Where is home?

     When Emily was younger we had a book (from a Cheerio box) called Where is Home, Little Pip? It was the kind of book that a child latches onto and wants you to read it 27 times a day. So we did, and as a result I can still quote most of it. 

     For Little Pip, the baby penguin, home is a pebbly nest on the cold Antarctic shore. She loves to play and explore but is constantly warned by her doting parents not to wander far. Every night they sing a song reminding her that:

 "Our home is where the land is free
 from hill or mountain, twig or tree
in our pebbly nest by the stormy sea,
where Mama and Papa and Pip makes three."

      One day Pip wanders off and becomes lost. She asks the different animals that she encounters, "Where is home?" But for each creature, home is a different place. Alone and frightened in the frozen wilderness, Pip sings the song that Mama and Papa taught her, and it brings them together for a joyful reunion. When Little Pip asks them to take her home, Papa sings their song with a different twist:

"Where is home? Is it far or near?
Is it a pebbly nest that we all hold dear?
No, home is where there is nothing to fear.
Since we're together, home is right here!"

Webster's Dictionary says that home is:
1       a :   one's place of residence  
        b :   house

1. 2 the social unit formed by a family living together 
2. 3a :  a familiar or usual setting :  congenial environment; also :  the focus of one's domestic attention b :  habitat 
3. 4a :  a place of origin b :  headquarters 
4. 5   an establishment providing residence and care for people with special needs 
5. 6   the objective in various games; especially :  home plate

6. at home

   1. 1  relaxed and comfortable :  at ease 
   2. 2  in harmony with the surroundings
   3. 3  on familiar ground :  knowledgeable 

        The last week I've been thinking a lot about what the word home means to me and it's been interesting to see where all my wandering mind led me. It's definitely defined differently in my mind then it would have been 2 years ago. 

     When I think of my permanent home, I think of heaven. And I'll be honest, I have a hard time imagining a city of gold being beautiful so I choose to focus on the fact that Jesus will be there and that being in his presence will outshine all that gold :). But for right now, I'm thinking about my earthly home.

Heaven, my eternal home. (not my picture)

     This picture brings forth many warm, fuzzy feelings. It's the first property we owned and poured thousands of dollars into. It's the house we brought 3 of our 4 children home to. It's the house I went through a deep, dark winter and the house we created a million happy memories. But, it's just a house to us now that we've sold it to someone else.
 

Our house in Arkansas, that we sold in November 2016.

     Then there is the Colorado mountains that I grew up in. Every time we go visit my heart aches with the beauty of it and the happy growing up memories I have. But the house I helped my dad build and we lived in for years is long sold off and everything in the area has changed so much that it no longer feels like home either.

Picture taken July 2016 on Owl Creek Pass, near Ridgeway, Colorado

     This is the house my parents currently live in. It also invokes some feelings of home because my mom and dad are there as well as many familiar objects that I grew up with. It's the place where mom is cooking up some delicious food and dad is outside tinkering around with a project, just like when I was young.

My parents house, near Hillsboro, Texas

     Then there is this huge old farmhouse that Eldon's parents have lived in since the day they got married. Not much has changed. The clothes the children wore and toys they played with are all still in the attic, unless said children claimed them. The couches or carpet haven't changed in 40 some years and it's all so familiar and feels fantastic to go back every year and not a single thing has changed (well, most of it feels good ;) ). Mom still cooks the very same amazing, fattening food and dad still endlessly teases and lets me know that my children get it legitly!

Eldon's childhood home in Belleville, Pa. His grandmother planted the huge tree in the front yard.

     I suppose technically this is our home because it's where we sleep at night. Side note, it's adorable to me how we can be parked anywhere in America but when we pull up to our RV Ethan gives a happy sigh and says, "Home." We've only had this rig a couple months but it does feel like home. Moving this last time made realize fully that it's not the building, but the people. I've left pieces of my heart all over the country but home for me is where ever I'm with people that I relate with in some way and can feel the love of God connecting us in an invisible bond.

Our current rig, 2010 Keystone Raptor 3912

     It's those moments when my soul gives a happy sigh and I know that I've once again experienced one of God's greatest blessings - the feeling of being loved and understood and knowing that I belong. I've gotten that glorious feeling so many times the last few years. A campfire with family. Laughing around my parents table. Blowing bubbles with my children. At Chick-Fil-A with a family we mostly know online. Group texting friends that truly get me (or at least put up with me). Late night campfire talks with my husband. Brand new friends at the playground. Eating pie that my Mother-in-law especially baked because it was my favorite. Through it all is God's love shining strong and letting me know that as long as I'm with Him, He will lead me to people who make me feel home.

July 2016, in Durango, Colorado on my 30th birthday. Laying in the grass laying with my favorite little people.

Our family at the Lower Blue Lake in Colorado. A hike that I nearly didn't make but we stuck it out and all made it it the top!

Watching my husband with our children. Monhans Sandhill SP (Texas) April 2017

Mother's Day 2017

Because, Truly,

Where do you consider home? And why? You just might be surprised what answers you get if you think about it long and hard!

