Honored Guest & Corporate Farming

Fresh baked bread and pipe smoke; chicken and dumplings and Werther's Original hard candies; a big snowy hill perfect for sledding followed by hot chocolate; beautifully crafted quilts and a vast array of expertly cared for plants - these are just a few of the more prominent things that come to mind when I think of my grandparents' farm. As a kid a fair amount of my time was spent going to Grandma and Grandpa's house. We were there a lot while Dad was helping Grandpa with the farming, and a couple times a week we would get picked up and dropped off the bus at their house.

Twenty years later Grandma and I had a role reversal.  Taylor and I bought some hay from my brother, and my Dad hauled a load to us last Monday. Dad's plan was to bring out the load, spend the night and head back the next day
Grandma had been wanting to find a way to come see Taylor and I, the home we've built, and our new growyard. Dad's short trip out and back presented the perfect opportunity, so my 91 year-old grandma loaded up in the semi with dad and rode 7 hours to come see us. It meant the world to us that she was willing and able to make it all the way out here, and I truly enjoyed getting to show her the different aspects of the life we've built. Grandma had never been to a feedyard before so it was fun to ride along as Taylor drove her around showing her over 20,000 head of cattle.
All I can do now is hope that when I'm 91, I'm still able to get around and take long road trips to see my grandchildren. :)

Me and my grandma, Alice Patterson

On a different note - for many people today "corporate farming" does not bring about a lot of warm and fuzzy feelings. In actuality, though, well over 90% of farms are family owned even if they are "incorporated". And just recently, mine and Taylor's operation became incorporated - Stabel Land & Cattle, Inc. We did this basically to simplify the organization of funds and activities. It doesn't mean we're any less involved or that our practices have changed, it just changes the way the government views our operation. I hope people will think of Taylor and I, our passion for cattle, and our love of this lifestyle, the next time they hear the term "corporate farming."

Taylor and I also registered a brand recently. Keep in mind we both graduated from K-State with degrees in Agricultural Economics, so we recognize that we have a nerdy and odd sense of humor, but  we both felt pretty witty and amusing when we registered this to be our brand:

+ or - $… makes me chuckle every time :) 

Earlier this month we had our annual family bonfire back at my mom and dad's. This was one of my favorite pictures from the evening of my niece Dawson enjoying a nice, messy s'more. 

And the after effects…

Western Kansas Fact: Winter can be a cause for apprehension.

The word "blizzard" brings to mind homesteads back in the 1800s where folks had to tie ropes from their houses to their barns in order to find their way to do chores. I've never yet had to tie a rope, but the open plains, and the high winds out here combined with snow in the winter make that concept easy to understand. But blizzards can quickly kill a lot of cattle. We've been hearing a lot of predictions about a very wet winter, and it's kind of concerning. I'm praying hard that the snow doesn't come in the form of blizzards.

The Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness. Romans 8:26

Sometimes I feel really close to God and other times, less so. I know God hasn't gone anywhere; it's me that has moved away. I used to picture God at these times, waiting patiently for me to turn around and come back to Him, but this Scripture lesson reminded me that the Spirit isn't just waiting for me. Even when I have allowed myself to be distanced from my God, the Spirit is there in my place, petitioning my Lord for me. It is there for me in my weakness.

Hope you all have a marvelous rest of the week!

Lyndee

Journey Through Italy

It's always exciting to go on vacation…see new places, try new food, and not have to worry about typical daily activities.
But even with the excitement of traveling, there's nothing like coming home. At the end of a vacation, so many people say they wish it could last forever, but Taylor and I have been blessed to build a life that we love to come home to.

During the month of August Taylor and I had an extra exciting vacation. We went to Italy for two weeks with our good friends Lucas and Allison Regula. While there we traveled from the northern Tuscany area to the southern tip of the country.
Before we'd even made our first flight, Taylor and I were concerned our whole trip might get messed up because our very first flight from Denver to Atlanta was delayed 3 hours. Thankfully we were supposed to have a fairly long layover in Atlanta. However by the time we flew out of Denver, Taylor and I were running through the Atlanta airport to make our connection. We got to our gate just as they were boarding the plane. Thankfully that was the only occasion we had any problems like that.

