Our trip to Virginia

We had an amazing trip to Virginia for a wedding and to visit some family! We flew into Baltimore on Thursday night and went out to eat with my (Allie's) uncle Ray, who lives just north of Baltimore. We were sad that it didn't work out to see my cousin, Brett. That work just gets in the way sometimes!

Then we drove down to Harrisonburg, Virginia, which was where the wedding was and where Grant's brother Brett and his wife Cassie happen to live. How convenient! Travis and Karen Boyd are now married, and Grant was a groomsman in the wedding. Travis and Grant became friends in college, and now he and Karen live in Wichita. It was a beautiful wedding and reception, and we had fun being involved with their special day!

While in Virginia, we went hiking in a few different places. The Appalachian mountains are great! There were lots of swimming holes in the creeks. Even though the water was REALLY cold, Grant and Brett thought they were too hot and just had to swim in it. I guess it was almost 90 degrees there! When we went hiking in Shannandoah National Park, we hiked to a huge waterfall. We climbed down the rocks next to the waterfall, then hiked back out. We saw a deer and a snake during the hike, but sadly we saw no bears. I really wanted to see one. It was fun to get out in nature and hike around! We had a fabulous trip, and loved hanging out with Brett and Cassie. Thanks for the hospitality!

Here we are at Uncle Ray's house.

This is his house. It's really pretty there!

We made kabobs at Brett and Cassie's, and Grant and Brett had to clean off the t-bones. Yum!

Near Harrisonburg, Brett has gotten to know a few local farmers. Here is where he helps milk some cows, and they had a 3 day old calf! She was SO cute, and we got to bottlefeed her. I loved that!

Bottlefeeding the calf video:

Here are Travis and Karen at their wedding reception.

And here we are! Grant looks good all dressed up, don't you think?!

Here is one of the many times that Grant dunked his head in the water during our hikes. I guess he was hot or something. :)

Here is the waterfall!

Can you find us? Way up top by the waterfall. This was so cool!

Here is the creative way the guys found to carry the nalgene.


Cassie and me overlooking the valley. What a gorgeous day.

Brett and Grant jumped into the creek.

One reason I love Kansas is...

The beautiful sunsets!!!

Here's Gus in front of the sunset.

Ahhh...how beautiful.

Gus

I think our dog is funny. Here are some pictures of why.

He climbed up on the trailer with the 4-wheeler because he wanted to go along.

He also loves this chair. He will take naps on it.

Oh Gus. :)

Pasture burning and turkeys

Grant got his turkey this year! I will put the picture at the bottom of this post, so if you don't want to see a picture of him with his dead turkey, don't scroll down all the way. He is very proud! And Gus (our dog) was VERY interested in the bird since this is his first turkey season.

Yesterday we did some pasture burning! Three pastures to be exact. Grant and Kara rode on the four-wheeler and lit the fire, while Vern, Derek and I went behind and put out the backburning - Derek with his spray gun and me with my shovel!

Grant started burning the first pasture.

Vern driving and Derek spraying out the backburn.

The pyromaniacs.

Me with my trusty shovel!

More fire control along the ditch.

Makayla was VERY excited about watching the fire. She also loved "driving" the truck with Grandpa.

We got a neat sunset while burning the last pasture of the day. Too bad the smoke covered it up!

Grant and his turkey, and Gus wanted to get it. Oh the memories we make!

Easter weekend

Jesus is risen!! This weekend was an eventful one for us. On Friday, my brother, Matt, came to the farm to graciously help us build fence in one of our pastures! Of course I forgot my camera, so I couldn't get the great pictures to document this wonderful occasion. It would have been a good picture to see Matt and Grant carrying a pole with two rolls of barbed wire as they unrolled it about a quarter of a mile! Sore fingers, some scratches, and an eaten pan of cinnamon rolls later, the fence was done! Thanks Matt for helping us! The craziest thing happened on the way home from the pasture when Grant ran over a coyote with the truck. And, of course, I screamed at the top of my lungs, thinking the coyote was going to fly up onto the hood of the truck or something. Matt and Grant got a good kick out of that!

Then on Saturday, Matt, Grant and I went to Olathe for Easter. We hung out with my parents, played some games, got some good plants for my parents' yard, and ate at Oklahoma Joe's (for my and Grant's FIRST time)! Definitely a good place to eat. Then on Easter we went to church, then went to my Aunt Kathy and Uncle Kirk's NEW house to eat, play games, and visit with everyone. There's always a party going on! Once again I am not good at documenting things yet, since I have no pictures to show. We did have a good weekend!!

Corn Planting

Corn planting started yesterday! Now there are some thunderstorms threatening to hit us, so we will see if the planting is put on hold or if it keeps going. The days of meals in the field and late nights in the tractor begin! Here are some pictures:

Burning, burning, and more burning

Today we started burning stuff. Oh it is fun, let me tell you. We burned around our lagoon, in the woods, and a brush pile. I've put some pictures on here of the woods and brush pile.

Hello!!

Hello from us! Being new to this blogging thing, I decided to take on the task. I love hearing about other people's lives through their blogs, so, even though I don't feel our lives are all that exciting, I figure maybe others would like to hear about our lives too! It may be mundane and sometimes downright boring, but there are some exciting things to share every so often. I think blogs allow you to jot down a few things periodically that you wouldn't normally record, which is fun to look back on and share with others. I hope you enjoy. - Allie