Killing cats and dogs

 I was planning to write an update on here but this has been on my heart so I'm going to get this done first. 

In the past I know I've mentioned to people that we get stray dogs and cats on the ranch a few times a year. Idiots will abandon their animals thinking that "the country" is a nice place for their uncontrollable or unwanted cat or dog. 

These abandoned pets will sometimes come onto the ranch. If the cats get along with our barn cats and can fit in then they get to stay. If they fight with our cats then our cats come first. 

The dogs don't usually make it to the house before something gets to them. Mountain lions, wolves, coyotes, and even eagles like to eat dogs and it is very unpleasant to see the aftermath. 

When we ran cattle we had to shoot too many dogs who thought that chasing cattle was fun. The cattle would get injured and sometimes have to be put down and that cost us money because that was beef that didn't get sold. So our cattle came first. 

When we started running bison was when we noticed that it seemed the Golden Retrievers were the worst for trying to chase these animals. Bison are not cattle! If they run away from you it's usually because they're picking up speed to turn around and attack. Silly stupid dogs would get run down and sometimes horribly pounded before we'd find them and put them down. 

We are not going to run up vet bills on someone else's animals and taking them to a humane shelter isn't going to work either because that involves trapping the animal and taking a day to drive to the shelter and drop it off and then drive back. 

So what made me write all of this? 

I'm out this morning feeding the hogs and this teeny-tiny dog is shivering like crazy and comes up to me practically begging to be held. I picked it up and took it inside and fed it and got it warm. We will probably keep it. It's a teacup Chihuahua and not hardly a ranch dog and clearly someone's pet.

Last night was maybe 25F and this poor thing was out at least overnight and maybe a few nights. We're a good ten miles from the highway over some mountains and that's what this little dog had to cross to get here. 

Don't get me wrong, I feel bad for the other dogs that we see here but this one is so small and defenseless that it just seems so damned wrong that someone would let it go in the wilderness either on purpose or by negligence. 

Just had to get this out. 

I'll write an actual update sometime soon. 

Merry Christmas to you all if I don't get to say that before Christmas! 

Welcome to Bethany May!

 Early this past Saturday (April 23, 2022) a lovely little red haired angel came into the world and her name is Bethany May! She's got ten fingers, ten toes, and a little tuft of bright red hair! 

Right now she's also the center of attention in this family! 

I started labor on Friday early in the morning and it wasn't my easiest labor. Bethany was born at 2:12 AM on Saturday and she welcomed in so many ways! 

I'm doing pretty good and so is my baby! 

Thank you Jesus! 💖

January 26, 2022

Hello! 

It's January 26th and I am overdue for an update. 

The big news is I've been pregnant since August. After the miscarriage last year I was really reluctant to post anything because I didn't want to go through the whole thing where everyone is sorry for you or they avoid you because they don't know what to say. 

But things are going good and the baby is due at the end of April. 

This last year Steve had us thinking about moving to Texas and I am happy that it didn't happen. I love Wyoming and while Texas is really nice and the people are awesome it isn't my home. 

I love old music and one of the songs I came to know over the last few years was written by John Denver and his words mean something to me when he writes about Colorado:

He was born in the summer of his 27th year, coming home to a place he'd never been before
He left yesterday behind him, you might say he was born again

That's how I feel about Wyoming. It felt like coming home when I first saw our little valley and then saw our wonderful home. This is where our family really started. I never get tired of the blue skies, the silence, the open spaces, the friendly waves from people you've never met before, and the freedom. I can't even begin to write about how amazing it can be to go through your day and not worry about what someone else doesn't want you to do. There are very few things you can do in Wyoming that anyone thinks you need to get permission to do. 

I became a new person in Wyoming and part of it was that Wyoming let me leave behind the Megan who grew up in California. This is my home and I hope to live out my years here. 

Christie's children are doing well. Her oldest child is now fourteen and Eric is becoming a man. He has his mother and father's confidence and when he sets his mind to something he accomplishes his goal no matter how hard it is. I've never seen him give up on anything and he never practices until he gets something right he practices until he doesn't get it wrong. I miss Christie but she definitely lives on in her son. 

It's sometimes strange to be the parent of young people who are starting to show signs of being men and women. It doesn't seem so long ago that I was in their place. It is also both heartwarming and scary to have my daughters helping me in the kitchen because I look at them and these days I am starting to see my grandchildren coming along in not so many years. 

I figure I could be a grandmother well before I turn forty. 

