Christian Heritage Conference

We had heard a lot of great things about the Christian Heritage Homeschool conference in Redmond WA, so we decided to check it out this year.  Another deciding factor was that the keynote speakers were Voddie Baucham and Ted Tripp, a power packed duo.  We decided to go up early Thursday and try to visit the Pike Place Market.  The biggest challenge was navigating the streets of downtown Seattle and finding a parking spot for our van, which is too tall to fit in most of the garages.  Here we are at Pike Place having a snack of bratwurst.
One other note about the trip up.  We were barely into WA when we stopped at a rest area, and another large van pulled in next to us.  A bunch of kids hopped out as our kids were running circles trying to get some energy out.  As they were leaving they stopped and asked us if we were headed to Redmond, not sure what gave us away??  ;-)  Maybe it was the stereotypical white van, or the fact that we had a bunch of kids, or that they were running around a rest area on a Thursday during the school year at 10am.  We also met a family in our hotel that was from Canada, that has come down every year for 7 or 8 years, and it was closer to a 4-5 hour drive for them.

The conference is held at a large church in Redmond, and all the main sessions were in this large auditorium.  This is a picture from a session that I went to with the kids to hear about God's creation and all the unique attributes that God has given his creatures, attributes that could not have come about by evolution.

Our neighbors were also at the conference and apparently they found our van.  If you look closely right below the window you can see they are not Beaver fans.  The Beaver plates probably gave us away, because there were a ton of white vans similar to ours.

Here are the kids during a Friday afternoon session.

Gracie finally passed out, and slept through the whole session, which she needed badly.

Evan with his leg propped up on a stroller.  If you had not heard, the day before we left for the conference he tore his ligament at his ankle while wrestling with his brother.  So, it was tough for him to get around at the conference on crutches, and his foot was still really swollen.

Ethan and Evan with George Washington.  The kids were encouraged to ask him questions.

Mia with George.

The digital zoom on the Iphone is somewhat limited.  Friday night a family friend played a piano piece during the evening session.

Ethan talking to Paul Revere about his midnight ride.

The girls are still smiling, that is good.

The final session Saturday night had a choral piece that is all students.  They practice 3-4 times during the two days of the conference and then sang Saturday night, and they did a number of pieces.  Pretty impressive to throw that together in such a short period.

After the last session Saturday we headed to 5 Guys for dinner before we hit the road.  Everyone enjoyed their burgers and fries.

Part way home at rest area stop, Gracie climbed into Emma's seat, she is a little big for it now.  We had a good drive home, little traffic, clear night, but Emma cried for a good portion of it.  We pulled into our place around midnight.  Next time it might make sense to stay one more night.

We were very thankful that one of our neighbors daughters was willing to take care of our animals while we were gone.  And for our family that watched Obadiah the Guinea Pig.  We really enjoyed ourselves and it was interesting the different feel this conference had from the one in Oregon.  We got to visit with friends from church, as well as other people we don't see often, and we met new folks from various places.  

Spring Projects

Here are dads new boots.

We are putting in posts to keep out the deer from the grapes.  Later we hope to move our blueberries and raspberries into this area as well.  It did not happen in time this year.

Here are the grapes.  Three table grape transplants from the Turners and two more were added from Al's garden center.

The new years blossoms are finely here, ya.

Here is a Honeycrisp apple tree.  It was an impulse purchase, they are the best apples ever.  We put down weed fabric and a thick layer of hog fuel (wood chips) to help hold moisture and deter weeds.  The wire cages are to keep the deer from eating all the new buds off of them and rubbing on the trunks.  Those deer are why we can't have anything nice, well at least one of the reasons.  However it is about time to put in for our controlled hunts, look out!

Evan holding a post.  He had injured a finger, note the blue tape, but he could still hold a post plumb while the dirt and concrete was backfilled.

Clipping the chickens wings so they can't fly over the gate.  In our attempt to keep the chickens in their new pen we clipped one wing of all the offending birds.  Unfortunately this did not prevent them from going under the fence at one location, but we now have that remedied.

We got some pigs again.  Aren't they cute??  They were smaller than the ones we got last year.  We were not excited about the white ones, but that is what was available, and we are pretty sure they all taste the same.  But I we had read that they could potentially get sunburned and we don't want to have lather them up with Banana Boat every day.  There are plenty of shady spots in their pasture so hopefully they will take cover when needed.

