Blessings!

Life is full of blessings if we choose to look for them.  This past weekend we haven't had to look for them at all - they just came and we soaked it all in.  Maybe our guys didn't do as much work as they normally would and maybe we had more coffee than usual but it was all for a great cause.  For sure we have been blessed by Henry's parents and his sister, Jackie and her husband, Orwin.  These people travelled a great distance just to bless us - well ok, they wanted to see our farm too but we got the better end of the deal!

 Dad shares a break time with Henry.  Logan looks at them and wonders, "Is that all you guys are gonna do, sit there?!"

Uncle Orwin happily takes the kids on a ride on our special vehicle for the weekend! This makes it look like this may have been his main occupation for the time he spent here but we can assure you that Orwin was in the barn by 6 in the mornings and did some work for us in the barn and on the construction project happening out our front door.  We just couldn't figure out why he would want to leave just after we are getting him groomed for work here!

 Grandma gets advice from Logan on the watering of the flowers near our entrance.

 Henry was able to find someone willing to lend us this golf cart for the weekend so that Dad could enjoy the farm from his own set of wheels.  Well, Dad never got much time on that machine alone.  There were always kids swarming around it begging to come along.  Can't say that he minded the opportunity to chaffeur them around!

 Grandma was happy to sit at the back with a few of her great-grand-girls!

 Logan entertained us forEVER with his tales.  Here he is telling us something about his worms (spruce branches that he picked out of a tree) which on occasion change to fish and then to pigs and cows.  There was not a dull moment in his telling or in our listening.

Mom played catch with the kids and enthralled them with her ability to juggle.  I mean, how many people can juggle?  And Mom has done this her entire life to delight her kids, grandkids and now her great-grandkids!! 

If only you could hear Ava's continuous laughter as her ball bounces off of mom's head or arms.  Ava is the basketball player and Grandma is the net!  The games kids come up with are always fun for everyone.

Jackie was thrilled to be on a farm with dogs and spoiled the newly arrived, Farva.  And if Kierra would mention that they were going to visit with the horses down at the neighbor's farm and go for a ride, Jackie was right there with them!  Besides us humans, the dogs, cats and horses got a good dose of loving from Jackie.

After coffee time this morning they are leaving.  Back to their normal schedules back home.  Orwin and Jackie go back to their own cows and kids.  We are so thankful that they could come and bless us with this visit.  We will treasure it in our hearts and memories. 

Together

The fact of life here is that our kids - Henry's & mine and Dave & Kristin's - spend a lot of time together.  Most days are great as they play horses, house, with stuff in the sandbox, hide and seek, colouring or just whatever.  Sometimes they argue and complain.  Sometimes they fight.  But on the whole they do the playing thing well. Here you see the oldest 4 girls on the ONE swing, layered according to age!

And while the girls giggle away there is another one napping and the super hero making me watch amazing jumps right 'into the tree'.

This farm is a good place to play and grow!

Progress

Our first major-ish update on the farm was to pull the feeders out of the heifer pens and put in a manger that allows the feeding to be done by the tractor and TMR driving right alongside the front of the pens.  It's pretty slick!  That project is complete!

Now we just add grain to the top of the small heifer's feed easily by walking along this new manger.  Before we had to go into their pen and put this on top of the feed in a bunk that wasn't the easiest to access. 

Dave rigged up this new device for the skidsteer so that they can just drive along the bunk and push the feed back to where the heifers can reach it. Works well.  And even though the kids like to sit in the skidsteer they aren't actually allowed to push up the

 feed with this tool yet!

This is a view from the manger looking towards the dairy barn. The skidsteer is hiding in the trees just to the left off of this photo and our house is just beyond that!

TODAY ~

we started a NEW project! 

This is the 'close-up barn' that we hope to make a bit bigger and add an outside manger here too.  This business of driving a huge tractor and large TMR mixer into this pen is a bit ridiculous. That is over for now as we renovate and rebuild this shed.  The kids are over there looking at this trench..

where the water lines go.  And to the back of the one taking this photo is also where there are some major power lines that we didn't know were there.  But we do now.  A short time with no hydro and a little late start of milking tonight but now 'it's all good'.  (borrowed expression from a certain son-in-law) 

Look at the toys they brought in to dig today.  Just what a dad needs to put big smiles on a boys face!  What a treasure it is to have the time to enjoy this process. Easier said as the photographer.  The labourers are already asleep!

More to come soon!