Goodbye chickens!

So, we've known since September that we would be moving to Georgia.  We first planned to move in January, but that plan didn't work out (I'm actually grateful it didn't!  It's so much nicer to move in the spring!).  So, here we are, in the midst of our last week in our home.  Amongst other things, we sold the chickens this week on Craigslist.  We got so many responses to the ad in the first hour after posting that I had to remove the post so I didn't get phone calls/texts all day long!  I think we found the right person to buy them- she has a great 4 acre yard for them to be free-range and a very spacious coop for them.  She has been so kind and even sent pictures of the chickens in their new home so the kids could see that they were doing well.  Emma, the main care-taker of the chickens, has really had a rough time leading up to saying goodbye.  The chickens really are her good friends!  She has been praying for a couple weeks that they will go to the right home, so no doubt that is how the right person found our ad.  There were tear shed as we watched the buyer drive away.
We took pictures the afternoon the chickens left as a last reminder.  Emma is ready to get hers printed and framed. 
The chickens have been a wonderful experience for our family.  Raising them from chicks has been so much fun!  Believe it or not, the moving company will move the chicken coop to Georgia!  So, we are taking it with us and plan to get more chickens out there. 

Here are the final farewell pictures:

One of the pictures we posted to sell the flock

Another

Another



One of the last times getting water for the chickens.  They were thirsty that morning and followed Emma over to the hose.

The chickens in our yard.

Grant and Charly

Another one with Charly- because Grant looks so cute!

Arianna with Brownie and Beakea

Emma with Blacky, Flower, and Peepy

Emma and Peepy

Arianna with Beakea and Brownie again.

Grant with a flapping Puffy

Spending time with the chickens on the last day

Grant with Charly and Puffy

Again

He was really hamming it up!

 

He did not want to say goodbye to his chicken!

Emma and Flower

We had chicken pot pie for dinner the night we said good bye to the chickens (ironic, eh?) 

Chicken Love:

Easter

We had a lovely Easter at home.  It was also General Conference Weekend, so it was nice and low-key.  With our business of the house hunting and house selling, it never even crossed my mind to get any special Easter clothes for the kids; it's a good thing I didn't because most of us stayed home from church the week before Easter with sickness and then Easter Sunday we stayed at home to watch conference here! 
In the early morning hours of Friday before Easter, we had a pretty intense rain/wind/thunder storm.  We ended up loosing power for almost 24 hours.  We were worried we wouldn't have power for the holiday weekend, but luckily it came back on Friday night as we were preparing for bed.  Hooray!  I was thankful to be able to make cinnamon rolls for Saturday morning conference.  We really enjoyed watching general conference.  I am so thankful to have the wisdom and spiritual knowledge flowing into our lives every 6 months from these conferences.  I felt very spiritually fed. 
The kids enjoyed dying eggs with Dad that afternoon.

We actually bought white eggs to dye- since all our chickens lay colored eggs.

Happy children

Kate joined the fun after getting up from her nap.

Funny Dad wrote on this egg with the clear crayon before the kids dyed it.

Happy Easter!

Sunday morning, we had our Easter Egg breakfast and then did the Resurrection eggs- reading all the scriptures and thinking about the Savior's last week, his death, and resurrection. It was lovely. 

Kate loved opening each egg and seeing what was inside!

They loved it!

Arianna emptied hers all out on her plate before she ate.

After that the kids had their egg hunt in the yard.  This year I filled the eggs with puzzle pieces, money and pistachios.  It was a hit all around.  (We had gone to our town's Egg Hunt Friday evening and the kids got way too much candy there, so I didn't want to give them anymore!) 

With Dad



Ready for the hunt!  (Emma found one of the door handle on her way out of the house!)

Sniff, sniff- our house with the For Sale sign out front.

Emma on the hunt

Grant was so delighted- you'll have to look at that face up close- it is priceless!

Kate was having so much fun finding eggs

See?

Putting the puzzle together afterwards during Conference

Bunnies for lunch

Enjoying lunch- notice Grant's conference crown. 

 Sunday afternoon Dad put on his annual Easter Scavenger Hunt.  The kids had a great time and enjoyed their basket of goodies. 

The prize at the end was: play dough, markers, sparkly light-up bouncy ball, and a ball with Velcro mitts.

Sunday evening we had dinner at our friends' home, the Flahertys.  They have 2 children with twins on the way!  We had delicious curry with sides of deviled eggs and a fruit pizza to polish it off. 
I am so thankful for my family and for all the great memories we create together. 

Our trip West

We made the trek out to Utah again in March- this time for Kenneth's brother, Dennis's, wedding.  It was a two-edged sword- the timing of this trip was.  It was great that we could leave the house now that it was on the market and we could get a call at anytime for someone to come and look at it.  I being the perfectionist of sorts that I am, had to have the house perfect anytime anyone came to see it.  As you may well imagine, this does not mesh well with having four young children and homeschooling them, no less.  Very stressful for a poor soul like me.  We actually had showings the day before we were to leave and the day we were to leave town.  Not fun.  Then, we had to leave the house in perfect showing order.  I usually like to leave the house clean before we leave on a trip, but this definitely took it to a new level.  So, it was great that we would be gone for 2 weeks and let all kinds of people come to look while we were away, but the preparations were difficult to say the least.  But, it all worked out. 

