April Showers? or Just Windy?

April Showers Anyone?

Where are the April Showers? We have either had snow or blasting wind that closes highways and rattles windows at night. I do not remember so much wind the last time we lived here. I know the weather patterns seem to have changed a little bit in the last few years...but this is ridiculous! I hope we get a few showers in to help keep the forest green over the summer. We saw a lot of smoke yesterday due to a forest fire.

Finding Joy!

It was one of my goals this year to focus on happiness and joy in life. I can say that I am happy, even through the trials and tribulations. I have learned, thanks to previous trials and tribulations, to be patient and realize that things could be a lot worse. Really, things are very good! After watching April General Conference, I felt that despite our economic hardships, everything else is really, REALLY GOOD!

We are very busy in our new home with getting the land "fire safe". The previous occupants let the back 3/4 acre become very overgrown. We have worked on the weeds, but the wind keeps blowing our neatly piled weeds around. We have tried to burn the weeds but cannot because of high winds, I had to get a burn permit and I call every day to see if we can burn. So, we stopped working on that for now and pray that the winds will cease long enough for us to get the weeds gone!

The flower bed is planted with seeds and Marly diligently waters it every day. Our eight chicks have more than doubled in size and are now living in their remodeled coop. We do not let them outside much yet because we are afraid they will blow away! They are not big enough to handle the wind yet.

We found a local homeschool group...there are five other homeschool families in our ward alone. We have been excited to have so many "close by"...meaning within 20 minutes drive. LOL! There are TONS of teens here. There are 40 young women and about 15 young men in our ward. They have all welcomed Marly and Chris with open arms and invited them to lots of things already. The boys are particularly happy to have another boy so they are not so outnumbered.

I hope to get some more pics up soon. I have just been so busy...

New Sun Oven Kits Available!

This year I have launched four new Sun Oven Kits! Save money by ordering a kit with no extra shipping costs for pots. Check it out at http://solar.thesolarcook.com/.

Save over $60 by ordering a kit!

Town Hall for Hope

I am regular viewer and fan of Dave Ramsey. Mike's dad gave us Dave's first book "Financial Peace" about 10 years ago. We were hodge-podge about following his advice and struggled because of it. We got serious about 6 years ago and have paid off over $80,000 worth of debt, $30,000 of which were medical bills for our daughter, Marly. Last year we paid off the last credit card. We now only have a truck (stupid tax even after knowing we shouldn't buy it) and some student loans that we have been paying on for 10 years, other than our house in QC.

We wanted to share with you a free event that is coming up from Dave Ramsey. You don't need to pay any money. His books are readily available at your local libraries. Get them! Read them! Apply the principles to your lives! I promise his system works.

And Then There Were Eight...

One of our week old chicks died last night. Marly and Chris had noticed that it wasn't moving very much and so they were gently trying to drop water into it's mouth, but it would throw-up everything they gave it. Chris came into the house to get Mike, but by the time he came back out, the little chick named Jada was dead. Marly was crying her eyes out as she held the little chick while it died. We buried her today in our yard. This is the first chick we have lost and hopefully it will be the last.

And now we have 8 chicks...

We're Moved In!

It has been a crazy few weeks. But, we are finally moved into our new place. The kids have been SO helpful in packing, moving, and unpacking. I couldn't ask for more from Marly and Chris. They are truly learning the value of work and I am so thankful to have them in my life.

I want to thank EVERYONE who helped us move. We had so many arrive to help - family, friends, and ward members - that we were able to meet our goal to leave that night. THANK YOU! And - they did a phenomenal job on packing the truck. I can't believe they got so much in the truck.

We drove up Friday night with blowing snow and slick roads. We took it slow and arrived at 2am, fell into our sleeping bags and air mattresses, and got a meager 4 hours sleep. We awoke to bunnies in our front yard. We think they live in the bush out front since we see them nearly every day. Our dog is a maniac trying to get out to chase them, which she did for several hours the morning we moved in. She is an escape artist and we keep finding her outside the fence and chasing something - bunnies and cats mostly. Our new ward unpacked our truck in one hour! Wow! THANK YOU!

Chris - the Pyro Boy - is loving the wood burning stove. He has been able to light fires in the house...safely! The kids love their spacious rooms and are already unpacked and organized. If only I could say the same for Mike and I - well, Mike is unpacked, but I'm not. I focused on the kitchen, laundry room, pantry, computer nook and living room.

Marly and Chris have started a small farm. Yesterday they bought 9 chicks. We only had 3 last year and that was enough eggs for us most of the time. They are excited to get going with other animals, but we told them they have to build the animals their houses first...they have a shed already here for the chickens that needs just a couple renovations to be ready.

Thank Goodness for 72-Hour Kits!

With the mess and stress of packing for a move three hours away, meals have become a distant memory. I feel guilty that we are basically eating sandwiches and snacking our way through until we are moved. People have offered to bring meals, but I really wanted to just eat what we have in the fridge so I have less to move.

Then - my son reminded me that it is time to rotate the food in our 72-Hour kits over General Conference weekend. They are VERY excited about eating all the things they packed in their kits 6 months ago. SO - I had a brilliant idea and decided to let them eat the things that are expiring out of the kits now rather than wait until Saturday. I shouldn't be surprised how excited they are to open them up. This food is supposed to sustain us, not make us giddy with excitement. But, they are so happy to have Pop Tarts, Ramen (that was eaten up last week), Trail Mix, Capri Sun's, etc. to eat to day while we finish packing the last boxes today. I guess it shows how living on food storage for the last few months has made us excited for what we missed.