Chelsie- I had a hard time condensing our “Year in Review” to include anything other than flowers, but I’m proud of my efforts—there’s more to life than flowers, but barely ;-).

2022 ended with a “storm of the century” with 4.5 straight days of sustained winds, 2’ of snow, and -45 degree windchills. The only way to get around and feed the cattle was with the Skid Steer. Brock was seasick by the end of most days as “Skid-Kitty” bucked the tall drifts from stackyard to stock tank. We had 15’ snow drifts in our back yard which didn’t melt until May. We were very fortunate to not have lost power as almost everyone in the surrounding area did at one point or another during the storm.

I found a break in winter storms and managed to fly to Idaho to see my new little brother on my biological dad’s side, Cory Michael. 34 years apart, but not an ounce less of love—he’s such a cutie.

Holden turned 11 this year and we finished his 5th grade year homeschooling at our Green Valley Academy. Ferguson made sure to make his presence known most mornings. If it was during math, Holden welcomed the interruption.

During his free time, Holden made stop motion videos and learned about movie editing. You can see some of his videos by clicking here

I decided to experiment and grow flowers under cover in April, which means starting them inside in January. It was fun playing in the dirt mid-winter. I chat more about flowers and my process here on this podcast (click here).

I dug out my tulip boxes by the end of March, and to my surprise, they were already starting to break ground! Plants are incredible! I started my indoor plants using a soil-blocking technique that was also an experiment but it worked well in regards to saving space and allowing for more plants to be grown in my bathroom!

*Snow drifts I mentioned above.

My milk cow, Heidi, didn’t fare through the winter well (did any of us?) After birthing a cute little heifer calf she became lethargic with milk fever and despite the efforts of my wonderful mother-in-law Carol for administering IV’s and other meds, she succumbed.

My low tunnel experiment worked well this spring as it kept my plants nice and toasty even when the temps fell into the low teens. I found spring gardening to be better than summer gardening as there weren’t any mosquitos or risk of sun burn.

I ended up selling 25 Mother’s Day bouquets from my tulip experiment—continue to the end of this review to see how many I planted for next year…

Will and Brock created a branding contraption based off of Steve’s “calf trap” from years ago. The “Moreland Maid” still requires the traditional way of roping calves but replaces the need for 4 pairs of wrestlers.

Holden was excused from homeschool early to help with the brandings. He was able to brand a JerseyX calf with his “Rafter M” brand.

It was a delight spending one-on-one time with Holden this year.

My paternal grandfather, Harold Zenner, and maternal grandmother, Vonda Carlin, passed away this summer. I have been beyond blessed to have all of my grandparents for a majority of my life. Selfishly I don’t want them to go, but it’s inevitable. What saves us from death is having a relationship with the Lord so we can spend eternity with him in heaven—a place where there is no darkness, sadness, pain, or death. You can ask God into your heart at any point in your life, it’s never too late! Isn’t that awesome!?

Mike & Lori Zenner family. Jamie (my sister) and Chris were married this year! Their little guy Maddox Zenner Reaves was born June 29th.

Aunt Tiffany and Uncle Tom ventured out to the Sandhills from jolly ol’ England for a nice visit. We spent a day at The Prairie Club with an afternoon of golf.

Brock’s cousin, Terrel Vineyard passed away in a freak lightning accident while checking cattle. His funeral was such a testament to his life, work ethic, and overall great personality. The entire arena was full of horseback riders paying tribute to Terrel and his family. He is certainly missed and made everyone’s lives better. Our hearts are broken with his loss.

My spring planted flowers are now thriving in the summer.

Hugh turned 5 in April and has not lost any personality from last year!

With such dry conditions the last 3 years, it was a nice change of pace to see the Sandhills look so beautiful. A proud rancher who survived the worst winter this area has seen in 100 years.

We ventured to Oshkosh and Lewellen this July for the Cheney Family Reunion (Chelsie’s biological mother’s side) and a small wedding reception for half-sister Annie and Eitan.

Hugh and a garden.

Holden and his cousin’s fort the “Pallet Shitshow” said with a french accent and modeled after:

cha·let

/SHaˈlā/

noun

a wooden house or cottage with overhanging eaves, typically found in the Swiss Alps.

cha·teau

/SHaˈtō/

noun

a large French country house or castle, often giving its name to wine made in its neighborhood.

The wildflowers and sunflowers were very prolific this year!

My garden helper.

Lightning struck a hay bale in the meadow in front of our house in the middle of the night. Thankfully it was also down pouring.

Rowan turned 9 in August. She still loves being an artist, “babysitting” her cousin Eleanor when she’s visiting from England, watching Full House, and being an overall delight in our family.

She still leaves notes around our house….very helpful when the electricity goes out.

Who would’ve known it was a good onion and sunflower year?

Children horseback- it really doesn’t get any better than this!

I started my flower farm, Green Valley Flower Farm, on a whim and tested the waters this year. It was a huge success and I’m so thankful for everyone’s support for this endeavor. You all love flowers and that makes me happy!

I plan to offer subscriptions starting next spring of 2024. Stay tuned!

Holden and his cousin, Fiora, had their first junior high dance during homecoming. They all had fun!

One of my bouquets won Best of Show at our local county fair.

The highlight of the year was our entire family (minus Brock and Uncle Billy who kept things at the ranch running smoothly) experiencing Disney World! For Hugh, every ride was like Christmas morning :-) My mom, Lori was able to go with us to help keep head count.

I was planting 300 daffodils in November, took a break on the back of our pickup and looked up to see a fire on the south side of our meadow (just south of where the hay bale was struck this summer). I was in disbelief at what I saw because there wasn’t a logical explanation for this fire and thankfully there wasn’t much of a breeze either! The day before and the day after the fire were days of howling wind so praise God for his many blessings! The Cody and Merriman volunteer fire departments arrived within 20 minutes and all was under control shortly after. A big thanks to our local volunteers for their fast responses to local emergencies! Our only conclusion was a power line malfunction and it burned right at 30 acres narrowly missing 2 separate stack yards [insert 10 praying hands emojis and 5 crosses]. It was one of the scariest days of my life as I was the only person on our side of the ranch.

Thanks to Brock and his dear Skid-Kitty, I have a peony patch! They take 2-3 years to establish but I promise they’re worth the wait.

Game night with Spider-Man.

1 of 3 beds I planted tulips in this Fall. I’m taking a chance on 2000.

Brock was able to visit Tiffany and Tom in England the last week of November. He had a wonderful trip and was able to tour the Tower of London, supper with Tom’s father and step-mother Guy and Deb Stokely, and a tour through Blenheim Palace where Winston Churchill grew up and resided through his years of political office.

Merry Christmas friends and family! -The Morelands