So I just got off the phone a little bit ago talking to one little Firecracker's mama. Turns out Miss Izzy has an ear infection. And when she woke up she wanted pizza...well her mom didn't want to take her out in the cold...and Izzy does get this love of pizza honest...sometimes her and her daddy just needed pizza.
And so...Heather says did you know they deliver Flying J pizza? And I said who Jake? Jake is just one of those guys...and I think about when he came to Limon...I was glad that another young guy was coming on the force...and then found out he also had an AMY...I had thought of how he and Jay were similar build and enough resemblance that some would mistake them. But they seemed to click...
I remember some of the first times I was around Jake and Amy...Jay and Izzy were trying to get a puppy...but there is this picture that I took (Yes Jake I think I have been getting pics of you for a long time!) and I find it in here and I look at the expression of these two...and I thought then...oh these two could be trouble...
And sure enough flash forward and I steal a picture...of these two giving the "stank eye" on one of their nights out to dinner...last night I tried calling her and all I got was that she was at dinner with Jake!
But I had posted a picture of Jake at Jay's memorial...but I thought you know sometimes you can't show honor for one of your "brothers" any more than delivering pizza to his little girl...We are so blessed to have a Jake and Amy in our lives...thank you for being the special friends that you are!
And Jake is probably saying there goes that crazy old woman who has way too many pictures of me...but you are a special one Jake Herrera. Thank you!
That would be the words I told the shepherd last night...after the kids have headed home and he tells me that we have one thinking about it and I tell him...AND SO IT BEGINS...as lambing 2013 has officially began. It started with the arrival of Lance home Friday night. Yes to his credit he had said none would have lambs until he returned...WELL he was correct...even though the old shepherd was trying to use the loop hole that he usually doesn't come on Friday night...So the younger shepherd was up in the wee hours to help deliver two babies...and then this morning I woke up and you know when it is in the middle of the night and the one who is usually there is not...how it gives you a moment...and then you hear stirring...you look at the tv...all you see are sheep but you hear nothing...okay so not everyone experiences this...but I journey out to find the shepherd up and around at 3:00 a.m. because he is delivering babies...being a shepherd is not for the weak of heart or for those who like sleep...
My kids were down for the weekend...and my daughter brought with her that gene...you know the one that she did not get from me....that "Gitter done" gene. She was on a mission. That closet I had been talking of getting cleared out was getting cleared out. The Christmas stuff would have a home...not just a stuffed away home but its own place its own space...When Heather is on a mission...one should probably just stay clear...though that was not an option as I was supposed to help...I was not sure what I was in for because Izzy had begun the day with being her mother's child...and says come on Ahma...we got work to do. However, she may have been cursed with some Ahma as we did get a bit distracted...but what fun is cleaning if you can't play with the Barbie's for a bit...
My daughter did remind me...didn't you just write a blog on decluttering...this was when she was telling me doyouwanttokeepthis (Note that this is in a real fast quiet tone as compared to the rest of her question--she inherited this technique of communication from her father) OR DO YOU WANT ME TO THROW IT AWAY! Or even if she did not say that--her face did! So the shepherd had came and said he would make lunch...I am sure he was more than excited that his daughter was taking on such a task...upon one point Heather had asked about the shop vac to which I took off to find it...but the shepherd was getting it...So Izzy and I took off to the yard to come upon Uncle LaLa preparing for stock show...Izzy still in pajamas and her glittery slip on slippers for Ahma's house...as we were in our distraction..we get busted by one Izzy mama...
I put in some pictures....as I am so excited that I found a way around getting pictures on my Blog...pictures of Lance and clippers and then the little shepherd in training...granted I had to give in to the Google power...and got on Google Chrome...but it allowed me to upload my pics...so like it or not...I am blogging...with pics...but like I say...the beauty of the blog...you can choose to read or not...
A perfect January day for getting sheep ready for stock show...
