Girls in Doubles – Twin Granddaughters!

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September 14, 2020

Top of the morning to you, Tribe!

I guess since Wesley's been hinting at more family news... I better step up to the plate, right? So here goes. :)

Some of you remember the post called 'The Only Daughter's Wedding.' The subject was our daughter Gwendolyn's courtship and marriage to a fine young man named Laverne Stoltzfus. Dawn and I didn't do so well adding to the girl population in the family. Even though God richly blessed us with five wonderful boys, Gwendolyn is our only daughter.

But no worries. Even though Dawn and I were a bit light on the girls... Gwendolyn and Laverne seem to be making up for lost time. This spring they started having daughters in doubles!

That is right! On April 22, Gwendolyn and Laverne were blessed with healthy twin girls. They named them Gianna Kim and Geneva Corinne. They feel very blessed... but also rather overloaded especially since their first child, Nikolas, was only 17 months.

Below is a twin's photo story for visual folks. And for you literary lovers, here is a totally delightful twins story from Grandma Dawn. She wrote it upon arriving home after three weeks as baby maid while the memories and impressions were still fresh.

One of Dawn's friends questioned after reading it, "Why aren't you writing books, my dear?" :) I believe you'll enjoy it too.

Here's the official birth announcement. Aren't they just totally adorable? Gwendolyn's 19 year old brother (Wesley) was the photographer.

Just a few days old...

Our first look at the twins...

Hey, this is neat. Dawn and I don't need to fight!

There is one for each! :)

The Happy FIVE! Well, at least we hope Nikolas is happy. His relationship with Mommy and Daddy just got a whole lot more complicated. He looks like he's not sure about it all yet.

But he does seem willing to at least check out these pink bundles...

Grandma Dawn getting back into baby care mode.

Grandma Dawn is getting back into baby care mode. She better would. She promised to stay and help Gwendolyn for the first three weeks.

Gwendolyn showing Nikolas how to treat his sisters... :)

Nikolas gets an up-close look and some instruction from mommy on how to treat little girls... especially baby girls.

An artistic picture of the twins by Wesley

Anther artistic shot by Wesley. Gwendolyn thinks it's quite handy to have a photographer for a brother.

A few months old… They are getting bigger and more alert.

Grandpa Edwin holding his twin granddaughters

Now tell me again, which one is which, Gwendolyn?

And here is my favorite shot... Grandma Dawn with the beautiful girlies on her 50th birthday. With a grandma like her, it's no wonder the little ones are beautiful! Right?

Hey, I'm not biased... I just like to be true to the obvious.

And I couldn't help adding the most recent picture of the twins. They were on our kitchen table, smiling for Grandma!

For sure... The Word of God is true... Children (and Grandchildren too) are an heritage of the LORD!

Blessings to all...

Your farmers,

Edwin and Dawn Shank and Family

God Designed it... We Respect it... That Explains it!

www.yourfamilyfarmer.com

Rodrick & Jeanette are moving to Colombia, South America

Good morning Family Cow friends, Today I have some news that's a bit personal, but it only seems right that you should know. Our oldest son, Rodrick, with his wife, Jeanette, and family are planning to move to Colombia, South America next month. Yes, you heard right. Colombia South America. Just above the equator. We still can hardly believe it either :) Our church conference is starting a new congregation there at the request of local Colombians asking for a Biblical church and faith community. But it's also located on the border with Venezuela, so a big part of their work will be to help relieve the ongoing Venezuelan refugees crisis. This new congregation, "Amigos del Prójimo" (Friends of the Neighbor), is located near the border town of Cúcuta, Colombia. Jeanette grew up in Guatemala, and Rodrick has spent time there so both of them are fluent in Spanish and understand the Latin American culture. For this reason, Dawn and I were really not totally surprised that the mission board thought of them when looking for families to establish the new church plant. Their combination of skills and cross cultural experiences made them seem a natural fit. But that did not exactly make giving them up any easier! We are still working on that process! Here are a few pictures from the area near Cúcuta. Distributing meals to the homeless... Música, anyone? 😉 I'm not sure what the point of this car was, but Rodrick said they heard it coming from several blocks away... Checking out the countryside... Sofia with a new little friend Exploring a mountain road (part of the Andes mountain range) After months of prayer and consideration and several visits to Colombia, Rodrick and Jeanette made the tough decision to answer the call to move there for an indefinite length of time. Though it is hard for us to let them go, we do give them our blessing.One comfort is that Rodrick is not abandoning The Family Cow. With today's technology, he'll still be able to do much of the management work and accounting work that he has done before... so this change shouldn't necessarily impact you, but it will represent some definite changes for our family and team.Rodrick plans to work remotely, doing many of the same business administration duties, but he will turn over the General Manager role to his younger brother Wesley. Rodrick also plans to continue giving management support to the Olde Tyme Meats butcher shop team.The other four brothers tell Dawn and I not to worry about the farm and business management, but I know there will be changes. We'll just need to find our way one step at a time.Dawn and I are not sure who's making the greatest sacrifice—the ones staying or the ones moving. :) I guess it is all of us. And that's ok.As far as Rodrick and Jeanette's Amen Acres farm, if all goes as planned, we'll have one of the other brothers live on that farm to manage the care of the grass-fed beef and pastured pork.There is no doubt about it... we will greatly miss having Rodrick and Jeanette, Andre, Clara, Sofia and Leo nearby. But they remind us that airplanes fly both ways, that they will return a few times a year for visits, and that we of course can come down to visit them too.Who knows—maybe someday Rodrick and Jeanette can grow cacao beans and make single origin organic specialty chocolate for our Family Cow tribe. How neat would that be? Don't think it's impossible. Just last week we introduced single origin organic coffee straight from Jeanette's family in Guatemala. :)In spite of unknowns, some things never change. We do know that "all things work together for good to those who love God." (Romans 8:28) So... we'll just focus on loving God and we'll trust Him to work out the good that only He knows! Faith, Hope and Love,Your farmer - Edwin for Dawn too

Girls in Doubles – Twin Granddaughters!

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God Designed it... We Respect it... That Explains it!

"We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it."