Changing Seasons

Today marks a new season in our lives...Nathanial leaves for college. Matt has been attending a local college and commuting, but today marks the day when one of the seven leave the nest and strikes out on 'his own'. It's a bittersweet day...one that you look forward to with excitement seeing where God is leading each child, but it also holds some sadness. I'll miss having all 9 of us around the table talking about crazy stuff each evening. I can't think about that right now though...it's packing time, baking day, violin lesson day, and then moving into the dorm. And in the midst of it all I'll be praying for 'my boy' who's become a young man in a blink of an eye.

Back to Reality...

One of the hard things about going away for a few days is that when you get back home reality hits. This afternoon Wayne was out with the kids on the back lawn. He came inside to tell me that "we have a problem with water out back". The water line from the house to our hydrant by the alpaca pen had sprung a leak. Marc started digging and soon we found the problem...a connection had worked itself apart and now the water pipes were too far apart to clamp together again. I took this picture thinking of the title "boys at play" but I don't think the 2 eldest boys in the pic are enjoying their afternoon! Marc was resting from digging all that heavy wet dirt, and Wayne was up to his shoulders in mud trying to figure out how to get the problem solved. Jonathan was perfectly content to play with the tools in Dad's toolbox. The temporary solution...a shut off valve in the basement for that water line and tomorrow another piece of pipe patched into the line. Yup, we're back to reality.

Our girl and her dog

Katelyn has been praying for a dog 'of her own' for a long time. She has spent months researching breeds, reading books on training, and asking every family member which breed they liked best from the list she created and posted on the front of the refrigerator.

Our trip to Maine resulted in a surprise for Kate. Our friend Sue trains dogs (and their owners!), works with Cocker Spaniel Rescue, and has found homes for many a pup. We knew that she'd probably be the best person to ask for help in our search for a new 'family member'. It's been a long time in developing, but Captain has become Katelyn's 'best surprise ever!'

When we got home from Maine, I asked Katelyn to go help her dad get things out of the car. When she went to his side of the car, he opened the door, handed her the leash, and said, "Could you take this for me?" The look on her face was priceless.

Welcome home, Captain. We're glad you're here!

The Goat Barn

Wayne, Jonathan, and I took a quick trip up to Maine this week. (check out our friend's blog for pics: http://www.sweetgrassfarmkennel.blogspot.com ) We stayed in a beautiful camp on a lake--thanks to our dear friends the Walshes. The loons would sing and we would marvel at the view and peacefulness. We hated to leave, but we knew that things on the farm needed our attention. So today it's back to reality...freezing beans, harvesting squash, cucumbers, and corn, and canning peaches.

The goat barn has come a long way over the last few weeks... On the day we celebrated Nathanial's 18th birthday we took advantage of the extra hands available. Everybody pitched in and helped roll the tin roof (which had been selvaged from a building being torn down) up the ladders and then unrolling it on the roof beams. We couldn't have done it without them and it looks great.

Will helped out on another day and decided to take a break. Jonathan was only too ready to take one with him.

And here's the most recent picture of the barn...There's still some minor touches needed, but it's just about ready for Twilight the goat and her kid. You can be sure there will be pictures on the blog when that happens!

Swinging in the Rain

Katelyn is our family 'swinger'. In rain, sun, sleet, or snow you'll find our girl taking a few minutes to enjoy the swing. She gets the swing going to the point where she's even with the cross beam of the swing set. I tried to get a picture of that, but by the time the camera focused and took the shot, she'd be down low again.

I'm so thankful that we have the room for the kids to be outside and active. They wore out a pipe on the trampoline so we're anxious to get that back from the welder this week. Ian keeps asking to go jump. Since he's not able to use the trampoline, he substitutes furniture which gets him in trouble.