Once again, there is not enough room on
a piece of paper to share our favorite family stories or pictures from this
year. You are probably thinking “Well,
if you didn’t repeat the song verses over and over you would’ve had plenty of room
on the page.” True, but where’s the
fun in that? I think it’s the repetition
that gives the “12 Days of Christmas” its charm. In our case, I was hoping the repetition would
add extra e
mphasis to the amount of rainfall we received this year: FIVE INCHES x 12. It was a lot.
For us farming folk, it was pretty much the headliner for 2019. So, let’s start there…
mphasis to the amount of rainfall we received this year: FIVE INCHES x 12. It was a lot.
For us farming folk, it was pretty much the headliner for 2019. So, let’s start there…
Growing up as a western Kansas farm
girl, I learned that you never complain about rain. As farmers, we depend on rain, so we tried to be thankful when the sky opened up and poured forth its blessings this
year. Thank you, Lord, for sending us
the rain in three, five, or eight-inch increments and not for a solid forty
days and forty nights. Thank you, Lord,
for the promise you gave Noah, symbolized by a rainbow, and the reassurance that
someday we would see dry land again. Thank
you, Lord, that I can laugh at all the Ark jokes on social media. 😊
Okay, okay, so
maybe it wasn’t quite that bad, but the rain did make for a challenging year on
the farm. 
With 20+ inches of rainfall,
May 2019 went on record as the wettest may in Kansas…ever. Long story short, our area had over 80 inches
of rain in the last 14 months…double our yearly average. Newly planted fields were washed out by
torrential spring storms. Fields of corn
were destroyed as flood waters from the Neosho River covered them for nearly a
week. Once the waters receded, we had to
clean up sticks, small trees, old tires, glass bottles, dead fish, cornstalks
and whatever else the rivers and creeks washed out into the middle of the
fields. The wet, wet weather also made
for planting delays, and the days to get out and do farm work seemed few and
far between. Then, for even more fun, an
unseasonable August hailstorm swept across the area, damaging buildings, shredding
field crops and ultimately taking a toll on the harvest yields. Thankfully, and with only a few minor mishaps
(getting stuck, broken semi-trucks, several “part-runs” to town, etc.) we made
it SAFELY to the harvest finish line. We have much
to be grateful for. Between uncertain
market conditions and uncooperative and even catastrophic weather, 2019 was a
challenging year for many agricultural producers all across the country.
With 20+ inches of rainfall,
May 2019 went on record as the wettest may in Kansas…ever. Long story short, our area had over 80 inches
of rain in the last 14 months…double our yearly average. Newly planted fields were washed out by
torrential spring storms. Fields of corn
were destroyed as flood waters from the Neosho River covered them for nearly a
week. Once the waters receded, we had to
clean up sticks, small trees, old tires, glass bottles, dead fish, cornstalks
and whatever else the rivers and creeks washed out into the middle of the
fields. The wet, wet weather also made
for planting delays, and the days to get out and do farm work seemed few and
far between. Then, for even more fun, an
unseasonable August hailstorm swept across the area, damaging buildings, shredding
field crops and ultimately taking a toll on the harvest yields. Thankfully, and with only a few minor mishaps
(getting stuck, broken semi-trucks, several “part-runs” to town, etc.) we made
it SAFELY to the harvest finish line. We have much
to be grateful for. Between uncertain
market conditions and uncooperative and even catastrophic weather, 2019 was a
challenging year for many agricultural producers all across the country. 
What do farm families do when it’s rainy
and wet all the time? Fix stuff in the
shop. What do they do when they are
tired of fixing things? Go fishing! When the river comes up it’s time to set the
trotline and try to catch some 40 lb. yellow catfish. The river was up for a loooooong time this
summer, so I have a freezer full of tasty “yellow cat”. We got more fishing in this year than usual,
and it was fun to see the boys get their boots on and get excited about
fishing, jumping in puddles, hunting for crawdads, or catching tadpoles.
Another thing a farm family may do when
it’s wet, wet, wet is go on vacation. We
“got away” from the cold, wet weather by going someplace even colder and wetter
with a weekend trip to Omaha, NE.
Between the Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium, the special dinosaur exhibit
at the Omaha Botanical Gardens, the Omaha Children’s Museum, the Strategic Air
Command museum, and the hotel pool, the kids had a great time enjoying the
(mostly) indoor attractions. Later in
the summer we headed for the (Rocky Mountain) hills again, enjoying a stop at
Castle Rock in western Kansas before kicking back with some camping, gondola
riding, hiking, trout fishing, gold mine exploring and coffee drinking in
colorful Colorado.