I guess what is on my mind as I write this is what I think of as the Second Part of My Life. I'm not really the young wife and mother anymore. I mean I know thirty-one is not 'old' but I am definitely an adult and it has been an adjustment to think about being an adult. 

This last year saw our church/congregation cut ties with our old denomination. That was partly because the old denomination went crazy liberal and they don't really believe in God anymore. They're more about politics than anything else. 

A lot of the families we've known from around here have moved away mostly to Texas. Since Biden came along the oil industry mostly died and so did the jobs and that was the biggest reason people left. On the upside of all of this the families that remain around here have become closer. Church services have gone back to how they used to be with a family hosting the service every Sunday. It's much more intimate than the very organized way it had been with our last Pastor. 

There's another post I've been writing on for a while and I hope to have it done sometime soon. Writing isn't always in my heart lately and I'm not so interested in spending so much time away from my family. 

I will do my best to write another update before too long. At least I should get the other post up sometime soon! 

Happy 2022 everyone! 

October 25, 2021

 Hi to everyone! 

We're starting to see the snow sticking around the peaks and this next Sunday we're supposed to get a real snowstorm! After a very warm Summer and a nice Fall I'm ready for the cold! It's nice to get out the winter blankets out of mothballs and air them out. I know it's weird but I like the smell of mothballs because it means winter to me. 

The crops were okay this year. We didn't get many cherries but there were enough apples that I got all the pies I needed to put up for the year. I thought about buying some frozen cherries for the pies but it's like cheating to me to do that. The blackberries from along the creek didn't last very long but we did make some nice ice cream with them. 

This last year my big cooking experiment was Bolognese sauce and I have it down now. The thing is to be patient and let it sauté on a low to medium heat to reduce it. You have to stay with it and stir frequently so it doesn't scorch. 

My next experiment will be Carbonara sauce. My first effort was too dry and I didn't use enough Parmesan cheese. The next effort will use more cream and more cheese and I'm hoping for a better result. 

It's also interesting that with shipping being a problem and prices going up that I have more orders for eggs! I was expecting people to order less from me and not more so this is a nice surprise! My flock is right now around five hundred birds with most of them being Wyandottes of mixed breeding. The Wyandottes do pretty good in the cold and they lay well. My best layers are still my leghorns and Rhode Island Reds but those girls don't like the snow so much and they tend to stop laying when the skies get dark. 

We sold off our bison earlier this year and for a few weeks we had some goats and sheep on the ranch just to get the grass down. I miss seeing the bison but at the same time it's nice to be able to go out on the ranch and not worry about getting charged by one of them. They can get scary at times. I have no idea if we'll run cattle or bison again. 

The kids are doing well. All through this thing with the Chinese flu we've been fine. Aside from the usual colds, allergies, and runny noses everyone has been fine. 

Steve is home for the season and not looking to go back to work until the spring. I am so happy to have him home and it's weird to sometimes have the anxiety of wanting to get things ready for him to leave and then realize that he's not leaving! It's really great and I'm looking forward to the day he retires and stops working away from home. 

How are all of you doing? For those who email me I am sorry but I don't check the email very much anymore. Life is too busy it seems. But it's busy in a good way! 

Hugs, 

Megan

It's Fall!!!

 After a very hot and smoky summer I am so happy to welcome the Fall! It's my favorite season as we bring in the harvest and then prepare for the cold of winter. And it's supposed to be a cold winter some people are saying.

Hope you like the new picture! Sometimes this place is so pretty it hurts! 💖

There's not a lot of news to share right now and that's a good thing. No bad news either. 

Just wanted to say Hi and say we're still here! 

Megan

Answers to some questions on July 26, 2021

I had these questions from the other day:

AnonymousJuly 23, 2021 at 11:22 AM

Hi, Megan. Thanks for the update. Glad to hear you are doing well. And good luck with conceiving a new human life. So happy for you. Will this be your 10th baby?

I am curious what line of work Steve is in that he can afford airplanes and to support such a big family. It must generate a lot of income!

This will be my tenth baby and the ninth of my children in the house, God willing. Steve does construction work and it takes him out of state a lot. The airplane is really needed for him getting around and to transport parts sometimes. It can make him a lot of money but sometimes surprises will cut into the profits a lot so we always take care to be good stewards of our blessings. 

Jack wrote to me in email and had some questions:

Do you always sleep in the same bed as Steve or do you retire to you own bed and how do the other wives sleep?  

We each have our own rooms we can go to and be alone. Steve sometimes joins us in our room but we usually sleep with him when he wants company. 

Are you considered the Senior wife as the official Mrs W or does that not exist in your home? 

