Hunting with the Hubs

Love my husband like no other! He is an avid hunter.  He has enjoyed hunting since he was a kid.  It is the one thing that he misses the most about living in the tropics of Thailand.  Every October in Asia is hard, because he is thinking of the cool weather and the deer and pheasants and everything else that he enjoys hunting.

However, we are very different1  Duh!  I do not enjoy hunting.  I am too goal oriented.  In my plan for the week, it would be such a waste of time to sit in a tree for a few hours and not come away with anything.  That does not matter to Mike.  He doesn't need to come away with anything and tries to help me understand that just the peace and quiet of sitting in the tree is what he comes away with.  It's OK-- opposites attract- right?

So last week,  I wanted to get out and about in this beautiful fall weather all I could before being a shut in again.  Two nights before my surgery, I decided to enter into Mike's world and go deer hunting with him.  It was a lot of fun to experience his world of bow hunting.

Duck blind on the property that we did not need that day.

Had to put on the apparel when we got there and not sooner, so I wouldn't smell like a human.

We had to walk into the timber a ways- it was really pretty!

We passed several tree stands, until Mike led me to the one that he thought was just right for the two of us. (Not this one) Ours was like a fun  little tree house.

Once we got everything up in the tree stand, we began the time of sit and wait.   After just 15 minutes of looking at everything that there was to look at, I wondered how I could last for 2.5 hours.  Then Mike decided to do his thing of calling in a buck.  If you notice my video shaking a bit, it's because when  I decided to record him on my phone, I was snickering at his seriousness while recording.  It still makes me laugh every time I watch it.

Then he tried technic #2-- rattling the antlers....

But lo and behold- his magic worked and just a few minutes later, right behind him off in the distance a buck was staring at me.  Mike could not turn around, so I gave him a minute by minute report of what the buck was doing.  IT WAS VERY EXCITING.  Then he started to walk toward us.

Good thing that I had my camera  and zoom lens to get photos of him.  He looks closer here than he was.

I will say that having him walk around on the ground under us for awhile was really a rush for me  and I'm not even a hunter.  The challenge of moving oh so so slowly, whispering, and trying our best to not scare him away was a silent game. So glad that I got to experience this with Mike and thankful that it was not one of those days when he sits for hours and sees nothing.  It was worth my 2.5 hours of time. 

Sharp Shooters

I love finding activities that we can enjoy together as a family.  Of course the guys love target shooting, but they let us girls join them the afternoon of Mike's birthday.  It was a fun activity for the girls to get to do with their dad and hubbies although half of the family had already left and we missed them. 

 

Love this next progression of Michael helping Bethany with her aim.

 

Miss our kids, but so thankful for the fun times that we had together.

Successful Surgery #2

Quick update for my praying friends to say that bunion surgery #2 went well today and I am glad that it is over with.  I've spent much of the day sleeping off and on and readjusting to no weight on the OTHER foot now. Mike is a great nurse for me and in some ways we know better what to do the second time around. God has been  good to me  and is  my Jehovah-Rapha, God the healer!  Thank you so much for your prayers today!

Reaching Asia right here in the Cedar Valley

I am drawn to internationals that I meet here in the USA.  After living most of my life as a foreigner in another country, I know how it feels.  There is so much to learn and observe in a new country and friendly helpful people make it so much easier. 

Anytime I hear the statistics about internationals, it makes me  sad.  Did you know that the United States is home to over 900,000 international students and visiting scholars? The sad part though is that an estimated 80 percent of international students never set foot in an American home while visiting the United States.  The majority of them will return to their countries as  business, political, and academic leaders because of the education that they got abroad and be very influential people.  Internationals are a huge mission field right here in our own community.

While out and about, I will often ask  the Asians that I see what country they are from and strike up a conversation with them.  They most always appreciate new friends and people who will take an interest in them.  If we are here during a school semester, I like to find the southeast Asians at UNI.  Sadly after contacting them this fall, there is no one from Thailand this year.   Nikki is a new friend of mine that I have enjoyed spending time with  this fall.  She was born in Laos but lived in Thailand until age 8 when she moved to Iowa.  Funny thing though is that she is probably more American than myself as she has lived here longer than me. 

