12 days of Christmas

On social media I did a 12 Days of Christmas of past farm pictures. Enjoy, and merry Christmas!

This is my favorite view from our backyard. The sunset in the summer is right in the middle of our view. Every night I'm home I go outside to watch the sunset, and if someone is home, I pull him out with me.

I've seen a lot of beautiful sights, I've been to national parks and all 50 states and many countries, and I love traveling. But this view is the reason I won't ever really leave.

In 2017, we decided to space out our calving, so our summer help went back to college, and my mom Cherie Anderson volunteered to do calf chores for months. She made a binder complete with pictures outlining exactly how to do it.

This is just one of the millions of ways she worked with my dad on the farm in the past, feeding, watching cattle on a camera to see who was in heat, drawing them for records, as well as working on off the farm. And then today as she mows at the houses (including mine!) and barns every week, landscapes them, plants flowers, and makes everything look nice, as well as supporting us in every way possible.

When I told her in 2006 that Kris and I were contemplating moving back and buying the farm, she said, "Oh, we'll have so much fun!" She was right!

I love this picture from when we brought Kris lunch in the field yesterday. Wait, 11 years ago. : )

We're going way back in the vault to a picture I remember my mom taking when I was 6 years old, going out to feed our 4-H calves in our backyard. This swingset, the bin, the wagons, the Guernsey calves, the bare feet on gravel...such a farmy shot.

Here are little Cole and Ty being funny with giant pieces of grass in their mouths. I love the looks on their faces. Look! Someone is wearing shoes!

Here's my dad Jack Anderson talking to Max in the barn. My dad stayed on a year after we moved back to Michigan from Connecticut to work with Kris on the farm, and then he went off to get his pilot's license and fly around. But...he never stopped helping, giving advice, fixing things, and supporting us, and now our kids! That's an every day job.

These could be any little farm kids in any year on any farm. But these are mine, and I loved these little boys who liked climbing things then and now!

Babies and cows, am I right?! I love seeing the cows on pasture, and they always welcome us when we join them.

Here's when my twins sort of looked like twins.

It's two cuties in a corn field...there are so many things I love about this picture. The way Kris is looking at Max, and the way Max is looking at the camera. The difference in skin between people who work outdoors and babies. Kris' Caterpillar hat and how tall the corn is. The fact that this picture is over a decade old, but it seems like yesterday!

When Kris and I decided to farm, one of the reasons we thought it would be fun is because our kids would grow up like we did. And they have! I feel it's captured in this picture with the swimsuit, the boots, and the calves in the barn.

.A few years ago we were having a party, we all went out to the pasture, and my friend took this picture. It's got the land we first bought when we moved here, the cows, the pasture across from our house, and the guy I've been married to for almost 21 years!