Hi there! Mark and Tonya here…welcome to our blog! We are two “middle aged” (what does that even mean anymore) now grandparents (woo hoo) who are living our best empty nesters life. We are a blended and blessed family of eight, which includes 4 adult children, two wonderful daughter in laws and our awesome grandchildren, Cash, Penelope, Finley, and Oliver. Almost 8 years ago now, we moved from suburbia to a more rural lifestyle. We have a small “farmhouse” on an acre where we live with our 7 goats, 8 chickens, 4 dogs and 2 cats. Some may say we are a bit crazy to be taking on this level of “inconvenience” at our ages but it has been beyond a blessing and has helped us slow down our pace a bit and focus on family, friends and a much simpler life. We’ve continued to make some bold decisions which has included Mark semi-retiring. Our purpose for starting this blog is mostly fun but also an opportunity to create dialog on making focused decisions to have a joyful life, even if it goes against what we are taught that we “should” do. We will talk about our trials and triumphs with blending a family that includes a son with special needs, our decision to give back through fostering dogs, our journey to reduce the stress in our life for our health. We hope to inspire you to think about possibilities for your life and family and we welcome your input for different ideas to what’s working in your life. For most of us young boomers and Gen X’ers entering this age looks different than past generations. This is not our parent’s retirement, let’s start talking!