Wow! It's been a long time since I wrote last on here. I have been itching to get my thoughts down on paper, so here's a small update...hope you will be blessed & encouraged as you get updated on my life.
I think I should start off, since the title contains the word, goat, to mention that I am no longer in possession of these amazing animals. I have learned so much from them & hope that someday I will again be surrounded by the furry critters that think it their job to baa & get into everything. Of course, they also filled our fridge with milk, & hearts with laughter at their antics.  "Why did you get rid of them?" you might ask.  For a few reasons.  One of the primary ones being that I am working 40 hours a week now at a delightful coffee shop - Post Falls Coffee Co.  My hours, though set, are varied in when they are scheduled....meaning, I may work an early morning, then a few afternoon shifts, then again a morning.  Due to this, my milking times were very sporadic & my poor Zamar was drying up to my lack of consistency.
There is never a dull moment when you are a barista.  Whether it's slow & there's time to do some deep cleaning, or the headset is getting beeped & people are standing at the counter ordering mochas, lattes, cappachinos, or some of our bakery items - cookies, cinnamon rolls, scones, or bagals.  Now that I have worked there for several months, I have several "regulars" who are friends & always make my day a bit brighter.  My job is expanding to doing office work as well, which is swell with me. Computer work has always been exciting to me.
Since going down to one animal- a dog- more about him later, I have been working on changing my website www.joyfulmeadows.com to advertising my doula side. I was blessed to be at a birth last month & it again showed me how much being with a woman during that time is an important part if my life. And, what a help it is to the birthing mom to have someone there.
Anyways, about my pup, he is about 1 1/2 years old. He is very protective of me, even though he is only about 5 pounds. I named him Ruger & have found it very interesting to hear all the comments on my name choice. He is very smart & has a huge personality.
Last but not least, God has been teaching me so much about myself, friends & Him. It continuously amazes me how He always proves Himself faithful. I am learning how to love Him & others more each day. To God be the glory!

My exercise yesterday....

Yesterday, Mom, Kayla, Jenna & I decided to avail ourselves of the warm weather & take a walk.  Kayla took her pony, Bullet, which was fine, until we passed some horses & Bullet got a little excited.  Kay possibly would have been able to control him, but she has tendinitis/carpal tunnel right now, so it wouldn't be smart for her to continue trying to get him to obey her.  So, I took over.  I got him respecting my space & doing well, until a tractor went by.  He was obviously spooked & not wanting to listen to me anymore & when we turned around, he knew where we were headed & I was NOT going fast enough for him.  So, it began a wrestling match...who was the strongest???!!! Well, with my elbow in his side, so he wouldn't step on me (I only had flip flops on...how do I always end up in silly predicaments?)  Anyways, it was going ok for awhile....or as ok as it can be when you are fighting muscle for muscle with a horse....I did have a slight advantage, with being aware of pressure points & being willing to fully get in his space.  (Can be dangerous, especially with being on a sidewalk....I don't reccomend others to try it!)  My arm started to give out, so I had to focus on staying with it...there was no giving up now, or we'd have a horse running down the road, or something like that anyways.  When we finally got on our road, Mom told me to stop & wait for someone to be able to help.  I knew that he wouldn't just stand, so I made him spin circles.  When we got dizzy, I stopped spinning & started walking again right away.  It definitely calmed him, but not for long, so I spun him again, and again, and again.  The last time, I grabbed onto his rump hair, so I wouldn't end up on the ground & Bullet was obviously ready to stop getting spun.  We finished the walk, with Bullet respectfully & quietly walking alongside me.  I think that he learned something, & I really enjoyed it, but I did stay dizzy for awhile, even once we got home!  Maybe next time, we won't have to circle so much!

Valentines Dinner

Corbin & I have really enjoyed a weekly College Group that we get with on Thursdays.  Several people from our church & from the surrounding colleges meet for dinner, worship, Bible Study & talk time.  It provides a neat opportunity to grow closer to like-minded, mature people our age. It was proposed that we should gather at the Old Spaghetti Factory for Valentines week. 

So, after picking up a friend, we met at our church so that we could carpool to the restarant.  We enjoyed some talk time waiting for everyone to show up, then after praying, we loaded up into various cars & drove over to the restaurant. It took awhile to find a parking space, due to having to pay for a parking space & the first spot we found, the machine wasn't working.  It was rather cold, but pretty with the snow falling.  When my brother & another young man decided to move the car, I walked over to the restaurant with the rest of the guys.  We were shown downstairs into a large room with several tables.  It was really comfortable & the food was so delicious!  There were enough people to fill two big tables & a couple smaller ones.  I got to sit with Bob & Jeannie, who lead the Bible studies during college group.  It was so nice to get to know them better!  When we got back to the church, Matt entertained us by doing several card illusions.  He sure knows how to do them well! 

