May Update...It's June now!

Catching up! Last month in May....

We celebrated Mother's Day. All I wanted was a picnic with my family outdoors and to take a walk in nature. So we picnicked at a park...my son and I had sushi and my daughter and husband had sandwiches then we walked the trails surrounding the park along the stream beneath the trees and enjoyed the gorgeous day. It couldn't have been any better spending the day with my family.

 In May our son and I met up with some friends we hadn't seen in a long while and went hiking at a nearby lake. Great company, conversation and beauty.

June time around the farm....

Romani's pen is nearly done...so each day she gets on her harness and leash and visits her new pen and her neighbor Scarlett until hopefully in another couple weeks she'll live outdoors full time. 

The temps have been rising so both girls are enjoying mud pools immensely.

Pictures from last month...everything is SO much bigger now.

Zucchini and squash now have flowers and are forming veggies - so exciting! We've still got much to do and more to plant but everything is thriving, growing and doing well!

 Flower bed

 Sunflower

 Zucchini, squash, tomato, peas

Blessed with good friends, happy animals, great times with family and praying for our farm to provide us some food this year. Everyday we are blessed with this life we lead and choose.

Spring 2020

I can not get over that a year has gone by since we used this space to update our family happenings. Time passes so quickly. Last year was a whirlwind of trials. But this new year we have been being intentional to continue to focus on the positive light in our family, in our children, in our marriage and in this season of our lives together. We feel so very blessed, thankful and grateful for all that we have. We may not at times have much but we have an abundance of blessings daily if we just seek them.

Right now we are....

Continuing to start seeds indoors.

Working outdoors as a family to get our garden ready.

Enjoying cooking and baking by scratch.

Taking care of our animals...3 chickens, 2 dogs, 2 potbelly pigs, 3 pigeons, 1 rabbit, and a stray cat who seems to have claimed us as her family.

We're hiking weekly, having family game night weekly and having family movie night weekly....we love our little family traditions to continue to be close, have fun together and enjoy each other.

We are thankful for the small things...sunshine, growing plants, happy animals, gorgeous weather. Life is good.

Seek daily the blessings surrounding you.

Look for them in the small things, in the daily things as they can give immense joy in the trials of life.

Our Sadie

We said sad good byes to our sweet Swiss Mountain dog Sadie last Friday. It hasn't been yet a week but it doesn't seem real. I spent the weekend looking through some favorite photos of her which was sad and hard yet comforting. All the good times, all the good memories, so much love she brought our family and we loved her back hard too.

She came into our lives when she was 5 years old. I was asked by a friend at work to babysit her over the weekend so I said yes of course. After the weekend was over we learned that they needed to find a new home for her and wondered if she fit with our family and if we'd keep her.

The answer was yes.

This is the photo of her we snapped after deciding to keep her forever. She still had her previous owners collar on. She always had such a happy face and smile. It was the best decision ever to add this lover girl to our family.

 She bonded to our family over time. She was raised by a single man for 5 years. She loved the kids right away but took nearly a year to bond with me. She was smitten with my husband right away.
She became a huge lover girl. She was always up for snuggling with the kids on the couch.

 She loved the outdoors and walks. Her previous owner had taken her everywhere...to the lake to swim, camping, any where he wanted to go she went with him.

 Then shortly after we adopted Sadie we added a third dog, a puppy to our family who was part swiss mountain dog too...Ernie. She took on the job of raising him as if he was her own. She snuggled with him, played with him, let him chew on her face and mouth, licked him. Whenever we had to go out to of town and board the dogs they would always be placed in the same kennel together- they were inseparable.

 We moved 5 times after adopting Sadie from different area's in Arizona and then even all the way to Idaho. She always adapted quickly and did great on the car rides and moving trips.

 For this girl, parts of Arizona were a bit hot....her favorite - SNOW. Snow brought out the puppy in her and gave her energy and excitement. She would eat it, run in it. Our son would throw snow balls in the air and she'd attempt to catch them in her mouth then eat them as well.

 After the first year her and I bonded and she opened up to letting a woman be in her life after having been raised by a man only for such a long time. She loved to lay on the couch with me and lay her head on me. She'd climb up in bed every night and snuggle to get pets before we fell asleep together.

 This girl. My heart is so completely broken. I know deep down it was for the best. She was suffering and it was the right time and the right thing to do. Dogs have a special way of getting into our hearts forever. A piece of mine will forever belong to this sweet girl.