This is the Life!

Gary & Ryler on the tractor and Garrin in the semi.

This is the life!  Gary is teaching the boys all the time and he's doing such an awesome job.  I was taking food to the field and just helping out here and there when I took this picture.  It makes me think of my dad and how proud he'd be of all of us.  He always told me how "You have the life, kid!"  I didn't really understand what he meant by that but I'm learning.  I certainly didn't appreciate this life until I watched my dad die.  There's something that happens to a person when they watch someone take their last breaths and it's changed me.  I'm just thankful that my dad laid the groundwork for me to enjoy this life and appreciate all it has to offer!

So back to this hay hauling adventure, I'm in awe of how much my boys (13 & 10) can do and how much they know.  There's nothing they won't try to do and they're constantly learning as well as learning to work.  Gary takes time with them and tries to teach in amidst all the stressful times of farming.  He's training them for anything they want to do in life because they will know how to work and figure things out on their own.  This is what reminds me of my dad...teaching them (the boys) to think and do for themselves.  That's something he taught me and worked very hard to teach my boys and instructed me to teach them when he knew he wouldn't be around.  In teaching this my dad would always say, "You have the life, kid!"  By that he meant that we have the perfect place and lifestyle to teach and train boys.  Once again I'm thankful for all that I've got and I can hear my dad saying, "You're doing good, kid.  You're doing good!"  And that makes my soul feel good.


So here's just a few things I'm hoping we are teaching our boys...to be men...to love God...to be loving providers and fathers...to have confidence to follow their dreams...to stand up for what is right...to have a thirst for knowledge...to work hard...to enjoy the little things...to be strong emotionally, physically, spiritually...to be thankful for all that God has given...to love and show love...to KEEP ON KEEPIN' ON!


I can't even begin to explain how much I miss my dad but remembering the life lessons he taught me and enjoying the moment makes the pain of him not being here bearable.  It's been a rough few weeks.  You know the kind where you think you can't get out of bed and just want to sleep.  I've never felt that until now and I don't like it and I'm working on making it go away.  Remembering all that dad taught me helps most of the time, but sometimes it makes it awful.  Thinking that he's not here to see the boys and that he won't be here to see them grow into the amazing men that he helped shape is sometimes too much to think about.  I can always hear my dad or feel him push me to KEEP ON KEEPIN' ON!  I realize now that life is short and that we must enjoy today!  So the days that are hard I try to embrace and know that nothing stays the same forever!  And I've only got a short amount of time to teach and train my boys all that I want them to know, so I don't have too much time for laying in bed feeling sorry for myself.  I'm so thankful for my house full of boys for many reasons!