While in the planning process, Allison got in contact with a travel agent named Jan who specialized in Italy trips. She planned everything perfectly. All of our drivers met us with a sign saying "Stabel/Regula" any time we got off a train or plane. And all of our tour guides met us in our hotel lobby, so it was very easy and there was no stress at all.

The flight to Rome from Atlanta was pretty uneventful. Taylor and I both tried to get some sleep, but we failed miserably. Thankfully we were able to go ahead and stay up for our first day in Italy so we didn't have any problems with the time change.

Upon landing in Rome, we met our driver who took us to Florence.
Florence is absolutely fabulous, and anyone wanting to go to Italy should definitely go there. My favorite thing we did there was a wine tasting. We went to a small winery where they showed us how they made their wines and balsamic vinegar. Then we went inside where they had a table made up for us with wine glasses and a plate of bread with oils tomatoes, cheeses, honey, meats, etc. for us to pair with our wines so we could experience their full flavors.
It was extremely enjoyable and Taylor and I both really liked the wines and balsamic vinegar.

The river in Florence

Wine tasting in Florence

After Florence we took the train to Rome. Business class on the train was really nice. I can see why people travel that way a lot. The trains go over 100 mph and it's a smooth ride (plus you don't have to worry about other drivers - a lot of them drive like absolute maniacs).

The bidets in Italy freaked us out. It seemed very much in the way and I was afraid I was going to accidentally drop things in there.

Rome was neat because of all the history. We toured the Vatican, Castel Sant'Angelo, the Roman Forum, the Pantheon and the Colosseum.
A reserved tour with a guide is the only advisable way to do these things. The line to get into the Vatican was at least 1/2 a mile long. People had to wait in line for hours upon hours. But because we had a tour guide we were able to go right in.

The ornateness of their churches, especially St. Peter's Basilica, was absolutely breathtaking. You couldn't help but feel close to God as you walked into that sanctuary. It was kind of unreal to think that we were able to stand right next to the tomb of Saint Peter, Christ's very own disciple; a man who ate with, walked with, and learned from God in human form.

I think the thing I found the saddest about our whole trip was that even though every city was filled with cathedrals and places of worship, there seemed to be very few believers. One of our tour guides guessed that maybe 30% of Italians were actually practicing Christians.

The history in Rome was great, but mostly it was just a city. Not being big fans of big cities, Taylor and I weren't sad to go to our next stop.
We took the train to Naples and then met with our driver who was going to take us to Positano, and along the way we stopped for a tour of Pompeii.

Pompeii was a much bigger city than I realized and it was extremely neat to see such an old place that was still so whole. Most of Pompeii was covered with ash so they were easily able to excavate it compared to other towns that were covered by lava.
One very interesting thing was that some of the people who died were covered by lava which then cooled so when they uncovered the city, even though the flesh and muscle of these people had decayed away completely, they were able to pour plaster into the holes in the lava which then took the form of the body that had been there.

A plaster shape of a body

After Pompeii we went to our hotel in Positano. This was a great place to unwind.The whole town was built into the side of a cliff and our hotel was near the top so we could look down on it all. It was beautiful. Here we spent most of our time here just checking out the town and relaxing.

Positano

Being on the  side of a cliff, to walk anywhere your options were pretty much limited to going up some stairs, or going down some stairs.
At one point we wanted to go down to a more secluded beach. Our concierge at the hotel said it was 700 steps down and another 700 to come back up. We decided to make the trek. I figured going down would be easy but apparently that downward movement uses completely different muscles and by the time we got down to the beach, my legs were shaking. Honestly going up was easier for me.

I still want to get a shirt that say "Stair-Master" Positano, Italy. :)
Sadly we weren't impressed with the beaches. They were overcrowded and rocky so we opted to go back up the steps to our hotel and the pool.

