Back from KS

Well I figured I'd do a blog post real quick, since I'm going to have a lot going on the next few weeks, and not sure when I'll get a chance to do one for a little while. :) We got back from KS on Saturday, we were up there visiting my Dad's sister and her family. It was a lot of fun!! My cousin Hannah has two little inside dogs, Annie Buggers (Yorkie/Corgi mix) and then the newest one Zoe (Maltese/Yorkie mix) they are both so cute!! Duffy and Dooley had a blast playing with Zoe, Annie was not so happy about so many dogs invading her home though so she pouted pretty much the whole time. :( We managed to get a picture of the four cousins...although they were NOT cooperating at all, I was holding Duffy's tail down so he would stay sitting. :P





Micah got to go deer hunting...and we went for a walk out on some of Uncle Jerry's property...the bad thing was it was SO muddy there from all the snow melting, and I only brought my really nice boots I just bought, and flip flops. So not wanting to mess my boots up I just wore the flip flops...and boy did my feet ever get muddy!! It was fun though! And then Jerry found a dead deer out there, it was one he had been watching grow for like 5 years...too bad he was hoping to be able to hunt it one of these days.


Nerf guns were also the big thing there...LOL those darts were like EVERYWHERE!! :D They little ones...and big ones too had fun shooting each other. :P Okay so I do like Nerf guns. :D They come in real handy sometimes...better watch out Dannie! :D

The Burnett family is supposed to be coming here in just a few minutes...always fun when we get together with them! And then later this evening I'll be going to pick up Danielle at the airport! Can't wait! She will be going with us to the San Antonio Film Festival, Lord willing.

Anyway, guess that's all for now!!

Merry Christmas!!

It's getting close to Christmas....and it seems like it's around this time of the year that we get "Christmas letters" from friends giving us updates about their families. I always enjoy reading them. So well, since it's that time of year I figured I'd do my own, just here on the blog of course. Now this may be quite lengthy, I'm not sure but I wanted to update you all on "Besh's Kids."

I'll start out with the most precious one, and that would be my little white ball of joy. :)

Duffy- has had an adventuresome year to say the least. He turned 1 in April, celebrated his 1st year with me in June, and then had his wild 3 nights in the woods in November. His mom still can't believe how all that worked out. And the newest thing is the sudden arrival of his little brother Dooley, they do love each other though.

Dooley- is the newest "kid on the block" here, and is certainly fitting in well! Weighing in at exactly 3 pounds he can sure hold his own against big brother Duffy! Now if we can only get him potty trained I would be really happy. :)

Rancho- came to live with me in July, he's a ball of energy and excitement that's for sure! Rancho had his adventures as well with his intestinal blockage and just barely made it through that. He has big plans to possibly attend a "herding school" this next year, learning all there is to know about working livestock.

Symphony- she seems like the "old lady" now, still struggles with some hip difficulties, but certainly rules the roost in dogdom! She's just a big baby and is nicknamed "Lobby."

Buster- he's the watch dog of the farm, and so sweet and sensitive. Well....he's got some attitudes too at times, but we love him despite that. :)

Jack- is Anna's dog...and well that's about it, you'd just have to ask her about him. :)

Okay....now for the goats! Nubian's first...

Maggie- is my first Nubian, and so far has been the best producer on the farm. She still enjoys her role as "herd queen" but that has been challenged by a few of the other girls around here.

Sassy- well her name says it all, she's Miss Sassy, doesn't like being messed with at all, but she does her thing on the milk stand. She had one big baby boy this year that she was extremely proud of.

Madeline- she almost went to a new home this fall, but after a turn of events she gets to stay here for the time being, she's the only black goat on the farm.

Shardae- flew in from CA this spring to start of my registered herd of Nubian's. She's just gorgeous and did great in the show ring this fall. She's looking forward to her first babies in April, and also to more shows!

Elegance- is one of my Minnesota girls, she's been a bit slow maturing but is looking prettier and prettier the older she gets! We can't wait to see how she shows in the spring.

Attraction- she's the "baby" of the Nubian's but is growing up fast! She also did great in the show ring, she's definitely one of Mom's favorites. :P

Escape- well let's just say he's living up to his name!! He's caused more than a few issues this breeding season with his jumping skills, but he's so handsome I can't be too upset with him. He's the one and only Nubian buck on the farm right now.

Buddy- actually he doesn't have a name...he's just that, a buddy to my Nubian buck Escape. He does his job well, and they are both best friends.

