Crazy!

I was just sitting here at the computer after faxing a transcript to a school when Mike's letter came in. I thought "Why is he writing on Tuesday?" I seriously had to ask Tom what day it was.
In my defense, it has been a crazy morning. We have 2 boys with birthdays today so we spent the morning conversing with parents and packing them up to send them (boys, not parents) to Provo to the mall. That's what they both wanted to do. Also, Jef took our truck and the horse trailer to go to Provo to pick up a horse that belongs to one of our students whose parents are obsessive and REALLY wanted their little boy to have his horse. Then I went to work with Katie getting a transcript all straightened out to fax to the school that a mom of a past student was meeting with. They were pretty wigged out cause they didn't have it yet but they didn't send me the fax number.... you know how it goes. Anyway, in the middle of that I get a text from Chris saying that they had broken down in Nephi and were in need of rescuing! So I went to work on getting Tom back from the lower ranch with the car and waking Daddy up to tell him the bad news. He was putting a pillow over his head. :) Daddy got on his way and I went back to cleaning, cooking, laundry and packing so I can go stay with John and Chelsea's boys while they go on a "trek" with their ward. Whew! What a morning!
So, other than a whirlwind kind of life at the moment, we're fine. Well, except for Tom who has all the symptoms of West Nile Virus. Its supposed to only last for a few days and goes away by itself though. It just makes him miserable!

Welcome! Elena Lois Forsythe!!!!

What a beautiful girl! The nurse said the delivery was perfect. And Misty looked great!


After delivery Misty was STARVING! She had been craving a Subway sandwich for months but couldn't eat one because of a virus potential? So we brought her one and she ate the WHOLE thing!!! Way to go Misty!!





Corban is still in denial and didn't want anything to do with it all!


Of course Gramma and Gramps had a great time holding Elena for the first time. She is so sweet!




Congratulations Chris and Misty!!!!

I'm on a roll!

This is the last one, I promise... Well, at least for today, not like, EVER!
(Blame Lisa!)





We have also been working hard on the yard. Its such a big project! Daddy and I have been buying flowering shrubs and such on our trips north. We found a great big nursery up there that has every plant ever created I think. We've been getting some really cool plants and hauling them home. The last kid we picked up at the airport had to ride home in a forest. I had plants stacked all over in the back seat with just enough room left for him to sit. We also bought a used lawnmower that works and Tom has been hacking down the weeds that are growing in the absence of a lawn. But, lawn has to come after we get the trees and shrubs and all such in. So in the meantime, he gets to mow the weeds. But its all coming together. We should have it all figured out in a year or two! :)


The idea here is, that in a couple of years the flowering shrubs on the outside will be 8-10 feet tall and wide, the next ones in around 4 feet tall and wide, and the perennials next to the patio will fill in (where you can barely see them now) and form a nice 10-12 inch border of plants around the cement. Stay tuned and see if it actually turns out that way in a few years. Hopefully we will enjoy many pleasant BBQ's on that patio surrounded by beautiful plants and fragrant flowers. You're all invited, of course. But don't wait on the plants, please!

We had a plane crash by our house!

The pilot wasn't hurt so it was just a good thing to go look at. I had actually seen him on his approach to the airport and could see that he was out of control, but I was driving Gma to Walmart and I didn't stop to see where he went or anything. He was dipping and waffling his way toward the runway with way too little airspeed. Apparently in the end he kinda missed the runway altogether and landed nose first in an alfalfa field just beyond the end of the runway. The plane looked pretty funny just sitting there on its nose in the middle of the field. I was glad to hear that the pilot was okay. He was going pretty slow, so he didn't hit too hard.

OK! Lisa said I should post these things on my blog, so I'm going to do it. I even went out and took pictures so it wouldn't be so dull.

But, never a dull moment here! In between running back and forth to the airport we have been having new litters of pigs. And not just one at a time. No! that would be much too calm and sane. We had been waiting and watching for a sow to farrow, (see Talula below) and when she finally started having her pigs it was a big event. Everyone wanted to go see and celebrate. That lasted for a little while until the initial excitement was over and then it was left to the stalwarts to wait out the long night.



Daddy, of course was there through the night and saved the day. (or night) :) He was standing outside the sow's pen waiting for the next arrival when he got a funny feeling, a prompting to look in the big pen with all the pigs. There he found a young gilt that we didn't even think was ready, giving birth! He got there just as she delivered it and got up to try and kill it! He was able to save the newborn piglet, put it in with the sow's new babies, and move the gilt to another pen where she could be alone. The next pig was born and she tried to kill it also, so he had to be very attentive and snatch them away as she had them before she could kill them. She had 5 in all and the sow accepted them all as her own. Meanwhile, the sow is continuing to have more babies, but she's doing just great and doesn't really need help, which was a good thing since Daddy was pretty busy rescuing the gilt's babies. And did I mention that all this was in the dark? At the lower ranch there aren't even streetlights. He did have a flashlight. ;) All in all, between the timing of the gilt's litter so that the sow could feed them, and the prompting for Daddy to go look in the other pen, we feel rather blessed. Who knew that the Lord likes pigs, and not only that, OUR pigs and us. Go figure! :)


As an after note, the gilt is now being prepared in little white packages to adorn our dining table! The sow is happy with all the babies. I don't really think she ever knew the difference, and if she did, she didn't care. All is well.


But wait! It continues.... Last night Tom was playing some video games with his investigator friend (Jory) and another kid who really needed some attention. (Since there is only one active Priest in the 1st Ward they don't even bother to hold YM, so Tom puts together an activity himself) Anyway, when he was done, he went out to check on another sow that has been getting close but we thought was still several days away. Nope! She had already had 7 pigs right in the middle of the big pen with the other pigs. Tom had to get her out of there and into a farrowing pen that we had already built, but hadn't moved her to yet. Then he had to go round up all her pigs in the dark. They had been born for long enough that they had started to wander. One of them had gotten itself in the feeder and it put up a squeal when Tom got it out. All the other pigs, who had been being really good with the babies by the way, got quite upset with Tom that he made the baby squeal. They all came running to see what was wrong with it and Tom got it, and himself, out of there. Soon he had all the babies with the mother and she settled down to feed her hungry crew and all was calm. Yea Tom! He stayed for awhile longer, until 4 ish, and then came home to try and get some sleep. A good night's work, I'd say. :)