February Week 2

February is off and running, and we can't quite seem to catch up with it!

It all started yesterday.  Our Sunday morning was going seemingly well.  Jacob had to run out to the farm and do something or other with the goats.  I'm reaching goat overload so am was starting to tune them out and didn't pay much attention to what he was doing.  Meanwhile, I had the kiddos (as in my own children- not to be confused with goats.  How many people actually have to make that distinction?  Seriously?!) go out to check on the puppy we moved outside on Saturday.  She was getting a leeeeetle too big for the garage and was chewing on anything and everything in sight.  Not to mention her leeeeetle puppy deposits were growing in size as well.  Hence, despite all her furry cuteness she was moved out back.  Well, I watched out the back window as Allie and Ty were coming out of the shed holding the puppy who just didn't look right.  They brought her in the house and she would hardly move.  She was really laboring to breathe and just was not doing well.  I wasn't quite sure what to think.  At first I thought maybe it was just too cold for her and we needed to warm her up.  But then based on how she was acting it seemed more like she eaten something that maybe poisoned her.

Oh great.  The Sabbath is a delight.  Repeat to self. 

Fortunately Jacob was on his way home and I told him he could come take care of another animal.

He was thrilled. 

Time was quickly ticking away and I was getting behind at getting ready for church.  Then the dog threw up.  In my living room.  Time got even further away.  In the meantime, I was hollering at my youngsters to get dressed and find their church shoes.  Lexi came out of her room sporting her boots.  Her farm boots.  "No no no my dear, try again!"  And then I forgot about it.

FINALLY, we got out the door and were on our way to church when Kenna chimes up from the back of the car, "Mom, Lexi is wearing her boots."  Suddenly I remembered I was going to double check on that before we left.  Sigh.  At this point I had a choice.  Either take Lexi home to change and miss the Sacrament, or just keep on going and get in by the skin of our teeth.  See for yourself how it panned out:

Hair curled?  Check.  

Dress?  Check.  

Tights?  Check.  

Church shoes?  Um, church shoes?  Ya.  Not so much.  

The Lord looketh on the heart.

So you're wondering about the dog, huh?  Well, she wasn't improving so Jacob took her out to Young Ward to have Reed Hall the vet take a look at her.  The vet says she was suffering from a collapsed lung and her prognosis wasn't looking too hot.  We still have absolutely no idea what happened out there in the shed that could have caused a collapsed lung.  But collapse it did, and as of last night, that is amen to our puppy.  Fortunately the kids took it well and weren't too upset about it.

Rest in peace Mango:

So here's the deal.  I'm done and done and done with poor little animals suffering!  It's too much for my wee little heart.  I have made a vow NEVER to have a dog again.  Ever.  Please don't let me forget.

I thought we were done with animal drama for a while.  Unfortunately it only lasted about 12 hours.

So Jacob headed out the door this morning somewhere around 5:30. A.M. to head down to Nevada for work.  That means I vaguely recall hearing him get up but before long I was happily back in dreamland..... 

....Until 6:15. A.M.  My phone rang.  It was Jacob.

When Jacob calls me at 6:15 A.M. something isn't right.  Fortunately he was ok, but some new baby goats weren't.  Benson had called Jacob because there were 6, count them, SIX baby goats born earlier that morning out in the freezing cold and needed some TLC. 

Let's add a little insert here.  I mentioned Benson in the above paragraph.  Benson is a Saint.  Benson should be officially knighted.  Benson should be mentioned forever after in the book of time as being AWESOME!  He has saved our bacon the past month or so with the goats.  We are beyond grateful for all his time and energy in our behalf.  If it weren't for him we Jacob and Seth and their beloved goat herd would be up a creek!  He was headed out this morning to play ball with some friends when he had a thought to check the goats.  A million trillion thank you's to Benson for heeding a small prompting to check the goats because he literally saved their lives.  One of the babies had already died, so he frantically started picking up babies and getting them into the warm warmer granary to defrost.  He got them in with their moms then had to start guessing who belonged to what!

I finally got there to deliver another heat lamp and see what I (in all my pathetic goat wisdom) could do to help.  They actually were doing much better than I anticipated, but there was one little fella who was still really struggling so I scooped him up to bring him home to warm up.

 

Thanks to the fire and a good 30 minutes under the blow dryer, Jack Frost here warmed up.  Yes, we named him.  No baby goat is complete without a name, don't you know?  I'm surprised the little guy really dared raise his head considering all he had to look up at was Lexi with her bed head.  Yow.

