Some January Ramblings...

I've been a little scarce lately. I think the holidays kept me busy! Hope that everyone had a nice Christmas & New Year's. We stayed home and enjoyed the day. Of course, chore time still happens on  farm, no matter what day. So, milking the cows came before opening gifts and eating. :-) It was so much easier to do this when Emily was a baby! She didn't know any better! lol

Al's mom and dad made it in for the weekend before Christmas. It was a nice visit with them. We finally had our camera handy and got a picture of them with our friend, Bud.

The Tuesday after Christmas, Emily & I went to visit my Dad. It was a nice visit, bittersweet. We don't know how long he has with us, but we feel this may have been his last Christmas with us. Emily enjoyed being with her Papaw. Can I add that I really hate cancer. In less than a year my Dad has changed so much. He's lost over 50 lbs. since this past summer.

We spent the night with my Mom. Emily was looking forward to this, since she was going to meet her cousin Megan for the first time. They are close to the same age, and you couldn't get them apart. They had a lot of fun!

We've had a few extra chores pop up unexpectedly on the farm end the past couple of weeks. We always try to expect the unexpected, since something most likely will break, get sick, or happen. It's usual, especially during winter. The barn was out of water, so we had some brought in. Thankful for the rain that came down in buckets yesterday through today. Guess we're supposed to have some snow tonight. Emily is hoping for a snow day. Our school hasn't had a snow day yet, and that is unusual in our area!

The cows seem really content in the warm, dry barn. They seem to look forward to winter. We've dried off several cows and in a couple of months we'll have babies being born. We dry them off for about 2 months, it gives them time to rest and get ready for their next lactation. Guess it's their "maternity leave".

Hope everyone has a wonderful 2012!