Roots Intertwined With Ours

Our story doesn’t have quite the same start as Paris’s. I didn’t grow up dreaming of becoming a vet or living a life surrounded by animals. My dream began back in 2017 with a trip to Scotland. My wife and I had other things in our lives that we wanted to happen. We wanted a family of our own, and after months of disappointment and heartbreak, we realized it just wasn’t God’s plan at the time.

We decided to take a bucket-list trip to Ireland and Scotland—just something to enjoy and take our minds off the things we felt we were missing out on. While we were there, my wife immediately fell in love with the Highland cows in Scotland. She couldn’t get over their beauty and told me that if we ever had animals or a farm of any kind, she definitely wanted some “Highland Coos.”

Years went by, and we often discussed the idea of a farm, but never made any moves forward. Then we discovered the mini Highlands, and she fell in love all over again, declaring she wanted one as a pet. I finally discussed the idea with another cattle farmer, going over the pros and cons and what it would take to start such a venture. Even after talking everything through, I still couldn’t bring myself to move forward. Our focus was still set on the family we hoped for and other things that, at the time, seemed more important.

Then we discovered that Paris—owner of Soot and Cedar Farms, and our chosen niece—wanted to start a farm of mini Highland cows as well. She teamed up with my wife to put pressure on me. Even trick us to coming with her to buy Honey, her first highland. Finally, in late 2025, we took the leap that had been years in the making and decided to create our own version of a family. Thus, Halcyon Hollow was born.

We chose the name Halcyon—meaning happy and peaceful—and Hollow because our greatest hope is that the Lord blesses our farm and allows us to spread the happiness these adorable cows bring us to other people.