The Way is Blocked!!

Well, the way in my brain is blocked! I have no idea what things to write about--I feel so lazy when I get on the computer that I can't stay on long...sometimes not even long enough to update my blog!! Fancy that.

Rumor has it that someone is copying excerpts from their journal to their blog!! What an idea! That is definitely something my brain could never have the power to come up with. Well, I guess it is time to say "Tah, Tah." The best time to say that is when you have nothing left to say--so that is why it was said. What fun!

Expectations

Well, I sure have a hard time posting things on here! There is really no excuse, I just don't take time to do it. Silly me. Sorry everyone.

So, today the kids and I were going to go on a bike ride to a bridge that over-looks the freeway (one of those just for people bridges.) Well, it just so happened that I told them to stop fighting or weren't going to go... They stopped!! But, alas, not for long--the next minute they were bantering again. So, we had to stay home. They were so mad!! I was a little as well, because I wanted to go to the bridge too!! I love seeing those big semi-trucks go under us. Oh, well. I just made some fruit leather instead.

Later, Chris called and Kaien wanted to talk to him (as usual) and right when he got on the phone he said, "We were bad, Daddy. We can't go to the bridge to see the big trucks. We can't go cause we were bad." So cute!! I didn't think he really understood me, but I was wrong. He is getting so smart!!

Camping Fun!

Well, the fun of camping began with our 6 1/2 hour drive to the campground; double what it should be! The drive being so long because we stopped in Oakley Idaho to look at some land for sale--it was well worth the long drive!!

Our adventures began early on the journey. First came the heat of the day, 100 degrees, and after that NO AIR CONDITIONING! DUN, DUN, DUN!! We traveled what seemed like ages in this sweat-dripping heat! We called Dad Martin for help on how to fix the car of this blistering malady. He tells us of some simple remedy that might work if we can stop at a store. Luckily, we were coming up on Mountain Home where there is a Wal-Mart. Yay! So we stop and Chris gets out to buy the beloved antidote for our very ailing car.

While in the store, Chris happened upon the fan isle and of course, being the intuitive genius that he is, he goes down the isle and happens upon small hand-held squirting fans!! HALLELUJAH!! What a life-saver he is! So, out he comes from the store with the wind in his hair looking like a white knight on his noble steed with his valuables in hand!! Of course I was happy to see him, but had no idea that he had gotten such wonderful spoils!! Then he showed me his ware, and what glee filled my heart. That is how he came to be called a knight!

As we traveled farther we tried the air conditioning again and...IT WORKED!! HALLELUJAH again! Of course this happened after much faith and a prayer. God works miracles. The rest of our trip to Oakley was uneventful.

When we got there, we drove around this quaint little town looking for a lady to show us the land. She comes and we drive out to the plot. There is a cool little cemetery we saw on the way out there and to my great dismay we drive straight to it!! The property is back to back with this little cemetery. But, as we get nearer I realize it isn't such a scary thing as I first thought...you know like the scary mist-filled cemetery's in the movies. It was just a nice little one that was well kept and had a lot of history in it. We loved the property and we loved the small town atmosphere; we want to find a way to buy this land!

For the rest of the journey you will have to wait...the post would be much too long to expound the rest of our traveling and the adventurous camping we had. The next phase coming soon.

The diaper changer!

Just a few days ago, Chris and I were upstairs and the kids were downstairs and they were a little quiet. So, naturally I felt inclined to check on them. As I am coming down the stairs, I hear them giggling--uh oh, they must be doing something bad. I get down there and Kaien has Emmy on the floor and is changing her diaper!! So cute! It wasn't anything bad after all!! Just kids being cute.

Emmy just laid there and let him do it, for most of the time, anyway. Near the end Emmy kept moving and rolling and Kaien got frustrated and started to cry. So, I ended up helping him a little. They are both just so cute. Maybe I can get Kaien to change her diapers all the time!! Or maybe he will start going to the bathroom in his potty!! That would be wonderful!!

Speaking of diapers, Kaien doesn't like to wear his. A few days ago he insisted that I leave his diaper off. So, after I do this, I tell him that if he doesn't want to wear them anymore, he is going to have to go potty in his seat or tell me when he needs to go. Of course he says he will and I am willing to trust him for a while. I ask him if he needs to go a minute or so after we have had this conversation, and he says no. Not 2 minutes later he is drenching his pants and the floor and just laughing!! Oh, such a naughty little boy! Anyway, such fun life stories. I need to go check on my children--they are making too much noise for my comfort!

A Family Outing!

The other day, we decided to go on an outing to see the surrounding areas and to see if there was any good land for sale. We didn't find any :( But we did stop at the park at Lake Lowell, and had a little picnic. That was fun. And as you see, the pictures are are right here. The kids had lots of fun running around!
We are also going camping over the 4th of July weekend in Oakley Idaho! We are so very excited. Now, the reason we chose Oakley for our camp out, is because there is some land out there for a really good price (around $6500 an acre to be precise). And I want to go back there and visit--I love that area! Wahoo!! We will have lots of fun!

Fun time at the air show!

Well, a few days ago the Caldwell airport had an air show. It was pretty fun (mostly for Kaien and Emmy). The "air show" part of it wasn't quite as cool as Chris and I were expecting--not many planes going and they only had stunt people perform every half hour (note the stunts didn't last very long 10 minutes at the most).

Anyway, there were lots of planes on the ground to look at and that was especially fascinating for Kaien! He absolutely loved it!! There was even a man showing his plane that let Kaien sit in it! This guy was so nice. He made the plane and everything and it even holds world records for highest altitude; 7 miles!! It took him 11 years to make. I couldn't believe how down-to-earth this guy was. He didn't have even a glimpse of the high-and-mighty attitude. Really nice. Anyhow I just thought I would post something. The pictures are forthcoming.

