Healing Leaves

Introducing...Alaso Blaze Matheson

2010-07-01T07:03:00.001-05:00

Meet our first grandbaby - Alaso Blaze Matheson - born June 30, 2010 7:46am
6# 10 oz, 20"

Grandma Pam and Alaso

2010-07-01T06:55:00.001-05:00

Grandma Pam loving on Alaso

2010-07-01T06:52:00.001-05:00

Jaron, Leah, Alaso

2010-07-01T06:45:00.001-05:00

We are Grandparents

2010-07-01T06:40:00.001-05:00

Wedding!

2009-07-06T16:48:00.000-05:00

Pam & Janessa

2009-05-17T21:49:00.008-05:00

Janessa and I recently went to the Festival of Nations in St. Paul with Leah and some of her family. This was on the bus for our short ride from the parking lot to the event.

Our family news

2009-05-17T21:09:00.002-05:00

We have been very busy this past year. I have not taken much time for the computer so I figured it was time to post a few pictures and let you all know what is happening with us.
Jaron is engaged to Leah and we will be having a June wedding! We are excited for both of them. We are good friends with Leah's family and we spend a lot of time together.
Ken and Jaron went into partnership with the sign business and they are busy with some new exciting things. They both enjoy working together and they also have Leah doing some design work for them.

A bridal shower for Leah

2009-05-17T20:43:00.009-05:00

A plunger! The kids had fun "dressing" up Leah!

I guess with all this TP I'm going to need this plunger!

Janessa's Surprise 16th Birthday

2009-05-17T19:52:00.010-05:00

Jaron & Leah Jaron & Janessa

Jaron surprised his sister by showing up for her surprise 16th birthday celebration. He also brought with him his fiance, Leah. Jaron had just asked Leah a few days before if she would marry him!

Barn Chore Helpers!

2008-05-17T14:05:00.004-05:00

Our home fellowship group met at our place last night and Janessa and I had lots of helpers doing our barn chores. Our last momma doe kidded a week ago and she has "orphaned" her twin kids, so we have bottle duty here four times a day right now. The kids enjoyed helping us give our barn "kids" their bottles. Our newest kids are "orphan" Annie and Andie. The momma was pushing the little doe away but would let the buck near her, now she is letting both of them sleep near her and is not being mean to the little doe, yeah! But, she won't let either of them nurse. Janessa and I have been busy milking her (she's finally getting used to that!) and then feeding her kids.

Anna (in back)

Elsa, Ashley, Cora, Nella, Isaac, Anika & Janessa

Plenty of little helpers

2008-05-17T13:49:00.004-05:00

AnnaNella and Mom (Sarah)

Elsa (and Ashley & Isaac hiding)

Janessa giving Anika a milking lesson

2008-05-17T13:32:00.004-05:00

Anika milking Holly

2008-05-17T13:26:00.002-05:00

Anika did a good job milking our doe!

Little hands can do the job!

2008-05-17T13:18:00.000-05:00

Hi, I'm Elsa and I milked a goat last night!

Mary's twins

2008-05-06T11:11:00.002-05:00

On Sunday evening Mary had twins, a buck and a doe. The black and white one is the buck, the brown and white one the doe. We had company over on Sunday and we knew she was in labor but every time we checked her nothing was happening. She was just standing and staring off and seemed to be concentrating real hard. I checked her a few times in the early evening and then when I checked at 10:15 she was laying down and bellowing, with the first kid part way out. It appeared to be stuck and after watching her for three contractions I decided I better go inside and scrub up in case I needed to help. I don't know how long she was trying to push the first kid out. Ken and Janessa stayed with Mary and I ran inside, praying hard that by the time I got back out to the barn the kid would be out, and he was!! The second one came shortly after and she barely had to push. Both momma does and their kids are doing fine! We have three bucks and two does right now...I wonder what our last doe will have!

Our first kids of the season arrived!