 

A day in the life of a chicken farmer

We sorta have 3 lives. #1 is the RN and his family who travel. #2 is us when Eldon isn't on a job and we're in full travel and explore mode. And #3 is when we land at my parents place to do chores for them when they go on trips. We're so glad we can do it for them and being available for family is high on the list of why we do what we do. Plus, it's really fun and it gives us a taste of  "normal" life, which  can also make us want to run away from it as fast as we can after a few weeks :). 

As it turns out, my parents, my sister, and Eldon's sister all have chicken barns. 1 in Texas, 1 in Colorado, and 1 in Tennessee. Last year we just so happened to visit each of them when the chickens were out and Eldon got to help clean the barns and prepare for the next flock. It was a little weird that it all fell into place like that but let's just say, we see our fair share of chickens!

My dad raises layers that produce organic, cage-free, brown eggs. 20,000 chickens is approximately how many go into these barns and they have them for around 14 months. However, dad kept his last flock longer and put them through a molt as an experiment. I'm not sure yet if it was worth it or not but they have bounced back and been laying at 75-85% (that's decent, 97% is awesome).

Just a few of the darling little birds. First thing in the morning (6ish) Eldon and Michael go out and walk the barn . The floor area is on the right, and the left area that is raised is called the slats. These birds are incredibly bad for laying eggs on the ground even though they've tried all kinds of stuff. It's pretty normal to pick up 1,500 off the slats and ground in a day.

The yellow things on the left are feeders, which run automatically and on the right the red things are for water. I didn't get a picture of it because I was trying to not actually go in, but in the center of the barn are nest boxes. They are sloped so that the eggs roll down onto a belt. That is where they are supposed to lay their eggs!

So. Many. Chickens.

Someone was writing in the dust!!

Dad rigged this wagon up that they pull around and put eggs straight into flats. The red rag on the front is to hopefully scare the chickens so they can pull it through the mob easier. Eldon said what works best is Emily prancing in front of the wagon :).

Michael has been a huge help this time around. He walks the barn with Eldon every time. They do it at 6, then after breakfast they do it twice, once on the floor and once on the slats. Then again at 4 in the afternoon. Emily goes along whenever she wants but we haven't insisted she help regularly yet. Friday night Eldon was mowing the church yard and they got in their head to walk it themselves so they did! I was quite proud of them.

Makayla usually packs half the eggs. She can only do 3 layers but then it's to high for her so Eldon will often finish a stack before he comes in for breakfast. She goes out after washing the breakfast dishes and packs away, for about 30 min. In the evening she does it again while Eldon and Michael walk the barn. She does an excellent job if she pays attention and sticks to it ;).

This belt runs the length of the barn and brings the eggs in. This was a slow time but in the morning it's typically covered. We have to watch a little for cracked eggs, or ones that are huge or tiny. The huge ones get crushed and the tiny ones often get caught where they aren't supposed to and make a mess.

They roll down into these 5 chutes and it counts by 5's when it rolls them on. I just love to watch the number climb when the belt is full!

These rollers are slightly tilted and they make so the small end of the egg is pointed down. After this they are placed into cups.

The red things pick up 30 eggs by suction and carries them over........

......to here where they are placed in flats. I still hold my breath sometimes when I watch it because it looks like it will drop them any moment! My least favorite thing ever is when the packer goofs up and dumps the whole thing before the previous flat has moved on. Everything goes by sensors so a little feather or eggshell can fool the machine and make a big mess in a hurry!

From here is goes into the stacker.

This thing flips them around and pushes them up until there is 6 on a stack then the sensor stops it. Makayla can only handle 2 or 3 at a time so she just runs around a little more to keep up.

Here you can see how it's stacked. When it's full there will be 5 layers with stacks that are 6 flats high.

A full pallet. 10,800 eggs!

They are stored in the cooler until a truck picks them up and hauls them to the factory to be packaged. 

I took a few videos of the packer in action. It's going fairly slow so often Makayla is scurrying a lot faster.

The office where dad keeps all his records. Every day they have to write down how many eggs were packed, how many chickens died, how much food and water they ate, the cooler temperature and probably a lot more.

Michael loves to build towers with the flats.

This is the utility room. Anytime the birds are sick they can add medicine into the water lines. The big barrels are apple cider vinegar that gets run into the water as well. 

The feed bins where the feed is stored. It runs into the feeders with augers and it's all automatic. He gets feed every 7-10 days.

The fenced in area is where the chickens can get out and scratch around in the gravel if they want. Most of them are smart and stay in the cool barn though :).

I asked Makayla and Michael what their favorite part of doing chores is. 

Makayla: Nothing. Except when you pay me. 

Michael: Finding baby eggs so I can make mud cakes.

I also asked what their least favorite part is.

Makayla: It stinks.

Michael: It stinks and chickens are annoying.

So there you have it! That's just a quick run down of what it's like to be on a chicken farm. We do love having jobs for the children like this and seeing them overcome obstacles as they figure out how to do hard things. But it's also exhausting to never have a day off and the thought of being in debt that deep is quite frightening. Cheers to all the farmers who grow food for us! We need you desperately and will happily support you - I just don't want to be one :).