And now for the Boers.... :D

Poco- first things first she's my first Boer....wait actually she's Andrew's! :) She's such a sweet girl, and had two handsome little boys this spring....unfortunately they went in the freezer. :(

Reba- she battles it out with Maggie for the herd queen status, such a pretty girl that I really love. She had two beautiful kids this year, a boy and a girl, her buck Powerhouse did well at the Tulsa State Fair placing 5th out of 39.

Sapphire- okay...she's had a tough year. She gave birth to a stillborn kid in March and barely pulled through that, but once she did she was doing great!! Although now we're running into some more issues....she had an ultrasound last Saturday showing just fluid in the uterus and no baby...so keep her in your thoughts.

Alyssa- she had two of the cutest little girls! I love both of them...although this year she had a little accident with the Nubian buck...so we'll be having Nubian/Boer cross kids in March.

Christiana- she has the pleasure of saying that her buck kid went all the way to MEXICO to do some big jobs down there! Unfortunately she's at the bottom of the totem pole in goat world, but she's a sweet little girl!

Paint- gets the reward for having the most difficult kidding this year...one that really put me to the test!! I got to have my arm in her all the way up to my elbow, but thankfully she had two beautiful BIG little boys!! Sad to say they had to attend freezer camp as well...

Gauger- okay this is definitely a well fed individual!! WOW we need to get on a diet, she's a hunk! Being the most expensive doe on the farm though, we are anxiously awaiting her first kids in March, she's the first one due.

Wenneveria- hmmmm, I wonder where she got her name? :D She's a sweet little girl, and looks forward to being a first time Mommy in June.

Fat Doe- She definitely got the award for having the most famous son this year! PENDRAGON is the man!! He did well in the show ring, and then got to go to a great home in Colorado to do bigger and better things. As to where her name came from...well you'd have to see a picture...she's the biggest doe on the farm!

Moonlight- this is Wenneveria's sweet little sister, she's such a feminine little girl, and looks forward to her first kids in June as well.

Destiny- you have to wonder what this girl is destined to do!! She's Reba's girl, and is certainly following in her Mom's footsteps as far as quirkiness goes, she does NOT like being messed with at all unless you act super sweet with her, then she gets the idea and loves to be petted.

C Doe Kid- okay weird name I know, but she actually isn't named, I didn't plan on keeping her but things didn't work out to get her sold, so she's here for now.

Redneck and Rustler- they were the last and most hoped for kids born this year, we took one of our very special does and bred her to the IBGA National Junior Champion buck..and got twin bucks out of the deal! They had a rough start, but are looking nicer and nicer as they mature.

10B2B X111- last but certainly not least!! This is our boy that came to us from 10 Buck 2 Boers...they're the ones that win most of the shows around here. He's had fun this fall, and is looking forward to lots of little babies in the spring. Talk about a whopper boy though, he's huge!

Well boring or not....that's the report of Besh's Kids!! Lots of babies this spring went on to do other things, but that's the keepers for now, looking forward to at least doubling that number in the spring with all the babies!! :) Unfortunately it would be a bit difficult to get everybody together for a family picture...so we had to pass on that. :D

*Edit* Mom (real Mom Cindy) wanted to make sure everybody knew that all Mom's on here refer either to goat Mom's or me. :D

Hope everybody has a very blessed and wonderful Christmas!!

~Besh

Well this freezing cold weather has NOT been so fun. I didn't get up the courage to go out in it until about 2:30 this afternoon....I jumped up the four wheeler and sped up to the barn as quickly as I could. :) The goats water buckets were already frozen over from Micah and Andrew doing them this morning. Hauling water in 20 degree weather is not the funnest chore in the world either. :P By the time I fed, watered, and gave the goats hay I was quite throughly frozen! But after talking to a friend of mine who lives in Wisconsin and hearing about their wind chill being way below zero I figured I don't have it too bad....but it's still way too cold for me. :)

I'm sure most of you read about our Friday night adventure on my Mom's blog, it was so much fun! :) Although I figured out real quick that I need major ice skating practice. :D It certainly wasn't a good sign when I couldn't even walk on the GROUND, much less getting on the ice with those things on my feet! It was pretty bad, I couldn't get anywhere, and there were lots of other people skating so I kept grabbing onto other people I didn't know, which was kind of embarrassing.... :D It was fun, even though I never was able to get away from the wall. :P Micah, Caleb, and Daniel were doing good...but I just couldn't get it. :) This picture was taken at the Myriad Gardens in OKC.


