Charlie and Deborah Steffen became interested in llamas after going to a flock and fleece fair in Canby, Oregon. They were going to buy some nice hand-knit goods - or so they thought! Before they knew it they were drawn to the barn. They had raised many different types of exotic pets over the years, and of course they would wind up in the barn. They were entranced by this gorgeous white male llama and spoke to the owner about llamas and he directed them to the llama show in progress. Deborah saw one beautiful llama and the owner from Black Tie Llamas let her touch her llama, which was a thrill for Deborah. She thought it was the prettiest one in that class and she was right since it won first place in it's class!
Before they knew it they were touring llama farms and reading about them voraciously on the Internet. They made their way to Glenmor Forest Llamas to view how the successful farms operate. After their second visit there, Charlie asked Deborah which llamas she thought were cute. She picked out two, even though she desired a really gorgeous one that she knew would be too expensive. Charlie actually bought the two females while they were living on their floating home in Portland! They boarded them at the farm and went down every weekend to learn how to handle and care for our new llamas and also started looking for a farm. They put their floating home and sailing life up for sale. By the way, they also came back and bought the gorgeous llama, Shaw-Na, that Deborah wanted so bad.
Things happened very quickly and they found their dream home on the Internet in the little town of Vernonia. They felt so lucky to live in the same town as Don and Nancy Daley from New Moon Llamas who have raised and shown llamas for over 15 years. The Steffens are the second llama family in town. They now have 15 female and 5 male llamas. They have had 9 births on the farm in the last two years 3 of which are from their 2 male studs.
Deborah is a registered Yoga instructor and offers classes in her studio attached to her pottery studio, where she creates her one of a kind pieces. Deborah is also a certified Chopra Center Instructor. Call them and go visit! Visit Deborah at www.cedarmiststudios.com.