It's not a formal thing but it is a thing. Being the first wife or legal wife has some status to it and people look to you for wisdom and to make up your mind about things when Steve isn't around. It's not something I always want. 

How do you handle or how does Steve handle conflicts in the home? 

You just deal with things as best you can when they come up. The first thing is putting the family and the kids first. 

Is hubby considering another wife? 

No. Steve has made it very clear that he is not looking for another wife. I'm really happy with this decision. 

I know you all must really miss Christie. How are her children doing? Are they feeling lost in the mix? 

Christie's kids are doing good. It hasn't been easy for them or for us and we all miss her a lot. I really wish she were still the first wife around here. I miss her being in charge of things. 

Does Steve tell you his deepest secrets or does he not get vulnerable with his wives?

Steve does tell me things and I know he has different conversations with Macy, Cyd, and Amy. 

Are you ready for teenagers?

 😋 No! I think of myself as a mess when I was a teenager and while we've raised really good kids they're getting older and starting to be more curious about the world and sooner or later they'll have to start thinking about their plans in that world. I'm hoping they do better than I did at their age! 

How do you talk to your children regarding sex or do you even talk about it yet? Do your other children know about sex and or do you keep it technical as in "breeding" like the cattle and animals? 

We're just honest with them. As they get old enough to ask about it we answer their questions. 

Does anybody there do any sort of cannabis?

No. There is alcohol allowed in the house but that's it. 

I'm okay!!!

 I saw the comment on my previous post: 

Megan - are you alright? We haven't heard from your in over two months, that's not like you!

And wanted to say I'm doing just fine, really! 😊

Just haven't posted on here in a while is all. Sorry!!!

A few things that have gone on around here is Pastor Sandy left our church and I'm kind of happy about it. He came from outside and he had ideas that were not very Christian. I also really didn't like his choices for music. Contemporary Christian Music to me is massively boring, some of it is heretical, and it's like all a big monotone with no ups or downs. It can be like chanting but in the Eastern sense of chanting and not like Gregorian chants which I love. 

I like that one man on You Tube calls it 7-11 Music: Seven words repeated eleven times. 

It is very true! I know they're old but I love hymns because they're mostly based on Scripture and they're an easy way to learn and memorize Scripture. Since Pastor Sandy left we've brought back the hymns and no one has asked for the CCM to be brought back. 

Steve was looking at moving us to Texas for a while. We looked at an old school as a possibility because it had so many rooms and Steve could make the gym into a big shop for his trucks and equipment. Then we looked at a closed Christian resort as a place for the family and finally some legal issues made us let the idea go. I'm kind of happy to be staying where we are. To me this is home and I love it. 💗

When I first joined the family Steve had a King Air twin engine plane for getting around to jobs that were out of state. He'd bought it at a low price and fixed it up and made it airworthy. Then a few years back he sold it and made good money on it. At that time his work was all pretty close by. Then he started getting a lot of work in Texas and Christie found another plane and got a really good price on it so she and Steve bought it. It got worked on and updated a lot and now it's really nice. So last year I got my pilot's license and then got my multi-engine rating. The checkride was honestly a lot of fun as the examiner kept asking me a ton of questions and I still love questions! 

I got to do a landing on one engine and then the checkride was over and I passed! What's crazy is I could drive a 737 if I wanted to! I don't think I will but it's nice to know I could. My longest flights have been to Texas and back with one flight to an airport north of Lodi, California. I enjoy flying and it's kind of a surprise to me that I can do this. One thing I manage pretty easily is talking on the radio because you're not supposed to be emotional when you're on the radio. That's easy for me! 😛

We are trying for another baby. It hasn't happened yet but I'm hopeful. 

The bison were all sold off because we were looking to move to Texas. I miss them but at the same time it's nice to be able to hiking on the property and not have to worry about them getting upset at you. Bison can be really sweet and then they can also be really dangerous! The problem is you never really know what mood they're in. 

We let go of the land we were leasing for the herd and we're down to just the property we own. We're probably going to adopt some wild burros to keep the weeds down and prevent fires. The burros do a pretty good job protecting themselves from predators so you can just let them go on the property and just check on them when you can.

I've currently got about 750 chickens and they're doing pretty good. Some of them are still pets and they get to live out their lives just because they're nice and they keep the bugs away from the house. We added two jungle fowl last year that we adopted from someone in Cody and they've been excellent bug hunters! Their eggs are like 2/3 the size of the regular birds but the eggs are just as tasty! 

