We went to Thailand

That was once mentioned as a possibility for celebrating our 10th Anniversary (I served my mission in Thailand). I was pretty sure I would either be pregnant or nursing and so not sure how likely it all would be.

Well, as it turns out, I was right. We're also broke, too. So a real trip to Thailand was not even considered. But we got as close as we could.

I had it all planned for a month. We went to a Thai restaurant and stuffed ourselves with DELICIOUS, spicy (couldn't talk) Thai food. Then we checked into the Thailand room at Destinations Inn, a newer themed-suite hotel in the area. Here are some pictures from their website. The room has evolved a bit (like all 4 windows in the last picture are covered up with murals), but this is pretty much what it still looks like.



When we arrived, there was sparkling cider chilling and cheesecake in the fridge. In the morning, they served a simple, but yummy breakfast at your chosen time. There were no kids, the phone didn't ring and we could sleep in as long as we wanted. Unfortunately, we've been programmed to wake before 8. It would take drugs to sleep in any longer than that.

My mom and step-dad came up from Utah and stayed with the kids for the night. The kids had a lot of fun. I'm a little worried about Nathan, though. He didn't realize we hadn't come back later that night - even though he didn't see us until 9:30 that morning. I DID tell him. Next time I'll make sure he looks up from the computer when I'm talking to him.

Thanks to my mom and step-dad for the over-night stay and for the help with the pasture fence and cow herding. The timing couldn't have been better!

On a sad note, the last little kitten died this weekend. I hope the next time this momma cat finds herself with kittens, she'll be more interested in mothering them. If not, I'll get her fixed because these kids don't need extra sadness like that! I'd even gone ahead and let Leah name the poor thing. I'm proud of the way my kids handled it. I don't think I would have been as good about it at their ages.

Kittens! (minus one, minus one, minus one...)

We had 3 pregnant cats. THREE! That's too many, considering we already had 6 furry felines. So I listed them in the Craigslist farm and garden category. Someone adopted two of the pregnant mommas on Sunday.

The other momma had already had her kittens by then, so she was staying. This momma is all black. The daddy is all black. And so the kittens? Take a look.

Yes, all black (except for two which had some white marks). I at first counted 4. Then on Sunday when I came home from church, I saw one of the "white" ones had died and removed it. Upon closer inspection, I saw a black one was dead. It came out. When I looked back it, there were still 3! So we had 4, then 3, then 4, then 3 again.

We were out of town yesterday. When we got back in the morning, the other "white" one was missing. It was the smallest of the remaining kittens and I'm guessing, when it died, the momma finally figured out to get the little body out of there. So now we have 2. (We're right back to our original 6!)

Now, this momma is young. She's only 12 months old. She doesn't seem to get the whole parenting idea. I think she may have suffocated one or two because she just sits right on them. And she'll go off for the longest time and leave those little ones alone. It's still getting cool here in Eastern Idaho.

So last night, we tried to let her bring them in. I found out where she wanted to go with them, and cut a box to fit. She stayed in it for half the night; I had to search for two little tiny black kittens this morning. I fed the poor creatures an emergency kitten formula, returned them to the box and set them outside for the momma. She'll need to find a new place for them. I know I'm sentencing these two guys to death, but I have enough to do inside. I can't be concerned about which corner two kittens are loose in.

Momma cat has tried to come in with her babies several times this morning. If I thought she'd leave them in the box, I'd let her stay. If I had a teenage daughter that wanted to care for them, it might be OK. So all the kids got to say hello-goodbye to the kittens this morning. I told them they probably wouldn't get to grow up. Those poor kitties sure have had a rough start!

And the daddy? He's at the vet this morning. No more kittens from him!

Saying Good-bye

Our friends lost their oldest daughter, Kiersten, 15 days ago. She died in her sleep. I think it's assumed that she had a seizure.

We had just been together the Friday before to go to dinner while their daughter stayed with our kids. We talked of her epilepsy and how she was expected to eventually out grow it. It was a very normal conversation. We returned to the house to find her chasing/being chased up and down the stairs with the kids. She plopped down on the couch and visited with us, out of breath and smiling so big. Everyone was hyped up!

