Christmas at Church

I got a picture of all my kids at church today, plus a son-in-law (Jackson) and minus a daughter (Becca).  She's spending the holidays in Japan with her friends. ❤️ I'm thankful for kids who love God & their family.  Merry Christmas! 💚❤️💚❤️💚❤️

Dan's Birthday

Dan is 16 today! We're having a family birthday party tonight. Christy & Jackson are here for a week-long visit over Christmas, so they are celebrating with us!

Japanese Cuisine

Becca keeps sending me pictures of what she's eating in Japan, and I'm thinking maybe I should find a way to visit...you know, because I miss her...

Sam's Birthday

We're having a small family birthday party for Sam tonight since he will be busy tomorrow. He's turning 18! ❤️

Becca's Birthday

I've had a busy week and forgot to post about Becca's birthday.  She says she had a great day celebrating with her new friends!  We're missing her, but we're glad she's enjoying language school and Japanese culture.

Snow Blower Training

Eric is training Dan & the twins on how to safely use the snow blowers today.  Our long, country driveway will be cleared much faster now! ❄️

The Sound of Music

Taking the kids to a production of one of my favorite plays!  Some of their friends are in the performance.  It's opening night! 😃

Japanese Cuisine

Becca has been eating well in Japan!  She's enjoying local cuisine and also learning to cook traditional fare.

Behind-the-Scenes Theater

Behind-the-scenes fun from Dan & the twins' recent theatrical production of "It's a Wonderful Life!" 😁

Thanksgiving 2025

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! 🤎🧡💛 This year we're cooking a combination of our homegrown foods and traditional foods: 

Free-range chickens, buttercup squash, potatoes, and green bean casserole, pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce, stuffing, and rolls.  Thankful for God's abundant care!

It's a Wonderful Life

Today was the final performance of "It's a Wonderful Life!"

All the kids did a fantastic job!

Northern Lights

My son, Sam, took some pictures of the Northern Lights from our neighbor's house last night!

Veterans Day 2025

Happy Veterans Day to all who have served!  Here are some baby-faced pictures of Eric & I back in the 1990's.  Military life was sometimes challenging, but I have fond memories of those days.

Bringing it In

This has been our last week to bring in the final harvest (potatoes) and finish figuring out what to do with everything! 😁 Sir Reginald II enjoys playing on one of our wood piles, and I enjoy resting by the fire after homeschool, farm chores, and work.

Our Anniversary

Off we go to celebrate our anniversary weekend! 27 years of wedded bliss! 🥰

Free Range Chickens

Happy, healthy free-range chickens produce the best eggs!  They turn our wild land into something tasty and nutritious. 🍂 ❤️🍂

Buttercup Squash

I'm glad my family likes buttercup (winter) squash, because we grew 68 good ones this year!  The rest are going to the chickens. 😁

Like Grandfather, Like Grandson

The older Dan gets, the more he looks like his Grandpa (my Dad) when he was younger. 💓

New Transmission for the Van

We always take our big van on major road trips; however, our recent trip took a different turn.  Right before we were supposed to leave, I was taking our boys to Big Woods State Park to hike with a friend.  The van started acting strange on the road, and I thought maybe I hadn't put it into gear correctly.  It struggled up a hill, and when we got to a stop sign, I put it in park and put it back in gear.  I tried to accelerate, but no progress.  I revved the engine a few times (my big mistake) and then realized something was majorly wrong when the engine light started flashing.  I called Eric, and he came out to take a look.  It turned out that a transmission fluid hose had broken.  Since I had kept trying to accelerate, I basically ruined the transmission.  We got the van to a shop, but there was no way it would be ready in time for our big trip to Oregon.  We brainstormed what to do.  Finally, we decided to take Eric's car for the trip (he gets great gas mileage!).  However, we could only fit three of our four boys in the back seat (Becca had already made plans to fly out).  We asked Sam what he'd like to do, and he decided to stay home and take care of our little farm while we were gone.  He did a fantastic job of keeping up on everything with the house, land & animals!  He also did extra things we didn't ask him to do, like trim trees and mow the lawn.  I'm so thankful for a responsible son!  And our younger boys did just fine in Eric's car.  They read books most of the time.  Also, like Eric said, it was better that the transmission went out a few miles from our house rather than in the middle of Nowhere, Montana!  Life is often unpredictable, but God is always good!