2013

Instead of a traditional Christmas letter, I wrote a poem to send to family and friends recapping our 2013. As we begin a new year, this highlights why my husband and I are more than excited to bid adieu to everything that was thrown at us in the past 12 months, and start fresh.

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2013

 

In 2013 we saw great lows and soaring highs

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Pinnacled with our start as husband and wife

Never did a boring moment arise

But rather challenges and blessings as we began our new life

 

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Our wedding was beautiful and quite the fun affair

Our honeymoon took us from Flaming Gorge to the Yellowstone air

We cruised through Montana, took in the scenery and crops

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Then headed back home, refreshed but wrung out as a mop

 

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Wedded bliss awaited, we believed and had planned

But arrived to our cattle looking far less than grand

Pinkeye was the culprit, running rampant throughout

We went right to work doctoring, thankful it wasn’t a drought

 

Thus went the summer, and well into fall

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Until winter storm Atlas dead-centered us all

We dug and dug for days on end

Worried sick about our cattle, up round the bend

 

Finally we arrived, to see for ourselves, who was alive and who had met their demise

We rode and we counted the dead and alive, often swiping a tear from our eye

We found out right quick that both our favorite cows were lost in the squall

But remained thankful to God for not taking them all

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We didn’t give up, and began picking up the pieces

With assistance from our families and neighbors, whose help was ceaseless

Heather wrote and was interviewed by multiple news stations

While Charles planted wheat and fixed fence, working around weather limitations

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Winter brought record-breaking cold

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And frankly the year was getting rather old

The hydrants froze up, seemingly everything broke

The ranch way of life began feeling more like a joke

 

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But the sun came out, the air warmed once more

Plus our steers brought more than ever before

The tractor started, the sows started farrowing

And our banker was willing to work with our borrowing

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We are thankful and blessed in many ways

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But especially for living in this special place

For our families and animals we love beyond reason

And for whom we have a whole new appreciation of this Christmas season.