Mom and Anna have been cooking tons of Christmas goodies today, I've managed to get a few samples and everything sure is good! I made bread, helped Anna roll up some peanut butter balls, and made a salad for supper. Cooking is not my favorite thing to do in the world, but it's certainly necessary. :) I'm planning on making some cinnamon rolls to sell this week, I used to do it pretty regularly, but haven't in quite some time. I've had people asking me for them though, so I might as well take the opportunity to make some extra money! :)

This is just a random picture but I thought it was cute! Guess Anna's heifer was ready for breakfast!


This is probably rather boring, but I wanted to update so I could be a good example to my friends. :P (That would be Danielle and Hannah) :) And Hannah, I think you'd better be working on that blog!

Longing for spring.... :)

Besh

I shipped some orders out today...get yours in and you can still get it in time for Christmas!

Please vote on the sidebar, and leave a comment telling Hannah how much you'd love it if she made herself a blog!! :) *Note you can select multiple answers.* :P

Duffy's little brother!

*Pictures added at the bottom of Duffy and Dooley together* :)

Okay, I know I might be a little crazy....but yesterday I drove 2 hours away and brought home a little brother for Duffy! :) A 4 month old Yorkie puppy. He is just adorable, and Duffy is having a blast with him, they are so cute playing together! He's quite tiny even at 4 months and weighs 2.6 pounds. He sure can hold his own against big 12 pound Duffy though! The drive was quite the adventure...I got stopped by a police on the way home. :( Scared me quite throughly but thankfully I didn't get a ticket. :)

So may I introduce to you, "Dooley!"




Mom and I went to town earlier and picked up some matching sweaters. :) So we got pictures of the two of them together...Duffy wasn't too thrilled about wearing his as you can tell from the pictures. :D

Our Thanksgiving!!

We had a great trip to Dickinson TX for our Thanksgiving get together at Nana and Pop's house. We left early Wednesday morning and arrived at about 1:00, actually made the trip in 8 hours, with only 1 stop, quite the record! :) And OF COURSE Duffy came along with us, he's a good traveler and just slept the whole way pretty much in my lap. :)


Nana and Pop, and Uncle Jerry, Aunt Tami, and cousins Hannah and Garret were there at the house. After getting settled in we headed over to Uncle Todd's house (Dad's brother) to see some amazing landscaping he has done in his back yard. It was really neat, and SO pretty! And then that evening we went to some indoor batting cages that Todd owns, it was a lot of fun hitting soft balls. Except for the fact that I KEPT hitting the things on the handle....and man did it ever hurt. My hands were like swollen afterwards, but it was worth it. :)


Thursday was cooking and eating lots of food! As well as some more of the cousins arriving. AND the traditional Football game...which HAD to be played despite having to almost drag some people off the couch. I just watched of course (I do know better than to play tackle football with my brothers) but it a lot of fun just seeing them play, it was a pretty serious game to say the least! We stayed up until 2:00 or so that evening playing Canasta, it's the big game at our family get togethers. :)









Friday was our beach day...it was SO much fun! We were planning on taking family pictures so we all wore white tops and jean bottoms..actually everybody that came with us wore white too so they could fit in. :) Duffy had an absolute BLAST! As soon as I set him down on that sand he just took off running and playing and played the whole time we were there. :) He wouldn't come in the water though, much as I tried...as soon as the tide came up he'd dash to higher ground. :)



Friday night being the last night we stayed up til 3:30 in the morning! Needless to say, everybody was rather tired....so things were a bit crazy! :P :D OH I forgot to say that evening we order 21 pizza's to feed everybody there!! WOW! That's a record!


Hannah loves Duffy just about as much as I do...and he quickly figured that out. :) She has a dog too, a Yorkie mix named "Annie Boogers." :D Duffy still has yet to meet his Doggy cousin though...hopefully sometime soon. :)



It was such a fun trip and we all greatly enjoyed it, we are so blessed to have such wonderful extended family!

A bit Random....

Well little Duffy is doing much better! He had another vet visit this morning, and the fever is gone now, so he just has a few more days on the antibiotic and then hopefully he'll be good to go. I'm just so thankful he's still here with me, and back to acting pretty much like his normal self. :) We've been staying pretty close...he couldn't even let me play Daniel's guitar by myself.... :P


And even Dad is glad he's back...as you can see by them taking a Sunday afternoon nap together. :)


Saturday afternoon Dad and I made a batch of Goat's Milk Soap. I've got quite a few orders for Christmas, so I need to make sure I'm stocked up! :) We're planning on making some more tonight too, Dad mixes the Lye solution for me, and then I do the rest, as I don't like that part and he's glad to help me out. I'm planning on having it where you can order it directly off our farm website soon, hopefully that will make it more convenient for everybody.