View looking down from our hotel in Position

The food on the trip was wonderful, although neither Taylor nor I were big fans of their seafood. They tended to serve you the whole fish, eyeballs and all, which isn't much our style. Personally I like my fish filleted and well seasoned. Taylor and I ate a lot of veal instead.

The noodles were awesome, and I was wishing we hadn't waited until the end of trip to be at the place where we would need our bathing suites. :)
Not many hotels had good workout rooms, so my ability to hold off the effects of the pastas and bread was minimal. (Truthfully I didn't do too bad and sometimes at lunch I would just order a side of veggies because I was missing green foods).

After Positano, Lucas & Allison had to go back home, but Taylor and I went on to Sicily. Sicily was neat, although I think all the Italians were on vacation there. Not many of the ancient structures were whole either because the different countries that ruled over the years, especially Spain tore buildings down and recycled the materials.

My favorite day in Sicily was our last day when we went to the Volcano, Mt. Etna, and then afterward we went to a winery further down the side of the volcano for a wine tasting. To end the day, Taylor and I had massages at the spa in our hotel.

On Mt. Etna

Wine tasting in Sicily

We sat outside while trying the wines and enjoyed this view over the vineyard

Last night/meal in Taormina, Sicily

Then, finally, it was time to come home. It was the trip of a lifetime.

Over Labor Day weekend my sister, Katie, and her family came to visit us for a couple days. It was so wonderful to have them in our home and to get to show them what we do out here, especially our new growyard.
This past week Taylor and I spent a lot of time up at the growyard because of silage harvest. We had arranged with a neighbor to chop 3 fields of corn for silage to use for cattle feed. Taylor was on the tractor packing the silage, and I was in the scale house weighing the trucks. We finished up on Friday, and we ended up with a whole pit of really good feed for our animals.

After our vacation there was a scripture that really spoke to me:
You have only one master, the Christ. Matthew 23:10.
The lesson that went with this Scripture, spoke of not allowing anything to come between you and God, not teachers, not parents, not even church leaders. We all need to seek God for ourselves. I heard several Italians talk about corruption in the Roman Catholic church, and I think they allow that to be a reason not to know God. But we all need to have a personal relationship with Him, not just with the church. I pray one day all those people who do not have that relationship will have their hearts opened and know the joy, peace and hope of our Father.

I hope your upcoming week is a wonderful one!
Lyndee

New Adventures

This weekend my little sister, Annie, began one of the most exciting adventures of her life…She and Abe vowed their lives to each other and began the wonderful journey of marriage.

The entire day was blessed and everything went smoothly. Annie was a gorgeous bride and I was so honored to stand next to her with my sister Katie as her maids of honor. One of my favorite parts was getting to sing with my sister and brother as Annie and Abe lit the unity candle. Annie asked us several months ago if we could sing Miranda Lambert's song Making Plans during the ceremony. Casey played the guitar and added a little vocals while Katie sang melody and I did the harmony.

Annie and Abe had all their nieces and nephews act as flower girls and ring bearers. Three girls and two boys - Kolden is 6 but everyone else is 3 or under. After the rehearsal, I wasn't sure how it was going to work…there were a lot of crying children and frustrated parents...but I shouldn't have worried - everything went well during the actual ceremony.
Everyone was cracking up because Rowan only tossed out a couple of petals on the way down the aisle. Then when she and Kallan got to the alter, they both emptied their baskets in a big pile. Then Kallan looked back down the aisle behind her and when she saw the few petals Rowan had tossed, she walked back down, picked them up and brought them back to the pile at the alter. Dawson just went to Casey and had him hold her for most of the ceremony, but the rest went and sat down with the goodie bags Abe and Annie had made for them.

Afterward everyone went to the reception hall for dinner and dancing. All in all it was a beautiful day. I just pray that Annie and Abe will find true happiness in their marriage by making God the center of their relationship and by always seeking to avoid selfishness and put each other first. It's a skill Taylor and I are always working on. Occasionally we fail, but once we correct our mistakes, that is when our relationship is at its best.

