Our story

LOVE, HUGS & JESUS

When our oldest son was 4 years old, we asked him as we were going to check our cows “ Kai, what does love mean to you?'“. He looked out the window and said simply, “Love, Hugs & Jesus”. We’ve been on many journeys here on our farm over the last 12 years, but we always keep that at our center. And through it all, that has sustained us.

Here we are, in the midst of cows & kids, tulips & chickens, Chandler’s full time job and our farm tulip, sunflower & pumpkin business, homeschooling kids and the crazy busyness of life and then some and we often reflect back to that day. Love, hugs & Jesus. If at the end of the day, we can all watch the sun set and hear our now 4 year old Levi, jump up and down and say “LOOK! God made that for ME!”, and we can keep focused on those 3 things, then it’s been a great day. We love family; being together no matter what. We do things TOGETHER, even if it takes a little more time. But, with that extra time, there’s more time for those 3 things. Time to love on our kids as we talk about their day while simultaneously practicing counting with the 4 year old. Counting tulips is hard work! Time to talk about the magnificent sunset that our awesome God created for us to see at the end of every day. Time to just be; away from all the commotion, screens, worries, schedules….all of it. Time to raise our kids up with a knowledge and understanding of what it means to see the miracle of life God has given us every time a new calf is born.  To see it stand up almost immediately and walk to its momma to suckle. To be GRATEFUL for that. To appreciate the changing seasons; a time to plan, a time to work, a time to rest. Time to teach the most important lessons of this life. Time to talk about how to love and serve others well. How to cultivate true, long lasting relationships because isn’t all of life about relationship? We’ve been on many journeys over the years here on our homestead, and we are so grateful to be right here, right now, doing what we are doing. We hope that our farm can be a source of light for you, just as it is for us every single day.

Chandler, Melinda, Kai, Jaymis, Doris, Levi & Tilly