July

Hello everyone,

We hope you all had a wonderful July! :) 

This month we decided to have a surprise graduation party (for Ashley), combined with a Fourth of July celebration. Ashley was indeed surprised, which made it well worth it! 

We also had the honor of hosting The Ozarks Grazing Group 

that we’ve been apart of for the last three years.

It was a good opportunity for us to ask questions about our forages

and get ideas and advice from seasoned graziers in our region.

We butchered another 200 chickens, 

welcomed another batch of 300, 

and took a steer to the butcher! :) 

Well, shall we begin?

Anna’s annual ‘flag in the field’ pictures! 

Foggy mornings are the best. :) 

We decided to combine a graduation party for Ashley and a 4th of July party together!

Ashley’s surprise graduation party was a bit difficult to keep a secret, but Dad was able to get her out of the house to run errands with him. As soon as they were gone, everyone scrambled to get everything set up, as we had only a few hours to do so. :)

Here are the signs we put up for Ashley. We wanted a sequence of “Congratulations, Ashley!!!” But before she saw them, it rained and the signs were unreadable. (Isn't the younger ones coloring skills nice though ;)

The poor Amish buggy's that passed. ;)

I got this idea from a friend who said they know someone who had done this, it wasn't up very long before the rain and wind came and it was on the ground.:(

It was my goal to buy at least 1,000 water balloons for the 4th of July. I was so happy when we passed that number! :)

Credit for Katherine’s hair and this picture goes to Anna! :)

Getting the balloon arch put together! 

Looks like a big bloated caterpillar ;p

Putting it up! 

Anna and Isaiah

Spontaneous pictures often turn out the best! :)

Havi can be so flattering. ;)

It ended up not working using it the way we had it. 

So it turned out more into a random little arch thing in the front yard. :)

I think she was surprised! :D

Taking a “How well do you know the graduate” test. We all found out how ‘not so well’ we know Ashley. 

And it ended up being a non family member that won! Congratulations Sam! :)

Relay racing time!!!! This is when everything gets a lot more interesting. ;)

The sponge game: What team could transport the most water from one bucket to another with only a sponge in the shortest amount of time!  

 

Havi and Norah

 Walking there and back with a feather on a plastic spoon.

 I think Dad dropped his feather! 

Now the competition of the little kids (and amusement for everyone else): How many marshmallows can you put in your mouth and still say “chubby bunny” clearly. Joe won with a total of 9 marshmallows still in his mouth.

And now, for the game of tug of war! Battle against the wills.

PULL!!!!!!

Which team do you think won?

Let’s just say.....losers had to wear fake mustaches.

 (Noah was actually on the winning side, he just wanted to wear one! :)

Isaiah wears his well! ;)

 It seriously looks real. Kind of creepy. I think he likes it though.

Ashley and Mary

The group that lost + all those who just wanted to wear one! :)

Some of the group that showed up to help us congratulate Ashley and celebrate! Thank you guys (including you who weren't pictured here) for coming! :)

We went through all those water balloons way too fast. 

Intermission for food and a read of the Constitution.

Slippin’ sliding! 

*Note Noah’s face*

Volleyball!!! 

The sunset that night was awesome!

A glow stick “rope.”

Katherine made the mistake of lighting her sparkler on the front porch.

And Norah made the mistake of lighting a sparkler while holding fireworks in the other hand.

At least Ashley did it right! ;) 

Admiring the neighbors fireworks.

We were probably an interesting sight from the road.

Kind of creepy. But Ashley’s creepier! ;p

Firework time!!!!!!!!!!!

 

An Amish buggy actually stopped at the bottom of the lane to watch the fireworks, but they soon left when they saw an “army” of people and glow sticks walking down the lane and toward them.

We have shirts now for the Farm! 

And bags!!!

Isaiah wanted to have his pictures taken too! :)

A beautiful sunrise at Farmer's Market of the Ozarks in Springfield!

Those random Sunday nights when Anna just says, 

“Get your sunglasses and come here!” are the best.

Yeah, we’re kind of weird! ;)

Isaiah can sleep anywhere, anytime! 

Even in a shower with a cookie Mom told him not to take. Caught red handed.

Isaiah and Ike

Bonfire time!!!!

Trying to get as close to the fire as the heat permits! 

Yeah, Joe is kind of weird.

But then we take camera selfies........

Got a tail there, Isaiah.

Their new “hobby”: Swimming in the dark.

A couple pictures of the herbs in our garden that Anna captured! 

Market is now finally a walk through again!!! 

Always such a great surprise when awesome friends stop by!!!!

Noelle, me, and Nat 

Photo credit: Cameron

Doing chores like this is so awesome!

Summer project for those of us who are available is to build chicken pens to replace the ones we lost in the May storm. The goal was to get at least three finished so we could get the growing chickens still in the brooder out in the field. 

And, by God’s grace, we made it happen! 

The Pasture Walk.

Ashley did a great job throwing her input and questions out on 'the table.'

Fun times at the park!

And on the way home we got a lightning show! 

The batch of 300 new chicks!

And the next day we butchered the other batch of broilers. Another butcher day behind us!

Photo credit for these: Anna

Packed, chilled, and finished!!!

The sunset that night!

Mom

The thrill of picking food out of the garden is real! :)

(I think I see some evidence that Katherine was also eating some blackberries. :)

Some “purdy” sky shots for you! :)

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A glimpse into Maddy’s month:

“She traveled 30 hours to come visit me! Everyone needs a friend like Bethany in their life. 😊

One of my favorite time of year at work is when we host Lamplighter Live and record a new audio drama. This last week they have been recording Hidden Hand, which is my favorite LL book and I cannot wait for this to come out! With the way this year has been going so far it’s definitely been a breath of fresh air to have so many people around again and all the fun that comes when actors come around.

I personally cannot wait for this one! -Izzy :)                                

This week flew by way too fast! It was wonderful having you back out here, Bethany please come back soon! 🥰✌️

We discovered a new swim hole today 😁 I love summer.

Conesus Lake

It’s really great when some random people bring their stereo and blast country music while they swim. Perfect summer night! 👌#laketime

Storms are my favorite

                                                                        ~Guild 2020~

Celebrating an amazing evening together as staff and interns! Thankful for what the Lord has done and continues to do in our lives for His glory!

And that's it!!! Thank you so much for stopping by! See you next month! :)

"The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and the Lord will by no means clear the guilty. His way is in whirlwind and storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet."

Nahum 1:3 ESV