Our baby chicks arrived! May 28th

We bought this house with the plan of one day having chickens again. At our Ogden house we had chickens for about 4 years! It was such a great experience. We LEARNED the hard way that we needed to close the chickens up really tight, but our hearts felt the unmatched love that only a chicken can offer!

In February, (I think), we placed our order with Murray McMurray Hatchery. You gotta order 15 chickens for the smallest box. So we got brave and thought we would try our hand at doing some meat chickens, too.

On May 28th we got a call from the Greenville PostOffice that our baby chicks had arrived!! Moses and Heber were thrilled! I was scared to death of how this was going to go. I told myself over and over again that I was going to have to let the boys learn and be involved. My first brave move: I let Moses carry the box of baby chicks to the van and on the way home!! AGGHH!! Next, after I opened the box, I let them each choose which chicken they were going to claim and even hold the chicks.. AGGHHHH!!!

Moses picked a darling grey and yellow one and Heber snagged a black one with a yellow spot on her head. They called it her "cheese head." They named them Chicky choo, and Lightning. I got the golden one, Orpah. Zakary was away on Military Training, but he picked the blackest one and called her Blacky Boo Boo.. Gretel was assigned a red one and I named her Winnie. The yellow one was named after our favorite chicken in Ogden, Yella. And the other black one had a white bottom, so she was named Sparkled. Yes, Sparkled.

The meat chicks were given the larger brooder out in the garage and the laying chicks only lasted one minute in the garage. Moses put an end to that right off. No way was his baby going to sleep in the garage. Moses was SO loving and caring. He asked me to let him always feed them and he wanted to make sure that they were warm.. the first night he struggled because I wouldn't put a blanket over them. He LOVED those babies! It came at a perfect time for him. He was asking me to protect his pet worms and he was leaving them out all around.

We did have one sad accident. We had our chicks for one week, I took the babies outside so I could clean out their brooder. Moses and Heber were watching the chicks play. I came back around the house with new clean bedding, and the boys were hiding the chicks under frisbees. I ran to uncover them and one baby chick had been crushed. She was still breathing, but badly hurt. It was Chicky Choo. Moses was devastated. I put her in his hands and told him to tell her all that he loved about her. I finished up cleaning and put the other chicks away. We put Chicky Choo in a small box where she later died. We literally watched her take her last breath! Moses cried and cried. I cried and cried! It was terrible. I called several hatcheries to get a replacement, but no one would sell me a single chick.

My dad arrived that night, he tried getting a replacement, too. But in the end, we buried Chicky Choo and I allowed Moses to pick a new chick. He chose Gretel's red one, and changed her name to Chicky Choo Number 2. He loved on that baby chick, perhaps a little less, but he had learned a hard lesson.

Felt like magic. Greg and Sariah come to visit. May 2015

May 16 is a day we had been awaiting for a good couple weeks. We were so excited when Greg and Sariah told us that they would be coming out to spend a few days with us! From the moment they arrived we felt that we were enjoying something special. Grandpa Greg and Sariah were so much fun! Greg and Zakary were set out to build us a chicken coop. Sariah wanted to get some serious niece and nephew time.. Emily was hoping for a bit of a break from the regular routine and maybe even plan her garden!! Zak had already busted his back pouring the concrete flooring for the coop and Greg was super generous and paid for the lumber and tools to put up the roof and pillars. Moses and Heber were in heaven with Aunt Sariah. She had them making up songs as they were swinging in the hammock. Gretel was a tough cookie as she knee-walked all over the yard-including the garden, concrete, dirt and rocks. She just wanted to be part of it all.

Greg is tired. His body is worn down from the chemo and the cancer. It is hard to see him this way. I am amazed at how gentle and kind he still is when it must be so frustrating for him to be physically ill. I offered to have him move in with us so that I can feed him better food and research home cancer remedies. My main objective would be to improve his quality of life - AND enjoy his ongoing company. He said he is going to do a medical trial and hopes that works. I feel doubts. He also has said that he doesn't want family taking care of him. I think he wants to avoid becoming a burden.

 We took them on our mosquito hill hike in New London and Greg also took us out for dinner one night at Pullmans. I have never seen the kids behave so well!! They were thrilled to be at a "factory" and they ate EVERYTHING that was offered to them. Sariah was amazing at keeping my kitchen looking great! It was SO nice to enjoy just cooking and not also doing the cleaning. I am super grateful that they decided to come out! The weather was good, the company was awesome and the memories are precious.

Jacob is here!! "Jacob is the best"!

We have been so so blessed to have lots of family visits. Since we have moved to Wisconsin we have had nearly every member of both sides of our family come out to see us. It really is magical and heartwarming to have them sacrifice to travel and spend time at our house. We feel so loved and so blessed!

We were SO excited to hear that Jacob wanted to come out for a whole week! Jacob brings the best out in our family and I love that he requires the boys to repeat that "Jacob is the best". I think it makes Jacob feel amazing when they say it without his prompts!

