March 2018 - SF, Chicks, Shearing, Lambs, Brian's Birthday

I don't even know how to start with March!  So much has happened since the beginning of March I don't think I can remember that far back.  From the pictures, it looks like we had some major snow at the beginning of the month!  Winter finally came!

We took the boys to eat Indian food for the first time.  They loved the Naan bread.

I love coming in a bedroom in the morning to find them both reading.

I taught the last Meet the Masters art project in both Brian and Timmy's classes.  I enjoyed doing that this year.

Just a picture of the boys working out.  I am glad someone uses the equipment! They were "training" for the fun run at school.

The boys got really into water bottles and convinced Mark to give them his nice Lecorpio bottles.

Mark worked for a week in San Francisco but had a Friday afternoon and all of Saturday to hang out with Luke and Sunny.  He also was staying in a nice downtown hotel.  So I decided to fly to San Francisco on Friday and meet him there and come home with him on Saturday evening.  I am so glad I went.  It was so much fun.  My Mom got Brian and Timmy from school and stayed with them overnight and then Mark's parents stayed with them Saturday night until we got home.

I took a shuttle to Standford where I met Mark and Luke.  Luke gave us an awesome tour of campus.  I was in awe at all that beauty and wished I was there going to school like Luke.

Then when Sunny finished work she came and picked us up from campus and we went to Korean BBQ.  Oh man that was the most delicious food and I really loved spending some time with this power couple.  They are my favorite!

Then they showed me their apartment (Mark has seen it and slept there several times) and we drove into San Fran. This was the view from our hotel.

We all crashed in Mark's hotel room Friday night and were looking forward to a Saturday in San Francisco.  I was on Utah/kid time and woke up before everyone, but tried to be quiet as I took a shower.  Then we decided to go rent bikes and ride to the Golden Gate bridge.  I am so glad we did this.  It was so much fun!

The advantage to going first thing in the morning was that we were some of the only people biking.  The disadvantage was that much of the bridge was covered in fog.  But, it did dissipate as we rode on.

We barely made it to the top of this hill, and I took pictures while we got our breath.

The cheesy video we had to watch at the bike rental place said we had to give high fives when we made it to the top of the hills.  So we did.

Slowly we started to see the tops of the bridge.

We rode half way across the bridge and then came back for more sightseeing and adventures.

We had a lovely stop at Ghirardelli Square where Luke and Sunny got us some amazing hot chocolate.

I just the love the ocean.  It is not something I get to enjoy here in Utah so I always want to walk along and enjoy the sounds and smells and sand. The others did not share my desire at the time so they watched me watch the ocean.

The houses in San Francisco really are the best!  I love just looking at them.

After a little walk along Fisherman's Wharf we got hungry and took an Uber to Chinatown!  Oh we loved Chinatown.  Mark felt like he was back in Hong Kong.  It was glorious and delicious.

After Chinatown we went to a pen store for Luke and then to Golden Gate park.  Luke and Sunny dropped us off at the airport and Mark and I flew home.  What a fun one night adventure!
It was definitely worth the planning for babysitters at home and the time and the money in my opinion, but fun to see the kids when they woke up the next morning. I got them Ghirardelli chocolates.

And Mark go them nun chucks!

And then it was back to our life of practicing and homework.  Here is Timmy at his cello lesson.

The snow melted and things started to warm up!

Our neighbor is hand raising this adorable calf after his mom died giving birth to him.  He is so cute and we love watching him wander by the fence line.

The fun run came at school.  The kids were ready to run!

And dance.

There next few pictures are just random things that happened during March.

The boys got really into taking pictures.

We discovered our new favorite restaurant, Thai Mango.

And went to Ellie's birthday party.  They loved the scavenger hunt!

I never get tired of the view from my kitchen.

My Airbnb has kept me busy, but has also brought in a nice extra income.  I have lots of good reviews and I think people enjoy it here.  I have enjoyed the ski vacationers the most.  It is fun to meet people and they have all been excellent guests. 

Our favorite guests were a family from Alabama.  We usually don't invite guests into our part of the home, but this family was the exception.  The parents were so friendly and funny and they have two boys two years apart.  One is in college and the other a senior.  Those boys were smart and polite and well rounded and so cute to play with Brian and Timmy.  They came by for a bit just before bedtime so Timmy was already in pajamas. We enjoyed getting to know this family and hope to see them again!

Chick hatching time arrived!

We turned the gutted master bedroom into a chick hatchery and nursery.

