You can't say much about our story without mentioning our kids. We are so thankful for them and the joy they bring to our lives. They have been with us from the beginning, through the thick and thin of it all. Sometimes it creates challenges to feel like we are doing a good job serving our customers and raising our kids at the same time. We have all grown in a lot of ways and we love what we do! Here are 3 things that we have gained as we look back over the past few years of growing a business and growing our kids.
Making Great Memories-
The kids have been part of our business adventure from very early on. I remember when Burris was less than a year old, Dixie and I went to one of our very first trade shows selling Wyoming apparel (before Pure Dixie) at the Wyoming Stock Growers Convention in Casper. He stayed with Dixie's parents and started laughing so hard when he saw us again, the first time he had been away from us overnight. Another time, Dixie took Neacy to the state Realtors Convention and she played quietly under a table all day while Dixie visited with customers, most of them didn't even know she was there. Dixie was pregnant with Thayne during our first trip to Vegas when we sold belts under the ‘Cowboy Couture’.
The NFR in Ft. Worth stands out as a great memory. It is the last time we were able to go on a longer trip and bring all of the kids along. We spent our days doing school work, finding something cheap and fun to do, and just spending time together in the evenings.
Belle Fourche in South Dakota was difficult because we had no hired help. It was just us and the kids, they helped with everything from setup to tear down, helping answer customer questions and running the cash register. We were right next to the arena so the kids could play and watch the rodeo.
Since then, we have had some great family trips together, working and playing when we can. We have always made time to do something fun on a work trip. The kids usually get to pick one thing that they want to do, and we make time for that. Otherwise, we are there to work and just enjoy getting to spend time together doing what we love.
Skills and Work ethic- The skills to do leather work have been both a joy and helped our kids grow. Many times they have had to be in the shop and find something to do while we worked. This often involves a creative result and some kind of mess! They worked hard to enter great projects at the fair, build something to sell themselves or just something they get to keep. It isn't always fun for them, but they know how to do a lot of different things in the shop.
Ecclesiastes 2:24 says “A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too, I see is from the hand of God”. If you enjoy your work, it is a gift from God. Dixie and I enjoy working, and we have our parents to thank in large part for making us work when we were young. It was just part of life and what we did. We learned to find joy in it. We are still seeking the right balance of teaching this to our kids without exasperating them.
The kids have helped us sew, set snaps, tag inventory, haul boxes, set up and tear down the booth many times, count inventory, restock, run the cash register and traveled to many places with us including: Las Vegas, Houston, Rapid City, Belle Fourche, Ft. Worth and all over Wyoming.
Over the years our oldest two have started working for other people. Even though we like them to help us (and sometimes they still have to) we are just happy that they are working and doing a good job for someone. I believe they are thankful for being made to work, just like Dixie and I are grateful to our parents for doing the same. Neacy even said recently “why don't you need us in the business anymore?” The truth is, God has sent us some great people so we don’t need them like we used to- when they were all the help we had! But they are still a big part and they are proud to be.
Someday they might be full time, or they may choose to not work in the business at all when they grow up. We are perfectly fine with either, it will not change the way we feel about them or the way we run the business.
Appreciation for each other- It would be wonderful if we could all be together all of the time. We did not set out to be travelers- we are real home-bodies actually, but God has called us out of that and we are embracing being in a different chapter. As the kids grow older and get involved in a dozen different things, traveling together becomes very difficult. We do our best to stay in contact and see how everyone is doing while we are apart, and we learn to appreciate the time when we all get back together again. Since we do spend time apart, we are more intentional about the things we do when we are together. Some things that we are intentional about include: eating together around the dinner table, Sunday evening Bible study (about 20 minutes where we read, talk and pray together), movie night, dinner out with just the five of us (often celebrating some accomplishment of theirs or ours) and supporting each other in events such as rodeos, sports, or other things.
Our kids are a big part of our lives and they love being part of Pure Dixie. We still have a lot to learn about business and parenting, but with God’s grace we will work to serve our customers well and raise some good humans along the way!
