8 Kilted Homesteaders

22/08/2023

20 years!!! Swipe to see how young we looked 20 years ago.

Sure love you . Life has not been easy, but we made a commitment 20 years ago, and we continue to work through the rough parts together.

Proud of the family and life we have worked hard to create. We make a great team.

22/08/2023

I hope that these girls are best friends for life! Right now they are ages 7, 9 and 11. We try to tell them that friends will come and go, but your sisters will always be there.

"There is no better friend than a sister."

Are you best friends with your sister?

05/07/2023

Crazy that we have been back a year from full-time traveling!

It has been a year of growth, new routines and many blessings. The kids have thrived back in school and reconnecting with friends. Our ranch and animals are growing and expanding. Although building a home is requiring more patience and $$$ than we anticipated.

We know that eventually, things will work out, and many lessons are being learned along the way.

We are currently trying to slow down summer. So let me know if you have any suggestions. Hope you are all enjoying some family time as well.

Happy 4th from our family to yours!

🇺🇸

20/06/2023

Finally selling the trailer!

$54,900.00 2016 Voltage Fifth Wheel Toy-Hauler for sale in Richfield, UT on KSL Classifieds. View a wide selection of Travel Trailers, 5th Wheel and other great items on KSL Classifieds.

09/04/2023

Feeling blessed even in the uncertainty, struggles and trials of life.

Jesus is real and he sacrificed and suffered for my every pain, sorrow, struggle and sadness. He is risen!

Happy Easter from our family to yours. May you see the beauty of this messy adventure we call life and remember to count your blessings and thank Jesus.

07/04/2023

Ran away to St. George, Utah for one night. Just want to feel heat from the sun again. Everyone is ready for spring around here.

Tomorrow Blake turns 16, so we needed a little celebration.

Sending spring vibes from our family to yours. Spring, Easter and birthdays are a lot of fun things to look forward to.

04/04/2023

Want to read some great stories from our trip? My husband is a gifted writer!

Official Post from 8 Kilted Travelers

24/03/2023

Our chickens will be ready to go to new homes by Easter.
We have done the hard work and taken all the risk.
You can bring them home and put them straight outside in your coop.

$15.00 Pre-Order your Pullet Chickens Now--ready by Easter for sale in Richfield, UT on KSL Classifieds. View a wide selection of Poultry and Gamebirds and other great items on KSL Classifieds.

22/02/2023

Who is ready for spring? I think this year has been especially cold and snowy, so we are all looking forward to warmer Temps.

We have avoided winter for 2 years while traveled the country, so my kids did enjoy the first signs of winter and playing in the snow. But now we are all sick of it.

We are looking forward to chick, bees, calves, a garden, more eggs and ranch projects.

What are you looking forward to?

27/01/2023

Sent Cassidy to her 100th day of school with 100 Junior Ranger badges.

Some of them are doubles, but after pinning them on, I was impressed with how many we earned in 2 years.

51 National Parks, National seashore, battle fields, historical sites, preserves, and parks.

We learned by experiencing these places firsthand. I will forever treasure all the places we were able to go and visit with our 6 kids.

Kids who visited 48 states and have never riden on an airplane!

07/01/2023

You guys, I did not grow up doing any of this. I grew up in a ritzy beach town, going to cotillion and seeing the ocean from my high school.

But I am feeling so fulfilled learning how to become more self-sufficient, teaching my kids how to work hard and delayed gratification.

As a family, we are learning to "run with patience the race that is set before us." (Hebrews 12:1)

I pray for patience and persistence to keep at it when things get difficult for all of us. Remember, even small victories mean we are having success. We got this, bring on 2023!

Utah

24/12/2022

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

We have faith that next year will be better than 2022.

Thanks for following along and loving and supporting our family.

🎄

30/10/2022

All aspects of owning and running a 13 acre farm/homestead are not all glamorous.

We try and clean out the chicken coop and pig pen once a week.

Also side note, I found these green Hunter boots at the thrift store for $10!

Anyone want to come help muck out animal p**p next weekend?

26/10/2022

Life update...

We have now been home from traveling full-time for 4 months!

I miss the simplicity of traveling and living minimally. Miss having my kids around 24-7, the everyday adventures and discovering new places. I miss following the warm weather.

But there are just as many positive aspects to being stationary. Growing and fostering relationships, church activities and sports. Having my community and family around when tragedy hit a couple weeks ago.

