A Wedding Day..........June 4,2011

Justin a nd Kate........the hot June day started very early, it began at Justin and Kate's new home by Hospers. We planned for months and I took a deep breath that morning trying to slow down the day. I wanted time to just slow down ....I tried to take in all the sounds , the laughter and excitement. I wanted to capture the moments , I wanted to just say stop! (no not stop the wedding) I think I just wanted it all to last a little longer!
No matter how hard I tried too slow things down it went to fast but it was a wonderful fun day. I found myself stepping back and just watching........it so fills a mom's heart to see her daughter so happy on her wedding day....to help her into the dress of her dreams and tie up the back just perfectly is just a moment that a mom will always cherish. It is part of the process of letting go I think.

I also wanted to freeze the moment before I had to walk down the aisle with Justin......It was Dan standing in the back with Kate....he was holding her flowers. He was talking quietly to her . He was once again the calm behind the "storm". (for some reason Kate and I are considered the "storm" at our house). The moms always get all the credit for pulling off a beautiful wedding but as always he is the calm before...during and after all of our "storms"!
The next moment for me was having the grandkids come down the aisle......first Christian and Patience...so proud to be a part of the wedding! Christian actually had the "real" rings in his pocket and was very proud of this fact and took his job very seriously! Next came our Olivia and Danika....Danika took a little coaxing and then decided to run...the flowers petals were thrown up in to the air and caused a pretty fluttering to the ground even after the wedding started. At the end of the aisle each one fo them stopped to hug Justin....he bent down and hugged each one....I think my love for him grew that moment....he knew the moment he met Kate how much she loved those little kids and he too gathered them in his arms. I think it showed me just how much he loved Kate!!
Kate asked Daniel to do a reading during the ceremony...... The words were beautiful but having him read them touched my heart.
Yes the day still all went on to fast no matter what I did!! It was fun to see Justin and kate have so much fun a the reception and dance....to see Kate and all her girlfriends and teammates dancing and having fun...and yes even Justin cut loose on the dance floor!! So we gained another wonderful son in law ... It was a good day.... God continues to answer prayers. He is faithful!

A Boy.....his dog....and a "Uncle" David.........

Have you ever had a moment in life that just grabs your heart? Today I watched out the window as this story unfolded. It was a very cold Iowa winter day......I bundled up my little 5 year old grandson in layers of clothes...goggles and a helmet. His eyes shone with expectation as he headed out the back door. He has been talking about his moment ever since his Uncle David bought the bright

yellow snowmobile a few weeks ago. They began the cold and slippery walk to the barn as I watched out the window. Christian followed closely behind looking like a small shadow, following each footstep of the older boy he loves so much.I watched as David gave him instructions to wait right there....keep the dog outside the barn and stand back. I watched as Christian leaned over and peeked inside to catch a glimpse of the the snowmobile as the engine started. I saw Christian pat the dogs head talking to him and motioning for him to stay. As the sled came out the door Christian jumped up and down in his excitment and the dog ran in circles around them all.
I watched as my son reached down and helped the little boy step up and swing his leg over and onto the seat.... I saw him give instruction of where to put his feet and then sternly instruct him to not touch anything. As they came close to the house I saw only the beaming little eyes through the yellow goggles of the little boy. They stopped and posed for a picture and then I could see David give him a few more instructions. I couldn't hear the words but I could tell from the actions that David was saying..." if you want me to stop or if you need me just pat my leg... just like this" and he proceded to show him. Christian nodded his head and patted David's leg.. they both nodded....yeap... got it! Off they went with Christian having complete trust in every move David made. I watched them take off through the ditch going up and over the snow banks created by last weeks storms.
Later I saw a little boy going bumpity bump across the yard on the little plastic sled tied behind the snowmobile. The dog followed and ran happily around the duo. It was just those little things that grabbed my heart. Somehow your heart just expands just o see your own "little" boy grown up and have such a passionate love for another little boy. It tugs at my heart to see the huge responsibilty it is for David to have this little boy love him so much and look up to him and try to follow each of his footsteps so carefully. It was just a "moment" that God puts in your life to bring you where you need to be.
Later tonight Christian sat by me on the sofa in front of the fire... I could see his little mind coming up with something. "Grandma" he asked, "is there 2 Gods?" "nope " I said , "only one... why?". "Well.... how can He be up in heaven and be in my heart at the same time?" "Well Christian... that is how big God is... He can be everywhere and take care of everyone that loves Him... He always hears you and you can always talk to Him."
I could tell he was still thinking and he was quiet for a while...." is God going to take care of Uncle David tonight?" "yes" I said, "yes He is".
"well how about Derek cuz he is fighting in the war far far away... you know with the "flags"? ... "Yes Christian.. he is taking care of Derek" I replied. "well that is good cuz I don't want Derek to be afraid of the dark".......... He snuggled up against me..."I love you Grandma" he said with those big brown eyes dancing in the firelight. " I love you too Christian" I replied thru teary eyes... what a "gift" God sent at Christmas time if He loves us even more than I love those two "little" boys on the snowmobile today.

