harvest 2012

this was my first harvest in quite awhile. the last time that i went was right before our wedding! jed and i hitched a ride with vance and celine and their 3 kids! there were seven of us all together. Three adults and four kids, all 4 and under. without kids, this trip to kansas takes about 7 hours. we took several stops because nobody wants to be in a car seat for that long! it was well worth the trip. i didn't spend much time in the field, but it was still a blast! i spent lots of hours in the kitchen. don't be fooled...i wasn't cooking or doing dishes. i'd like to think that i was giving my mom moral support as she did all of the work. i sat in the comfy rolling kitchen chair and watched it all happen with a baby in my arms. 

 auntie anna

 grandma ("aunt grandma kathy" to logan) bouncing the babies on the ball. i was SO thankful that i decided to pack that at the last minute! 

 bentley kept calling for "unka dj" on the radio. he missed him!

 uncle wayne went on a pop run for all of us. ahhh.....nothing like summer in the field and a refreshing pepsi! 

family truck ride

 puttin' on the rolls!

 hanging out in the kitchen while grandma made the meal

 we all went into town to get snow cones after they brought in the last load of wheat. 

harvest shirts 2012. since this was our first harvest without grandpa and grandma, jason and lindsey designed the shirt in honor of them.  we each submitted words and phrases that described grandpa and grandma. i can't believe how well it captured their personalities! the shirts truly described how humble, generous, and loving they both were. 

at pizza hut celebrating lane and kay's birthdays

so high in the air with uncle leo!

thanks for walking and rocking him for 2 hours, heather!

he ran around with this steering wheel in his hands FOREVER!

one of my favorites of the week!

the toy auction. every night they auctioned off grandpa and grandma's stuff. it was so fun to watch! 

ha! blake wouldn't help brooke up after this.

the drive back home was much easier than the drive there. i got jed to go from screaming to sleeping (3 times!!) all without getting him out of the car seat.  once he starts screaming in the car, you are pretty much guaranteed that he will cry the rest of the way home.  but home was too many hours away. 

i let him cry for just a little bit, and then simultaneously i turned on some white noise on the iPad at full volume, held a pacifier in his mouth with my thumb (because he doesn't keep them in on his own), held him at his sides with my hands, and did my mom's signature "MMmmm, MMmmm, MMmmm, mmMMMM" very loudly in his ear...and it worked! he fell into a deep sleep! i am not kidding when i say that i had a private ceremony (in my head) in the back of the expedition where i crowned myself the queen of getting him to sleep. i was clasping my hands together and shaking them on either side of my head as a symbol of my success as everyone cheered for me. can you picture it? this was all in my head, of course. i didn't want vance to catch a glimpse of me in his rearview mirror and think i had lost it. 

my picture text to dj: "i conquered him!!"

something changed him while he was in kansas. he is now much more alert, smilier, and more content in general. can't wait for harvest 2013! we better start working on the shirts!!