We've Expanded Again...

We have been talking about getting another dog for a while now because Roxy is getting up there and needs a friend. We decided we wanted to rescue a dog and had been searching and meeting dogs for the past month or so. Finally, we found one we thought would be a good fit for our family. We were looking for a German Shepherd or Husky/Malamute mix possibly and were told this dog was a German/Dutch Sherpherd mix. He was still young enough (4mo) to train, and seemed pretty smart, so we decided to adopt him. We named him Harley and brought him home. He came home sick with Kennel Cough and had a rough first two weeks but he got over it and has been bouncy ever since. We should have named him Roo or something! As he has grown we have decided that the rescue place was completely wrong about him. He definitely has Shepherd in him but we think the rest is Pit Bull. He is too small to be full Shepherd and has traits of Pit Bull in his face shape and eyes. Even though he is smaller than we had wanted, he is pretty cute and everyone adores him. He's a good dog and hasn't been too terrible with the chewing...he just likes sprinklers and we've been through 3 already. Welcome to the family Harley!

 This was the day we went to meet him and decided he was the one.

 Brining him home and taking a nap!

 Meeting Roxy!

 Pooped again

 Watching Brooklynn play tennis - about 6 months old

 He's grown a little - Almost 7 months here

Random March Happenings

We decided to expand our "flock" this year and added 7 new chickens. Our other chickens are getting on in age and we need to make sure we have some more layers before the other ones stop laying.

 

Tyler and Lauren have been particularly snarky with one another so we tried a new consequence tactic...don't know that it solved anything but it sure was funny! I made them stay this way for an hour. They had to do EVERYTHING together and help each other with their chores. It was awesome.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tyler had his Wrestling Banquet

These are his coaches and they were really great. He had a really positive experience and is looking forward to next year.

He also was inducted into the National Honor Society

McKenna hated what we were having for dinner and thought that maybe blindfolding herself would help. It didn't. For the record, I think we were having Fish Tacos. Weird, I know.

And, last time I checked, "Calender" was actually spelled "calendAr". I had the hardest time solving this game because they didn't have the right letters. Finally I spelled it wrong and Voila, I am AWESOME!

Ducks in a Pond Quack a Happy Song...

Remember these little guys? They were so cute when we brought them home. And then they grew up and were stinky. And they were noisy. And they were messy. And they stressed out my chickens. And they were a TON of work! The thought of Winter approaching had me really worried about the reality of taking care of ducks. We found two of them a good home just a little ways away. The other two we gave away...and we are just hoping they weren't dinner. I had a harder time parting with them than I thought I would. However, I'm over it now. We just bit off more than we could chew and realized we needed to downsize.  Here's a little trip down ducky lane...

Just a few days old

McKenna really loved the ducks

This was Gerald. She was our favorite. I really hated to see her go.

 

They grew really fast....

...until they weren't little ducklings anymore.

Lauren and her crazy friends playing around with the ducks.

Goodbye little ducks!

And Then There Was One...

We started out with nine little babies and unfortunately lost one little tiny runt. As for the other eight, we have finally found them all homes. It was a fun adventure and the kids (and all the neighborhood kids) LOVED having all these cute little furballs. We may give it another go in the Spring...maybe.

Just a few days old.

It's hard to imagine our little bunnies used to be so little.

 

About 2 weeks old

 

About 3 weeks old...they were SO cute at this age. Just the perfect size and so mellow and sweet. 

  About a month and a half old. Starting to get REALLY active!

We had lots of visits from the neighborhood kids to play with the bunnies...they didn't lack for attention at all!

And then there was one. We kept one little female and named her...Prim! Had to keep with our theme...Katniss is the mom, Peeta is the dad.

Multiplying Like Rabbits

Well, not "like" rabbits, but rabbits really multiplying. Our rabbits, Katniss and Peeta, had babies last week. She gave birth to nine, but the tiny little runt of the litter didn't make it. Nobody told me they'd look like naked mole rats when they were born so I was pretty shocked that these ugly little wrinkly things were all over. However, it only took a few days to go from ugly mole rats to cute little baby bunnies. We are only planning on keeping two but I don't know how in the world Chris is going to convince the kids of that. They are pretty stinkin' cute!

Summer Catch-Up

Wow! Summer is starting to fly by. I can't believe the kids go back to school in less than a month! Yikes. Anyway, here are a few of the things we've been up to.

The girls finished up their baseball seasons. They both seemed to enjoy it. Brooklynn says she like everything about it except for the "hot part". It was pretty warm. Maybe she is more of a winter sport girl. We had a lot of fun watching them both play though.

 

 Brooklynn - T-ball 2012

 McKenna - Coach Pitch 2012

Tyler had a chance to meet a former BYU and NFL player (with a really great name), Ty Detmer. I was rather surprised to find out that he isn't all that tall.

Roxy has been chewing one of the pads on her feet off. We had to subject her to the cone of shame for several days. 

Lauren and Brynnly felt bad for her and decided to make her feel better by giving her a mani and pedi.

 

Thanks to my sister for sharing an awesome find with us, Hokulia's Shave Ice! We've been cooling off with some really yummy summer treats.

 

Brooklynn has worked very hard at trying to lose ALL of her teeth. 

We also added a few new friends to our little farm. They have grown a ton just since these pictures were taken.

 

 

So among these and some other things we keep pretty busy. I really can't believe school is just around the corner!