Here we are in the middle of harvest. Last year I (Julie) started to take a more active role in the farm again.  And I am loving it!  Getting to work with Justin in the field, harvesting the crops he worked so hard to grow all year is such a blessing.  So while I will keep my nursing job, being in the tractor will be my fun little side job this season! 

There is something about the Lake Michigan beaches, that I can never get enough of.  We celebrated Grammys (Julie's Mom) Birthday with a trip to the beach with all over her Grandkids.  It was a little cool for the water but was perfect for playing in the sand.  We tried a different beach this time, and I fell in love with this one too!  It's so nice to be just an hour away from these beautiful views! 

We celebrated with one of our favorite holidays with doughnuts from our local bakery. We will use any reason to go there!!! 

Planting season is wrapping up, some may even say the sun is setting on planting season. Either way we are excited to have Justin home a little more and a little less stress. Summer break is in full swing so we are happy to have some time to spend together, doing whatever that may be..... (probably walking sheep and pigs) 

Life has been busy here with the never ending planting season for Justin.  We have been getting a lot of rain which has been slowing down planting, but has made our yard and flowers look great!! With the rain we have been to slip away for a few dinners out to celebrate birthdays and the end of the school year. It's impossible to get a good picture of us, as Justin has a tendency to make a ridiculous face and I am always trying to see what he's doing! 

Ethan's school released early on Monday so we were able to watch the eclipse. Though it wasn't a total eclipse where we live, it was still neat to see! 

What a beautiful Easter it was! We had a great weekend spending time with family while enjoying the warm weather.  We are also still enjoying all that Easter candy!! (Starburst jellybeans! Yum!!)

So it's been a few weeks now since our two sheep came home.  And oh are they fun!! As with the pigs it's been such a learning experience (how to catch them, halter them, walk them, etc)! I'm finally getting the routine down I think for now. The weather has been great for being out with them lately. We have started taking them on daily walks, it is one of my favorite parts of the day now. I love being out there with the animals and working with them as a family! 

Big things are happening around here. Ethan's 4H pigs came home this weekend! We have been busy building pens and getting things ready for them the past couple weeks.  I have never had pigs, and I must say they are pretty cute! The lambs will be coming later this week. Justin grew up showing animals for 4H so he is very comfortable and knowledgeable.  I have a lot to learn, but can tell already I'm going to enjoy having the animals around!

Even though it felt more like Christmas outside with the snow coming down, we had a great Halloween! We teamed up with some friends to create a fun theme for the schools trunk or treat.  Thank goodness they moved it inside! Meet the characters from Charlotte's Web. 

Hello October! Things are hopping around here these days. Justin is in the middle of harvest, so his days are long. Ethan is living his best riding in all the equipment every chance he gets.  We had fall break last week so Ethan and I joined some friends for a trip to Indianapolis. We had beautiful day at the zoo.  The evening consisted of pool time, delivery pizza, and games in our hotel rooms. The following day we went to see a musical. It just so happens this was my first musical as a child and it was Ethan's. It was such a great time!!  With the encouragement of a college friend, today we ran our first mini marathon in over 10 years! Yikes!! It took place at Purdue, so it was good to see our old stomping grounds again. It was a challenge but such an accomplishment. 

So I have been wanting to get kayaks for years. It was never the right time, or I would talk myself out of it for one reason or another. Labor Day weekend we took the plunge! We are now owners of kayaks, and I am super excited. We have taken them out a couple times now, and we find it so relaxing and fun! We took them from one farm to the next this past weekend traveling through connecting ditches. We look forward to many adventures to come in the future! 

We have crammed a lot in the last couple weeks of summer. Where time went I have no idea! Justin was able to sneak away from the farm for a day last week and we crammed in 3 days worth of fun in 1!! Fishing, swimming, and bowling as a family. With Chic-Fil-A supper to close out the day. Justin definitely caught the most fish, but Ethan caught the first fish of the day. And well I didn't catch a single one.  I did redeem myself in bowling though, and beat the boys both games!  School starts tomorrow, but we hope to still squeeze in some kayaking and maybe even camping! 

I have learned something new about myself. I always claimed I was a dog person.  A couple years ago we got our outdoor cats. Then those cats had kittens and these days you can find me out snuggling kittens every second I get.  Justin is getting extra calls from me to just tell him funny things the cats do, Ethan is getting me cat cards and gifts for holidays, and I'm adding on to the cat house. So here I am today, a cat lady. So never say never! If you need me I will be out in the backyard spending time with my feline friends! 

I can't believe we have reached May! Justin is in full blown planting season, so it's late nights for him.  He's aways happy to get back in the fields.  Ethan has been playing outside every evening after school with the neighbors. We are so fortunate to have such great neighbors and live at the end of a dead end road. Ethan and his friends hop from house to house and have a blast!  I have decided this is the year I'm going to get serious about our garden and not give up on it come July. So I have been researching garden tips like crazy on Pinterest. Wish me luck!  Our local drive inn theater opened up for the season. Ethan and I went to see the new Mario movie which really got us excited about summer!

We are sooo close to Spring and we can't wait! I personally love these first warm days as the weather breaks. I can't get enough of the warmer weather and sunshine.  Though this is a time when Justin starts to get busy, we both look forward to the change! Pretty soon it will be late nights in the fields for him, but he and Ethan both are excited to get back in the tractor!  We took a quick farewell to winter trip a couple weeks ago to Wisconsin.  Our nephew and Ethan had a great time snow tubing at a ski resort there! It was middle of the week, so it was pretty much empty!  We spend the night at an indoor water park, giving us those summer vibes!  It was a quick trip, but just enough for a quick reset before life gets busy.  

How is it almost November?!? The past few weeks have absolutely flown by! Harvest season for Justin should be wrapping up in the next week, much to Ethan's disappointment. He has spent a great deal of hours out riding with his Dad, which they both love. We had our annual family trick or treat night last week. We are so blessed with so many family members so close! The kids got way too much candy and it was so nice visiting with everyone.  We will have our trunk or treat at our church next week, so there is still more fun to be had (and more chocolate for me to sneak out of the Halloween candy) We have hit the Apple orchard and pumpkin patch as well, so as fast as the season is going, we have had a lot of fun.  Here's to a great fall season thus far!

I can now understand the obsession with lake life. This past weekend Ethan and I (Justin was busy with farm duties) hit the road to go visit my cousin and her family at their lake cottage in Northern Michigan. We had the best time! Talk about the perfect combination of relaxation, beautiful views and fun!  We were able to kayak, paddleboard, ride a jetski and go tubing behind the boat. Ethan loved it all, though his favorite was tubing.  I haven't been tubing since I was a teen and I must say it's a lot harder on the body than I remember! I am still sore two days later.  Our time with family was filled with catching up, laughing until our eyes watered and making great memories. I hope to make this an annual trip, and hopefully Justin will join us next time. 

After way to many elephant ears and lemon shakeups our annual 4H fair has come to a close.  It was such a great week seeing friends and watching the kids show animals.  Ethan has the chance to show a pig and sheep with the older kids, and he rocked it! He still has a couple years before he can show animals alone, but this was a fun practice for him.   Friday night while Justin was at the livestock auction, I seemed to attract all the kids and we spent the evening between laser tag, the inflatable slide, and mini golf. It's sad to see the fair come to an end for the year, but I think all of us are ready to catch up on some sleep! (Even if it means we can't eat fair food every night!)  

Meet our new pup Roscoe!! He is the sweetest, goofiest basset hound around.