That's a wrap!

The last dawn of 2014

I haven't had the privilege of time to ponder my prose, so this will be a quick and dirty (read incomplete) recap of the year.

Tomorrow, The Year of the Sheep begins, so let's start with sheep, shall we? After a year off, Boulderneigh saw bouncing babies once again in 2014. Three sets of twins, with five lambs surviving, two of them much anticipated girls. Jet moved to California, and Vienna arrived from Wisconsin.

I put together a very small breeding group (Blake, Sarai, and Vienna) this fall, but there is also the possibility that Barbados enjoyed his own little breeding group when he broke out the first of September. Next year will have to be The Year of Selling Sheep!

This year has been The Year of the Horse, but not in the way I had planned. I had to scratch every show I entered because Lance sustained a couple suspensory ligament injuries; that ended up being a good thing, financially. We spent a lot of time in careful reconditioning; I also spent considerable time shuffling saddles until finding one (cheap!) that fits Lance well. Through it all, he has been one of my greatest pleasures this year; I refer to Lance as my "mental health mustang."

At Cowboy Campmeeting in July, our son took the biggest step of his twelve years by being baptized. Many of our family and friends attended, some from far away, making the event even more special.

In August we took a memorable family trip to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness; we have the photos – and medical bills – to prove it. Still, we are thankful the symptoms Rick experienced were a false alarm and not another heart attack.

We have been blessed to spend time with most of our immediate family this year, and in spite of some scary medical crises, the ranks remain intact. I especially treasured getting to see the littlest family member – my nephew Micah – in both January and December. Kids grow up fast!

In September, Brian starting fencing lessons and was hooked. Fortunately, he was awarded a scholarship in order to continue – and fortunately I have a fuel-efficient vehicle for Mom's Taxi Service!

The summer's blessing of firewood, free for the cutting, splitting and hauling, turned out to be much bigger than we realized at the time. Our heat pump died this fall, so that firewood has been our sole source of heat ever since.

At the end of November, I started a(nother) part-time job, which has all of us hustling and adjusting like never before. But it's what we have to do to make ends meet, so we're making it work – and are thankful for the work!

My goals for 2015 are few:
• Start each day with God
• End each day having reached my activity tracker goals
• Ride Lance regularly (no more than two days off if possible)
• Find good homes for some of my sheep
• Make time for friends

Only God knows what the new year will bring, but with His help, we'll be able to handle it.

That's it for 2014, from . . .