Resident Artist

Tyler loves getting dirty - as most boys do, but thankfully he also loves bath time and does not even mind getting his head wet/hair washed! Lately he has demanded to use his tub crayons during each bath. Here is his latest work of TUB ART. Enjoy!

My sister, Emily Spencer, lives in Albia, Iowa and she invited us all down to spend some family time near Lake Rathbun. We rented a cabin at a small resort area that had an outdoor pool, mini-golf, a restaurant, and other attractions we didn't have time for. We did spend one afternoon at the Honey Creek Resort Indoor Waterpark. Tyler had a great time with Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle John, Aunt Emily and his parents! Grandma has the photos of mini-golfing when Tyler played in the water hazards while we golfed - but I will have to get them from her and ad them here. Tyler also got to see boats on the lake and trains in Albia - two of his favorite things.

Cousin Sarah's Birthday Party

Our other niece, Sarah Jane Haselhuhn turned 6 in August and we celebrated her birthday party in Knoxville on August 8th. Tyler loves hanging out with his cousin Sarah, as you can see! He also loves his papa, helping daddy play computer games, and playing with grandma;s cool vintage toys!

Cousin Kelsey's Birthday

On Sunday, August 1st our niece, Kelsey Lou Stephens, celebrated her 1st birthday with a party in Humboldt, Iowa. She loved her cake and being sung to! Tyler had fun at the kid's pool party after dinner and eating cake & ice cream. He tried hard to resit the urge to help his cousin open all her presents.

Mr. Fix-It

When we were last in Clarinda, visiting my family for the Page Co. Fair, My Aunt Marvis had a toy drill at her house that Tyler discovered was loads of fun. When we got home and decided to rearrange some furniture, Adam got his "big kid" heavy cordless drill out of the garage to take the mirror off our dresser and Tyler's eye's lit up...you could see the wheels turning, so Adam took the drill bit off and we supervised some fun for our little "Mr. Fix-It!" And THEN we put the drill safely back in the garage!

It's Page County Fair Time!!

I couldn't wait to take Tyler back to my hometown for his first trip to the Page County Fair! We spent two days with my family so we could enjoy more great fair food (Classic Taco Barn tacos), see more 4-H livestock (watched the Beef and rabbit shows), My Mom and I spend almost 2 hours looking over all the 4-H exhibits while Tyler took a nap, and Friday night Tyler enjoyed the carnival!

We got Tyler a giant pickle and a slice of pizza for dinner, but he was so excited to ride the carousel and the train (he could see them from our table) that he took a few bites of the pickle and then he was off to bigger and better adventures - and there was NO stopping him!



While we were in Clarinda, my Grandpa Geer took Tyler out for another tractor ride!

I'm not sure which of the 3 of them enjoyed the 4-wheeler ride more!!

Here is a video of Tyler enjoying his first Pony Ride...

High School Friends

My friend, Amanda Fletcher, recently became the proud mother of twins! In July some of our friends from high school (and our children) were all amazingly available on the same day to gather at Amanda's house in Norwalk to celebrate with Amanda and reconnect with each other. We had a full house and a very fun day!



Amanda with Karlin and I am in the background holding Nolan

Backrow: Emily (Wiese) Hod with her son Ilan, Megan (Roberts) Wright holding Amanda's son Nolan, Me holding Tyler, and Amanda (Hansen) Fletcher holding her daughter Karlin. The front row are Megan's three boys: Owen, Jason, and Dalton.

Christian Story Time

My friend Bethany and I developed a Monday morning Christian Story Time held at our church each week. We started in January and just ended our last story time at the end of July. It was a fun way of connecting with Moms each week and giving Tyler time to play with other kids. I kept forgetting to take my camera each week to get a photo of story time in action, but I did get our picture on morning after we got home with the new crown Tyler had made!

Trip to Webster City

Around Mid-July my Mom, Tyler, Adam, and I met my brother David, Betsy, and Kelsey in Webster City - which is roughly mid-way between where David lives and where my Mom lives. We had dinner in a nice downtown restaurant and then played at the park and enjoyed some of my Mom's homemade cookies. It was a fun way to reconnect!

Humboldt County Fair

My brother, David Stephens, is the Humboldt County Youth Coordinator, so Tyler, my Mom, and I made the trek up to Humboldt to visit their fair on July 21st. Betsy, David, and Kelsey joined us for the evening. We enjoyed lots of fair food, checked out all the animals, Tyler got a wagon and a train ride, and Tyler's favorite part - looking at all of the big tractors on display!

This tractor tire was so big Tyler could stand up in it!!