Christmas
Greetings from the Hallman Home! This
year, David said he would write the letter.
I was half relieved, with all that has been on my plate lately, and half
scared! He was joking, and while I have
cause to be thankful for that, I procrastinated in writing just in case. :)
Last year,
we sold all the goats, deciding that goats were too-time-consuming an endeavor. Then we had to buy goat milk from the
store—yuck and expensive! David also did
a lot more weed eating, so we decided just to get two. We have twelve. They say that goats are like potato chips—you
can’t have just one. I confess they are
my weakness, and for me this saying is very true! We started the year renovating our barn to
make management of goats more enjoyable and less labor intensive. Heated automatic waterers rank right up there
with fire as one of the greatest tools man has discovered, as far as I’m
concerned! And now we have 6 Nubian
does, 2 Nubian bucks, 3 Boer does, one Boer buck, and are expecting our first
kid crop the first week of February! We
still have over 200 chickens and 4 Great Pyrenees dogs, though one is now
sporting a brag-worthy scar and missing a tail.
Our alpha male single-handedly defended our animals against the
onslaught of two poorly socialized pit bull escape artists. It was a scary time but we are very proud of
our hero.
In addition
to barn and animal projects, we had the exciting opportunity to buy a
neighboring farm this year. The previous
owner faced the decision to either sell it or lose it and we were able to get
it for a steal. I’m not going to say
that we coveted our neighbor’s field, but David did say about 10 years ago that
if the property ever came up for sale, he hoped we’d be in a position to buy it. We spent 6 whirlwind weeks over the summer
renovating the house from top to bottom and think that when David retires from
the school system, we may want to go in the flooring business. :)
David
continues to enjoy his job as the principal of Shafer Middle School. He has fantastic teachers and kids. Ever changing rules and regulations from the
state certainly present their challenges, but he has become a master at
cultivating a positive outlook and rising to the occasion. (He might edit this paragraph out if I go on
praising him, so though I have loads more to say about him and his work, I’ll
stop there.)
As a family,
we are all taking martial arts now.
Everyone but Shiloh so far has been invited to the Black Belt Club, so
they think we’ve got some potential.
Shiloh just started taking the Little Dragon’s class and isn’t quite
sure about full participation yet, but she has fun in the parts of class that
she’s not too shy to do.
The kids
continue to take music lessons. We’ve
switched from Suzuki method instruction to traditional instruction. I think Suzuki was great for developing their
ear, but the kids were all feeling very stagnant and discouraged. They are enjoying learning to read music,
polishing their technique, and love their new teachers.
We continue
to home school the kids. Samuel is in
third grade. Shiphrah is doing some
second and some third grade work. Solomon is in first grade, and Shiloh likes
to play along. It is fun to see them
develop and grow in their studies.
Samuel thinks mathematically, while Shiphrah is all art and
stories. Music is what makes Solomon
tick, and Shiloh has a personality that is too big for her little body!
Around the
farm, the kids are a great help. Samuel
cleans the doe barn every day and has proven to be a valuable worker when
putting up new fences. Shiphrah collects
and Solomon washes the eggs. They’ve
both been found serenading the chickens, which I’m certain improves their
laying ability. Shiloh likes to put eggs
in cartons and accompany me when I tend to the animals, whether feeding, milking,
or trimming hooves.
My mom
retired this year and though I’ve gained nearly 20 pounds since then from her
fabulous cooking, we thoroughly enjoy getting to see more of her. The kids love having Grandma here. She has taught Shiphrah how to sew and make
knit hats on a circle knitter. It is a
tremendous blessing to have her to help teach the kids and watch them when I
need to run an errand. She has been
found humming a tune as she goes about her days, so I think retirement suits
her well, too. She and David continue to
conspire on various things and while I sometimes think they are a dangerous
duo, it is great fun to see them scheming together. Of course, David could probably take that
last sentence and replace his name with mine and it would fit just as
well. :)
2012 has not
been without the regular trials of life but all in all has been exceedingly
good to us. We pray your year has been
blessed and that 2013 surpasses all your expectations. We wish you the very merriest of
Christmases!
Love;
David, Billie, Samuel, Shiphrah, Solomon, Shiloh, and Jane
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