Good Times

This morning I ate my entire breakfast with Shia hugging my neck and chomping in my ear. I love these days!

Typical

I was just telling Christian last night how only in Vernon would my day go this way...

The kids and I were making cookies for a neighbor when somebody knocked on our door asking if I could pull their truck out of the mud. I was a little nervous, because this is a "husband job" and then I realized that it was someone we kind of know. They were desperate and didn't really have anyone else to help them and came to our house hoping we could help (they are from the city). I knew Christian wouldn't be home for another 3 hours and couldn't think of any other guys home to help. So I got all three kids in the truck, put the chain in that was on the tractor and went off-roading for a few miles to reach their truck.The kids laughed and loved every minute of bouncing around in the truck . It didn't take too much pulling and we got them out. To finish off the night Christian and I went on a bike ride with the kids and watched the sun set!

First Day of School... Again!

We thought that Christian was finished with school, but Christian was offered a really great opportunity to get a Masters Degree through his work; which is the Department of Defense. So today he started school at with the Naval Post Graduate Academy. It is a two years Master Degree and he will do it on the computer via Teleconferencing during work. We thought it was just too good of an offer to pass up, even though two years seems like a long time to commit when we have a full-time farm on the side as well! I am sure that it will all work out and we are excited for this opportunity!

X96 Morning Show and our Farm!

So these guys came out to our farm on Sunday with their staff and camera crew. They have radio talk show in Pennsylvania and wanted to try milking a pig. First they came to our farm and shot a lot of footage of our farm and pigs and interviewed Christian. They couldn't believe how beautiful it is. We just had a pig farrow last week, that we were planning to milk, but it died giving birth, so we did not have a pig to milk. Our friend,Brooke, graciously let us try milking one of her pigs. They were pretty entertaining. This morning they were on X96 and were talking about their experience and our farm. Christian posted the links and story on our Farm Blog. Check it out here: http://christiansenshogheaven.blogspot.com/2011/03/pork-milk.html
One thing that we thought was so funny was that they asked for a ride in the back of our truck. It is illegal in Pennsylvania and they have never had that experience. So we let them sit on the tailgate and we drove them around town. They thought Vernon was beautiful and loved being on a farm. We have had a lot of great experiences like this because of our farm.

Happy Birthday Christian!

Yesterday was Christian's Birthday! We invited Christian's sister Amee and her family over for dinner and cake. (They are our Vernon Buddies) We get together with them a few times a week. Christian is not a big cake fan so I made him Strawberry Shortcake with my homemade Angel food cake and strawberry sauce.
Christian is such a wonderful husband and is the most perfect dad! Here are some things that I love about him:
He is always positive and has taught me to be also.
He is so patient with the kids and especially me.
He is the hardest working guy I know.
He is always in a good mood, unless the shear pin breaks on the tractor three times in a row.
He makes me laugh!
Everything we have...we have done together.
We make a great team!
We have a wonderful marriage. Thank you for all you do.

More Winter Pictures!

Winter at the farm!

I have been looking forward to this winter season for a while now. Although there are still many chores to do... Life just seems to slow down during the winter. Christian and I have been working together on the weekends getting pens set up for new pigs. This week we received 25 new chicks that will be our new laying hens. Right now we have 37 chickens, 5 turkeys, around 100 pigs and some cows here and there. We received the Gurney's Catalog and many other seed catalogs that the we all have looked at together and everyone is putting in their vote for what to plant in the garden!

Some of the finished product

We have been living in our house for about 3 weeks now and I am finally getting some pictures up. We are really enjoying the extra room. I love having my laundry room right off my kitchen and we love having a wood burning stove. Christian and I were both amazed how fast this new house felt like home. It already seems like we have lived here for a long time. I will post some more pics of the kids bedrooms soon!

The First part of the farm move....

The first thing that we moved to our new house were the chickens and turkeys. Before we could move them we had to set up new fencing, move shelters, feeders, and the watering system. We have found that the best way to catch tukeys and chickens is at night. They are much more mild when they are roosting and can't see us coming. So we put the kids to bed, get long sleeve shirts and head lamps on and get started. We end up getting a good laugh when one of us slips in the mud and we call it a farm date. We caught about 90 turkeys and 150+ chickens that night. Here are some pictures of us moving their shelters earlier that day. Hans and Dane were in charge of moving some old fence posts to the fire pile, Christian worked the tractor, and Shia and I put in the fence and supervised.

House in Progress...

Here are some pictures of our house about two weeks before it was done. Christian's family came out and helped us with our wood floors and they turned out beautiful. Christian and I stayed up until 4:00 am one morning laying the brick for our wood burning stove in our great room. We couldn't have done it without all of the help from family! I will post the Final Pics Soon!

Farm Kids!

Our kids are such farm kids. Yesterday Christian and I were trying to leave and we couldn't find Hans anywhere. When we finally found him he was planting pumpkin seeds behind our house. At school during recess he found a pumpkin that had been broken so he "harvested" the seeds to plant.
My boys also can't understand why I will not let them wear their Mudd Boots into town and Shia just loves these chickens.

House Update!

