Poppy is Popular! ;-)

While the rest of us were away at family camp,

Victoria and Caroline were at an ABGA show in Chehalis, WA,

showing several of their goats and another farm's goats for the owners. 

Crossroads Boer Goats' newest addition, Poppy, won her class both days . . .

 and Jr. Grand Champion both days!!!!!

Whoo hoo!

Way to go Poppy! ;-)

She's only 7 months old,

so she has a great future ahead of her!

Life and Death - With Update

Latest Update - Polly passed away around noon, Tuesday 11/5.

Update:  As of this Tuesday late morning, Polly the goat is still clinging to life.   Victoria and Caroline are en-route once again to the veterinarian to have her IV fixed.  Thanks so much for your prayers for them! 


It has been a very difficult weekend for Victoria and Caroline as they have been nursing, round the clock, one of their significantly pregnant does that has been on the brink of death since Friday.  It is always so hard . . . first off, not being able to quickly and accurately diagnose what the sickness is; (There are so many things it could be, that all have somewhat similar symptoms.); then, to give her every conceivable remedy, all the while drenching her with fluids of every kind and with not seeing much, if any improvement; to watch the doe be so uncomfortable; and then to consider not only losing the momma, but her babies as well.  (They think she could have up to 3 within her, and have a waiting list for up to 4 of her babies.)   With all of this, our hearts feel very heavy and sad. We'd be so grateful for your prayers for Victoria and Caroline.  We were planning to have Caroline's special "birthday" day today, but will postpone it for a happier day.  :-(

Meanwhile, Blackberry, one of Valerie's momma labs, decided to surprise her early this morning, with an unexpected early onset of labor and delivery.  After checking her good before bed last night, Valerie was sure, from not observing any of the usual early signs of labor, that she would not be giving birth in the night.   So thankfully, because Caroline and Victoria stayed up through the night with their sick doe, they noticed Blackberry was delivering her puppies at around 4am, and woke Valerie up!   This is always an exciting time, to see how many and what colors and genders she will have!

We have such mix of emotions now, with celebrating this new life on one side of the house, while grieving the potential loss of up to four special lives in the barn on the other side.

First Days of October!

We've had a full first few days of October!

with some fun "firsts" and a couple extra-special big events in our family!

 

 

Since moving here 9 years ago,

we have been very blessed with using Costco car canopies for our "barns,"

both to house the farm animals and their hay.

They've really worked great . . .most of the time . . .

except for the times when the roofs and sides have ripped and/or been blown away!

(And the kids haven't particularly enjoyed moving hay in the middle of the night. ;-)   

So, in the back of their minds, the girls have always had this

 romantic notion of having a "real" barn one day! :-)

Well, after nine years of waiting and saving,

Victoria and Caroline just purchased a real metal "barn!"

They even chose barn red for the color!

After Daddy, Kyle and the girls did lots of prep work for the foundation,

it was put up by three men (in the rain) in only four hours! 

  

Woo hoo!

What a big day!

 

Then, another huge milestone for Kyle arrived in a couple big boxes!

After three or more years in the works,

Kyle holds in his hand one of the copies of his published book,

 Crossroads of the Other World!

Hooray! 

You can find out more about it at:

Extraordinary Existence

and

 Warriors for the Light

Brielle was given her very first doll baby today,
by a very special friend! (pictured below ;-)
 

 

Thanks so much, Carolyn for a wonderful day together!

 

We also had a wonderful mid-week visit at the home of some new friends we met at the home school kick-off picnic that invited our family and another family over for dinner! 

They were very brave . . . and very hospitable!

It was a big group and very enjoyable!

 We had lots of fun, food and fellowship!

What a blessing!

We hope to do these get-together more often!

 

Valerie was very excited about receiving her long-anticipated, special-ordered copy
of SCC's new album!  And she's counting down the hours to his concert tomorrow night!

 

~We also praise the Lord for another

great check-up

in Seattle for Richie this week! ~