All Is Well
I wrote a children’s book! I cannot believe it has been a few months already since it arrived in our post. As I stood in my driveway with my husband and my three boys around me, I still recall the trembling feeling in my hands …
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Wheat Brothers Farms Farewell.
Seven glorious years of my life have been spent on this little small piece of land serving folks amazing pie from my great grannies recipes, planting in the dirt and growin’ in love. I’ve chased chickens and babies, raked copious amounts of leaves every season …
Let the adventures begin
“Their is no greater education than travel.” -Ted Lasso
When I was young, I remember the first time I saw a jet liner in the sky. There it was above our home on the beautiful Rogue River in Eagle Point, Oregon not far from Dodge Bridge.
My mother was the caretaker for a wealthy benefactor and our family lived in the west wing of the home. It was a very bright sunny day and thru the large magnolia tree next to our swimming pool, I saw this giant shadow fall over the pool. As a 5 year old little girl, I recall how large it appeared and I kept looking up and staring until I could trace the shadow of the figure in the sky. Then I saw it, it was the first time I remember seeing an airplane and it’s sheer vastness and expansion intrigued my young mind.
I knew in that moment I wanted to travel. Even at an early age I yearned to be free and to see the great big world. That’s where my free spirit took root.
Those feelings continued to grow and when I turned 17, I began to expand on small camping excursions in tents to weekend getaways with my family at the beach, which was all we could afford at the time. I took every opportunity to see the world and recall many car trips to Washington to visit my relatives in Seattle.
Seattle then was flourishing and it’s beauty would shimmer over the Emerald City at dusk settling in on the dome ball park now since gone and rebuilt for the Seattle Mariners. I just knew then my heart wouldn’t be settled. I desired to see more. So I did.
I pondered my next steps and how those decisions aligned with my desires to travel and ultimately made the choice to pursue dentistry. It was a big change at 26. I had wanted to get married and was on that path, but life took a turn that changed my direction and God took me to Africa instead.
My first day of college in dentistry, I was asked by our professor to give an oral speech on what I would like to do with my career. Believe it or not, I can be very shy in a crowd setting and waited until the end to be called upon to speak. These women from all walks of life told the same story. One by one how they would work in dentistry between general practice and orthodontics to Maxilofacial and on down the line of state side general six handed dentistry and how the bonuses and perks of a four day work week appealed to them. But that wasn’t my story. Some of those goals rang true, but to be honest, my main focus when I stood before them was to explain that I would be taking my education to third world countries to help those in need. I wanted to open dental clinics in the slums of Nairobi, Kenya as a missionary.
I remember everyone sat in silence when I was done eyes wide open like a doe in the field when they hear a crack of a branch, completely still. That is, until someone laughed at me. This pompous women who clearly wasn’t secure in herself broke the silence. I think back on that moment as embarrased as I was to sit down and stare at my desk like an idiot. But you know what their reaction did? It fueled me to work that much harder. And on my last day of class when we were asked the same question again, I had made a power point of where I was going in Nairobi and with whom. I showed all the images and even added a scripture from the book of Matthew.
The room silenced again until my friend, Sam, stood up and clapped violently loud in great joy. The class minus that one gal full of insecurity and hope sat sour-faced. I felt I could see her future run across her face. Sadly, I don’t know where she is now or even remember her name, but her face is one I will never forget. As I reflect on it now, I realized in that moment I had been given a gift. I could dream… big, far and wide.
In my efforts to pursue my dreams, I am fortunate that some of those incredible people that I went through school with helped to sponsor my trip alone to Nairobi, including the thirty-three hour flight. Even my old Pastor Tom Sabens pitched in and wished me a fair well. I’ll always remember that moment. He too saw the dreamer in me. Thank you, my friend, who is now in heaven.
I continued my nomadic adventures through my missionary, always thinking and dreaming of my next destination. I’ve gone many places in my life and never stopped exploring. Once my son was born, I wanted to instill in him the spirit of adventure and even as an infant, began taking him on planes to Las Vegas to visit with relatives. I wanted his passion to fly to root earlier than my fantasy of it.
In 2015, I had another BIG dream birth in my heart and that was to try to ignite a love for camping again with a cozy bed and a little bit of nostalgia. So, I had a friend come to an Airbnb outside of Ashland, Oregon and do a photoshoot of my sweetheart and I. Those images still sit on an amoire in our home because I knew that I still had that fire within me. I wanted to give myself the permission to pursue my dreams, the only catch was, it had to happen in time, when we could afford it. Life took its turns as life does. As the saying goes, patience is a virtue and with it one can find great reward.
