Arriving and Getting Settled

After leaving the snowy morning in Ogden, UT at 4:30 we made pretty good time and arrived at Riverside, OR around 2pm. The suburban was making an awful noise the further we drove. Stephen and Martin looked and figured it may be a bearing or hub going out. We turned to go down the 18 miles of dirt road to our new residence and prayed we would make it. Well, the Lord answered our prayer and we did! It kinda reminded me of the story of the missionary Nate Saint as he flew into the mission field the same way…on a wing and a prayer. In our case it was on 3 wheels and a prayer.

We pulled up to a cute little yellow house! I immediately thought of Mo and Pawpaws yellow home and felt warm fuzzies in my heart. Mr. Elder came out to greet us and showed us our new temporary home. Wouldn’t you know when you walk in the front door, it’s an open room concept, and you walk right into the living/kitchen. Guess what color it happens to be??? Grey and white-the same color as our open concept home on the farm! Another set of warm fuzzies. All these warm fuzzy moments are like hugs from the Lord as he leads his dear children along. It is so special that He takes care of all the details! Even before we left we could see the hand of the Lord leading and giving us “hugs” along the way 💞

Riverside is such a small dot on the map, they only get mail 2 days a week. It is very beautiful here! The mountains are so pretty. They told us the winter season seems to be lingering and they are about 1 month behind in their normal mode of operation. They are feeding the cows French fries along with hay and corn stalks. We enjoyed hearing some stories and a little about the ranch. We are excited to learn more as the days go by.

We started unloading the trailer and making the house our home. Each person has added special touches of things that remind us of home and that makes it so special. We made and ate supper, all loaded up, and headed out in the excursion to watch the first calf heifers as they were being tended to. They have 300 first calf heifers and they are in the middle of their calving season. It’s a full time job for sure! But more on that later…

This little home is 1200sq. ft. and fits us perfectly! All the girls are in a room, Stephen and I and the baby get a room, and the boys put out their mattresses in the living room at night. It’s perfect! It’s so nice having a wood burning stove with a glass window! After I broke our glass 2 winters ago, having a fire just hasn’t been the same. Still nice and warm, just not as beautiful. But here we get to see the fire again and I love it! Another hug from the Lord 💞

Oh! And one more bit of exciting news! Silas learned how to ride a bike! I think after driving in the suburban for 3 days, he just hopped out and took to it! No learning curve-just ready to roll! So sweet. I have to realize my little herd of people are all individuals and have so many feelings that are so important. Each one needs time to adjust as they can and how that best works for them. The other night Silas was going to bed and was just crying and talking to himself. Stephen called him in to lay with him in bed and we got to see a peek into his sweet little world. He was excited he had learned to ride a bike, but wanted to tell the Masters. After all, any time something exciting happened around the farm, who did he want to tell? The Masters! And it was always the same way with their big news. It’s going to take some time for the cousins to adjust, but in the mean time, I’m so thankful for phone service and face time!