Ellie is on her way!

Just a few short weeks ago we lost our beloved shepherd of 10+ years. She was very sick. We grieved.

We didn't want another dog but watched our younger kids tumble everyday about another loss in their life.  Darrell gave me the go ahead to just see what kind of rescues were listed knowing we didn't want a puppy. We are shepherd lovers so that is where I started. After several days of searching, I stumbled on this sweet face. The rescue wrote more than the average comments on this sweet girl ...we knew she was ours!

We called the rescue and were told this kind of a dog is a rare gem and she was special! We did the paperwork, gave references and were called to tell us we passed al the tests...the catch? She was in Arkansas and we are in NH.

So yesterday, our sweet Ellie was loaded up in Little Rock to start the long journey to home. We were assured the transport company was the best. We will pick her up in Kittery tomorrow at noon and wisk her off to quarentine for 48 hours where she will be checked by our wonderful vet and his wife...we are excitedly waiting for Tuesday!

Happy Birthday Joseph

Our Joe turned a big six yesterday! He had a grand day staying in his pj's and playing around the house. We celebrated with his favorite foods, cake and ice cream and lots of presents. It was a quiet special day! Happy birthday Joe!

Ginger--The Gift

This morning our family made a tough decision after watching our beloved Shepherd decline in health over the last month.  This past weekend, her body showed us that she just couldn't go on. Our children cried and we shared memories of her 10+ years with our family. Even in her last hours, with pain and bloating ...she was gentle with our children and loved on them in her own special way. She was such a treasure to our family providing fun, protection and companionship. We are sad this day missing our friend.

Snowing --inside and out

Although it isn't snowing outside right now...it is in our school room! We finished out weekly book work for our morning schedule. We took a few minutes to crank out some paper snow flakes which lead to other cut outs where the kids got really creative. A fun morning of work and art!

Finding a Bit of Winter Fun

It's really cold here and the kiddos don't stay outside very long when it's this cold. We cleaned the school room and Jason hung the new swung we got for Christmas in the basement. It is great energy buster for the kids...great job Jason!

Winter Day at the Barn

Jess snapped these shots of our ponies this weekend!

Standing at the gate for dinner call. 

Our pony- Krystal

Liberty

Jasmine

Cold Temperatures and Winter Weather

Brrrrr...that is the word of the day as we have seen temperatures in the negative numbers. It has meant our outside work is a bit more difficult but we have learned that many hands make light the work. We  have spent fewer hours shoveling snow and cleaning the barn as a team than it normally takes us to just clean the barn...and we sure had lots of snow to shovel!

Jess shoveling and cleaning the barn in her tinker bell pjs...:)

Brandon and Michael shoveling the path for the wheel barrel.

The back of our house on the hill.

Liberty running out for her morning breakfast.