Surprise, Surprise!!

We bought a farm. 

Oh, wait, sorry, that's not surprising that people like US would buy a farm. 

Did you see our last family pictures?!

Yep. We did. We officially became farmers on March 31, 2014. 

Maybe you are asking why, where and ARE YOU CRAZY?!? Like most everyone that we have talked to here. Or maybe you are asking, "Did you think it through first?" (Which is the other question we get a lot.) Right before we bought it there were two people here that were really supportive of our decision: our real estate agent and our loan officer at the bank. 

So, just a short explanation of our craziness, if an explanation is needed.

As you know, Ben is from Wyoming. He did not grow up on a farm or ranch nor did his parents own any animals or acreage. But, he decided at seven years of age that he wanted an animal. So, what did he do? He bought a calf and built a corral in his back yard and said it was a 4H project. That was the first of many sheep, pigs, horse and calves that Ben raised. He worked on a ranch for a few summers and wanted to be a rancher and a veterinarian at one point. Even though he was skillfully guided by his mother towards pursuing becoming a doctor instead (she has lived on both sides of the fence and through experience learned the luxury of having the means to pay bills) farming is something that is in Ben's blood and he was always wanted to own some land of his own. 

I was raised on a dairy farm. When Ben and I married, he thought because I was raised on a farm I had similar interests to his own. It was only later he learned that I had the "been there done that" attitude and definitely had NO interest at all, EVER in becoming a farmer, at any point in time. Never. Hence the reason we live in a cul-de-sac, in the city, 2 minutes from Eagle Road which has every store on it to shop at my convenience.  

Anyway. We had talked about land a few times, okay, many times and kind of looked around but not really seriously. Slowly I started thinking of the good things that I had learned from a farm as a kid and the good work ethic I learned. I learned if you want something, you work for it. And you're grateful for it because you worked for it.  I learned to care for something and be responsible. I learned to get up early and learned physical exhaustion from working really, really hard.  I also liked that I had places to run and explore and just be outside with nothing to do except use my creativity to entertain myself. It was a good thing. I ran wild and got dirty. I started to think that this was something that I wanted each of my children to learn as well. Lots of parents we have talked to have wanted to find ways of teaching their kids to work and haven't come up with any great ideas. 

Over Christmas vacation I just couldn't handle the begging to watch one more show, or play one more computer game or complaining that we didn't have a Wii or an I-pad/touch/tablet whatever electronic device that kids rot their brains on. AND THAT WAS IT!!

I said. WE ARE BUYING A FARM.

I got on the computer, did a real estate search and found the farm we bought. 

The end.

  OK, not totally the end... there were some details between that. Like there was a lot of thinking and debating and me accusing Ben of whispering the  phrase "buy a farm" in my ear over and over again the last nine years while I have been sleeping to get my subconscious to get that idea, because that day that Ben came home and I gave the announcement of what we were doing, he got a HUGE smile on his face and said "OKAY!"  and kept reminding me in the process, "Hey this was your idea..." but whatever. We looked at a few farms did, a lot of research, it was a crazy up and down road between us making an offer and actually signing on the line, but it happened and it has been a good thing so far. We still don't completely know what we got ourselves into, but we will learn and that is part of the adventure- which it IS guaranteed to be!

So, now that the short explanation of our craziness has turned into a long one, here are some pictures of :

Horseshoe T Farm

The shop- foggy January day

And I guess a quick explanation of the farm:

So the name is from Ben's registered brand, the Horseshoe T, 

12 acres, about 10 are in alfalfa, there is a manufactured home that we are renting out to a family there with 4 kids, it is about 40 minutes away from us, there is an apartment above the shop for us to stay when we go there. And we have big plans for all of it. Bridger already has his garden and pumpkin patch mapped out. 

This is the inside of the shop. There is an area for horse stalls on the side if we ever decide to use it for animals, which we probably won't. 

Yep, the shop is nice and big. Lots of space. Yep... space... space to store something big.. big like, oh, I don't know- maybe a BOAT?!

(Yes, that's part of our agreement. Some day down the road...)

 We got a four wheeler as our first piece of equipment. We have used it a lot so far. We did a lot of weeding, spraying and  burned ditches one of the first Saturdays we were up there and Bridger drove the four wheeler nice and slow as Ben used the fire torch to ignite the weeds and I was on patrol to make sure fire stayed where it should. No singed hairs or calls to the fire department on our first ditch-burning experience, so I say SUCCESS! 

Here are views from the deck outside the apartment upstairs. 

It's really quiet and peaceful here. 

These trees line the front property line, It is off the main road which is nice and there is lots of space to run around. 

There have been lots of birds in the shop and they have left lots of evidence. So, we spent a lot of time scrubbing and spraying off bird poop the first two weeks and fixing up where they are getting in. Both Bridger and Carter did a great job helping...I guess my plan is working. 

It was kind of toasty the Saturday we were up there before Easter. The boys were playing in the ditch with the neighbor kids and they were covered in mud. ( I couldn't tell if the neighbor boys were wearing pants or shorts-- they were seriously covered from head to toe...my boys not totally covered since they are still city kids and don't dare lay down COMPLETELY in the mud) 

I have to keep reminding myself that one of the rules on our family rule board is "get dirty" (no matter how much more laundry and clean-up it makes) and they have obeyed this with enthusiasm. 

Eden decided she would cool herself off in Afton's bucket of water. 

Afton jumped in too... I didn't get a picture, they had a great time and were both soaked. 

Here you can see the railing that Ben put in going up to the apartment. There is an office at the bottom of the stairs where the boys will sleep. 

Here is the apartment. We are slowly gathering things to put in there so we can stay over night. 

There is a bedroom and a bathroom behind where I am standing taking this picture. 

We have some extra clothes up there, but I found out not for the girls, so after their swim in the bucket,  they went into their brothers clothes and are cooling off on the deck. 

This year we are share cropping with a farmer down the road as we have yet to buy all the farm equipment we need. Hopefully over the next few years we will get it. In the mean time, Mr. Fuller is helping us. Here is a picture with him and all the boys on the four wheeler. They just got back setting gopher traps and he told the boys he would pay them $5 for every gopher tail they get. They have been very excited to check traps, set more and do research on the BEST way to catch gophers. Today they asked our home teacher for help when he ended the visit (as always) with the question, "So do you guys need help with anything?" (Of course, he has no idea how to help with that, but I think he was excited that we finally said yes) 

Office- Where the boys will stay. I told them they could do whatever they wanted as far as paint etc. So many ideas and only 4 walls...

We added some outlets and the space is becoming more usable

One thing is for sure, we are all starving by the time we leave. 

And we can say it's been a good day with lots of hard work on the farm, smiles on our faces and the satisfaction of knowing that we did something today. Something that was physically hard, a project that looked better at the end, that took team work, patience and perseverance. 

 And I can't deny, it's been fun too.