Mike  Lusby and I, (Lisa Lusby), were born in the sixties.  So we're not really all that old.  He grew up a missionary's kid in odd places: Africa, Brazil and Texas.  I grew up an Air Force kid in other places: Guam, Missouri, New Mexico, and a 1,000 acre timber and cattle operation in north Arkansas where my father "retired' to really work. 

Mike and I met in college at Louisiana Tech University in 1984 where we both were enrolled in Air Force ROTC and graduated as commissioned officers.  He became a pilot.  I became ill and went home to north Arkansas.  He went to Korea to fly search and rescue helicopters.  I managed a State Park/Living History Museum and bought land and cattle. You might call that "flying apart", but after eleven years of concerted evasive tactics, we both turned around for a second look, and got married that year.  That was 1994.

We lived in Alamagordo, New Mexico, for five years. We bow hunted elk, spent weeks at a time horse packing in the wilderness areas, and enjoyed the changing temperment of the deserts and mountains.  Mike spent half of our marriage in Kuwait every year with the Rescue Squadron, and was remote assigned to Iceland when our first son, Quentin, was born.  "Theirs is a hidden land, wolf haunted stormy highlands with perilous paths where mountain torrents plunge through the mist and flow unseen." (Beowulf)  We decided it was wise to take a new path.  We wanted to be able to live in one place with our family long enough to be known in the community and make a difference there, and we wanted our children to have the opportunity to learn the homestead skills I had grown up with.

We moved to San Angelo, Texas in 1999.  Five years there taught us much about dry land cotton farming, dirt storms, old farm houses, and raising children.  Ethan and Hannah were born there, healthy and strong babies, and Quentin became big brother and got his first batch of chickens to raise.

After five years the old "got to go somewhere" bug bit us, and we set our sights on Oklahoma.  We purchased a lovely farm near Blanchard, Oklahoma, and Mike accepted a position as Instructor Pilot.  The farm has lovely wooded pastures, a hundred year old house for us to work on, a crazy cozy old barn just perfect for goats and kids.  In answer to our prayers, our family has grown and prospered here.  Raw milk from our prospering 4-H dairy goat herd, grass fed beef from our own herd of Dexter cattle, free range eggs from chickens that actually have bugs to eat, ample room and water for a garden, fresh air and bright sunshine. . .  And have I mentioned good neighbors?  Never in our lives have we lived among better people.  They are truly "salt of the earth" and bless us daily just by their proximity.  Our last three children, Miriam, Gabiel and Rebekah, were born here. 

It was after the birth of Rebekah that we became serious about acquiring dairy goats.  Rebekah had a stroke before she was born, and in searching for a source of protein to aid in her recovery we studied about goat's milk and its therapeutic properties.  Realizing how beneficial it would be for the whole family, we were soon on the hunt for a "goat or two".  Quentin asked for a goat for his 8th birthday that year.  We went out to buy one. . . and came back with three.  Why three? Well, because Ethan and Hannah fell in love with goats too, of course, and a single goat gets lonely, right?  For the "rest of the story"  you can read in our Herd History page.  Suffice it to say that the goats have grown on us -  mentally and literally.  Our herd numbers increase every year no matter how we try to manage herd size. 

Our children are involved in many activities centered around our farm and our church family.  They love to ride horses, play in the dirt, climb trees, build "forts" under the cedar trees, ride bikes, and swim.  They "do" school at home, and so, many times, have some critter at the table with them:  Ethan's Cockatiel most notably. The children own the goat herd, milk the goats twice daily, and make most of the decisions concerning herd management. They manage their own business,  Cross Timbers Farm LLC, where they create and market goat's milk soap and body products, and Ethan makes hand made brooms. 

We enjoy what we do.  We are blessed here.  Mike is still flying and enjoys his work.  He's head of farm maintenance and planning.  I enjoy my daily tasks of teaching the children, managing the farm, and being "chief cook and bottle washer" for the Cross Timbers Family Farm operation. The kids are all growing and healthy.

Thank you for visiting our farm site.  We hope you like what you find, visit often to see what our latest projects are, and contact us to say "Hello" if you wish.  "Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/crosstimbersfarmdairygoats.

Sincerely, Lisa J. Lusby