Nilsson News

 Well I guess it's the season for farm stories!  I absolutely love it when the kids really get to be involved.  We had two moms who were getting close to their foaling dates but just like people you never really know when things will take place.  Addy suggested that we lock the two in stalls in Friday night where they would be in a protected place and where we could watch them on the camera, mainly because the night was supposed to be really windy and cold.  I told Addy before going to bed that I really didn't think they would foal because their udders didn't seem very full and I wasn't able to express any milk.  Throughout the night, I checked on the camera on my phone but the mom's weren't showing any unusual behavior.  At 3:00 a.m. I looked on my phone again and there was a baby!  Garrett, Addy and I went out to the barn and guessed the foal to be about an hour old.  All seemed to be going as it should for which we are always grateful.

Garrett and I left for the temple at 6:30 that morning and I'd given Addy instructions to feed the animals and let the other mom out who hadn't foaled yet.  We had a good session though it was a little difficult to stay awake due to early events that morning.  Afterwards we ran to the grocery store.  Just as we were leaving, we got a call from Addy saying that the other donkey mom was foaling!  Eliza had gone out to see the new foal and discovered the other mom in the barnyard with the foal partly out!  She ran in to tell Addy, who called me for instructions, and when we arrived on the scene all of the kids were out there making sure everything was okay, which it was.  The wind was blowing like crazy so we transferred everyone to the warm barn.  This last foal was super tiny and fluffy and adorable!  The foals are both girls that we named Celia and Portia.  It has been an exciting time!  Next up are the two goats and then our spotted donkey, Ella, and then.....ME!

This is Portia, the foal born early in the morning.

This is Celia, the most adorable creature we've ever seen!  She's only about 18.5 inches tall.

In addition to foaling excitement, we finished cleaning up and hauling off the willow tree, cleaned out flower beds, hauled off the dirt pile in the front yard, tilled the garden, and thought of spring as we watched out our window the falling snow.  We've almost completed painting Addy's new bedroom and then we should be done with indoor projects.  There's always something happening around here!

Manning Moments

 Things have been fun around here. We have been planting some cold crops and they are doing great. The boys each want their own garden section to take care of this year and I'm excited about that but it has been interesting so far. We got them some tools so that it would be easier but so far I have received a hole in my leg from a rake and a good whack on the back from a hoe. Then the lettuce got planted somewhere and I don't know where to water but hopefully they grow. Wesley pulled up a big weed and wanted to take care of it inside and it is thriving. So, I don't know if we will be taking care of veggies or weeds this year but it should be fun!

On Friday we got to take Em and Cam and Mom and Dad to the Ashton Gardens to see the tulips. It was so fun to hang out with them and the weather was lovely! 

Gus is charming everyone he meets. He has the cutest toothy smile and he loves to laugh. He recently learned that he can scream really loud and he enjoys doing that a lot!

The house hunt is not very fun and I think we'll stop doing it. But we still are trying to figure out addition choices. 

That's all for now! Love you!

Flake Fun

 This week has been challenging in the sleep department. With the exception of Scott, we all have runny noses and sore throats. That led to a couple of basically sleepless nights which are difficult to recover from. 

Saturday was a productive day though.  Scott worked on the shed some more and I planted trees (8 total), mopped the floor and put our pictures back up on our newly painted accent wall. 

BEFORE

AFTER

Flake Five

 Life has been pretty normal around here this past month.  The kids are growing and the 2 year old conversations and phrases are super fun.  I said "no way Jose" in jest to Robin a few weeks ago and now she says "no way, you say" whenever there is a small detail left out of a plan.  For example, we went to Casa Grande on Friday to see Becca. I was going over the general schedule with her in the car: "we will go get some dinner, go to the park, and then go to Becca"s house." 

"No way, you say! We have to EAT dinner first."

Rand has also come up with some cute, new words such as "Frigigator" and "circley saw".

Scott had his spring break last week and spent nearly the whole time building a small shed in the back yard. All of the kids were delighted when we moved their car seats into "Daddy's big truck" to go and get shed supplies.  Robin kept telling me, "Daddy drive. You too tiny."

