Christmas 2019

SHE SAID YES!!! 

Brent orchestrated a proposal in the field during harvest. Mo made the sign, I got the battery-operated lights, and Brent fixed up a bale and then asked Teresa to come right in the baler with him. When she arrived, she wondered why he was clean! He had the ring and got Mo to come take photos!

They are planning a spring wedding. We are so excited to be gaining a daughter-in-law. She fits right in with they wacky Brennemans and we love her already. 

June Family Peer Support Specialist Training

August Family Peer Support Specialist Training

I was promoted to Division Training Director this summer. This means I no longer provide direct service to families, but instead train others to provide the service. I enjoy teaching again. 

Despite a really wet spring, and a dry July, the garden went nuts once it got going. 

I was a delegate to Mennonite Church USA convention where we were to choose our own tables. By total chance, I ended up sharing a table with my cousin's son, Wes Beck! It was so fun, and when the delegates passed a resolution to make youth voting members, I shared my delegate ribbon with Wes!

I didn't renew my term as an Executive Board member. I enjoyed churchwide work, but had to burn my vacation to attend meetings, and something always seemed to be going on at work when it was time to go to board meeting.


I continue on the Wellman Telephone Coop Company board.

Each year we wait and wait on the custom chopper to get to us, so this year Doug bought an old two-row chopper and we did it ourselves. Finding the wagons was a challenge. I remember Dad selling his beautiful red wagons out by the road when he quit raising cattle. Did I ever wish for those! It took all 4 of us taking vacation days to help. 

Since the crops were so late getting in this year and we weren't sure what would grow, we chopped oats and corn. The custom guys came and did the rye. We also made earlage this year- picking the corn and chopped just the ears. I had never heard of it before! Hay was also difficult to make this year and didn't yield like it usually does. Farmers all baled their waterways and any grass they could find for the winter. This was good for Brent's baling business. He also makes corn stalk bales for bedding. 

It makes me happy to see my little Ford 8N being used!

We custom harvest for Donovan. I took this from the combine seat. These two talk every day and own equipment together. Their dads did, too, and it looks like their sons may continue the tradition. Brent and Doug did most of the harvesting this year, but I did take a few vacation days to combine. I was traveling quite a bit in November (3 weeks in a row) and sure hated to not be available when the days were nice to combine!

It was general consensus that 2019 just needs to hurry up and get out of here. Extremely wet spring, planting in June, no rain in July, calves had rare virus and we lost quite a few a few weeks old. Early snow (thankfully just after we had our beans out). We waited as long as possible to harvest but corn was still wet. What a year!

These folks helped Doug celebrate his birthday in September. It wasn't really that cold in our house, and occasionally they did look up from their phones to chat with us. 

 One of the families I serve had a baby with a genetic diagnosis that wouldn't allow her to grow up. The family was looking for ways to tell her 3 year old sister. We couldn't find many anticipatory grief books, so I decided to write one! I hired a neighbor graphic artist college student and self-published on Amazon. You can buy your copy here: My Sister Might Die: A book to share with children anticipating grief and los... My Sister Might Die: a book to share with children anticipating grief and loss





Thanks for reading our blog about our year. We hope you are blessed this year at Christmas and in the new year!

Christmas 2018

Mo & Nathan Stoddard

Brent & Teresa Miller

Both kids spent a lot of time with their special friends this past year. Nathan Stoddard is a local farmer and was the grade ahead of Mo at Iowa Mennonite School. Teresa Miller was in Brent's grade, and is employed at Wellman Telephone Company as a bookkeeper. I'm on the WTC Board of Directors and gave her a reference, but I DIDN'T know at the time that they were "talking".

 This happened. Brent had been talking about getting a dog; I tried to talk him out of it. He's not home much. Guess what came home one day. So many "rules" Brent had for Duke were softened for Roscoe... puppy kisses on truck windows, gets table food snacks and sleeps in the house sometimes instead of his kennel. Funny how that works.

