Our family has been enjoying the beautiful spring weather and spending lots of time outside. Now that Dad has finished setting up the play set, the babies love to play there and also enjoy helping Mom in the garden. The boys have taken several fishing trips down to the dam. On one of their trips, Caleb even caught a frog. Kailey and I have been working at our cabin and watching our gardens for the things we planted. With the nice weather, we have also enjoyed being able to grill some of our own food again. This year we were able to try our own lamb. We found that it was very tender and all of us enjoyed the taste. We also feel that our grass-finished bull we butchered this year was our best so far. The steaks were tender and the meat wasn’t tough like our last three attempts. We were completely satisfied with the results for the first time.

After Kailey sold her large buck, she decided that she wanted something smaller. After doing some research, Kailey became interested in mini Nubians. A mini Nubian is a cross between a Nigerian dwarf buck and a pure bred Nubian doe. Although mini Nubians are smaller than the average goat, they still produce high-quality milk with lots of butter-fat and as much as two quarts of milk per day. Because mini Nubians are smaller, they will also do better on pasture and eat less food. Mini Nubians seemed to be the perfect fit for our small farm. Since Kailey already owns a couple of Nubians, the next step was to find a Nigerian buck. After searching the internet for a Nigerian dwarf, Mom and Kailey located one in Milford. After emailing back and forth with some confusion on both sides, Kailey decided to buy him. In the past, Dad has always been the one who drives the livestock trailer to pick up animals, but Mom told him that she could take Kailey this time since he was so busy. Dad agreed and a date was set for us to collect the buck. Everyone came with, which in our family takes a lot of preparation. When we finally made it out the door, we somehow had a little bit of extra time. Mom told us to keep reminding her she had a trailer on the back and Aiden certainly did. We made it to the farm right on time and quickly loaded the buck. We made it home safely and He came with a name, which was a helpful thing for Kailey since it takes her a long time to decide on a good name. His name is Sleepy Time Wilson, but everyone simply calls him Wilson.

We presently have five pigs; two that will be ready for breeding and three for meat for our family. With all of the activity on the house and fencing off pens for the other animals, the pigs had been living in a couple of pens nearby. We have been anxious to get them moving around on pasture, but there were too many other pressing matters that Dad had to attend to. Knowing this, Mom told Dad that if he would tell her where to put the pigs, she would take care of moving them. Dad raised his eye-brows and asked if she was sure. Mom said that she was; anyways, the pigs were so tame that with our help, moving them should be easy. Dad told her she could try and named an area a couple pad-docks off. This was full of plants that the cows and sheep didn’t eat, but the pigs would enjoy foraging in. The next day, Mom gathered Caleb, Kailey, and Aiden to help her move the pigs. It took them a couple hours to move them. During that time, Mom sprinted back and forth several times with the milk bucket in her hands and the pigs following at her heals. After struggling with the pigs for a long time, they managed to get the pigs into their pen and close the gate. One by one they straggled back to the camper where I had been watching the babies. Everyone was tired and extremely glad the pigs were in their pen. After lunch, the babies were standing at the screen door and they suddenly began to shriek about something. We walked over to see what they were looking at and saw a pig prancing down the drive-way. I pulled on my shoes and ran outside to see how it had escaped. I soon discovered that not only one pig was out but also a second pig. Everyone was even more discouraged when Kailey discovered that the other pigs had escaped into a different pen by bursting the fence panel.  After chasing the two little pigs into a different paddock, Mom pulled the gate snugly against the barn. By that time, everyone was quite willing to leave the pigs where they were until Dad came home from work. When Dad came home, everyone once again helped move pigs, this time with more success. After the pigs were finally in, Dad reattached the panel more securely than before and the pigs stayed put.

Although it was only the beginning of May, some people in our family were eager to swim in the dam. So when Mom and Dad made a last minute plan to spend a couple hours at the dam, they announced that anyone who wanted to could go swimming. The boys were thrilled and rushed away to get ready. Kailey was a bit more hesitant and finally decided to at least be prepared in case she decided to swim when we arrived. I wanted nothing to do with the freezing water. Dad hooked up the trailer to the four wheeler and we eventually managed to get everyone loaded with their towels, jars of water, fishing poles, life jackets, and more. We only had to turn around once when Kailey realized that she had forgotten to bring a life jacket. Since we were barely out of the main drive-way, it was an easily fixed problem. Soon we were once again on our way, this time with no interruptions. When we arrived, everyone quickly scattered. Mom and Dad took the babies and sat in some deck chairs near the middle of the hill that slopes down to the water. Caleb, Aiden, and Kailey wrestled into their life jackets and the boys ran into the water. Kailey followed a few minutes later after fighting with her zipper. I settled on the bank waiting to see who would be the first one out. Caleb, the brave and daring one, sprang into the water and seemed surprised at how cold the water was. Aiden summoned the courage to stand in the water and Kailey hovered indecisively on the edge of the bank.  Kailey and Aiden then encouraged Caleb to get his head wet, which he eventually did after a bit of coaxing. By that time, Kailey was standing in the water with Aiden as Caleb swam around trying to warm up. In the meantime, I was sitting on the shore when I happened to see a small, black object bobbing on the water. I called to the other kids and asked if they saw it. After a few minutes of searching, their eyes found it. Then I told them that whoever would swim to the other side and get it would be called brave and amazing and on top of that, they could keep whatever they found. Caleb grimly decided to try, telling us that it was probably just a stick. When he was about three-fourths of the way there, he turned around and came back. We asked him why he turned around, but his only answer was that he scuttled past me on the bank and huddled in a shivering heap. No one else would try, but Kailey and Aiden decided to try to row around in the john-boat that is stored down there. I walked with them to the other side, mostly to find out what the little black thing was. When we reached the other side, Aiden ran back to get some oars and I discovered that the black thing was just a piece of bark. I brought it back with me anyway and it caused a good laugh. Since the day was windy, Kailey and Aiden were unable to row around, so they abandoned their mission and soon we went home.

Work on the house has been continuing at a steady rate for the past few weeks. All of the plaster has been torn out and we are now working on taking out lath. After we finish that, the next steps will be to install the windows and put in new wiring. Mom and Grandma Peterson have been diligently working on floor plans for over a year. After making lots of adjustments as our plans have changed, they have finally settled on a plan including a large pantry, an island in the kitchen, and two bathrooms! Since we have been living in our camper for almost nine months, when the house is completed, we are going to feel like we own a mansion.

Since it has been some time since we last took a field trip, Mom and Dad planned a trip to the Omaha zoo. There are so many of us that it made sense to buy a membership pass and be able to go a couple of times. One benefit of being a member is that members can go to the i-max theater for free. Mom found the i-max schedule and thought that we should at least go to the Lewis and Clark Expedition. To prepare for this, Mom read us a book about Meriwether Lewis. The book gave us more back-ground information that the movie didn’t cover, so we were glad that we read it. The membership pass paid for itself almost immediately. The line to get into the zoo was enormous, but with the pass we were able to get through within a couple of minutes. This was the babies’ first trip to the zoo, so we were excited to see their reactions. In the i-max theater, they both were terrified by the loud noises and pictures on the huge screen, but soon fell asleep. Annika enjoyed seeing the fish and birds, and Asher liked the Sea Lions. Some of the zoo was under construction, so we may go again in the fall.

We are glad that we have had the opportunities to enjoy our work and fun around our farm. It has also been a blessing to watch the house gradually come together again. We are eager to see what new activities and adventures will take place during this season.