2008-05-01T23:43:00.002-05:00

Well, it has been a busy week here with our little herd of goats. I have been sick with a very back cold/respiratory thing going on and Janessa has been doing chores for me for about a week. She did help me finish cleaning out our birthing pen last week, so we were done in plenty of time for our first batch of kids that arrived. We have a couple more does to kid this month, so we will continue to be busy. Someone mentioned s - n - o - w to me tonight, we may have flurries??? tomorrow? It is raining here now, hopefully the temp doesn't drop too much! Well, I just checked and it is currently 36 degrees, so it doesn't have too far to drop!! Well, all the does and the new kids are snuggled warm in the barn.

Janessa with our newest little doeling

2008-05-01T23:37:00.002-05:00

This is our little doe in the bunch. The other two are bucks. We still need to name her. Since her mother is Melody I was thinking Music, Janessa doesn't agree. Tonight when we came in from chores I was thinking April, since this is our first year we had April kids??

Janessa and Peanut

2008-05-01T23:31:00.001-05:00

Janessa is a little attached to the littlest new kid on the farm!

Melody and her triplets - born April 30th

2008-05-01T23:22:00.003-05:00

Melody surprised us with three little ones on Wednesday. After the second one was born I thought she was all done and I was waiting for the afterbirth. But, much to my surprise out popped #3. We still need to give two of them names. The brown one is the smallest goat we've ever had born here, we did name him...Peanut!

Valentine Soap

2008-02-12T20:23:00.000-06:00

I have a couple different kinds of heart soap in the local stores for Valentine's Day this week.
The Vanilla scent "chocolate" hearts look like something to eat! But, be sure not to take a bite of this "chocolate" bar! The light colored soap is a Victoria Secret Lovespell fragrance.

Farm funny!

2008-01-14T22:08:00.001-06:00

We have a billy goat visiting our does for breeding and a couple days ago when I went out to do morning milking chores I heard a banging sound and found the billy goat with this hay bucket around his waist! We have this bucket hanging on the outside of his pen and he must've gotten spooked by something in the barn (maybe me??!) and he had this around his neck in a few seconds, and then around his waist! I had to come in the house and get Ken to help me rescue Billy! Billy is a bit afraid of Ken and when he went into the pen and touched the bucket the billy goat jumped out of the bucket, it was a quick rescue!

Guess who got this one?!

2008-01-14T21:58:00.001-06:00

A fun way to display soap!

2008-01-14T21:51:00.001-06:00

A Christmas Soap Sleigh!

2008-01-14T21:43:00.000-06:00

I found a few fun sleighs at some local thrift stores and had fun filling them with my homemade goat milk soap for some gifts this Christmas.

Christmas 2007

2008-01-14T21:36:00.000-06:00

Jaron and Janessa in front of our tree. Janessa found our tree this year. It was over 20 feet, we managed to get 10 1/2 feet of it in our house!

Soap Gift Crates

2007-11-24T14:08:00.000-06:00

These are the gift crates that we have been busy making for a friend. We are thinking that we may sell them online next year??! It was a busy week, we printed, cut and hot glued soap boxes (a friend made these crates for us!) We got 93 bars of different scents and molded soaps to three stores and 12 of these 2 -bar soap crates to a friend.

Colorful sky

2007-11-24T13:59:00.000-06:00

I took this picture off our back deck looking towards our woods. Ken called me out to see it one morning and I'm glad I grabbed the camera as it didn't last very long.

A new season

2007-11-08T16:37:00.000-06:00

Well, it is cold here in Minnesota today. The high here was only 36. The goats are out grazing, looking for the last bit of fresh grass and leaves that they can find. They are in heat and we will be bringing a billy goat to visit them next month so we will have May kids in the barn again.
We had a few snow flurries on Monday morning, it stopped before I could take a picture, but I know that we will be seeing the white stuff before too long. The garden harvest is in jars and the freezer so soon it will be hot chocolate and a good book weather! A new season means different things to take care of. Winter is a good season to take time for yourself. Get good rest and stay healthy!

Summer flowers!

