Busy Summer!

I've got multiple good reasons for not blogging lately: we're really busy with the garden and market and regular life, and I got locked out of our account and didn't get around to getting access again for over a month, but praise God I got back in and we're good to go! Thanks for the encouragement to write again Corrie!

Lilian has been changing so much lately! We are so thankful to have her, she is a delight! She imitates us a lot! Tuesday night at dinner David told about the geckos falling on you in Guam and how ladies that would visit his family's home would get all agitated, "Aaah! It's in my hair!" Lilian thought that was funny and started imitating her Papa acting like something was in her hair and she was trying to brush it out! She really likes sharing her food, with people or animals or toys! We ate some of our first watermelon and she took a bite over to her "rolling horse" and was making little smacking sounds like it was eating. Then she ran away, got her blanket, came back and started wiping it's mouth! Her favorite song (maybe not the whole thing, but at least the part David and I sing to her) is "Oh Happy Day", she walks around saying "Happy day!" in her little singing voice! It's such a joy! She sings her sweet little gibberish in the car a lot too!

I think I'll just share some pictures and captions to show a little of what we've been up to!
We started getting siding on the house! Three sides done, one more to go! When Lilian and I got back from a baby shower we found Dad hard at work on the porch siding, so we joined him! Lilian LOVES helping and figured out how to put screws into the drill! My Man put the tin on the porch roof and painted the "inside" of the roof white! It looks nice! Baby watermelon! Little Zucchini, or as Lilian calls them, "kini". The zucchini plants (and pumpkins) are undergoing a gruesome attack by squash bugs. Some have been annihilated but a few are still alive, and recovering! Some of our Kikos... Three of them had kids, one doeling and two bucklings. Cucumber blossoms. They are doing very well! One day I was taking Lilian's pictures and every snap she'd make a different funny face!


David the Snake Slayer. Note the blood on his shirt. He showed Billy how to do it Mav style! :D Aunt Kris came and kept Lilian and me company while David went to some fire training! We had such a good time! After David got back from training he brought the doe kid inside. It apparently felt quite at ease with Kris; first it fell asleep under her legs, then is snuggled right in and slept soundly on her. She didn't have a name that day, but after David and Kris discovered poison ivy all over their arms and necks, we dubbed her Itch. Lilian likes looking at Billy's pictures! She's my little kitchen helper! This day she got a little hungry while helping! Riding her horse with Papa! A four generation picture with a father and grandfatherly figure in David's life! L-R: Lilian, David, Grandy (Grandpa Randy), and his father Alfie. They are a blessing to us and we are so glad they could come out! Lilian LOVES tickling people, but particularly me! Showing Grandy the gardens. My uncle, aunt, and cousin came to visit for the Fourth of July! It was a lot of fun watching Austin and Lilian play together. He's about a year older. I like this picture because so much is happening! Austin and Lilian liked the cash register! This picture is funny because Grandpa and Billy just sat back and watched the show! (Billy has come back from Mississippi and is staying with us while he builds "The Billy Shack" nearby! It's looking good! We can't wait to see the finished project, and neither can he!) Lilian's been a bit bitey lately! We're breaking the "habit" fast, before it becomes one! Even though it's not good, it is rather hilarious when she does it! :P When we first bought this land we were amazed by the broad variety of moths and butterflies that are out here! This is what Lilian does when she wants to be held, she says, "Me!? Hold!?" Here's the front of the house with siding and the roof on! Papa and Lilian riding horses together! :D Our first watermelon! It had split so we harvested it early, but it was pretty good! I froze it and another one to make some delicious watermelon smoothies! All you do is blend up some frozen chunks (seeds get blended too) and pour it up to enjoy! It's so refreshing! See my dead and defeated foe, a squished squash bug! David giving our friends the Engles a farm tour! We really enjoyed our visit with you all! Me and Ahlgren Baby 2.0 somewhere around 16 weeks! Wednesday I thought I felt some flutters, but I definitely felt movement yesterday and today! I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE IT! Thank you Lord! My next favorite stage is when David can feel the baby moving! My belly really looks big in this picture, I don't think it looks that big in real life. :P We went to the midwife's (the same one as Lilian's! Praise the Lord!) this week and got to hear the baby's heartbeat again! It seemed like every 5-10 seconds the baby would kick! (S)He was really active!
*Here's a picture from Friday, the 22nd, before I ate breakfast. :P It's the same shirt but pulled back. I think I'd eaten more in the first pic and David's above angle changes my perceived dimensions. :D


Please be praying for our friends the Smiths, their 17month old daughter died this past week. The funeral was last Saturday, it was sad, but they know in Whom to put their trust and that was quite evident! But please pray for them!

