Pre-Harvest Happenings

Kylee DeBock – DeBock Harvesting

I am not sure how the month of May is almost over but boy has it flown by quickly! 

I am just getting home from the boys’ awards assembly (their last day is the 16th) and decided that I needed to make an update because it has been awhile. 

I am very excited that you are reading these posts but I also like posting things that are going on in my life because at the end of the harvest season, we get to make a book out of all our posts and it is so fun to look back at the past years and reminisce. Also, I read to Riggin at night and on several occasions he has asked to read the “Harvest Book” so that’s nice that he enjoys them too.

Boys receiving their school awards.

I have a lot to catch up on, so bear with me.

So let’s first start with Easter! 

This year, my church, 1000 Hills, had a big celebration planned with cooking out and camping on Saturday night, a Sunday morning trail ride, church service, egg hunting, games, a fantastic lunch and pasture polo! Since there would be such an amazing celebration at our church to celebrate our risen King, my mom, sister and two nieces loaded up and headed west with horses in tow. 

They arrived midafternoon on Friday and we started our fun weekend with a trail ride around our 80 acres.  My mom, Christy, and sister, Kassi, and I enjoyed each other’s company as we rode around exploring our land while all the kids rode up ahead of us. Dillon and I purchased the land just a few years ago so my mom and sister had never seen it. We rode around for about two hours and then we were ready to head back to my in-laws where Kitty had made us a great dinner! When we arrived back, Dillon’s brother, Casey, and his wife, Kortney, had showed up, as well. The boys were super excited about seeing their cousin. Cutter. 

Trail ride fun.

Saturday, we just stayed around our house letting the kids play and then later that afternoon took another small trail ride up the road a few miles. Saturday evening, we ate dinner at the house and then headed up to the campsite. There were people cooking out, playing music and having a grand time.  My sister has a living quarter trailer so the adults stayed in that and we set up a tent for the kids. 

As the sun was going down, we dyed Easter Eggs and then when it got dark, we had a “glow-in-the-dark” egg hunt.  That was a lot of fun! There were different colored eggs and each kid was hunting for a certain color. We did that several times before heading off to bed. 

Kids dying Easter eggs and the finished products.

Most people slept fine, however, I was super worried about Cutter in the tent so I think I got up every 45 minutes to check on him…every time he was fine…I was just paranoid. 

Sunday morning was a bit windy but, well, it’s Northwest Oklahoma so what’s new!  We enjoyed a fabulous trail ride through numerous pastures and wheat fields winding us back to where the church service would be held! It was a fantastic weekend full of fun and lots of memories were made!

Dillon and Colston playing pasture polo.

The boys finally wrapped up their soccer season with Riggin’s team winning first place in the eight and under division and Colston’s team taking second in the 12 and under division.

The boys with their soccer medals.

We had been on the lookout for a crew camper and we were able to find one located in Stillwater. So instead of just going to look at the camper, we made it a multipurpose trip.  The OSU Cowboys were also playing baseball. We looked at the camper and then made arrangements with some friends to meet us at the game. Cowboys beat the Longhorns 15-0! It was a very exciting game with lots of great hits, good plays and several homeruns! 

OSU baseball game. 

The camper we purchased is 20 years old so she needed a facelift!  I ripped up the carpet, tore out the front bedroom for remodeling, painted the walls and cabinets, as well as putting base boards throughout the whole camper to give it a more finished look. Let’s just say I made a small project of “cleaning” the crew camper into a rather large one.  However, we are all very pleased with the results!!

Crew camper kitchen and front bedroom. We took out the big queen bed and put in a twin and one of the closets to make the room bigger. We also pulled up the carpet! 
Crew camper bathroom.
Doesn’t the baseboard just give it such a nice finished look?

Since we started harvesting sixteen years ago, I have rarely gotten to spend Mother’s Day at home with my mom. This year, however, since we have been receiving so much rain, it has pushed the start date back a week or two. I decided that I and the boys would head home and spend the weekend with my family. This will, more than likely, be the last time we see them until we return home from harvest in November! 

Mother’s Day photos

This was our first time going home since my Granny Jo died in March. It was just strange not going to see her. I still reach for the phone to dial her number…and actually did it once and when I got the “I am sorry the number you have called is disconnected” message my heart broke all over again!  She was an AMAZING woman and I am so glad that God chose me to be her granddaughter.

Harvest projects are in full swing around our house and will be until the day we load equipment. We have two guys working for us right now. Trevor is from Kansas and Kent is from Oklahoma. We are still waiting on the third one from Brazil but he hasn’t been able to get an interview date at the consulate yet.  Let’s hope his interview goes better than the first candidate we chose! His visa was denied so we had to start the whole process over again.  We normally have our foreign employees here in March because of how long it takes to get them trained and licensed but this year, things just didn’t work out that way. 

I look forward to reading everyone’s posts for the upcoming harvest season.  Just remember when things start getting crazy (and they will; you are on harvest after all) just remember who is in charge…keep your eyes on Jesus and pray a lot because sometimes that is ALL we have control over!

Happy Harvesting,

Kylee DeBock

“Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from beginning to end. He did not give up because of the cross! On the contrary, because of the joy that was waiting for him, he thought nothing of the disgrace of dying on the cross, and he is now seated at the right side of God’s throne.” Hebrews 12:2 GNT

Kylee DeBock
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