These slippers sparkle and shine...we were told by her Uncle she could not wear these out to stay with him!
I laugh and wonder if I should get Izzy a chair and call her Granny. My mom, "Granny", would spend many an hour just sitting out in her chair watching Lance get sheep ready...And as I go in the house...there is mention of going to have to feed the orphan kids...and one little Firecracker is going to help to which I give notice that I will have to leave my duties to go and take pictures...
But after coming in from watching LaLa and some lunch and before time to feed goats...I come downstairs and ask Oppy where is your helper to which he replies...I thought she was up with her mom...I go in the living room and find her crawled up on the couch and I think...where's the little girl who looks after the sheep...she's under the haystack fast asleep...Her mom says...there's her dad...right there...
And so upon finishing lunch and naps and the like...one little "Peanut" gets dressed in her Izzy sweatshirt and boots...okay Ahma is the one responsible for tucking her pants in the boots...but her jeans seemed to be getting short as she just keeps getting taller...but I think they looked cute!!! I love that she is such a clown...and allows me to take her picture...and not like her uncle or then again maybe a lot like her uncle as he mocks me taking pictures...
Yes my son the price you pay for mocking your mother... mock what you fear dude!!!
I think how Izzy has always loved this...the goats...the chores. Of her and her daddy doing goats...I have pictures that Jay sent of her and him with the goats...a video I treasure that only some copies plays his voice...but in it...his shadow is over her..and on some I can hear his voice...but I think she has been a shepherd training all of her short little life....Not sure if the voice comes through...but it is one that just touches...from September 30, 2010...but I feel that shadow with her always...may she always hear that...GOOD JOB...that's the Peanut feeding them goats!
I watched Lance as he sorted sheep yesterday and thought of our Heavenly Shepherd and how He goes and sorts us to see if we are ready to move to the next pen...the next pasture...are we ready? Or do we fight and run not willing to follow where He might lead us? I think of the steer the shepherd and I moved today...bucking and snorting not sure where he should go...but he goes just as the shepherd had planned...
And I think of a new book I got...I guess an old book from a new friend...Katie...someone I have not really met face to face...we have people...my people know her people or are married to them...but God has connected us...anyway in the mail I receive "A Shepherd Looks At Psalm 23" by W. Phillip Keller. In his intro he writes: "To a great extent the Bible is a collection of books written by men of humble origin, who penned under the guidance of God's Spirit. Much of its terminology and teaching is couched in rural language, dealing with outdoor subjects and natural phenomena. The audience to whom these writings were originally addressed were for the most part themselves simple, nomadic folk familiar with nature and the outdoor life of the countryside about them."
How I love the 23rd Psalm and so I look forward to studying it more...but I think of being a shepherd...I know I am not a good one...but He tells us feed my sheep...I think how I am put on duty to watch as the shepherd is gone...and I being home on a Monday...a holiday honoring Martin Luther King...why because I have a PTO (paid time off) day...as Lance and Kasey Jo always call it...but I thought this morning...how blessed I am to not only have a job but to get paid a day for doing NOTHING! Not even showing up...I need to remember that! Before I finish this the shepherd comes home and says so you had some more babies...NO I did not know I had...YES I had checked but she was not doing anything when I looked. I help the shepherd move the steer out back and laugh at Sweetie...she is not pleased that people are putting goats and cattle in her area...though a good sheep dog...she is less than impressed with change...she much like the shepherd...this is not how we do it...Whereas Sugar might be more like me...we talk about it...yes Sugar the pup has her voice and is not afraid to use it...but like me...we are but shepherds in training from those that are a little OLDER and maybe wiser...
And so I go back to this weekend and of one little Firecracker in "shepherd" training. In going to help her Oppy feed goats..and I think of the video of her and her dad...The Peanut feeding the goats...the kids whose mama was found DRT (Dead right there)...and are now bottle fed by Oppy the shepherd...and this weekend with the help of his little assistant. Even hopping out of bed before the fox gets away to go help...she tells me go catch him. That being a saying from her daddy and I love how her mom reminds her of it...
