Sioux Center Is Really A Booming Town!

I know its been a while, but some news is too good to pass up.   

Fire crews are working to put out a burning railroad tanker car that exploded just before 5 p.m. Tuesday.
Police say the explosion occurred near the Centre Mall on U.S. Highway 75, the city's main street.  It has forced authorities to evacuate residents within a half-mile of the area until further notice.
Volunteer firefighters from nine local towns say the blast happened as ethanol was being loaded onto the tanker car at Farmers Co-Op Elevator in downtown.
One person was hurt in the blast and was taken to the hospital.

Oh canada!

Hello everyone!
After an eventful trip to Canada ( starting out at the emergency room!) we finally made it to Shannons house at 5:30 am! Shannon, Brain, Brians sister Kara, and I are having such a good time around edmonton. Friday is the wedding and we are looking forward to that! It was nice to see Shannon again too! I am taking a lot of pictures so I will make sure to post them later!

Hope everyone is doing well!

Introducing.....

The new love of my life---LUCY!!!


While I was at home I was looking long and hard for a car.. and came down to it Lucy was the only one I wanted. So I gathered up some funds ( from my grandma when she passed away) , which technically was to go for a wedding but I decided a car was more logical in my life at this point. So, don't expect me to get married in the near future!


We celebrated her arrival by going to a drive in movie!


Here she is!!




The thing I really like about her ( typical girl) is her lights. I like the circles :) And I think she drives nice. and the most important thing.. SHE IS MINE!

hello all!

Today is a very special day:)
1. My little sister, Diane, was born and ruined my life 21 years ago.
2. My baby Sammy was born one year ago.
3. ( Sad one) My grandma passed away on this day about 3? years ago

First of all, I am actually very thankful for Diane. She has been a great blessing to have as a friend over the past 21 years with her. We are so close in age that we have a lot in common.. both went to school most of the time together and had the same ups and downs of life together. So Diane, I am sorry I could not be there to celebrate with you today, but you were remembered in my thoughts and prayers:)

And my little Sammy. He brings SO much joy to my life.. and he has been such a joy to get to see grow up. He has the cutest personality that just brightens your day. He is an amazing child and such a blessing from God.

I remembered my grandma today. She was one of the most giving, kind hearted people I have known. One of my most vivid memories of being with her was helping her with her insulin shots because she had diabetes and being her good helper at her house. She now is a role model of who I want to be in my life and how I want others to thing of me.


Other than that, my life has had its ups and downs this week. I am not going to give you the whole drama of what has been happening, but what I do know is that God is faithful and is working out a perfect plan in my life right now. It is just SO hard to trust that he does when I feel like my whole life has been crumbing under my feet. Anyways, I am keeping up and staying happy :)

Hope everyone is doing well and have a great week!

Ohh one more thing!! I got a new car!! Her name is Lucy and I LOVE her lots! I will post pictures later!!

Back Again

I guess since I have been back, life has not been too exciting. Sioux Center pretty much does not change much ..

It was nice to see Josh, Ashley, and Judy again.. and I have ran into a couple other friends also. I had a job interview.. and he pretty much gave me the job.. but I got to see with a couple other interviews I have next week! I am homeless and carless so that is not fun.. but that all should be changing within the next week.

I am so thankful I got to spend those two months at home .. I met some really awesome people at work as well as spent more time with my family and my little boys. Here are some of the last pictures I have of home!


First we had a little party for sammy cuz I can't be there for his big birthday party:( But it was a good time







This is me at work. Man I am going to miss getting to wear scrubs to work ;) IT was also nice working by my dad and got to see him more often.

This is just one of my awesome coworkers..

Busy weekend!!

This weekend has been CRAZY!!!! I was to my good friends wedding.. so I took the train to go to Salem, OR. on Wednesday to start the party at her house.

On Thursday we got up early and went to the coast and there we rode sand buggies in the sand dunes and then went to the ocean and lounged around enjoying our day.

Friday, we got up and had a strawberry waffle fest and started getting everything ready for the wedding. At 4 was the rehearsal.. and we went over all that needed to be done. Then we went to a famous Chinese restaurant were there was TONS of great food and fun time with friends.

Saturday was the WEDDING! We got up early and got our hair done and then went to the church to get ready. WE had a Mary KAy lady come help up get our makeup on and coordinate the make up colors to match our dresses.

