are finally getting closer to completion. I keep thinking I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel on this remodelling odessy we have embarked on.

My pictures long kind of jumbled at the top of my blog in this edit mode and I never know how they are going to come out in the finished project, so I will explain what they are, hopefully you can make heads or tails out of it all. There is a picture of Jenna holding a quilt (yes she's standing atop a ladder!) There's one of her in front of the fountain (they had facepainting that night as well) A picture of Sam after winning a match. Never get tired of seeing the referee raise their arm in the air! There's a picture of my baby holding a baby, Seth held Lynzie, with Uncle Jason's help. He was so cute that night at the hospital, he wasn't satisfied to only hold her once, he needed to hold her a second time. And the last or maybe the first, depending on how they come out is of our neighbor Leonard Armontrout. He is a World War 2 veteran and got to go on this Spring's Central Missouri Honor Flight, which means that he and a plane full of vets, got a trip to Washington DC to visit the nations war memorials. Quite a neat honor.

Well its a rainy Friday morning and I have already worked on the new rooms and got laundry going, but that's only a start of what is ahead of me today.

Sitting in my downtown office,

From Tulip~

KH

:)

Got Change?

Disclaimer: Sort of disconnected and scatterbrained, kinda think that is just where we are right now in our grief, but had some thoughts and decided to attempt to put them together.

Have you ever noticed that the only consistent thing about life is that is constantly changing? While generally I like the challenge change brings about. Whether its a new improved way of doing something or learning how to program my new cell phone, the education offered in change is a good thing.
As we travel through life, not all changes are welcome. We recently went through a change in our life. Two weeks ago, my dear sweet kind hearted father in law said goodbye to this earthly world in order go onto his reward in paradise. While the brain comprehends the inevitable change and end of the cycle in which cancer had eaten away his earthly body and riddled it unrelentlessly. The heart breaks in sadness, for OUR loss. It's hard to stay focused on the good things that change meant for Bob. The end of his earthly suffering. An eternal life with his Heavenly Father spent enjoying the rewards of paradise.
For us, especially David, the loss is overwhelming. People say, you'll get back to normal. A good friend recently said normal is never the same and she's exactly right. While the day to day quickly enough falls back into a routine, that sense of loss is always there.
Our capacity to love many special people in our lifetimes, is quite extraordinary. While we easily add more people throughout our lives, there are just some people who are irreplaceable, two groups in particular are parents and children. I think part of that are because those are the two most common examples of unconditional love/
If you have been blessed enough to experience that in life, embrace it, it can be fleeting, change is always right around the corner. I feel blessed to experience that love with my parents and certainly feel that with my kids.
I have rambled kind of 'scatteredly' (is that even a word?) between change, love and relationships. I will attempt to tie it up now.
The consistent ever evolving change through the various stages of life does offer us balance. The bad reminds us just how great the good can be. As my family evolves through this painful, 'never the same/new normal' that our recent loss has presented us with; the constant 'turning of a page' is getting ready to once again expand our hearts with a new hope and a new life to be a part of and love. In about a week, our little niece will enter this world, ironically right down the hall from where her Grandpa said good-bye to us. Guess that's balance of life, good changes and bad.
Kind of an odd rambling blog that has made my 3rd graders wonder why there are tears in my eyes,
Rough draft while subbing at CIS,
Blogged at home,
From Tulip~
KH

