2013...a year of change

2013 ushered in a lot of changes for us as a family. My oldest (Tim) had turned 18 the end of 2012. We had jumped through hoops to get every form filled out and submitted for scholarships and college. He had done very well in high school and was awarded the Bright Flight scholarship for a very high ACT score, the A+ scholarship for good grades, attendance, and being a mentoring volunteer. He also applied for scholarships at the college of his choice, University of Missouri-Rolla, which specializes in engineering degrees. He was a candidate for a full-ride scholarship but there was a lot of competition and he didn't get it. He was awarded several smaller scholarships to the college and he was considering going there all four years.

In May 2013 Tim (picture of him on left, his best friend Connor on the right) graduated and we had a big picnic party here on the farm for him with all his friends and as much family as could come. Two of his aunts (my sisters) came down for the weekend from up north and we all enjoyed the visit with them! I wish they could've stayed longer...maybe 2014 for Michael's graduation?

Here's some great pictures...notice how GREEN everything is. What a wonderful day this was!

Shannon spent half her summer break from school down in Norwood, Missouri interning on the Rockin H Ranch with friends of ours, owners of Real Farm Foods. She spent a LOT of time in the gardens, some with the chickens, guardian flock dogs, herding cattle, sheep, pigs, goats, etc., but her favorite was the goat dairy! She helped milk around 150 dairy goats and she fell in LOVE with goats! Here she is trying to get the goats off the hay ride trailer. :)

We also lost our not so beloved but good on gas mileage Nissan...it just finally croaked. We went shopping for a new vehicle and came home with an '05 Dodge Grand Caravan with stow and go seating. It has auto doors and just about all the bells and whistles you can ask for! I love it!!! On the down side...it's back to car payments again. :(

The boys both looked for regular jobs over the summer, but they never found any, so they mowed for the neighbors all summer, and did odd jobs for people.

Tim purchased a car (van) with his savings and graduation money, which is great for him, because he can pile all his friends in the car for D&D games (Dungeons and Dragons) which he and Michael play, usually here at the house. He ran into an old teacher of his, she had retired the year before he graduated and he really liked her a lot. She had some good advice for him about college...take his scholarships and use them locally and save some money. Live at home, save a lot more money. He wasn't thrilled about living at home two more years, but he is really good with money and saw the wisdom in her advice. He decided to attend Ozarks Technical Community College his first two years and save a LOT of money in the long run (about $40,000) over going to school in Rolla and taking out student loans.

Notice how much his car resembles ours? LOL! But his cost a LOT less.

Jason got hired on at OTC for the fall semester to teach the HVAC boilers & chillers class. This was on top of his work schedule.
In July I began watching my girlfriend's grandson, Brantley, while his mom & grandma worked really WEIRD hours. I also began working for my girlfriend at her newly opened party supply store...RSVParty in Marshfield. (Same friend, the baby went to work with me). So all in all, we were trying to build the house, take care of the kids & animals, and work multiple jobs. 2013 was coming to a close and we were worn out! :) Did I mention Tim nearly totaled his car, too? Yep...he spent many hours working on it to get it running again. Thankfully he finally managed it, with Jason's help. In the meantime he caught rides to school with Jason on days he could, other days he'd take my car if I didn't need it, and some days he had to have me take him to school. Did I mention we were WORN OUT?