The wedding was amazing. It is a whole different feel to be actually up there and see the love in the couples eyes as they see each other and are excited about their new life together. I was almost in tears as I watched Corey tear up in excitement as he saw Jill become his wife.

The reception was BEAUTIFUL.. it was at a vineyard .. and they served wonderful food and I actually LOVED the wine!! I loved seeing my friends again also. We came home and had a fire and got to sleep in the tents that their family had dug out all over their yard.

This weekend my grandma also died. My grandpa ( her husband) also died on the same day (July 13th) 10 years before. It is kinda weird .. since everything significant in our family happens on either a birthday or something else important. I am sad that I have to miss the funeral.. but I am glad I got to see her during her last month of life.

I am going back to Iowa tomorrow. I have very mixed filling about this trip. I am going to miss my family dearly, however I am so glad I got to spend a lot of time with them.

Anyways.. here are some pictures of the wedding... enjoy~

What goes on in this mind

Rachel's thoughts for the day:

- this is the longest period I have been home for over two years.

- Life is full of trials and triumphs, but in the end.. your faith and trust in God determines how it will end up.

- I love my nephews.. Patrick is coming out of the terrible twos and becoming more sweet.. I am going to miss Sammy and Patrick more than anything else! ( well besides the rest of my family! )

- Two and a half days of work left!

- I was terrible sick all weekend with flu like symptoms.. what a damper for the weekend

- I was pushed from behind at church today and split coffee all over this sweet old lady I was talking to... I felt bad

- I get to figure out if my new baby is a nephew or a niece on Wed. !

- I get to finally go see my boyfriend next Tuesday!-- I am excited~

- Jill is getting married on Sat! I can't believe my friends are getting married!!

- My mom made me a turkey dinner today as a good bye present :(

- I can't wait to see my Sioux Center friends~

- I am going to miss working at the Urology office and all the sweet wonderful people there

- I am SO thankful for all the blessings God has given me!!

- Your history reflects your future and you should learn from it!

Alright! Thats about it for now!

Oh say can you see!

This fourth of July was really fun! I first spent the day doing much needed shopping with Diane, then we went over to Sarah's for the rest of the day! We had a BBQ with some of the BEST food... (except the salmon.. :S ) and some good times. It was nice and sunny so we were able to stay outside and the boys (and I!!) got to play in their pool. We all played a couple games then it was finally almost dark! Jonny and Andrew both bought fireworks, along with a bunch of the neighbors, so everyone had fun lighting them off. We brought Patrick out too see them.. however he got deathly scared of them and started yelling "night-night night-night!" as he ran upstairs and tucked himself in bed!! That is the first time I have ever seen him so willing to go to bed!

In all, it was a VERY good time!! It's weird to think that last year I was in Iowa and the year before that in Germany.. so it was good to be home again for this holiday!!

Here are some pictures of our day!
Sammy playing with Oma!
Patrick trying to figure out the hose to fill up his pool
Opa and patrick hanging out
Sammy trying to act cool..
Patrick really wanted his picture taken!

Jonny filled his bat up with water and he used it as a squirt gun!

Time is winding down.

I can't believe it is July already. These two months have flown by and WAM here we are now.

This weekend my dad and I took a really QUICK trip to Oregon to see my grandma. It was really sad... she has a wheelchair now and is on oxygen.. and she is not her feisty self anymore. It's weird to think that a month ago she was racing us down the halls to her room.. but now that has all changed. It was also a big shocker when we left her unit to go to the elevator, there was a couple of funeral home workers pushing a dead corpse into the elevator.

This all makes me realize my own mortality.. and that of all those around me. You think, we live for only a short moment in this world.. then we are gone, our legacy is all we leave behind. That's why it is so important to live every moment in God's glory and honor.... and also cherish the moments you get to spend with your loved ones because who know how long you get to have them.

but yes.. here are some of the pictures from yesterday.. the other couple there is my uncle Lew and aunt Carol!

She is so much different than the other picture I just posted of her in the last post.


My Dad and I with grandma


Uncle Lew was being funny!

The boys pushing their mom, a day I bet they never thought would happen.
The funny thing is that Josh, my dad , and this uncle all have the same birthday!!


Anyways.. tomorrow Josh and I have been dating 5 months.. wow. Talking about time going fast... It will be good when we get to be together again.