I'm also really excited about reserving a Nubian doe kid from Lakeshore Farms in CA again! :) I'm just getting one this time but hopefully I'll be having some nice kids of my own too. :) Shardae is bred for April kids, I can't wait! :) She's the doe that I got from CA this past spring. I'm going to hold off on breeding the two I got from MN until next fall, as one is still young, and the other from slower maturing lines.

I SO can't wait for spring....LOL I know, we've not even got to winter yet.... :( :D Baby goats are just so much fun despite all the work that comes with them....and despite the fact that I got trampled by hungry Mama's the other day leaving a nice bruise and knot on my shin. :D

Besh

He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end. Eccl. 3:11

Duffy...the Miracle Dog

For those of you that don't know a whole lot about my dog Duffy, let me introduce him to you. :) My parents got him for my 18th birthday, after dreaming for years about having a little inside dog of my own. So of course he quickly became very special to me, he sleeps with me every night in my bed, follows me around everywhere, and whenever I sit down anywhere whether at the computer or in a chair he's sure to be in my lap. :) And even recently he's started sitting with me AT the table...which Mom doesn't appreciate too much... :D So he's pretty much just TOTALLY like my child, we even have jokes that he's going to be the ring bearer in my wedding whenever I get married. :P


So on Saturday morning on the way to the Duggar's home we dropped him off at our neighbors house so they could watch him for the weekend. I'd never actually left him anywhere without me, but I thought he would be fine. Well, about 1 1/2 hours later we got a call that he had slipped out of his collar and escaped into the woods. I was shocked hearing that, but really thought they would probably find him pretty quick. We arrived at the Duggar's at about 10:30, and Duffy was still not found. I was pretty worried at this point and decided to go ahead and drive back to search for him, two of the Duggar girls Jana and Jessa, graciously drove back with me, we actually ended up talking the whole way here, it was a lot of fun and kept my mind off things. It was about 2:30 when we arrived at the house and we started searching right away...but to no avail. So after about an hour we headed back, I drove all the way back and actually made it in about 2 hours and 50 minutes instead of the 3 and a half hours that it took us going. :)


All of us girls stayed up pretty late Saturday night talking and playing some games...so much fun!!


Sunday after church we headed home and arrived just a little before dark and we went on another search until it got dark but still couldn't find him. Needless to say I was totally devastated that evening...it was so hard doing all the normal things with out my little guy following close at my heels. Mercy just couldn't understand that Duffy was gone, and kept asking to go "see" him. :( Probably the hardest though, was going to bed without Duffy, the first time I've slept in my bed without him in a LONG time. Took me hours to finally go to sleep and I ended up sleeping until 11:00 Monday morning. Anna, Micah, Andrew, and Joshua and already been out looking before I got up. And then Mom and I went to town to get stuff to make more signs. We got home at around 3:00 in the afternoon after getting them all put up, and decided to just try to walk kind of through the square mile in the woods instead of staying on the roads. So off we went, through fences, woods, and past "No Trespassing" signs. :) We did try to stay away from the houses because I didn't want to have to explain to anybody why we were walking through their property. :) It took us close to an hour to walk all the way across, because it was so hard to get through, there were lots of thorns and underbrush. After making it across, I decided we would go back up a bit and then make another strip the opposite direction. So we did, and were probably about halfway back and still no signs of Duffy. I had been praying all along that we would find him, but at that point I really just started asking the Lord to direct our steps and lead us right to Duffy. Well just about 10 minutes later after tons of zig zagging and trying to avoid houses I looked off to the left and there under a cedar tree all hunkered down was DUFFY!!! There was a barb wire fence in between but I was over that in an instant and had him in my arms, crying like a baby. :) It was just amazing!! We started back as fast as we could, but it took us at least 30 minutes to get back to where we had parked the van.

Soon as we came in the house and Duffy saw everybody he started barking, and of course all the little ones were SO excited that he was home. :) He has some pretty bad cuts on both his front legs, so Elijah and I ran him by the vet to get them looked at. We got some antibiotics as he was running a bit of a fever, and he's just been taking it easy. :) He's laying in my lap right now as I'm typing this, if he was spoiled before, he's going to be doubly spoiled now getting carried everywhere, as he is supposed to stay off his feet until he gets healed up. :) I'm SO incredibly thankful to the Lord for leading us right to Duffy!!

Thinking Back....

November brings back a lot of memories for me, I've been thinking about things a lot, and then singing the song "Like a River Glorious" in church yesterday really brought back memories about Joel. That song was very close to my heart during all we went through 2 years ago.