Oh ya, this was in the middle of getting the girls off to school.  They were troopers and got ready great and headed off to school.  Meanwhile our little buddy Jack was doing much better so I decided he needed to get back with his mama.  So Ty, Lexi and their mama got all bundled up to head back to the farm.  Whose mother am I?  Am I part goat?  I'm really beginning to wonder.  After this morning I certainly smell like one.  Ew.

To make a long story short, after a bit of work I got Jack reunited with his mother and settled to where I think hope he would be ok.  Then I had to turn my attention back to Ty and Lexi in the car.  You never know with those two, so I always cringe a bit wondering what I'll come upon.  Just to make the morning super extra special, Lexi found a pen in my car and decorated it a bit.  Behold, Picasso:

Thankfully, a little rubbing alcohol when we got home made a big difference.

And well, I think that sums it up.  Now on to Monday afternoon.....

Moving Right Along

I'm just going to pretend like there has been no lapse whatsoever and move right along as though I just posted a blog last week.......thanks for indulging me.

So tell me what doesn't fit in this picture:

Let's see.  We have brown carpet, brown chair, brown table, brown wall, brown couch, brown cabinets.  Shoot, maybe I should add some more color to my room decor.  Oh wait a minute, maybe it's the BROWN GOATS that don't quite fit!  I won't tell you what I had to clean up off my brown carpet shortly after I took this picture.  Sheesh.  Cute?  Yes.  Absolutely adorable.  I just don't think I can handle all the anxiety that comes when mama goats are kidding.  And then to try and remember all the names my human kids give them?  Impossible.  I love the looks on their faces when I refer to the goats with the wrong name or simply forget their names altogether.  In the back of my mind there's Chilly, Jellybean, Jazz, Spider, Junior....

Goat people are weird. 


At least this little lady doesn't seem to be experiencing any anxiety:

Yes, that is a goat enclosure.  In my kitchen. 


The goats certainly cannot take center stage when there is another lovable furry creature in the house.

Behold......Skittles.  We jokingly call it Caitlin Jenner because originally we thought this here Guinea Pig was a girl.  Weeeeellllll as this youngster has matured, some of the anatomy has become a bit more pronounced.  So now we know Skittles is in fact a male (despite being wrapped in pink).  Kenna had a bit of a rough afternoon upon our initial gender discovery, but now she has warmed up to the idea of Skits being a boy.  She quite loves the little critter and is doing a great job taking responsibility for him.   


Isn't there a universal parental phrase out there that goes something like, "Don't complain about it or I'll give you something to really complain about?"  Well, maybe that's how it is with weather.  Maybe I shouldn't complain about the cold or snow because then I might be smitten with something that will really give me something to cry about.  Sigh.  No thanks.  So in honor of being optimistic, here is Ty with the winter equivalent of turning lemons into lemonade:

Who says you can't ride your bike in the winter wearing your boots and snow pants?  After all, he has a good 10 feet of clear sidewalk there!  10 feet is better than no feet, right?!  Lemonade my friends, lemonade.  

As for the girls?  Well, we'll just stay inside and frost cupcakes. 

How Do You Say "I Love You?"

I have a lot to catch up on but I'll forget this if I don't hurry and write it down:


So Jacob is headed out the door this morning to go catch a plane to Denver for work meetings.  As he is getting ready to back out of the garage Ty hurries to the door and yells out, "Hey Dad, baripa!"  Jacob says, "baripa?"  Ty replies with, "Ya!  Baripa!  It means I love you!"

Take that dictionary. 

BARIPA (bu-REE-puh):  the 5 year-old made-up word meaning "I love you."

Polky Dots

The other day Lexi and I were walking out of the house into the garage to get in the car and head into town.  As we were going down the stairs she turned right around, looked up at me while she was pointing to her cheeks and said, "Look!  I have polky dots!"  She was so matter-of-fact, and I realized she was talking about her freckles.  So cute!  Before we got in the car I had to get a picture of her pointing to her freckles so I can always remember her "polky dots." 

A Must Post

I got a box full of tomatoes from Mom Israelsen, and sitting right up on top was the funniest tomato I have ever seen.  I finally gave in to the urge to dress it up a bit.

Here is Allie with her new tomato friend.

Yes!  For reals!  It's a tomato!

Love it.

B-Day

The first Saturday in October Jacob surprised me with a little getaway.  As we drove away and I was wondering what in the world we were doing, Jacob handed me a blue envelope where he had written me a sweet little note and told me that it was B-Day:  Brittney Day!  It was a day all about me and we were going to do whatever I wanted to do.

Holy smokes!  A day all for me?!!

Um.  Hmm.  Let's see...  

Me?  

