Coming to Conclusions

My husband and I both grew up in a semi-rural environment.  I grew up on 20 acres with a number of cattle and several acres of alfalfa hay.  Our closest neighbors that were our age were a good mile away and we certainly weren't close to any sort of man made entertainment.  We had 3 channels on our t.v. (no remote controls but we did have rabbit ears).  We didn't rely on electronics for fun.  We had a horse, a pony, a few pigs (for a short time), a few chickens (for a short time), cattle and always many very happy farm dogs.  My sister and I would entertain ourselves by planning beauty pageants (we usually did pretty well since there were only 3 girls entered and 3 boy judges who were all related to the contestants).  When it was really hot, we had a swamp cooler and sometimes we even went for a dip in the cow trough.  (All you germaphobes are totally grossed out at this point).  I had a barbie bronco that I loved to take muddin' and make a few mud pies at the same time.  We even climbed Candy Mountain for fun on several occasions.  Our closest bus stop was a mile away at a place called the "Arena Cafe".  We went horse back riding and when my brother was about 12, he got his first dirt bike.  He would take me for rides and I thought it was a blast!  I was asked to drive the pick up at around 9 or 10 while my brother and dad bucked hay and placed it in the back of our old pick up truck.  It was a good life, a life that my husband and I want for our boys.  A life where we didn't sit around and say "I'm bored" because we weren't.  There was always something to do and if not, we thought of things.  City kids got to do all sorts of things that we didn't, like go to the grocery store whenever they wanted.  We went once a week.  But I wasn't jealous, I always loved the simple living and good fun that we had growing up.  

For many years my husband and I have been planning to give our boys the same opportunities that we had.  So began the search.  The search for some rural living that offered us options and opportunities to grow our own food and give our family freedom to try new things.  Our plan was to make this move from the city (in a great neighborhood with neighbors that were wonderful) in the year 2013.  We began praying and seeking the Lord's guidance for a home.  After receiving a tip from a friend, we looked at a house in Benton City on 8 acres of land.  We thought it was just what we were looking for.  We proceeded to put our house on the market and sold it within 6 days.  We were on our way to our rural living.  But the Lord had other plans.....our purchase fell through and now we were in a real pickle.  We had a house we were selling in about 5 weeks, and nowhere to live.  We moved in with my parents who are in their 70's when my father came up with a plan one day.  He said "what would happen if you lived way out in Benton City and we needed some help?, then what"?  We thought about it for a while and we really didn't know.  But we did feel that now was the time for our boys to begin living the rural life we felt that was best for them. My parents made us an incredible offer at this point.  They offered to give us their land, and in return we would tear down their existing home and build a larger house that we can all live in together in. They would have a private area where they would live with their own entrance, kitchen, living room, dining room and master bedroom.  We would have our living area adjoining theirs on the main level, with our bedrooms upstairs.  We would attach to their current garage and so the plans began.

We started working with a designer who has been excellent.  He has provided us with a plan to keep the existing basement along with some of the current foundation.  The original house was purchased in the 1960's for $12,000.  There were 20 acres included in the purchase.  My father has developed 15 acres and now has approximately 5 left.  Here is a photo of the original homestead.