January 2022

We introduced the kids to the wonders of Costco. Free samples and hots dogs and soda for $1.50!

 

We volunteered to teach the temple prep classes to Bonnie and Trudy in our home. They hadn't enjoyed the current teachers, so we got permission from the bishop to have it at our house. Bonnie had already gone through, but Trudy never had before.  But they both came every Monday for dinner and then we'd send the kids away and chat about temple things in the front room.  We loved it! We were able to go through the temple with Trudy for her very first time and it was so fantastic. Richie was able to stand in as one of her children to be sealed together with her husband who passed away in 2020.  After she had gone through, Bonnie and Trudy brought us a Mexican feast to say thank you! 

I had been practicing making goat's milk soap for a while and decided to start trying to sell it to recoup some of the cost. So many friends supported me!

Miles turned 13!!! Officially a teenager! Wow! To celebrate, that Sunday we invited Bonnie and Trudy over for dinner again. We had gotten so used to them coming over to eat, it felt weird not to have them over at least once a week!  Then we threw a friend party for Miles.  We had a doughnut tower instead of a cake, a pinata, pizza, and then options for movies etc. But the show was stolen when Gwen's pig duchess went into labor. It was the coldest night of the year, and so many pigs were struggling. We brought in the runts and all the girls at Miles's party took turns cuddling and trying to feed them.  Miles makes this whole teenager phase a breeze. He's such a gem. 

The night of Miles's birthday party, Duchess went into labor. It was frigid outside. Gwen faithfully stayed with Richie and Duchess to help. Since I'm writing this commentary a year later, I can't remember exact numbers, but Duchess had so many babies, some were bound to struggle. Gwen would bring them into the house to be warm by the fire and get milk replacer, then take them back outside to try and latch onto Duchess, but several didn't make it. The next morning, Spunk went into labor. By the time I went out to check on her in the morning, she had already delivered a handful, but wasn't taking care of them. We tried everything we knew how, but ended up losing all of them.  We still had a good amount of piglets, but overall, it was a hard homestead week.  Miles also sold Buddy at the end of the week, which he felt a little melancholy about. 

Misc. Homstead and Homeschool pics