Well I have not really blogged about the progress of our house even though I have taken a lot of pictures. So here is the latest picture of the outside. On the inside the drywall is already in and they are mudding and taping it. Our contractor said that we will be in it by Halloween! We are all so excited. They will be working on the rock and stucco next week! It has been really fun to see it all come together. We still have a lot of work to do: fencing, setting up water, setting up pens, moving animals. Hopefully we can get it all done before the snow comes!

The Best Little Chicken Catchers!

Bracken and Bree spent a few nights at our house and they were able to help us catch chickens. We had a total of 486 chickens to catch and Christian and I were a little overwhelmed to say the least. We also had shelves for our walk in freezer that needed to be assembled for the finished product the next day. We are always short on time and the butcher was already setting up for butchering the next morning at 4 am. So Christian got to work on the shelves and Bracken, Bree, Hans, and Dane helped me catch chickens. I was so impressed with Bracken and Bree! Catching chickens can be a little intimidating. They will peck at you and hiss while you are crawling (literally) into their huts to grab them. We do it in the dark so the chickens are not running around, so that makes it a little harder as well. It usually takes Christian and I about 2 1/2 hours to catch 200 chickens. Well about 2 hours into it Christian is done with the shelves and comes to help. He is so surprised that we really didn't need him. We had about 470 chickens already caught. Christian couldn't even believe it even though he saw the full crates. He kept counting and counting. Bracken and Bree had a great time and asked if they could come and help us again! We all love having them around and will call them to come again next time!

A much needed Family Vacation!

The last week of July we rented some wave runners and went to Sand Hollow reservoir with Christian's sisters and their families. We had a great time. It was so nice to leave the farm and not worry about animals for 4 whole days! We all tubed until our elbows were rubbed raw. The guys had tube wars trying to throw each other off and us girls tried to see how long we could stay on. It was sad that our bodies gave in way before our minds. (I refuse to say that I am getting old) We also went fishing at Kolob lake. After all the fun was over Christian and I decided that we need to take many more family vacations like this one!

Shia!

Shia is so big! She is One and has so much personality! She knows just what strings to pull with her two big brothers and they usually give her whatever she wants. She loves to wear bows, tu tu's, and especially shoes. She steals everybody's shoes. She loves to climb up on the back of our couch and look out the window and wave to people as they go by. I have to say. I just love having a little girl!

Farm Update!

Well we have been really busy. I know whats new... but really we have been swamped. In case you didn't know we are expanding our farm. Last month we bought 20 Acres and we are moving everything over and building a new house, Yeah! This past week we have been getting the poles set for our barn. When I say we, I mean Christian and his brother Niels. They have been working really hard and the kids and I have been the camera/drink crew! We are hoping to have the barn finished in a week or two and start on the house after that. We will also try to have all 20 acres completely fenced in the next couple of weeks. We also have water lines to run from our well that we just drilled and then we will move over the animals (60+ pigs, 100 turkeys, and 1300) Chickens. I am not looking forward to the Chicken part. Have you ever tried to herd Chickens? Not the easiest thing. Actually it is near impossible, but we will manage. Well here are some fun pictures of our new land and us setting it up and the kids playing around. Notice how beautiful the views are...It is our favorite part! Enjoy!

Shia-First Pig Tails, Crawling, Talking, trying to Walk!

I have been super busy and have failed to blog about some of Shia's milestones. She has been growing and learning so fast! She started crawling at 7 months. Now she can almost keep up with her big brothers. Her first word was Ought Ohh!, She also started saying Daddy (of course), then Mama, and yesterday she waved and said, "bye, bye," to some friends. She is always so happy and very content to play with toys in her room! She is already starting to learn the art of teasing! Of course she has Christian wrapped around her little finger, but I wouldn't have it any other way!

Hollie, Hollie, how does your garden grow?

This has been my latest 'little" project. On top of being a mom to 3 kids, being my husbands wife, taking care of 60 or so pigs, 400 chicks, etc. etc. I decided to do something I love, and I absolutely love gardening and watching things grow. We have the most perfect South facing window in our kitchen and I thought it would be fun to see what I could grow. I started 8 heads of lettuce, 4 tomato plants, and 4 cucumber plants. I wasn't sure how well they would do and now I have a jungle in my kitchen. Hans and Dane have really been excited and are in on the action as well. Hans has some Watermelon plants growing, and Dane has a 4 feet long pea plant which is starting to produce abundantly. We had some store bought Cantaloupe that Dane just loved, so he decided to try planting his own and now it is growing great! We have already harvested 4 heads of delicious lettuce and the cucs, and tomatoes flowering! This has been so much fun! The kids help me water everyday and we love watching our garden grow!

I think his Tractor's Sexy

We have gotten to the point on our farm that we just need a tractor. He have been planning on getting one for the past 8 months or so. Luckily we have had great neighbors who have helped us get by in the meantime. I am sure they will miss the barter of pork, for their service. We got the tractor late Friday night and Christian and I came home and drove it around while the kids were in bed. We had to deliver Pork early the next morning, but when we got home Christian's friend was at our house excited to see his new toy! Many other Menfolk from town came to admire Christian's new toy. I love seeing him out "working" on it.