The last few MONTHS have been rougher than normal. We have been battling Zakary's back pain since we moved here. He's had back problems that have come with injury and playing too hard for years, but this pain has been unrelenting for nearly three years. He has dealt with it REALLY well for 2 years. While he was laying around from his Achilles Tendon Rupture he realized what it was like to NOT have back pain. As soon as he was off crutches and walking again-the pain returned and he has really struggled to manage. He has tried physical therapy, acupuncture, essential oils, massage, a spinal surgeon (told him to stop thinking about the pain), narcotic pain medication, he found that one leg is longer than the other and has custom shoes to even that up, yoga, crossfit, an inverter table, a TENS machine, counter pressure, and all this to no avail! He continues in pain and it has become a huge interruption to his life. For three months he simply comes home and lays down. For January-March I didn't mind so much--- but APRIL!!?? The sun is shining, the grass is growing, the snow is melted and it is time to get outside--and yet, Zak is in too much pain to enjoy it.  It is torture for all of us-especially him.

So, as the time neared for Jacob to come visit my heart hoped that he would be willing to help me outside in the yard! I asked him and he said yes! He arrived at midnight on Saturday April 11th in Milwaukee.. THAT was a blast just driving home with him at 2 in the morning! I loved catching up with him! He is in love with two girls, one is on a mission and the other is a dancer. We talked about that choice a lot. Sunday morning church was great and I let him take one GIANT nap on Sunday afternoon.. and then the week was full of lots of work. We have SO many garden plots and flower areas and half of them have completely grown out of control. Jacob rototiled them all! I decided that I wanted a patio on the south side of the house--Jacob was right there putting in paver stones.. my boys mentioned that they would love a treasure box--and Jacob went to work making them. Jacob took Moses and Heber out for ice cream.. he also took them to pick out a kite and helped them learn to fly it. I also decided I wanted a rock path under a hammock and Jacob wouldn't stop working til that job was done.. To make it completely fair, I was there for some of the work and so was Zak. Even though his back hurts-it only bothers him with he stops moving-so Zak worked with Jacob on the patio and hammock paradise while home from work. Jacob did the majority of the work and still had time for kite flying, reading with the boys, putting Gretel down for cuddly naps and playing farkle. We really had such a wonderful time with him here!! Jacob really is the best! My yard and the general level of happiness that he left here is proof of that!

Oh my goodness!! I almost forgot to mention that Jacob also took us all fishing. Heber caught his first fish and then we headed to to New London to see the stergeon spawning! These fish are huge and come right up to the rocky shore to lay eggs. So cool!! 

Gretel's Birthday, Daniel and Olivia Welch Visit, March 2015

Hurray!! Gretel turned 1 year old on March 6th! She has brought our family so much joy! She is the first girl grandchild for Sue and Greg Stapp after 9 boys! I really wanted a girl so badly! Nearly every night I sneak into her room to take a little peak at her while she is sleeping! I get giddy every

To sum up our little Gretel goes like this. Her favorite foods are salty crackers, bacon, sausage, cucumbers, tomatoes, cheese, spaghetti. She is barely figuring out the sippy cup, and still would rather have the bottle. Drinks milk with baby oatmeal in it. She crawls everywhere. She also does this little walking on her knees move.

time!

Moses and Heber have effectively kept her away from our stairs so we do not have gates. She rarely even goes near them. She walks along furniture, but will not attempt much more than that. She loves to wrestle and often crawls right over Zak's face while he is resting. She has this scratchy grunt/scream that she does when she is unhappy. Gretel is just learning sign language. She does the sign for cookie when she wants 'more' 'please'. She also signs milk.

She naps twice a day--but is starting to fight it. She used to just roll over and zonk out.. but now she's gotta scream for at least one-ten minutes. Her hair now long enough for me to put it in little pig tails! I love to dress her in the mornings and do her little hair! It makes me so happy. Sadly the hair style only lasts about half the day..

We decided to celebrate Gretel's birthday the week later because Daniel and Olivia and Lincoln we coming out to Wisconsin to visit us! We feel so blessed and lucky when family come out to be with us. We really loved having DandOandL with us! They made it just in time to enjoy the VERY FIRST WEEK that the weather was over 30 degrees all winter! We enjoyed 50 degrees with them!

We did the Union Star Cheese Factory, which is SUCH a great place to take guests. They show you right up close how they make cheese!! It is awesome. We then had Gretel's Official Birthday Party out in the shop! We have been working all winter to heat and insulate the shop and we heated it up to 90 and put hot water in the pools so we could have a pool party in March! It worked! The water was warm, but the floor was FREEZING! So it was a fun combo! Moses and Heber LOVED IT!

The Green Bay Packer's Stadium was a real treat! The tour is really amazing-it makes you an automatic Packer's fan! My favorite part is when the let you run out onto the field using the same tunnel as the players.

