Hay & Harvest

It's that oh so busy time of year for the farmers! Haying and Harvest both came at the same time this year.
We finally got our hay put up and in the barn the end of August. It is so nice to have all that extra grass cut out and cleaned up. And a comfort to have plenty of hay for the winter.
Since then Dean has been helping his family out some with the haying since they are also trying to harvest their crops.

My family is busy with these things as well. Zach has gotten to enjoy some harvest fun with Ross and Gramps, not to mention the best part...Lunches!

COMBINE with ROSS

LUNCH!

Z's stay at the Grins.

Oh boy Zach gets to stay over at the Grin farm again. For 2 whole nights!

Truthfully, I am so thankful for family to be able to take care of Zach, as I have been having more troubles with the miscarriage issue and ended up in surgery and hospital last night. Now am home and trying to rest and recover. I am OK and hoping this is the last big saga on my road to recovery.

Grammy just sent me pics of what they have been up to, so I am getting a little "Zach picture fun" therapy in.
It looks like they are putting him to WORK!


CLEANING HOUSE for GRAMMY



FEEDING THE COWS for PAPA

DRIVING the TRACTOR for ROSS

I see they know how to share the work load around there. :) All jokes aside, I am pretty certain they are taking some time out to PLAY!

Thanks to all 3 of you for taking care of our little or maybe not so little boy!

Winter Pastimes

It seems once Christmas and News Year's passes...the winter slows down a bit. Here are some pics to show what we have been doing to pass the time. Thank God for a little warm snap so we could enjoy a little outdoor time too!

Visits from Grammy and Papa

Building Forts & Playing with Babies

Taking Naps!

Snow Forts and Sledding with Ross

The Big Hill with Mommy

"Scoop-it" with Loader and Truck

OH and Zach has been showing some interest in the horses too! - Yeah for Me! Zach likes Chester the best.

Birthday for Uncle Ross

Sunday we celebrated Ross's 27th Birthday. It's seems that should be about how old I am. Guess I am getting older too! :(
At any rate Zach had a great time with "Papa Ross", "Papa" and Grammy.
Sad to see them leave.

Thanksgiving - Like the Ol' Days!

This year we had a big gathering at the Grin farm with the Derry crew! Just like the old days - the whole gang came to visit with a few additions since the last Thanksgiving reunion (it has been so long we can't remember when it was. Although we know we were all in MN for Matt & Lindsey's wedding in 2005.)

We got in some of our favorite games (like Boggle) and a few new ones, had many a good laughs and eats, and a few naps too. :)

We are so thankful that it worked out for all to come celebrate together, despite the bad weather forecast.

Zach had fun playing with "boy" Sean (what a cutie!) and got to ride with Papa in the tractor to feed the cows. Of course that was a hit!

Tractors, Family and Fun

Labor Day Weekend we took a little trip to the Stump Lake Threshing Bee. We met up with Grammy, Papa and Uncle Ross. Zach had a BLAST! He loved the tractors, the parade, the CANDY, BALLOONS, and rides.

Happy Easter 2010

What a wonderful Easter weekend! Christ is Risen! Alleluia! It really lifts one's spirits to sing out those hymns of Easter. Praise be to God, for the promise of Everlasting Life!
We had a beautiful weekend - enjoyed the outdoors and fun with family.
Holy Saturday was a "therapy" day for me. I got some horse therapy, which does me wonders. Chester and Sassy both got their pedicures and styles (aka hoof trim and bridle paths trimmed) and we all went for a horseback/4wlr ride around the block and through some fun mud!
We also got a few little odds and ends of outdoor projects completed and the house cleaned. That always feels good!
Easter Sunday we traveled to Grammy and Gramps house for some Easter family fun.
Zach was fortunate that the Easter bunny stopped by Grammy's too and left him some goodies there as well.
My aunt Ivy and uncle Tom came to visit - what a joy to have them as we do not see them very often. Tom was the chef and made some excellent prime rib! We were stuffed!
Our egg tradition of K-nooking (which Tom introduced us to years ago) was again a smash hit. This year Deano took the title for best egg.
We headed for home with one tired little boy - probably hungry too - no time to eat with all the excitement!
God has truly blessed us.
Happy Easter to all!

Hunting and other Family Fun

Life has been really busy around here. Still have some projects at the new place I would like to get to and hunting has been taking up the majority of the month so far. We went to Grammy and Grampa's to hunt opening weekend. Dean and I walked with Ross and his buddies. It was lots of fun but no big buck for Dean. Then this past weekend we had a plan to find the big one...at Grandpa's shelter belt. We sat in some bales and waited. Fun to see the activity when the deer don't know you are watching. Grampa got his gratis buck - a nice fat forky, should be good sausage and the next morning Dean got his 5x5. Not bad, but he always has his eye out for bigger and better! We also got to spend some fun time with Uncle Wade and Ross as both of them have been back home for a bit this month.

Summer Grins 2009

July 17-19 - the Grin family all got together. It had been since Christmas so we were all glad to get to see each other again! Zach also got to meet his Great Grandma and Great Aunt Ivy for the first time. We had lots of fun just hanging out, playing HORSE, Baseball, shooting 22, bonfires etc.
It makes me so sad to have to wave good bye to my brothers, wish they were closer so we could see them more often.

Grin Genetics

After proving my point that Zach really looks like his Daddy, I thought I would show how he resembles his mother's side as well. I really see the likeness in old pictures of Uncle Wade. So I guess Zach is truly a good combination of his parents. A Grinski.

Train Tradition

One of our long time traditions is attempting to catch the train at this old bridge near the Grin farm. So on Friday Ross, Sheila, Deano and I made our way to the bridge. It is always fun to feel the rush of the train rumbling underneath you. And as usual we got a wave and a whistle from the train engineer. This summer they closed the road to the bridge and sounds like they will be tearing it down. So we felt we should take advantage of our fun adventure spot in case it is our last.

Clownin' Around

To add to the long weekend excitement we went down to have some fun with the Grin family. They had a local parade and other community events. Ross entertained us as usual with his fun games. This time he dug out his clown costume and made some balloon animals. It was so nice to see him again! Dad had a fun reunion revival of the Farmers Four quartet that he sang with for high school. They sounded good and even had the nice vests and hats to add to the show!

Carwash

Sunday we had a nice day just to hangout with family. Ross and Mom washed their cars. No water fights!
I got to snuggle up Snickers a bit! She is starting show her age a bit as she is now 10 1/2 yrs old.Remembering that spring of 1997 when I brought her home at Easter. It was so beautiful out no snow then we got that really bad April storm. I don't think she knew what to think of the snow!

Family Fun

This weekend we also had some fun at the Grin farm. Just like the good old days! We played baseball, croquet, and just fun visiting! It was a bit warm - so we kept hydrated by taking a water break. I really loved the opportunity to get together with both my brothers and just hang out at home with the whole fam-damily!

Independence Day Parades

Over the past few days we have done a little celebrating for the 4th. On Sunday, July 1st we went down to see Mama & Papa and Ross & Sheila. We took in the parade there and had fun visiting with many friends and relatives. We watched the parade with the Arnston's and we got to see Kinsey for the first time.


On the 4th we went to the parade in town and joined Daryl & Susan & girls, Donna & boys, Darren, Renae & Bernice. Amber had a good time catching all the candy!



Yippee!We had a good ol' time!
Later we took in the firework show-they are always so beautiful!