Softball League Champions!

Just wanted to take a minute while I’m catching up on past “posts” to actually remember the moment when the guys’ softball team (sponsored by State Farm this year) won their division of the Men’s Softball League in Sioux Center! :)

They went the entire tournament without a single loss & as fans we sure enjoyed watching them play! Great job guys!

Here’s a picture of the guys after the championship game –some of those who played this season weren’t able to make it for the last game so they’re not in the picture but the guys sure appreciated all their help! :)

Back row: Loren De Nooy, Josh Koch, Ryan Kiel, Jeff Zomer, Paul Hoogendoorn, Nathan Mulder

Front row: Andrew Geleynse, Jordan Harmelink, Micah Schouten, Chris Kuperus, Brent  Geels, Dan Byl

Water, water, water everywhere

From the heavy snow we got this winter melting this spring, to the heavy, heavy rains that started falling in June & again in July it seemed that water was EVERYWHERE. I laughed looking back at Alexa’s baby book & noticed I’d mentioned the flooding of 2008 when the Cedar Rapids area was under water & roads were closed/etc. That seems like nothing compared to the flooding across Iowa this year. Our area was hit with some pretty heavy rainfall in short amounts of time causing a lot of homes to have water in the basement, but I’ll get to that later. Ames, Iowa was also hit with major flooding & there were pictures on the news of our former (& first purchased ‘home’) trailer. Here are some pictures of what our trailer looked like when we bought it:

And here are some of the flooding:

 

 

 

 

 

So anyway, our area was also dealt a lot of water…no city flooding like in Ames or anything, but then again we don’t have a couple rivers going through town either. July had such record rainfall that most of the residents of Sioux County were dealing water in their basement & we were no exception. The water table was so high that the water was literally seeping up through the cracks in our foundation! We ended up having to pull up the carpet & vacuum all the water up as it came in & we placed MANY MANY large cattle fans under the carpet to circulate the air. After about 3 weeks of the fans running constantly things were finally bone dry & we felt comfortable returning the basement to its normal condition.  It was a stressful and annoying ordeal but it is thankfully (hopefully) over with, for this year at least we hope!

Life sure is changing fast…

I can’t believe its already September! Let alone September 10th. It seems like only yesterday we brought Alexa home from the hospital & I was enjoying my first maternity leave as well as my first experience at being a mom. I can’t help but remember feeling like life as I knew it could not possibly get any better than it was during those moments. That should have been my first clue that life would not only change drastically, but that the next 2 years would inevitably have their trials unlike I could have ever imagined.

This week Monday marked not only my last “employed labor day” holiday but also the 2 year anniversary of my Father’s death. I heard somewhere that it can only get easier. I’m not sure I believe that but I keep hoping its true. It could be due to the fact that I have major pregnancy mood swings which make me cry at even the tiniest bit of a sappy commercial, let alone truly emotional moments in life, but either way every little thing reminds me of my Dad & I end up tearing up in no time. For instance, our church denomination recently held their Synod. As I was reading our church newsletter I noticed it held a report of the general daily happenings at Synod. No big deal right? Most people even find these things a tad bit uninteresting. I however found myself in tears. Why? Simply because it was at the last Synod, a mere 3 years ago, when my husband & I brought my mom to meet up with my Dad at the Synod held in Chicago on our way to family vacation. It was also there that Dad had been appointed to a committee to research the Federal Vision. The report I found myself tearing up over? A report merely mentioning what that committee had figured out/determined.

This week I find myself emotional enough as is with the 6th being the date Dad passed away, to the 7th being Micah’s birthday, to the 8th being when his grandpa also passed away…let alone due to the fact that it was my final week working at Interstates. I have been working there for the past almost 4 years and it truly become a sort of home for me. That place has seen me through some major ups & downs – from the purchase of our first real home (not counting the trailer in Ames) to the birth of our first child, to the death of my father, to the soon to be birth of our second child. It has truly been a great place to work & I will miss going there each day.

On the other hand, I’m excited to be home each day with Alexa & with the new baby once this child makes its arrival into the world. So far in the my first few hours at home I have managed to rearrange Alexa’s room & clean up most of the toys on the main level of the house. Now if I can get the rest of my 2 page to-do list done before November I’ll be thrilled :)!

Horseback riding & fun with the cousins!

Alexa’s Aunt Anne & cousin’s Hannah, Mary & Jacob came out & stayed at Grandma & Aunt Sarah’s house for a week in August. The cousins all had a great time playing together. One of the afternoon’s Alexa took her cousins from Wisconsin, Hannah, Mary & Jacob, & her cousins Mackinzie & Faith horseback riding on her Grandpa’s horse named “Duster” – a horse which Grandpa happens to call Alexa’s. Alexa’s Aunt Jena (Micah’s sister) helped the kids each take a turn riding the horse. The only one of them all who wouldn’t ride was Jacob so we got a few pictures of him standing in front of the horse while the girls were all on it.

Day 5 – Views of the cabin, packing up & heading home :)

Here’s a few pictures to show the accomodations we stayed in:

Here’s a view of everyone packing up & the whole group ready to head home:

Here’s a few shots of Alexa discovering Sean’s Nintendo DS :) & our stop at Wall Drug:

Day 4 – Schouten Family vacation

We spent Thursday relaxing during the morning (well I did – while others went hiking) and then the boys went to Sturgis to pick up a motorcycle. Later in the afternoon, after a few games & such, most of the family met up with them in Deadwood to walk to town & see the street show that happens daily.  Overall it was nice to have a relaxing day!

Day 3 of the Schouten Family vacation

Day 3 involved a little bit of relaxing & sticking around the cabin in the morning & then going to a waterfall & the fish hatchery before spending time playing games in the afternoon. Here’s a few photos from our day:

Once we got to the top of the waterfall there was a couple of nice spots to take in the view. Here’s a pic of Dad at the lower lookout point videotaping those of us on the upper lookout point:

  Then it was on to the fish hatchery, Alexa LOVED watching the fish eat the dog food but I’m not sure if perhaps Daddy liked it a bit more than her…