Happy Birthday Anni

Today is our friend Anni's birthday. We purchased these two items (pictured above) for her and sent her the photo. We are still in Vermont, so she'll have to wait until we get back to get them. 

The "Holland" sign has to do with Anni naming her "new" farm near us "Holland." It's part of her last name (Hollenbeck) and has the word "land" and we all look Dutch so i... there you have it.

And of course, what would an Anni be without her goats as pictured below:

I like to say that Anni is a "salt of the Earth" type of person. She is incredibly bright. But she lives simply. She is incredibly low maintenance. I love that she teaches my daughters it's okay to be a girl but be a girl your own way. If you want to get dirty and not dress up very often, that's okay. It isn't about what's on the outside and who you impress. What's on the inside and the God you impress is very important. 

I love how playful Anni is as shown in the picture (below) of her and the girls having colored their faces to look like puppies:



Anni is kind. She is loyal. She feels deeply. She loves intensely. She is an animal lover and an incredibly hard worker. We joke often, that having Anni around to help us on the farm is like having 2-3 men. She is that strong and works that hard. 

Two years ago (or maybe it is three? I can't remember?), she came to our farm to attend a conference we were hosting. After the day conference was over, she messaged me and asked if she could come to our farm and volunteer some.

I kind of blew her off a bit. I didn't mean to be so "I don't know" about it, but volunteers, if they only come one time, are a lot of work. I was a little burned out on hosting people and just didn't want to train someone else for a day only to not see them again. After asking me nicely a few times, she finally wrote: "Listen. Can I come? If not, just tell me to bugger off."

I said "Don't bugger off." I said she should come. And she came. And she came. And she came again. And then, this summer, she decided to actually buy a place near us. We are family. It is our hope that she will live near us until we are both very old and very tall (but a little bit shorter) women. 

Thank you Anni for dropping yourself into our hearts. I have learned through our extensive traveling and multitude of homes and of course through adoption that FAMILY is NOT blood. Sometimes it is. But sometimes family is a person you get to pick out.

And love forever. 

Thank you for falling for us Anni. We love you,

Love,

John, Wendi, Isaac, Sidge, Abigail, Hannah, Arabelle, Ritter, Aneka, and more!