My twin girls turned eleven this year and they're starting to notice boys. It's a whole new stage of parenting and motherhood for me and I pray that I don't screw it up! 

The past year my cooking focused on pasta sauces and I've managed to make a very good and very consistent Bolognese sauce. It's on the thicker side and it's not watery at all. I've also played with the basic recipe and made it into a pretty nice chili con carne! 

I love how so many things in cuisine are fundamental to all sorts of cuisines. Like how chili and pasta sauce are so similar. Or like how every culture seems to have a kind of flatbread. Like Mexico has tortillas, India has naan, Greece has pita bread, Americans have pancakes, the French have crepes, and so on. Or like how everyone has some kind of ravioli! Empanadas, ravioli, wontons, and etc. are all very similar. 

I know this will upset some people but I've used tortillas as pasta in things like casseroles because the tortillas hold up better. So I'll put the fettucine cutter on my pasta machine and then run the flour tortillas through for easy fettucine that won't get limp in a casserole! 

The drought here basically ruined our cherry harvest this year. We got maybe 5% useful cherries out of what we'd normally get. We usually run the orchards on rain water but since the cherries failed we've been irrigating the apples. I really depend on the cherries and apples for pies and for a little extra money so the apple crop this year will have to make up for the cherries. 

We should have the monsoon hitting pretty soon and I'm praying for some wonderful thunderstorms and downpours! 

I'll also mention that there's an online community of poly Christians I've spent more time with over the last year. I think I joined in like 2017? In any case I will admit to being very intimidated by their massive knowledge and wisdom with the Bible and pretty much stayed away from saying much. Around the end of last year I started getting more active and was so happy to get to know these very wonderful people! They sometimes have meetups and I am deeply wanting to go to one of them and bring a couple of the kids so they can meet other poly kids. 

I've also recently learned about Torah Keepers. They're Christians who keep many of the laws of the Torah like not eating pork, not eating shellfish, and keeping the Sabbath as a holy day. I'll be learning more about Torah Keeping as I can. 

That's about all I have time for right now so I'll end here and wish you all a wonderful summer!  

If anyone wants to ask any questions feel free to do so! 

😎

The Autism Post

Just some random thoughts on my experience with autism. 

I'm not a fan of loud conversations or loud rooms with lots of conversations. I've noticed over the years that you can be in a large room with a few people and those people will all be having very quiet conversations. Then more people come into the room. At some point one person suddenly starts TALKING REALLY LOUD and then everyone else jumps up their volume! That's when I leave the room. 

Loud TV commercials make my anxiety go crazy! The worst advertisements are the damned truck dealer ads! Why do they have to yell their damned heads off to sell a truck? It's part of why I don't watch any local TV is because of these awful ads with the screaming idiots. 

Wokeness is lost on me. Sorry, but to me a guy in a dress is a guy in a dress. He's not a woman and no matter how much surgery he has or how much hormone therapy he has he's still a guy to me. There's an old story called The Emperor's New Clothes that illustrates how people sometimes fool themselves into saying things that are obviously untrue just because everyone else is doing it. It's really stupid and I wish people would stop trying to force everyone else to play this stupid game. 

I mean if a guy wants to wear a dress I'm like so what? Wear your dress and call yourself whatever name you want, that's fine with me. But don't expect me to play along with the pretend game of saying someone like Bruce Jenner is instantly a woman just because he says so. It's not true and you people who insist it's true are deluding yourselves. Please stop asking me to play along with this! 

Lots of the other stupid ideas in wokeness don't work with me either. All I see with woke people are people who claim a moral superiority in order to bully and intimidate other people. Like saying that math is racist because some people do poorly at math. Math isn't racist, it's just math. It's like calling water racist because some people can't swim. Just stop. 

At the same time I don't understand actual racism where people hate other people just because of how they look. Lots of mean people look really nice. Lots of evil people are attractive. But hating someone just for how they look is stupid as hell when no one has a choice about how they look. 

Empathy is a challenge for me. Especially when stupid people get themselves hurt or killed. Like I have a very hard time feeling bad for someone who protests on a high speed Interstate highway and then gets splattered by a large high speed vehicle. Duh. If anything I feel bad for the person who hits the protester and then has to deal with vehicle damage and the police who often blame innocent people for the predictable outcomes of other people's stupidity. 

Social rules mystify me. Like why is the truth offensive to some people? Why do you say "Hello" when you answer a phone? Is there a law? I don't think so. Why do people shake hands all the time even when you know too many people don't wash their hands after using the bathroom? Why do people get to insult you and you're not supposed to call them out on it? When someone bad dies why is it impolite to be happy about it? Why do people stare at the door of an elevator when they get in it? Myself I like to watch everyone in the elevator especially if I don't know them. Why is looking at people in public considered rude? If they don't want anyone looking at them they should stay inside. 