For the garter toss the DJ played a joke on Abe. First he blindfolded Abe and then he had Casey take off his shoe and sock and then had Annie  sit on his leg so it seemed like Casey's leg was actually Annie's. It was pretty funny to watch  Abe touch Casey's leg and then jerk his hand back in confusion. He took his blindfold off pretty quickly to figure it out.

When Abe actually went to toss the garter, he didn't get it far enough to reach the group of guys so Kolden ran up and grabbed it. This happened twice and they kept making Abe redo the toss. When he finally got a good toss another kid grabbed it and poor Kolden was so sad that he didn't get to have it that he started crying. Here Abe was trying to console him.

Taylor and I are getting ready to start a new adventure in our lives too. Early this year we closed on a piece of property that had facilities for a grow yard (a mini version of a feedyard where younger cattle are acclimated to the feeding process so they can stay healthier once they enter a feedlot). Right now we are having a processing facility and receiving pens built so we will be able to vaccinate and treat any sick animals. Once that is done we should be ready to start filling up the pens with cattle.

Taylor and I have spent a lot of time discussing what all we will need to do to make this venture work.  Right now the plans are that I will do a lot of the bookwork/record keeping/helping look over the cattle and treating if necessary.
Although I enjoy writing for the Kansas Livestock Association, I didn't feel like I would be able to take on this new role and still have time to continue writing articles on a regular, time-specific basis. So last week, I told my editor that after the next couple of pieces, I would no longer be able to write for them. It was a little bitter sweet, but I'm excited to work together with Taylor to build a dream and hopefully make the grow yard successful. Our friend Jim is also planning to be a part of this operation with us.

Between wedding preparations/celebrations, helping with Bible school last week, my 13 bucket calves, my writing, and the garden (which sadly has been rather neglected as of late), things have been pretty darn hectic. I keep hoping it wi


ll slow down, but now wheat harvest is in full swing. I'm working to finish my writing so I can get into the fields to serve as grain cart driver once the fields dry up from some recent rains we've gotten.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we might have a little bit of a break after wheat harvest is done.

Admittedly, I kind of lose track of the different things I've listed as "western Kansas facts" so please forgive me if I've repeated one…
Western Kansas Fact: scratching is less of an issue. It's too dry here for many mosquitos and I've never experienced chiggers out here like I did growing up. At my mom and dad's it seemed like if you walked around in the yard at all, you'd end up with chiggers. Heaven forbid you sit down in the yard without bug spray…you'd end up with an underwear line full of chigger bites and 2 days of scratching in some unseemly places.

We shall all be changed in a moment - in the twinkling of an eye. 1 Corinthians 15:51-52
The other day this Scripture reminded me that Christ could come back at any point. Often I think of that time as some vague point in the future…definitely not during my lifetime. But that is completely the wrong way to look at it. I need to live as if I expect Christ's second coming within the hour. I need to be  constantly prepared for my Savior, and when I give God an account of my life and actions, I want to be able to do so with confidence, not regret and embarrassment.

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

One Tough Mudder

There's something truly satisfying about challenging yourself and then overcoming that challenge.
Two years ago I undertook a new challenge when I signed up to do my first half marathon in Nashville. Last year I competed in the same half marathon, but this year I tried something new.

Last weekend I participated in my first Tough Mudder. A Tough Mudder is a huge, frequently muddy obstacle course laid out over 10-12 miles. The goal of this obstacle course is not about the time required to finish it, but rather more about working together as a team to finish. Myself and two other girls I work out with were on a team with a group from another gym. My mother-in-law also came to cheer us on.
When I signed up to compete, I looked over all the different types of obstacles the courses may have. Some of them made me a little nervous, but I was excited to compete and see what I could do.

Since the Tough Mudder was in Topeka my mom, my sister and my niece were able to come watch as well. Spectators couldn't see the entire course, but they were able to follow some shortcut routes to see a lot of the obstacles.
It was great to hear my little two-year-old niece cheering me on saying, "Go Lyndee!" And it cracked me up when she started to cry because her mom wouldn't let her do some of the obstacles, too. She kept saying "I do it! I do it!"
When we got to the course, one of the first things we had to do was have our participant number written on our forehead and arm with permanent marker so we could be identified in pictures. You can't wear any bib numbers in this race - it would get too wet and muddy to read.

