Busy Summer in Mostly Pictures

Gorgeous sunset.  I have decided of all the places I have lived... Kansas has the best sunsets.

Jake has been working on putting in a spring development in the pasture this summer.  Now we won't have to chop ice in the winter for the cattle!  Yay!

The latest addition to JFK Farms... meet Skipper, a border collie.

I was getting ready to go running one night, and Jake stopped me and said that if I waited a few minutes he would go on a walk with me.  Well, of course!  We got about .00425 miles (okay... maybe that's a little dramatic) down the road and he calmly said, "This is one of those times I wish I would have kept my mouth shut!"  So I had to take a picture in case it never happens again!

Friends over for pizza and a pool party.

Skipper got a swimming lesson.

Cool dudes!

JFK Farms Seed Cleaning has been super busy this summer.  We are so thankful!

Went to the fair and ranch rodeo with some friends.

Yes, I left this photo small for a reason :)

 Ranch hands all ready to rope and brand!

He loved it!

I froze a bunch of blueberries for my smoothies this winter.

We are looking forward to a safe and bountiful harvest in the next few months!

July Instagram

July was a busy month for us!  We had family and friends visiting us for a couple weekends in a row, some traveling, fishing trips, and haying!

The best little auctioneers in town!  And the cutest!  #auctioneersintraining 

 Skipper is Jacob's new best friend... He is adorable if I do say so myself!  #bordercolliepuppy

Ironing my hubby's shirt and I feel something in his pocket... I screamed... He laughed!  Just a fishing lure, but I still made a lifelong commitment of no ironing!

August is here and we have more haying ahead of us, a short visit with Uncle Victor and Aunt Peggy, a mini Branson vacation with Jacob's family, and trying to stay cool!  Thinking of all my mommy friends that have kiddos going back to school soon!  Praying for a smooth transition from summer to school and a great year for the kids!

Knapp Family Vacation

The 1st ever Knapp family vacation was to Lake Rathbun.  We rented this bed and breakfast, Grey Goose Inn.  It comes highly recommended to anyone wanting to vacation in this area!

Jacob wasn't able to make it due to a late wheat harvest and planting season and was sincerely missed.  Especially by all the nieces and nephews!  But most of all by me!

My first picture of our vacation...

A little accident.  Not my fault :)

The guys got busy playing croquet, bocce ball, and ladder ball.  

The kiddos got to go swimming at Honey Creek Resort.

Uncle Trevor and the newest little Knapp.  I just love this picture!

I told the boys I was going to make sure I put this picture of them in skirts on my blog... so if you see them, tell them how cute they were!

There was lots of teasing going on.  Trevor and Dad are best buds and love to pick on each other.

Grandma brought all the kids bubble guns.  They were definitely a highlight!

Jordan made fantastic wings!  There weren't very many left over!

We all went to a fish hatchery.  The kids loved seeing all the big fish and the adults enjoyed the presentation.  

These little crafters had a most enjoyable time making cards with us.  The lady that owns the bed and breakfast also sells cards and did a card making class with us.

The kiddos building a nest with bocce ball "eggs" and dead grass.  I love seeing them use their imagination!

We then hit up a park on our way back to Mediapolis.

I stayed a few extra days in Mediapolis while my car was getting fixed and helped Trevor on his new house.  I'm so excited for him to have his first house!

Water balloon fight with Drake, Tessa, & Kassie.  I bought one of those water balloon deals that fills 150 balloons at one time and ties them and everything!  It was awesome!

This was my view at Trevor's for several hours.  Scraping paint off the door jams.

Playing games at Grandmas.

Kassie is Grandpa's little girl.  She just climbs right up in his lap and loves on him.  He spoils her rotten, that's for sure!

Hope everyone is staying cool this summer!  It finally got hot here last week and feels like a true Kansas July!  

June Instagram

 My goodness!  I am slacking this summer!  Only 2 pictures from instagram in June.

My favorite part of the Madison Days parade.  Thank you for your service Grandpa!  

