After the Turkey is Gone

Our Thanksgiving dinner was pretty much like everyone else's.  It's what came next that was different . . .

While much of the nation was being inundated with rain and cold, we were blessed with a sunny day of shirt-sleeve weather on Thanksgiving and again on Black Friday.  So Herb blew a huge pile of leaves to make the perfect photo backdrop.

Monique and Jim and the grandkids . . .

. . . Jean-Marc and Jenny and Tai . . .

 . . . and Kara and Bonnie.

Later that day the grandkids wanted to visit the horses.  Julie was happy to see the kids and generously gave out pony kisses.

The horses haven't been ridden in a year, but Romeo, Angel and Brandy stood so still while the kids sat on them bareback.

On Saturday we saddled the horses and went for a real ride.  Well, some of us rode!  Herb led Brandy for Kol to ride.

Jean-Marc led Romeo with Jenny up bareback.

Jim led Julie and Charis.

I led Angel with Monique and Eden riding, although Jim took over for the photo op.

Notice that every rider wears a helmet.  We are firm believers in the importance of wearing protective riding helmets and teaching the kids to wear them, too.  They may not be pretty or "cool," but they're an indispensable part of horsey fun on our farm.  Helmets have kept various members of our family safe on multiple occasions throughout the years.

We have much to be thankful for this holiday season--family, food, falling leaves, and fond memories made on this beautiful farm.

Helping Me Over the Hill

As I mentioned back in June, the month of July was scheduled for a big family get-together.  It ended up being a month-long celebration to help me "over the hill" for the Big 6-0.  My two sisters, Barbara and Karen, arrived July 1 to kick things off.

Of course visiting me means hanging out with my Dexters.  Barbara has met them before, but it was Karen's first time here on Zephyr Hill Farm, so she had to meet the whole crew.  Here she is petting her first cow, Ebby.

Barbara discovered that when there aren't enough barn boots to go around, cowboy boots work fine for mud, too.

We did some civilized, "girly" things, too, like antiquing--an especially appropriate activity for an old-timer like me!

The last time the three of us were together was five years ago, so this was a special time for us all.  Someone has to be the oldest and hit 60 first, so it might as well be me.  As I like to remind my sisters and my kids, "If I can't be a good example, I'll just have to serve as a horrible warning."

Sadly, the girls had to leave before my actual birthday, but others came to take their place . . .

We celebrated that night at my favorite restaurant with all of us locals: Jim, Monique, Herb, me, Katie (who came in from Houston), and Kara.

Before Katie headed back to Houston, we modeled our new Billy Bob teeth.  What can I say?  It's a family tradition!  She also took me shopping while she was here, so now I actually clean up nice.

Kara had spent weeks planning a special birthday menu that spanned much of July.  Since we love ethnic food, she cooked up an Around the World Food Tour of places we've visited and cuisines we enjoy, including German, African, Persian, Egyptian, Italian, Greek, Spanish and Mexican.

This was the twelve-course Persian meal she prepared one night with a little help from her Minions.

Jim and Monique brought the grandkids for a weekend, and they kept me young at heart.

Jenny and Jean-Marc came down from Ohio to join the local yokels, and we all got our own pair of teeth for some family photo fun.

Misty had to get in on the act, too, and the kids couldn't bear to take out their teeth, so the "serious" photo was only about as serious as it ever gets in this clan.  Fun times to remember, though!

When everyone else had to go home, Jenny and Jean-Marc stayed on.  They were able to use up some leave and get some rest before heading to their new base.

About the time Jenny and Jean-Marc left, Barbara came back with the rest of her family for another week of fun and laughter, like enjoying my youngest nephew's attempt to walk on water.  (Just kidding--see the swinging rope over his head?)

The month of July finally drew to an end and so, like all good things, did the longest-ever birthday bash.  After we waved goodbye to the last of the family, Herb turned to me and jokingly said, "Well, it's over.  You're not special any more."

I didn't believe him, though--I had an entire month full of lovely memories to remind me otherwise.

Remembrance

Seventy years ago, a young man named Louis Tritschler sailed to war in the South Pacific.  Louis' ship Storm King docked for a while in Manila, in the Philippine Islands.  While the ship was there, Louis was befriended by a kind family who had two daughters named Remy and Clara.

(The photos of Remy and Clara have been lost.  My thanks go to Laurinda Alcantara, who posted this photo on Pinterest.  It reminds me of the photos I remember of Remy and Clara.)

Louis told Remy and Clara about his two younger sisters Ruth and Carol back home in St. Louis, and fifteen year old Ruth became their pen pal.

After the war, Louis returned to Missouri and married his sweetheart Billie.  For a while they lived on a farm and raised cattle while Louis studied to be a veterinarian and eventually became head of equine surgery at the University of Missouri in Columbia.

Louis never returned to the Philippines and never saw Remy and Clara again, but Ruth remained their faithful pen pal for many years.  As young people do, eventually Louis, Remy and Ruth grew up and had families of their own and finally lost touch with each other.