As I mentioned before we spent Friday night with Becca, Darin and Rhonda. The kids loved the cat and dogs. On Saturday morning we made bon bon cookies with the aunts and then went to meet Scott's family at the aquarium.  It was really neat and the kids seemed to enjoy it.  The highlight for them seemed to be the escalators! We went up and down several times! 

Nilsson News

 We actually have some news to report this time around!  Addy wanted to make sure you were all aware that she has her driver's permit and has been driving all over.  She has not yet been introduced to driving our big excursion and we aren't sure when she will.  The van seems to be a good fit for now.  She also auditioned for the high school elite choir, Bonnevaires, and found out this past week that she made it!  They only select 25 students and Addy is thrilled and looking forward to this new experience.

The kids have been taking advantage of the beautiful weather and have loved playing outdoors every chance they get.  Somehow, they always seem to find a mud hole.  Yesterday, we were able to finish our front window well.  It was dug last fall and has sat through the winter.  Garrett went and bought the retaining wall blocks and we were able to get the entire thing built.  Now we just need to remove the rest of the dirt pile from off our lawn so we can plant the grass seed in its spot.

The biggest news of the week is definitely the birth of two donkey foals!  The first was born on Wednesday morning, a little jack that we named Hal.  We are going with a Shakespeare theme for names since we have been studying Shakespeare this year in school.  The second foal was born Thursday night, a little jenny we named Rosalind.  They are both perky and adorable!

Hope you are all doing well and enjoying the spring wherever you may be!

Rosalind is a lighter brown but it's hard to tell in the pictures.

This one is Hal.

Nilsson News

 It feels like spring may actually be in its way!  Most of our snow has melted (hooray!) and the weather is warm.  For us, that is 40 degrees.  This past week we went down to St. George to meet up with Garrett's sister's family who were on spring break.  It was a change of scenery and routine but the weather was a bit of a disappointment.  It was slightly warmer than Idaho but not by much.  The wind was blowing and it was cloudy.  I guess it was a blessing being from Idaho and only needing to wear jackets because the cousins from Arizona were freezing!  They were decked out in sweatshirts, coats with hoods, hats, and gloves and still said they were cold.  We did a little bit of hiking and biking and enjoyed what we could.

On the drive home and all the following day, all of the kids (minus Henry) got a stomach bug.  Not sure what it was but thankfully it only lasted a day.  

On Friday, Addy had her clogging competition.  I was worried if she would be able to perform since the day before she was sick and didn't eat anything.  Somehow she found her inner energy and did a fantastic job.  She took first and second place in several events and her team qualified for Nationals in May.

With the global state of things, Garrett and I spent some time taking inventory of our food storage.  We were able to stock up on a lot of items and figure out what things we needed to can this summer.  I was originally planning to cut back and take it easy with the garden since we will have a new baby, but now I'm thinking this is probably a year to plant double.  If any of you would like some seeds started (tomatoes, peppers, melons, etc.) let us know because we are in the throws of that right now!  Also, make sure to order or buy seeds now because they are in short supply.

That's all we've got for now!

Manning Madness

 It has been an interesting month. We were sick for most of February and it was actually a pretty nice time other than being sick. We didn't go to any of our usual events for two weeks and the boys played so nicely. It made me evaluate what I plan to do in a week because it was so pleasant not to go anywhere.

We have been looking at homes for a long time and after a pretty lousy experience with putting in an offer and realizing how competitive the market is, we decided to look into adding on to our house. That is also a big deal but we will see how that turns out. 

We got a new van a couple weeks ago and we are loving that! 

Nick is pretty busy these days. He is the assistant tennis coach at American Heritage and so that just made him even busier. He is headed to Front Sight next week and he has already been packed for a week so I think he is excited.

Wesley and Chet are two little pals these days. They come up with the funniest games. Chet climbs on EVERYTHING. If you sit down on the ground he will climb on you. He discovered that he can climb to the top of the bookshelf.

Gus is a very busy boy. He has been crawling for a month and he is fast and curious about everything. He is trying to stand independently too! He loves food! He is such a delightful baby.

That is about all! We love you and hope to see you soon!