Road ditch cleanup

Last Sunday we did Stone Hollow's fall road ditch cleanup. We are either getting better or there is less trash. Maybe a little of each. We also celebrated Logan's 16th birthday at the Kruse's with about 5 other October birthdays. Hard to believe Logan is 16 already too. He got a great bday present on Wed. night when Beckman won their play-off game. Grandma Grace says if they make it to the UNI-dome she will come see them. Let's hope they win their game Monday night so she can go.

Happy 5th birthday, Trenten

Hard to believe but tomorrow Trenten turns 5! We are having his party tonight at our house. I am sure he will be EXCITED! I keep telling him he can't turn 5 and he tells me he will still be our grandson! I tell him he is our favorite grandson. Always will be our favorite first grandson. Let the party begin. I am actually ready. Lasagna, Olive Garden salad and garlic bread. mmmmm! I am getting hungry. And don't forget birthday cake and ice cream.

new Ford truck

Almost forgot to mention we got a new vehicle last week. We are the proud new owners of a F-150 Ford pickup. It is a first for this family, a Ford that is. Jon had said that I could drive it to school and he would take the van, but that hasn't happened yet. I will stick with the van. I know how to drive it and I don't care if it gets dirty and messy. 205,000 miles and counting!

Cutting wood!

Spent the day cutting and stacking wood at Tory and Abby's. It was a beautiful day to be outside and Trent made it even better when he said "Thank you for helping us get ready for the winter," to Jason and me. And he's only 4 years old. Abby and Tory are doing something right.
Lost a great guy this week. Joe lost the battle to cancer. For someone who started as a hired man for mom and dad, he turned out to be a true friend and part of our life for almost 50 years. He was the kind of guy you were always glad to see and talk to. God bless him and his family. He will be missed.

Last class EVER!!!!!!

I might be jinxing myself by saying this but I took my last class today in order to renew my teaching licence next May for 5 more years and I don't plan on doing this for any more than 5 years if that long. It is totally amazing that I have been teaching as long as I have. Where did those years go? This actually deserves a celebration. Maybe I can talk Jon into taking me out tonight. I am kind of tired though cause the class I took was Teachers on the Move and move we did. I predict I am going to be sore tomorrow. But I figure as long as I could keep up with teachers half my age and I didn't get hurt, it was a good day.
In other news the weather the past 2 weeks has been absolutely BEAUTIFUL! Fall days just don't get any better. And the trees are so colorful this year. Reds, yellows, oranges, browns everywhere. Thank you, God.

Reinbergs

Well the Reinbergs came and went this past weekend. It was such an awesome weekend. Trent, Addy and I got home Fri about 3:20, walked in the backdoor and Jason, Christina, Hunter and Parker walked in the front door. Perfect timing. Aaron, Linda, Albert and Hope came a little bit later. Beau and Greg were not able to come. Missed both of them. Friday night was spent talking, catching up and eating. Saturday morning we all went to Anamosa to the Pumpkin Fest. It was really fun. The big pumpkins were cool. We watched some of them come into the Lawrence Center and be weighed. The biggest one when we left was almost 1300 pounds. We then went to see the carved pumpkins and walked down main st with all the venders. The kids all went in the bounce houses. Al, Hunter and Trent all did the big wheel races. They had a blast. It was so cute to watch them. They all thought they won. By that time Hope was getting tired, so Aaron, Linda, Al and Hope and Jon, Trent and I headed home. Al, Trent and Hunter got to ride in the combine with Marc when he was picking corn. Linda, Jason, Christina and Aaron went touring while I got ready for Sat night. The local Loeses all came for dinner Sat. night. It was great to have everyone together. We older generation love having our families get together. We really have to work on getting everyone together sometime. The Reinbergs left Sunday morning around 9:30. The rest of the day was spent doing wash, cutting grass and cleaning. Then it was early to bed for this lady. It will be an early night tonight too. It does seem strange that I don't have to do something to get ready for. A good strange though. Hope that Adam and Joelle had as great a weekend as we did. Will have to call them and hear all about their trip to OR. The weather this weekend was absolutely amazing. Days just don't get any better than they were. It is supposed to be nice all week. Yay! I love beautiful fall days.