My heart broke for her family. She was 13 years old and had 4 younger siblings; the family is close. Kiersten was a good young lady. She left this life with no regrets and nothing amiss.

It has given me renewed vision of the Plan of Salvation and eternal families. I have been appreciating my children more...even their annoying little songs they are constantly making up. We never know when it will be time to say "good-bye."

Rebekah and Leah don't completely understand what has happened. Rebekah knows that they are sad though, and she prays for them almost every time it's her turn for prayer.

We will miss Kiersten.

If you want to learn more of Kiersten's life, you can follow this link.

death

I didn't have many experiences with death when I was young. (Obviously, no personal experiences as I am still alive and interfering in most of your lives.)

I can only remember one loved pet dieing. It was a little white guinea pig I'd been able to have at the end of the school year. I don't even remember if it was a he or she or how old it was. I do remember that it was a hot Arizona evening when I discovered it was mostly gone. We had a babysitter who obviously had not learned much compassion. I think I tried to revive it under some running water and the babysitter dangled it in the air, waving its little legs(arms) at me to show me it was OK. It wasn't. The next day, my dad took it to "bury" it on his way to work. I later learned that he tossed it in the dumpster. No wonder they wouldn't let me attend the funeral services!

I can't remember having any other pets die. They mostly "ran away" (which translated into being given away while we weren't looking), or we found them new homes because they weren't working out.

I had two grandparents die while I was young, but I wasn't extremely close to them and don't remember feeling too sad. I attended the funeral for one and was more disturbed by the viewing than the loss of the person. My last grandparent died the night before I was married. She had been suffering from diabetes for years and had already lost part of her leg. It was not a distressing thing for me as I knew she was "home" again, reunited with Grandpa and whole again.

There hasn't been a death on my side of the family in 9 years (tomorrow). For that, I feel very blessed. Because of that, my children have had very few experiences with death. We lost a kitten about a year and a half ago, but they weren't attached to it yet. It did spark several conversations on heaven and resurrection.

Then we moved to the country. Shortly after settling in, our biggest (and meanest) rabbit got out for a night or so. Chad caught her again, but she died the next day. A few months later, the other 2 rabbits got out. We caught one and never did find the other. A few weeks ago, we adopted a stray rabbit from someone who found it, but didn't want to keep it. Then the neighbor's dog broke into the cage. One rabbit was never found, but the newest one was dead on the ground by the rabbit pen with teeth marks in her back. The boys found her.

Sunday, we lost Tabby. She got herself into some trouble and came home looking quite grotesque. All the kids saw her as we stood there looking at her, trying to decide what to do with her. There was dripping blood involved. Eventually, we distracted the kids while Chad caught her and got her into a box. We hooked her up to the truck's exhaust and then buried her a ways into the pasture. That really started some conversations on heaven and resurrection. We prayed for Jesus to take care of her in Heaven. We tried to explain to the kids that while it was very sad, this is a "farm" and animals die. (I also tried to explain that if she had been a person, we would have tried to help her. We don't need anyone afraid for their lives around here.)

So the neighbor with the hungry dog called yesterday. They are providing us with two replacement bunnies. Chad is working on reinforcing the cage. We are adopting two little kittens on Friday. We were already going to adopt them, but we're now willing to get them a little bit earlier. I'm hoping that they'll be accepted better if they're younger. They will be just shy of 8 weeks. I'm also hoping that they don't join Tabby!

And to top it off, we're going to try 2 bum lambs in a couple weekends. We'll see if they survive the rough start they've had and prepare the kids before hand that they might not live.

And so I've been thinking of death and its recent visits to our family. I've found myself grateful that the kids are having some experience on a smaller scale. I'm hoping that it will give them better understanding and preparation for the inevitable time when a close family member dies. Maybe I'll benefit, too. Although, I hope I get YEARS of practice with farm animals before I have to be tested with a loved one.

Doom and Gloom?

Our kids have been praying lately that they'll live a long time and not die too soon. Chad and I are trying to think if we've said anything to trigger the trend. Since we couldn't think of anything, we'll have to assume that it's just a kid thing. Anyone out there have a similar thing going on in their family? Leave a comment to share one.