Why isn't politics like actual science? I hear people argue politics the same way they argue about their favorite sports teams. It doesn't matter how much someone likes something in politics, all that matters is does it work? Why aren't political ideas measured the same way as scientific ideas or medical ideas where you test it out and test it again and again before you decide to go with the idea? 

I don't understand sports teams and fan loyalty. Like the NFL, MLB, and NBA are actually three big businesses with lots of franchises. It's the same as McDonald's, Burger King, and Subway. They're just businesses and people spend billions watching other people play games. Why not watch your local McDonald's do business and cheer them on? What's the difference? And why get all insane saying nonsense like "WE WON!!!" when you did nothing at all to help the team win? And like someone says "New York won the World Series!" when sometimes absolutely no one from New York is on the baseball team? It's like Kuwait saying they won the wars against Iraq when no one from Kuwait did any of the fighting. 

Why do people wear company advertising on their clothing? It makes no sense to me to go to a store and pay money so I can wear an advertisement for some clothing or shoe company. I get it if you work for Nike or Gucci or something like that but if you're supposed to walk around advertising for these companies why aren't they paying you for doing it? I won't. 

Why can't people talk about sex the same way they talk about using dental floss or exercising? I know this is big news but most people have sex! But then they don't talk about it unless it's in the right social circumstance and that often seems to involve alcohol. Like guys drink beer and talk about sex. Or women drink wine and talk about it. Why do people need alcohol to give them an excuse to talk about something that most people think is really important? Sometimes it's fun for me to talk about sex when someone else is trying to be subtle or clever about it. Why not just say what's on your mind? 

I generally don't like patterns on my clothes. I've never understood why but patterns don't make me happy. I like solid color clothes unless it's flannel shirts and then for some reason I'm okay with most of the tartan patterns. Paisley is really disturbing to me with the curves and dots and all sorts of things that don't seem to do anything or go anywhere. I don't mind bright colors. 

Angry rap music. It's similar to not liking people who yell. I've heard some rap music I like where it can be calm and sometimes even pleasant. But it seems some people listen to loud angry rap music all the time and then they become loud angry people who get upset because I want nothing to do with them. I don't get the attraction to this kind of music. Isn't the world loud and angry enough already? 

False Christian prophets. In my head I group the people who like false prophets with the woke people and the sports fans. I mean these self-proclaimed prophets have to be right 100% of the time to be a genuine prophet of God and it seems to me the best most of these people can do is to be accidentally right once every few years. I've known a few people who totally lose their shit when you tell them Kenneth Copeland is not only wrong most of the time but that he's seriously crazy. Maybe even clinically insane and possibly dangerous. Then they go seriously crazy! They tell me I have to believe and have faith when it comes to their prophets even though these prophets are usually wrong. 

I guess people like to be deluded and they get deluded over lots of things. 

I guess that's enough for now. Just always wanted to write some of this on here. 😎

Welcome to Brayden and Gabriel!

 Just a little happy news! 

Cydne's baby boy Brayden was born on April 3 and is a big boy at 10 pounds 8 ounces! 

Amy's baby boy Gabriel was born on April 11 and is 7 pounds and 11 ounces! 

😍😍😍😍😍😍

Unicorns are mythical creatures

 I'm doing a lot better since my last post and need to thank God for wonderful friends who care for me in person and who support me online. Don't know what I would do without them! 🙏

Okay, so one of the things that comes up enough in this life is when people talk about Unicorns. 

According to Wordnik the definition of a unicorn is this:

u•ni•corn yoo͞′nĭ-kôrn″

►

• n.
  A fabled creature symbolic of virginity and usually represented as a horse with a single straight spiraled horn projecting from its forehead.

In poly a unicorn is a single virgin woman who is smart, beautiful, she has no problems, and for some mysterious reason wants to choose probably the most difficult family life possible even though she has so many better choices available to her. 

When I first started out in the life I had people call me a unicorn and it was a long time before I really understood what it meant. I thought they just meant a unicorn was a single woman. But it's supposed to be this amazingly perfect virgin woman who's all that. I am no unicorn and never was. 

I've been in this life for twelve years and I've seen people come and go with poly and I've never not once seen one of these fabled creatures come to poly. 