Working in the garden.  Tearing things out and weeding.

Grace likes helping out side.

We added four yards of compost/topsoil mix to part of the garden and will do the same with the rest later.  With the hitch on the tractor we can tow the trailer around to the garden and back it right through the gate, which makes it easy to unload.

While dad is working the rototiller I keep getting stuck.  Big red and little red working away.

Baby Chicks & Ducks

Here are some of are chicks, we got 5 buff orpington and 10 Rhode island reds.

We also got some ducks, there are 5.

Here is Golden.

And here is blueberry (Lily named it)

Lily is holding a chick.

And here are the ducks again a little older.

Organizing the Barn

We go through phases of organizing, and reworking layouts in the barn.  We knew we needed to get it cleaned up as it is spring and that is when we usually get a bunch of baby animals.  One stall in the barn contains most of our storage containers with clothes etc in them, and it was just cumbersome to find the right container.  So one rainy day we pulled everything out and started from scratch, trying to reuse some of the materials.  The shelving that was torn out was too deep, so we built the shelving that worked better with our containers.

This was the end result on one side of the stall.  It makes finding the correct container a lot easier.  We don't have a garage, so the barn is it for storage outside the house.  The containers keep the mice out and help prevent things from molding as the barn is slightly moist with the dirt floor, and random drips.

This is the other side of the stall where we built a couple of shelves to hold some  beekeeping equipment, and my two helpers.  Mia also helped out and learned how to use my new impact driver, which I love.

We also built a frame for the Sheetmetal feed bin that Craig had built for us.  The bin is probably large enough to hold 700-1000lbs of feed, I probably should have given him smaller dimensions, but we have it now.  Our frame might collapse if we ever put that much feed in it.

Finished organized corner.  Mia and Lily worked to clean out the chick nursery in the right side of the picture.  We are still looking at trying to pour a concrete slab at the far end of the barn, but the biggest obstacle is finding a home for everything while we work on it.  It would make things a lot cleaner down there, and provide a place for the kids to rid scooters in the winter and allow me to work on the cars easier etc.

Cows

Typically. . . . .  or the last two years, I don't want you to think we have been doing this for 15 years or something, we purchase two bottle calves usually a week or two old.  Then we raise them for 1 1/2 years and then butcher them.  Or at least that was the original plan.  However this year it has been difficult to find a dairy/beef cross like we got last year.  Prices on calves are about double what they were last year, even when you look at the auctions they are showing twice what they were a year ago.  Here are some recent pics of last years calves, Oreo (black one), and Burger (Brown one):

Oreo is pretty friendly and does not mind a neck scratch, but Burger always keeps his distance unless you have something that really looks yummy.

A couple of people have asked why we don't just get a heifer and breed her so we don't have to buy baby calves or do the bottle feedings.  And with the prices of cows being really high right now, we might consider looking into that option.  I have been looking into Dexter cows which are a smaller breed and are a good dual purpose cow.

Note the cows out the window.  During the winter we ran a electric wire up closer to the house and let them eat the grass down, however it is kind of startling to see them right outside the window.
I have found a farm nearby that raises Dexter's and they have invited us over to talk Cows and see what Dexters are like and if they are a good fit for our Homestead.  Hopefully we will be able to take them up on the soon.

Short Vacation

This last weekend we headed over to Eagle Crest for our annual winter outing with the Turner side.  However we did not end up going sledding because the weather was so warm and there was not much for snow.  This made the drive over the Santiam pass very easy and low stress, so that was nice.  On the way over on Friday we stopped at the Detroit Ranger station and used the facilities while Emma got fed.  The kids and I also walked around the parking lot.

Saturday we headed into Bend to check out the Hobby Lobby that had recently opened.  Craft store on steroids.  They have lots of craft stuff and fun decor, and since they are owned by Christians there is a lot of Christian themed stuff.  I did like this sign:

And Jennie did pick this up:

Then the guys took off to Sportsmans warehouse for more manly stuff and Big R.  Then we headed to the pool after lunch.  Sunday was some Church time led by Mark and the off for a little hike down to the Deschutes.  

Back to the pool in the afternoon, and then early to bed for the kids, they were wiped out.  Monday we packed up and headed home.  We are very thankful for our neighbors willingness to care for our animals while we we're gone.  Evan had a few eggs to clean up when we got home and Lily found a quiet place to read her Smoky the Bear book.

Back to work and the routines.