Our Story

From the Heart Ranch started in Feb. of 2002. Statistics show that it takes someone who is interested in Alpacas to make their first purchase after 2 years of investigating. Well ... I guess we are not even close to being normal. I found out about alpacas January of 2002 when one of my sisters called me and said " I know what you need to raise on your property." She told me she had seen an ad on TV and I should look into it. So I got on the internet and searched and read everything I could get my hands on about Alpacas. We visited 7 different ranches. And the end of February while in Portland for our daughters State Basketball Tournament we bought our first alpaca named Adella.

As you can see... how can any one ever resist this face. We then added 2 more pregnant girls, and then 2 herdsires over the next 4 months. We are now at 5 girls and 4 boys. We had to build a barn and take out alot of trees to put up fences and the barn. You see we live at the base of a mountain and there were alot of trees. We have kept enough to provide shade and some larger stumps (the alpacas like to stand on them). We attend seminars and shows to improve our knowledge and do alot of reading. We are getting involved in the fiber processing aspect. We offer for sale alpaca products and shortly will start doing some processing ourselves. Carding and spinning and knitting. One of the best things about the alpaca industry is that there is so much variety that I for one will never get bored. We will always take the time to talk to people who have questions about getting started in raising alpacas. We know how important it was for us to have a source available for any and all questions and we want to pass that along. I feel that we will never know everything about alpacas, but we have the tenacity and the desire to find answers to almost any questions. The alpaca lifestyle is rewarding, relaxing and life changing. And the story continues. We have sold our ranch in Southern Oregon. We have purchased 20 acres on the Pack River in Sandpoint, ID. We will be in a state of transition in April and May of 2004. We are hoping to be moved in to our place by June 10th 2004. Well we have been here almost a year now. We got the barn and fences up and have already outgrown the pastures. We will add more pastures this summer. We opened the store August 1st, and as the saying goes "if you build it they will come" It was so true. It has been chaotic at best. I feel as thought I have been chasing my tail for the most part. But when ever I get the chance to just hang out in the pastures it reminds me why I am doing this. I love alpacas!!! They really add to our lives, they are loving, fun, soothing, caring, and inspiring. I never would have thought that I would be knitting sweaters and hats and scarves. I started a year ago. But it's like I'm on a mission. And my mom is in heaven doing the I told ya so dance. She taught me how to sew when I was a kid and hated every minute of it. But here I am sewing up a storm with the felted fabric made from the fiber from my alpacas. I just can't say it enought.... I love alpacas! I love alpacas! I love alpacas!.... And they love me.