News!

About the lamb--she was not a twin, it just happened that another ewe had a baby just a few days later. That made the loss a little less harsh. The two lambs that we have are doing just great!!

Now, the earliest we will be moving is mid March--even so, we are still not sure. Things are still up in the air. One good thing for all you people that want us there earlier is that the kids and I might be coming to town before the actual move. The reason being that I will be able to look for housing and schedule viewings. We are all very excited to get back to family and friends!

Well, for more animal news, one of the goats has pneumonia. She is one of the older ones, so it is not that bad of a thing, because she has lived a long life. She has been pretty resilient and showed signs of getting better these last few days, but today we found her quite a bit worse. Jill(our land-lord) said not to worry if we go out there one day and find her dead!! How sad--I don't want to find her dead, even though she is not one of my favorite. Anyway, we have to give her a shot of penicillin every morning, and I am not sure I want to do that--of course Chris knows how to give the shots from working at the dairy, so it won't be too bad.

Okay, about the children. On Sunday after church, Emmy started grunting like she needed to poo. So, I said, "Do you need to go poo in the potty?" And she went right into the bathroom and tried to take off her pants!!! Just sooo cute! Of course she knows what the potty is for, because we are trying to get Kaien to go in there. Well, I got her diaper off and sat her on the little seat, and she went poo!!! I was so happy! Anyway, from now on I always get her to the potty when she grunts like that. She hasn't gone in there since then, but I still think she will be potty trained before Kaien!

Kaien still won't go to the bathroom in his little potty--he has tried a few times, but that was more than a week ago and he hasn't tried since then. Every time he looks as though he needs to go, I ask him if he wants to go in the potty, and try and persuade him with treats!! But, to no avail!! Oh well, I guess he will do it in his own time. Silly boy!!

They both love being outside. Kaien always wanders around whenever I have to feed the animals, and lately I have been letting Emmy out of the stroller to let her wander too!! It is so cute--she never usually goes too far from where I am. They sure are CRAZY sometimes, especially Kaien!

Happy times and Sad!

Well, as you know we have one lamb; now we have 2!! We would have 3, but one of the ewe's was clogged so her milk wouldn't come out, and the lamb didn't have enough strength to stand either. Well, I had to help that little lamb eat from her mommy; that was tough--the mother wouldn't stay still!!
Anyway, just 4 days ago this little lamb died. I was so sad...I felt somewhat responsible for it. I know that just happens sometime, and it wasn't my fault, but it was still sad.
Now on to happier times!! We have another lamb born 2 days ago!! This one is doing just fine! It is really cute. It is white with black blotches, a black spot on its eye, and a little pink nose!! So we have two little lambs, and one ewe that is still pregnant!!

Now to swing into different things, we are moving to the Nampa area soon(not as soon as we would like). We were hoping for the end of this month, but now Chris' boss wants him to stay until April 1st or so, so he can have someone to replace him right away... Chris and I don't really want to, but we are asking for extra pay for the month of March and they might actually do it. If they do give Chris the extra pay, we will stay. Well, there is our news.

More on Sheep

The ram may look scary, but he is really a sweet guy. He loves to be pet and scratched. He craves the attention, and if he doesn't get it he gets mad. The only reason he rammed me was because he felt I was threatening to the mother and her baby. The lamb is okay being held, but she is still skiddish. I think it is the breed that makes them that way. The owner of the place says that she has taken lambs from the mothers to bottle feed them so they would be more friendly, but that didn't help at all--they were still afraid of people.

The ram who RAMMED!

