Alexa, play "It's Been Awhile".

Hello, friends! Long time, no see. Boy howdy and hoo boy, do we have some catching up to do.

Since the last time I posted on the farm blog, we remodeled our dairy barn. We tore out stalls, waterers, concrete, the whole kit and caboodle in October and two weeks later we were milking in stalls that are much more comfortable for cows and for those taking care of the cows. Milk production jumped immediately, and even more so when we freshened 17 head in March. That was a busy, busy month...

...but not quite as busy as May. We calved in half that many cows, but we also had crops to plant. We finished our new alfalfa-grass seeding on Mother's Day, and the very last corn seed went into the ground the last week of May.

I'm keeping busy with this whole lotion gig yet, and photography was pretty good to us this year considering I really didn't have a whole lot of shooting going on until July this year. I still write a few freelance articles here and there so my writing muscle doesn't atrophy. Sam is scoutmaster of our local Boy Scout Troop, and he was pretty pleased to have his first scout become an Eagle Scout this summer. Sam was also elected president of our county Farm Bureau in October, and served as a delegate at the state Farm Bureau annual meeting the first weekend in December.

Oh, and because we didn't already have enough going on, we became parents on Mother's Day, too. Titus Knute Olson was born at 9:32 p.m. after 18 hours of labor and an emergency C-section. Of course, being our kid, he had to make a rather memorable entrance. Titus has brought love and joy to our lives like we've never known, and we are so grateful that he and God chose little ol' us to be his parents. 

During this eventful year, we are so thankful for everyone who has come along for the ride with us - family, neighbors, friends, doctors, nurses, and so many more whose paths crossed ours even for a minute and left us better off for having met them. Of course, that includes lotion customers, too. 

There are a couple days left to place orders to ensure delivery in time for Christmas, and with a snowstorm in the forecast for tonight and tomorrow I don't expect to make it to the post office again until Thursday. 

Thank you for your continued business, your support, and for caring about a fifth-generation dairy farm that just welcomed the sixth. 

May you and yours have a blessed and joyful holiday season,

Sam, Brittany, and Titus Olson