On September 5th 2010 our son Brandon Lee Beck was shot and killed in a senseless and cowardly act of violence. Brandon was 19 years old when he was killed about 2 miles from our house. The pain of being in the same neighborhood and driving by all the places we had so many memories was to hard to bear...so we decide to move and hoped to find a house with some land.

In November 2010 my husband Eric and I bought "An Acre and a Half," in Chandler AZ. We have lived in a suburbs if Chandler for about 11 years and didn't want to leave the community altogether. We really lucked out on finding our new HOME. It was as if it was meant to be. Everything moved very fast and despite all the housing and mortgage issues we closed in 27 days!!

We have lived on our "Acre and a Half" for 18 months now and so far we have goats, cows, 30 chickens, three turkeys and a beautiful garden. We have started raising baby Nubian goats, we have raised and eaten our own turkeys and have recently had much success in hatching our own chicks and turkey poults. I have learned to canned fruit and vegetables from our own crops and Eric has learned all about processing and culling the animals.

the experience of birth and responsibility of raising all the animals has been a great learning experience for our 6 year old daughter Zoe. How many 6 year olds get to have a favorite pet chicken named "Beau."

20 months ago I would have never imagined myself doing all of these great things. Getting back to basics, spending time outdoors, and appreciating nature has helped our family heal. We truly believe our farm has been HIS gift to us...The only thing better would to have Brandon with us to enjoy these experiences.

The Oldenburg's