Welcome, this is a Farmhouse

The pictures above are of varying locations in and around my family's farm. The farm has been a big part of my family for as long as I can remember. It was where my dad and his siblings called home, where we celebrated many holidays, and where I spent many afternoons as child lost in a world of imagination, completely content.

When we were younger my brother and I would 'ride up to the farm' with our parents to visit my Grandmother at every few weeks. Those are some of my favorite childhood memories. Sometimes we would take our bikes and spend an entire day riding around. I can remember several afternoons flying kites or hiking. I loved when Justin and I both got to take a friend. My brother always invited Matthew and I pretty much always took Deidra, and we would have the BEST time down at the creek or building a fort. Eventually, my dad bought us a four-wheeler and that's when we the real fun began. We literally spent entire weekends working to cut trails trough the woods and create "race course" so that we could time each other from start to finish. We always had a blast.

With our fun times came some scary times as well. Once, while I was racing the four-wheeler I lost control and ran right into one of the wooden fence post. I had on my helmet (I always wore a helmet b/c that was a rule and for good reason) so I escaped unscathed... but the post did not. I just knew I would be in trouble, but I played it cool and when my dad finally inquired about the broken post. I swore up and down it must have been one of those ole crazy cows. Now, I am not sure why dad let me get away with that story because I don't know of any cows that could take a fence post down like I did, but he let me roll with it so I did. It was always an adventure. The day would start out innocent enough, but we could always find some type of mischief to get into.

For the most part we have always had cows on our farm. As a youngster I loved it when a new calf was born. I wanted to pet it... or feed it... or name it. I just loved it. I did have a cow that would come to the fence and I swore he was my pet cow... I called him Norman (he looked just like the cow off the movie City Slicker's, that's why I named him Norman) and he would come to the fence and eat pellets . I loved him. I now realize that all the cows will come to the fence if you have food to offer.

Within the last few year's my dad and uncle decided to invest in a couple of donkeys. We now have a Jack (boy donkey) and a Jenny (girl donkey). We got the boy first and his name is Eddie Murphy. He's not the friendliest thing but I still like him. Then we decided to get Eddie Murphy a girlfriend. I joke that she is Mel B. (Eddie Murphy's Baby's mama in real life). They really add to the farm. I am hoping that Mel B. has a baby soon. I am really looking forward to that.... and when this does eventually happen I will probably solicit Alana and Lacey to come train the baby donkey.

We used to have a cabin on the farm that my dad, uncle, and Jr.(family friend) built by hand. It was a two bedroom cabin in the middle of the woods. Great for a weekend get-away. I am sure most of my friends remember it well. It was the location for my infamous 13th birthday. I invited 15 girls to come to the cabin for, an always eventful, spend-the-night party. It started out innocent enough but after a deep discussion about how cute we ALL thought Reggie was... it took a turn for the worst. Little did we know, the front porch swing was not made to support seven girls. When only three were left on the swing, it broke. All three girls came crashing down. We had one with a broken arm, one with a cracked tail bone, and the other had a huge bruise on her head!! My mom and her friend took care of it... got the broken arm to the hospital, doctored the two others and the party continued!

As we got older 'the cabin' became a cool place for my brother and I to host small parties with our closest 20 or so friends. Sadly, about six years ago a storm came through the area and with it came down trees and power lines. A line came down on the cabin and it burned to the ground. By the time the Fire Department got there all the could do was manage the flames from spreading. Since then, my dad, uncle, and Jr. have renovated the old barn into a new cabin for the family to enjoy!

We all have so many memories of good times spent at the farm and I can't imagine it not being a part of our lives. Hopefully generations to come will know the joy that this simple farm has brought to so many.