Someone inspired me to write a list of the types of women who come to poly and I wrote six of these things and a very wise lady corrected me and I had to add the seventh one:

1. Women who grew up in the life and want it for themselves...usually as the first wife.
2. Girls/women who grew up in the life and can't find a man who wants them as a first.
3. Single moms.
4. Damaged women like me.
5. Divorced women or women from failed relationships who want stability.
6. Widows and widows with children.
7. Married women who come to the life with their husbands.

The point of the list is that women who choose poly always have a very compelling reason for it. It's such a deliberate choice that it's not like any typical modern woman would casually choose this for herself. 

I mean if I hadn't had a trauma in my teen years and instead had a normal experience growing up I'd probably be working somewhere right now, paying rent on an apartment, making car payments, paying off student loans, sometimes having fun with friends, and probably living with someone since most people don't get married anymore. I'd probably not have any kids and might not ever have kids. 

It would be easy to choose that life if it were a choice. For any girl you'd call a unicorn you can expect her to choose that life over submitting to a man, sharing that man, and raising a family with other women. 

Not to say that some thoughtful girls out there won't look at what passes for men these days and decide that a strong man who is a proven husband and father is attractive. Maybe this might have to be a choice for more women since so many men  males these days are not all that manly. 

In any case the point here is that I don't know of any unicorns. Neither do any of my friends. If you do know any I know a BUNCH of families who'd love to have them!

There we go and Happy Easter or Resurrection Day to you!  

February 11, 2021

I lost my baby a few weeks ago and I'm still getting over it. Hard to say much more right now so I'm just going to leave this here.

December 18, 2020 - The Christmas Update

 First I want to wish all of you a Very Merry Christmas and for my Jewish friends I wish you a very wonderful end to the Hanukkah Holiday! 

Well, 2020 has been quite a year hasn't it? Let me just say OH. MY. GOD!!!! 😱

I'm praying and hoping that 2021 is a lot better year for all of us than 2020 was but I'll admit that I'm worried about the USA maybe going socialist. That won't end well. 

Around here we're still missing Christie. I don't know how other people handle things but for us it seemed that after we got past the anniversary of her passing we started to focus more on the future. Going through birthdays and holidays without her for the first time was hard but it's not so hard the second time. It's not that we don't miss her and love her but the healing has to start sometime. Christie's tree is growing just fine and it's close to twenty feet tall now. 

We finally have a teenager in the house now that Eric had his 13th birthday! Crazy times ahead with more teenagers coming along in the next few years! Eric is awesome and has become one of those quiet ranch guys who gets things done and doesn't make a big deal about it. He drives the trucks and heavy equipment around the ranch and does just fine with it all. 

Steve is doing pretty good and one of the weird things about the flu has been he got more work! A lot of places decided that with less traffic on the roads it was a good time to do road work. I wish he had more work locally but it seems that it's a few companies that get all the work in Wyoming so he mostly works in Texas and then Colorado. 

My oldest girls turned 10 this year and it's crazy to think they're closer to being 18 than I am! That's scary for me in more ways than one! 

I don't think I posted this in the blog before but last year I started trying for my pilot license. I've flown our old plane when we still had it and that was fun so when Steve and Christie talked about getting another plane I wanted to learn how to be a pilot. It wasn't so hard but it is weird getting used to how people talk with air traffic control! It's weird not saying hello but they don't mind when you say thank you! 

Last year Christie got a deal for an old twin engine plane and she and Steve bought it. They flew it home and then it had to go in the shop for a big overhaul and the control panel got a major upgrade. It's a glass control panel now and it's easy to use once you get used to it. It's a lot less cluttered than the old gauges and dials and a lot less confusing and distracting when you're in the air. A few months ago I got checked out on it and got my multi-engine certification and it is one of my best personal accomplishments since culinary school! The big yikes in the checkout was when the port engine got cut and I had to make an approach. I did it just like I was taught and it was all good! 

Amy, Cydne, and myself all are expecting additions to the family next year. Macy is working on it. Between Christie passing away and Steve being away for work a lot there wasn't much romance going on until this last spring. The babies on the way are sad in a way because they'll never get to know Christie. 

I'm still running my herd of chickens and we're down to about three hundred of them right now. The bison are doing well but we did have a weird thing where we had one of them get shot. There was a vet visit and a little surgery but he's fine now. Just weird and outrageous that someone would shoot an animal for no reason. 

We've had a few foxes around which reminded me of the nice fox that used to visit when we first moved here. I like to think these foxes are her kids and grandkids and they get a pass on coming through the place. 

That's how things are doing and I hope all of you are doing great and looking forward to 2021! 