Baby goats

Joy did kid first, but due to one dying in utero, both bucklings died, since Joy went into premature labor.  I ended up taking her to the vet to help.  I think that I could do it now, if I was put into the same circumstances, but it was helpful to watch the vet deliver preemies.

On March 14, Hazal & Amani were racing to see who could kid first.  It would seem as if one was getting closer, but then the other would try to prove that she was the closest.  This carried on all day, until 7:30, when Hazal decided to really get down to business.  She had a doeling & buckling.  Both super easy births & healthy babies!

A few minutes after she kidded, I checked on Amani.  She was going to be pushing soon, so I moved her into a baby barn.  The first kid, a doeling, was breech, but was born ok.  The 2nd kid was born quickly & normally & the 3rd presented with just a head (the front feet were back).  He was born fairly easily despite the malpresentation.  All babies are doing well!

Goat kids arriving soon!

This spring, I have 5 goats due.  With me being gone during breeding season, I have a few dates, but am not sure when they are actually due, so I have been really watching & trying to use my past knowledge to figure out when each one is due. 

Also, with my friend Sarah, owning a UTS machine, we got to UTS them to get a better idea. 

Through UTS, it shows that Hazal & Amani are due on March 6, Emma on March 8, Joy on March 20 & Hekima in May. 

Through palpating & other signs, Joy looks likes she’s due in February, which would put her 3 –4 weeks earlier then the date by UTS.

It will be interesting to see if the UTS machine or palpating turn out right….. or neither :)

Puppies!

The morning after I arrived from the Philippines, Katie gave birth to 7 puppies!  I missed the first & last, but was so grateful that she waited for me to get home.  There were 5 girls & 2 boys…. not bad :) 

U/S goat babies

I had Sarah Pinkerton come over to ultrasound my doe goats. Listed below are the results....we will see how accurate we are when they are born! :)

M&M, looks a LOT closer to giving birth then what I originally thought. We aren't quite sure when she is due, but I think that it is 4 weeks max to her due date, with 2-3 weeks being most realistic. The baby(ies) are much stronger & bigger compared to the other goats that we U/S.

Hazal is only about 6 weeks along, so we could tell that she was pregnant, but nothing more.

April looks like she has 2 kids. Last year she had 1 huge kid, so it will be nice to have some smaller ones.

Emma's kids look really tiny compared to the other doe's kids that are due at the same time. Might get some "preemie" sized babies?

Gravity is supposedly due as my first, unless M&M is trying to take the "birthright" for her kids! :) I think that she is due with 2-3?

Rejoice is really large around, but we could only find 1 kid, though the others could have been hiding & we didn't spend much time trying to count kids.......

Anyways, I will let you know what they have & who comes in "first" :)

Hunting....& the Philippines......

I don't have any pictures, but on Saturday, we shot daga & a martines, - in the Tagalog (Philippine) language. Translated it is mice, & a starling, :)

I am travelling this May to the Philippines. Check out http://www.thelordsheritage.blogspot.com/ for all the details!!!

Fun with guns!!!

Yes, I am holding it left-handed!  We learned recently that my left eye is dominant, so I was told to learn to shoot this way.  It actually is very comfortable! :)

Can you see the shell ejecting???

 

We called this gun the “mini-cannon”!  It had a voice that echoed around our neighborhood!

 

Here is Corbin trying it out.

Yes…..I did shoot the bird!  And yes, my brother & I are planning on shooting more tonight……

Just thought that I would shock you! :)……I guess I am becoming a hunter after all…….

 

Grandpa taught Corbin & I cribbage a couple years ago….it is still our favorite game to do together!  Thank you, Grandpa!

When we started on our trip for Boise & SLC, the road conditions were very scary. We passed 7 or so accidents with 6-7 car pile-ups in some of them, & several cars off the side of the road besides.
One car we witnessed fish-tailing in the middle of the road & eventually sliding off the road into the embankment on the side. No one was hurt, however, & if we are correct, the van soon passed us on the road!
With the road conditions, it added a couple hours to our drive & a hotel stay. Us kids wanted to keep driving to the Rusts even though it was a very late hour when we pulled into LaGrande. We had just passed another wreck & Mom knew that the roads would be getting icier as the temperature dropped. So, we pulled into a gas station to ask for directions to the hotel.
Since we were in Oregan, a worker there, came out to pump the gas for us. Mom asked him for directions, which he gave us, then he continued on to say that the highway had just closed both directions & if we had continued, we would have gone 4 more miles & been stopped to wait for the opening of the highway, which could be 1 hour - 3 days!! God was sure looking out for us!
After a good sleep, we continued on to the Rusts. We were able to travel at the speed limit & got to the Rusts between lunch & dinner. That night, we watched "The Agenda", a movie that I would recommend to everyone. It shows clearly the direction that our country is heading.
The next two days we had a great time playing in the snow, playing Fuseball & ping pong, card games, talking & taking a 5 mile walk! Thank you for opening your home to us!