Not much other news. Emmy is starting to repeat prayers; we help her with her personal prayers. Kaien can finally reach the pedals to the 3-wheeler we got him. The kids are cute and all is well.

TAG!

A: The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.
B: Each player answers the questions about themselves
C: At the end of the post, the player then tags 3 people and post their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

1. What was I doing 10 years ago? I was 14, so I was a Freshman in high school. I had a good year.

2. What was on my to-do list for today? To clean the master bathroom(done), do the dishes(done), go to the park(didn't, too cold), and weed the flower patch out front(done).

3. What would I do if I suddenly became a billionaire? I would pay off all my debts, buy a house with some land(300 acres or more), buy some horses, chickens, goats/cows(for milk), pay off all our family's debts(brothers, sisters, parents), buy food storage, pay for Chris' schooling, change America, go skydiving and hang gliding, travel the world!

4. 3 Bad habits... 1. I chew my fingernails 2. I don't eat as healthy as I should. 3. I don't wash my face as often as I should.

5. Places I have lived..... California; Burley, ID; Oakley, ID; Twin falls, ID; Nampa, ID; Rexburg, ID; Ogden, UT; New Harmony, UT; Beryl, UT; and now we are back in Idaho.

6. Places I have worked... Corn topping place, Zions Bank in Rexburg, and Seminis Vegetable Seed Company.

7. 3 Things people don't know about me....1) I pick at my feet(yuck, I know!). 2) I hate sad stories/movies and I don't like war movies very much. 3) I like documentaries. 4) I like to sew(I am not good, I just like to). 5) I am an artist.

I tag Keri

Long, long time!!

Well, sorry everyone for not keeping up with this very well. We are finally getting pictures up in this house, so it is now starting to feel more like home!! We are so glad--the difference is wonderful. We are pretty well settled here, just need to go through and organize craft and computer things. Wow--this is really boring! How about I just give some highlights.

One morning while I was changing diapers, Kaien and Emmy decided they both needed to go potty. I take them both in there and Kaien goes first--I mean he really went!! We were so excited! Then, of course, Emmy "needs" to go. She goes on the little potty and says she needs to poop...failed attempt. So, I go in the bedroom to get their clothes picked out and Emmy comes in and points and her bum and says poop and that is an indication that she really needs to go. Naturally I take her to the potty, but lo and behold, there right in front of the bathroom door she has already done her business!! I laughed for a while.

Some days when Emmy is having a "rough time" time, as Kaien calls it, he will give her hugs and put his arm around her trying to comfort her. Usually it works, but sometimes she just gets even more upset and pushes him away! It is really cute.

Just about a week or two ago Matt (my sister-in-laws' little boy) was playing with one of the outside toys we have and Emmy wanted to play with it and kept getting closer and closer to it to try and take it. Matt thought Emmy was too close and shoved her causing her to fall on her bum, and in return Kaien shouts, "Don't do that, Matti!!" and shoves him back even harder!! Oh, boy does that cause all kinds of havoc. Note that this all takes place in about 5 seconds--not quite enough time to get there before Kaien's retribution. But, of course, when Kaien wants the same toy when Emmy has it, it is okay for him to push her and get away with it, but not for anyone else. I do like that Kaien defends his little sister, but he still has a bit to learn about how to treat her right.

About the same time as the above event, Kaien and Matt were playing up stairs and having a grand time. Soon it got very quiet, so I thought it best that I go up and check on them. There they were in the bathroom washing their hands--how fun, I thought--until I see why they are washing their hands! There on the floor is a poo diaper!! To add to the damage there were also little butt-cheek prints by the diaper in various spots--yes, little poo butt-cheek prints!! Boy was that a shocker!! After I cleaned the boys (not the poo on the floor, too messy for kids to "help") I took them all outside to play until their mom came, which was only about 15 minutes!! Impeccable timing children have!!

So, I hope you have enjoyed the little highlights I have given you. I will update more often now that our internet is working right.

We are here!!

Well, here we are back in Idaho! Caldwell, to be specific. We are living in the house that Melanie and Aaron so graciously let us use. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! We are in a subdivision called Montaceto Place--not sure I spelled that right. And it is just off the freeway! Very convenient and it is a great part of Caldwell.
It is sad to say, we have no more goats, sheep, chickens, or cats!! We only have a puppy--which we are very, very happy to have. Our puppy is a Chocolate Labrador. She is very cute and rambunctious! The kids love her very much. Emmy has fun laying on her (I mean mauling her) and Kaien likes to play tug-o-war with her with a sock.
I will be taking on a new job watching our little niece and nephew twice a week on Mondays and Wednesdays--and today is my first day! It has been pretty good so far--just little tussles of not wanting to share toys and other little things like that (as I am sure Melanie knows). Nothing big yet. I am grateful that Chris gets home at 4:30 now, because that will help me when I make dinner.
Well, not much else to say--I will once I have a chance to settle things here.

Moving!!

Well, the time has finally come for us to say "good-bye" to good old Beryl Utah and say "hello" again to home-sweet-home Idaho!! Sad and exciting at the same time! We will miss the animals and the land, but we will be much, much closer to family and friends!
Our arrival date will be the 20th of March--only 5 days away! We have a lot to do before we move. This is so much fun!! Actually, I hate the moving part of it, but I love the fact that we will be with family and friends again. That's it for the moving update.

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."