Kylee DeBock / DeBock Harvesting
The year is almost over so I thought I would make one last post to wrap up 2022!
We finished harvest mid-October but the kids still had some activities they wanted to stay for so we ended up leaving North Dakota over fall break and made it back HOME, HOME on October 24th. (Dillon and I celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary on the 23rd) I let the kids stay home from school a few days and then they were back to the grind.
Basketball had already started so the day after Riggin started school, he played in a game. I love just how easily my kids transition back and forth! We have been doing this back and forth adventure for six years now.
Riggin was in Pre-K and Colston in second grade when we decided it was better to keep our family together rather than the kids and I coming home in August and being separated from Dillon until October. It was a HUGE decision but one I am so glad we made.
We all fell in love with the town of Powers Lake and have made some amazing friends. Which is why we have made another HUGE decision. We have decided to move our family to North Dakota. This is something we have talked about for years so this decision was not made on a whim.
It is, however, going to be difficult to pack up our home of thirteen years and move 1,100 miles away from family. Telling our parents was the hardest part. I know they will support us, and wish us the very best, but I also know how sad they will be, as well. This transition will be just as hard on them!
When Dillon and I talked about this move, we, of course, talked to the kids and they were very excited. They have been asking us for years to stay there. Colston will be starting high school next year and things were going to start getting harder with credits transferring back and forth each year (which we already ran into this year).
And then there’s the sports. I love sports and for Colston possibly not being able to play just because of the lifestyle his parents chose to live was tough. We talked to both schools and even though we are in different states over 1,000 miles apart, we were going to have to file a petition each year with each school pleading our case as to why he switches school mid year. His eligibility was going to be left up to a board of people that don’t even know us. We just weren’t willing to take that chance.
Dillon and I have been running cattle since 2017. We started out small, with just under thirty head. We would calve them out and sell them as pairs in the spring. Since starting, we had acquired more lease land so we started running more head and keeping our heifers so we could grow our herd.
Cattle are a lot of work and lately have cost a lot more to care for with the price of hay and feed! But, as much work as they are, I LOVE “my girls” and I enjoy caring for them. Unfortunately, with this move to North Dakota, we will not have land for them and I honestly don’t want cattle up there anyway because of the winters. So, another very HARD decision was made to sell out.
I knew we had really nice cattle but I honestly didn’t think they would sell so quickly. I posted them on an Oklahoma cattle Facebook page on December 2nd. By Dec 8th, the last trailer load left the farm. I have cried so many tears over these cows and, even though today as I write this, the wind is howling and it is 1 degree outside, I MISS them.
In a few weeks, all of them will start calving and that is my favorite time of year! Pulling into the pastures and watching all the babies run with their tails straight up in the air! We did end up keeping five cows and one bull. So, my herd consists of Bessie, Sally, Lucy, Mable, Dolly and Elmer. I even made them name tags!! They will run on 160 acres with our horses. We do hope to take our horses up there once we get settled and find some land for them.
Dillon has been going to help our North Dakota farmers plant in the spring for the past four years and we are without him for 6-8 weeks. That is a really long time to be separated from your dad/husband. So with the move, we will eliminate that and I can also be a part of the planting process.
When we get moved back into the house from camper living, I wonder why I have all the EXTRA stuff!! We can live so simply in the camper with just our clothes, food and each other! But I also love my home because I have room for company, I have real size appliances and a dining room table.
I love eating our meals around the table! We sit and talk with our kids and it really is my favorite part of the day. (NOT cooking dinner because I hate that part, but I do enjoy eating it together at the table)
So, by living in North Dakota, we will only be in our camper two months instead of six! The way we have been doing our “double life”, we live just as long in the camper as we do our home.
We will still come down to harvest in Oklahoma in June (so anyone that wants to see us will need to plan on coming to the field for a combine ride) and work our way back up to North Dakota by mid-August when the kids start school. There are so many pros and cons to any situation but, for us, we felt like this was going to be best for the future of our family. I will miss all of my family and friends here, as will the kids. With today’s technology, though, you are just a facetime call away!
We are nervous about the move as there are still a lot of unknowns, but at the same time we are very excited about the next DeBock Family Adventure! If you can say a few prayers for our family as we make this move, they would be appreciated.
The Kenworthy Clan came to my house the weekend before Thanksgiving so we celebrated Thanksgiving on Sunday afternoon. I was so happy they came to me this year since we had only been home a month. It was going to be difficult to load up and go to Eastern Oklahoma just to get home, repack and go to Texas for the DeBock get together.
My family arrived on Friday afternoon, then Saturday we went into Woodward for Riggin’s basketball games. We then ended the evening at the opening weekend of Crystal Christmas. We were there for the first lighting of the season and enjoyed hot cocoa and eating dinner at one of the food trucks. It was a pretty chilly evening so once our toes got frozen, we loaded up and headed home for more hot cocoa, a movie and popcorn.
The DeBock get together was held in Texas this year at Casey and Kortney’s house. They were expecting their third child, a girl, so we thought it would be easier on Kortney if we went to them this year. Laramie and Dacia flew down from Montana and this was Daisy’s first time meeting several of the DeBock family. She was such a doll the whole time she was here. They got to stay for over a week and we sure enjoyed them being here as we just don’t get to see them much being so far away. However, with our move we will only be seven hours from them instead of seventeen!
Casey and Kortney welcomed Taylor Blake on December 22nd at 1:07 AM! I am so excited to get to spoil another little girl! Being an aunt is one of my favorite titles!
I hope that everyone reading this had a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
God Bless,
Kylee DeBock
The Word became a human being and, full of grace and truth, lived among us. We saw his glory, the glory which he received as the Father’s only Son. John 1:14
