We have come BACK to life!

We're back online with the Internet! Halle-Freakin'-Lujah! You never know how much your rely on something till it's gone. We use the Internet a lot, good thing we had a little access on my phone. The good ol' fashioned ways of using a phone book sure came in handy these past few weeks for finding places and phone numbers. It was tough being in a new place with no clue where things were located at, like a bank, grocery stores, certain business', etc. But FINALLY.....after 4 weeks of waiting for a strong enough Internet signal.....we have come BACK to life! At least we know we could live without the Internet if we really had to! And here's a very BIG post on life so get comfy!

Well, we've moved and are getting settled. There's a lot of work to be done in and around the house and on the farm, so being totally settled will take some time. But it's all going good!

Here's what's been up with us since mid April....


We headed up to Lynden, WA to check out a job offer Kody got. It was on a potato farm. We stayed the night up there, since it was a 6 hour drive. The kids had fun swimming in the motel pool.

 

 

 

 

 

The town of Lynden is really cute and neat! A great place to visit, but it would be hard living there since it is wet and rains All. The. Time! Not even joking, it's wet all the time. That's the west side of Washington for ya.  But it is very beautiful with green and lush all over, and it's 7 miles south of the Canadian border.

 

 

 

We were planning the move up to Lynden when Kody got another call back from the farm job near Spokane. We went to check out that one and it was the winner! So Kody headed up there and worked and stayed with a guy in the ward for a couple of weeks till our housing situation got all worked out.  The kids and I stayed in Kennewick. 

 

 

 We had to be out of our house by the end of April, so the last week leading up to that was hectic. We finally found out on the 25th where we were going to be able to put our stuff before the move.  It all worked out....in the nic of time!

So we get our moving truck the 26th and did a load up to the farm that day. It was just Kody and I loading the truck so it took us about 5 hours. Then we drove 3 hours, unloaded the truck and drove 3 hours home. It was a Very. Long. Day! Then on the 27th we did another load with some help loading this time, and Kody drove the truck up by himself because the kids and I were sticking around. It was another long day, but it all worked out really good.

And it wouldn't have worked out very well without the help of some amazing friends. These gals are fantastic (and I miss them dearly) They helped with watching our kids, doing some major cleaning, providing meals, letting us use their showers, moving into their house for 2 weeks, etc. They have been so wonderful and I'm very thankful for them! A big shout out to Kate, Ashley, Jonette, and Marielle!

Amongst all the crazyness of moving, we still had some sweet moments.

 

Kosette started on her first solid food. Just a couple of bites, but she did good.

My little "bean" boys! They LOVE refried beans. As you can tell, they helped themselves.

 

She's our little Miss Sunshine!

 

Kamille was and is the BEST helper! She's been my little right hand lady. I'm so thankful for her!

 

Our great friends put together a little farewell party for the kids and their friends. We met at a park, had some yummy food and played lots. It was a lot of fun!

 

My dear friend Kate made these super cute shirts for the kids! Everyone got to sign them. Now we'll never forget our Kennewick Family!

 

After we got all moved out of the house, the kids and I went and stayed with my friend Marielle (or MoMo as Jefferson called her). Bless her heart for taking in all 6 of us! Their little family were troopers! It was fun for our girls to have their daughter Monet to play with. They're all about the same age, and I think it was fun for Monet to have "sisters." Marielle was a huge help and we had some serious good laughs! She is a total crack-up! I smile just thinking about her :) I'm so thankful they were willing to take us in for 2 weeks, it was a great blessing.

 

While we were there, we got to enjoy Jefferson's 3rd birthday. He's our little "ox" and we love him.

 

Kamille also had her Spring piano recital. Her teacher Ashley was Fantastic, and a real kindred spirit, and an Amazing kitchen cleaner! I love her tons! Kamille loved having piano and did really well.

 

The last day of school for the girls was fun for them. They got to have cookies, and a little good-bye party with their classes. These are some of their friends

 

 



 

Kamille and her teacher Ms. Anderson. Kamille came home on the second day of school and said "My teacher is so young and little. She must be like a teenager." Close. :) Just a couple years older than a teenager.

 

This little girl Ashley has been Kamille and Kayda's best little friend these past couple of years. They sure love and miss her.

 

And Jameson sure loves his little buddy Ryan!

 

The girls love Issy too!

 

And Jameson loves his friend William "the boy with the orange hair" :)

 

 The kids really wanted to get pictures with their other great friends Tanner, Colton, and Branden, but my timing was off and I missed getting to their house in time. Darnit.

 

Finally the day came for the kids and I to make our move up to the country! We made the usual 3 hour drive in just under 4 hours. :) But that's how it goes when you got little ones.

We're in a cute little house on 5 acres, about 5 miles from the farm. We'll be here for about a year. The farm house needs a serious remodel which will happen this winter. After that's all done, we'll move over to the farm.