2007-11-08T16:31:00.001-06:00

I'm missing my fresh cut flowers from my flower garden! The night before our first frost in September I picked all my Sunflowers and Silver Cups. I enjoyed them in this bay window for about a week that looks out towards our sauna. I think I will plant these again next year!

Our garden harvest

2007-11-08T15:20:00.000-06:00

Here is what we harvested from our 24 tomato plants we had this year. We made many batches of salsa and spaghetti sauce and have been enjoying it! We had an early frost in September so we picked all these green tomatoes along with our first ripe ones! We are glad that this season is over (we chopped tomatoes and then we chopped tomatoes again, and then we did it again!) We do miss having fresh tomatoes for our salads and look forward to them again next year.

Our first day of school

2007-09-09T10:58:00.000-05:00

Tuesday was our first day of school and we spent three hours at our friend Sarah's house. We had a day of canning and Donna and her daughter Maia joined us too. I brought fresh grapes that I had picked the day before at a friends house and we made homemade grape jelly! Yum! We also made plum jelly with wild plums from Sarah's tree and also applesauce. In the last picture you can see our share of what we got. I know we will enjoy the fruits of our labor when we open these jars and add them to our meals!

A day of canning

2007-09-09T10:06:00.001-05:00

Sarah stirring plums or apples

Donna cutting apples

Maia and Janessa making applesauce

Maia getting the applesauce ready for the jars

This is our share of the end product!

Cool fall days to work outside

2007-09-09T10:00:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I spent lots of time outside weeding in the garden, mowing and trimming near our front door and picking the wild plums in our yard. Ken also helped me to prune some branches off the bushes under the plum tree so we could get some ladders under it so we could pick the plums. This is the first year that we have picked them and I'm hoping that we will enjoy the jelly we make from them.

Wild plums

2007-09-09T09:49:00.001-05:00

These are wild plums that I picked yesterday from one of the trees in our yard. The first tree that was beginning to ripen this year were already all on the ground. I'll have to catch that one when it ripens earlier next year! We will hopefully get these plums turned into wild plum jelly soon!

Flowers in our front yard

2007-09-09T09:36:00.001-05:00

Weaning kids

2007-09-02T10:32:00.000-05:00

Here are the three kids that are being weaned from their mommas this year.
Heidi and Hannah are in the back and Milly in the front. They are all growing and healthy!
Jaron and a couple friends put up this kid yard so they couldn't escape and find their mommas. We still have more fencing to work on sometime, but it is nice to have this yard for them.

Summer excursions in July

2007-09-02T09:55:00.000-05:00

The last week that my Dad spent with us this summer we decided to make a couple close road trips. We visited Brainerd and Duluth and made a few memories! Michael and Janessa were good sports when we visited Paul Bunyan Land (it was a "kiddy" land!)
I hope you enjoy the pictures!

A visit to Paul Bunyan Land in Brainerd, MN

2007-09-02T09:49:00.001-05:00

Here is my Dad and Janessa and our nephew Michael visiting with Paul Bunyan!

A swim at Park Point in Duluth

2007-09-02T09:43:00.001-05:00

This is our nephew, Michael and Janessa and her friend Alysa cooling off when we visited Duluth in July.

Duluth - A city on a hill

2007-09-02T09:34:00.001-05:00

We visited Duluth on a hot summer day in July. You can see how it is built on a hill. This is my Dad.

A garden that needs lots of weeding!

2007-07-19T22:12:00.001-05:00

For those of you with gardens without weeds I hope you don't croak when you see this picture! I debated about posting this picture as I know it isn't something to be proud of. But, be sure to check out the progress below!
Here is our nephew, Michael - he has been working hard with me!

This is what it looks like after we weeded

2007-07-19T22:02:00.000-05:00

Am I just fat?

2007-07-19T16:33:00.001-05:00

Is Mary pregnant??

2007-07-19T16:26:00.001-05:00

Pregnant or just wide and healthy??!

