Our Family 2014

Wow, It is 2016 and I am just now sitting down to make our 2014 family letter. I just read through 2011, 2012 and 2013 and enjoyed them so much I am quite disappointed in myself that there is not a 2014 entry! I am going to do my best to piece together that year with the help of facebook photo albums. 2014,2014,2014....

Emma with Grandpa

It had been a nice snowy winter!

We enjoyed yet another full year with our dear Fern! Some calves came and went but this girl made it the whole 365 days.

We spent many days at our local state park where we also get to see my Dad! I love the park a lot. It is one place full of happy memories. My dad has worked there around 22 years now. My Uncle had also worked there and had my whole life up til his passing about 10 years ago. The new employees come and go and I do not know most of them. But there are many long time veterans of the place and its nice to see same faces year after year. The state park is a place of many good family memories too. As I go through news archives I can see that for decades how my family on both sides would gather there for their family reunions. This started in the 40's just after the state park became a state park! My Grandma Wickis ashes are spread there along the Skyline trail and Island trail. Same with my Uncle Donald who passed way these last couple of years. I have the memories of picnics, beach walks etc with my Grandma and my other Grandparents. COusins, friends etc. There is no place on earth more important to me than the park!

My Great Aunt Sherl was a nice part of our lives in 2014. I got to know her after the death of my Grandparents. She had not been talking to my Grandpa at the end of his life and she regretted it much. She never came around much when I was younger either. She has been a widow for over 15 years. Two sons who live across country and just has a small number of family around. She adopted us and loved on us! Sadly though as I write this in 2016 I have to confess I havent seen her much lately. My daughter sees her around because of work but she lives 45 minutes away and I do not have a lot of free time anymore! I know I will regret not seeing her more often!

And Memorial Day parade. Little did we know this day but it would be Grandpas last Memorial Day parade. Once again he rode the float. He didnt want to but he had a rough morning. For weeks prior to the parade he would be out walking the road in hopes of having the strength. Such a treasured memory we have of spending Memorial Day with him. If ever there was a day that was a day to celebrate him it would be this day!

In June we celebrated my dads 55th birthday!! Well for one, I know it was a year we enjoyed fresh raw milk the entire year through! Fern having calved in 2013 was still giving us wonderful milk.

2014 we joined two different 4H groups. One was a rabbit group and the other was dairy. Joining 4H was one of the best decisions I have ever made as an adult! It wasn't just an issue of adding our animal passion to a type of competition. We became a part of our community. Mikayla took 3rd place in Dairy showmanship. Tyler and Noah took 2nd and 3rd place for showmanship in their age group. Fern didnt do very good but she had been in milk a long time at this point. THe first morning of fair they found that she had gotten off her spot and was roaming the barn when they opened it int he morning. My guess is she was stealing the other cows hay lol! We got several trophies for breed class in rabbits. It was a great first year!

We spent 5 nights a week for two months at a neighboring dairy farm training our calves.

We still found a lot of time to goof off

Our orchard did alright. I have lots of issues with different pests and diseases. On one hand an orchard is a one time physical thing with planting them. No tilling every year etc but boy they sure have their own issues that means I still have to pour money and time into them! Trees die too.

We finished our garage/haybarn/woodshed. It is not technically a permanent structure. The foundation is two metal shipping containers that we built around. It looks a LOT better like this! but also more functional than just the shipping containers. The containers would sweat a lot in the heat. It was VERY hot inside. The roof overhead gave us more storage plus kept them cool and caused a cessation of sweating. Now we had a place to put our extra offseason clothes and also kept our hay dry!

Eventually winter arrived.... and Fern was far more amused with it than Tay was! At the tail end of the year, December 2014, that Great Grandpas wife Gen passed away. Gen and Denzil married not long after my husband and I married. She was the one I would learn to love and know as I was a part of the family. She had Alzheimers and eventually lost the battle. The whole year of 2014 she had spent in a nursing home. She was a very sweet kind woman who loved her family very much. I am thankful for having the opportunity to get to know her and that my kids got such a neat woman to call Grandma