In a pickle!

I'll try to make this short. We are going through some tough times. We found out 4 days ago that some hunters will probably be renting the home we are in currently- starting the middle of July. That means we must move to the trailer home on the ranch. A couple nights ago we started to haul totes over there when I noticed it has the same moldy smell as our former home. After further investigation I found the wall board to be sagging and after I tapped it with my shoe it fell in to reveal a wall cavity full of mold. There is another moldy area by the back door as well. I have no idea if it is toxic but at this point I don't care because I immediately started to feel sick.

From where we have been with Daraby, being ill, I have no desire to even tempt her getting sick again. Andrew and I know that we cannnot move there. That means we will most likely be homeless in a few weeks. This is devastating for us. I thought we already hit the low point. As a mother I will do whatever it takes to keep her safe. We have a strong faith that the Lord will lead us in the direction we must go. This has been a huge learning process. It has changed our life in so many way and for the better. It wasn't a mistake that we moved here and experienced this moldy situation. I know that sounds crazy but it is true because the Lord directs our path.

We've learned to put our trust in the Lord and not in ourselves or other poeple. It isn't our goal in life to please people anymore but to follow where the Lord leads and to obey Him. It is amazing at what we have been through. I couldn't have trekked down this road without His strength. We've have to be strong and resilent. We have a child that depends on us to stand up to any challenges and do the right thing. Please pray for doors to open and for us to recognize the right doors to go through.

I love these verses-
Romans 5:3-5
And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character and character hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured our his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who he has given us.

2 Corinthians 1:8-11
We do not want you to uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will contine to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.

She is getting big!

Daraby is growing by leaps and bounds. She is almost ready to walk. Currently she is walking around furniture and learning to balance amidst some hard falls. It has been a joy to watch her learn. I really enjoy this stage of mothering. She is somewhat independent and can entertain herself. When I put on my make-up in the bathroom I just throw down some of the tubes of make-up and she plays for a long time. Perfect!

Andrew loves dressing Daraby in this worn out John Deere shirt. It is a hand me down from some friends of ours. We could be getting ready to go to some nice event and Andrew dresses her in this shirt. It has little holes in the shoulder seams which is so similar to many of Andrew's shirts. I guess he is just raising her to be like him.

Rain = Green

The community has been stunned at the amount of rain we have received. They say they haven't had this kind of moisture in 15-20 years. Flowers have sprung up that normally sit dormant for years.



This is the creek that runs through the property.


Tons of wild flowers have bloomed.

The windmills are such a unique feature of where we live. To think that they run and provide fresh water for all the animals throughout the hills. Normally they are an oasis in a normally dry land.

Lynn's Cattle Drive and Millenium Branding

Two weeks ago we helped our neighbor, Lynn Meyers, move his cattle about 10 miles south to their summer range. We started at 5am and got all 450 pairs of cows and calves there by noon. Here's a picture from the back end of the procession showing how far they string out on the trail. Some of the leader cows were a mile ahead of the calves lagging behind here at the end. There were 11 of us on horseback, with some of us in the back pushing and some along the sides guiding the herd.



Dutch and I got a lot of miles together and both were pretty tired by the end of the day. On a 10 mile drive you probably cover at least 20 miles pushing the cattle and cutting stray cows and calves back in. After we arrived to the summer pasture we spent 2 hours pairing the cows and calves back up with eachother.



This is my boss, Alan, and his horse Rocky. We enjoy a change of pace working off horseback whenever we get the opportunity.

Here's a shot across one of the meadows on our ranch. We've had some wonderful rain showers that have greened our meadows and hills up better than they've been in the last 10 years. It's almost seemed like Michigan here for the last month:)

Another tail end shot. Speaking of cattle and horses, we helped our good friends Jeff and Tracey Keiser up at the Millenium Ranch brand two weekends ago. Darcy decided she wanted to do a roundup on horseback, so we left the house here about 5am and drove up north to their place. She rode one of Millenium's horses and our neighbor, Marlene Meyers, watched Daraby for the morning. We had a great time rounding up the cattle and taking part in the branding. Darcy organizes and refills all the vaccines and I took up my usual job wrestling calves (we forgot our camera but we do have pictures of other brandings in earlier posts). It was a great day and we always enjoy getting together with the neighbors at brandings. A lot of work is done in a short time during brandings (vaccinations, castrations, and the branding) and the food is guarenteed to be good when the work is done! We always like to get out and work on horseback too:)

Forgetting 5 Years!

Last Friday I awoke to sounds in the kitchen. I must tell you that there isn't a lot of morning noise in our kitchen. While I was in the bathroom Andrew shows up in the doorway with a plate in one hand and a glass of orange juice in the other. I looked at him blankly when he said he tried to catch me in bed. "You made me breakfast in bed?" I asked. "For what?"

"For our anniversary," he replied. "Oh," I said. I cannot believe that I was the one to forget our 5 year anniversary. Yikes! I normally remember our anniversary date with Memorial Day but this year it was a week before our anniversary which threw my memory off. When our anniversary came I thought I still had one more week before May ended. I can't believe how fast this year is going by. There are so many things I've wanted to do but haven't. I have goals that I haven't even started to work on.

I must tell you that Andrew even got me a card and drew a decent heart on the envelope. (Usually his hearts are wierd shaped ovals with points.) I was humbled! I'm so proud of him! He is so good to me!

I posted a photo of our wedding to remember that wonderful day 5 years ago.