Harvest Prayer

 

A Family Road Trip to the SPAM Museum in Austin, Minnesota

After our family vacation to Hawaii this summer, we came home with more than just great memories and lots of photos — we also came home with a newfound appreciation for SPAM! And considering SPAM is packed only about an hour from our home, we decided it was time to make a road trip to Austin, Minnesota, to learn a little more about the canned pork product our family had been enjoying so much.

Teriyaki Pork & Pineapple Kabobs

These Teriyaki Pork & Pineapple Kabobs have quickly become a family favorite this summer! They’re easy to put together, packed with flavor and the combination of sweet pineapple with savory, tender pork is hard to beat. With a simple homemade teriyaki sauce made from ingredients you probably already have in your pantry, these kabobs are a delicious way to fire up the grill and enjoy pork this summer!

The Cookie of the Summer: S'more Cookies

This spring, our youngest daughter had a very specific request for her school birthday treat: S'mores Cookies. So, we started searching for recipes online and in cookbooks that looked soft, chewy and packed with all of the classic s'more flavors. We found a recipe that looked good and sent them off to school and hoped for the best. The verdict? Her classmates loved them. Her teachers loved them. And our family absolutely fell in love with them.

In fact, we loved them so much that one of our other daughters decided these were the cookies she wanted to bring to our County Fair next week. Since then, we've baked batch after batch, tweaking little things here and there until we've landed on what we think is the perfect version!

Knee High by the 4th of July

Every Fourth of July, our family has a tradition of taking our annual "Knee High by the Fourth of July" photo in one of our cornfields. It's a fun chance to see how much the corn has grown, and capture how much our #1 crop has grown - our kids, from year to year. These photos help us document the story of another growing season, another year of memories, and another Independence Day spent right here on our Iowa farm.

Southeast Iowa Freedom Rock Tour

This Memorial Day, our Iowa Freedom Rock journey continued through southeast Iowa, where we visited the Freedom Rocks in Jefferson, Van Buren, Lee, Des Moines, Henry, and Louisa Counties.

One thing quickly became apparent during this trip — Civil War history runs deep throughout Southeast Iowa. Many of the stories featured on these rocks highlighted local soldiers, Medal of Honor recipients, military units, and communities that played important roles during the Civil War and beyond.

My kids standing next to the Lee County Freedom Rock
Memorial Day 2026

Iowa Ice Cream Road Trip at The Olde Creamery in Rockwell, Iowa

Summer can feel like you're constantly on the go. So that's why a quick Iowa Ice Cream Road Trip pit stop is always worth the break!

This week, we found ourselves traveling between a 4-H workshop and a softball game with just enough time to grab supper. Instead of stopping at the gas station or grabbing some fast food, we made a stop at one of our family's favorite places: The Olde Creamery in Rockwell, Iowa.