We are renting a home of some family friends who are leaving soon on a church mission. They will be gone for 2 years which will give us a good amount of time to figure out our next steps.

We now have engineer plans for the barn. So next is building permit. So many hoops to jump through. Hopefully we can start the barn soon.

We now have 3 kunekune pigs, 6 turkeys and about 50 chickens on the ranch. Next up will be a boar to have piglets and a milk cow.

Life is hard, precious, crazy, but good. Trying to take it one day at a time and find joy in the little things.

To be honest I am struggling with the change in lifestyle, not having a house, losing my brother and the oncoming winter.

We can do this! One step, right decision and chore at a time. Sending my love to all those who are struggling with life too, I feel you ❤️.

16/10/2022

These past 2 weeks have been rough, traumatic, sad, emotional and exhausting!

Losing my older brother (44) 4 days after we went to dinner, has been a nightmare that I wish I could wake up from. (Single car roll over accident)

This past week I was absolutely amazed seeing the support for his wife and 5 young children. There were over 1,200 people at his funeral who all remarked on how Marcus was their best friend sharing intimate, unique and personal stories.

I always looked up to and loved my brother, but I had no clue how far his love, passion and service had reached!

Death can be so sudden, so I am here to remind you to strengthen those relationships, make the effort, say YES, take the picture and send the text.

I will miss my brother every day and remember his excitement and encouragement for my family and growing homestead. I know he would want me to get back to work and keep learning, growing and checking things off my bucket list, like he did.

23/08/2022

This picture needs a spot on our feed, now that we are fulltime Homesteaders.

Today is our 19 year wedding anniversary and never did I ever think we would be creating a homestead on 13 acres with cows, pigs, chickens....oh my!

Our marriage is not perfect, we still argue and get upset with eachother, but we make a great team!

No one else I would rather enjoy, trudge and work through life with.

12/08/2022

You may have noticed our Instagram handle change from 8KiltedTravelers 👉 8KiltedHomesteaders!

After 2 years of traveling in our 5th wheel with our 6 kids, we are now settling down on our 13 acre family ranch.

Trading in our hiking shoes for work boots. We figured we showed our kids the USA and now we teach them how to work.

We will move out onto the ranch the end of this month, build a barn to pull the trailer into to live in over the winter and eventually build a home out here.

Please reach out if you are in central Utah and need a place to boondock off i-70, we would love visitors.

22/07/2022

Moving right along to our next stage in life.

We purchased a 35 year old barn and spent the last 3 days taking it down and hauling it back to Richfield.

Next we work on plumbing plans so we can pour a cement pad and reassemble it on our new property.

We will then pull our trailer in and live in the barn through the winter and look at building a home next year.

We showed our kids the country, taught them love and respect for America and all its beauty. Now we teach them how to work as we begin our homestead.

Have you ever wanted to live on a ranch or farm or create a homestead away from town?

10/07/2022

Feels so good to be back with our Utah Highland Games athletes competing again!

It was a hot day today at 100°! John got 1st in A class. I got 3rd and won the caber championship.

We love a good healthy competition and any day when I can get my family all in kilts is a great day.

07/07/2022

We have fallen in love with America these past 2 years! Quaint small towns, secret waterfalls, kind people, cute red barns, rolling hills and all the National Parks!

As much as we have seen and experienced it was still special to be back in our small hometown of Richfield, Utah.

We bleed red, white and blue, now more than ever. We love the USA!

Is the 4th of July your favorite holiday, like mine?

26/06/2022

Biking the Hiawatha Trail has been on my bucket list since the beginning of our trip.

Almost did not make it because it was a little out of our way, and it is a lot of work to get 8 people with bikes helmets, lights and lunch to the trailhead.

Totally worth all the work to bike these 15 miles with my family. It follows a former railroad line through 9 tunnels and 7 trestle bridges.

Another core memory made, now we head South, back home to Utah.

adventures

20/06/2022

So, I keep getting the same question...

Now that we have seen all 51 National Parks in the lower 48 states....what has been your favorite?

Such a hard question because we would all have a different list, there are so many memories and each one is so diverse.

But here are some favorites that are continually thought and talked about often...

DRY TORTUGAS: take a ferry 70 miles off the coast of Florida. Explore Fort Jefferson and ferry cost includes lunch and snorkeling in turquoise waters. Wished we planned an overnight stay.