Our course was 10.9 miles long with 26 obstacles. Here are some of the pictures from the course.
The first obstacle was "Balls to the Wall". Here we had to do a rope climb to get over a tall wall.

These were the funky monkey bars. Rather than being level, they inclined and then declined.  

Here I was going off the "Walk the Plank" obstacle. You have to jump off a 15 ft. ledge into cold, muddy water. My friend Carole said we should jump at the same time. As soon as it was our turn, I looked at her and said "You ready?" She said "No." But I told her, "Too bad we're going any way." I didn't want to give myself any time to get nervous by standing and looking at the jump. :)

After we climbed out of the water, we had to slide down a mud hill. Sliding down/climbing over  muddy slopes was a very frequent occurrence during the race.

This was my friend Carole going through the electric eel obstacle. You had to belly crawl through the water and do your best to avoid the wires hanging above you - otherwise they'd give you a really good shock.

This was after I finished the electric eel. Luckily I made it through without getting zapped. Sometimes being small/short has it's advantages.

This obstacle was called Everest. We had to run up and over this sloping wall. I don't know if I ever could have made it up by myself, but thankfully other mudders are there to give you a hand.

This obstacle was called "Just the Tip". We had to make it across this wall hanging on by just our fingertips. The first part and the end weren't too bad - the boards were built out from the wall just a bit, so there was a little more grip. But in the middle a 2X4 was drilled directly into the wall so the only grip you had was your fingers across the width of the board. The fact that I can't stand to have long fingernails was very helpful here and gave me as much grip as possible, and I was able to make it across.  

This was the final obstacle - Electric Shock Therapy. You have to run through but the wires hanging down can shock you. At this point I was feeling pretty good about how I'd done throughout the course - but Tough Mudder got me in the end. I truthfully have no idea what happened - all I know was I was running through and the next thing I know, I've  face planted in the mud. Whether I slipped and fell or got shocked and knocked to the ground, the result was the same - A face, mouth and nostril full of mud.

I can honestly say this is the dirtiest I've ever been in my life.

Once you make it through Electroshock Therapy, you earn your Tough Mudder headband, shirt and a Dos Equis. :)

There were a lot of other obstacles, too, but these were some of the ones with the best pictures. We had a blast, and I may have to try my hand at another Tough Mudder in the future.

Call to me in times of trouble. I will save you, and you will honor me. Psalm 50:15

The other day I was reminded of how true this Scripture is. Prayers are powerful, and God loves to answer them. He might not always say yes, but if we go to Him, we give Him the chance to work in our lives. He will use our prayers to show us that He is always with us and always listening to us.

Happy Mother's Day! Hope you all enjoy your Sunday and have a good week.

Lyndee

Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

At one point when my little sister, Annie, and I were growing up, we made a pact that if we didn't get married, we would live together in an old farmhouse with a big garden and barn raising pigs and cattle.
I thought this plan was the most magnificent idea ever. Annie and I were best friends, we loved all of the same things, worked well together, and always had fun… who needed to get married when this option was available? Honestly, how could being married to any man compete with the awesome life Annie and I could have?
…And then I met Taylor. With him in my life my ideas of "not needing a husband" flew right out the window (sorry Annie). :) Last week reminded me of just how much I do need him.

Last Saturday Taylor and I both had our bags packed to leave on a trip, but it wasn't a trip we got to take together. Taylor was headed to Vegas for his soon-to-be brother-in-law's bachelor party. I was headed to Denver to catch a plane to Orlando. My sister-in-law Eryka had chosen to go on a short cruise with her bridal party, mother, mother-in-law and aunt instead of having a specific "bachelorette party".

