The view from here...

Preparing for a good old fashioned Iowa farm meal...

Grandpa, Ethan, Kaylin, and Krystin husked the sweetcorn we were to eat for dinner. Great Grandma and Grandpa were coming up to join us for dinner. Later, other extended family would be coming for dessert.




Krystin is focused on getting those "hairs" cleaned off the ears.




Ethan concentrating on the task at hand.



Peeling off the husks takes strength




Kaylin has a thing about strings....doesn't like them hanging on her clothing, so these silks are probably just more strings to her. Actully, all of the kids did a great job cleaning their ears of corn. Kevin and I did not have to do any additional cleaning after they'd finished the pile of corn.




Then there was time for another game of Brain Qwest, which I believe was Ethan's favorite entertainment the whole time he was here visiting. He's pretty smart.




Then Great Gma and Great Gpa arrived for dinner (noon meal here). The kids love being read to. The "George and Martha" books were the favorites. So, Great Gma read to the girls while....




...Great Gpa stepped out back to see Ethan, who was reviewing their trip across the country in his very own atlas. Let me tell you, that boy knows the way home...which highways to take, which exits to take, which towns to go through, which pages each state was on that they would go through. Here, he is explaining the trip to Great Gpa.




I asked Dan to grill the steaks. We also had a pork loin roast that I'd grilled. Oh, there's nothing like Iowa meat!




Britt enjoying a good old Iowa meal...with grilled meats, corn-on-the-cob, cottage cheese, homemade applesauce, homemade bread, (no ripe garden tomatoes yet).



Then our other company came....

Makenna (due in Oct), my sisters Lori and Deb, and nephew Zeke.




Kevin, Dale, Deb, Lori





Cousins Britt and Makenna don't have many opportunities to see each other.




Dale is a child magnet. Can you tell?


Time for dessert....

My sister, Marti was gracious to cut this ice cream dessert for me. (It's Ida G's dessert she used to make when my family would go there to visit). This is a favorite dessert; graham cracker crust, dark chocolate syrup, then cut up vanilla ice cream, then more chocolate syrup, topped with more graham cracker crust. (I finally figured out the right ratio of graham cracker crumbs to butter to make the perfect crust...after all these years.)




We ate our dessert outside. Ethan enjoyed making bubbles.




Then there were games of Snake Toss. Pretty soon, Andrew was paying Kaylin a quarter for picking up his "snakes".




She was carrying around this little purse from another game we have, to keep her quarters in. She's seeing how they're accumulating.




"Mom, are these real?"




Dale, not to be outdone by Andrew, asked Kaylin for a quarter. She hesitated and thought about it briefly, then generously gave him a quarter. He proceeded to pull out a $1 bill and gave her that in return. This is her thank you.




She has no idea what's going on, but the adults were having fun with it.



Then Great Gpa quietly gave her a larger sum. Here, she is thanking him.





The innocence of a child. She really didn't know what was going on, but she was grateful (and happy) to have some money. In the end, she had 3 pieces of paper currency. And she told her mom that she wanted to give one to her brother and one to her sister. After all, isn't that what God asks of us when He blesses us? "And a child shall lead them."