Just peace...

     So last night I sold two of my does to a new friend I met during one of the Farm Visits. Robin was the leader of the Norco FFA which visited on April 21st. Her mom...Elaine had raised Nubians before and is interested in getting back into it.  Yesterday she came and visited and left with both Flower and new York LuLu.  Ya know I understand that I cannot keep every goat born here, obviously, but...I do so wish I could! Granted the letting go process is alot easier when I know they go to such a great home! Thank you Elaine and Wayne for providing such a wonderful place for my babies...I know they will be loved there. 

     After the girls left, I sat on the porch swing (which I never do...sit down I mean) and just kind of rested and thought about everything...not in an overwhelming, "everything I need to do" way, but in a "look at all God has done" kind of way.  There was this amazing peace and everything I looked at was stunningly beautiful...even the blasted rabbit that just happened to randomly hop by!?!  I'm fairly sure he was a distraction by the enemy! ;)

      I thought about Flower and what a great milker she had been for me, how she has fed and nourished my family, how Kim, myself and Leslie were all there to see her born, how she and I have driven through Starbucks drive thru?!?...I love her much and will miss her much! She always made me smile and laugh.  The milkers are always hard to let go of because of the extensive relational bond you build with them during milking...but yesterday when she was chewing on Wayne...I could tell it was time for her to move on. Goodbye my sweet Flower!

Our sweet Milker Flower

Precious Lulu...3 minutes old!

And my itsy bitsy Lulu...so sweet, so precious, so blessed and touched by The Lord's hand. She should have probably miscarried when Ethyl Belle became so so sick, but yet there she was. I remember Joshua and I sitting in that kidding pen with Ethyl and seeing those little hooves emerging and both of us praying God's promises over our herd out loud over Ethyl and the birthing baby...and then there it was...a live baby...and a doe at that! Now we pass on that blessing to The Lindsey's. :)  Be the amazing doe I know you will Lulu! Take care of them as you would have taken care of us...love you baby girl! :)

Lots of changes...

     May has been a very busy busy busy month for our family. Gary became quite ill in the latter part of April and his condition, which was finally diagnosed as Vertigo still continued into May. Even though Gary ( who is a major presence within our family and farm was still recovering) off to Chowchilla Fair we went! Both of our markets did well...Chompers did GREAT!   Both hogs this year were homegrown from Ellie and a boar out of Barone Farms in Caruthers. Payday weighed in at 269 lbs and placed 8th out of 18 in his market class (it was tough competition) and Chompers weighed in at 258 lbs and placed in the top 3 of his class! The hog that beat him ended up being the Overall Reserve Champion!?!  Needless to say Joshua and I were feeling quite comfy with that placing and Mr. Vandenack (our 4h advisor) said we had every right to be proud with our home-growns landing in the top 3 two years in a row! Last year...all three of our homegrowns landed in the top 3!   Feels good :)  Joshua had a tough time letting go of Chomps this year, but he made it through. :)  

     On another note our older son Kyle has moved back home from Reedley. He was struggling with working 40 + hours at Savemart, school and feeding the Reedley farm. The commuting between Fresno and Reedley daily was killing him and his truck. Sooooo....he is back at home. It is working out just fine and we always appreciate the extra help around our farm.

     Our family is getting ready to go through some pretty big changes with schools, jobs, etc. Sometimes this stuff really weighs me down. I wonder...what is the best decision concerning my children's education. I'm struggling with this right now.  Our schools are struggling so horribly and of course we support keeping them open, but their is another side...our son's education. What is the best right now...idk.  Scripture tells us that God wants us to have the desires of our heart (as long as they line up with his word) and my heart's desire right now is to stay home and home school Joshua. But...I really do LOVE SUSD...so what do I do?  My friend Mary suggested pulling him and putting him on independent study, that way I am teaching him, but were still supporting the school. Right decision? Idk.  I would like his education to be founded on God's word. It's tough...this stuff. So...what are we doing about this? Well...we are praying and asking God to open the doors for me to stay home...according to my calculations I need approx. $1000 per month. So...we have begun aggresively pushing the business. We have June almost booked with tours, we are putting our product into stores on consignment aggreements and I will be attending craft shows to increase sales. We have also began selling more of the animals (which we all know I love to keep them all)! :)  The store will begin being open every day from 1-5pm right now. 

These new movements have put additional pressure on me, 

but the question is: How bad do I want to be home with my son? Answer: Pretty darn bad! :)