April 2017

April was a crazy month for our family! We went to Nebraska three weekends in a row. 

But first, blueberry coffee cake - yum! 

The first trip to Nebraska was to visit friends and share about our MCC trip to Haiti with Bethesda Mennonite Church in Henderson. The second weekend was to go to the Nebraska Relief Sale with our friends. Our boys begged us to take them to the sale and we couldn't pass up the chance to see this cutie and his family for another weekend!

The apple prieschka is definitely a very good reason to go to the Nebraska MCC sale!

Noah made friends and started volunteering,

and then Levi and his buddies helped with the auction!

Our boys have tons of fun with the Janzen boys, thanks for hosting us 2 weekends in a row Kara and Brad!

I was relieved to see our asparagus come back for it's second growing season.

The wheat turned green and grew in thick and lush!

Look at this photo carefully, the boys are on the roof of the sun room trying to shoot trick basketball shots from the roof.....this was not a "mother approved" activity.

Ben and I had a date night to go see Eric Church in concert. Neither of us are huge fans, but it was a good concert - the lights were super cool to watch.

Then we went back to Nebraska for the 3rd weekend to share about our MCC trip to Haiti at First Mennonite Church in Beatrice. Here's the house Ben grew up in while they lived in Beatrice, I always like to drive by it when we're in the area.

Back at home, the rhubarb in the garden produced enough for me to make several baked goods with it. First up was rhubarb pie!

The transformation in Levi's mouth continues! Before the braces went on,

and after! He's got KU Jayhawks on his front two teeth and footballs on the others.

Then back to Nebraska we went! This time to Lincoln for the Husker Spring Game.

We had such a nice time exploring the stadium and were so lucky to have beautiful weather!

Levi had never been to Memorial Stadium so we made sure to make the most of it.

And then it was Easter! Check out Ry's fro! hahaha

Our Epp family Easter gathering is our families Easter celebration and thankfully the grandma's coordinate an egg hunt and Easter baskets for the kids. It certainly gives them something to look forward to!

The annual Epp cousin photo, serious version:

and this one showing their true colors:

We got to enjoy loads of fresh spinach from the big pot on the deck!

I made this tassel garland to decorate for an event at church - the good news is that I get to keep it and the best part was that ALL of it came from the Et Cetera Shop. It was tons of fun to put together!!

The boys have really taken an interest in golf this spring. It's fun to watch them slowly improve and expand their understanding of the game.

Ben shot a hole-in-one at my uncle's golf course. Way to go Ben!!

Levi's class worked on their Famous People projects this spring and invited parents and grandparents to the school for Famous People Day. Each student dressed up like the famous person they had researched, Levi was Harry Houdini. Each kid created a big poster full of photos and information about their person and they had props and other items to display.

Levi was happy to use all his magician props...including his fake finger!

 What a whirlwind month, full of good visits with friends, lots of time in the car and watching our kids mature right in front of our eyes!

March 2017

March, that tricky month where spring and winter seem to happen at the same time! 

I found Wilbur on the front porch during a gorgeous sunrise...so naturally I had to photograph it. 

Ben went on 2-week+ trip to Chile with his Kansas Ag and Rural Leadership class. That left me with these two guys! I think this is one of the photos we sent to Ben while he was gone. The boys were wishing him good morning before they left for school.

The boys and I enjoyed Family Reading Night at school. The whole place was set up for camping out under the stars and it was a lot of fun!

But since we were "under the stars" the gym was pretty dark - making for not-so-great photos.

Since Ben was gone, that meant I got to bundle up each morning and chore the cats and chickens. There are perks to being up early - you get to see beautiful sunrises!

I took the boys to see Bethel's production of "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee." And much to Noah's surprise he was one of the audience members called up to participate in the production. Thanks to Vada Snider for this photo.

He was so surprised that he was being called on stage that I thought he might cry, but he held it together and did a great job!

On another weekend adventure while Ben was gone, I took the boys to Milkfloat in Wichita. We met up with my sister and niece for an afternoon snack.

This strawberry apricot poptart with a cup of coffee was out-of-this-world!

Another photo of the boys that we sent to Ben, dressed up for church. Noah's really getting into the "too cool for pictures" phase of life.

Seeing the first blossoms in spring is always such an encouraging experience.

And then the seeds for the garden that I ordered arrived, which really made spring fever set in.

The boys both went to the dentist and thankfully, they continue to have good oral health.

And then, glory hallelujah Ben came home from Chile! And he brought a delicious bottle of wine with him. We enjoyed it together on the front porch while we waited for the boys to get home from school.

The boys were so happy to see him.

They each gave him long and strong hugs.

And, sticking with Schrag tradition, when we have something to celebrate, we party with Funfetti cupcakes.

The day after Ben got home we got to work planting 70 bare root trees around the farm.

Hello sunshine!

Spring break came quick and flew by. We ended it by going with friends to Aviate, a trampoline park in Wichita.

It felt early, but we planted potatoes and onions in the garden.

Hi Fancy cat! This neutered male is such a friendly guy, always looking for attention.

Late in winter a farm accident happened, thankfully no one was hurt. But this tractor burned up. Finally in March, while we were out on a family walk, I got an up close look at it.

It sure is sad to see a tractor like that, but pretty fascinating, too!

Looking back, March feels odd. It was a good month, but a very odd month since our family spent half of it on separate continents.