The Buyert Christmas Blog

Family and Friends.........
Tonight I sit by the fireplace in our "new" home.....it is strange for me because it is the house I grew up in, so it is like moving back home only I added my family , my stuff and my mom isn't here to cook and clean!. It began this fall when Dan and Mom purchased a new home in Sioux Center.....we made plans to move to the "home" place. Chad and Jenna made plans to purchase our farm by putting their house on the market. To make a long story short....Chad and Jenna sold their house in town and we all moved with in 8 days................ So yes life has had some big changes here!! We have all had mixed emotions but it has been good and we feel very blessed.
Daniel and Brianne live in Doon and we see them often. Patience and Christian started school this year, Olivia turns four this week and Danika turned one in August. They helped with harvest and we got to enjoy having family around.
Chad and Jenna celebrated their first anniversary in Oct. They are getting settled in "our " house...... we are so glad to keep good neighbors! She already came to borrow sour cream this morning!
Justin and Kate got engaged this fall and have set June 4, 2011 as their wedding date! Justin is working at the NRCS office in Anamosa Ia and Kate is at Northwestern............The volleyball team plays at the National tournament this week in Sioux City so we are planning a fun week in Sioux City.
David is taking some classes at NCC in the morning and then Western in the afternoon. He continues to work at the Hardware store after school andweek-ends. He spends time with friends hunting, fishing and boating. ....He is not sure what next year will hold for him and doesn't really want to decide right now!
Dan and I continue to farm and enjoy our family. We love spending time with the grandkids and following NW sports. We find ourselves home a lone more often and are starting to have time again for time with friends and doing things together.
We think of all our family and Friends this Holiday Season and we wish you your families a wonderful holiday season.

Home is where your heart is...................

I have lived in the same half mile my whole life...... I have farmed my whole life. We have lived on our farm now for 25 years............we have many memories here ......raised our kids here.....had many family and friends gather here.........worked many hours here. We love it here. It is home. As farm kids we always planned to move to the "Home " place where my grandparents lived and now my parents live. I love that place.........it has many wonderful memories for me as a child and as an adult. It has always been a place with an open door........a place where family gathered. I have a sense of pride to be a part of the generations of the hardworking, trustworthy people of faith that brought me up there and I have had the priviledge to continue to be a part of that.
     Recently my parents bought a house in town. I wanted to capture in photos some things from the farm that would remind them of the farm..........this turned out to be one of my favorites. This water fountain is right behind the house by the back door.........it has had a metal cup hanging on it as long as I can remember. This to me is a special place........it was and still is , a "gathering " spot. I can see my grandpa standing there getting a drink after coming in from the field. We would all gather there...........discuss plans for the day.......talk about politics.....religion.....family.......morals .......values and just things about  everyday life. Our kids  (and now grandkids) would always have to get a drink from there before we left. Water is always better and colder from a tin cup!
      The point of this entry is that I am moving "home". My parents are moving to town.......Dan  and I (and we think David) are moving to the "home" place. Chad and Jenna sold their house in town just today and our moving to Our place. AND we are planning a wedding!  I think we all have mixed emotions about this move.......Dad has lived out here all his life. together they have lived here over 50 years. Dan and I have farmed here for 30 years. Chad and Jenna leave their "first" house . Daniel and Brianne and their family come here often. They too are a part of this place as a gathering to celebrate events .....help on the farm and be part of our home  and family. To the grandkids this is "Grandpa and "grandma's" house.
To Kate this is still home......her safe place to come too. She doesn't like change and wants to hang on too the traditions and familiar surroundings of her childhood. David's first reaction was to stay here.........this is home......I am not moving. A little time and a lot of talking about future plans has changed his outlook some and as of right now he  is coming with us! Change is hard for eveyone.
      SO...........we all need to move by Thanksgiving.............that gives us 20 days!  BUT what an answer to prayers for this all to fall into place. As I started packing boxes to day I struggled a bit.....made me think about what is important and what I value..........our house is just a house..........our "things" are just "things"....... What I value most is the family that gathers here.......    A lot of changes here........but Home is where the Heart is..........