St. Patrick's Day is a funny holiday to me. But, this year, Grandma Sue sent us tattoos and mustaches for the occasion. We went to GREEN bay to see the GREEN bay packers stadium, we wore the GREEN mustaches, GREEN shirts, GREEN tattoos (some of us), and we went to GREENville's own ice cream parlor-The Twist. That is the most I have ever celebrated St. Patrick's Day-we loved it!

It was such a perfect week with Daniel and Olivia and Lincoln. We are so glad they made the sacrifice to come out and see us!

Wisconsin Dells February 2015

Last winter was BRUTAL.  I know that we were under the freezing point for more than three months straight. And for most of those cold days, we were below ZERO! We didn't go outside ever from the moment we came home from utah, to the middle of March.

We learned a lot about ourselves while being indoors so many days/weeks/months in a row--That we need to MOVE and WIGGLE and PLAY. We got a gym membership, and that was nice, but that didn't seem to be enough.

SO this year we got smart!! WE planned a trip with our dear friends, Lucy and Cody Bowman, and headed to the Wisconsin Dells! We picked the Wilderness Lodge and stayed in a condo in the Glacier Lodge portion. After we booked it, I already felt so much better. Zak did give us a scare of needing to move the date for a work thing... but, we got that all settled.. And then it was finally time to go!! I was ultra ready. I packed WAY early and I was so glad I did!

We had such a great time!!! The drive was only 2 hours and our room was as close as you can get to the sky walk over to the water parks. There were 4 different water parks and there were slides and pools for all ages. We took turns watching the babies so that all of the adults got to go out and play! Our favorite water park was the Wild Waterdome. We had the perfect day! The sun was shinning right into the dome and we all got a bit of sun. It honestly felt like Summer!! The Wave pool was awesome! Gretel fell asleep with Zak during the soft waves, but was rudely awakened during the rougher waves that came 15 min later!! Little Heber begged me to take him on water slides the whole time we were there. There were super big raft rides that the whole family could go on and both Heber and Moses loved them. Heber said he wanted to go on it 5 hundred million more times!!

I really couldn't have asked for a more perfect mid-winter trip! I felt like I had gone to Florida and it only cost us 250 dollars plus food! (and I got us all new flip flops! )

Life in the fast lane

Some people would say that we had our children very close. Moses was not yet 16 months old when Heber was born. Moses wasn't yet walking either. I vividly recall carrying them both- Heber as a new baby in the car seat and Moses as a chunky toddler-who wasn't toddling. Yes it was challenging. Yes we stayed home a lot. Yes we had two in diapers. It was awesome!!!! They have no memories without the other. And they have a super sweet brotherly bond. 

This is Moses and Heber nursing their babies. 

In march we had our baby Gretel. She is 28 months younger than Heber. I am grateful everyday that I had Moses and Heber so close. They are now 3 and 2 years old. Yes it is a challenge to have two little boys jumping and playing while I nurse. But with a little schedule and some extra patience they do really well. I love watching them play together and I love the secret codes they have invented. 

I've had several comments about how busy I must be. They have NO idea!! At 730 am I feed Gretel. We are working still with nursing because she was born with a posterior tongue tie and it has made nursing a long process. We are having it revised again on Monday. So at 830 I put her down for a nap and right then I get Heber out of his crib since he's been in there happy and awake for a good 30 min. Moses usually is already up and dressed and reading books with me by then. We then make breakfast. By 930 it is usually all eaten and cleaned up. We have one hour- if all has gone well. I clean something or prepare dinner or read to my boys. At 1030 it is time to feed Gretel. I put my boys in Alone Time. They get to play in their rooms alone for one hour. Gretel and I bond a little and she's back in bed for a nap at 1130. The boys come out after Alone Time refreshed but hungry. I make lunch and the whole making/eating/ cleaning up brings us to 1230-1245. Heber then asks to play one more minute and the it's his turn for a nap. If we didn't do alone time then Moses will have it now. If we did then he plays while I nurse Gretel at 130. This is a hard one because Moses wants attention. I used to do a letter and a number with him but now I try to get him to read a book with me or color. At 230 Gretel goes down for a nap and I'm exhausted. Moses is too. We watch a little show or read or I try to get something done around the house. I am working on this part of our day because it isn't working out well for us. At 430 I feed Gretel and Zak gets home and Heber wakes up. I feel bad that Zak comes home and I'm tied up nursing. He then gets the rest of dinner ready. And we eat at 530. The evening is filled with family time and at 730 Zak gets the boys ready for bed at 8 and I feed Gretel. At 9ish she is asleep too. Geez!!! I feel like I have run five miles but I haven't seen the outside of my house. I love my children. I love being a mom. It is so so hard. But I know this is perfect. 

This is Gretel in an outfit we bought in Guatemala when we were pregnant with Moses.