Sweet Corn for Alaskan Salmon

Summer activities are in full swing. Splash pad, fishing, lake time, carnivals, water fights, BBQs, corn processing, and celebrations. Take a look. 

Trevin caught his first 2 fish. Although it took a little time, he finally got used to them and didn't scream whenever they were within 5 feet of him.  James brought the fish back to our kiddie pool. It immediately turned into a pond with fish and worms. And then they died. 

In the running for Photo of the Year

Trevin and Luxy are becoming great friends!

Farm time! Trevin is becoming quite the helper. It amazes me how well he knows all of the machinery. This kid can point our the following: tractors, combines, mowers, excavators, trailers, semis, swathers, and trucks. He knows the difference between them all and rarely gets them confused. He doesn't even know his colors yet... I suppose that things are a little backwards on the farm. 

Finished with wheat harvest thanks to the help of some neighbors. 

There's a new addition to the Huenefeld clan! Meet Cohen Michael Beran. James' sister Heidi and her husband welcomed him along with big brother Jackson. Trevin loves holding babies and Cohen was no exception!

Just hanging with the guys... 

Well the carnival was an interesting experience for us this year.  It included 3 rides and a lot of tears. 

That's about it. 

He did, however, enjoy the parade. But mostly the candy that was thrown at the parade. 

"I don't know what you're talking about, Mom. There's no candy in my mouth." 

I've had a couple photography gigs this summer, including sweet Marah. She is a gem. 

And we had to get a sister picture! Aren't they precious?!

I also had my first large family photo session. The Farrall clan was a delight. I had brought some hay bales from home for this country family shoot. After finishing the pictures, I started packing up and I turned around to find that they had loaded all of my bales for me. So thoughtful! 

This is Scarlett. She's adorable. She goes to our church and is only a few months younger than Trevin. I'm not insinuating anything, but I thought it was worth mentioning......... I'm not for arranged marriages, but I could be persuaded. 

I was fortunate enough to capture a once in a lifetime moment. My best friend/cousin, Trey, asked his girlfriend, Emily, to marry him and asked me to photograph it. I hid out in bushes for a half hour so that I wouldn't be seen when they came. I even went as far as camouflaging the tripod for my video camera. I was a ninja.  Anyways, it was completely precious and I actually started shaking when he went down on one knee. Something I'll never forget, and I'm so happy for the two of them. 

James and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary in July. Who would have thought that this is where we'd be.  I love the crazy life that we find ourselves in.  Each day I love this man more and more. 

*This guy is getting sweeter and ornery by the day. 

*The potty training front is stalling. I haven't officially tried again, but we continually attempt to introduce it. 

*His vocabulary is exploding. Although a lot of it doesn't sound like the original word. A lot of cuss words... 

Celebrated the 4th of July with a family crawfish boil. It was exceptional. 

And my high school classmate, Whitney Jo, got married to her high school sweetheart. Because high school sweethearts are the best. It was so fun to catch up with these lovelies and spend the evening celebrating! Such a beautiful wedding!

James' aunt, uncle and cousins came to visit for a week. We spent almost every minute with them while they were here. It just so happened that James' sister, Gracia, moved back to NE from PA the same week. So we enjoyed reconnecting with everyone! A water fight managed to break out one evening. 

We are thrilled to have Gracia back in the area. She has been home for a few weeks before she starts at her new job in Hickman, while living in Lincoln. We've picked up right where we left off and it feels like she was never gone at all. We've already got in plenty of games and chat time, making up for lost time. :) 

So as we were in the process of remodeling Ashton's room, we found the furniture we wanted at Ikea. We looked into shipping options but it was ridiculous and took the fun out of the experience. So... the nearest Ikea is Denver. We went to Denver. We drove about 6 hours, spent 2.5 in Denver, and drove 6 hours home. Call me crazy if you want, but you haven't seen her room yet.