Looking back...............Looking forward............

Looking back to September 15, 1992. Our family gathered at the hospital to welcome a new baby, David Hilson Buyert. Daniel cut the umbilical cord.....Jenna stood quietly beside the bed feeling her first "motherly "instincts kick in. Kate loudly proclaimed that she did not want a "David". Either she had her mind set on a sister or she wanted to remain the baby of the family, I am not sure. David.........he completed our family. He was happy all the time. The girls adored him. They both "mothered" him (I think they still do that). He has grown up in a world of chick flicks and girl drama. He has had many tough things to deal with for a young guy. I am proud of the choices he has made so far and I  continue to pray for him everyday.
    "A milllion Dollar " family everyone proclaimed.....perfect. What a blessing. I would go back to that day in a heart beat. I loved having little kids......I loved babies......I loved being able to control their enviroment...keep them safe.....teach them about life and values and morals. I could push them on the swings and show them how to make mudpies. I could fix their scraped up knees and hold their hands when they got stitches. I could take them to the barns and show them the miracle of a baby pig being born. I could take them to the tractor to spend time with their Dad. I could read books that took them  on far away adventures. I could solve all their homework problems. I could make chocolate chip cookies or muffins after school and they all thought I was the best mom ever! I taught them to pray and to know who God is. I walked in faith and they all followed. I loved that part of being a mom.  It is quite something that a mom can have so much love for each of her kids. I marveled at  that each time we added another child. Life was so good.........I loved life and had  big expectations and plans for the years ahead.
     And then sometimes life doesn't just go as you plan it. You find out your "million dollar" family really is going to "cost " you a million dollars! You find out  that you can't control your kids enviroment. You find out that Jr high and high school can really be a tough time. You find out that your kids don't always listen.....they don't always make wise choices. You find out you can't help with any of their homework anymore and you have no idea what "facebook" is or even how to get there on the computer.  Chocolate chip cookies don't solve all the problems AND they don't always think you are the best mom ever! Their hurts are far worse than a scraped knee and their hearts can't be healed with stitches. They question everything about God and they challenge your morals and values and they question your faith. People would comment about how I always all my ducks in a row.............well sometimes the ducks just don't follow. They chose a different road....a tough road .......a road with out a bridge, or a road that just doesn't lead anywhere.  BUT through all of this I learned a very important lesson..........God didn't expect me to do it all............He simply wants me to trust him.
     So..........looking ahead, Sept. 15 2010. David is a Senior in High school. That 18 years has gone so fast. Life for us is again changing. Life can have tough stuff in it...... God does not promise us an easy road. BUT He does promise to be right there beside us. Look for the good stuff in life.........find joy in something everyday.........pray for your kids........pray for mine..........enjoy your journey.........trust that God is with you every step of the way.

Olivia and the Apple tree............

Olivia is 3.................Olivia is my very lovely granddaughter who can charm anyone. Olivia is a little girl who can snatch a chocolate chip from my drawer in less than a second or snuggle in your arms and giggle about a story you just read to her. She is our free entertainment.Today she was here on the farm. She gave me one of those moments that I would have liked to capture with photos for you to see.....  but it was a moment   for me, that will stay imprinted  forever.
     Olivia was playing in the sandbox while I was mowing nearby. I keep  one eye on Olivia at all times..........if you have met her , you  know why .  I had showed her the 4 apples growing on our very young apple tree a few weeks ago. I knew that she really wanted one but  I had told her we should wait until they were red to eat them. I thought  she had forgotten about the apples but later I saw her move from the sandbox to under the tree..........I saw her looking up in the apple tree at the 4 apples that hung high in the tree. She smiled at me and waved..... She jumped as high as a 3 year old can jump, but only reached the green leaves. She headed back to the sandbox but I knew she hadn't really given up on getting an apple.
    I turned the corner to see her dragging her little chair under the tree.....just below the apple. She smiled at me and waved and climbed up on the chair ... she reached as high as she could ...almost tipped , but she couldn't reach the apple. Then she found a stick...climbed back on the chair and started to swing at the lovely apple hanging just out of the reach of the stick....that was being held by her skinny little arm.....  She was standing on her tiptoes ..on the chair. I saw determination on her face but she got down and walked back to the sandbox. This time when I turned the corner, Olivia was dragging an even bigger chair........she smile and waved......she pulled and tugged until she had the chair just where she wanted it...climbed up....climbed down...got her stick...climbed up and began to swing it at the apple hanging in the tree...just out of her reach. I wanted to run and get the camera but didn't want to miss the moment. She gave a big sigh.......gave me her silly little grin and proceded to get just a little bit higher. I was then thinking I should  put a stop to her little apple picking party when she climbed on the arm of the chair she had dragged under the apple tree.............she balanced herself with  the stick in her right hand and reached up with her left handto find that she could reach it !! She looked at me one last time and plucked the apple from the branch....I heard her little voice "I got it Grandma" as the chair tipped and Olivia....the chair.... and the precious apple tumbled over. Olivia rolled in the grass........popped right up and proudly displayed her apple to me........"I picked  a red apple for you Grandma..... aren't you proud of me?" it was one of those moments where your heart just kind of grabs you from the inside. "I am so proud of you Olivia" , I replied, "You are very smart".
    We sat down in the grass under the apple tree........we took turns taking bites out of the apple....we talked about everything we could make with apples........we talked about how a tree grows from the tiny little seeds inside.....we talked about God and all the cool things He made....it was one of those moments I think I missed with my own kids because I would have wanted the lawn mowed first.....that is what is so great about being a Grandma...........I just finished mowing later.

