Jessica and Bob get married!!

Summer is around the corner

It's been a very emotional week here on the farm and in life in general.

On Monday, Sara was baptized. This was a monumental event in the lives of everyone who has loved and helped mentor Sara. To see the change in her has simply left us all feeling so encouraged about the truth of our Savior and what he does for us when we come to know him. 

I helped homeschool Sara this year, and sometimes I wondered if anything I was saying was "getting in there." But it has. She has truly come to know him.

Our homeschooling co-op has ended for this summer. This has made me very happy. Life is just busy and adding those Monday is a lot. Getting a break is very welcomed! I am on the Board of this group and am becoming a leader there. I love it. I believe in it. 

But whew, am I tired.

I am hoping to finish homeschooling my boys in Language Arts/Bible/History/Logic by May 5th. They'll still have a few things to be doing but the bulk of the work will be complete!

Hannah Kotysnki and I hope to finish the "Quad Squad" (Abigail, Hannah, Eoin, and Genevieve) by middle of May. 

Man do I need a break!

We've also had a really tough thing in our life this last week was a young woman we love dearly. She has switched foster homes and seeing all of this has been hard. However, we are super hopeful that this will be a very positive move in her life. 

It's warming up, the sheep look beautiful on the pasture, and summer is around the corner!

Some truths

Fun pictures from our day

The last two days have been jam-packed with farming and friends and some beautifully hard stuff. Sometimes I can’t talk about it all, but I want to remember it all!!

Sara is baptized

 

There is so much more I would like to say about this monumental event! But for now, just PRAISE THE LORD!

Some pictures from our formal

Some snaps from the formal that I wanted to share:

Katy (who I used to homeschool) with her date, Seth. I think they look like a beautiful couple!

 

Animal Chaos

Sheep don’t know it is Sunday. They don’t care that you are going to church. I went out to feed the chickens this morning only to discover …. Animals not where they are supposed to be! Not good!

We had separated 12 sheep from the herd that a customer is picking up next week, and they found a way out of their paddock. We spent two hours attempting to negotiate their return. During that time, two of them found our other herd. We attempted to move THAT herd, and they went for a joy run as well.

(It is so hard to not fight with your spouse and children when you are begging stupid sheep to go where you want them. I need to wear a shirt that says, “I’m sorry for what I said while we’re moving sheep.”)

In the midst of the chaos, I said to John Kitsteiner (inbetween trying to catch my breath from running hills) that I can’t imagine what God feels watching us down here on earth being stupid! “Hey, here’s the gate. Come on through it,” He says.

And we say, “No thanks. We are stupid. We want to run around for hours until you talk us into going where you tried to get us to go in the first place.”

And he says, “Don’t go back to those other sheep. I’ve got green grass here.”

And we disagree.

(And it repeats. Over and over again.)

Needless to say, two hours after it all began, church had begun, and the sheep were finally back where we tried to get them to go in the very beginning, and we are all just more tired.Psalm 119:176 “I have gone astray like a lost sheep;”

Dance + Dance

This week has been a KILLER one for us … among many things was the first formal for the boys. (Our homeschool group does it for kids age 14 and up.) Sidge went with his cousin Kari and Isaac asked his friend Ava to go as friends. 

John handled the dance. I handled “the ballet dance.” The girls competed in Knoxville on Friday evening and then Abigail again on Saturday afternoon.