Noah's first trip to the farm

 

 

 

 

 

 

Melissa and the kids were just here for a few days. It sure livens the place up! It was fun to get to know the newest Grandson better and see him turning on the smiles. In about another week we will have everyone here for our last Christmas on the farm. We will enjoy the memories made here with all five little ones, but we'll just be moving home and family fun 3 hours north! for next Christmas. Hopefully we'll combine some fun with cousins next door as we visit with Gerry and Lorna's family, too.

"Counting our many blessings and naming them one by one..."

 

 

 

 

 

We begin our 38th year of marriage!

 

Just think. It was 37 years ago that two "kids" got married and went farming. Life has been good. :-) In our 38th year of marriage we move to 38 Wood Meadows! Hmmm. I think that's pretty interesting :-)

Stan and Maxine family updates

The summer flew by as we knew it would. We had a wonderful harvest and now comes the "cleanup and put it all away" time. This time is a little different as things get cleaned up even a little better than usual with the auction sale in mind. We have moved a few things up to Saskatoon acreage already while we still own the truck and will hold off now until the final move sometime in May. Roy and Monica have things set to go on building their new home so we will see how soon they are ready to do the furniture shuffle. We were in Saskatoon this past week or so as we celebrated the birth of Noah James Orr to Robert and Melissa on September 30 (our youngest grandchild) and Linaya's 5th birthday on October 5th (our first grandchild and daughter to Roy and Monica). We had relocated our trampoline in time for her birthday party, so the kids all enjoyed that!

We are becoming more excited about the move and we anticipate what things we will be doing there to make it "home" and our own. We have seen it now in all seasons. There are trees and perennials that will require a little attention. I'll be wishing I had my Mom's "green thumb" for gardening. I am looking forward to Stan and I working together on the yard. He has always been interested but lacked the time. We know many in the church there already, so we look forward to becoming part of their activities as well.

It has been fun to see how the grandchildren are growing and I look forward to being a more consistent part of their life. I love the school concerts, soccer games and everthing else that will be withing easy driving. I'll add a couple of newer pics of family. I hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving too.

Our final summer on the farm... mixed emotions.

We have had a busy summer. Have you seen the circus act where they spin plates?? We're spinning plates. What an unusual time in our life. Since the decision was made to retire, we have been completeing the plans for transfer of the farm into the capable hands of our nephew and his wife and "looking over the fence" and making little visits to the acreage in Saskatoon to get a feeling for spending more time with our family there. We continue to be so pleased with the acreage we purchased. The location is wonderful and we look forward to the work we will do there to make it our own.

The first step toward the auction sale was to have the machinery washed up and posed for the advertising pictures for the Ritchie Bros. Auction. The date is set for April 10/12 but they are professionals at getting us organized. With that behind us we are moving into harvest preparation. Soon the swather will begin to cut canola. We have a beautiful crop coming with only one tangle with hail this week. We have yet to assess the damage on some of the chickpeas. I have become nostalgic as I consider how many things are being done by us for the last time on this property. We look at the changes we have made since we have lived here and raised our family here. This has been a wonderful home and has blessed our family. We will still own most of our land so that still anchors us here and we will remain connected and enjoy coming back to see everyone here and still be interested in the farming being done here.

This is what a "someday we'll buy an acreage" looks like!

Well, here we are at the beginning of something new. This is a picture of our new house on the south side of Saskatoon. We are happy that Roy and Monica and their girls have decided to make it their home for the next year and give us time for one more growing season and an auction sale next spring. We had decided that we would look around at the properties close to the city and closer to our family in Saskatoon and we found this wonderful house, shop and 14 acres of trees and grass. We are pleased with the location that still has a very quiet rural feel to it. The address is actually Corman Park even if it is only minutes from Saskatoon. This farm has been Stan's home for his whole life and mine for the past 37 so it will definitely be a major change in our life. Stan and I have been blessed by farming, this wonderful place to raise our children and wonderful neighbors and friends. Planning when to retire has not been an easy decison. The next year always looks promising to the Saskatchewan farmer and we always are wondering what the next year holds. We look forward to this being a good year of farming. You just know we have enought moisture!! :-) I think we'll be taking more pictures this year and approaching each step with mixed emotions.

Happy birthday, Abby.

Abby turns 2 on January 20th. Happy birthday, Sweet Abigail!