it's not for women and children.

dave bought his tractor on Saturday, and yesterday afternoon it was delivered. now we have one more helper around here, and with all the heavy work to be done, i know that we'll all appreciate it, especially the boys! no more running down the hill with a wheel barrow full of rocks to dump over the old bridge abutment.

it's here! we paid a small fee to have it delivered, and dave drove it off the flat bed before going off to work. good thing, too, as none of us has any clue how to drive the thing. it also came with a cab (which we won't be using) and A was so excited when she saw it. she clapped her hands,and exclaimed with glee "a house!" since dave won't be using it, i'll probably put it in the yard, and let the girls play in it.

our first family photo- but we're missing M, as she's at work. she works long and hard at the nursing home. (60 hour weeks) she's saving for college- and she's leaving in 5. short. weeks!

a few random shots of the tractor. in case you were wondering, it's a 1962 Massey Ferguson 204. it's 39 HP, with a shuttle shift and front loader. and it also needs a tune up. now, if any of that means anything to you, I'm impressed. i have no idea what i just typed. i just wrote down what dave told me, word for word.

getting B started early. dave makes no secret he wants his girls to marry a farmer- preferably Mennonite. and here is our tractor doing it's first job. and no, don't be a smart alec- it's not going to push down the addition! (it's tempting sometimes, though) they've done too much work, and come too far for such drastic measures!

so now the work plods along, making steady progress, and we are glad to have the help of the newest member of our family.