Courage...........The Heart of a Soldier

August 5, 2010...........My only grandson turns 5 today. I will always remember this day. As parents and grandparents we begin to pray for our children at a very young age. Today I asked God to make my very special grandson a  man of courage.......why  would I say courage ? Today I got to be part of the send off of my nephew to Afghanistan as part of the Iowa National Guard........active duty. The North High School Gym filled with family and friends, it was a humid 90 degrees inside. On our drive there we encountered people standing along the roads waving flags and holding up signs of love and support for our troops......I wasn't ready for the grip of patriotism that grabbed at my heart...........  I wasn't ready for the gym filled with families,............the moms standing alone with small children .............the families that stood as the soldiers marched in to the gym erupting into applause and cheers...... Our family all strained to catch a glimpse of the the boy we loved so much.....my thoughts raced back to the days when a pacifier was attached to his little face .......... the days he sat in his highchair with nothing but a diaper eating ice cream with chocolate........the days his skinny little legs could run and run without growing tired...........I could hear him sing the words of the "Alligator" song, "can't catch me... can't catch me"..................I could see him run across the yard with his BB gun begging his brother to wait for him.......I could see him and his brother standing in the door of the farrowing barn discussing who dared to go in first..............I could see him falling asleep anywhere, sometimes with his dirty boots still on. And then I saw him enter the gym in full uniform, my heart caught in  my chest and took my breath away..............my eyes followed only him, as he, along with over 100 soldiers marched in............I thought maybe I would see doubt or fear, but there was none............what I did see was that my nephew wasn't that little boy anymore. He was a man, a man that has had tough things in his life but he pressed on. A man that now was ready and willing to fight for the freedom of this country. A man of integrity.... a man of heart and character.........a man of courage.
       We gave our last hugs, words of encouragement and prayers. Some of us joked while others held back ,our emotions to close to the surface  to contain.........Some of us cried as he held his nieces and nephew with such love and pride and as he hugged his family one last time. He stepped to the bus....turned with his famous smile and waved.  An overwhelming sense of pride almost swept me off my feet.......I wanted to salute  but I stood perfectly still. As he disappeared behind the tinted windows I began to look around. There was young girls clinging to a soldier just one last time. There were parents, grandparents, siblings and friends all watching the men they loved took the last step that would take them miles and miles away. I watched a little girl cling to her daddy's neck sobbing "no daddy no!"  The mom took her from her daddy's arms as he stepped on the bus and the door closed.
       The red flashing lights of the police cars led the way, followed by the Freedom Riders boasting a very large American flag followed by the 5 buses that carried the soldiers off to war. The streets were lined with women and children holding banners, balloons and words of love and prayers. We  passed a big boom truck raised high in the sky waving an American flag............My heart overflowed and somehow I found my voice.......... And I’m proud to be and American,

                    where at least I know I’m free.
                   And I wont forget the men who died,
                   who gave that right to me.
                  And I gladly stand up,
                  next to you and defend her still today.
               ‘ Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land,
                 God bless the USA.
Take time today to pray for our young men and women who are serving in the armed forces. Pray for their families, encourage them, love them and thank them for their service to our country.
To my dear nephew Derek, I am so proud of you, Our prayers are with you. Continue to be a man of integrity and courage.
To my dear grandson Christian, Happy birthday ,Grandma prays for you everyday. May you grow up to be a man of courage and integrity.