As cool as it was to be able to go on a cruise with them all, and as good of a time as we had, I gotta say I had a really hard time being gone from Taylor for a week on a boat in the middle of the ocean without the ability to call and hear his voice.
The worst part was leading up to our departure - the time while I was moving farther and farther away and knew that soon I wouldn't even be able to talk to him. Thankfully it got easier once we were on the boat. After we sailed away, there was no going back, so I was able to relax a bit and enjoy a cruise through the Bahamas. :)

One of our stops had to be cancelled because of bad weather, but otherwise everything was great. We spent time laying out on the boat, dancing at the club, watching shows & comedians. We watched "Frozen" while laying by the pool, climbed the rock wall on the boat, and went snorkeling in Nassau. I even got a massage at the spa on the boat.  The gentle rocking of the boat on the ocean made the massage even more relaxing.

A "Silent Party" - one of my favorite thins on this trip was the silent party. On the first night instead of playing the music over the sound system at the club, they had headphones for you to put on and you could pick which of the two DJs you wanted to listen to. At first I didn't know what to think of it, but it was A LOT of fun. My favorite part was when us girls were doing the Wobble, and everybody else busted out in YMCA.

It was a great trip, but by Friday I was chomping at the bit to get home to Taylor. Getting to be with him would have been enough, but I got some extra surprises since I'd been on the boat on my birthday. By the time we got back, he'd been home for a couple of days, so when I got home, there was a beautiful arrangement of flowers on the counter and a pair of diamond earrings to match the style of my wedding ring. The next morning when I went out to do chores, I found that Taylor had cleaned out the tack room of my calf shed, and bought me some shelves and cabinets and organized my calf supplies for me. I couldn't have asked for better birthday presents. He's a keeper! :)

Maybe I'd rather not take trips without my husband but, on the positive side, I guess absence makes the heart grow fonder. I can truly say I've appreciated each moment with him this past week.

Western Kansas Fact: Spring and green are not synonymous.  Growing up I took for granted that when spring time rolled around, things would turn green. We don't always have enough moisture for plants and grass to automatically green up as soon as the weather turns warmer.

Love suffers long and is kind. 1 Corinthians 13:4
This Scripture lesson made me think about how often I place my own needs and desires above those of others. I neglect the opportunity to show God's love through my actions. I pray that in the future I would recognize when my outlook and actions have become selfish, and then make an effort to change them.

Have  a wonderful weekend!
Lyndee

Old, Positively

On certain nights I wonder if people who drive past our house, but don't know Taylor and me, wonder if our little house on the hill is home to a 90 year-old couple.
After trying it for the first time last year, Taylor and I decided to give up TV for Lent again this year. However without TV taking up a portion of our evening, there are times when after supper is done and the kitchen cleaned, we go take a shower and crawl into bed. Taylor will usually stay up for a while reading before he goes to sleep. I love to read, too, but (since I inherited my mom's ability to fall asleep) it takes me a maximum of 30 seconds to enter a REM cycle once I'm laying down, so I don't finish books very quickly in bed.

Once this past week Taylor and I were both tired, so by 9:45 p.m. all the lights in the house were off, and we were asleep in bed. Yeah, we might have some habits of 90 year-olds, but I'm ok with that - I felt very rested the next day. :)

Rather than just giving physical things up for Lent, I wanted to do something that could have a more meaningful impact on my life. So I am working to give myself a more positive attitude. I decided that when a circumstance has a severely negative effect on my mood, I have to stop and list several positives about the situation. The other morning I had to tryout my attitude-adjustment approach.
I went out to do chores one morning before going to workout, but as I stepped into the garage, I was concerned to find the floor of the garage was rather wet as well as some of the ground outside the garage door. Water/plumbing issues can put me in a pretty sour mood. Later we figured out that there is a leak in our radiant floor heating system, and it was coming up out of the floor in the seam in the concrete between the garage floor and the concrete pad outside. Not exactly the best news to have, but I was able to find several positives points.

1. If there had to be a water issue, at least it wasn't in my house
2. The water didn't quite make it to the bag of milk replacer I had in the garage, so it didn't get ruined.
3. At least it happened when it wasn't extremely cold, so the water didn't freeze and mess up our concrete.
4. Some of the water that leaked outside went into my flower bed and will be good for my plants.

