Where has time gone?

Hello there...I have crept back into this space after four years away. I still can't believe it has been that long! A lot has changed since then. We are not even living in the same state anymore! And have completely changed directions as far as jobs. We are still in agriculture, but currently not farming crops like we were.

In December of 2016, we packed up and moved to northwest Arkansas. We bought a poultry farm and have been growing broilers for the last two years. We wanted to do something that the kids could help more in and could be more family focused. The first half of 2017 was focused on learning all we could about raising chickens. By June we thought we were ready to add something else into the mix. We started the process to be licensed for fostering. We had actually gone through the licensing process in Arizona, but then ended up selling and moving. We opened our home in November. We have had over 15 kids in our home over that year. Some it was just for a night or two. Others it was a weekend or a few weeks. We had a brother and sister for 5 1/2 months. They were able to go home to their mom at the end of the school year. I have to say that 5 1/2 month period of time was one of the hardest and most stretching our family as a whole has ever experienced.

The real heroes in this whole journey has been our kids. We picked up and moved from the only home they had ever known- from grandparents, friends that were like family, and the only church they had ever known and dropped them into a completely new area. It doesn't look like Arizona, we knew no one in the area, had no family, no connections-it has been hard. And to be honest, in only the last few months, have I actually started to feel the loss and grieve the moving. I know that probably sounds strange, but I think I was trying so hard to keep it together and be strong for our kids, because it was really hard for them. Plus, we were learning a whole new business, which was stressful for my husband. But we persevered. We made mistakes, but have stuck with it. Our kids are learning the value of hard work, of trying new things, of being responsible. These are all values that we wanted to instill in them. We have spent more time as a family than we ever have. We work together, play together, school together and basically, you know it-do everything together. They have become each other's best friends.

Not that everything is perfect. Yes, we spend a lot of time together and they have become each other's best friends, but they also know how to annoy and drive each other crazy the best too! But growing together has been wonderful. I'm so thankful we have been able to experience that as a family.

I've been feeling the nudge to start writing again. I'm not even sure how many read blogs anymore...and that's ok. I want to keep better record of our journey. Of my journey. I feel like the last two years have been hidden, that our family, and myself personally, have been in the dark, waiting to birth something new. And I don't want to miss it.