2007-07-19T16:07:00.000-05:00

We are trying to figure out if our goat is indeed pregant or just wide and healthy. That is what I read recently while I was trying to find out the longest gestation for a goat. Goat owners are asked when the goat is going to kid and they say she just kidded last week! I'm going to post a few pictures I took yesterday of Mary. Would you guess she is pregnant, or just wide and healthy??! Behind her are her two does she had last year. Miriam is in front and Melody busy grazing!

Come follow me and see what I've been doing!

2007-07-09T10:00:00.001-05:00

We are all keeping busy here. Over the weekend Ken was weed wacking, Janessa was mowing and Dad was sweeping up after her! Hmmmm...what was Pam doing? Taking pictures!
I also weeded a little in the garden, and mulched with the grass clippings that Dad gathered up. As you can see parts of our lawn are pretty dry, we need more rain! But, with all the lack of rain you can still see in the other pictures how green everything is and how high the grass is growing. Our team effort was good and we got some yardwork done!

I'm being followed!

2007-07-09T09:54:00.001-05:00

Here Dad is busy sweeping up the yard after Janessa mows so we can use the grass clippings for mulch in the garden. So who is chasing who?!

Keeping busy on the farm!

2007-07-09T09:47:00.001-05:00

A job well done!

2007-07-09T09:37:00.000-05:00

Our new bars will say Goat Milk on them!

2007-07-07T23:26:00.000-05:00

Here is the most recent batch of soap. I just got the 8-bar tray that says Goat Milk. I think I'm going to like these for our soaps. I figure since I put all Goat Milk and no water in my soap why not have it on the bars. They are easy to cut apart which makes it nice.

Bigger soap display

2007-07-07T16:52:00.000-05:00

We had one of the local stores that is selling our soap ask for a larger display. This is what I brought to them last week. Yesterday I had to bring more soap as they just keep selling it!

Fragrant Tree - what is it??

2007-07-06T09:46:00.000-05:00

I don't ever remember this tree blooming. The last few days as I've been walking past my Dad's camper into Ken's work trailer I keep smelling something very sweet! This morning I discovered it was the tree! Does anyone know what kind of tree this is?

2007-07-06T09:40:00.001-05:00

Lilies

2007-07-06T09:31:00.000-05:00

This is my second year for my lilies. They are so colorful. We have a couple more plants that we are waiting for them to bloom. The star gazer lily was so pretty last year, I hope it blooms again this year!

4th of July Parade

2007-07-04T21:54:00.001-05:00

Today we went through our local parade advertising for our soap business. My Dad let us drive his truck through. Here he is sitting in the truck as we are waiting for the parade to begin. We had banners on both sides and our daughter and a couple friends walked behind and threw candy. I walked and handed out candy and business cards. We'll see if the free advertising helps to sell the soap in the seven stores that have it now.

My Dad busy watering the garden

2007-06-16T11:56:00.000-05:00

This week has been very HOT here. It has been almost 90 every day. My Dad has been helping keep the garden watered. We have 24 tomato plants, 11 hot pepper plants, 11 green and sweet red pepper plants, potatoes, onions, beets, wax beans, green beans, spinach, one pumpkin, one squash and a couple different kinds of lettuce. It will be great to start harvesting!
We finally had rain yesterday afternoon and evening so we had a break from all the watering. We've been watering twice a day to be sure the small plants and the seeds won't dry up.
We have a smaller garden this year. We didn't get it all tilled up, so I'm trying to take back a little of the sides all around the garden a little at a time. I'm working on the first section today and will post a picture of it before and after when I get it done. I will finally have an herb garden! I had a place in the front of the house, but since we have a male dog who likes to "water" everything I decided to put it in the main garden area that is fenced so he can't help with the watering! I want to use my herbs!

Holly had twins on Friday

2007-06-10T23:58:00.000-05:00

Our second doe had twin doelings on Friday morning. They had just been born when I went to the barn shortly after six that morning. It was nice that everything went smoothly for these births.

We have one more doe to go. It will be any day now.

Janessa with Hannah & Heidi

2007-06-10T23:49:00.001-05:00

Hannah is the little black doeling and Heidi is the grey/black/white one. We are sure getting different color ones this year. Black seems to be dominant. The Momma goats and the Billy goat are brown/white with little bits of black, so the black color surprised us. We think they are gorgeous!

