I recently had an amazing dream, the kind you don’t want to wake up from. I dreamt I enjoyed an evening with the grandfather I never knew. My grandfather Rea (pronounced Ray) died in 1961 at the age of 51. My father was just a teenager when his father died while returning from vacation. They had been in Arizona and stopped for the night in Kansas when he had a heart attack and died.
I don’t much about him. He was a farmer and school bus driver and an only child. One day a family friend, Mary Kay told me I acted a lot like him. She told me a couple stories about him and I’m grateful for the things she shared for it’s all I know about him. She told me he had one of the first still cameras and that he was a jokester.
It’s the first time I have ever had a dream about him. He and I were walking about their old farmstead. We were talking and I remember it was delightful. At one point I took his hand and told him I was grateful to finally meet him. He showed me where their barn used to be, and I explained that after he died Grandma sold the animals and neighbors farmed the land he owned. The barn became dilapidated, and it was torn down.
You know how people ask, “Who is one person dead or alive that you would want to have dinner with?” Hands down, it is my grandfather. It’s strange how I can have such a strong attachment to my grandfather even though I never knew him. When we were expecting our second child, not knowing if it was a boy or a girl, I knew that if it was a boy, I wanted to honor my grandpa. Grandpa Rea’s real given name was Thompson Rea, named after his grandfather. My son’s middle name is Thompson.
I’m grateful for that evening with my grandfather and I hope to have another evening with him soon.
Recently, I went to my Facebook audience to crowdsource names for our new farm in Utah. I was blown away by the suggestions. Quite frankly, you are all very creative. I wanted to document the name decision so here is the process, chronicled for years to come. It’s not easy to pick the perfect farm name.
Round One
This is the initial list we got from Facebook:
Kuester Acres
haulinkuester Acres
The Best is Yet to Come
Next Chapter Farm
Prayer Walk/ Road
Stars and Stripes
Rocking M Farm
Condiment Farm
M and M Farm
New Journey
Kamp Kuester
Kuester Corral
A Wing and a Prayer
Kozy Kuester Kabin
Princess Missy Farm
M Squared Ranch
Scrabble Ranch
Muddy Paws Ranch
Kuester Kingdom
After AF Farm
Kuester Retreat
Beautiful Acres
Chez nous
Greener Pastures
Places des Grand Hommes
Magnum Way
Black Dog Fields
Magnum Acres
Where the Pavement Ends Farm
Where the Road Ends Farm
The Haven
Kuester Krossing
Wabatucky West
Mis Mag + 3 Farm
The Destination
Kind Kuester Korner
Omega Alpha Acres
Kilo 5 Ranch
Wallis-Frome-Kuester Farm
End of the Line Farm
The Open Commissary
Hallelujah Hollow
Delilah Downs
Magnum Manor
Missy’s Family Farm
New Beginnings
Kuester Homestead
Haulin Farms
End of the Road Farm
Delilah’s Boys’ Farm
Delilah’s Farm
Road’s End Farm
Flying K
Lazy K
Crazy K
Magnum Farm
Answered Prayers
Rest Your Kuester Farm
Where my Kuester Farm
Wonderland
Topshelf Farm
Kuester Downs
Kuester Hole
Green Acres
Pretty Acres
Peaceful Valley
My 3 Sons
Joyful Acres
Kickin’ Kuester Farm
Hidden Treasures
Kick in the Kuester
Kuester Ranch
Fly Over Farm
Golden Acres Retirement Home
M+M Family Farm
Permission to Land Farm
The Forever Homestead
The Sanctuary
New Chievres
It Ain’t Wabash
Delilah’s Playground
Delilah’s Ranch
Red Devil Pastures
Destination Acres
Wild Blue Yonder
Final Flight Plan
Flight Plan
Kuester Korner
Mountain Ridge
Done haulin Farm
Kuester Lane
New Life Farms
Circle K Farms
Aim High Farm
Nua Farms
That Last Stop Farm
Sit on your Kuester Farm
ChrisMis Farm
Lazy M Ranch
Kuester Horizon Estate
DD-214 Acres
Retired Homestead
Rustic Kuester Ranch
Missy’s Meadows
Place for Kuesters
Delilah’s Family Farm
The Lord’s Bounty Farm
Test and Peaceful Farm
Thanksgiving Farm
The Forever Home and Farm
Kuester’s Resting
Dirty Kuester Ranch
Heaven Homestead
Water Well Acres
Lost in time Farm
Three Magnums Farm
Hoosierville
Almost Wabash
Kuester Kurve Farm
Secondhand Farm
LaVraie Montagne
The World’s End
Where the Pavement Ends Farm
Red Devil Acres
Round Two:
This is what is left after the first cut of names:
Kuester Acres
Wild Blue Yonder
haulinkuester Acres
haulin farm
End of the Road Farm
New Beginnings Farm
Kuester Homestead
Next Chapter Farm
Circle K Farm
Aim High Farm
The Last Stop Farm
Where the Road Ends Farm
Where the Pavement Ends Farm
Kuester Korner
Round Three:
We lost some good ones…
Kamp Kuester
Kuester Corral
Flying K
ChrisMis Farm
Kuester Ranch
Fly Over Farm
Permission to Land Farm (bar name)
M squared Ranch (Math!)
Muddy Paws Ranch
Greener Pastures
Kuester Retreat
Kuester Krossing
Omega Alpha Acres
Done haulin Acres
Wild Blue Yonder Acres
haulin Farm
End of the Road Farm
Circle K Farm
Aim High Farm
Where the Road Ends Farm
Final Approach Farm
haulinkuester Acres
Flying K Farm
ChrisMis Farm
Fly Over Farm
Permission to Land Farm (Bar name?)