I have also enjoyed connecting with a group of International women that meet here in the Cedar Valley representing many countries.  Deere's brings in a lot of foreigners and most of them that I have met are lonely and longing for American friends.

I encourage my readers here to reach out to internationals that you meet, invite them to your home, and help them to feel welcome in our country. We are treated so special as foreigners in Asia and my desire is for the visitors here in our community to feel welcome also and learn of God's love for them while in the USA.

Iowa Dairy Farms

A "must-see" during  an Iowa visit is a real life working farm.  Mike and I both grew up on farms like this, but our kids and grand kids did not.

We highly recommend a visit to the Hansen Dairy farm in Hudson, Iowa.  It is a family owned farm, but they have set up a farm tour side business with a visitor center. It was one of the highlights of our family's  visit here.

Even Nathan got to milk the pretend cow with Aunt Lori.

We rode a city-style hay rack all around the farm to learn about their cows. They have over 250 Holstein's.

The kids enjoyed it so so much!

Yay for John Deere tractors!

Collin and Summer were at perfect ages for learning about farm life.

I especially enjoyed the tour of the dairy and milk processing room.  The smells and machines brought back a flood of memories of my Uncle Ralph's 'Grady Farms Dairy', my dad's years of working there,  and me playing there as a child.

Here the milk is being bottled and labeled.

They have some Wallaby's (just for fun) from Australia, too.

More memories from the milk parlor as we saw where and how the cows are milked. 

The baby calves were a favorite.

Collin kept giggling when they licked his hand because it tickled.

Isn't there just something so sweet about a baby cow face?

This tour is done so nicely and gave us all so much hands on fun with the cows. Each cow is named and we had fun reading their names.

The Foltz's riding the hay rack again.

Can't decided which one is cuter.

Look of endearment to her hubs? or wondering  "could we Californians ever be Iowa farmers"? 

Hayley was not always sure about the huge cows, but Aunt Lori gave her comfort!

I spy the real deal glass gallon jug.

Everyone got to make their own jar of fresh butter and then eat it on crackers.

D.E.L.I.C.I.O.U.S

 

The tour ended with some more interesting info and eating their own ice cream.

The kids loved milking the cow and wanted one more turn before leaving.  

Another fun farm visit for me was back to my Uncle Ralph's  Grady Farms Dairy.  Now my cousin runs the farm.  That is cousin Jimmy and I in the combine.

 It's a true John Deere farm.  Gotta support that local industry.  This Model A was one of my Dad's first tractors. 

I took a little walk around the farm down memory lane, as Mike was working on something else. I remember so many summers of  fun play days with my cousin Betty here.

I will admit that it was a bit sad-- as the old family farms have changed too much.  Farm life has become so much more modern than the family farms I remember.  Thankful though that not everything has changed like these tall old silos. Love my Iowa farm roots!

Celebrating Sixty!

We started celebrating Mike's birthday with a "gag" gift from the family!  Love this expression on his face when he was trying to figure out what was going on.

This was NOT his gift.  It's an inside family joke!

The girls did a good job decorating the hilltop campfire area here at the conference center.

The menu was simple... hot chocolate, hot cider, hot dogs around the campfire and a S'mores Buffet.  We had cookie S'mores, Reese's S'mores, and traditional ones. 

The weather could not have been more perfect.  Started out nice, sunny, and warm-- but cooled down as the sun set making it perfect for a fall campfire.

Without a doubt, the best part was the wonderful friends who came to give Mike their greetings and catch up with the girls and their families.

The biggest surprise of the night was our wonderful friends, Ron and Willa, who drove in from Indiana to surprise us with their presence.  We were so shocked to see them.

Fireworks, silly string, and glow sticks added to the fun for the kids.

The next morning (his birthday) the kids had to get back to Arkansas, so they gave him their gifts at breakfast.  Collin and Summer thought his "over the hill" necklace was pretty funny!

I don't think he looks 60 at all.... 60 use to be old- but he's still a youthful guy and full of life!

It was a great weekend for the girls of reconnecting with  relatives and friends.

We are so thankful that all our family could come and be together and that God gave us such great weather.  We do not take these special times for granted!