Little Cowboy

Here is Stephen, our little handsome cowboy.
He dressed himself up in full cowboy garb, complete
with a vest, hat, boots and rubber-band shooting pistol.

Xiana loves her older brother

Lauren Ashley

Whatever is Lovely

My family has been working on memorizing a section of Philippians, including the verses preceding and following this one. I have been thinking a lot about the negative side of things, and have to work hard at being happy, smiling and enjoying things in the present. Here is a list of things to think on which will be sure to make me smile.

• Cheerful little Xiana
• Stephen and Lucas' smiles
• The little ones giggling
• New babies at church
• Little Becky and Rylyn giving me hugs
• The four cardinal chicks in a nest in our arbor
• Caring for little Capitola Black goat
• Our silly roosters Henry, Leo II and Ronald
• Beautiful sunsets
• Growing gardens
• Chicks hatching
• The excitement of our bull Beau when he gets new grass
• Deciding whether turkey chicks are "chicks" "keets" or "turks" with Thomas
• Missionary stories of trust in the Lord
• Shi Weihan praising the Lord after he was persecuted for Christ's sake

Cows on the Farm

Yesterday Dad brought up a difficult subject. Which animals should we keep? Currently none of the goats or cows are giving milk, and we are not raising any large meat animals. Since the only fiber mill in Texas shut down, we have no way to locally process the angora's mohair. The only productive animals are the chickens, and we are currently starting another generation of them from the egg.

Our gentle bull Beau

The biggest things were the cows. They consume a huge amount of feed. We have had a Holstein cow since April, and a Jersey bull since September. As far as we could tell, they weren't working on making calves, and thus were not giving any milk. The bull (Beau) we have been trying, unsuccessfully, to sell on craigslist.

We made the decision. Mom called the vet and scheduled a time (this morning) to bring in our Holstein cow (Molly) to see if she was bred. If she wasn't bred, she would have to go up to the market. Dad borrowed a friend's trailer and brought Molly to the vet, and there we found that she was not bred. As soon as we got home from the vet, I put a craigslist ad up for her. Within three hours, she was sold. Dad called the friend to ask if we could borrow the trailer for a little while longer than planned. Right after lunch, he loaded Molly back up and drove her to her new home.

Sometime in the middle of this, Dad checked on craigslist for a bred Jersey cow. None. After he dropped Molly off at her new home, he checked again. There was a Jersey cow due in March or April, within five miles. Yes! He bought her and is currently on the way back home. He called to tell us that she is so beautiful he named her Bella, a perfect match for Beau.

This is a great blessing. We bought Molly from a friend of mine who had been trying to sell her for months. Our family has been looking for a bred Jersey milk cow for a couple months now. It is amazing that the Lord would work everything together so that the vet had an opening, we could borrow a trailer, sell an unproductive cow and buy a bred Jersey cow within five miles, all in the same day. Praise the Lord!

There was another blessing today. One of the chicks was so weak that we thought that he/she wouldn't survive. Usually the chicks are walking within an hour, but he was three days old and still wasn't walking. This morning he just stood up and started running around with the rest of the chicks!

Lauren Ashley

P.S. Bella was doing fine Sunday morning, but when we got home from church Sunday evening, Bella was laying on the ground, very bloated and very dead.

Little Children and the Way in Which They Speak

Recently I was in the boy's room, drawing a pattern for Roman Sandals for my brothers. Lucas, as usual, was watching and chattering away at the same time.

Lucas: "I like werning (learning). Do you know how I wern (learn)?"
Me: "No, I don't know."
Lucas: "I wern by watching. I like watching you to wern how to make Ronan sandals. Its not dee kind of werning like werning wetters (letters). Its werning by watching. Werning wetters I kinda like, but its too wetter-ie (letter-y). Dare's too many words I don't quite understand, but I like watching to wern how to make Ronan sandals."

Lucas doesn't always talk like this. When he wants he can pronounce words very clearly, but most of the time he doesn't put much effort into it. One day he was playing with his Red Ryder BB gun outside. If you have seen A Christmas Story you will remember that this is the you'll-shoot-your-eye-out gun.

Lucas: "I shot my foot, but the BB didn't penetrate!"

One day Stephen walked into the kitchen with an apple in his hand.

Stephen: "Can I have a snake (steak) knife to cut 
a ma-ple (an apple) with?"



A couple months ago we were at Grandma and Grandpa's house in MS. I was snuggling with Stephen and Xiana, trying to get them to go to sleep, but they wouldn't stop telling me about everything (very sweetly of course).

Stephen: "I tink (think) people made dee houses, but I tink God made duh twees (trees)."
Me: "Yes, but God made the trees and then people used them to make houses…" 
(a little while later...)
Me: "Someday I want to marry a missionary and have a whole bunch of sweet babies like both of you!"

When Xiana heard the word "babies" she handed me her baby doll. She thought that I wanted to have a whole bunch of baby dolls and so she gave up her one doll for me.


Aren't little kids adorable?

Best and Worst Wednesday {blogging edition}

Worst part about blogging? I find it hard to just sit down and start.

Best part about blogging? Somehow it is easier when I am writing to an audience, to people, rather than writing for the sake of writing.

Worst part about having an audience? I don't exactly know who they are. In the last month there have been 220 views of this blog from the United States, Russia, Germany, Pakistan, Australia, United Kingdom, India and Latvia. Wow.

Best part about having an audience? It is nice to know that people are actually reading my blog. Thank you to those who leave comments. 

Best? I am trying to start a new blog. (Not to replace this one, but to cover a different subject altogether)

Worst? I'm stuck on what background and font to use. It seems silly, but the blog has to have a very particular type of font and a very particular type of background. This reminds me of the quote, "Don't think too much. You'll create a problem that wasn't even there in the first place." Yep.

Do you have any Best and Worsts?

Lauren Ashley