Our new rig!

     I'm excited to finally be getting this post done! I'll warn you - I took pictures but made very little effort to clean up beforehand so this is real life. Since the pictures were taken, most of the boxes and bags sitting around have found homes but I'm much to lazy busy to take new ones.

Here we are bringing our 2010 Keystone Raptor 3912 home! It looks and feels absolutely huge compared to our travel trailer! Eldon was quite pleased though, that our overall length when hooked up is 1 foot less then with the travel trailer! Our weight is an astounding 24,000 pounds though so guess what's next on our list?! Yep, a new tow truck. It's fine for now but we do want to get another just so we have 2 trucks we can tow with if something goes wrong with the one.

This is the floor plan.

This is where we park at my parents. You can just see the roof of the chicken barn on the left. Eldon has redone a few things and made so that we have 50 amp to plug into and can dump straight into the sewer. And no, we actually very rarely smell the chickens. The flies though!!!!!!

Outside storage. This runs the whole way under and can be accessed from both sides. It's huge and not very practical but we'll keep adding until it's how we can use it efficiently. So far we've added fishing rod hangers on the ceiling.

Another compartment with the battery and other stuff that I know nothing about.

And yet another for all the sewer hoses and accessories (there's a lot!).

The generator! This was very high on our "want" list and we are so excited to go West and boondock on BLM land! We'll get to try it out good and proper when we're in Albuquerque for 2 weeks in October.

Let's head on in and turn right, up the stairs. On the left wall is the control panel for slides, awning, tank sensors, generator, water pump and lights. You'll notice the fan by our bedroom door. There is one a.c. in the kitchen and the second is in our room. It works very well and our room could be an icebox but we choose to blow a lot of that cold air into the living area with the box fan.

The door on the left in the hall opens into the main bathroom. The door on the right in this picture goes into our room. Notice the big cabinet above the sink plus the one below it! 

The shower is quite large and the bathroom feels like it has so much storage! Eldon and I actually keep a lot of our clothes in the cupboards above the toilet just because we can.

The master bedroom. Our bed is actually not tilted :). For the first time ever, we have a queen bed instead of a full and it feels massive!

Half of the closet. It feel so huge, since our travel trailer had basically no closet. Now I hang everything possible when I used to fold all but our Sunday clothes!

The other half! You can't see it very well but there is shelves in the back wall too. I'm so blessed to be married to a man that can do nearly any handy man jobs! He ran pipes through the underbelly storage and behind the dresser so that we could put our washer in the closet. It has worked out so well! We keep all the children's clothes (except Michael's) in here because it's super handy and there is plenty of room.

This is how I normally dry our clothes. Or hang them all over the RV and turn the dehumidifier on - either way works!

So, coming out of our room and looking into the living area. You will notice MORE STORAGE above the bathroom door on the right. We have lots of empty space and it makes me feel so proud :).

Bad shot of the couch but this window area is awesome. It has a 6 inch ledge behind it that Ethan loves to clear then sit there like a cat looking out. Of course, underneath the couch is more storage. The middle is a huge open while and the ends both have a drawer that pulls out.

The kitchen. At times it feels small since it's in the corner with no way out but all that counter space is amazing. Also, highly annoying because we tend to toss stuff on it instead of put it away immediately.

The half bath off the kitchen. We are all so very happy to have 2 toilets. And look - 2 more big cabinets! Michael's clothes are in the lower one, along with all the cleaning supplies and the top one is half empty :).

The girls dominion. The queen size loft was a must have for us. Notice how they keep their toolboxes between them? There has been a small amount of drama between them since they haven't shared a bed in 2 years but I think they'll survive it. They've got a big window up there that's really nice for Emily when she needs a distraction to keep her from falling asleep. *sarcasm*

This is up there as well. I keep extra school books and craft supplies on the top shelf and the girls throw all manner of junk on the bottom. 

The garage..........one of my favorite things ever! Michael sleeps on the queen bed. It can lower or raise but we keep it at this height so we can walk under it but he can still go up there to play. There was a second queen bed but we took it out for now. Ethan has a small mattress on the floor. This has been a source of great grief to Michael because apparently we promised that Ethan would sleep IN HIS ROOM, IN HIS BED. I'm just not letting my 2 year old sleep in a top bunk so promise breaker I will be :). 

Our table is back here but we've never eaten at it yet. So far we use the bar and couch. It's lovely for throwing things on and also for doing school and not putting it away whenever we want to eat.

When we move, the carpet gets rolled about up part ways and we fill this up with our bikes. 

More junk. Our school stuff, coloring books, and library books are here. This mess has been organized and looks much better now!

The door on the left goes into the bathroom but so far we haven't used it. I love the mini fridge back here! So nice to keep extra milk and water bottles in. And on the right, Eldon hung hooks for jammies, jackets, and the broom.

So, that's pretty much it! Thanks for hanging in there until the end :) .