Christmas and New Year's 2025

The James family was spending Christmas at G&G's. We were treated to see the new movie "David" in theaters. That night, Makenna worked on Davy's stocking for me while I prepared dinner. We have a tradition of eating Hawaiian food on Christmas Eve and it was extra special because we had everyone there including the missionaries, Elder Larsen and Elder Harris. We also started a new tradition that I got zero pictures of that might be my new favorite thing. We decided since we have a barn complete with hay and cattle and goats, that's where we would read Luke 2, to give us that real sensory experience. We pulled some bales in a circle and carried battery powered candles with us. With the smell of hay and the cold December air, we read Luke 2 as the animals came in to say hello. After we finished reading the Christmas story, we sang Christmas hymns together before heading back to the house to eat some cookies and get our Christmas pj's on. 

A wonderful Christmas morning! Later that day we went to Grandma and Grandpa's for a meal and to play games with cousins. Then we took them to see the caldwell lights! 

We then made the trek down to SG to spend the rest of the break with the Crosby side. It was pretty chill. We brought a puppy down to sell to a friend, played a lot of foxtail at the park, went to an arcade, and I finally had time to finish Davy's stocking. It only took me 6 years to finish his stocking! Ha! But now they are all done, and I will never make another one again! Boom! Lindy also decided to get a nasty cold this trip, and Gwen was such a sweetheart taking care of her. 

December 2025

 Benson and Lindy participated in a home school orchestra and percussion group. I'm so proud of them for trying something new. Can't believe how quickly Lindy picked up the violin. 

Activity Days Christmas Party and Ward Christmas Party

We saved up some money and decided it was time to remodel the main bathroom. It had some water damage, and with Richie's new job, we had the equipment to take care of things! We completely gutted it. 

Elf Dinner! 

 Puppies Puppies Puppies!!!! We were bottle feeding, bathing, and working on selling all the cute puppies!

Extra December pics! Including: A primary service project where we colored birthday cards and put together birthday cake kits for the food bank, co-op and other classes, inviting the 3 other girls going into YW with Lindy over to decorate "gingerbread" houses. We wanted to help them feel like they had buddies going into a new church setting. 

November 2025

 Big day for Gwen and Lindy! :) BYU Vocal point was performing in Caldwell and we went to their concert. They fangirled so hard and it made my heart happy.

Apple Pressing Day! It was cold and dark, so we moved things inside G&G's barn. 

Daisy did it again! We bred her with a golden retriever we board sometimes. She had 10 puppies, but one didn't make it. She of course handled everything like a champ. The main hiccup happened a few weeks later when she developed her first case of Mastitis. It was pretty scary. The teat eventually burst and she had to have emergency surgery to remove the entire teat and mammary gland. This meant that she had to wear a cone for weeks and be separated from her babies, so we took on bottle feeding 9 puppies. 

I made a big choice in November, and decided to sell my basket business to my friend Heather. I was so blessed to buy the business from Jenn a few years previous and I genuinely loved the whole process of shopping for all the cute things, arranging them, blessing other small businesses. It was so good! But life was overwhelming and dog boarding was taking more of my time. You can't do it all! Heather bought the business from me and is doing such a great job! 

Thanksgiving!!! I can't believe I only got 4 pictures. We hosted at our house this year and had Shannon come over. We ate lots and lots of yummy food. Quiet and lovely. 

The rest of November, including: A big chicken butchering day for a client, Gwen doing an amazing job performing in a small production after co-op, and the beginning of our own milk cow! Our friend's the Salmons offered her to us for free,  because they had had trouble breeding her and some members of their family are lactose intolerant. We had our vet check her out, and within minutes identified an infection in her uterus easily cleared with antibiotics. We then transported Dolly to Mom and Dad's pasture where there was a bull on site.