Yet Ruth saved her treasured letters from her pen pals, along with a beautiful pair of carved Philippine shoes.   (Thank you to Jill Sharp for the photo of Philippine shoes she posted on Pinterest.) Ruth had three daughters, and I was the eldest.  We were fascinated by Remy's and Clara's photos, the graceful shoes, and their letters written in fine script on fragile paper with exotic stamps on the envelopes.  There was something touching in the story of the beautiful sisters who had been so kind to a lonely sailor and were beloved by our mother, although they had never met.  We wished our mother could find the girls again, but it was not to be.  Mom kept their memory alive, and they lived on in our memories, but we never knew what became of them.

Right in the middle of Memorial Day weekend, Siobhan calved on Saturday, May 23.  (This may sound like a complete non sequitur, but it's not.)

It seemed fitting to name our new bull calf in honor of the countless military men and women who gave their lives for our freedom.  (Thank you to our daughter Jenny for this photo and the one below.)

While my Uncle Louis did not lose his life in the war (he lives in a VA retirement home), the sacrifice he made for his country nearly included his life due to a serious tropical disease he contracted in the South Pacific, and I always think of him on Memorial Day.  Looking at our new calf, I remembered Uncle Louis and his service, as well as the years he spent raising cattle and caring for large animals, and I knew the perfect name for Siobhan's calf:  Royal Remembrance--"Remy" for short.  As I milked Siobhan that first evening, I told her and Remy the story of Uncle Louis the sailor, his sister Ruth back home, and the beautiful sisters Remy and Clara who were their friends.  They are all remembered with love.

We Had a Dream

In July 2010 we attended Nature's Harmony Farm Business School for a weekend seminar.  We came away realizing we already had the perfect customer base--our kids and grandkids.  We had moved to Zephyr Hill Farm on a whim, but that summer weekend the whim became a dream.  We dreamed of Zephyr Hill Farm as a place our children and grandchildren would love to visit, to experience God's amazing creation--especially His creatures, and to build lifelong memories.

On December 23, Jim and Monique arrived with Charis, who turned six on the 28th; Kol, who will be four in January; and Eden, who will be two in April.  Jenny, Jean-Marc and their dog Tai arrived from Ohio on Christmas Eve.  Kara had already been here for several days with her dog Bonnie, cooking, baking and decorating up a storm.  Katie and Cameron could not join us as they were heading to New Zealand the day after Christmas.  We missed them, but the celebration went on . . .

All kinds of fun were on the menu, like jumping off the Kubota . . .

getting horsey kisses . . .

and tickles!

Kol and Charis lifted Eden up for a horsey kiss, too . . .

while Julie was just her perfect size.

Not even big, tall Romeo could faze Eden, a truly fearless animal lover.

Charis discovered the fall leaves . . .

and everyone piled right in.

On Christmas Eve we sang Christmas carols around the table after our dinner of fresh Ohio tamales and homemade grass-fed beef chili.

Christmas morning began with one of our favorite traditions.  Everyone has to stay in their room until Dad and Mom (or Didi and Mimi) turn on all the Christmas lights.  Finally, when everything is ready, I give the cue to come downstairs by turning on Percy Faith's "Joy to the World" at 99 on my Bose player.  It definitely wakes any stragglers!

This has for many years been our way of beginning Christmas morning with the joyous announcement of the birth of Jesus.

Full of exuberance while she waited for the slow grown-ups, Eden raced around and around the room . . .

while Charis and Kol clapped their hands over their ears to dim the pealing music and followed suit.

Like the rest of us, Jean-Marc enjoyed a cup of coffee while Santa Herb distributed the presents, assisted by Aunt Kara the Elf.

Jenny kept her camera poised to capture Christmas memories.

Eden helped Jim open his gift of grass-fed Zephyr Hill Farm beef.

Charis and Kol exercised enormous artistic talent and generosity this year, and Aunt Kara was the beneficiary of an original Charis work of art.

Monique shared Eden's joy over a stuffed doggie from Aunt Jenny and Uncle Jean-Marc.

And finally, after a treasure hunt through the house, the children found Didi and Mimi's present in the basement, an HO train complete with an antique village from Mimi's childhood, a mountain tunnel studded with real West Texas rocks, and a little farm with a pasture full of animals.

We were blessed by five full days with the family, loving every minute (except the ones I spent sick in bed). Sunday found everyone heading for home, whether Ohio or nearby Chattanooga.  Before the grandkids left, they had a few last requests . . .  Eden got to say goodbye to the animals.

Charis got a birthday kiss.

Kol and Eden talked to the cattle over the fence.

And there was time for one last romp on the hay bale playground Jim and Didi had built in the hay barn.

Although we made many happy memories this Christmas, there's one I'll always remember.  Monique told us that when Kol woke up the morning after Christmas, he asked her, "Mama, is this a dream?"

"No, it's real," she reassured him.

But she was wrong.  It was a dream--our dream come true!