"He's a Giant of a Lumber Man"

The boys have transformed into Paul Bunyans this last month.  We had 12 plus cords of wood waiting to be sold.  Nova Spy has successfully sold all of it.  The boys block it, stack it, and deliver it for $160 a cord.  Yesterday was a beautiful fall day and Granny Smith and I helped them load some of their wood into the trailer.  16 inches is standard blocking length, but this customer wanted 14 inches so they cut it shorter.

A cord of wood is 4x4x8.  It is more wood than I thought.  I realize now that whenever we have ordered blocked wood in the past that we have been shorted every time!  They would just dump a bunch of wood in their truck, call it a cord, and have us pay.  But not us!  We deliver the full amount!

Nova's measuring to make sure we have enough.

I need to remind them that we need to keep enough for us!

Welcome Back, Carbide

 Our old buck goat, Carbide, came back to live at Crabapple Farm last Saturday.  He smells really, really terrible right now.  I mean, terrible.  But, other than that, he is a gem.

This is Senorita, or Wicked Rita as she is affectionally known.  She is probably the best looking yearling doe we have ever owned.  I hope she has a couple of beautiful doelings next spring.  She is actually much calmer these days.  It helped a lot when we made the Spy Twins stop roping her.

For some reason they always like ditch grass best.

Ah, the mighty king, surveying his new kingdom.  Hopefully he'll be smarter than Stainless, our last goat, who fell wildly in love with Prairie Spy's horse, Nikita.... Very dumb.

Mr. Goat Man.  Ha ha.

Spencer, Braeburn and the Cherry Pie Filling

Elder Braeburn is doing marvelously in England.  He sent a letter to Mr. Bechtel several weeks ago that included this hilarious vignette from his past life, aka, "pre-mission".  

I include it here for posterity.

(the characters: Spencer and Braeburn)

"Now for a long anecdote:

Once Spencer and I were marauding in the middle of the night and we found ourselves beneath a highway bridge.  There, seemingly randomly we discovered a neatly stacked pyramid of canned cherry pie filling.  We were exceedingly astonished until we deduced that this must be the cache of some homeless guy who was off doing some marauding himself.  Ever since then, we have regarded cherry pie filling as the food of last-ditch desperation.  

When we were out hitchhiking Spencer produced a can with flourish and announced that we were now prepared for the worst.  When the bottom fell out of our lives, we would have the appropriate comfort food.  Fortunately, of course, we never found ourselves in a position that desperate, so the can remained unopened.

Today I learned that Spencer brought this very can along on his mission.  Ha ha.  He hasn't opened it yet, which is a good sign.  In fact, he says that he hopes he never has to open it, but that the can will just stand as a reminder that "things can always get worse".  Classic Spencer.  This is the same guy who packed bread, peanut butter, jam and a butter knife for his food on The Great American Adventure.  I can easily imagine him lugging around canned food with him from transfer to transfer.

I feel like a pretty lucky guy.  I've had a great life so far.  Thanks for making it that way :) ".

Since Mr. Bechtel and I love Spencer like one of our own kids, I was thrilled to hear this story.  I especially love it that Braeburn was "exceedingly astonished".  Good Book of Mormon phrase!   But as the mom, I am pleased they are now putting all this adventuring spirit to some good work on their missions. 

Love you boys!

Truly Educated

This is one of my favorite pictures of Golden Delicious.  

I took it one quiet afternoon while she was washing her tea set after serving her dolls tea.

Several years later, Braeburn saw this picture (he was 11 or so then). 

 He looked at it for a long time and then said, "I would like to have a day like this day today."

I also love the feeling of this picture.

I think Braeburn meant that he would like to have the feeling of being with someone pleasant, doing something quiet and enjoyable in the warm sunlight.

That is the feeling Golden Delicious gives all of us:  peace, light, and serenity.

Now she is down at BYU and we miss her.

  I find myself wishing that as a mom I could smooth all the rough spots for her and let all her days be filled with sweet happiness always.  The education we give our children in our homes is so much more important than anything they get anywhere else. 

 I happened to read an essay in, A Different Kind of Teacher by John Taylor Gatto on some things a real education should include.  I happen to agree with all of them:

The Educated Person

1.  An educated person writes his own script through life.  He is not a character in anyone else's play, nor does he mouth the words of any intellectual's fantasy.  He is self-determined.

2.  Time does not hang heavily on an educated person's hands.  He can be alone.  He is never at a loss for what to do with time.

3.  And educated person knows his rights and knows how to defend them.

4.  An educated person knows the ways of the human heart; he is hard to cheat or fool.

5.  And educated person possesses useful knowledge;  how to build a house, a boat, how to grow food, etc.

6.  An educated person possesses a blueprint of personal value, a philosophy.  This philosophy tends toward the absolute; it is not plastic or relative, altering to suit circumstances.  Because of this an educated person knows at all times who he is, what he will tolerate, where to find peace.  But at the same time an educated person is aware of and respects community values and strange values.

7.  An educated person can form healthy attachments wherever he is because he understands the dynamics of relationships.

8.  An educated person accepts and understands his own mortality and its seasons.  He understands that without death and aging nothing would have any meaning.  An educated person learns from all his ages, even from the last minutes of his life.

9.  An educated person can discover the truth for himself.  He has intense awareness of the profound significance of being, and the profound significance of being here.

10.  An educated person can figure out how to be useful to others, and in trading time, insight, and service to meet the needs of others, he can earn the material things he needs to sustain a wholesome life.

11.  An educated person has the capacity to create new things, new experiences, new ideas.

Hang in there Golden Delicious!

Like Grandpa always says, "Don't let school interfere with your education!"

Flat Tops

The Fonbuenas put on a small fashion show with the kids' hats.  

They looked super!

Lindsey:

Ben:

 

The Lone Ranger, oops, I mean Spencer

Leslie

The 3 L's, also the Beautiful Buckaroos.

On the River

Ahh...  I plan to look at these pictures this winter and remember how perfect an evening it was!

Labor Day 2013

We had a wonderful time up in Island Park with the Fonbuenas over Labor Day.  We missed Braeburn and Lauren, who are both on missions.  We spent as much time on the river as possible.

Here are the players:  The Young 'uns.  (they are now 11 - horrors!)

The Newlyweds:  Jay and Leslie

The Girls

The Twins!

and The Moms.