Janessa with our three little doelings and Momma Holly staying close

2007-06-10T23:29:00.000-05:00

Holly the Momma is keeping close to her new twin doelings - Hannah and Heidi.
Milly joined in for this picture. She is now two weeks old.

Kid or calf??

2007-05-28T08:42:00.001-05:00

My hubby thinks Milly looks like a little jersey calf!

2007-05-28T08:37:00.000-05:00

Molly with little Milly

2007-05-28T08:35:00.000-05:00

Memorial Weekend Birthing Event

2007-05-28T08:22:00.000-05:00

It has been quite an interesting weekend here
at our place.

Molly went into labor last night just before we
arrived home from the Twin Cities. Son and
hubby were keeping a close eye on her and when I
arrived home I took over. She had a water sack
that came out around 9 pm and when she didn't
deliver any kids I became concerned. I went
online to read about what I should do. I
checked on her every 10-15 minutes and she was
calm and relaxed, even munching on hay a couple
times.

I finally woke hubby up at 1:30 this morning and
told him something wasn't right. He came out to
the barn with me and I checked on her. She was
still calm but it seemed like her labor had
stopped. This was a first as all our other
kids have been born just before we get to the
barn and the two times we watched it all
happened quickly.

I wish I knew last night what I know now.
This morning after talking with a vet
friend whom we know and has helped with other
goats of ours I felt like I had to go in and see
if I could help. I had called a local vet and
got an answering machine and the message said if
it was an emergency to call a certain number and
also to note that any farm calls would be double
because of the holiday weekend. We wouldn't be
able to have a vet come out even at the normal
rate at this time so I just prayed and asked the
Lord to guide my hand and teach me what I needed
to do. I felt confident after talking with the vet
that I could try my best. Molly remained calm
and so did I. My
Dad and hubby were right there praying with me
through it all. So, now I have the experiencing
of pulling three kids.
The first was a buck and he was dead, the second
was a little doe (though I didn't know it until
about an hour later as I was so busy cleaning
her up and getting her to her momma to clean
her) and then getting her to nurse, which she
has been doing very well! Her name is Milly.
Hubby asked if he was needed anymore as he was
going to go to work for a few hours and I said
all looked well. Shortly after he left I sent
my Dad after him because I saw the hooves of the
third one coming out. This one was also a doe.
I cleaned her all up and did what I could, but
she was dead.
Little Milly is doing well so far. She was very
weak and did not get up on her feet like we have
seen our other newborns do. We got her to nurse
so she would get some good colostrum in her and
she has been nursing with my assistance (Momma
is doing great in letting me help her kid
nurse!) Milly has been up on her feet and walking
around. She is VERY precious. We are thankful
that through all this trauma that this little
one has made it so far. She is black with a
large white band around her belly. She is
beautiful!

Our digital camera broke a couple weeks ago and
is in repairs. I have another camera that
doesn't take very good pictures, but I will do
my best to get one as soon as I can so you can
all see her!

I know that the Lord was with
us through the whole thing. The fact that I was
able to remain calm and even do it is even
baffling me!

Molly did pass her placenta on her own. So, I
didn't have to run anywhere to get
meds to have her start contractions to expel it,
which I was praying we would not have to do -
but was willing if we had to. I did give her a
shot of antibiotic to help her fight off any
infection she might get for me going in and
assisting her. I scrubbed up good and oiled my
arm up like the vet told me.

I'm proud of Molly as she was so good the whole
time I was assisting her and she is being such a
good momma, not pushing her baby away at all.
She and I had a long conversation through the
whole thing, I guess I have to say I bonded with
one of my goats in a way I never thought I
would! I talked, then she would talk and then
she would push and I would pull. Farm life, I
guess there is nothing quite like it.

This is one Memorial Weekend I don't think I'll
ever forget. It definitely has lots of memories.

