The Armour Family: Our Week in Iowa

We were blessed to be able to spend a week in Iowa with our grandparents, great grandma, uncles, aunts, and cousins.

Friday through Monday (with the exception of Saturday night and Sunday morning) were spent out at our Uncle Spencer's home. He lives out in the lovely Iowa countryside and has a pond which we all enjoyed fishing in and canoeing on. This was my first experience canoeing and I loved it! I didn't do any fishing, just casting (after getting seasick in TX, I don't particularly care for the smell of fresh, raw fish and bait!).

The boys and I all slept in the tent Friday and Monday night. I slept great (OK, I did have an air mattress, kindly offered by our Uncle Nick.).

We all got a bit sunburned, me worst of all, but all of the fun that we had was definitely worth it!

We had fried catfish on Monday night - the best I've ever had. The boys caught the fish in a river and had an awful lot of fun doing it!

Thank you to all of our wonderful family for your hospitality, kindness and patience in allowing us to use your home(s). It was a tremendous blessing and I am so thankful for the opportunity to spend time with all of you. You worked so hard for our comfort and enjoyment and I want you to know that it is deeply appreciated. May you be blessed!

Here are some photos of our trip. You can also visit the boys' blog. They will be publishing a post shortly.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Hannah 1 Corinthians 1:31

The corn in IA is a lot taller than the corn in MN.

On one of my walks, I came across some corn

that was between 10 and 12 feet high.

Tree climbing.

Check out the boys' blog to see some

photos that Elijah got while he was up in the tree.

I took a walk through the soy bean field (that's when I got sunburned!).

Here is what the flowers on the soy bean plants look like.

Some of them were also white.

I also took a walk around the pond and through the grass.

I accidentally disturbed the red-winged-blackbirds by...

...finding and photographing one of their nests.

This one was dive-bombing me even after I was nowhere near its nest.

Elijah and I went canoeing together.

We went back to shore and I dropped off my camera (NEVER a good idea!). We went back out and guess what!?! We had a frog right next to our boat and I wasn't even able to get pictures! Needless to say, I was kind of (that's an understatement) disappointed. Elijah tried to catch the frog, but it got away, though it actually hung around for quite a while.

Another photo from one of my walks.

Uncle Nick made a delicious stew that we had for dinner over cornbread.

It was SO good and I really wanted thirds!

River and his dinner.

We burned most of the bowls, but Christian saved some to "roast" over the fire.

The "knot tying club".

Elijah tying the fisherman's knot.

Grandma made a lot of canoe trips with the younger kids.

Here she is with Christian and Jonathan...

...and with Jonnie and Madison.

What a wonder rubber boots are!

(especially when they haven't got holes)

Uncle Nick took the little guys bass fishing on Saturday morning.

Here's a pretty good picture of what we did

for the majority of the day - fishing and canoeing.

Elijah and I took Jonnie out fishing in the canoe.

Elijah and Jeremiah went fishing in the evening.

They got adventurous and decided to stand up in the canoe...hmmm...not

something that I would try, but it did make for a nice picture!

Aunt Andrea has a very nice garden...

...with some really huge zucchinis!

Sophia

River

Paige, after having sunscreen applied to her face.

Christian and me in the mirror of Grandpa's motorcycle.

Jonnie and me.

This looks like the kind of sign that I'd expect to see

in Texas, not by the side of my uncle's driveway!

Christian and Jonnie collected eggs to use in the fish frying batter.

Katie.

Elijah and Jeremiah got to light off some fireworks on Sunday night. I put my camera on the manual setting and had a 15 second exposure. I am really happy with the result!

The lovely sunrise over the pond on Monday morning.

The canoe, just begging to be launched.

Jeremiah and I did go canoeing early Monday morning.

He fished and I took pictures.

We also got a glimpse of our uncle's domestic geese, Gus and Sarah.

The ride back to Grandma and Grandpa's.

Jonnie took this picture of me. I love you, Jonnie boy!

Casting lessons.

Grandma and me.

Ready for the long road home.

We ran into some storms on the way and I was able to get some pictures of the sky but my camera just couldn't capture the vastness of it. The sky was stunning and amazing in the extreme.

Packed in the car "like a can of sardines".

But seriously, it wasn't that bad. :)

A glimpse into my life and the way that a lot of people

feel when they see me with my camera. :)

Sunsets, a masterpiece of design! I am so amazed at how marvellous our God is and how no sunset is the same as another, no two snowflakes are the same. Only an infinite and perfect God could create such diversity!