Watching chicks hatch is one of my favorite things in the world, but watching the boys watch the chicks hatch is even better!

Pip did not know what to think or do.  She is still learning not to see the chicks as little moving furry tennis balls.

We got our brooder boxes all set up.

We watched our chicks hatch for several days.

Then we put them into the brooder boxes (or kiddie pools in our case which I loved).  We ended up with 34 chicks.

Oh the cuteness!

I took the boys over to the wood carvers show at Wheeler Farm.  They loved it and didn't mind mingling with all the old men there,

Then it was Federation time!  I accompanied the boys and luckily did not mess them up.  Timmy played Lully Gavotte and Boccherini Minuet.  Brian played Clock Tower Bells by Carey Cheney and Minuet in G by Beethoven.  They both got Superior ratings.  They still share a cello when they are playing at separate times.  Really the only place we need two cellos is at group class.

Right after federation we headed home to help Mark shear the sheep.  Get a good look at this girl because her looks changed pretty drastically after shearing.

Mark started with the ram.  We didn't think to put him on the soft grass until after he was done. Sorry Rambo.

Then it was Mabel's turn.  She was really calm, but the clippers were not working very well so it took a long time.

Is Mark shearing a bear or an Ewok?

I only got one picture of Molly being sheared because boy did she fight!  She fought from every position.  I had to hold her down.  The boys had gone inside by this point as we had been at this business for hours, but I wished they were out there to take a picture of us.  At one point I was on the ground holding Molly on top of me while Mark worked on her.  I know we looked completely ridiculous. Such are the adventures on the farm.

I think Mark did a great job of shearing for a first time with not so great clippers.  I don't think I could get him to do it again though. Mark's back told him the next day to pay for a shearer next time and call it good.  Luckily the sheep don't care that they had a bad haircut.  I can tell they were so much more comfortable with the pounds of wool removed!

Our lawn needed a cleaning after, but we were sooo tired!

I was glad we got the sheep sheared because a few days later on March 28th we got an amazing surprise in the barn!  Molly had twin black lambs!  I was not expecting it at all until the next week.  I didn't even go outside until I dropped the kids at school and then I went out to help Mark with the chickens and TA-DA!  Molly was in the barn with two babies still steaming just trying to stand!  I was in total shock.  I snapped this picture and yelled to Mark to come see.

I sprayed the cords in iodine and gave them some sheep nutridrench and made sure they were nursing.

It was a crazy day.  Timmy had a doctor's appointment a half hour later so I had to leave them all in the barn and hope all went well.

Molly had a boy and a girl.

During all of this lambing craziness, we had to move the chicks to the outside.  I was going to build them a brooder for the barn and then decided it will be much better in the end to keep them separate but within the main coop.  So we came up with this temporary pen for them under the roosting bars.  It was been working out quite well and I hope will make the transition with the older hens easy in a few weeks.

March 29th came which is Brian's birthday!  It was also the first day of Spring Break for the boys.  Brian could not wait for his birthday gift.  He wanted in first thing on his Birthday.  It was a very special Lego set he had picked out.

He worked on it all morning!

He was so intent on building that thing that we let him enjoy his birthday wish and stay in his pajamas until he was done.

Then that afternoon we took Nai Nai and Yei Yei with us to the Jordan River Temple open house.  It was a very nice afternoon.

Then they took us to Brian's choice of Sizzler. It was very nice.

Mark got really into learning about knives this month.  He can tell you everything there is to know about them and he got himself a really great knife for the kitchen.  After using this knife I asked him to get me a whole block set to replace the set we got when we were married. I love them!

We spent lot of time at the end of March with these cuties!

Brian asked for a Nerf war with his cousins for his Birthday, so we planned it for just before the Easter Egg hunt at the ranch.  He was so happy his cousins were excited to play with him.

Then it was egg hunting time!

We stayed over night at the ranch and while we ate dinner, Pip felt most comfortable sitting in her bed in the back of the car.

Then we sang to Brian and had cupcakes.

How is he 10 years old? Happy Birthday Brian!  He is growing in all aspects of his life and has become such an amazing kid.  He is well rounded in his interests and hobbies and gets along with anyone.  We love our Bri Bri.

March ended with the beginning of General Conference and Easter and Spring Break, which made for one amazing weekend. My March pictures are overflowing with pictures of Molly and her lambs, but I did not neglect Mabel and Ahab.  Here they are asking for a treat at the barn door.  They make a funny pair.