I, truthfully, was rather surprised at how much better I felt after finding some good things to focus on. For the rest of the day, whenever I thought about the leak in our radiant floor heating, I was able to counter it with a positive thought. It was nice to keep my entire day from becoming tainted by one bad event.

Last weekend, I went home for my little sister's bridal shower that us bridesmaids were hosting. We had  Mom's kitchen and living room packed full of ladies, and Annie got some great gifts! What made it really fun was that several of Annie's roommates (past and present) came up the night before and stayed at Mom and Dad's so it was like a big-girl slumber party only with a little less giggling and a little more sleeping throughout the night. :)

Annie & her roomies!

Annie & Grandma Patterson at the shower

The weather Monday was absolutely AMAZING. It was mid 70s with hardly even a breeze, and it's too early for any bugs to be out. I spent most of the afternoon outside cleaning calf pens, going for a run, and that evening Taylor and I worked in the garden doing a little prep-work to get it ready for planting. The next day was not nearly as nice because the wind was blowing like crazy - but I didn't let it ruin my attitude -  windy days make me really enjoy the nice days, and I was able to accomplish a fair amount of book work because I wasn't tempted to go outside instead.

A Scripture I really like recently was Matthew 25:40.
Anything you did for even the least of my people here, you also did for me.
I really liked the lesson that went with this Scripture. It reminded every person on earth is important to God, but often as I go through life, I frequently overlook people. I prayed that God would help me to see people the way He sees them and to show them God's love through my actions and attention.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!
Lyndee

My Enabler

I realized recently -  my husband is my enabler. He feeds my habit.
"Hi, my name is Lyndee, and I have an addiction to baby calves."
It started with two calf hutches. Then, this past spring Taylor got me a 3-pen calf shed.  And rarely do any of these pens sit empty because Taylor brings me baby calves from the feedlot. In the past two years I've taken care of 37 different calves.
And, just last evening Taylor brought me number 38 - a sweet little black brockle-face heifer I named "Alice" off of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (or for my grandma) :)

Sunday afternoon was absolutely beautiful, so after church Taylor and I decided to work on a few projects that needing doing outside.  As we were working, I realized nearly all of our projects were created by/for my calves:
- Taylor getting the loader to move hay bales that helped block the wind from my calf shed when it was really cold earlier this winter
- Using the loader to pile up the old straw and manure I cleaned out of my calf pens
- Digging dirt out from my calf hutches to limit any bad bacteria
- Leveling off the dirt from the line that was dug to get electricity and a water line out to my calf shed

"The first step is admitting you have a problem" - well, this theory doesn't apply in this situation. I may have an addiction (and I know it), but I have no intention of trying to overcome it. :) I love taking care of little baby calves that would otherwise not have a chance. And I couldn't do it without Taylor. He gets me hay and straw, helps me doctor and work them, and on those sad occasions when a calf gets really sick and is suffering because it isn't responding to the medicine, Taylor puts them down for me. I'm so blessed to have a husband who gives of his time and effort simply to make me happy because he knows how much I enjoy my hobby of caring for baby calves.

Now the trick will be to always recognize all these gifts Taylor gives me, and make sure that I'm giving back to him as well. I want to put him above myself, the way he has for me.

Bently cuddling up with new baby, Alice

I'm also extremely grateful for friends like Jim and TJ, both of whom work at the feedyard. Jim frequently takes care of my calves for me if we're gone, and TJ, along with many other things, helped us build my calf hutch  pens and put in a water line to my shed. (It's a good thing they like cookies, pies, and quick breads and will work for food, or we'd be broke from how much I'd owe them for their help.)

Besides messing with calves, Taylor and I recently went skiing with his family at Crested Butte. It was such a blast! It was really cold while we were there, but we bundled up and had a great time. Because of when we went, there was hardly anybody else on the mountain. It was awesome not to have a ton of other people on the slopes at the same time. I like doing a few nice runs, but my favorite thing to do is to try and follow Taylor down some blacks. I'm about as skilled at doing the moguls as a house cat is at swimming, but I like to try. I'm sure I'm horrible to watch, but at least I skied down those parts more than I fell this year. :)

These are what moguls look like - (until I started skiing with Taylor I had no idea what they were)

Western Kansas Fact: We need moisture, VERY BADLY - please pray we would get some. But if you're going to pray, please be specific - ask for snow that would come without wind.  Blizzards kill cattle in a hurry.