My condition was he had to go to puppy kindergarten. Mo, Brent and I took him for 6 weeks. But what really made him a good farm dog was Doug, who gave him a job and started taking him along to chore. Now Roscoe gets restless if it's time to chore and Doug is late.

Look at that popcorn concentration!

This was the year to put in the quilt I've been piecing for, oh, about 10 years. I took a week's vacation and Mom and I put it in at her house. Despite getting some awful fever while there, the aunts came and quilted away. Ron wanted to learn, but after one inch he retorted, "Why would anyone want to do that!" Mom and Arva finished it and sent it to Iowa. FINALLY on our bed!

Cousin Jon Fielitz came on business to Iowa
and stayed with us. Here he is with my Ford 8N.
He remembered Dad teaching him to drive it!

Brenneman Summer Picnic at our house July 28. The last time we had Orval over.
Orval died August 23. He was like a second dad to me. We really miss him next door. 

Grandma Zaerr came to Iowa in May. Brent's new truck, Duke and the pet raccoon were among the things we had to show her.
I knew it wasn't good when Doug called me one day and said, "Bring the cat carrier and gloves." Yes, he found an orphan raccoon, and of course, Mo had to bottle feed it so it could grow up and eat my chickens!

RAGBRAI passed through Wellman this year. It was so wild; hard to believe it was our little town!

I finally did the paperwork to get our Century Farm (100 year) plague for the Wellman farm and Heritage Farm (150 year) for the Kalona farm. We made a day of it at the Iowa State Fair. The fair was full of farm families in matching T-shirts!

The kids live in Grandma Brenneman's house on the farm just across the yard. They help with the cows during calving, and with the pigs when it's time to sort and sell (2400 to load up twice a year!). Both Brent and Maureen work for BT Farms just down the road from our place. I work full time for the last year or so at the University of Iowa, so it's good for Doug that both of them are nearby.

Harvest was a trial this fall. An August wind downed a lot of corn. In addition to the reel, we bought these roller cones. 

And then the rain started.... wet fields really delayed harvest. Didn't finish until November,
and not without getting the combine stuck!

Merry Christmas!

Join us in watching for God's blessings in 2019

   Update: November 30, Roscoe had an run-in with the pickup and didn't survive it. We are all devastated. Amazing how that raucous, chew-monster, destructo- dog got into our hearts. Duke, however, is not sad one bit. 

Christmas 2017

Our college graduate

We're very proud that Brent graduated from Muscatine Community College with an Associates in Science degree in agriculture. He works for BT Farms, where he did several of his internships. He also had had his own baling business this summer. When I saw his billing system I realized my boy is all grown up and doesn't need his mom anymore (for that!)

Good-bye to Grandma Brenneman

In December, Doug's mom Marie fell and broke her ankle. After stays in the hospital and local rehab she was just ready to discharge to the next stage when we got the call that she had died in her sleep. February 24, 2017. Good for her- sad for us. No good-byes. Leah Kileny, long-time friends from Israel, came to be with us. Here she helps Maureen tie Dad and Brent's ties.

It's very quiet around the farm. I sure miss stopping by to chat and catch her up with what we're doing. Very hard to get used to - not having 3 generations together here.

A fun little outing mid-winter to a Journey concert. "Don't stop believin!"

                                                                          So this happened this summer... ask Brent about it. 

Get-away between planting and making hay

Doug and I took a quick trip to Dyersville to see the tractor museum and the Field of Dreams. Here we are at the baseball field. You can imagine which Doug liked best.

The cool thing about young adult kids is that they can do the chores!

                    

Empty Nest!

A few months after Marie died, Doug suggested we fix it up a bit so the kids could move out of our basement.

The kids like being more on their own and we like the empty nest!

They are near enough to help with cows and pigs but everyone also has space. Win-win!


