Hello, dear family!
Wee Chuns have been working hard over here and missing and thinking about all of you. We want to wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving! Hope you have lots of good food and wonderful company there where you are. We wish we could all teleport, then we would just come over and see you!
We've had a few projects going on over here:
Levi has several cute goats that he is raising for a packing goat team, two wether goats (in other words ... not bucks, if you get my drift), one of which is a La Mancha/Saanen mix named Alex, the other of which is a pure bred Alpine named Fred. We have Alex's mama, too. She is just over a year old herself and Alex is her first kid. She had never been milked before, but we wanted to get her milk before she'd completely weaned her kid. Boy! she did not like that! She would jump back and forth and try to butt you, if you even grazed her teat. But after watching Tate & AJ in action with their stubborn mama goat, we learned how to fix her wagon - we tied her head up to a tree, then Ki grabbed ahold of one of back legs, forcing her to stand mostly still while I milked. Once Ki didn't tie her head up enough and bent down to milk her by himself. He got the head butt of his life! But he had a two-by-four handy and butted her back! After that, she didn't butt! It took only about 8 milkings before she would stand still, with her head tied, munch oats, and let herself get milked. We find we quite like goat's milk. Anyway, the family project came when we had to get hay for the winter. We had to build a miniature hay barn to keep it out of the weather. Got that done, hallelujah!
We also borrowed Grandma Danny's chain saws and cut down a bunch of our mangy poplar trees in the back yard. They'd grown too tall and were shading the garden too much. Our tomatoes wouldn't grow. And we learned that poplars exude an enzyme into the soil to keep down the competition. No wonder our garden was not so good this year. (Course that could also be because we probably spent a grand total of 20 hours in the garden.You reap what you sow, I guess). But anyway, we've been cutting & hauling logs and stashing them away into our little garden shed to keep them out of the weather. They will be great for weeny roasting in the spring & summer. Still have a bunch of leaves to rake, even though the Chunsters came over and helped us handle a lot of them. But we've had snow & rain on and off. We'll try to get them raked up and stowed away over the Thanksgiving break so that we will be ready for winter.
Kids are busy at school and a bit lazy at home, I have to say. Their parents have been too busy and haven't really cracked down on the chores. But tomorrow is a new day!
I do have to say that Lorin's schedule is terribly full and hectic, with her CNA class, early morning seminary, two online classes, and a lead role in the school play, Curtains. She is just incredible! A voice like honey and so sassy on stage! I've wondered if she might want to go on in college and do some musical theater or something. She definitely has a flair.
Leanne acted as a techie - the costumer - for her school play, Peter Pan. It entailed her sitting back stage by herself, a lot, and waiting for the actors to come back for their costume changes. After Thanksgiving she will try out for Seussical, the Musical. She is playing the piano like a crazy woman and is getting SOOO good. It is a pleasure to work around the house and hear her playing all kinds of wonderful songs in the back ground.
Levi became an 11 year old scout on his birthday in June and in only 5 months is almost through his Tenderfoot, Second Class, and First Class ranks. He has also earned his First Aid, Personal Fitness, Personal Management, Swimming, and Space Exploration merit badges, and gone camping several times with his troop. He is a wonderfully kind young man with a real compassion for others and a strict sense of justice. He roots for the underdog!
Lacy is a hard working young college student. She lives near the University of Utah and will be done with her bachelors in 3 semesters or so. And she got herself a significant job at the brand new local Target store as the Human Resources Director, so she works full time and goes to school. She comes to hang out with us on the random Saturday and Sunday. We love her good company.
Logan landed himself a job at Sewell Direct in Orem. He's the life of the party wherever he is, with his wit and humor, and his easy style. He surprised us all on Halloween Night for a visit and it was wonderful to see him and share an insightfully philosophical discussion about the geometry of Peanut Butter Reeses Pieces and the cosmic implications of their size & shape. We love that young man!
Ki is up to his elbows in business deals with his China business, Renasis, Northrock, and various other entrepreneurial efforts about town here, with various like-minded people. I help at the office a couple hours each day, keeping the books, but mostly keeping him company. We like to work together. In his spare time, he devours online documentaries and downloadable books. He is full of interesting information & stories that he is learning.
I'm the Relief Society President, which means I lead a group of about 95 women in our humanitarian and compassionate service endeavors. Just this past week one of our neighbors was close to death in her 8 year fight with cancer, so we helped her with a project she's long wanted to do: sew a jeans quilt for her husband and one for each of her four kids. We did a marathon sewing session and finished them in one day, in time to give them to her so she could give them to the children before she passed away. I have to tell you there was some inspiration and the hand of the Lord in all of that!
We are looking forward to the Thanksgiving break for a little rest and a chance to just be together with family and with very little interruption. And to sleep!
We hope you will all be safe and happy, and that you will have the chance to help someone in need and feel the goodness that comes from that.
Happy Thanksgiving, you all!
Love, the Wee Chuns