Our newest little doeling - Milly

2007-05-28T08:06:00.000-05:00

Our first soap display

2007-03-23T17:06:00.000-05:00

We have been busy here getting our soap business going. Ken has made a couple displays which we put in a couple local stores this week. In a few weeks we will be putting some more together after we get the wood back from the sawmill. Ken cut down a tree on the back 40 so we will even being using our own wood from Giese for lots of our displays. He has also been printing up our new soap boxes. We still have some "tweaking" to do to both the displays and the packaging but we are excited to see if the new display and packaging will help sell the soap.

Anise - a good Hunting and Fishing soap

2007-03-03T12:01:00.000-06:00

This is my latest batch of soap. I used cocoa to get the brown color.

Lots of snow!

2007-03-03T11:43:00.000-06:00

This is what my front door currently looks like. We have been busy shoveling paths here. They seem like tunnels to us as we walk them, as some of them are waist high! With all the blowing and drifting we had we aren't sure how much snow we actually got in this last storm. It was predicted for 18-20 in our area.

Snow in the goat yard

2007-02-25T18:31:00.000-06:00

Here is my goat pen, I'm sitting in a bank of snow taking this picture. You can't see my girls as the drift is so high! Notice the cool drift of snow on the barn roof.

Chickens checking out the snow

2007-02-25T18:25:00.000-06:00

I had to push open the chicken door with a big shove to get it open today. It took a while for the chickens to step outside, the rooster was the bravest and stepped out first.

February Snow!

2007-02-25T18:06:00.000-06:00

Our front steps this morning, Feb 25

Here is what it looks like after I shoveled for 1/2 hour! My family was busy shoveling the driveway.

My Mom and I, September 2006

2007-02-24T15:20:00.000-06:00

These are my thoughts on my last few days with my Mom.
Friday, December 29: I received a call from one of my sisters letting me know that Mom was having difficulty swallowing and that they had put her on oxygen. She also had a low grade fever. There was a rattling sound which we found out later was due to the terminal congestion (and not pneumonia). Jaron and I drove the next morning to Michigan and my other siblings were already there, with the exception of my brother who lives in Seattle. Jaron drove home a few days later and I stayed.

My Mom was diagnosed with cancer in her liver in August. It was inoperable and she was given about six months. It was the Melanoma cancer back, she had it first in her eye four years ago and then the brain tumor in October 2005.

We have all had different journeys through this the last few years. Our family all gathered together with my Mom in September (29 of us!) and we had a great time making new memories with everyone. This was our last time we would all be together. It was a very blessed time! Something I will always cherish. Even though it was bittersweet as we knew it was the last time I'm thankful for that time as many families don't get this kind of opportunity when someone dies suddenly.

My Mom and Dad had many visitors all through the fall. We all took turns going to see Mom in the Nursing Home, we played games with her, watched home videos, made her special meals, had hot chocolate together, AND WE SANG!! We didn't realize that we knew SO many hymns and choruses. In the first few months, Mom would sing with us, then towards the end we were singing to her. The Lord's presence was very powerful in her room and during the last few days those of us with her will always remember the joy that was present in the midst of the suffering and pain. There were tears and sadness, but the joy was much more in abundance. The last two or three nights three of us girls slept in my Mom's room, one in a lazy boy at the foot of her bed and the other two on the couch. We didn't get much sleep, we were talking about our childhood, laughing and crying together and just glad we could be with Mom.

Tuesday, January 2: Mom was very responsive and alert. Since I arrived on Saturday I had not heard her speak a word. That evening my brother Roy called from Seattle and I asked him if he would like to talk with Mom, he said he had not been able to speak with her for three weeks (she had been asleep or unable to whenever he had called). Roy was able to talk with her for about 20 minutes and as I held the phone for her I heard her speak Roy's name! I was so excited I took the phone and asked Roy if he heard it. After Roy called I felt prompted to ask my Mom if she would like me to call Carol and Mary (my sisters who had to return home a few days before) and her sister, Esther. She squeezed her eyes hard and I knew she did, this was how she was communicating to us those last few days. As I was holding the phone for her to hear as each one was talking to her it hit me that she would be leaving us soon. I called my sister Patsy and my Dad back and told them what had just transpired, and they came right over. We all had a wonderful evening with my Mom, singing until midnight. We all were feeling blessed to have this special time with Mom, it was a special gift that God gave to us. It was our last time with Mom awake and responsive to us.