Our family got on the road on Thanksgiving Day, for Aunt Marty & Uncle Tom’s, who live near Seattle.  The roads were better then we expected, so we arrived in time for the big dinner.  26 relatives, including our family, were there. 

Here is Uncle Tom, Mom holding Jenna, Grandpa, myself, Aunt Stephanie – Corbin & I stayed with her & her family in Zambia, JoJo, Uncle Steve – Aunt Stephanie’s husband, Grandma, & Craig.

Molly, Kamryn, Kayla, Julia, Annabelle, Calvin, & Brayden.

The “Cave man” sure enjoyed his drumstick! :)

JoJo, Uncle David, Jenna, & Aunt Shawna.

The next day, we took a 2 hour drive south to visit our 96 year old Great Grandma, Great Grandpa & Uncle Larry.  We had another wonderful Thanksgiving dinner & went bowling while there.  After visiting for 2 days, we took a 2 hour drive back up to Aunt Marty & Uncle Toms, ate lunch, & drove another 2 hours to Whidbey Island.  Here we spent 3 days of relaxing & enjoying Uncle Steven & his family, Uncle Matthew & Aunt Nicole, & Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Marty, & Uncle Tom came up for one day.  I am sorry if this is getting confusing. :)

We took a lovely ferry ride to Whidbey Island.  (I am in the blue jacket, Corbin is beside me, Uncle Matthew is also in the back.  In the front is Kayla, Aunt Nicole, & Calvin.  Jenna is in the very front.)

The Seagulls were very pretty.  I especially enjoyed seeing them float on the breeze.

Isn’t the sun & clouds beautiful?

This is what our ferry looked like……

Here is Kayla, Rhoda, Corbin, Kamryn, Calvin, Julia, & Brayden.

 

Here are some of the cousins & Kayla, Calvin, & Corbin.  They had a lot of fun playing on the beach…..we weren’t directly on the ocean, but on an inlet, so the water was still salty.

I enjoyed doing puzzles with Brayden….something that I did often with her in Zambia.

Kamryn & Corbin caught a live big crab….. thankfully, they didn’t get pinched… :)

Enjoying the cousins!

Kayla with Rhoda & Jenna.

Only a few days away from their 1-year anniversary.  Corbin & I got back in the USA 2 days before their wedding, which we were able to participate in.

This picture was taken from the Dining room looking at the front door.  On either side of the entry way were 2 bedrooms,  both of which the walls were made of glass, & the bathrooms didn’t have a good locking system, if they had any at all…..

On leaving Whidbey, we walked this pathway to the lake….

Before heading to Uncle Tom’s, we visited Granny.

We had a great visit!

Saying “goodbye” to Uncle Tom & Aunt Marty.

We had a great trip……we were very thankful that God kept us safe & that the roads were clear, which made for easier traveling.  Thank you also Harneds for watching the animals!  This wouldn’t have been possible without you!

I.V. day! I was a little nervous at the beginning of the day, but with Ian's good teaching, I was quite confident by the time it came to sticking & being stuck with the needle. :)



At the beginning of the day, we started with doing hemoglobin tests - the finger prick with the lancet. That hurt. Then we injected oranges with water till they were squirting out... :D



After that, we talked about IV's for a long time, then we each took a turn at sticking & being stuck. I hit Sarah's vein, but by the time that I noticed it, I had already poked through the other side, & so I wasn't able to leave the drip going. Sarah got my vein the first time.....it hurt....but I watched the whole time & after the catheter was inserted, almost died from laughing! ;D



I still think that I woudn't be thrilled if I knew that I would be stuck again, but it was very amazing & I am much more confident with running tests & IVs.



Here is a picture after the IV is in and running. Sarah is in the yellow & Vicki is on the side.

Another picture of the IV.....

I am in Boise visiting friends & taking a Midwifery class!! We are on our second day of skills training, & have learned a lot!! This class goes for 6 days, except for Thursday where we will spend the day at the Hot Springs!! I am looking forward to it :)