Okay, so here is that ram. Just take a look at those horns!! You know, as I told you before, that he rammed me as I was trying to get the lamb out to the kids. Needless to say, I let out a yell of fright when he hit me! I wasn't expecting him to get me because the last I saw, he was eating the hay I had put in there for them--and, of course, Chris had just turned away just in that instant to check on the kids! Wow, what a moment!! The good thing about this (if you can call it good) is that he rammed me between the horns, so I am not as sore as I would have been otherwise. After he rammed me, I dropped the lamb and told Chris to get in there to keep him away from me. And that is how I got the lamb out. Now when we want to get the lamb out I like to have Chris there to help. I'm not sure what I will do when he can't be out there with us. Maybe I will try again and take some sort of protection with me--like a shovel or a big stick!! I guess we'll have to see what happens!

Lamb and Emmy

This one is just a good picture of the lamb. Again we missed the smile on Emmy's face.
The lamb is very different in color than its mother. I don't know if it will change and get more white when it gets older or not. I really think it is cute the way it is, and hope it stays that way. It just has a ring of white around its neck and a little white on its forehead. It is like a little lion, only not as bushy.

Kids and Mommy with Lamb

The kids just loved this!! Especially Kaien. He got mad and started crying whenever I didn't catch the lamb right away.
Emmy was excited to have the lamb in her lap, although the picture doesn't show her true emotions! We must have taken it at the wrong time.
Anyway, we had that baby out there for a few minutes. All the while, the mother was running up and down the fence bleating away!
These sheep aren't very big, and the lamb was pretty small as well--as you can see from the pictures.

Holding the cute lamb!!

When I picked up the lamb, the mother started circling me and was really worried that I might do something. Well, as I was getting closer to the fence to get out, the male came to the worried ewe's rescue!! HE RAMMED ME!! Man, was that scary!! I will have to take a good picture of him and put it on here soon; and when I do, get a load of those horns!!! Well, I eventually I got the lamb out, and we had a grand time petting her.

New Baby Lamb!!

Well, I went out to feed the animals yesterday (we take care of animals in return for free rent) and I went through the regular routine. But it wasn't until I was feeding the sheep that I thought something might be wrong. We have 4 ewes and one ram in the same area--but this time there were only 3 ewes! So, I went and looked in the little hut area fearing I would find her dead. It has been very cold lately and this particular ewe is very old, and we weren't expecting babies until mid March!
Anyway, when I looked in the hut I saw her (alive) and I was wondering what she was doing until I saw a little movement that caught my eye. To my great surprise there was a baby lamb!! Oh, I was so excited! What a Happy Valentine's Day!!
Later on in the day I brought the kids out to see the lamb. They loved it!! Kaien especially liked it. He really wanted to hold it, but I didn't think the mother would like that. When we went inside Kaien immediately wanted to put a puzzle together...this particular puzzle has farm animals with their baby's on it, and of course it has a sheep with her lamb! Whenever he would put the sheep and lamb on the puzzle he would say, "Just like our baby lamb, Mommy!" and, "Just like our sheep, Mommy!" He would say this over and over again!! So cute! Anyway, I will put a picture of the lamb on here later. We haven't had time to take one yet.

Our Family

Well, this is our family (this picture is a little old) and we are enjoying being stewards of a farm--even though we will be moving soon. But, when we move we will be closer to family and for that we are very excited!! Well, there you have it.

New to Bloggersville!!

This blogging thing may take me a while to get used to. The updates may be minimal at first. I read a good article in the Ensign recently by Elder Joseph B. Worthlin...Here are some quotes from it: "Great leaders communicate a vision that captures the imagination and fires the hearts and minds of those around them."
"No great cause ever succeeded without great effort."
"Work is the foundation of success and creation. It is the secret of every successful enterprise...Some of the most fulfilling moments of our lives are when we establish worthwhile goals and work to achieve them."
"We may not be immune to being afraid, but we do not have to succumb to it...Move forward with faith, believing you will succeed! Don't let fear of failure stop you from greatness. Let your example of courage inspire those around you to "fear not"(D&C 6:34)."
"As you inspire those who serve with you and give them a vision of the great cause, help them set their priorities, and encourage them to settle into the harness, overcome their fears, and press on in faith, you may create your own company of heroes."