 On the way to Utah, we stopped over at my sister's house in Parker, CO.  They are always so good to let us stay!  My sister was to be the keynote speaker at a Relief Society Conference the morning after we arrived, so I was able to go and hear her speak about Faith in the Savior Amidst the Storms of Life.  She is an amazing person with some amazing experiences.  How many people do you know who have experienced being in a boat on the Sea of Galilee in a storm?  What made her talk even more incredible was that the 10 days or so leading up to the talk she had laryngitis and hadn't been able to speak above a whisper.  Even walking into the building that morning she couldn't speak.  I was the backup and had a copy of her talk in case I needed to be her 'voice'.  She had had a blessing earlier in the week which said that she would be able to give her talk.  When she stood up to speak, her voice sounded completely normal!  It went away again after the conference was over, but she was able to share her amazing experiences with those women in her stake.

My sister's display in the Cultural Hall at the Conference- yes, she has 8 children!

The Cultural Hall all decked out for the lunch after the program- it looked so beautiful and smelled so delicious- I was sad to miss the lunch portion.

 Directly after that we took off for Salt Lake.

The kids really do quite well generally in the car.  We let them eat pretty much the whole time- whenever they ask for something.  We try to have lots of healthy choices, with the occasional treat thrown in there.  We decided to take the route through the mountain this time, because in December weather dictated we drive through Wyoming.  It was beautiful!  Even more beautiful in the summer when there is more green, but we still enjoyed it.  Also, southern Utah is unique and beautiful in its own right. 

We arrived Saturday night at my mom's house.  She had been in a convalescent home up until a few days before our arrival.  She had had a pretty severe infection in her hip and blood.  We were so grateful that she had recovered so well and that we could actually spend some good time with her in her home.  I love my mom!  The kids love to play games with her and watch movies with her. 

Arianna at the Christus.

Sunday morning, Kenneth and Emma were able to attend Music and the Spoken Word in the Tabernacle while the other three children and I watched it on the big screen in the North Visitors' Center on Temple Square (the other kids were too young to be allowed in the Tabernacle where it is recorded.)  It was a neat experience for Emma.  We ran into some old friends we knew from our days in Potsdam- the Pykles.  So great to see them!

During our time in Salt Lake we realized Emma had a major skin problem, which she had not shown us or told us about previously.  (We had seen some small bumps on her knees many months before, but through the whole winter we never saw her legs and it had spread and gotten MUCH worse.  We looked it up online and came to the conclusion that it was probably impetigo, which was confirmed at the Urgent Care the next day.  It ended up involving both Strep and Staph bacteria and she had to have a bleach bath (just 1/4 cup of bleach in a bathtub of water) and both an oral and topical antibiotic!  I felt like a horrible mother for letting it get so bad (and likely having had infected lots of other children Emma had been in contact with!)

After having been on the antibiotic for 24 hours, we made the trip up to Kenneth's Sister's home up in Logan area.  The rest of Kenneth's family also joined us there.  It was such fun to be all together. 

These guys are hilarious!

Good times!

Dennis's wedding was kicked off with a reception the night before the sealing.  It was in the beautiful Memorial Grove in Salt Lake.  They had a crepe bar and cake pops for the 'cake'.  Adorable!  (I must admit, this pregnant woman wanted something without sugar during the evening!)  We actually left the kids up in Logan and came down for the reception and wedding on our own.  We stayed at my mom's house and she had a lovely bowl on soup and salad waiting for us after the reception- let me tell you, that hit the spot! 

The lovely couple, Dennis and Beth

 

The reception hall

The cake pops 'cake'

My sweet mother-in-law, Louise

Dennis and Beth said a few words to each other and exchanged rings.  Very sweet.

My in-laws dancing- something I had never seen before!

Eating cake pops!

The next morning we went to the temple early to do sealings before the actual sealing ceremony of Kenneth's brother.  It was so nice to be in the temple!  The sealing of Dennis and Beth was very special.  They are lucky to have each other!

Beautiful Bountiful Temple

Coming out after the sealing

I love this picture- so happy!

This one, too!

In the sun

Kenneth's family with the bride and groom

Kenneth's immediate family.  I love all those smiles. 

The traditional pick up the groom trick

I love these people!

. . .And drop him in the bushes!

Shaking it off

. . .smoothing out the suit

Very funny, guys

And one of me Kenneth took in front of the temple

After the sealing, we had a great lunch of salad and pizza at a local restaurant with both the Larchar and Webster families.  It was a lot of fun to get to know them a little better. 

I was glad to be back with the kids that evening.  The next morning was Alyssa's baptism.  Again, it was so nice to be altogether as family for that special day. 

Alyssa with Grandma and Grandpa Larchar

Monday morning, Kenneth and I took off for Atlanta on our 5 day house hunting trip.  We didn't really intend to put an offer on a home that week, but we found the one we thought would be great for us and we made an offer and got it!  It is beautiful!  I enjoyed time with Kenneth and going out to eat every night! 

One of the nights we ate at The Melting Pot- a Fondue Restaurant- I've always wanted to go to one of those.

It was delicious!

We are so grateful to Kenneth's sister and family and Kenneth's parents for looking after the children while we were gone.  We returned to Logan Friday evening,

The very next morning, we loaded into the van to make the long 2 day drive home again.  We again stayed over at my sister's home- with everyone gone on a trip but my neice, Aimee, and them made it home Sunday evening.  We also stopped to see my other sister in Aurora, CO this time.  It was nice to see her and my niece, Ellen, even if it was only a few short minutes. 

Kate sleeping on the way home

Arianna couldn't resist and had to hold her little hand (and rub her little cheek)

Sunday evening we made it back home.  The best news was, as we were pulling onto our street from the long drive home, our realtor called to tell us we had an offer on our home here in Kansas.  What a relief!  Especially since we had already purchased a home in Georgia!