What do I want to do?

It took a minute for the shock to wear off.  The haze had to lift a bit.  No laundry?  No groceries?  No cooking?  No refereeing?  No time-outs?  No way!  I have no idea what I want to do! 

Jacob was adamant that I lead the way and he was my faithful companion for the day.  

Well, okay then.  Off we go!

Our first stop was Brigham City for breakfast at a quaint little cafe in town.  After a full belly, we continued on down the interstate where I was starting to get into gear and decided I wanted to stop in at Tai Pan Trading.  Nothing like a little home decor shopping!  Jacob was so cute.  He was all for it.  He paraded around the aisles of Tai Pan like a champ. 

After this we decided to head over the mountain to Park City for the afternoon.  We spent some time at the outlet stores, grabbed some lunch, then decided to go for a drive toward Heber and listen to the afternoon session of Conference.  This was SO fun.  We just drove and drove on back roads through beautiful October scenery.  I decided this is the way to do Conference!  I feel like I got more out of this weekend of Conference than I have for a long time.  As we were coming out of our canyon drive into Heber there was the most beautiful and unique rainbow I have ever seen.  The picture doesn't even begin to do it justice.  It was like a quick thick brushstroke with each color being really wide and vibrant.  A sign for my awesome day!

After the afternoon session had ended and we had made our way to Heber/Midway, Jacob had yet another surprise up his sleeve and we pulled up to the Blue Boar Inn.  So when Jacob and I were first married, a work friend of my Dad's gave us a one night stay at the Blue Boar Inn as a gift.  We ended up going around our 6 month anniversary in October.  It is a beautiful European themed little bed and breakfast amidst the beautiful backdrop of Midway.  Jacob and I absolutely LOVED our stay there and have always wanted to go back.  Well, here we were!  It was SO NICE.  Beyond perfect.  We just huddled in for the night and kicked back to watch the Priesthood session together.  Now THAT was the way to do Priesthood session!  It was so very good, too.  After Priesthood, we ventured out one last time for a bite of dinner and a stop for a hot chocolate to take back to the room.  The ending of an absolute perfect day!  I didn't want it to end!

The Inn comes with an amazing breakfast.  Sunday they do a really nice brunch which has about 5 courses!  I was stuffed after about 3.  So delicious!  After breakfast we got our bags all packed and headed out for another scenic drive and listen to the Sunday morning session of Conference.  Once again, this was so wonderful.  We had some amazing views.

     

We took our time listening to Conference and worked our way back home.  It was beyond perfect.  The talks were amazing and it was so fun to enjoy each other and the beautiful canyon drive.  We even managed to get into some pretty bumpy spots and just giggled with each other as we bounced all over the truck.  Thank you Jacob for such a great weekend!  It was a perfect (and much needed) B-Day!!  And a humongous thank you to Mom Israelsen for taking the kids and making this possible.  All of the Israelsen clan, in fact, helped out.  I realize it is no easy feat, so it is extremely appreciated!!

So, next weekend....B-Day again?

(smiley face)

Don't Cry Over Spilled Milk

I'd like to meet whoever coined that phrase.

You see, I do.  I DO cry over spilled milk.  I want to release my inner 3 year-old and lay down on the floor and kick my legs, flail my arms, and SCREAM at the frequency with which we deal with spilled milk in my kitchen.

Perhaps it's because we seemingly manage to get more milk on the floor than we do in our digestive tracts.

So after the umpteenth time I have to clean up spilled milk...in a day....I have to use every ounce of restraint from every cell in my body to keep from crying.  Or screaming.  Or lashing out in unintelligible gibberish.

So in order to keep from losing my cool, I figured I might as well just take a picture.  And count to 4,237,966 to keep my cool whilst I wipe up the white sugary liquid off my kitchen floor.  The following are from 2 separate events, mind you.

(Sigh).  Okay, fine.  I relent.  Maybe it's not that bad.

-I am grateful for milk to drink.
-I'm grateful I don't have to milk a cow twice a day.
-For that matter, I'm grateful I don't worry about where my next meal will come from.
-I'm grateful for 4 healthy little ones who fill my kitchen with their giggles.
-I'm grateful for 1 big one who works hard to ensure we have all the milk we want.  Even if we spill a cup gallon or two.
-I'm grateful for a kitchen floor.
-I'm grateful for mobility to get down on my hands and knees to wipe up a mess or two.  Or forty two.
-I'm so grateful for paper towels!

I really could go on.

Ya, maybe it's not that bad.

But there is room for improvement in the milk preservation department around these here parts.

And I still might cry inside when milk gets spilled.  Just a little.