Wednesday, January 3: Early in the day my Mom's fever had risen to 104. We all took turns while we were singing, to replace the cool washclothes on her arms and forehead. The fever came down to 101.
By late afternoon, the nurse let us use an oxygen sensor on her finger and we watched her oxygen levels go down and her heart race to 150....we kept singing...and sometimes through tears, knowing that these were her final moments and that we were making memories that we would cherish forever! After supper, her respirations were down to 20 and we knew her time to leave this earth had begun. She was beginning her journey to heaven!
Dad was ready to go home after a long day, then the nurse came in and let us know that she didn't think Mom would be here with us tomorrow, so we all gathered around her bed. We sang a few songs and then sang, We Will Dance. It is a song of celebration and of how we will someday dance on the streets that are golden!
I then asked everyone if it was okay if I read about heaven. I read Revelation 21, what a beautiful description of what heaven is! We were talking and discussing about the different precious stones and wondering what it all looks like.
We started to realize that at that moment Jesus was calling Mom home to her! Wow, what a precious time and an awesome experience we all had! It was as if the portal of heaven was opened to us in that room around her bed. We all took our turns giving her our last kisses and hugs. We were laughing with tears in our eyes and so full of joy that Mom was getting her reward. As my Dad gave my Mom her last kiss, she moved her head and reached up for just one more, we all saw it, it was the only response we saw from her that day. It would be the last breath she took in. My sister and I were then on either side of her and gave her our last kiss and as we did she breathed out that last breath. We looked over my Mom at each other and at the same time we responded in the same way, we shouted together, "Mom's in heaven"! We all broke out with cheers and shouting and were so overwhelmed with God's love to each of us. For that moment, when the portal of heaven was open we got a small taste of heaven, what I had just read moments before - there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. In the midst of death we were experiencing life!
As I was reading my cell phone rang and my sister answered it, it was my family calling from home. My sister put my cell phone on my Mom's bed and they got to hear what we were all experiencing around my Mom in her last few minutes with us.
I was reading Rev. 22:2 when my sister told me to come and give Mom a last kiss - and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. This is a special verse for me and what a gift it was for me that night!

We are left here on this earth and we have pain and suffering and sorrow. Emmanuel - God with us, He holds us and comforts us, what a promise! God's Word says that we don't need to grieve like those that have no hope. I have confidence and hope that I will see my Mom again when it is my turn to take my journey from this world and to meet my King, Jesus Christ.

My Mom had six of us gathered around her bed as she left this earth and went to heaven. We were singing and cheering her out of this world as Jesus and all those in heaven with Him were welcoming her to her new home. It is a time I will remember forever!

Soap dishes with my homemade goat milk soap

2007-02-23T18:51:00.000-06:00

I have fun looking at thrift stores for unique soap dishes. Here are some that I have bought the last couple of years. I like finding the bathtub soap dishes, the blue one with the faucet is my latest find at a Goodwill for $1.99.

Our youngest does

2007-02-23T18:14:00.000-06:00

This is Melody and Miriam, our two does that were born June 2006. Melody is our first black goat.

The visiting billy goat!

2007-02-23T17:55:00.000-06:00

This is the Nubian billy goat that came to visit our girls last month. We hope all three were successfully bred and that we will have lots of kids this summer!

Challah Bread

2007-02-23T17:38:00.000-06:00

My daughter and I studied Ancient Egypt this past fall and at the end of the unit we studied the Jewish Feasts and Passover. We made this Challah bread together, it was Janessa's first time making bread, and she did a great job!