 

Our little town has about 4,000 people.  We live 15  minutes form the church building, which is actually in another little town. Our ward is great! They've been very welcoming and helpful with meals, moving, calling and checking in on how things are coming, etc. Neither Kody or I have callings yet, but that probably won't last too long :) It's a good size ward, for being out in the country. There's about 40 primary kids and several young families. We're excited to make more friends!

 

We really get the best of "both worlds" living out here. We get the space, land, animals, gardens, country & farm life; and then when we need or want the city life, we can head to Spokane that's just 20 minutes away. It's great!

 

Here's a bit of what we've been up to here:

 

My little hunting superhero!

The little babes is doing great! She's 8 months old and crawling all over and is such a great baby!

 

 And she LOVES being outside!

 

 

 

 This is just down the road from our house. It's GORGEOUS! Seriously,

 this area is G-O-R-G-E-O-U-S! The sights, smells, and sounds are so lovely!

 

 

 We went on a little drive one Sunday afternoon. This is just 1 of the 4 lakes near our house.

 

 

We got 2 dogs! Gumby and Stormy. They are Australian Shepard's, and they are great! We're very happy to have them. I've never really been a huge dog lover, but I've become more attached to these dogs than Kody has. :) The kids love them too and they're just wonderful!

 

This is our back field

 

We also have a llama, a sheep, and a lamb. The little lamb is so cute! These cows are in our neighbors field.

 

So about the farm.....Kody has been working very hard! Putting in 10-13 hour days. There's lots to be done when you build a farm from the ground up! It took him a few days to get back into the swing of the physical labor, and his hands wore sore for a couple days, but he's all toughened up now!  We found the job posting on Craig's List (just like we find nearly everything!) This is what the posting said, lots of things involved!

Farm Manager

Employment Opportunity -- Commences Spring 2013

Farm Manager on Innovative, Diversified Farm and Demonstration Project

Unique full time opportunity for the right person to engage multiple skill sets and create a highly diversified, well capitalized, sustainable farm on 150 undeveloped acres. The project is located north of Spokane, Washington. Current plans call for the following production areas to be developed over a 5 year time-frame:

• Raising poultry (Ducks, Chickens, layers and meat birds) starting with at least 1000 birds using mobile, pastured poultry production model;
• "Row" crops (mixed vegetables and berries);
• Fruit and nut production;
• Fish farming;
• Custom Farming (side business);
• Hay crop management and harvesting;
• Multiple mobile and fixed greenhouses (some hoophouse, some passive solar) for crop production, season extension, plant propagation and aquaponics;
• Kune Kune grazing pigs and other heritage breed livestock for meat production;
• Growing significant amounts of supplemental chicken and pig feed on-site or on neighboring farms;
• Herbs (fresh market, dried and value-added products);
• Mushrooms (fresh market, dried and value-added products);
• Baked goods using regional wheat and grains (scone mixes, bread mixes, etc.);
• On-site poultry and meat processing and meat value-added products;
• Value-added products from farm produce.

Skills/Experience Required:

• At least 5 yrs. farming experience;
• Passion for agricultural work;
• Creative, problem-solving approach;
• Self-starter;
• Excellent time-management skills;
• Excellent labor management skills;
• Knowledge of and commitment to organic/sustainable farming methodology;
• Familiarity with Permaculture principals;
• Water conservation irrigation techniques;
• Row crop production experience;
• Orchard experience;
• Broad-scale crop production experience including small grains and hay;
• Pasture management;
• Humane livestock husbandry;
• Greenhouse management;
• Farm machinery operation (additional maintenance skills preferred);
• Construction skills;

 

Here's our first sign! (You can click on it to make it bigger) This basically sums up what the farm will be over the next few years.

 

 

Kody put in a large garden (100' x 100') This is what it looked like before he started

 

The soil is fantastic! About 3 feet of top soil. The kids had a ball running all around and playing in dirt! Right behind those trees is a creek that flows right into the lake. (We have our own lake!)

 

These are the first few rows. We planted so many things! Peppers, tomato's, winter squash, summer squash, corn, pumpkins, lettuce, carrots, peas, beans, herbs, cucumbers, kale, swiss chard, cabbage, spinach, etc. And a few different kinds of each of those! Hopefully we'll be able to sell a lot at the Farmers Markets, because 106 tomato plats is a few too many for just our family. :)

 

 

We didn't fully realize the opportunity we received until just recently. Kody was talking with a guy who helped write the job posting and he said to Kody "So you're the lucky one who won the lottery, huh?" Come to find out the posting on Craig's List was a NATION WIDE posting! We were really surprised and VERY thankful that Kody got hired after learning that there were who knows how many people, that applied! Our boss John has asked Kody a few times, "so what's it going to take to keep you here long term, like the next 20-25 years?" He's happy with the work Kody's done and has even called him a genius!  We're so thankful for this amazing blessing! Heavenly Father keeps his eye out on all us little people for sure!

 

Ok.....now that I've been working on this big ol' post all morning, I guess I better go round up my kids since they've been going to town with Cheetos, ice cream, movies, and probably have messes all over :) 

 

We're all caught up to date with the start of our new adventure! Stay tuned for more stories and fun!