I know this isn't really a "normal" blog post for me to write, I generally don't talk about Joel a whole lot, not necessarily because I don't like to...I guess I'm just the type of person that keeps things like that to myself unless I'm specifically asked. But not talking about him, certainly doesn't mean I'm not thinking about and missing him often. So why am I writing this? Well, a year ago I wrote out something in my journal entitled "Thinking Back." I wrote it with the intent that I might possibly share it somewhere, sometime on my blog. :) Well, seeing as it's sat in my journal for almost a year I thought I'd post it today. Perhaps it may be an encouragement to someone, or if nothing else it's just to remember Joel.

"Thinking Back" Nov. 28, 2007

As I think back over the last year and a half or so of my life, it's hard to believe all the things that have happened. So much has changed. It is truly the mercy of God that we do not know what a day may bring forth.

November...it was a very difficult month for me. It was a month of questions but we didn't have answers. It was a month of much heartache, just seeing little Joel so sick, but not know what was wrong. There would be days that he would feel better, and our hopes would rise, only to be cast down the next day. Why these fevers? What was going on in his little body? But God's grace was always there, carrying us through the valley.

December came, finally the answers we were seeking but not answers we wanted to hear. Cancer was such a foreign word to me. Something that old people got, it never had a lot of meaning to me, I guess I just never thought about it much. It was always something that happened to others, never something that would happen to us. But yet that was the answer we received, Joel had cancer, a very aggressive kind of cancer, at stage 4. When Dad came home and told us the news I just felt like I couldn't bear it. How could life go on like this? How were we going to get through this? I just wanted everything to be "normal" again...but no, nothing would be "normal" anymore, that was a thing of the past. I remember so clearly spending time with Joel in the hospital. Reading books to him, coloring pictures, even one day taking a little stroll down the hallways with him. Memories that I cherish but yet are so painful.

Then Christmas came, I don't think I really even imagined that it would be the last Christmas we would ever celebrate with Joel on this side of heaven. We were hoping and praying that Joel would get well, I never really thought that it would be otherwise. But God's ways are not always our ways. January 3rd...that day was extremly difficult. The phone call late in the night saying that Joel had had a seizure, oh the memories of it are so painful. But still even through this the darkest valley of our life God's grace was still there carrying us through. And then on January 23rd, 2007 when God chose to take Joel home to Him in glory, the wonderful grace of Jesus was manifested to us.

Yes, it's hard, really hard, we miss him terribly, but I can just imagine him waking up in heaven as a dear friend shared with us, saying "I'm all done?" Yes Joel you are all done, no more pain, no more pokey things, and no more cancer. Joel experienced the ultimate healing, and though it was not the healing we were praying for, God has used his precious life to impact people around the world.

As I ask myself would I take him back if it were possible? No I would not, he is alive with Christ and free from all sorrow and pain. But yet I wish that I could hold him in my arms once more...see his eyes looking into mine and hear his little voice. But praise the Lord, someday I will, soon and very soon. What a wonderful day that will be!

I love you forever Joel, can't wait to see you in heaven!

Your sister,
Besh

An Affair Of The Heart

Thursday evening Elijah dropped Anna and I off to spend the night with the Burnett girls, with plans to go to the "Affair Of The Heart" craft show together at the OKC State Fairgrounds. We had a GREAT time that evening, sitting around talking, snacking, and playing a game. :) I actually got to sleep at a decent hour, probably about 1:30...but my sister Anna stayed up talking until 3:00!! :o Fun though! Abbie and I had this great trick we tried to play on Hannah...but sadly it didn't quite turn out because she figured out that Abbie wasn't in her bed. :( Oh well...it would have been pretty good if we could have pulled it off without Abbie laughing! :D

Mom and Mercy joined us Friday morning, it was like SO cold...and guess what? I wore flip flops. :D My toes were about to freeze off until we got into the building, but thankfully it was warm inside! :) We generally don't do a lot of buying, just walk around and look at everything there, and sample all the dips, jellies and salsa's. Oh, and most importantly the coffee and cappuccino!! :) Mercy was a bit overwhelmed at first with all the people there, but toward the end she got used to everything and had a lot of fun, as well as getting a new baby doll. :)

Oh, and to answer Marie in NC's question, we've known the Burnett's for many years, they have 8 children right in the same age ranges as our family, and we love spending time with them. :) Unfortunately the don't have a blog...but I REALLY think they should get one! :)


Our chickens are all in the freezer now! Yay! We got them all processed yesterday evening and today...sure is nice having chickens to eat...but most certainly not our favorite job to do. :)