Love, Megan

Promised Answers! (Updated again on 10/20/2020)

 Thank you for three lovely questions!!! 😉

1: What advice can you give to a man on how to find and meet women to create a family like yours?

A: The first thing I'd advise is to be a good man. I know that sounds sort of vague but you know how you something when you see it? My husband is a good man and I knew it when I met him. He's strong but respectful, he thinks of his responsibilities before he thinks about having fun, he doesn't say much about his faith but you see it in everything he does, he's better with money than I am, he loves his kids and makes time for all of them, and may God have mercy on anyone who threatens us! 

2: How do you make it work financially?

A: The most important thing is we don't have  any debt. That's a big deal in our church and it's because you're a slave to someone when you owe them something. They own part of you and if you have to work to pay off a debt then your time belonged to someone else. The other thing is we live within our budget and when Steve makes good money we have money for extras but that's after money is put aside for the future. We also don't buy stuff we can live without like expensive cell phones and TV services and coffee at Starbuck's. It's crazy that some people work low paying jobs and spend HALF their income on cell phones and TV bills!!!! GET RID OF THEM!!

3: Watching any good TV shows?

A: We've been watching old episodes of Columbo and that's been fun because I never saw them before and it's fun to try to figure out how Columbo is going to catch someone! Some of the acting isn't that good but the stories are sometimes so well written and so interesting! 

UPDATED with these new questions:

4: Would you want and encourage your daughters to enter into a similar marriage/family situation as you live? What about your sons?

A: The best answer here is to say that Steve's oldest daughters are Stephanie, Lauren, and Hannah. Stephanie and Lauren married two men from the church and they both added to their families when they could. Hannah moved to California and got married to a very nice man and they're not going to add anyone else. All three of them are happy with their choices, we love them all the same, and when the time comes my children will make their own choices and that's what I want for them. 

5: And a more personal question - what happens if your wants and needs for sex are strong but so are your sisters - how do you split Steve's time so that you each get your needs met? By the way, I feel it is beautiful the way that you think about sex, that every time there is a chance to make a baby and you totally submit to that. It makes sex such a beautiful and powerful experience.

A: I'm not trying to make a joke about this but one of the nice things for us is we're hardly ever in the mood at the same time! Each of us seems to have different needs when it comes to sex and that helps prevent any problems too. One of us likes it a lot, another one not so often, one could probably live without it, and for myself it's complicated. 

I've had some time-outs from sex just so I can get in shape, recover from having babies, and take time for myself and just enjoy being a mom to the kids I already have. But once I say I'm ready and interested it doesn't mean I'm always in the mood but the blessing for me is once I get started the mood usually comes along on its own! To be honest there are also times when the mood doesn't come along but I still enjoy the attention and being close.

You're really right about how the chance you can have a baby makes sex a very beautiful and powerful experience! It's always a very intense feeling and even though I've done it before it never seems to be any less intense than the very first time. In some ways I think it's even more intense because the first time you try for a baby you really don't know all of what you're getting into. But after going through pregnancy, dealing with complications, going through labor, then the sleepless nights, colds, cutting teeth, and toddler years you realize that sex is not something that you do and then it's done  but it can be the start of a lifetime of experiences for the whole family and this whole new person you're creating! 💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖

Updated again on 10/20/2020

6: Do you all live in one big sprawling house? Or a collection of separate houses?

I guess it's a small collection at this point. The original ranch house was updated when we bought the place and we planned on it to be used as a guest house. That didn't last long before it was getting used as a house. We also have an old bunkhouse that had one big room and now it's six smaller rooms that the older kids like. It gave them their own space and that's a big deal around here! 

Haven't taken any questions in a long time so now's the time!

 Hi everyone! 

I've been struggling trying to write a post and can't ever seem to finish it. I reached out to a friend for some ideas and she suggested I just ask for questions and then write my answers. 

Anything goes so feel free to ask whatever you want and I promise I'll give you an answer! 

(-: 

Happy Birthday to Me!

 Just had to pop in for a quick post! I turned THIRTY yesterday!!! Isn't that CRAZY??? Never imagined myself being this age and it's so crazy that here I am! 

I hope you're all doing well with all the other crazyness in the world! 

Blessings to you all!

Megan

It's been almost a year

 We have a pretty sad anniversary coming up and I can't help but have it on my heart. 

Things have changed since Christie left us and that's to be expected. 

The kids are doing well and I mean all of them not just Christie's kids. But the excitement and energy Christie brought to our lives isn't there and we feel it. Her spontaneous ideas about what to eat, taking the whole family on some big trip, new clothing ideas, and stuff like that are missed. 

