September Graduation.

Another trip to San Antonio to attend the graduation ceremony of two more sons who graduated from the United States Air Force Basic Military Training. The weather was immensely more bearable than last time and we also took Tristans two daughters with us to be there for his graduation. Josiah and Bekah came down and Cody was there as well. We are very proud of all 3 of our boys and look so forward to all that lies ahead for them in the future.

A Graduation and a Wedding.

We recently attended our son Josiah's graduation from Basic Military Training in San Antonio, Texas and were privileged as well to be a witness to his marriage to Rebecca. Josiah is now attending Technical school at Sheppard AFB in Texas where Rebecca is hoping to be able to join him. Two of my other sons, Tristan and Jeremiah are now at Lackland AFB attending BMT as well. I miss them all so much but we shall have a wonderful time at Christmas when we will all be together again. It was so hot in Texas I could barely stand it! Glad to be back home where it is much cooler. Here are some pictures of Josiah and his new bride Rebecca. The young man in the top picture is Josiahs best friend Cody who he grew up with. He is attending Medina AFB for Special Ops training.

Celebrating An Engagement.

My 5th born child and 3rd son Josiah recently left for Texas for Basic Training for the Air Force Reserves. I miss him so much but I do want to share the good news of his engagement to sweet Rebekah. She is a quiet and soft spoken young woman who fits nicely into our family. We will be celebrating their wedding sometime next summer and are so glad to welcome her to our family. She is of Iranian descent and will be a nice addition to the abundance of blonde babies that seem to come our way. Here is a picture of the 2 of them at Christmas.

A Tribute To My Father In Law.

Yesterday I was priviledged to witness the death of someone who has had a great impact on my life. My Father In Law passed away in the comfort of his own bed surrounded by his wife of 54 years, 4 of his 5 children and their spouses and 26 of his grandchildren. I first came into this family as a very needy and hurting 16 year old girl from a hurting and dysfunctional family. I had never met a family like this one. They showed a sincere and deep love and affection for each other. Something I had never seen. They said "I love you," and they hugged each other and they spoke good things about others. I caused their first born son a lot of heart ache over the years that we dated and yet they continued to show love for me despite all the hurt I caused. I have now been married for 31 years to Jim and in all these years they have shown nothing but love towards me and never rebuked me for any of my past mistakes. I have seen unconditional love up close and have been changed by it. Jim's dad had a strong and personal faith in Jesus and despite his flaws he was a great man who made an impact on many people over the years. He shared the love of Christ with so many and he will be greatly missed. I have been blessed to be a part of this big and loving family and I thank God for it. He died peacefully with no struggle after suffering from pancreatic cancer for the past 8 months. He will be sorely missed and yet I know that one day we will be reunited in that great and glorious Heavenly home.

My Not So Secret Passion.

After enjoying the art of knitting over these past few years I must admit that I have discovered a passion for my spinning wheel. Or should I say....the results of my time spent on my wheel. I have a beautiful Schacht Matchless and it gives me many hours of pleasure. I am finding myself able to create something beautiful that actually lasts longer than a day. As a woman who keeps the home and children going, I find that nothing I do lasts very long at all. Dishes are forever being made dirty and the laundry never ends. So in creating this beautiful handspun yarn and then eventually knitting with it I have made something that I can look at and enjoy every single day. Now not only do I have bins of yarn, I am also a collector of beautful fiber. So here are the works of my hands out in the open where I can enjoy them!

We Have A New Calf!

This is our Family milk cow Rose and her new heifer calf who is yet unnamed. This is her second calf and we will be attempting to share milk with her this time around. Her first calf died a few days after birth and I just can't bring myself to take this one from her. Plus, one of the benefits of share milking is that we can eventually go to once a day milking which I know my boys will appreciate. If anyone can help me think of a good name for this little one I would appreciate it!

A Morning's Worth Of Eggs.

Gabriel is the one who takes care of the poultry every morning. He goes out before school and lets the birds out into the pasture, gathers the eggs and feeds the birds. Here are the morning eggs that he brought me to wash up, There are assorted chicken eggs, some turkey eggs, an occasional duck egg, and the first goose egg of the season. It is the big one in the front. I sell some of the chicken eggs and keep the rest of the eggs for the family. Come next month I will start incubating the goose and turkey eggs.

Welcome 2009!

After the wonders of Christmas and the joy of bringing in a New Year I am glad to be back to normal! The kids are finally back in school, the snow is melted and my mailman has started bringing my mail again. It is raining like crazy outside but has warmed up considerably. I am enjoying my few moments of peace and quiet....New Years resolutions? Here goes...
I am always trying to get some weight off,
and commit to regular exercise.
Knit a lot of baby items for the Pregnancy Resource Center.
Read my Bible more consistently.
Be kinder to others, especially my family.
Not complain.....I have everything!
I am so looking ahead to spring. Rose will be having a calf in february which means fresh milk again. The chickens and the turkeys are laying at least a dozen eggs every day. We will be butchering a steer on saturday so the freezer will be full again. Life just keeps on moving along and we just grow older. But I am always mindful that this world is not my home. I am just passing through...