With my ongoing love for all things adventure, I scheduled yet another photoshoot in 2021. This time we were in the Mojave desert in a 1975 airstream and then once more in the summer of 2022 for my boutique, Lady Longhorn’s new summer western fashion line.
I decided it was time to truly begin to actively search for an airstream of our own and found a dealer in Portland, Oregon whom I had worked with in the past, but never found the perfect fit. That is until Char listed a 2016 Airstream Bambi Sport at ANG in Bend.
How perfect for us! Not only could we take her out on the open road, but it could also serve as a home base for our small businesses and a place to rest our head at many of the west coast business events that we had scheduled, including the Pendelton, Oregon Round Up.
A week later we put in an offer, put down $500 and stood in our humble home and prayed for the Lord’s will. If it was meant to be ours they would accept our $6,000 below offer bid. We heard from all the doubters and even the sales rep said she wasn’t sure if she could make it happen, but that she would “try.” I could hear the doubt in her voice, but to my surporse, in just a few short minutes she called back telling me she had never seen someone not even counter offer and that they would accept it. I was ecstatic to say the least. I told her it had been seven years and when God wanted the perfect one he would provide.
On July 7, 2022 we drove north to Bend, Oregon and picked up our families first ever RV camper, a 2016 Airstream Bambi Sport. It was ours!
My list to see the great United States has already begun, even on the tails of horrific gas prices and rising inflation. We are carefully making plans for 2023. In the interim, Donovan will be using it as his home office for Donnally Home Design, a separate space he has desperately needed for a long time.
Thank you Char and crew from ANG Auto Network Group for your kindness and patriotism. I for one will be singing your praises for years to come.
Thank you to my husband who sets high standards for our family and executes them with hard work, determination, vigor and fun.
To our boys River and Gibson, don’t ever let anyone or any circumstance keep you from chasing wildly the desires of your hearts biggest dreams even from the scoffers.
To the founder, Wally Byam, from Baker City, Oregon who in 1929 built his first RV known as Aistream, for giving me the roots and wings I have always had in my heart.
Follow us on our adventures on Instagram @freedomscoutairstream
Love,
Our first supper in Freedom Scout
Yee Haw! The Shop is Open!
The Lady Longhorn Boutique is open!
Check out our line-up of merchandise, accessories, make-up and more.
Season Opening!
Spring is here and it’s time to welcome y’all back to the Farm! We are thrilled to bits to announce our 2021 season opening. Beginning in May, the farmstand will be open Tuesday-Friday, 10am-2pm. Stop by for one of our famously delicious seasonal pies, as …
Happy New Year!
When I began Wheat Brothers Farms a few years back, my desire has always been to keep this one hundred year old Wheat Farm, and the family who built it, in the forefront of what we do. The significance of the farm, the families who lived here and their footprint on our little Valley. This here piece of land offers so much to everyone that sets foot on it. It’s a place I have the honor to call my house, my home.
This alongside my own family traditions, led me one day to start digging through old family recipes. I was overjoyed when I came across my great granny’s pie recipes and they have since become the basis for the Wheat Brothers Farms selection of pies that we offer today. Funny how little things like that work out…
My great granny would be tickled pink to see so many of you enjoying her recipes, just like our family did around her kitchen table. I see it as a way to honor women who began something, even in its smallest measurements, that still has bearing and applicability to our generation.
And in continuing that regard, I’d like to introduce to you to some other special women in my life. The women who help me run my companies, listen to all of my ideas and those that deal with my grammatical errors, right Amanda? (you’ll meet her later)
These women are the ones that help keep me grounded, make me laugh when I want to cry, encourage my dreams and have truly helped our family businesses grow. They are the ones that have help create the brands you love from Wheat Brothers Farms and now Longhorn Coffee Bar and Saloon. Each of them has their own individual gifts and talents as well. They are moms, wives, sisters and most of all my friends. While their apron strings are constantly being tugged at, they still pursue and accomplish their goals and I am honored to know them.
Amanda Moreira
Amanda and her husband just welcomed a new baby girl at the end of 2020 and that makes her a gorgeous mother of four darling children. Amanda and I met in 2018 and instantly realized our shared love for farmhouse goods and vintage finds. At the time she was in the middle of her modern farmhouse build and new to the area. She has impeccable taste and a gorgeous smile that always makes you feel right at home.
