A Perfectly Good Reason

I hope every ones Thanksgiving was wonderful!  We had a lovely day at my parents new home, we ate, we reminisced, we were just plain thankful! 'Twas a lovely day.


You may wonder why I didn't update our little blog for months on end. I had a perfectly good reason.

May I introduce you to Miss Aliviah Ayne Anderson. She was born May 21, 2012.
She was one of our smallest babies at 7lbs 12oz. She then proceeded to lose weight and then eventually gain very slowly. So on top of having pregnancy brain and not having the wherewith all to put any thing that might make any sense together, when she got here I spent weeks on end trying to get enough calories in her so she would grow!! She is a happy baby and thoroughly spoiled by all especially her big sister Elsah!

Yesterday we also took our annual family picture I'll give you a sneak peak!

 

 

A goofy shot of Kegan and Quinlan

Our Three Girls, Ileigh, Elsah, and Alviah

 

I'm working on a few posts about off grid life and how we've adapted.

Check back soon!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

                        

 

                          From Our Family to Yours, May You Have a Blessed Day of Thanksgiving

 

 

 Praise God from whom all blessings flow,

 Praise Him all creatures here below,

                                                Praise Him above ye heavenly hosts,
                                                    Praise Father Son and Holy Ghost.
                                                                           Amen

A Re-Introduction!

Ah...my little home on the web, it's been so long since I have been here. Kind of like opening a summer cabin after being away all winter.  There are a few cobwebs and lots of dust, but everything seem to be in working order!  I imagine at this point the only ones with any interest who are still looking for updates will be our families.  I can't say with any certainty what I will post but I do know there will be pictures and newsy info and the like.  So here's a bit about us, because we've changed a bit in the last few months!


Who are you?
We are the Anderson Family we moved from our life long home in New Mexico's 4 Corners region to North East Missouri in April of 2011.  We bought a 40 acre Amish farm and went totally off grid!  We lived an old fashioned life for close to a year, by old fashioned I mean No Electricity, No Hot Running Water, No Modern Conveniences, No Refrigerator , No AC! It was a LONG but wonderful year.  I hope to post about our experiences and give you a birds eye view on what a simple old fashioned life looks like.  We are still off the grid but we now have propane lights and stove as well as some electric lights that run off a generator.  We've had to ask ourselves some tough questions about what we really want to accomplish here on our farm, and we are still working through our dreams and ideas.
Oh yeah..............Who Are We?
Dane and Misty, we have been married 20 years and are the parents to 9 wonderful children!  We are so happy to be living our dreams on our farm and following Gods leading in our lives!
Our children are
Kegan, 19         Donagan 12         Elsah 4
Ileigh 17           Rohan 10             Octavian 3
Quinlan 15       Ferran 6               Aliviah 6 months

What are some of your farming accomplishments?
Well, we purchased, freshened, and milked a Jersey cow named Trudy.  This is one of my top highlights of the last year, I LOVE having a milk cow.
We had a dismal garden that simply could not withstand the drought.  We have chickens and we also added Guineas to our barnyard.  The Guineas ate bugs like you would not believe, amazing birds! We hardly saw any spiders this year! 
We have big plans for upcoming projects but things move a little slower than we would have anticipated.
I know everyone would pictures, to be honest I am writing this at the only quiet time I can find, late at night! Ileigh is my picture person and I have no idea where to find the pics and how to get them over here. But soon we'll work it out!
Thank you for reading and let me know if you have any questions or want to know something about our way of life, we would be happy to share what we can!
In Christ,
Misty

Winter Fishing

Rohan is CRAZY about fishing, it takes up all his waking thoughts!!  It's all he thinks about!  He has been quite successful in his fishing this winter.  Considering the pond never froze over,(much to Ileighs dismay) he has been fishing at least once a day for months now.  He always brings them up to the house so we can see them and take a picture for his record book, then he releases them, "so they can get bigger and make more fish babies!".  So here is a run down of Rohans  winter fishing, and one Ferran caught too!

Ferran with his own "cat"

16 in catfish

large mouth bass

15in bass

14in. bass

As I was getting ready to hit the publish button, Rohan came in with another 15 inch large mouth bass!!
The boy is a fishing prodigy!  He and and Dane are planning a big fishing trip to our local lake next week, can't wait to see what they bring home

A Little Bit Of This and That!

I know you all don't want to read, you want pictures!  So here's some!!!

Elsah Loves to Read!!

Thanksgiving Dinner!!  Nice face Donagan!

Ferran enjoying the long winter evening, lots of coloring and story writing has gone on lately!

Ocatavian boy is he cute!

Poppy and His boys.

Ileigh and Elsah on Ileighs 17th birthday!

Quinlan turned 15 this year, where does time go?

 I had several more pics to upload but the server timed out!  Enjoy and have a great day!!!

UNDER CONSTRUCTION!!!

This blog is under construction, a new improved and more fabulous blog will be appearing soon!!!!!

6 Months and 4 Hours 'Til a Hot Bath

November 1st marked 6 months of being on our farm!  It's been  wonderful and horrible, a dream come true and a nightmare!  Really, the good has outweighed the bad, by a long shot!  We have met lots Amish, have some very nice neighbors, we have found a great church where we feel very welcome.  We have acquired some of our farm livestock, milk cow and 40 chickens!  We have explored our new surroundings and have had several nice family drives!
Some things we haven't accomplished yet, self-suffiecentcy.  We are really lacking in that.  The "simple life" can be quite complicated!

For example, you want a hot bath.

1. You ask a boy to haul some wood to the basement.

2. You ask a boy to haul some wood to the basement.

3. You ask a different boy to haul wood to the basement.

4. You haul some wood to the basement yourself.

5. You start a fire in the boiler.

6. You fill the boiler with water from the spigot.

7. You restart the fire in the boiler adding more paper and kindling.

8.  You go upstairs and gather everyones pj's and towels.

9. You go downstairs and check the fire, add wood and test the water.

10. Repeat step 9 four more times in the next 3 hours.

11. Finally....the water is boiling hot!!

12. You start with the littlest people and give them baths 2 or 3 at a time!

13. Tell a boy to go get in the tub.

14. Tell another boy to go get in the tub.

15. Tell another boy to get in the tub.

16. Ask Kegan and Ileigh who wants to go next.

17. Wait patiently for Kegan and Ileigh to get done.

18. Get ready for your own bath.

19. Get the bucket and fill it at the boiler.

20. Carry 5 gallons of boiling hot water to the smallest, oldest bath tub ever made.  Pour it in and start the cold water running.

21.  Go back to the boiler for a second bucket................there is no more hot water!!!!!!

22. Go back to the bathtub and take a lukewarm bath in 3 inches of water:(

23. Vow to be the FIRST bath next time!!!!!!

Needless to say we don't bathe everyday!!  It is simpler, there is no hot water heater to break, no propane to pay for, or gas or electricity.  What I have found is, what you don't spend in cash you put out in hard work!!

I know it's been so long since I have posted.  Busy? Yes but no more than usual, just lots of stuff I am not at liberty to discuss at this point in time!  I hate it when people do that!  And here I am doing it, sorry!
I will try harder, honest!
Have  great day!