"A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another."
John 13:34-35

New things!

"Hi!"

A lots been happening and things are growing and changing around here!

We put up another hoophouse! You'd think that after our previous experience we'd abandon the idea. (After the first one I declared "greenhouse" to be a "dirty word" in our household.) But we've got A WHOLE LOT LESS wind here than at our "Wedding House" and we were able to get a much higher quality hoophouse. We really enjoyed putting it up together! (I personally liked it a lot more since I wasn't "enjoying" morning sickness during it all this time!) Lilian was a hoot when she was out with us! She cracks us up! The funniest thing was when she found the instruction manual for the impact wrench and she started "reading" it! She would make all kinds of sounds and even point at certain words and get a serious face and emphasize them. That was funny in itself, but she did all this while walking around with it right in front of her face and she kept stumbling and running into things, but it didn't phase her! She is so funny!










Hanging out laundry. You can see our view of the hoophouse from the house. A beautiful storm that passed by one evening.

We planted eggplant, cucumbers and okra in the hoophouse. Lord willing we'll have okra at least a month before everyone else. The health food store said that we could sell at least the okra there! Which leads me to the next exciting thing; we are

USDA CERTIFIED ORGANIC

Praise the Lord! :D Now we get to put little stickers on our produce, yeah! ;) Haha! It that difficult to get our certification, particularly since this land hasn't really been used in several decades.
The garden is doing fine, particularly since the Lord sent rain at last! It's quite obvious that our soil needs more organic matter and goat fertilizer, but that will all come in good time! Here's Lilian after she'd been helping me in the garden!
One less rabbit to eat the garden!

The goats are all alive and well! Lord willing we'll have some kids in July, if I'm remembering correctly! We expanded their electric fenced area to about 10-15 acres that my hardworking man has just cleared and then we also let them out of the fence every day. So far so good!
My adventurous husband has joined our local Volunteer Fire Department! He's been on four fires and one medical call! So far so good he's loving it! Just pray for him to stay safe and to get good training and equipment! This is him after a fire in the wild-land fire suit he was issued initially. The next picture is him on his way to a fire in his bunker suit.
Since we got rain we were able to burn some of our piles from the 15 acres of ceders my Man's cleared!
My handsome fella all dirty from clearing!
My sister came and spent a weekend with us! David helped her with some web stuff and Lilian put in her two cents! We really enjoyed the time with her!

We've started getting the shelving up in our pantry and it is SO nice! I am very thankful to have it!
And the biggest new thing (or perhaps it's the smallest) is that the LORD has blessed us and

Ahlgren Baby Version 2.0 is on it's way!

WOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

We got to announce it to my family two years (to the day) after we announced that we were expecting our first! :D We are so excited and thankful for this little blessing! Lilian will be such a fun big sister! The other day we were talking about how the next time the organic inspector comes out we'll have two children, and I commented that it sounded so strange! My husband wondered why I thought it was strange and I said, "Because I've never had two kids before!!!" It'll definitely be an adventure, and one we're more than happy to have! We love each other so much and it's a delightful blessing to watch that love grow! Some nausea and loss of appetite has been a bit of a killjoy, but this too shall pass away and we can't wait to hold our new little one come January! We would appreciate your prayers that the midwife we were so blessed to have for Lilian would be available for this baby too!
First official picture of the FOUR of us taken the day we found out for sure!

"The LORD has done great things for us;
whereof we are glad!"
Psalm 126:3

*This is just a small reminder to pray for the those who recently lost loved ones and property in the tornadoes and storms in the South.

( :: )

Four years ago

my Love and I covenanted our lives together.*
OH HAPPY DAY!
We smiled so much that day that our faces hurt!
We are so thankful for that day and for the Lord's work in our life!
'Twas the start of a very wonderful thing!

*This references our betrothal, or engagement.