Amanda is my social content and blog editor for Wheat Brothers Farms. Thanks to her, this website runs with fluidity and let’s be honest, I’m happy to know you don’t have to read about a gazillion run-on sentences.
Katie Bell
Katie is a stay-at-home mother to six gloriously remarkable children. I met
Katie at Home Depot nearly six years ago. We were both attending a class for making fruit baskets and I quickly realized how much her style was like my own. Our homes are an exact, and I do mean exact replicas of each other, because we are junkin’ buddies to the core. We collect all the same things, it’s truly uncanny.
Katie is a self-taught portrait photographer and produces each photograph you see on the pages of my businesses. From the website and blog posts to magazine shoots, Instagram style images and much more candid shots of our little farm in the city, she has an amazing eye and we are so lucky to have her.
Katie Bell is also someone who makes you feel cared for. She delivers handmade flower bouquets on May Day and gifts of homemade bread and jam from scratch each Christmas. Her timeless ways bring so much joy. Katie Bell is a true lady.
Elisa Shulters
Elisa is a stay-at-home momma of two little boys who truly adore their momma.
What strikes me about Elisa is how we both have little homesteads smack dab in
the middle of commerce, and both run our tiny businesses from them. Her home is bursting with joy and her small kitchen always has something new she’s giving
her hand at, such as her new Italian pasta recipe. She is the kind of woman who
makes you want to get in the kitchen and try to improve your culinary skills.
Her hand lettering and flawless watercolor images are what you can
experience when you see a Wheat Brothers Farms and Longhorns menu or sign. Her typography is truly impeccable as is her classic and soft tender heart.
Caitlin Rogue
Miss Caitlin Rogue is new around here in this Longhorn girl gang. This last
Autumn, I was asked by another member of our Girl Gang if she, Caitlin, could
come help with a silent auction fundraiser that we were doing for a woman who
lost her home in the Almeda fires. That was all I needed to know about Miss
Cailtin. Her desire to help someone else showed her good heart shining through.
She runs a highly successful sewing company from home and thru her Etsy
shop, while simultaneously raising three witty and rambunctious boys. You’ll also find Caitlin’s graphic and audio designs pop-up from time to time on our Instagram and social media pages. She’s edgy and cool, but her willingness to help a stranger in need is what makes her a diamond in my book.
Joey Kaufmann
Joey is the bread to my butter.
Joey and I go way back to being best friends on our Crater High School cheerleading days. Our weekends were always spent with one another rocking out to Metallica, covered in glitter and driving way too fast in her Honda Civic!
Joey is now my social media manager on our Longhorn Coffee Bar and Saloon pages and is learning the trade in managing content for multiple companies. She is a stay-at-home momma of one teenage son and comes with a quick wit and insatiable thirst for life. The best part of our 20+ year relationship is she still calls me by my high school cheer squad nickname, “Cheetah” and never ever takes herself too seriously.
Amy Kaufman
This woman is the kind of influencer you want to follow. The real. The raw. The unfiltered kind, who runs around her home wearing tiny hands and dancing to late 90’s pop.
Amy is a stay-at-home momma of one adorable little Z, as I call her, and dedicates her time to her passions, one being makeup artistry. Amy is part of our Longhorn Girl Gang and is the flawless creator of our on-set makeup designs. She even got Katie Bell to wear eyelashes, so if she can do that, anything is possible!
I met Amy a few years ago when I was invited on a Applegate wine tour for a girlfriend’s birthday. She was sitting in an Adirondack chair telling a joke in a very cute sun dress and I couldn’t quite make up my mind if I liked her. Then she delivered that punch line and I turned to her and said, “I love and am obsessed with Seinfeld.” Truly, she should have been a comedian and if you don’t already follow her on social media, go do it now. She is “pee your pants” funny. She’s also real and honest about life’s ups and downs and one helluva makeup artist.
Emily Figuero
Emily 
is the momma of two darling pug puppies. She is a full-time
art teacher and loves to thrift shop for the cutest outfits. I met her online
and then randomly a week later this total stranger sent me a gift in the mail.
It included a sticker and a patch, as well as a note saying she enrolled me
into a special Pinecone Society. A sweet gift just to show our shared love of
pinecones. Our friendship blossomed from there and if you’ve purchased
merchandise from Longhorn Coffee Bar and Saloon, you probably are wearing one of her designs.
This deeply intelligent art major is full of color and humor. When you’re
around her, you leave with a lighter heart- she just has this way about her. Its intoxicating and childlike. I adore it and you will too.
