Happy Thanksgiving

It has been a crazy fall, but Kendell has summed it up well for us-we just need to get used to it, life is just always going to be crazy!
So, I guess I will try to swallow hard, and take my daughter's advice-"Get used to it" Life goes by in whirlwind procession, and we just need to hang on and do the best we can with each hour of each day!!
Today we had a wonderful Thanksgiving day. It was very cold outside, but inside, yummy smells and hot ovens kept us toasty and completely full by the end of the day.
Aside from cooking a full turkey dinner, we also made time for some family photos-finally, in good clothes, something suitable for a photo card at Christmas-FINALLY!!
So, the next job will be a long-overdue letter to family and friends-I think I skipped last year, but we have so much to talk about this year, I probably won't get any awards for brevity.
The boys are doing very well, Isaac will surely be walking by his 2nd birthday. Isaiah is trying very hard to speak all the time-his want to is great, we just need to channel all the energy in the right direction now.

I am so not ready for cold weather, but I guess it is time-goodness, Christmas will be here in 4 weeks, and I haven't done anything about that either-I can really tell the difference between 3 kiddos and 5-wow, where do the days go?? The only hours I seem to have are after they are all in bed and Chuck is milking-he milks the night shift 3 nights a week-I don't like it, but it gives me some computer time, otherwise, there wouldn't be any during the day-Isaac just won't allow much time for anything but HIM!!!!

I still have some posts I want to do from the fall activities, but who knows-I also want to update the blog with a new look, since we aren't farming right now-but I don't know when that would happen-maybe that will be my New Year's resolution? Goodness, 2011 is just around the corner- I really feel like life is passing me by, but I am also loving it-

We are so blessed, life has been good, despite the changes, and the children are true gifts from God. As long as we have a roof over our heads, plenty of food in the freezer and pantry, and clothes to wear, what do we have to worry about?

Ok, time to head to bed, and no, I am not doing Black Friday shopping-I prefer internet-it's safer and cheaper-not so many impulse buys-when I get the time to do it!

Some of the things we listed on our gratitude list last night include:

-friends

-family

-Our Savior's Blood, shed for us

-God's Word, the Bible

-A home

-A job for Chuck

-A church family

-solid Biblical teaching we sit under each Sunday

2 boys with healed hearts (Nick and Isaac)

school is going very well this year

our farm and land

our co-op group and the time we spend together studying Astronomy

our health

food and clothes

Blessings

Chris and family

family fun at the deer park

This post is really a continuation of the one below, so I will save time and let you enjoy the pictures of my lovely family enjoying a beautiful fall afternoon at the deer park!!

A picture is worth 1000 words!! Here are a few more than one, but they are just so darn photogenic!!

I just love my family-they are so precious to me!!

Tyler takes time to pet the deer, and they love it

Isaac was not too sure about all this, but he was game for anything!!

What a tender, sweet little boy
we are soooo blessed

momma and her little darlings

Are they sweet, or what???

Our first family picture!!

A close-up view for Isaiah

NIck, my serious, intense young man

Kendell loves animals-my only baby girl is growing up

father and son time!!

Ahem, is this really necessary????I think that's close enough Miss Deer

Everyone likes feeding the goats too!!

What a day!!

Some end of summer fun

we have had so many changes this year, it is almost too much to assimilate, much less write about.

Selling one farm, renting a small home in a very small town for 2 months, a 10 day grip to PA and the Creation Museum, followed by a very fast purchase of another farm.

Flying to Colorado one week later for my aunt and uncle's 50th, and the same day getting our travel news for our boys!!!

Breathless, and we ain't done yet...

home again, trying to make this old house into a home, and also trying to get ready to add 2 new boys within a few weeks-can you say nerve-wracking???

Time to travel, my computer crashes, the house is still not really ready, flooring is going in as we head out the door, children staying home with a lovely young couple from our church-the reason we went to PA, their wedding in March-

still with me?

A new farm, lots of issues, lots of rain, way too much rain, way too much mud, Chuck is in over his head with mud and chores, I'm swimming in tears, how can this be sooooo hard??? and we thought we were down-sizing???

Nick is outside all day long helping his dad, he is such a wonderful son, so eager to try anything, so wanting to please, and make life a bit easier.

10 days in Taiwan,

2 new boys, a baby that was all baby, a 3 1/2 yr old that was much better than we were expecting, home again to more rain, and then the HEAT, and MORE RAIN, and more mud.

Half way through the summer, Chuck decides we are selling the cows!!

NO!!! How can we do this? What will we do? I love cows, and milking them, and the lifestyle!!

BUT...

In a day and age when jobs are hard to find, he has a job, we can rent our farm land and buildings, and he can be home a lot, as he is working for the couple that bought our big farm in January.

So, Sept comes, and the cows are going-

Hence, school is postponed until October, because, we are going to take SOME TIME to be a family for at least a few days before the new job starts.

The kids are going to go visit their grandparents and cousins for a much-needed break, and we are going to take time to slow down, and heal from the pace of the last 5 years, or maybe the last 15, which is how long we have been milking.

I still cry when I think of the change in our lifestyle. I love his employers, they are like family, that is not this issue, it is the loss of a lifestyle, the letting go of a dream for our boys, the empty feeling I have with no reason to go outside each day and work hard for part of my day.

Not that mothering isn't hard, or home-schooling (that's another post)

Which brings me to this post-some downtime for our family at a motel overnight, lots of fun in the pool-all 7 of us, and then, our annual trip to the deer-park.

Blessings

Chris

It was definitely a time for smiles and laughter for all of us!!

Isaiah is doing so well, and loved being in the water-he really got the hang of walking and floating and could even get himself upright when he fell or tripped-he had so much fun!!

Isaac is changing before our very eyes-each day brings new tricks-here, he is studying everything, with his tongue out-we were sure he would bite it off in all his excitement in the water

He is such a water baby-LOVES it!!

Isaiah really had a great time playing in the water-he is game for about anything!!

I'll be back soon with an update on the boys-there is so much to tell!!