We are coming to Utah for a visit!

Yeah! We are so excited to be coming home to Utah for a visit. We will get there May 30. Chris will fly back to Missouri June 4 because he has to work and has to take care of the farm. The kids and I will be staying until June 20. We are so excited to see all our family and friends! My 6 month pregnant belly is not excited but we miss everyone terribly so I know it will be worth it! Just for your information, we still have 5 bunnies and 4 kittens, if anyone is interested in one please let me know as soon as possible, we will try to give them away this week so claim yours quick. We have 4 black and white kittens, all of them are 8 weeks old. 2 of them are normal size and 2 are very small for their age. We have 2 white bunnies, 1 black, 1 brown, and 1 grey. They are about 8 weeks old and can live indoors or outdoors. Ours are all outside all of the time. The kids have lots of fun with them.

Adam's Baptism

Adam was baptised and confirmed on March 22nd. It was a great day. Every thing went very well. We were happy to have my parents there to share the day. Adam's cousin, Isabella was also there at the baptism. With Adam's permission, here is his journal entry on the day of his baptism: "Today is a very important day of my life. Today is important because I was baptized. I was baptized on my Grandpa Thomas' birthday and today is the day before Easter Sunday. I was also baptized with my good friend, Hyrum. The bishop said he thinks we were the first two 8 year olds that got baptized at the same time in this ward. I am really comforted now that I have the Holy Ghost. When I grow up, I want to help other people with their baptism. P.S. I didn't hold my nose."

Our cute bunnies! They all lived!

Our bunnies were born March 21st, there were 5 of them. We were careful not to touch them until they grew older. The mother rabbit has done very well feeding and caring for them. They are 3 weeks old now and are chubby and have lots of fur. They are so adorable. I am not much of a fan of bunnies but these are so cute! The kids absolutely love playing with them. They are so soft and cuddly. If you are interested in having one of these bunnies they will be ready to be weaned the end of May. We are coming to Utah and we will bring a bunny to anyone who wants one. Just let us know.

Our new baby kittens!

Whispers, our cat, had 5 kittens on March 24th, they are just over 2 weeks old. They are all black and white. Some have blue eyes. The kids love to hold and love them. If you are interested in having any of these kittens let us know and we will bring one to you the end of May when we are in Utah.

Nana's calf is here!!!

It was like Christmas this morning! We woke up to a new baby girl calf! We were all so excited to see her, especially the kids. Nana had her during the night so we all missed the delivery. We named Nana's calf, Isabella, after our niece who is currently visiting from Utah. She is excited to have a cow named after her. Our rabbit also had her babies during the night. We were unable to get a picture of them today because Mother Rabbit covered them in straw and her fur to keep them warm. We also did not want to disturb her bunnies very much because last time it turned tragic and none of her babies survived. We are hoping and praying that she will take care of them this time, so we are keeping our distance from them.

We finally got Nana, our milk cow!

Last Saturday, we picked up our latest addition to the farm, Nana. She is the main reason we are here. We have waited a long time for her. Nana is 5 years old and is big pregnant. She is due to have her calf within the next 1-3 weeks. We are so excited! In fact we have a lot of exciting news to report on the farm. Spring is almost here and we are going to have baby animals! Our cow is pregnant, our rabbit is pregnant and our cat is pregnant. So it will be exciting to have new little life here on the farm. I hope to witness their births, if I'm so lucky. The kids are all very excited as well.

We survived the ice storm

The day was December 9, 2007 and we were introduced to the great weather phenomenon, somewhat common in this area of the country, known as ICE STORMS. An ice storm is made up of freezing rain, which is a form of precipitation composed of rain that turns into ice upon, or quickly after, contact with the ground or some other object. This kind of storm usually occurs when the weather is cold enough for ice, but the rain for some reason does not quite freeze. The result is amazing!! Everything gets covered with a sheet of ice.

It was a Sunday morning, 5:30 am; we were wakened by a telephone ring. It was a member of our ward informing us that church was canceled. I don't think either Chris or I can remember a time in our life that church was ever canceled, for any reason. It was very strange to say the least. Then when we went outside to investigate, it was amazing! We have never seen anything like it before. Everything was completely covered with ice! The trampoline netting was a 1/2 inch thick sheet of ice with netting in there somewhere. The cars were covered with at least a quarter of an inch of ice on the sides and more like a half an inch on the tops. Getting un-iced was a chore. We were glad there was no church because it would have been embarrassing to walk in an hour and a half late. At about 11 am our power went out. Our whole trailer is run on electricity. We have a generator but unfortunately it's not in working condition. So we layered up and Chris and the boys tried to chip away at the ice. The power stayed off. Finally, at about 4 pm, we decided that we may not be very safe staying in a trailer with ice all around, and no power so we decided to go to a ward members’ house in town. They still had power and were kind enough to accommodate us. So we camped at our friends’ house. The kids’ school was cancelled on Monday and Tuesday so it was kind of like an early winter break, only really icy. The roads were so icy that it made for very dangerous driving. Many kids, including our own are bused in from rural areas. Finally, after 3 days the power came back on and we were able to move back home.

Soon after we came back home we found out that our water heater which had been performing poorly was now dead. We were quickly introduced to cold Missouri winters, first, with no electricity then with no hot water! It definitely made it for very uncomfortable living. We have learned that our "piece of Heaven" isn't always "Heaven" during the winter months. The winters here are different than what we are used to. At times it can be really cold!!! We have been down to 5 degrees Fahrenheit this winter. However, at times it can be really warm too. We got all the way up to 70 degrees one day in January. Things don’t seem to stay frozen for weeks like they did in Utah. Snow does not stay on the ground for long. Our winter has been somewhat complicated by the fact, as we found out after the cold started, that there is little and in some cases, no insulation on the bottom side of our double wide. It makes for some awful electric bills and some colder than average nights. So, we have been getting creative and should have a solution to that problem shortly. This winter has been a test of our pioneer spirit. We are looking forward to spring.



These pictures were taken only 10 days after the ice storms. As you can see the ice melted and this day was 50 degrees! We were out exploring our land with no coats! Amazing! Missouri has strange, unpredictable weather patterns.