Izzy and Oppy feeding the twins
After feeding...she then must hold each and everyone...help spread out straw...feed grain buckets and ride in the truck...all parts of being a shepherd...I can just imagine her and her dad...being goat farmers together...
This guy got held a little more because he was an easy catch...
I need a pitch fork thing too...
Mom showing her how to do it...
A goat chaser ...
Our favorite job filling buckets...
And another favorite part...riding in the back... Many pics I have of the riding in the back pics...
How I love this picture of Izzy and her uncle and how he teasing her trying to give her a kiss...and her mom watching on...moments like these you take and treasure in your heart...as I think of the song...These are the days by 10,000 maniacs
And as often the case with these two...no words are necessary...
And so I leave with a picture that shows how we all should work on being a shepherd to others...just from a place of love...so I wonder...who is the shepherd in training...
I am over cluttered! There I said it...though those around me have known it as have I...I try to...well I just don't look at it...I tell the shepherd as we were having a discussion something to which we were sure we were both right...and so I tell him that half the people in this house think it should be such and such away...and now clearly I realize how important it was because for the life of me I don't remember...I am almost thinking about...oh I remember...okay now I feel even stupider to write it down...but when I say half the people he comes up with his classic John Wayne quote..."Half the world is women...why do you have to be the one who stirs my blood?" I choose to think of it as endearing--whereas he I am sure he thinks every day...WHY!!!!
Anyway I lose focus...another part of my yes what I was getting at New Year's...RESOLUTIONS...seem to be such a rigid word...SO...UNCLUTTERED!!! Well as I was saying up above on choosing not to look. As the shepherd and I were having our conversation as he is cleaning his laptop screen...I think of how smeared it appears with the way the sun shines in through my southern window. I love that window...you can see clear across the southern valley...reason being I left a window in my bathroom...(not the window that I am looking at as it is in the entryway) but the bathroom window is not a window that goes outside but goes only in the wall but you can see out that window....a window that has caused much discussion because as I stand on the balcony I realize that my son was right that people can see in that window if at the right time of night and the light is just right...BUT who is really going to be looking and if they can only see ones head...isn't it worth the view? Which back to my case in point...with the southern sunlight peering through...that window is in some serious need of cleaning (requiring a tall ladder and working on that whole fear of heights thing)...and the shepherd laughs and says don't look at it. I laugh and say that is probably both our problems...if we don't look at it...then is it in fact really there? Oh yes it is there and usually ends up biting you in the...well you get the idea.
But I think of clutter...I do not have to look far...my kitchen table is cluttered...with remnants of Christmas...of my refrigerator...YES I would like to report...not really inspired by myself and many of you who know me...know my refrigerator is always full...no not always full of delicious nutritious healthy meals and snacks I have prepared but more of those things that I cannot make myself throw out but on the other hand cannot make myself eat them either. BUT sometimes things that we have no control over happen...yes my refrigerator quit....Oh it wasn't the kind in which it completely shuts down and ruins everything...it was very thoughtful about it. First the ice began to drip and the freezer items began to thaw...so we cleared out the refrigerator. Still watching and seeing...THEN the other began to follow suit so I actually was very thankful in the fact that I have a refrigerator downstairs and the shepherd brought up one of the college fridges...you know the ones...so it was not as though we were in desperate need. However, we were neither one wanting to buy a new fridge either. So the shepherd says...lets unplug it and let it completely thaw out and see what it does. So I am game...however, seeing a completely empty fridge...I realize I need to suck it up and really clean it out good...the whole hot soapy water and all. I also took everything off the front...I have pictures of my kids in school...all my save the dates...magnets and pictures...printed out picture of the last picture I took of Jay that has seen better days...of Izzy and the goats...Heather and Steff...Patrick and Misty...Jake and Amy...Brendon and Celisse...Lance and Kasey Jo...assorted Izzy's and actually who knows what all. But I rid it all off so if the shepherd takes to be repaired.