P.S. Support local artists.
Emily Alden
Emily
, my show pony and barmaid at Longhorn Coffee Bar and Saloon.
Emily is a stay-at-home momma of two beautiful little ladies who she
homeschools. Her laugh is infectious and her cocktails will leave you wanting another mason jar full of some sweet concoction she made just to your liking. Her and I go back to some good ole’ church days in youth group.
Emily has the soul of a old Hollywood starlets and that is what binds us.
Every blonde need a damn good brunette by her side.
Erica Bryan
Erica owns the sweet bakery shop literally nine houses from our little farm in the city and is the confectionary master of all our private gatherings. Her
gorgeous and tasteful baked goods are phenomenal.
The gold leafed mini lime tarts Miss Erica created for my book signing and launch event last year were just the top of what this young master
confectionist is capable of creating.
You can find her at Sweet Stuff Bakery and tell her I sent you.
Lisa Martin
Miss Lisa is my neighbor and the sweetest thang! She is married to a true gentleman with an affection and appreciation for all things Western. It is what
initially drew me to her, besides her being just a total kick in the pants.
Miss Lisa is our companies embroider and you can find her creations on our website store. She is never afraid to try new designs and embraces all of the ideas I throw at her at any given moment. She loves her grown children and grandchildren as well as her new 2020 Jeep. Folks, get to know your
neighbors…open conversations and see the talents that others possess.
It’s truly a gift.
Falon Cardin
Falon is the momma of two toddlers and a wife to a lumberjack, seriously. She is a true grit gal and has been around awhile creating items for Wheat
Brothers Farms and now for Longhorn.
She isn’t always available for our photo shoots because of hunting season, but still a grit gang gal. She’s honestly the most genuine person I’ve ever had the privilege to meet. She will also outshoot you at 100 yards, without blinking an eye.
Falon has a love and affection that runs deep for nature, hunting and pretty
jewelry. Her creations are gaining traction on Esty with their rugged and boho mix of texture and textile.
I remember her calling me after she made 100 sales and we blissfully celebrated her accomplishment. That’s the joy in supporting a stay-at-home moms. We’re there for one another that and I’m grateful for that.
Jamie Lewis
Jamie and I met ten years ago. At the time, I was searching a relatively new
app called Etsy, looking for a birth announcement for my unborn son. She
created the perfect aviator look and the rest is history!
Jamie is a visual genius and we’re proud to have her as our company graphic designer.
Miss Jamie Lewis is a stay-at-home momma to one little Eli bug. Her infectious laugh and accent from Carolina will have you wishing you were sitting next to her, sippin’ tea.
I adore you Jamie girl. Thank you for creating these companies with me over the past decade. It has been one amazing ride with you as my co-pilot.
These remarkable women make my life better, not because of the way they support my companies, but the way they love my family in all seasons. I am proud of the awe-inspiring legacies each one of them are creating for their children and families.
If you’d like to follow these extraordinary women, you can find them here on Instagram:
Jamie @heirloomink
Caitlin @catiebugscreations
Katie @thehappyishhomestead
Elisa @oakandbrush
Amanda @theoregonfarmhouse
Joey @life.got.me.like
Amy @keepingupwith.ak
Emily @figleaffineart
Emily @emersalden
Erica @sweetstuffcake
Falon @pineandpoppies
Happy New Year and abundant blessings,
Christmas Farmhouse Tour
This ole’ Wheat Farm has so much charm and love to offer those who come in and share in the goodness of days gone by. We are so thankful to live in a home that offers such a nostalgic air that fills and warms the …
PIE & COFFEE MONTH CLUB
Hi y’all. If ever there’s been a time I’ve cherished homecooking it’s been lately. I don’t know bout how y’all are feeling but I need some comfort food something fierce lately. So here’s a little back story for y’all. Donovan and I closed Longhorn …
Fresh Pies
It’s blackberry season and my famous blackberry pies are a Summer favorite.
A sweet and tart homemade blackberry filling along with my family crust receipe makes this pie an instant hit for family and friends to enjoy.
Pies are $20 each. To order, please complete the form below.
PLEASE NOTE: A minimum of one week advance notice is required for all orders. Pies are avaialable for pick-up at Wheat Brothers Farms.
Ingredients: Blackberries, sugar, flour, cornstarch, lemon juice, eggs, heavy cream. Gluten free option not available at this time.
Thank you for supporting our legacy.
Blessings Abundant,