Final Flight Plan Farm
Stay tuned as we dwindle down more names on our way to finding the perfect name for our farm. And thank you for helping!
Recently, my minister asked me to a testimony about being in the figurative wilderness. After prayer and much thoughtful consideration, I contemplated what the wilderness meant to me. It reminded me of my drive from Washington to Utah and the vastness that I drive through. It is there in the wilderness that is I-84 that I have learned to trust in God for protection and provisions. Included is my testimony that I gave to the congregation at Cornerstone UMC in Covington, Washington. https://buildingonjesus.org/
We own a home in Northern Utah and have family in the area. Therefore, we travel from our home in Maple Valley to the Cache Valley in Utah a couple of times a year. On this route, we travel some isolated sections of the interstate. The most barren is I-84 in Northern Utah. Before we hit this section of the road, we stop in Twin Falls, Idaho for fuel and provisions. Once we make that turn south, services become scarce, cell phone coverage is weak, and the weather is indecisive. But the grace of God, we have never broken down in this section of our trip. However, we have broken down twice on this route but in more habited areas where we could receive assistance.
This stretch of remote, American highway signifies something else to me. It is a faith barometer. If I’m honest, this road makes me nervous. What if we do breakdown and there is no service area nearby or we can’t get a call for help out to someone? But that has never happened. I forget that even though there are very few services areas, weak cell coverage, and unpredictable weather, God is on that road. He is in the vast wilderness.
I have walked through a spiritual wilderness
In my life, I have walked through spiritual wildernesses. Through seven military deployments, when my son had a seizure on an airplane on a cross country flight, when another son was attacked by a dog and required emergency surgery, and when son number 3 fell out of a second-story window and needed to be life-flighted. In the back of an ambulance with your kid is a wilderness. Giving birth in a foreign country while your husband is deployed can feel like a wilderness. I have felt alone, rejected, scared, unsure, and ill-equipped while in the wilderness. But all along, God was there.
My spiritual walk is a growing process. I have learned many lessons along that desolate stretch of I-84. God has never abandoned me there or anywhere else. His provisions never run out. There is no place that God isn’t with me. He is the service area, the cell coverage, and the weatherman on any wilderness road we find ourselves on, both figuratively and literally.
A highway for our God
I am often reminded of Isaiah 40: 3-5
A voice is calling,
“Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness;
Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God.
“Let every valley be lifted up,
And every mountain and hill be made low;
And let the rough ground become a plain,
And the rugged terrain a broad valley;
Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed,
And all flesh will see it together;
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
We will find ourselves in a spiritual wilderness at some point in our lives. But we are never alone or without provisions. When we remain faithful, we have all we need.
This is our next renovation update: outbuildings edition.
One of the things we looked for was a farm that was already established. We are behind many of our peers when it comes to buying a home. Chris has always wanted an orchard, a greenhouse, and a barn. We didn’t want to start at ground zero since we are in our late forties. The best solution for this dilemma was buying an already established homestead. However, it is hard to find such a place.
We liked this particular property because of all the buildings…okay, maybe not all of them, but most of them. The two red barns we really wanted and all the others were a bonus. After inspecting them we realized that many of the buildings were haphazardly built. We decided to start dismantling them right away. It was gratifying to tear down what we considered derelict buildings. All of the outbuildings had electricity which meant we had to carefully disconnect them as well.
A Quonset hut, the cat building, and the new woodshed
Left to right: new woodshed (what we call the garage), the cat building, and the Quonset hut.
Most people only see three outbuildings in the picture above but it’s more like 5. The metal, fake Quonset hut no longer exists. The structure was built using gray, electrical tubing with sheet metal drilled in. Therefore, it was not geometrically correct and bothered those with OCD.
The brown sided cedar building is what we refer to as the cat building. The two doors on the front go to two separate rooms. The door to the left (the glass one), went into a storage area where every wall had floor to ceiling shelves. Door number 2 goes into an area that has a gravel floor. Through that area is a maze to a couple of other pen-like rooms that we were told once held approximately 50 cats. The old owner believed he was saving the cats from being harmed by wild animals.
Finally, the white building to the left is what we refer to as the garage. It has a nice cement floor and is dry. For now, we will keep it and use it as a garden/woodshed. Consequently, we tore down the old woodshed because it was dilapidated and blocking my view of the mountains. One day when we expand off the back of the house, the garage will come down.
The back portion of the property is fenced in. We have this horse stable/paddock and we will keep it in case a visitor wants to stop in or a local farmer wants to rent the pasture. It’s not in bad shape, just needs to be cleaned out and around it.
Don’t mind these buildings
These two buildings will be torn down in the future
These two buildings next to the big red barn are set to be burned/ torn down. Right now, we just haven’t had time. The white building is housing any junk we find on the property. We have already had one dumpster of junk hauled away.
This building was once a dog shed and we will move it to the back of the property to use as a well/pumphouse
This little building will remain because we will move it to the back of the property and use it as a well house for the pasture water well. Right now the pump to our agricultural well is disconnected because of shoddy craftsmanship that Chris will correct next summer. We can repurpose this shed to shelter that wellhead and pump.
The red barn caught Magnum’s eye and was a deciding factor in our purchase. Ultimately, he has always wanted a shop to work in. It is insulated so is warm in the winter and cool in the summer. The cement floor, a propane heater, and electricity are all bonuses. In the future, we will have RV hookups next to this barn.
Interior of the red barn. Heavily insulated.
The faded red barn in the pasture is the Sheep barn. At one time they raised sheep and there is evidence of that in this barn. The barn isn’t very tall and has a rather large metal beam down the middle. The sellers claim is floods but as far as we can see it sits at the highest point on the property. In the meantime, it will be the Jeep barn. Sheep to Jeep barn sounds about right. Right now it houses material we have salvaged from the other buildings.