#favoriteveteran

Cutest little beach bum ever!

Last month, the Knapp family went on our first ever mini family vacation.  We met up by Lake Rathbun and rented the whole Grey Goose Inn Bed & Breakfast.  I still need to get all of those pictures downloaded to my computer.  Hopefully you will see that post before too long!

We are looking forward to having visitors the next couple weekends!  Hope everyone's summer is going well!  We did corn this morning, July 9th, in sweatshirts.  Crazy, huh?  Next week the true July temperatures are returning to us and I am not looking forward to the humidity!

7 Years With My Best Friend

Seven years ago today I said "I do" to my best friend in front of all our family and friends.  It's hard to believe that 7 years ago we started this journey of marriage.  I have learned so much since then and am so glad we are seven years into it :)  

We celebrated yesterday since Sunday is the only day my husband can't work and I knew that's the best chance at seeing him I would get.  I'm thinking I probably won't be seeing him until July sometime, except for Sundays!

He chose the beginning of our celebration by target practicing down at the river.

I got a blue glass bottle and a toilet.  Yes, a toilet.  Apparently someone thinks the river is a good place to dump a toilet.

 Then we did a traveling supper.  We went to Applebee's for appetizers.

 Pulled pork Nachos

 Srirracha Shrimp

Our main dish was at a new Italian restaurant in town.  It was absolutely delicious and came highly recommended.

 My handsome date  

 Then we went to the local zoo and walked around awhile.

 About the biggest animal this zoo has is buffalo.  They do have a mountain lion, emu, and some lemurs.  It's very small town, but their landscaping and flowers are the most impressive I would say.  I should have taken more pictures of that.

Then we had to do ice cream for dessert, of course.  We were going to do more of a sit down place, but the weather started looking pretty bad so we grabbed ice cream for the ride home to get ahead of the super cell.  

We are looking forward to what year #8 has to bring!  We give God all the glory and feel so blessed!

May Instagram & More

I am seriously slacking!  I thought I had more than three pictures on Instagram this month!  I guess I have been too busy to try and remember to break out the camera.

My mom and dad came out May 1-3 to visit.  She handed me a box and said it was from Travis...  I definitely was not expecting this!  Samples of dishwasher detergent that he got at an appliance repair class he went to.  This should last me 2 years!  2 years of not having to buy dishwasher detergent?  I'll take it!

A little tip that I wanted to pass along.  When picking out a watermelon, forget the knocking thing.  Look for a yellow belly and lots of "trail" marks.  These markings come from bees and other insects that can tell which melons are the best.  This has worked for me every time since I learned this trick!

We have been having quite a bit of storms in our area.  This was the sky right after a thunderstorm.  It was so beautiful... as if to say "I'm sorry I just dumped another 3 inches of rain on you... I know you still haven't planted your soybeans and now you will have to replant your corn.  Please forgive me!"  God sure knows how to paint the sky, doesn't He?

The rest of May was filled up with a wedding in Chicago for Jacob's cousin, visiting some awesome friends in Illinois, birthday party, crafts... I'll let the pictures do the talking.

Ma & Pa

Jacob's mom is going through closets and getting rid of stuff.  One night we came over for supper and went through all their childhood toys and games to see if their was anything they wanted.

I've still been running when I get the chance.  I saw this quote somewhere and text it to Jacob.  His response made me feel so loved.

We went mudding, on accident one evening.  We are working on putting in a spring development in one of our pastures and got stuck.

I've been working on stocking up my card stash.  This one made its way to Gavin for his birthday.

Here was his cake.  So impressed!  How cute is that?  The fishing pole is one of those fire lighters.

I made this light house for a themed going away party for a friend who's co-worker was moving.

That about sums up my May.  June is looking like its going to be another full one.  Hopefully we will be able to get some more field work done, have a Knapp family vacation in a couple weeks, our 7th anniversary, helping my bro paint in his new house, and just keeping up with everything on the home front.  So, that means, I should probably do a better job this month on the blog since I will have plenty to blog about!