SEBEKA, Minn. - The Kuschel family ranch is their special place with 2400 acres of serenity.
"This is what she liked. How she spent her days," said Betsy Kuschel.
But for the last 15 months nothing has been the same.
Betsy and Lonnie Kuschel lost their daughter Lacey in February of last year to a gunshot fired by her boyfriend, Tyler Slagerman. Lacey was holding their 5-month-old daughter Aspen.
Court papers say Slagerman told police the rifle accidentally went off in the house.
Lacey's family doesn't believe it was an accident.
"He had to do several things in order to make that gun go off. But the most important thing was, he had to pull the trigger," said Lonnie Kuschel. "There are just too many things that said there is something wrong with this story."
Slagerman, who did not comment for this story, tried to plead guilty to unintentional manslaughter. But the judge is still deciding whether to accept it.
Slagerman has custody of Aspen, who wasn't hurt by the shot.
Lonnie and Betsy get to watch her every other weekend.
"She's such a fun little kid. She's just fun to have," Lonnie said.
And on this, which would have been Lacey's 37th birthday, they remember the woman who loved to train horses on the ranch. The woman who was loving motherhood.
"She affected a lot of people she touched a lot of people's lives," Betsy said.
The Kuschels still dream of giving Aspen the life they gave Lacey.
"The ideal situation would be we have Aspen living here," Lonnie said.
In the meantime, the Kuschels say they still have to fight for justice.
There are two court dates coming up. On June 4 the Kuschels will learn whether the judge accepts Slagerman's plea bargain. Then on June 7, they'll learn more about their fight for grandparent rights.