ACADIA: hiking the trails of Maine where the rocky coast meets the Atlantic Ocean. So mystical, picturesque and nice, cool hiking weather. Wish we planned more time here.

GLACIER: The views of tall mountains, green rivers and lakes. So many animal sightings Including a grizzly bear on our trail. Kayaking on Lake Mcdonald was a highlight. Wish we came in August or September when more of the park was accessible.

YELLOWSTONE: we were lucky enough to visit 3 weeks before the big flood. So many cool geothermal features to see in one place. As well as heards of bison, even got stuck in a bison traffic jam!

CAPITOL REEF: We are from Utah and it is so hard to pick 1 out of the Mighty 5. But we loved how quiet, serene and colorful this park was. Definitely under appreciated. Just over an hour from our home in Utah. We will be back to visit often.

Do you agree? What park would you add to our list? What other questions do you have

18/06/2022

Everywhere you look there is a photo op! You guys this country is beautiful. Get out and explore.

Spend your money on experiences instead of things. I promise you won't regret it!

I speak from two years of experience after we sold our home and 75% of our things. We have now seen all 48 states and 51 National Parks

We will settle down again, but these experiences have forever changed us.

Kids really do grow up too fast, so what are you doing to try and slow down time and focus on what is most important?

14/06/2022

All 51 National Parks in the lower 48 states in 21 months!

There were times I was not sure if we were going to be able to visit them all, but we did it!

Now the hardest question to answer is which one is our favorite. We could each probably give you our top 5, but each list would be different.

Before we started I was apathetic about the NPS, but now I am fiercely passionate about these protected lands.

For the next week we will be enjoying Glacier before we head home to Utah.

Which National Park do you want to visit, but have not had the opportunity to?

09/06/2022

Most of our trip we have stayed at Thousand Trails campgrounds because of a family Buddy Pass benefit which has been such a blessing!

But, where do you stay in the middle of the country where there are not many Thousand Trail locations?

Last week we stayed near the Black Hills of South Dakota. What a great location for Custer State Park, Mount Rushmore, Deadwood, Wind Cave NP and even Badlands NP.

Small RV parks run by families is where it is at! You can tell that Roger and Colleen are putting their heart into revitalizing this campground and it shows.

Thanks for an amazing stay. We loved South Dakota and will be back!

03/06/2022

My new favorite family picture...

These past 2 years I have fallen in love with the USA, the National Parks and small town America.

You guys, even after full-time traveling to 47 states I think our bucket list has grown longer!

There are so many beautiful things to see, things to do and good kind people who just want to visit and be listened to.

Last night we stood with total strangers and cheered and celebrate our veterans, stood and sang the National Anthem and watched Rushmore light up.

Life is a gift and we are blessed to live in the beautiful USA 🇺🇸

29/05/2022

I will try and remember these moments while 5/6 kids are throwing up when boondocking with battery issues.

I can't recall the last time we had the stomach bug run through our family. It has been years!

So far parents are holding strong, but man dealing with throw up when water, power and toilets are limited is the pits.

We will get through this, but may have to take another trip to the laundromat! 😆

17/05/2022

First half day in Yellowstone did not disappoint.

Bison, geysers, hot pots, bubbling water rain, hail, snow, a rainbow and did I mention bison?

I love being outside enjoying this beautiful country, even if for just 20-30 minutes a day.

When I take time to go outdoors I feel mentally and physically rejuvenated, even when the weather is not ideal.

Do you feel rejuvenated when you take time to be outside?

12/05/2022

I have loved watching my kids relationships grow and flourish.

The relationships with their siblings will be the longest lasting of their lives so it makes me happy to see how much they enjoy being together.

I also brainwash them and tell them, “She’s your best friend!” and “You will be best friends forever!”

How do you foster siblings relationships in your family?

05/05/2022

Have some new followers so I think an introduction is in order....

We are John and Chelsea Forsythe with 6 kids ages 15 down to 2.5.

We have been traveling full time since October 2020. We figured if school was going to be virtual or in masks why not sell it all and show our kids this beautiful country.

We are on track to accomplish our goals by this July:
-Visit all 48 states
-all the major National Parks in those 48 states
-all the temples of our church

In July we will return to central Utah and decide what is next for our family.

Lots of decisions to be made, but I am procrastinating all of those to try and slow down time and enjoy these last few weeks. I feel anxious that the end is near.

Would you sell it all to travel the country full-time with your family?