The chicken saga continues: After dealing with raccoon attacks all summer long, we finally got the problem of him thinking the coop is a fast food stop solved. I found tooth marks on one of the latches, but the coop remains closed each morning when I check on it.

Maybe we really scared him off for good when we chased him around the backyard in our jammies about a month ago! The quieter of the two hens that are left had gone into the pool to get away from the predator and the other hen was under the raccoon in the middle of the lawn. I went for the coon with no weapon in hand, just my hands.

My oldest hen is about 26 weeks old and I just found her first egg last night! I knew she was getting to that age range, but wasn't sure she'd be laying as the weather is turning colder now. Anyway, I opened the coop last night and Roxy went in and immediately found the egg. The girls had already pecked it open and she started licking out the insides as fast as she could.

Now that I know at least one of them is laying, I'll look out for eggs every day and hopefully find them before the hens eat them. It might help if I put a wooden egg in the laying box; they won't be able to peck it open, and they'll be encouraged to lay in the spot I made for them to lay! (I guess John was right about them not realizing the boxes were for that purpose.)

Ben's Home!

The time to get Ben has come and gone, and I have failed to blog anything about the whole experience. Let me just say this: It was wonderful!

Someone asked me if I cried when I saw him. No! I squealed like a little girl on Christmas morning and ran to give him a hug. (He could hug me because I'm his mom!) Actually he hugged both of his sisters too, then his dad (that's legal).

He took us on a tour of the Gudalajara. It was great to meet people he'd known and worked with during the past two years. Most of them wanted to feed us or give us drinks or something. Some of them asked us to come back so they could barbecue for us. It was obvious that they felt a deep love for our son! I found myself close to tears many times.

So now, he's back! We are once again a family of five and loving every minute of it! (Love you, Ben!)

House Boat 2009

Some of 'the girls'; King of the Hill; Leanne, Wyatt, Maddie

The Gang!; The Moms

Houseboating! Paige and the kids have been invited to join Sue Webb, her kids and a bunch of other moms and kids for a houseboating week over the past 12 years. It's a great time to relax, play, talk, laugh and teach each other new things.

This past week was no exception: Savanah learned to wakeboard the day before we left for the houseboat. She got to practice a bit while we were there. Tessa practiced her wakeboarding too! (She turned 19 on the last day of the trip!)

We missed our good friend, Kathy, who died in a tragic car accident on June 20th of this year. We've been mourning her loss, and shed a few tears while we were there. We came home to a memorial service for her on the 26th of July. It gives us comfort to know that we have not seen the last of her, nor she of us.

We did get to have Zona with us this year, and that was all right! Here's to friends; Sue, Lori, Zona, Leanne, Julie, Diane, (Me), and Phyllis, and all the things we are to each other.

Wicked...the musical

Tessa and I got to go see Wicked when it was playing in LA in October of '07. Savanah chose to stay home and go on a campout with Dad. (They got rained out!)

I promised Savanah that I'd take her to see it. Now it's playing in San Francisco and I bought tickets for it in January. June 24th was the day, and John was too busy to come with us. So, we took Savanah's friend, Amelia Eversole with us. We had a great time and made it back in time for the YW boating activity!

Savanah's Sunflower

Just a quick demo of how well 'volunteer' plants can grow when given the chance. (Most volunteers can be considered weeds because they usually sprout where you don't want them!)

Savanah insisted on planting a sunflower two years ago. Last year it came up again. This year, guess what? It must have been a hybrid because it has changed over the years... all two of them. Here's Savanah (5'7") standing by her sunflower. I'm guessing it's between 9' and 10' tall.

This year I decided to try raising some chickens. I thought that the experience would be good in case we ever need to provide our own food (eggs and meat). Then there was the thought that at least I'd know 1) what was going into the eggs I was eating, and 2) how well the animals were treated. I knew that there would be some 'yuck' involved in the whole process, but overall, it was kind of fun to choose the breed of chicks - Barred Rock - and build the coop. I did most of it myself but John helped with a couple of the steps. He also helped me carry the coop to the final resting place in my garden, (It was HEAVY!!) and put up with the mess on the back porch for a week or so ;).

Yesterday morning I walked out to find the coop open and the chickens in the garden, scratching and pecking away at the bugs. I had actually picked up a few more birds - two Black Sex-link and two Austrolorps. One of the Black Sex-Links was gone. It was in the lawn, half eaten. Sadness! It must have been a raccoon to be able to open the latch. I think I need more secure latches for the doors!

I had to remind myself that this is all part of life; a part that most of us are sheltered from our entire lives because we don't grow our own food. (I'm sounding 'granola cruncher'!) While I was reading up on chickens, I found a response to a post that said something like: "You should just buy your meat from the store where they don't harm the animals!" Hmmmm. I'll keep the chickens, even with the threats from our unfriendly neighborhoood raccoon!

These adorable blondes (the two on either side of me) are my daughters. Yes, I married for love, but I got the added benefit of some

upwardly mobile (tall) offspring!

(I am not short!)

The Elder on the far right is our missionary. (Yes, he's tall too!) This is the latest picture we have of him. I should add that he has been more focused on the work he is there to do than sending things to his mom. Ya think he stands out in a crowd in Mexico?