The Letter

So I know I said it would be up this morning but I didn't take into account my childhood friend from Texas was here and we had dinner plans with another friend and I had to get up early for Sage's enrichment classes. So here I am getting it done since I plan to spend Saturday with the family only and not be on this darn computer. Not that I don't love it, it just takes so much time from other things I should be doing. So away goes the letter. I am kind of excited since I have found it I haven't read it. I knew what it was I just haven't read it.

Hello all! I wanted to take a few minutes to fill in everyone in on our past year since the "moving adventure"

As you all probably remember we moved onto a 160 acres homestead called The Broken Arrow Ranch. The house and land needed quite a bit of repair. We had planned to make the repairs and clean-up before the move but when a change in the neighborhood reared it's ugly head we packed up and headed out sooner than later.

Some would call us brave or crazy as moved in the dead of winter with 16 horses, 3 ponies, 4 dogs, 2 goats, 4 cats, and a handful of chickens. We had only a generator for power, no good source of heat, no running water and no refridgerator. We had four pregnant mares and no foaling stall. (the rain just wouldn't let up that first year. I swear if it wasn't raining it was snowing.) It seems like everytime Jeremy, Sage and I bundle up to head out and get some work done it either rained or snowed on us.

The very first night we were here Jeremy stoked up the small wood stove in the oven to try and keep us all warm. To our horror we woke up to the house full of smoke. The wall next to the stovepipe had caught fire. If it had not been for me waking up and the snowfall that night I think the whole house would have surely gone up in flames. Sage slept through the whole ordeal upstairs in our bed with the covers pulled up over her head.

Jeremy had a full load of training horses and had to continue even with all the weather and work that needed done around here. Trying to continue business with no landlines and limited cell service was pretty tough. (We didn't even have internet at the time.)

We celebrated Sage's 2nd Birthday here at the ranch.

By Febuary was had the big wood stove installed in the living room and it worked wonderfully! With all the downed trees we had plenty of fire wood. (even though our chainsaw was stolen during the move)

Come March we had gotten the water lines replaced (poor Jeremy only after I went to CO to pick up a stud horse and threatened to not come home if we didn't have running water) and finally had running water to the house and horses. (for the first three months Jeremy pumped water out of the creek and into a big tank on the back of the truck to water the horses. He also filled a storage tank on the front lawn to fill my buckets that I used to flush the toilet and do the dishes. Oh I also used to heat up water on the oven to make Sage's bath. I sure wish I had pictures but I had the coolest metal, square planter thingy I would bathe her in next to the fireplace. It was so cute.) No more pumping water out of the creek to water the horses. We also had another surprise when we found out we were expecting another addition to our family.

In April three of our mare foaled.

In May we found out our little surprise is a boy. We branded our calves and our last mare foaled.

By the end of June with the help of some really great friends we had our arena up.

Come July just as we were loading up our horses after a day of gathering for Cenntenial Livestock we got a phone call that our pasture in Tehachapi was on fire. We lost the entire pasture. Mostly all of it was burned and the fence we worked so hard to repair had been ripped down by the bull dozers and other equipment coming in to put it out. Thankfully we didn't loose any animals. We caught my mustang mare halfway to Mojave and gathered the cattle in the coming days and got them moved here. Jeremy had started working for the Loop Ranch in Keene. My dad helped us get the solar panels, batteries and inverter installed. We got some trees and plants in the ground.

In August we were asked to judge the rodeo queen competition in Tehachapi. We had a blast! Sage rode her pony, Star in the Mountain Festival Parade. She was even waving in her sleep! We got our internet connection up and running. Wow! Connected to the outside! Sometimes good and sometimes not. George, Jeremy's dad came to live on the ranch.

September we lost Jeremy's grandmother. We also celebrated our anniversary. Jeremy laid all new pipe for our propane system so now we had hot water!!! (I will never forget my first hot shower here!)

October came and so did Steele.

(we joke and say he was our "cause it was a cold winter baby")

November was here and seemed busier than ever for Jeremy and out business. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner here at the ranch. That night we had an awful windstorm that brought down several trees. Thankfully only the old Ford was grazed by one of them but that was the worst of the damage.

Awwwwww, I must have gotten busy come December cause there was nothing more...............

hope you all enjoyed this walk down memory lane with me.

I had better get back to some picture now since I am backed up with fun stuff to share!