Subtle but significant blessings

Our little family has reached many milestones since my last post. First and foremost, this little beauty, Miss Heidi Alice, turned two!

We had a fun birthday for her. She got a homemade dolly and matching skirt, some cowgirl boots that she wants to wear allll the time,

and two little kitties. Okay, so we were going to get them anyways as mouse catchers, but her birthday seemed like the perfect day to get them. She loves those "kickies". And the "goggy" Ranger. And the "shee".

Thank you for joining our family two years (plus a couple months now) ago!

And Elijah started 1st grade. He never ever wants to go, but he almost always says he had a fun day. And he is SUCH a great reader! He loves to read books. And he's the best little artist. I really should do a post of his amazing art work. (Note to self: do a post of Elijah's amazing art work.) He's also incredible with math. Last night we played a game called Pass the Pigs. Some math is involved in the game, and I said, "What's 16 plus 5?" Elijah almost immediately blurted out, "21!" Sheeeeesh, kid.

We had a wonderful General Conference last week, in which we were reminded that the Lord blesses us with many, many subtle but significant blessings when we pay our tithing, which is exactly what has been happening with us. Those blessings are the whole reason we have this sweet little 5 acre homestead, a cute little home, good health, nice vehicles, fun animals, all the food we could wish for, and so on. We also learned so much about families, missionary work, how to be meek, and much more. It was uplifting and it inspired me to do better and to be happier. It was also fun to get to lay around in the living room together for two days straight. :)

This morning we woke up to about 4 inches of snow! It was gorgeous, even though I'm not ready for winter. Fall will be back, right? (Right? Pleeeease.) The craziest part about this snow is, it's about the 4th snow storm we've had this month! Yeah. Serious. We've also had, oh, maybe 10 rainstorms in the last month. See the pattern here, subtle but significant blessings. In August our sheep were completely out of grass and we thought we'd have to feed hay all through fall. Nope. They've been eating grass in the pasture for a month now! Since when does grass grow so well in the fall!?

And last but CERTAINLY not least, this sweet baby boy turned 6 months. Okay, and now 7 1/2 months. He army crawls all over the house and smiles at everyone. He is the happiest, loviest (it might not be a real word, but it should be) little guy. What a joy he is!

P.S. Ranger, the kitties, and the lambs are all 6 months old now too. Lots of babies on this homestead.

Pioneer Day

We had a belated Pioneer Day yesterday with the family. It was the most fun we've had in a long time. We pulled Sawyer, Heidi and a picnic in a handcart up to a fresh spring lake full of fish. We ate wild raspberries all along the way and talked about the Pioneers. We went fishing, played by the lake, and hiked back. For dinner we had a bean and "rabbit" (okay, leftover chicken) stew, fry bread, and fish. Then Abram helped the kids make pioneer toys and we played stick wrestling. Then Abram shared President Monson's message about how the world needs pioneers today. It was SUCH a perfect family pioneer day. I think it needs to be an annual tradition. (And I think I need to go get some raspberry starts!)

Home

Oh give me a home

where Icelandic sheep roam

and the corn and the canteloupe grow;

where children are heard

saying cute nonsense words

and in the skies someone's tent blows away.

 ("I didn't even know deer and antelope were friends!" -Elijah)

Happy, crazy, non-stop life on the homestead

Here's what we've been up to lately. Planting, playing, working, digging, more planting, more playing, and oodles of silliness.

Farm animals

We are the happy owners of some farm animals! One English Shepherd pup and ten Icelandic sheep. We haven't brought any of them home yet, but they will be joining us on the homestead next month, just as soon as our fences are ready. You have no idea how excited we are about it. What a dream come true!

Meet Sawyer

The night before Sawyer was born, Abram and I went to a ward dinner for adults. It was a Mexican-theme party with Cafe Rio-style food and some fun, silly games. Some nice girls from our ward came to our house and played with our kiddos while we were away.

Throughout the evening I'd been having contractions that were mild, but regular. We got home and tucked the kids in, and went to bed. By 3:00 in the morning, I started to think that it might be real labor, and called my midwife. I still wasn't sure, so we decided to wait until I was more sure before she headed over in the snow storm. At 3:45 I called her again and said she better come. I was sure. Then I called Mum and she headed out too.

Abram set up the little birthing pool and I labored through the rest of the night. 

Just as it was starting to get light, at 6:46 am, our sweet little guy arrived. He had a hard time breathing at first but my midwife knew exactly what to do, and she let Abram and I hold him while she helped him.

The kids woke up 5 minutes later, and Mum arrived 15 minutes after that.

The kids were so excited to see that our baby boy had come a week earlier than we'd expected. Heidi was amazed that this baby moved (unlike her baby dolls).

We finally decided on his name after we'd gotten a little sleep. Sawyer Lehi Felsch. He weighed 8 lbs 2 ounces. His hair is reddish, but not as bright as Elijah's and Heidi's.

We're so happy to finally have Sawyer here. We've enjoyed all the little cries, the tiny smiles, the super-soft baby skin, the sweet spirit that only a newborn can bring.

We love you, little Buddy!

Happy Halloween!

May your explorations lead you to grand adventures!

Love,

Lewis, Clark, and Sacagawea