We all miss her generosity with her love and affection. She just had this way of putting a hand on you and making you feel loved with such a simple and uncomplicated gesture. 

I could go on but I'm sure you all got the idea.

Life goes on but we still miss her and mourn our loss. 

All four of us ladies are expecting again. It'll be a very busy winter and spring! 

The children are doing great for the most part. No one has been sick but we have had one trip to the eye doctor and that resulted in a surgery with a good outcome. 

This Covid thing has had one nice benefit and that's been a total absence of Chinese tourists to chase off. One of you folks who reads this told me about a show called "Yellowstone" and they had a scene where Kevin Costner chased off tourists who did not get the idea that you can own a lot of land in the West. I laughed when I saw that because anyone who lives around here can relate!

We don't have these problems with any other tourists so it is a thing from China. I'm just hoping we never have to deal with them getting stomped on by the bison! 

I'm doing fine with the chickens and this year we took in some rescue pullets and hens from a shelter in Colorado. Welsummer chickens is what they are called. They're really sweet and a big change from my mix of reds, leghorns, and barreds. 

Poly got legalized in some town in Massachusetts and that was cool. I am not wanting it legalized like where everyone gets a permit from the government for it but it would be nice to know we can be left alone! 

The economy shutdown meant Steve was home for a while and now he's back out doing a ton of construction and paving work. It was so wonderful to have him home for about eight weeks but now he's happier being at work and doing what he's good at!

Someone asked if we have a hard time with homeschooling and we don't because it's what we always do. 

I get asked about politics and there's enough politics right now without me saying anything about it.

That's it for now.

Hope you're all safe and loved! 

Megan

March 24, 2020

Hi everyone and I hope you are all doing good!

We're hunkered down and doing fine. No one is sick and we are just fine on supplies and all that. We did our major shopping back in February and we did buy a lot of toilet paper but we also have 27 people living here so we need it!

Steve has been home for two weeks now and won't be going back to work unless there is an emergency.

Church has been on hold since the last Sunday in February and we haven't been out very much except to buy gas or get milk.

Steve has been busy doing maintenance on his heavy equipment that's here. The hard thing is getting parts right now. He's been doing a lot of welding on dozer blades and grader blades putting a hard facing on them.

In the house things really are not much different from usual other than we have no visitors.

With Steve home there is definitely going to be baby news soon enough! I had taken a pretty long break from things but after we got married I've been busy and imagine soon enough to have enough kids for my own baseball team!

How is everyone else doing?

I'd love to hear from you and if anyone has any questions I'd love to answer them. I think I will spend some more time on here now. Just needed a long break after Christie died. I know she would want me back on this so I am going to honor her here.

Love to you all and keep safe!!!

Megan

February 13, 2020

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone!

Had to share this! Steve and I got married! We went on a vacation just the two of us and he asked and I said yes and the next thing I know we're in a chapel making it legal! I mean I know we've been married for eleven years but now it's legal too!

Things are doing well here. No babies on the way for anyone right now mostly because Steve's been away a lot for work.

Hate to say but I don't mind a break if that's what happens!

Did anyone notice that Utah is going to decriminalize poly?

https://www.npr.org/2020/02/12/805455196/utah-bill-decriminalizing-polygamy-clears-first-hurdle-moves-to-state-senate

I think that's awesome news! Hope it can be that way everywhere!

Have a Great Valentine's Day!

Megan

Happy New Year 2020!!!

Happy New Year to Everyone!

I hope the new year has nothing but happiness, love, and joy in store for you and yours!

We're doing fine as the New Year greets us and things are coming into a new normal.

Christie's kids are doing pretty good. I guess one nice thing about this life is the kids have a lot of parents so the loss is not as heavy on them as it could be. They get a lot of love and that's every day!

Business for Steve is doing great and he has a lot of work. Last year he bought an older airplane to use for getting around and it's been getting worked on for several months now. He's hoping to have it ready for flight and inspection around June.

I have egg business again since the economy is doing better and I'm getting $6 a dozen! That's just awesome for my little business and I ordered more chicks from the hatchery for the spring!

There isn't much else to talk about right now other than the holidays were better than I expected. I think everyone was just ready to feel better.

Love,

Megan

Just making cookies...

Got some happy time making some big buttery chocolate chip cookies and I really wish I could share the way the scent just fills up the kitchen!!!

Things are getting better and as much as it can hurt to say this things are also getting back to normal.

Love to you all and I hope you all have a fabulous Fall!