Farm food with a healthy sprinkling of
dirt and lots of fresh air must make kids grow like weeds. At any rate, they seem to grow up too fast
for me to truly capture and enjoy all of the beautiful 
moments. Elijah will be turning six years old next week
(!).
He started kindergarten in August
and has matured so much in his new school environment. He is a sweet, conscientious boy who loves to
read and play games of all kinds. He is
infallibly patient with his siblings and a reliable helper for mommy. He also started taking piano lessons this
fall (from mommy!) and hopes to play soccer in the spring. 
moments. Elijah will be turning six years old next week
(!).
Case is still our busy little digger
dog, with an irresistible smile and sunny (if a trifle dramatic)
personality. This almost 4-year-old enjoys
helping mommy and daddy with a variety of jobs/projects, talks non-stop, is
insatiably curious about EVERYTHING, and almost always has some kind of
construction toy in hand or on the brain.
He loves all things outdoorsy:
reptiles, amphibians, insects, plants, rocks, dirt…and is an avid
collect of all of these.
Little Miss Jeanie Rose will be turning
two-years-old in February. This year she
blossomed through one of my favorite ages and stages, and it has been a delight
to see her mobility, vocabulary, and little personality develop. She gives super duper hugs, but don’t confuse
them with the tackles she uses to take down her big brothers, usually when she
wants whatever they have but aren’t sharing with her. And so, the daily squabbling begins... 😊. She likes to sing, play the piano, read books,
and cuddle with kitties outside, and is usually up for any adventure or
activity the boys want to do.
As for Nathan and I? Same ol’, same ol’. I try to keep the house, kids, and husband in
line. When I’m not helping Nathan, I
play piano for church, help with the children’s ministry, and serve on a couple
of committees. Most of my limited free
time is spent gardening (it’s a BIG garden), reading, planning ways to make our
lives run a little bit smoother, and occasionally doing some sewing. When Nathan can spare time from the farm (and
even when he can’t) he still does some work for Black and Veatch. He joined the Kansas Farm Management board
for Southeast Kansas, and even sat in on a couple of Allen County fair board
meetings. He also talked me into serving
on Kansas Farm Bureau’s Young Farmers & Ranchers state committee. We started our two-year term at the beginning
of December 2019, and we’ve had to dust off some of our professional attire in
order to look the part at our upcoming conferences and committee meetings. We are looking
If I had to pick one word to sum up this
year, I think it would be…FUN. There was
certainly plenty of work, a few hardships, and maybe even some heartbreak
involved, but randomly sprinkled in between all of that was a lot of fun. Stopping to play at creek crossings, imaginative
adventures at the harvest fields, going for walks down the road and picking
wildflowers, alphabet scavenger hunts at the park, playdates with cousins, special
time with grandparents and quick trips to visit friends…these and many more adventures
added a little magic to our ordinary days.
The opportunities to learn and explore are readily available, and even
the not-so-fun moments have the potential to become special family
memories. As you can see from our
pictures, we are growing more than just crops here on our farm!
As is typical for our Christmas letter,
many of you will probably not receive this before Christmas, so by the time you
read this you will be done with all of the celebrating and ready to move on to
the New Year with it’s new goals, new challenges, and new opportunities. So, let’s “wrap up” this longish bit of news
with a shout out to the real “Reason for the Season” – Jesus. Immanuel.
God with Us (Isaiah 7:14). When the
tree comes down and all the lights and jingle bells and razzle dazzle of the
season are gone, the real reason for celebrating is still here, living on. God came to be with us (John 1:14). He’s with us through the good days and the
bad, in both joy and in sorrow, so that we don’t have to go it alone (Deuteronomy
31:8). He’s stretching down a hand to
us, offering us not only forgiveness and love (Romans 5:8), but also the promise
of hope, and of a future (Jeremiah 29:11).
Nothing we have done or could ever do will disqualify us from being able
to receive his gracious gift of love (Romans 8:38). God is with us, past, present, and future,
and that’s one pretty incredible gift.
“Rejoice in the LORD always. I will say it
again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The LORD is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in
every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your
requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all
understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 4:4-7
We Wish You a
Merry Christmas
and a
Joy-Filled
New Year!
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| Photo by Alicia Hicks |