Upon cleaning (and must admit was nice and gave me a sense of accomplishment) and the shepherd blowing out dust...not that we have any around and also the unplugging...he plugs it back in. Well we have strategically put a Popsicle in...you know the kind that you squeeze out...well upon plugging back in it freezes...to which I am thinking HOORAY it is a miracle! Woo hoo and then...as we wait and watch and see...the Popsicle thaws...right before our very eyes! So the shepherd calls the repairman back who couldn't do anything with it until this time anyway due to the holidays. The shepherd decides to just load up the old fridge in his mighty Power Ranger since he is going that way anyway. He takes and leaves it off and the repairman plugs it in and thinks it is working...he says he will keep it and watch it over night. To which he does and the fridge keeps working. FIXED...so we pay a $45 babysitting charge but are still thankful as to not having to buy a new one. Upon bringing it home...I have carefully been putting items back in. And have only returned one magnet as of yet...you know the only one I have for an actual upcoming wedding...Brenda and Celisse's save the date...pretty dang cute...okay but back to my story Pepper!!! I have a box of items on my table that need sorted. I have a tree that may just stay here...my Jay Bird tree that holds the birds I received from Jay's mom...my favorite being BELIEVE...along with an angel. I have piles of books...a few Cd's and the Christmas card tree still sits there. My ipod...camera case...calendar from Bethany that needs hung up so I can see it from my kitchen table but have not found the hooker deal yet...So you see...it all has a reason...SURELY it does...I put in a pic of my Believe bird...
And for some reason...I still cannot add pictures...which makes me sad....so picture a little blue bird that says Believe hanging upon a Charlie Brown tree...picture a refrigerator CLEAN! Perhaps it is time I do something different...like my refrigerator...things may make me change that I had not wanted to but I think of Jesus Calling by Sarah Young this morning saying..
"TRY TO VIEW EACH DAY as an adventure, carefully planned out by your Guide. Instead of staring into the day that is ahead of you, attempting to program it according to your will, be attentive to Me and to all I have prepared for you. Thank Me for this day of life, recognizing that it is a precious, unrepeatable gift. Trust that I am with you each moment, whether you sense My Presence or not. A thankful, trusting attitude helps you to see events in your life from My perspective."
It goes on to say...one line that just hit "Resist your tendency to search for the easiest route through the day. Be willing to follow wherever I lead." Excuse me...are YOU talking to me...if the refrigerator fits...CLEAN IT!
I look at My Utmost for His Highest written by Oswald Chambers...and feel that is more than just these two writers that they did not get together and say...on January 13th Penny is going to need to hear...and it seems to speak right to me...seems a Higher Power might have been involved...
"There are whole tracts of stubbornness and ignorance to be revealed by the Holy Spirit in each one of us, and it can only be done when Jesus gets us alone. Are we alone with Him now, or are we taken us with little fussy notions, fussy comradeship's in God's service, fussy ideas about our bodies? Jesus can expound nothing until we get through all the noisy questions of the head and are alone with Him."
And the song comes to me that I had e-mailed myself so I wouldn't forget sung by Gwen Smith who shared through the Girlfriends in God...UNCLUTTERED...and this morning when I tried to link there a warning came up and made me laugh as I have been told to TEST all that I learn as of late...and it says: "WHOA! Are you sure you want to go there? may be risky to visit. Why were you redirected to this page? When we visited this site we found that it contained one or more risky behaviors." And so I am not sure what the risky behavior is...but this song seems to pass all of the criteria listed to me from James 3:17...so I hope in this testing I do not give my computer a virus...I give you the YouTube version...but would encourage you to go to her site... http://www.gwensmith.net/media/music-videos/
And as I watched I think of all the things that need uncluttered...my mind is but the first...so off I go to work on the clutter...clear off my table maybe...clean a closet so I can put away my Christmas...be ready to not just take the easy road...or look the other way...wish it were as easy as wiping off the glass as she does...and I wonder what all I have written upon mine...but UNCLUTTER...now that's a good word... Jesus Calling referenced it and seems a good one to end on Psalm 118:24..."This is the day the Lord has made...we will rejoice and be glad in it!" lyp
So 65 years ago...a little over an hour ago...(well from when I started working on this but I may have gotten distracted)...
