Merry Christmas from One Blessed Acre

From our farm, our hearts and our home, we wish you all a very Merry Christmas!  We are prayerful that 2016 will be another year full of many blessings.  May the Lord continually pour forth His grace upon your home.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Fall, my favorite time of the year

Happy Thanksgiving!

While I gaze outside of our house, I observe all of the beautiful pumpkins from our garden that adorn our egg/vegetable stand.   I love watching strangers stop by to quickly snap a picture of the stand.  I sneak a quick peak out our front window and then I wonder how someone will use my stand in a Pinterest or Instagram post.  And it makes me smile.   

My days have been full with many joyous activities that I am so grateful and thankful for:

* studying the word of God

* simplifying our home

*loving my family

* schooling my children

* sewing quilts

*cross stitching

* raising animals

* working through a remodel of our downstairs

* reading good books

My heart is so overflowing with peace enjoying this life that I have been gifted with.  Faith believes what it cannot presently see. Faith trusts that regardless of the circumstances God’s word is true and that God is in control of all things (not just some of them!).

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. –Isaiah 26:3

I pray your days be filled with a peace beyond understanding! 

Happy Birthday to Abby

While I sit here, I am pondering how fast eight years can pass.  Eight years ago Abigail Renee was born.  She was the first of two children born during our short time living in Georgia and she was our 6th daughter.  Hannah picked out her first name (she was named after Hannah's American Girl doll) and her middle name is from her Auntie Renee.  Some fun facts about Abby:

 

• She loves cheeseburgers now, but at first it was "hangabers"
• She has very wavy long brown hair that she HATES to brush
• She loves to wear hats, especially her one-eyed yellow minion hat (in fact one Sunday she didn't wear it to church and Pastor Dan didn't know who she was without it)
• She can keep up with George and that's sometimes hard to do
• She loves ballet and tap dancing
• Her best friend is Madelyn and they Skype at least once a week
• She hates having her birthday at the end of the year even though she shares her special day with her Grandma
• Oftentimes we'll find her curled up in her bed, all by herself listening to her sister's music.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy 8th Birthday Sweetheart!  We love you.

Catching Up (Summer photos)

 

 

Today I find myself enjoying the simple moments of the summer season. . . . . .

*     a growing garden, due solely to my amazing husband who moved raised beds, trapped gophers with George, tilled under all of our existing compost and planted an amazing amount of flowers, bulbs and seeds (I am so sorry that all of your gladiolas came up burgundy, but they are gorgeous!)

*     a birthday celebration with our little man, George, who turned six this year

*     a special visit from my Mom on her birthday.  We got to treat her to a birthday dinner, in which the kids absolutely loved having the food cooked right in front of them and flipped into their mouths (well, no one actually caught any pieces, but they did give it a good try)

*     the most restful and relaxing four day vacation that I have ever been on.....at the Grey Eagle Lodge in Grey Eagle, California.. . . . did I mention they cooked us breakfast and dinner at the lodge and that I didn't have to do dishes once?  My body still goes numb thinking about how my kids loved swimming in 45 degree mountain snow water while there, but they did have the best swimming hole I've seen in a long time.  Even though my ankle was under wraps that didn't stop Dad and the kids from taking a couple of hikes up the mountain side and getting ice cream in town not once but twice!  Even better was that we got a few moments to meet up with our second oldest daughter and her family and meet our newest grandson Grayson.  He was a favorite among all that got to hold him.

*    Fourth of July celebration in our town is a big thing and this year our chickens were featured at the Chicken Pooping Bingo contest on Main Street.  Coupled with a parade, a rather large fire, smores and fireworks, the day couldn't have been better.

 

How is your summer going?

Every homestead needs a dog

One morning, the General Manager on the way out the door to work, casually says, "Umm, by the way, I might be bringing a dog home tonight."  "Okay," I said, but in my mind I was thinking (rather screaming loudly), "WAIT, we had this conversation over Christmas and we decided that we weren't ready for a dog."

What tumbled out of the truck back seat later that night was 69 pounds of white fluff; a six month old, male Great Pyrenees.  He was scared and unsure of where he was.  Being born on a farm, in a chicken coop and having lived there for the past six months of his life, it's no wonder seven pairs of eyes staring at him was a little nerve wracking.

 

He finally made it out of the truck.  Make a mental note to self, FIRST, put a collar on the dog and  THEN, attach a lease before releasing said dog from the truck.  He bolted out into the cow pasture behind our house where he was stopped, from his trek back to his original home in Crescent City, by a bunch of cows surrounding him.  The General Manager had to pick him up and carry him back into the house where we QUICKLY decided on a game plan for how we were going to get him accustomed to his new home.

 

First things first, DOG, YOU NEED A BATH!  So into the tub he scrub a dub dubbed!  He still smelled like wet dog, but was a whole lot less muddy.

 

In the last few weeks we have managed to spend a small fortune on chewing toys, dog bones, dog biscuits, feed bowls, and dog food (who would have thought a puppy could eat so much food?)  It's a good thing we have a freezer full of soup bones from the cow we purchased earlier this year!

 

But, when you see that smiling dog face and feel the wet, snotty kisses on your face, it's no wonder that all the preciouspeas at this farm have fallen in love with KEVIN.  And now, it's official because he has his own name collar.