We managed to get everything in our vehicle without any trouble. Everything is self-assemble at Ikea, so it comes in small boxes. It's rather impressive. I'm still not sure how I convinced James to make the trip, maybe he just really loves me. He was a good sport. 

Speaking of Ashton's room, it is all but completed! Besides a catastrophe with the first paint color we picked out, everything else went smoothly, (it was supposed to be navy, but it was so bright I felt like we should have painted fish everywhere and added some bubbles...) 

This carpet is like a dream. Nothing better than soft carpet!

Here's the almost finished bedroom. Just a few things left.. trim, new door, and window shades.

The bed, duvet, dresser, lamps, desk, chair, hamper, and shelf are all from Ikea. Does that justify the trip? We also got a few things for the rest of the house. 

So it's probably obvious, but Ashton is officially moved in as of 2 weeks ago. We've been crazy busy since then, so we've hardly noticed a change. You might be wondering why we moved her in before we finished the trim. Well James had a big trip planned this summer (more on this later,) and was running out of time before he left. We really wanted Ashton in before then, so I'd have someone else in the house while he was gone, and that would give her more time to get adjusted before she started school. It feels so good to (almost) complete a room. So much satisfaction. Now on to the basement...

We just finished up with sweet corn processing. It was a marathon, but there was plenty of corn to go around. Every newcomer is fascinated with the process that the Huenefeld's have perfected. It makes it go so smoothly. 

1. Pick the corn. 

2. Cut end off corn

3. Cook corn

4. Husk corn

(My mom even got in on the action this year.)

(This part is always a great chance to have some good chitchat. Hence the women..)

5. Put corn in cold water to cool.

6. Eat some corn along the way. (This is crucial.)

7. Cut corn off of cob. (This homemade machine is gold. I'm not going to be able to explain this well, but you place the cob in the slot, a bar pushes the corn through a bladed hole. Corn falls in pan and you pull the cob out of the blade. It's two-sided, so this happens on both sides.)

8. Bag the corn for the freezer. 

9. Enjoy awesome sweet corn all winter long. 

This kid ate 7 ears of corn in one day. Then Dad took him along to irrigate and came back with mulberries. I wouldn't suggest that. I think we're still paying for it, if you know what I mean...

As I mentioned before James had a vacation planned for this summer.  His good friend Julius has a brother that lives in Alaska. James has heard countless stories of the Alaskan adventures. So the planning began. They flew out last Wednesday and will return this Friday. He was so ecstatic about the trip and based on the pictures I'm receiving, I think it's living up to his expectations. He's staying in Port Alsworth, see map below. I'm sure there will be many stories to come once he gets back.  He took up some sweet corn to trade for fresh Alaskan salmon. I can feel your jealousy through the internet. 

This is the longest time that James and I have been apart since we've been married. Thankfully I've been keeping busy so it's been going fast. Can't wait to have my husband home. 

Ashton and I took my nephews, Scott and Billy, on our annual fun day trip. This year included Defy Gravity (an indoor trampoline park,) and the new Planes: Fire and Rescue movie. It was a fun day with some of my favorite people. 

Talk about cardio. My body is stiff and sore from an hour of jumping. 

The Stockham BBQ was last weekend. Too many laughs and dance moves to record. For the Stockham centennial they had some awesome T-shirts made (27 years ago.) There are some vintage shirts floating around, but recently the rest of the T-shirt transfers were discovered so we made some new shirts. Seth and Mom managed to have the same shirt... 

I played single-mom role for the weekend, with James being gone. So this is how Trevin looked by the end of the night. He found the sandbox. Yikes. 

Covered in dirt, growing on the farm...

Bloody Sunday

This little turkey is two! We finally got around to snapping some pictures. Excavator is one of his favorite words, so these pictures were fitting. 

This is what taking pictures of a 2 year old is really like...

My first wedding is officially in the books. It went smoothly and it ended up being a lot of fun. I was grateful for the help offered by my mom and sisters. Danielle made such a stunning bride. 