Roy and Ruth Larrew
and
Frank (Sr.) and Maude Pfeiff
Request your presence at the marriage of their children
Joyce Elaine Larrew
and
Frank Roy Pfeiff Jr.
to be wed
Thursday, January 8, 1948
7:00 p.m.
in Fowler, Colorado (I think)
Wow 65 years as man and wife...and seven kids later...17 grandchildren...22 great grandchildren (if there is any discrepancy...the shepherd counted!) and one great-great with others on the way...
Talk about your quiver full...
We went to lunch today at the Tamarack in downtown well out of town Fowler, Colorado. Enjoyed the food AND THE FELLOWSHIP! How I love Grandpa's words of wisdom...the other day he tells me when I told him when I had said we lost a nanny goat...he says well if you got them you are going to lose them...if you don't then you won't! Now ain't that the truth!!! Thanks for your words I think it applies in many areas...and must say glad we got you two!
We are blessed to have these two and thankful that they are as active as they are. I hope you had fun playing cards and maybe reading on the old Kindle or playing on the computer...who would have thought of doing such things! We talked today of days of how laundry was done...how changing beds took up most of the day.j..how times have changed. How 65 years ago it was around 72 degrees or so...
I asked why they were married so late in the day...SO they could get chores done? The answer yes. I asked about the honeymoon...and then told Grandpa did you say HONEY there's the moon now lets get to bed we got milking to do! That's pretty much how it went. In that little house west of the old home place...where Grandma Pfeiff could see whether the new bride had laundry on the line or not. I think that must be where the shepherd gets his eye sight from...
I decide to throw in some pictures...and say HAPPY ANNIVERSARY...Frank and Joyce...Mom and Dad...Grandpa and Grandma...the Great Grands...we pray that God bless you and keep you!
Well I tried adding pictures and it wouldn't let me tonight...guess I'll try another time...lyp (So this morning I may have been able to sneak some on in video???) Happy day :) lyp
And so I was looking back at the year and one of the highlights was Izzy's 3rd Birthday. One of our special people is Michael Yowell...well I seen today was his birthday and so I had thought I would put up the full highlight of Izzy's birthday...but ran into some glitches. But for those of you that were there...Mike was a highlight in and of himself and so a special video for you Mr. Yowell!
Happy Birthday Mike and thanks for being that special person you are!
I ran into some technical difficulties...so day late and dollar short! Tried uploading before midnight last night...
Okay Josh so I missed your birthday even here...but in California it is still your birthday...where your mom is it still is your birthday right! After all BIRTH day...your mom should get some credit here...especially with you off in Afghanistan!!!
So I decided to combine some of the HIGHlights of the year...and decided this would be a fun one to start with! Josh and Bethany's wedding! Now for those who did not know...this is the song that Bethany chose to dance their father and daughter dance with my favorite brother Shane to...I LOVED IT!!! I loved the energy when these two hit the dance floor.
So I decided to add some of the FUN pics and try my hand at some new sort of movie maker software...though my skills aren't much...had some amazing subjects! I must say this was a fun wedding...right at Thanksgiving time...and quite the sendoff for the groom the next day! Love you guys and hope you don't mind! So the pictures are much clearer not on YouTube...but guess they are too big so you get the jest...and you have the clearer pictures. 2012...this was one of the blessings and many of the people I am thankful for! God Bless!
