Much thanks to Rod Adams... friend of Andy's that came out for a farm photo shoot.  He snapped some amazing shots of the kids and animals.... we are super thankful.  (fyi... anyone interested in his services his email is on our links page)  I will try and sprinkle some of the pictures throughout this post.  I have also updated the webpage including many of his photos not shown here.  Its such fun to have new fall photos to share!

Ashley came home for Thanksgiving!  I cannot begin to tell you how wonderful it was to have her home again for a few days.  We have all missed her so much.   I have come to the realization that, for me, letting go is the most challenging stage of parenting.   While its awesome to see the person she is becoming and watching her make her way in the world... its challenging at times and a bit sad.   

November was exhausting... Andy finally had his knee surgery so I had to step in and milk the cows.  The first day it took me almost six hours!  Thank goodness we are just milking once a day now!  Mom arrived a couple of days later.. and not a minute too soon.  By day three Hannah was helping me milk and we had it down to under four hours and then to three (which is how long it takes Andy).  By Thanksgiving Andy was back milking.   

Andy's recovery was amazingly fast!  His knee is almost the same size as the other one now.   Andy was hit by a car about three years ago and had suffered from knee pain ever since.   His pain is far reduced now and for that we are all thankful.   

Our milk supply is good now... we finally figured out what was wrong.. .and it's CRAZY!  There was an electric waterer in the field that was putting 110 volts into the ground.  Every time the cows went to drink they were getting zapped...even though we were not using the broken waterer... our water tank was acting like an antennae.   We also have a small stray voltage issue in the milking barn that we are sorting out.  But it's one volt and minimal.   We are back up to 20 gallons of milk a day and most thankful.

Winter is setting in and we are discovering that our barn is not insulated enough... so we are planning some additional work for the next few weekends.  Anyone bored?  Need an activity?  We can put you to work!  

I am looking forward to Christmas and the approach of the new year.  Spring holds new calves and the return of cream... glorious cream.  


Until then we will keep warm and snug... enjoying cuddles in bed with the kids, hot cocoa and look forward to spending more time together.  Spring also brings the return of twice a day milking!