happy birthday aunt tessa

we are wishing aunt tessa a very very special birthday today! you are such a sweet aunt to us and we love you soooo very much! love... elliana & jedidiah

our springtime dinner table

ever since i was a child, suppertime has been an important time for my family. it was the same for jon's family as well... so naturally that was a tradition we wanted to carry on! as a farming family it doesn't always look like a typical dinner. in the spring during planting and fall during harvest our "table" has become the back of the tahoe... or the ground.
we chat about the seeds that daddy just put in the ground

and we have a friend or two join us

we go for a quick jaunt in the field to work off what we just ate

then stop for a break to mooch some dessert off of daddy

a great time is had by all... because we get to get dirty!

great challenges come with this season... but so much joy as well!

an average sunday afternoon...

...drive home from church!

on being a mom

today i was able to celebrate being a mom to two of the most precious kids i know! it is such a blessing to be able to be their mom and there are days when i don't understand why God chose me to be in the position... because i know i don't deserve it! then there are other days when i am tired, worn out, feel helpless and pathetic and being a mom doesn't really "feel" all that wonderful. at the end of the day i'm still thankful for them... but i'm also thankful that its bedtime!

(my mom and i outside my grandparents home in york, ne... apparently it was so sunny i couldn't open my eyes!)

now that i am a mom i feel like i can appreciate my own mom so much more. i understand just a little bit more about the sacrifices she made for me. i know i will continue to understand more and more as i walk through my own journey of being a mother.

mom, thank you so much for being the women that you are in my life. i remember so many little things that you did over the course of my 28 years and each one may have seemed little at the time but they add up to be a really big deal. some of my favorite memories include the way you always had our cereal bowls lined up at the counter when we got up in the morning, the chocolate chip cookies and apple slices that were ready for us as we hopped of the bus on the days you were home, the little "nest" you would make on the couch complete with the monkey sheet, the popsicles outside on hot summer days and going to yogi bear to swim. as i got older i enjoyed the chats we would have while doing dishes by hand, doing First Place together, and hanging out in your office in between my college classes. and then as a new mom, having you stay with me those first precious days after my babies were born. you are so incredibly special to me and i could not be more thankful for the example that you have set before me to love on my kids the way you have loved on me. i know that being a mom is was not always easy, and i know with the wonderful times, came a lot of heartache and frustration as well. i just thank you for being steadfast and persistant and loving me even when i wasn't so loveable! you are a blessing and i love you so much! chelsea

get better grandma

last sunday my mom broke her wrist. once we found out she would need surgery the kids and i decided to head to greenwood to take care of her! even though grandma had been through the ringer she still foudn the energy to play with play dough, blow bubbles and read... nothing can keep grandma down! we stayed a couple days and decided we needed to head out so grandma could actually get some rest!

we also got to feed the cows with grandpa. it was great fun as long as they were inside the tractor cab. tears started streaming when they got out... the cows were a little intimidating!

get better grandma! we love you!