After a 4-year long wait, the day finally came.

We put up our 18′ wide teepee!!!

If you’ve been joining our reading audience in over 100 countries, and have read the very first 2 posts on this blog (“Welcome to Cottonwood Creek” and “Buying a 25′ tall teepee”) then you’d fully grasp the ENORMITY of this day…(in my eyes, at least).

In fact, I will be looking forward to your Congratulations cards and flowers in the mail. (You think I’m kidding.)

Reminisce with me a minute…(cue the harp playing angelic-sounding music)…

I can remember the day we bought the poles in Ruidoso from a mountain man who hand carved them…

Then we had to figure out how to get the 25′ poles home to Texas.  I choose to believe that the Good Lord inspired us with the traveling solution to get them home to Our Cottonwood Creek.

Can you imagine driving in front of us… or behind us??  25′ long spears aiming at your windshield?

Like I said, that was 4 loooong years ago (2012?).

Since then we finished building our Bed & Breakfast and log home on this same property (read other posts to see pics of all of it).

During the past 4 years of building, I’ve been helplessly staring at our treasured (and completely righteous!) teepee poles leaning against the tree by our Bed & Breakfast.

It’s been TORTURE!!

No one should have to endure such agony.

But…I’m brave.  I’m resilient.  (I wouldn’t go as far as to say I’m patient, however.  Huge pitfall of mine.)

Seeing that we’re finally nearing the END of our total build, this was one of the few remaining tasks to complete…and what A GREAT ONE!!

Putting up a large teepee (especially for the very first time) isn’t a small undertaking, however.  We needed extra brute strength and wisdom. So, we sent up our smoke signals and rallied the troops.  (If any pictures don’t appear, just click on them)…

(Ok….so our tribe wasn’t quite as large…)

Let the drums roll!

LET THE TEEPEE RAISING BEGIN!!

(I still can’t believe I’m actually saying it!)

First they tied four poles together at one end, and then stood them up…(well…most of them did…)

Then they added the other poles…

While the men put up the teepee, I took care of feeding the tribe (along with stopping to take quick pictures).  Nothing beats a Dutch oven dinner cooked over campfire, by the water.

I love that the bricks of the fire-ring are the original 130-year old bricks that made the chimney of the original 1800’s McGuire House that we were given, tore down, and repurposed to build our Bed & Breakfast…(pictures of the original house, tear-down, and build are all in the post called “Age and Youth Collide).  And, see our pond back there?

130-year old bricks!!  (I mean really, how cool is that??!)

(I look like I know what I’m doing.  Don’t be fooled…)

Beans, and pot roast/potato hash…

…and, of course, Native American Indian fry bread…

(We plan on cooking like this for church gatherings, children’s groups, families, and other parties. Getting practice is the fun part!)

Next came the canvas. Of course, real teepees would be made of tanned elk skins or something.  But I’m extremely content with my canvas…

Tying down each loop…

We also have a liner that will go along the bottom, bringing the canvas down to the floor.  Will install it soon.

I LOVE IT!!

My Mountain Man and his crew were awesome. Can you see the McGuire House in the background?

There will be a Horseshoes game, Washers, gun shooting targets, bow shooting targets, bocce ball (cuz that’s so Western) in the front yard of the McGuire House and by pond.  There will be a walking path leading to the water, chairs all the way around the pond, a swinging chair gazebo by the water, and a small dock to sit on while fishing, right by the teepee.  I wanna go!

I’m currently searching for Native American items to hang in the teepee, and around the area…like spears, peace pipes (not to actually smoke), Indian blankets, a headdress, hides, and such.  I’m a woman…I need to decorate.

After a loooong HOUR of labor raising the teepee (seriously…that’s all it took), it was time to play a while.  Guys fished for perch and catfish.  The ladies posed for pics and chatted around the campfire..

(This is just one corner of the inside of the teepee.  I’m putting more cots in here, and another 130-year old brick fire-ring in the center…)

Then it was time to gather around the fire and serve our Dutch oven cooking.  Hash, pinto beans, cranberry Apple coleslaw, fry bread, peach cobbler (didn’t get a picture, but thank you Gina!), and cherry cobbler. (We ate my mother-in-law’s peach cobbler hours before.  Needed to build up our strength and energy for such hard labor).




I like our log slabs to rest hot pots on.  Leftover scraps from building our log home. Repurposing!

There’s the McGuire House…
(I can’t believe this is our backyard!  Thank you, God.)

The pond is behind us…

(Can you tell how much my kids LOVE when I bring out the camera? Especially when eating.)

It seems surreal to me to post these pictures and see the event I’ve only dreamed of, and we worked so hard toward finally occur.

As I mentioned in the first 2 posts, buying a teepee and having it out on our property was all a part of the vision both Steve and I had in our minds back at the very beginning of our story in the post “Welcome to Cottonwood Creek”, and “Buying a 25’ tall teepee”.  I can’t believe it’s actually sitting by the water, entertaining people…giving rest, already.

We plan to use this property for church socials (any church), church staffs, children’s groups, and other things.  We plan to make and send out brochures to churches in Texas, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, etc, to let them know we’re here. We hope it’ll bless many.

I’d be remiss if I failed to thank Jesus properly for bringing this whole thing into our lives.  It was His idea in the first place…not ours.  Never could we have possibly imagined ANY of this being His response to our prayers for assistance with finances only 4 years ago.  To hear the whole story, I encourage you to read the first posts on this blog.

He not only listens to prayer…He always answers it, and we will never stop pointing people to Him.

I hope He will be greatly honored in this place, and that others will grow closer to Him as they come.

I’m looking forward to loads of sunset evenings by a glowing campfire inside and outside the teepee, by the water and McGuire House.

Perhaps one day soon, you’ll join us….

“May the Lord give you increase more and more, you and your children.” Psalm 115:14

“For the Lord your God walks in the midst of your camp, to deliver you and give your enemies over to you.” Deuteronomy 23:14

(If you just stumbled across this post, and haven’t seen our blog before, then I encourage you to read “What is Cottonwood Creek?” or “What is this blog about?” I thoroughly explain the purpose of this blog in each those, and show pictures.  Welcome!  Enjoy!)