The newest addition...

to our little farm is Easton's calf Bullseye.

Not sure why he choose that name, but Bullseye it is!

Bullseye and I got acquainted fairly quickly after the boys brought him home from the auction.  He was in the back of Ryan's truck and Easton and his friend were looking at him when he decided to jump out of the truck!  I happened to be nearby and heard Easton yelling something about him getting out, so I ran over just in time to pretty much catch him mid air and tackle him to the ground!  He only weighs about 80lbs, but he is a fiesty little fella, and got up despite my best efforts to keep him down, so I held him around the neck and was trying to not let him go as help finally arrived in the form of my 15 year old son, who stood there and laughed at me and turned out to be no help at all!  I was out of breath as the little bugger was trying so hard to wriggle free from my grip.  I really wanted someone to put a halter on the dumb thing so I could stop fighting with it!  Finally the rest of the boys and Ryan came to my rescue and put the halter on it and I was able to limp in the house and catch my breath!  So, I guess I earned the badge of 'good farm wife' with my rodeo worthy calf wrestling skills!

Welcome to the farm Bullseye, and let's not do that again!

The gloomy wet weather this week has been very similar to the mood here in our community.  We lost a great guy early Monday morning when Ryan Prudhomme died and it has literally been raining and dreary ever since.

 I will never forget the first time I met Ryan, we had just moved up here, and it was the middle of winter.  My parents were up so we took a drive to see the area. We found the one restaurant that stays open year round in a neighboring town, and went in.  It's a very small bar/restaurant and when we walked in we saw 2 cowboys sitting at a table and I remember thinking..."where do I live?"  It seemed like a picture from out west!  Well, my dad, who never knew a stranger, decided to talk to these guys.  He goes on to tell them who we are and that we had just moved to the area.  They were both very kind and said they worked at the Ranch at Grace Adventures.  So I wondered if they were just dressed that way because of the ranch or what, I mean they were in full get up, hat, bandanna around the neck, big belt buckles, vests, leather slicker coats, the real deal!  I had seen several cowboys out west, and even knew one, but most people in Michigan, just wear the boots or hat or whatever not the whole shebang!  After living here a while I came to realize that indeed they were true cowboys. And not only that, they had a passion for the Lord and used their love of all things cowboy at the camp to help others grow in their faith and knowledge of the Lord.  It was a blessing to get to know Ryan, yes he was a great man of God, he was also a lot of fun and quite mischievous, he shared some great stories around campfires about his growing up years. He will definitely be missed!

 Today we went to the visitation and were once again reminded that we have a living God who cares for us and gives us the grace we need to deal with the difficulties of this life.  His wife, parents and brothers were all a picture of this kind of amazing grace.  While we are all so very sad that he is no longer with us, we are not like those without hope.  I cannot imagine going through life without the hope that is found in the Lord. 

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 NIV

¹³ Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. ¹⁴ For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. ¹⁵ According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁶ For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. ¹⁸ Therefore encourage one another with these words.

There may be some who read this and think this is 'hogwash' so to speak, but I urge anyone who thinks that way to think about something: What if you are wrong?  I mean, if what I believe is wrong, and when we die, we die and that's that, then at least I had hope{don't worry, I'm not changing my mind on this} But, what if what you believe is wrong, and what I believe is right?  Then what?  Just something to think about.  Ryan left a legacy of faith and trust in God, and I can't help but share that with you.  If you've never read Ryan and Kendra's blog, please check it out.  It will be sure to bless you, stretch you and make you think.

Please keep Kendra, Colton and their families in your prayers.

Basketball...

Is over, and baseball is starting, but, I wanted to post a few pictures of Dylan playing basketball.

While they didn't have the best record, they played hard and we cheered loud!  Dylan has improved greatly over the last few years playing basketball and it's fun to watch him play!  My boys even got me into the whole March madness bracket thing, who knew I would end up getting more of my first round bracket right than this guy!!

My favorite part is that he had to 'dress up' on game day, I loved to see him wear a tie.


Spencer was on a team this winter too and did an amazing job.  Dylan's team helped teach and coach the younger kids. Great to see the older kids investing in the younger ones.

Now we're on to baseball and soccer!