football, iowa

boyd's first season of football has ended.

his team lost their playoff game a couple of weeks ago,

but not without a fight.

it was definitely the coldest game of the season,

but i was on my feet, walking and yelling the entire time, so i was plenty warm,

kevin helped on the field with the down markers, which he did a lot this season,

and boyd had a small cheering section there too. 

boyd and his team were presented with their trophies right after this game.

there were a few tears, because of the loss, and boyd was extra sad to say goodbye to his coach.

this pictures warms my heart, and makes it sad at the same time.

kevin was giving boyd a pep talk, and boyd was still crying.

i love them both so much.

right after the game, we packed up the truck, and headed to iowa for thanksgiving.

i can't recall how many times i've been up there now, since meeting kevin,

but i do know it is one of our favorite places to be.

we're so thankful for the time that we got to spend up there with family.

we arrived to a beautiful, fresh snow, at kevin's aunt and uncle's farm,

and there was a snowball fight before we even unpacked.

kevin's cousin drove up on a 4-wheeler, towing an old school bus hood for a sled.

i'd say we were treated to an extra special iowa sunset.

unfortunately, the day after we arrived, kevin's sweet 95 year old grampa fell and broke his hip,
and required surgery.
it made the rest of the week sort of a whirlwind, but we are extra grateful that we were up there,
and we thank God that he is now doing well.

we still managed to sneak in some loose meat burgers, one of our favorite things in ottumwa, besides family.

and, we had many laughs and conversations around kevin's aunt and uncle's kitchen table.
also...coffee, and moonshine.
good, good memories.

we celebrated thanksgiving before heading home on friday.
we were treated to all kinds of delicious food from kevin's aunt dianne, kevin's cousin josh,
and several others.
i was too busy stuffing my face to take many pictures,
but we are thankful for ALL of the family that we spent the day with.

a few visits ago, i remember kevin's grandma looking at him and telling kevin how proud she was of him.
i will never forget that. it has left such an impression on me, and it reminds me to tell that to boyd, often.
as we were leaving this time, and telling kevin's grampa goodbye, he told kevin he loved him,
and he looked at boyd and said,
you grow up to be a fine guy.
and i'm not sure if kevin knew, but i cried all the way back to his aunt and uncle's house.

we left iowa with good memories,
iowa beef...we love it...thank you so much,
new recipes from aunt dianne,
and happy hearts.

love,
nicolle

beautiful iowa, part 3

on our last full day in iowa, we left the farm, and went back into town.
we stayed with kevin's mom at her hotel room,
and visited with family.

this is the morning of grampa's 95th birthday.
we went to their place to visit,
and grampa was busy filling out the menu for the next day, for himself and grandma.
i tried to get grampa to look at the camera, but he was busy with the important stuff.

next up, canteen lunch in the alley.
we eat here each visit.
i was afraid we wouldn't be able to fit it in this time around, but we did.
and, obviously i went a little picture happy.
it's the neatest place, has been around since the 1920s, and serves the best loose meat burgers.
boyd and i went there to meet memaw, grandma and aunt terry.

for grampa's birthday dinner, he wanted pizza, so we went to a place called pizza ranch.
i didn't take any pictures there, but you should have seen the plate of dessert that he ate.
we were all laughing, and saying, he deserves whatever he wants, he's 95!
we came back to their apartment, had carrot cake and sang happy birthday.

kevin's mom picked out some beautiful flowers for her dad,
and she let boyd sign the card, from everyone.

grampa wanted a low key birthday for his 95th.
that it was, yet it was still a great celebration.
and the grand finale, god sent this birthday rainbow for grampa.

happy 95 beautiful years, grampa patrick.
we love you.

love,
nicolle

beautiful iowa, part 2

as usual, we did some sightseeing while in iowa.

we try to go to the little town of eldon each time we are up north,

to see the american gothic house.

it's been fun to get boyd's picture there and see how he has grown.

crossing over the beautiful des moines river.

we stopped and played at a park in selma.

we were actually in selma twice on this day.
this was the first visit.

 a cute winery in the town of selma, iowa.

i came home with a couple of bottles, of course.

 we tried to eat at a restaurant on the river, in bonaparte, iowa, but it was closed.

there was a small carnival going on by the river, so we stopped for that for a little while.

the kids got on this slide, and we had some fried oreos.

they were good, but they sure were sweet.

we finally found some burgers to eat in another town just up the road.

 this still haunts me.

it's heartbreaking, and such a beautiful tribute.

a few farms down from larry and dianne's, where a soldier lived,

who lost his life in afghanistan on june 20 2014.

he was remembered at his home on memorial day.

adam wolff.

and even though i don't know him, he has stayed in my heart ever since.

we got back to the farm, and the kids played for a little while, 

before we headed into town to grab some dinner.

 looking back at these pictures, i realize that we packed a whole lot into this monday,

memorial day. i'm tired just looking through these, but it was a really great day.

we ran by to see grandma and grampa, but they were headed out to dinner.

this picture makes me laugh.

uncle larry with two of his grandkids and boyd,

picking out donuts at the hyvee grocery store.

it was funny and crazy, and kind of summed up our day.

while taking this picture, i already had my chinese food in one hand, to go.

another thing i love to eat when i go to iowa,

chinese take-out at the hyvee.

we had one last stop at the mcdonald's drive through that night,

which turned into an ordeal, and we laughed about it all the way home.

memory bank stuff.

good stuff.

life is good.

be back with the rest of the pictures, soon.

love,

nicolle