It is exciting to be online and able to post regular posts again. I don't know how long we will be at the Clovis home and have Internet available to us... let me explain the situation. The problem with having Internet at the property is a power issue. I have been told we need a special cord to keep the computer from burning up, a cord that cost almost three hundred dollars. Joe and I just haven't had peace about making that kind of investment so we brought the computer back to the Clovis home where we can use it as needed. I must confess I have truly enjoyed living at the property with no Internet, no T.V and limited phone calls. Oh, I miss chatting with friends but there is a peace that comes with the absence of such devices... at least in our home that is.

I have much to share with you all since my last post so I think I will just dive in and get started here, if time is limited you will find that I have highlighted each new topic so you can skim the post and read what is of interest to you.

Adoption Update: We are still in the process of adopting our three little blessings. If the Lord should bring us to mind please remember us in your prayers. My Joe and I place our confidence in the Lord and trust that He will complete the good work He has begun in our lives and this adoption. As I often tell others that adopt, "We shouldn't be surprised that we must battle for these children. We are taking souls from the kingdom of darkness and bringing them into the Kingdom of God for the Lord's Glory and purpose- of course the enemy is going to fight us!" And yet sometimes I just get tired of the fight- Oh Lord equip me and strengthen me for this battle!

Family Update: The children are all growing in the Lord. We will start our official school year come January. The Lord has led Joe and I to do things a tad different this year and while I am a bit nervous I am very excited to see the Fruit that comes when we obey the Fathers voice. We have been home educating the children for 14 years now yet at times I feel so "new" to the idea- I am always learning! I remember when the Lord first led us to home educate, when my oldest was just six months old, I remember all my flops in getting started, the friends that the Lord brought to us as examples to learn from, the conventions, and the growing that still continues today as we delight in growing together in Godliness as a family unit. My Joe and I continually seek the Lords leading on how He desires for us to minister to others as a family.

Holiday Fun: Our Holidays this year were richly blessed! We spent this Christmas with my Daddy and Momma as well as my brothers family. Everyone came up to see the property on Christmas day and that was a fun treat. Mom had never seen the property before and dad offered many words of wisdom regarding building,escalations and such.

I helped Beth Joy finish her present for Elisha. She had desired to repair his quilt from papa Ora, the quilt he has had for the last 12 years, however it was quite a task for her. We both worked to finish it the last three days before Christmas, working 8-12 hours a day and not taking one break! Having completed the project, we both were thanking the Lord for the Love that Papa Ora and Grandma Mae had put into the quilt originally. It was a special present since Papa went home to Jesus this last November and I was so honored to help my girl with such a loving gift.

Christmas cards just didn't get out this year and I feel awful about it! I still might be able to get something out before the new year but I'm not sure- I had wanted to send family photos. I will have to talk to my Joe and see what his desire is regarding the subject.

Farm Improvements: Well, the animals are all at the property now except for our horse, Lady, we hope to have her arrive sometime this next week. Because of the adoption issues we aren't allowed to be at the property as much as we would like so it has been heart breaking for many of us to be away from the animals so much. However, each time we visit we get much work done and it is really starting to look nice around there! The barn is almost done, the bucks and rams still need their pen but the other animals are all safe and sound. We are paying some neighbors to care for and feed the animals each day and from what I can tell they are doing a fine job.

We did have our Ram come down with Pneumonia and I kept a daily journal of the care I administered to him and the results. Here are those notes for anyone interested:

Dec. 7th- Joe arrived at the property to night to find Sage, our Ram, not acting his normal self. Symptoms included shallow breathing, lethargic, and refusal of food. Without me there he wasn't quite sure what to do. He called me with the symptoms and I made a few more phone calls to see if others held the same opinion as myself. Everyone agreed that it sounded like Pneumonia but it was getting late and there was no supplies available. Prayers were said and phone calls made to locate the needed items. Sage was removed from the herd and placed in an isolated building with fresh water and oat hay.

Dec. 8th Joe took off work early to get back up to the property. The feed store owner is making a delivery of other items we needed so I had her add some penicillin as well. Without me there Joe was unsure as to how to give the injection and had one of the neighbors help him. 10cc was given, a mega dose, we hope that we will see signs of improvement soon.

Dec. 8th pm: Not much improvement is noted. Joe wants me to come to the property tomorrow and see what I can do.

Dec. 9th: I arrived with the children to the property and found Sage doing worse than I had expected. With the help of Joe and Beth I administered 8cc of penicillin to Sage with no resistance (now that just shows how bad he must really be feeling). Joe believes he is weaker than yesterday. There is no signs of him drinking his water. I am concerned about dehydration. Many people make the mistake of waiting for the meds to work and the animal will end up dying first of dehydration. Phone calls were made to local ranchers for their opinions and to bounce ideas off of. Many warn that he has been seriously sick for three days already and don't have much hope he will recover. I decide that I want to break the dosage of meds up to 4cc twice a day instead of one daily dose. Keeping in mind this may be viral pneumonia and I need to do something to boost his immunity.

Rose leaves are given- providing Vitamin C (he refuses them) I gave more rose leaves to the flock to help them fight off anything in case others are coming down ill. So far it looks like everyone else has dry noses and bright eyes so that is good news. Eucalyptus leaves are also high in Vitamin C but we don't have any nearby to offer.

Echinacea tea- help boost immunity  (was administered by putting it in his mouth via a syringe.)

Black Strap Molasses would offer a great pick me up-  a healthful sweetener that contains significant amounts of a variety of minerals that promote health.  (I put some in a syringe and placed it on the inside of his cheek towards the back of his tongue- Sage enjoyed this treat!)

I also gave him 1/8 ounce of Aspirin that I had made into paste to reduce his fever and help with his aches. Again this was put into the syringe and placed on back of tongue.

Last, but not least, I gave save an IV of electrolytes and distilled water (20 ounces was given slowly). He was evaluated one hour later with no positive improvements so we administered another IV of the same mixture, 4cc of Black strap molasses and Echinacea tea. We also walked him around the pen for three min. being careful not to exhaust him but he does need to move around to get better. We will let him rest till morning- it is late and see what signs of improvement he shows in the morning. I used 7% iodine to clean my needle with since I must reuse it for the IV (it was the last one the feed store had) We continue to pray for Gods healing on Sage- we know that we can do nothing without God!

Dec10th- Sage had a good night and appears to be much stronger this morning but still very weak compared to his normal health. Eyes are open wide, breathing is not as labored as last night and he is trying to walk away from me when he sees me coming with all my "gear". We continued with our IV treatment, tea, aspirin paste and molasses. Penicillin is given at 4cc in the am and pm.  Pm update- Sage is still not drinking on his own and I think it may be because of all the fluids I am giving to him so I am going to slow down and see if that encourages him to drink on his own.

Dec. 11th am- Sage is doing much better today and is getting harder to work with because his strength is returning to him. Decreasing the fluids is encouraging him to drink as I suspected and a very minimal amount of water is missing from his water container! We continue to pray for Sages health and continue with all treatment as before but have discontinued the IV, aspirin and molasses.

Dec. 12th Sage lost quite a bit of weight with this illness but is much better. I am going to keep him isolated so I can get some meat back on him and he can get his full strength up. However, I did put the little weather in with him since he showed signs of loneliness without any companionship.

Dec. 26th Sages health is completely restored. He was on the medication for five days and given rose leaves for two weeks along with extra feed. He is bright and alert; eating as usual (he has put on all the weight he had lost) and acting just like his old self! PRAISE GOD!!!!