Bob, a life richly blessed

Over half my lifetime ago, I met this wonderful person. While I think his son is pretty great, but I am talking about my father in law, Bob Hasekamp. You know a person is pretty lucky to have extra parents in their lives. If there’s a person is as much a father to me as my own father, it’s Bob, and rightly so, I suppose. Throughout our marriage I have learned to seek his advice on many a thing, as it was always thoughtful and thought provoking. It was always practical and never self seeking. While I love my own parents so much, I have always been amazed at the depth at which my husbands relationship with own parents is. I have come to realize over the years that Bob and David are not only father and son, they are business partners and best friends. Advice from Dad is not only a sign of respect for my husband, its just the way he does things. I will admit from time to time that has frustrated me, but looking back, he’s never steered us wrong. I hope that our children will always think that highly of us and I sure hope we never disappoint them. Bob the father is a beautiful aspect of who he is, but there are so many more. Bob, the friend, is a person I would say that all around him would agree has been a blessing in many lives. Examples that come to mind are many. The one that I will mention is Bob’s relationship with Bill. No two guys in my opinion more clearly define friends and neighbors than those two. In good times and bad, they are right there together thankfully enjoying the blessings God has offered, each has attended each other’s parents funerals, each other’s children’s weddings, they worship together, have worked side by side together at fairs and so many more things, I am positive I would never tell you if I talked all day all the ways that they shown their devotion to each other as friends.
Bob, the family man to me, means more than just us kids and grandkids. Bob was an only child, with 5 first cousins. So the meaning of family is more extended for him than it is most. His cousins were growing up and are today his siblings. I know that I love my cousins and we are close, but we can’t hold a candle to the relationships that Bob has had with his cousins. Richard and George are the younger brothers, both always ready to share stories and laughs. Mary E, MarySue and Sara, the sisters, of course, who Bob has always loved bragging up their cooking or whatever else came to mind at the time. See Bob was lucky, he had those ‘siblings’ and got to enjoy all the love, but didn’t have to suffer through the day to day sibling spats that the rest of us have had. Because of this relationship he’s held for his whole lifetime with his cousins, we’ve all been blessed to have a closer relationship with their families, one that had Bob had brothers and sisters, we may not have ever known. For me, within my closest circles of my own friendships are three members of that group.
Bob the church and community minded neighbor has been a blessing in many lives as well. When something needs to be done at Tulip, I can say without a doubt for the last several years, my father in law, has been right there ready to go. He’s had a smile on his face and a willingness to serve his fellow man that is unmatched by many. He’s consistently worked in many capacities in our own church, over the years on MFA boards, working at the local and county level with 4H and FFA during fair time or any other time, rain or shine, he’s right there asking what else he can do to help.
Bob, the man of God. I am not sure that I have known to many people who have been as accepting of God’s will in their lives as Bob. As long as I have known him, which was barely a third of his lifetime, he has always been the example I go back to again and again, when I think of living a true Christian life. He’s been God’s servant in so many ways. He’s taught Sunday School, been a role model and advisor to many on their walk through faith. Even when personal times were tough, he’s never blamed God to my knowledge when a lesser person might have. And Bob has endured some pretty rough times and held his head high and kept traveling down lifes journey, all the while amazing us all.
Maybe God made Bob a farmer for all of these reasons. He’s persevered through many things in his life, not all of them easy ones, and we certainly all know the life of a farmer isn’t an easy one. Hard work and dedication are certainly the name of the game. I have always thought that farmers are closer to God than a lot of other professions, he’s kind of our business partner. One that many farmers talk to daily. Thanks for the needed rains, thanks for group of heifers who all calved easily, or the requests for help when the rains came and weren’t needed or we had to pull all the calves that spring. Bob has always been such an accepting person of whatever the outcome was, good harvest or not so good. Twin calves that the cow raised, or pulling them both, maybe losing one and have to bottle feed the other. It’s always been Gods will that ruled Bob’s life. A lesson that we could all take from him, that’s for sure.
Now I come to a part that I knew for me would be hard, so saved it for last and pray that I can get through it. Bob, the grandfather. There are 5 lights in his life, he’d tell you. He’s certainly always been a proud and supportive father, but he has said so many times that being a grandfather has been something that has amazed him beyond words. If you wanted to see his face light up regardless of the situation, just let one of those kids come into his line of vision. He was our helper last fall when Cody started HS and needed lots of extra rides into town. His health had hampered his full bore all day work hard work day of a farmer, so he was able to enjoy driving in to take Cody to school activities, it was a blessing for us as we juggled get the other three kids to their things. I think that it was blessing for Bob and Cody as well. Cody has matured to the point where he and Bob could talk on an adult level about so many aspects of life. I know that over the years, Cody will look back at some of those talks and realize that blessing over and over. Sam has always tickled Bob, with the similar quieter personalities, I think that Bob ‘gets’ Sam, probably in a way, that I know I don’t always understand myself. He was always so proud of the young man he’s becoming. Growing up on a farm, there’s always little helpers who from varying degrees at different ages loved to help Dad or Grandpa, but I think the helper that Bob got the biggest kick out of has been Jenna. Their rides over to Amish country to deliver hay were always educational in his report, to which David and I always wondered just what all she said and were secretly grateful that they didn’t return with a pony. ‘Ram=pa’ and Seth have gotten closer in the last few years, since his older siblings have all been in school. I am sure that ‘educational’ would be one way Bob would describe some of their talks. Then there’s our little nephew Marshall. Lunchtime at Grandma and Grandpa’s and four wheeler rides have been some of the outward highlights of their time spent together. Marshall is definitely an eager and willing worker, just like Pa Pa, especially when it comes to riding on a tractor with him. He’s looking so forward to our niece being born, I hope and pray they get to meet face to face.
I know that I could talk all day about the amazing ways this man has blessed our lives, but part of that blessing is that each of you have so many wonderful memories. His legacy of love, friendship, and service will be felt for beyond his lifetime. I know I count him as one of my many blessings.

Praying for my Father in Law,

From Tulip~

KH

:)