In Memory of my mother - Shirley Byykkonen

2007-02-14T17:28:00.000-06:00

I have been thinking about my Mom today and I thought I would share a few photos of her with all of you.
I know she is happy and healthy in heaven with Jesus!
My Mom enjoyed going to camp with my Dad and this is a picture of her. Each time I see it I can hear her saying goodbye to all of us with a smile. Though I can't call my Mom to wish her a Happy Valentine's Day like I did my Dad this is for her! I love you, Mom!!

Happy Valentine's Day

2007-02-14T17:27:00.001-06:00

2006-12-27T17:05:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

2006-12-27T16:42:00.000-06:00

I hope you all had a very nice Christmas and that you are enjoying the last few days of 2006. A new year is about to begin. This has been a difficult year for me with many losses, but God has been faithful. It has also been a year of new things. We are homeschooling this year and I'm learning all kinds of things.
We had a nice Christmas. We did a few things - caroling and ice skating, and Jaron went snowboarding. We also played Boggle (Pam's favorite word game!) and Jaron was tough competition, but I did win!
I'm working on posting pictures of our family reunion in September and also pictures I've taken the last few months. I hope that you will all enjoy them!

I made a batch of soap!

2006-12-06T15:01:00.000-06:00

I took some time one afternoon in November and made a batch of Orange Spice soap. My office smells so good! The soap has been curing and I'm ready to wrap it soon. Here are the different molds I used for this batch.

A fun visit with my Mom!

2006-11-23T09:03:00.000-06:00

I just visited with my Mom this past weekend. For those of you that don't know she has cancer in her liver. When I went to Michigan I brought my keyboard so I could play it for her in her room. The power cord did not get packed so I went to the local St. Vinnie's store and bought one for $1.00, while I was there I thought I would pick up some pretty tea cups (I couldn't resist as it was only $1.00 for the pair!) and so I enjoyed a cup of hot chocolate and later some tea with my Mom. We had a wonderful visit!

Homemade ricotta cheese

2006-10-26T21:41:00.000-05:00

Tonight I made ricotta cheese. We have LOTS of milk in our fridge. I separated the two doelings from their momma this week so now I'm milking two goats 2x a day. I also made butter for the first time this week. I didn't take a picture of it, so next time I will. It was very white! But, I don't mind the change in color as it was VERY good! I only had a little bit of cream on the top of my milk jars so I only made a little bit, but I hope to make some more soon.
I'll use the ricotta cheese for making lasagna or stuffed shells...hmmm, now I'm getting hungry!

Enjoying the fall colors!

2006-10-21T15:15:00.000-05:00

This is my sister and I. We met in Upper Michigan at the beginning of the month when we visited our parents. We enjoyed some time at Presque Isle. I'm on the left, my sister Carol is on the right. Notice the beautiful colors of all the healing leaves!

Healing Leaves

2006-10-21T14:34:00.000-05:00

Welcome to my blog! I hope to get a chance to write here often and to share some pictures. My life is a busy one so we'll see how often I can. I started my blog a month ago and am now just finding time to write the first post!

In August I read the verse Rev 22:2 that talks about the leaves are for healing. I have come to appreciate it and done a little study about leaves. The Bible says they are for healing and God created them so they must be for good (and for my goats, which like to eat them!) We had three of our goats die in less than a year and the last one we brought to the University to have an autopsy done and found out she died from liver flukes. In my research to find out how to help control the worm overload in our animals I read how in poor countries where they can't get the meds for it they bring branches of trees with the leaves for the goats. The article said that the tannins in the leaves make it so the liver flukes don't want to stay in the animal.
Though I still use the meds for de-worming our goats I have also started to cut down branches from the trees around us to add to their diet as often as I can.
When I first read this verse I wasn't thinking about my goats, I was curious as to what the leaves would represent in our lives. The leaves on the tree in Revelation are on the tree of life. Jesus is the tree of life and we must get our nourishment from Him. I'm not sure what all the leaves might represent, but His promises in the Bible and His commandments are for us to live by and chew on and digest, just as our goats digest the actual leaves I've been challenged to chew and digest His promises to us. I hope that you will "chew" on some of God's promises for you!