10 Years - Part Two

We ended up living in the trailer for 3.5 years. I'm not going to hit on all the fostering and adopting we did in those years, but if you are interested in reading a summary of our children that we fostered and/or adopted, you can read it here - 

http://ourplansmultiplied.blogspot.com/2012/09/he-gives-and-takes-away-big-news.html

Alyssa with a little girl we took as an adoptive placement and lost

Moriah with her baby brother

We did A LOT in those few years, both with our family and building a home. Beyond going from five to nine children in those 3.5 years, we added several animals and even fostered some momma kitties.

A foster momma cat - we are left with only our annoying cat, Lucy, from her litter

We had the Amish come build our barn - (I miss those days when it was new and clean!). After they were done, we took over with concrete and other work inside.

JD put in the "goat fence" on the stall side of the barn; it was only last year that we added the pasture fence onto it.

We set up our pool that we had from the last house; which is now unfortunately in my current front yard.

We built a patio between the house and the pool to combat the dirt and mud.

Growing grass in all the area that we laid Geothermal lines has been practically impossible, due to the fact that they stripped the topsoil when they dug. We smartened up when we built our current house and removed the topsoil, set it aside and replaced it. 

Here's a picture of little Tori when she first came home from Liberia in August of 2006; she joined her siblings playing in the dirt.

We added Terri, the Nubian milk goat, for Tori. I milked her twice a day and it supplied Tori, and then Julia, with goat milk since it's common for little Liberians to be lactate intolerant.

Moriah and the goat parade

 We worked months, maybe a year, clearing around the trailer. Most of it had to be burnt since it had been on the ground for five years from a large hurricane that hit this area. The good wood was transported to an Amish mill and it is now our current fence and a future shed.

We became know for our large bonfires all four seasons

Finally, summer of 2007, we began plans for the new house. We thought we would take it slow, but the trailer was getting rather crowded when we added Ben and Julia in June. When we got the surprise that our #9 was on the way, the old fashioned way, we kicked our effort into faster mode.

JD drew the plans and laid out the current location. I have to brag that he is really, really good at thinking out future plans. I didn't question much externally, but it was only about two years ago that I walked back into our future cow pasture and understand what he meant when he said the house would be on the hill. We are truly at the peak of a hill with just enough on most sides to have a nice view. It was practically impossible to see with all the trees down.

So, with three new adoptees and a new baby on the way, we broke ground.

I'll wrap up with the "new" house tomorrow -