Remember when you were a kid and the absolute worst thing in your entire life was having to brush a quadrillion (15 zeros) knots out of your hair? Yeah, well I'm not sure if you know this or not, but people do that now for fun. It's called "teasing." The first time I heard of it I literally thought someone was "teasing" me and trying to get me to fall for the latest practical joke. Come to find out, big hair makes you beautiful, so the more you "tease" the bigger the hair and the more beautiful you become. The problem is that you can only do it one time in your life because at some point you have to brush your hair and then you welcome a massive bald spot where all that nice unknotted hair used to be.

James' cousin Caden got married this month, you may remember their engagement pictures that I took a couple months ago. He married this sweet gal named Ashli. We quickly became friends and I couldn't have been more happy for the two of them. It was such a beautiful day with beautiful people. 

Trevin was able to attend his first Vacation Bible School. He didn't do great with me leaving him, but he seemed to do better with each day. He brought home some adorable crafts and it's made Sunday School a little easier to adjust to. 

Want to be grossed out? Here's a story for you. I'm going to say something that I never imagined having to say in my life. Ever. I took a lint roller to James' peeling sun burn. I actually lint rolled dead skin. I was gagging. He thought it was a brilliant idea. I thought it was torture. I am scarred for life.

We are in full swing at CRC. Right smack dab in the middle of  our day camp. I counseled for Junior High Day Camp and I can honestly say it was one of my favorite camps yet. This was my 8th year of counseling and they seem to just get better and better. 

I was lucky enough to have this man staffing by my side once again. We met 8 years ago counseling together. Camp has such a special place in my heart because of that. 

Dead bug tag!

We studied Daniel this year.

I got "stuck" with a boys group this year, but I can't begin to tell you how much fun we had. We had a couple intense games of Ninja, including handprints left on my arm. Those boys are for real.  I accidentally knocked over part of their domino maze. They forgave me. They were all awesome. 

Laser Tag! I failed miserably. I tried to team up with some of my boys, but they continually "forgot" that I was on their team and shot me. Laser tag will never get old. 

Just a little history... I get bloody noses like you would not believe. I used to get them every now and then when I was young; then when I was about 10, I broke my nose --trampoline stunt gone wrong, thanks Seth...-- Since the break, bloody noses have become a regular part of my life. Many nights I've woke up to a blood covered face and pillow. I've gotten them while driving, not the safest scenario. Travel Camp was brutal because of the air change, causing multiple bloody noses a day. There was many a time where I would get up in class to blow my nose, only to be left at the back of the room for 10 minutes trying to get blood to stop gushing from my face. One time a teacher tried to send me to the nurse's office, I told her that I had it under control and she looked at me like I was insane. Anyways, bloody noses are my life. So let me tell you a recent story about my own Bloody Sunday. Our church has recently switched to a rotating praise team that I am privileged to be included in. I decided to blow my nose before I had to go on stage, so that I wouldn't be stuffed up. Big mistake. Immediately I had blood soaking the kleenex. Trevin just stared at me. I had about 3 minutes before I was to be on stage. God answered prayer right then and there and paused my nosebleed just in time to go up and sing. I literally wiped the blood of my nose and immediately walked down the aisle. I had to keep sniffing the blood back up my nose after each phrase just to keep a catastrophe at bay. Believe it or not, I was wearing a white top and the gal next to me was in a white skirt. You can't make this stuff up. Thankfully we made it through without too much of a distraction and I was relieved that I didn't squirt blood onto the first row of my church family. 

Collecting shells on Memorial Day. 

Just FYI....If you text/call me, expect to get Trevin dialed. Feel free to chat with him, but don't feel obligated. Odds are you won't understand any of it.

My grandparents celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. We visited the courthouse where they were married.  

Father's Day!

Trevin recently learned the word "load." So when he's watching Netflix or waiting for a game, he always says "load."  I went to heat up his lunch in the microwave one day and he points to it and says, "Ya load." Almost, buddy. 

This is my 50th post, thanks for sticking with me. Here's to another 50!

I'm still writing, growing on the farm...