Brent's accident
I decided to spare you the graphic pictures. End of July Brent called us about suppertime to say he'd been in an accident, he was okay but the truck was t-boned. We jumped in the car to go to the scene (it wasn't far away) and Brent called again and said the same thing. He didn't remember calling us. When he called again in 2 minutes, we knew we would be going to the ER. We were not prepared to arrive to see Vickie's beloved white pickup upside down. Brent was hit by a drunk driver who left the scene. He crawled out a back window and called us. There were witnesses and the driver was soon caught. He doesn't remember anything before the ambulance ride. We are so grateful he wasn't seriously hurt. He's been doctoring for his back some, and it sounds like the drivers insurance should cover everything. We are so grateful for Brent's life.              

Family Peer Support Specialist Training

A big project this year at my work was overseeing curriculum development for training new family members to become peer support (or Family Navigators). My job was to get the online curriculum up and running, and then participate as one of the trainers for the in-person part. Here some colleagues and I have finished Day 4- pretty excited!

In addition to training work-force peers, another team at work led a second round of training for family leaders to advocate for change for children with special needs.

It's been good to use some of my teaching training again.

Love the women I work with!

Employee Van Pool
Parking is so bad near the hospital where I work, employee vans are provided for a fee of course. After following the Wellman one to work numerous times, and realizing they drop off at my very building, I decided to be green and sign on. Now they actually swing into our circle drive and pick me up. At the very spot where middle school Brent waited with Grandma for the bus, I now wait (in the kids' house) for my ride. Ironic.


Our agronomist is published 
Click on this link to read a post Mo wrote for her work. Very proud! If you have weed issues or want your soil amended, she's your woman!            Clean Beans: are we dreamin?

Crops and Critters

It was a banner year for corn and soy beans. No one can believe the high yields, especially since the rains were spotty. Wish we had good prices for our crops but at least there were a lot of bushels. With a lot of fall rain, we were still at it in November this year.

Cattle prices have come down quite a bit in the last year.

We are grateful that we raise pigs for an integrator so don't have to worry about the price of pigs!

We get them at about 19 days old and finish to nearly 300 pounds in 6 months. So we sort and load pigs twice a year. The kids have decided they are better at sorting with their dad than I am. :) So I no longer have to do that job. Not sad about that!

        Crack!

On a fine late October Sunday afternoon, on a high from leading a successful worship workshop at First Mennonite of Iowa City, I decided to stand on the couch to adjust the drapery back to its winter position. (The sun gets in Doug's eyes in the summer). Doug was sitting on his chair right next to me and said, "You're going to fall." And just like that, I lost my balance and fell backwards, catching my back on the STRONG wooden coffee table. Cracked some ribs. Wow- that's painful. Had to be off work a week and still cringing along 5 weeks later. Some potential solid questions to ask:

 1) Why didn't I ask Doug to assist? 2) Why didn't I get a ladder? 3) Is it truly Doug's fault because he requires so much maintenance? 4) Will I ever learn my lesson? All valid questions. None of which make it feel better any faster. 

Preaching back east
In November, I was pleased to be asked to preach for part of Salford Mennonite Church's 300th anniversary, celebrating women in ministry. I attended this congregation right out of college when I taught school at Penn View Christian School. I was well hosted by the congregation, and had reunions with friends while there. Even got in on the 30 year cookie bake tradition of some of my teacher friends from the 1980s!

Mini First Mennonite of Iowa City reunion with Joy Sutter, Sonya and Roger Stauffer-Kurtz.

Me, Carol and Tim Martin Johnson, Monica and Dave Schroeder

Christmas Around the World
December 5-10, I went with Mom on a bus tour from Archbold to Omaha, NE. We visited a variety of ethnic traditions around Christmas. Here we are after our Medieval Feast. Also on the itinerary were treats from Lithuania, Sweden, Denmark. We also saw a Lewis & Clark national park presentation, Union Station's giant Christmas tree, a poinsettia tree at an arboretum, and a few other historic markers. Finished off with a marvelous Christmas pops concert with the Omaha symphonic orchestra. It was fun to be with mom and some folks from Archbold.