In 1998 we were receiving much more mail than we do today, as the bulk of our orders and correspondence was via mail rather than today’s email/website combination. Opening all the envelopes was an important job, but not one that required a lot of skill. That meant it was perfect for Pearl! In our family, [...]

Our Timberdoodle catalog covers have been many and varied, but this donkey pose was definitely one of the more challenging shoots. Our 2 miniature donkeys were kind and gentle, and even used to participating in our annual Christmas pageants, but I wouldn’t say they were particularly cooperative! With a cover like that, it seems appropriate [...]

1996 was a busy year for Timberdoodle, as we added an additional warehouse, giving us some much needed elbow room. Interesting fact – 14 years later this second warehouse is still referred to as the New Warehouse, long after its newness has faded! Also in 1996, Pearl starred on the cover of the Timberdoodle catalog. [...]

We had always wanted a horse, and in 1995 we were finally able to purchase the perfect mare. Lily was our first of many Haflingers, a gorgeous mare who had enough experience to make up for our complete newbie status! Looking back now, our lodging set-up for Lily was far from ideal. We carefully set [...]

An important trade show was held in California in 1994. To get our family of seven there, we rented an RV and drove down. We’ve not done this before or since, but I still remember the excitement when Dad drove the RV down the driveway, and the novelty of having a bathroom on board. We [...]

“As you can see by the photo, the Timberdoodle has added another reason for home education. Pearl Mercy Joined us December 23, 1993, weighing a healthy 9 pounds, 10 ounces. There are no words adequate to describe the thrill of having a baby in our home again. Even 3 months later there are moments when [...]

By putting in a mobile home we met an immediate need for housing, as we had been renting from my next-door aunt up until then and she was returning from an overseas mission. Even though the new house was only 1200 square feet, it felt huge to us, coming from a 1,000-square-foot home. Of course, [...]

As best as we can determine from our records, 1991 was the first year we held our warehouse sale at the warehouse. (Lest that seem redundant to you, yes we did indeed hold “warehouse sales” in my aunt’s covered picnic area before the warehouse was built!) Warehouse sales were our opportunity to showcase our favorite [...]

We didn’t know it at the time, but after 1990 it would be 16 years before we again participated in a homeschooling conference. With children 8, 7, 6, and 2 years old and the business hurrying along at home, we felt that there were higher priorities to attend to. In 1990 our catalog was growing [...]

To our amazement, Timberdoodle had expanded so rapidly in the first four years that we needed a warehouse, so we set out to build one. We were so excited to announce it in our catalog, that we made a big deal out of the groundbreaking and worked hard to get a good cover picture. The [...]