 I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. Matthew 25:35
I needed to be reminded of the lesson that went with this scripture. A lot of times when I think of working or doing things for God, I feel like I need to accomplish something big for it to count. But this lesson reminded me that this scripture doesn't say "I was thirsty and you dug me a well." God doesn't ask us to perform miracles. That's His job. All He needs is for us to show up and offer our lives for Him to use. God can use the simplest acts that are done in His name - like offering the thirsty a drink - to make a difference for His kingdom.

Hope you all have a wonderful week!
Lyndee

The Magic of Christmas

There's nothing more special than the magic of Christmas. When I was little that magic woke me and my siblings up on Christmas morning about two hours earlier than normal. Then we'd go downstairs and traipse into Mom and Dad's room to wake them up so we could go see what Santa had brought (at this point Mom and Dad would inform us it was entirely too early to open presents, and they'd make us lay down next to them and rest until it was a reasonable hour - like 6 a.m.  It was torture). :)

Now the magic comes from different things - like shutting off all the other lights and enjoying the beauty of our own Christmas tree, or picking out the perfect gift for someone, and even though you know they'll love it, you're more excited to give it to them than they could ever possibly be to receive it. One of my personal favorites this year was sitting in the living room lit by soft Christmas lights, wrapping presents, drinking hot chocolate and watching the Polar Express. It doesn't get any better than that.

We did Christmas a little differently this year. Instead of spending Christmas Eve with one side of the family and Christmas day with the other, we spent both with Taylor's family, and then we spent a long weekend with my family. It was nice not to have to rush around trying to get from one place to the other and really get to spend time with each side of the family.

My favorite ladies in the world!

I think one of the best parts of my time back home was on Friday me and my sisters took my niece and nephew to their first movie at the movie theater. We watched the new Disney movie, Frozen. Oh my goodness, folks, it was ADORABLE!  I absolutely loved it! (I'm pretty sure the kids did too). :) I would recommend it for anyone to go see, especially those people who are lucky enough to have their sisters be their best friends.

We were beyond blessed this Christmas. I got a lot of wonderful gifts I know I'll really enjoy. Yet sometimes I think it might be better if we didn't worry so much about buying gifts for each other. What if we just spent the time together or offered ourselves and our time as a gift to someone else? One of Taylor's gifts to me this year was something along those lines, and it meant more to me than anything else I received. How great would it be if we brought more of that back into Christmas?

Taylor was very excited to wear the Santa hat. :)

I think this December went by more quickly than any other has for some reason. At the beginning of the month Taylor and I went to Vegas for the NFR with his parents and brother, one of our friends, as well as my sister and her husband and my cousin and his wife. It was the biggest group we've ever had go, but it was a great time. For me one of the most memorable moments was one evening after we'd gone to the rodeo, we were walking around the casino floor. As I walked by the roulette table, I saw a guy turn around and look at me. Then he stuck his hand out to me and said, "You're freakin' cute. I'm Rodney Carrington." You never know what will happen in Vegas. :)

A random picture with Rodney Carrington

From there the rest of the month flew by in a haze of Christmas preparations and trying to stay caught up on my articles for the Kansas Livestock Association.

Western Kansas Fact: When people in far western Kansas say "river." They probably don't actually mean "water."  The Arkansas river is just south of Lakin, but it almost never has any water in it. When anybody in Lakin says "the river," generally they really mean "the river bed" or "the place where the river used to be."

I want nothing on earth besides you. Psalm 73:25. 
I think this is a beautiful Scripture. It is true in my life, but sometimes I let that desire become covered up by earthly wants. I pray that each day God will help me grow in my faith so this phrase can be the most important desire of my heart.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, and I pray 2014 will be a wonderful year for each of you!

Love,
Lyndee