Updates on Grandma's new house and the Wanch

The metal roof is on, and the well has been drilled (you can see it just to the right of house).

The well pump was put in by K2 (in yellow hard hat) and his boss Seth. K8 is behind Seth while our friend Brian looks on. The well driller had to cut some branches off of the hickory tree behind and to the right of K2, but it's not damaged too bad.

The house has been "wrapped", and the heating & cooling guys came to measure for the duct work.

Then they returned two days later and installed all the duct work. This is a view looking into the mechanical room in the basement. The blue tank is the water bladder and the white piping is from the well outside. K2 drilled the holes through the concrete wall. The electrician came on the same day and installed the power box on the wall (the shiny silver thing just to the left of the ladder).

Brian trenched lines from the well to house and this second line to the power pole. He hired K8 as his helper - you can just barely see him behind the far big tire of the backhoe. K8 also spend the previous day and night increasing the height of the tar water proofing line on the concrete that you can see along bottom of house. Oh yea, all the doors and windows are installed, so we can now lock up the house at night!

Brian had K8 up on the backhoe to watch and learn how to dig trenches - Brian is a master at it (trenching and teaching boys).

K9 having breakfast with his two older nephews on the last day of their visit before they headed home to Texas.

The fruit trees started to bloom, and of course, the temperature had to drop below freezing...three different nights! Hope we get some fruit this year - plums, apples, peaches, pears, and cherries.

Otherwise, we'll have to eat more meat than fruit. K8 and I will be tagging lambs this week and then moving the sheep and cows across the stream to the hill pastures. We need to burn the hay spots before we fertilize all of our pastures and paddocks which is the first time ever fertilizing since we moved here six years ago. Hope to see a dramatic improvement in the quality and quantity of our grass, and get some hay off the lower paddocks. This view of paddock #2 (sheep) and paddock #3 (cows) from our back deck is so much better after we cut down the big Sycamore tree. We finished splitting all of the wood in the paddock behind our firewood racks, and most of it has been donated to a family to burn in their wood furnace. 

This is K7's Missionary plaque located in bulletin board at Church. He is one of seven Missionaries currently serving from our Ward - six young men and one young lady. K7 is in Africa; one in The Philippines; one in India; two in Georgia; one in the Dominican Republic; and one in Colorado. 

A boy and his dogs...

The weather is now warm on most days, so baby K9 is getting outside more often, which allows him time to play with our two new puppies - Sasha (on the left) and Patty (directly behind him). I hope these two sweet sisters always "have his back" and protect him.

K9 is not afraid of any of our eight dogs and he knows to pet them gently, but, nevertheless, we keep a close eye on them when they are together.

Sasha is more exuberant and outgoing, while Patty is quiet, reserved, and eager to please. I want these three to be best friends while growing up over the next several years.

The case of the missing wallet

Have you ever lost your wallet? Well, I can't say as I ever had, so it was very frustrating on Saturday evening, when I wanted to take the wife out for the rare date night, that I could not find my wallet where it was supposed to be - safe and snug in my jean's back pocket. I had it just an hour earlier at Walmart when I was buying more rope to tie plastic tarps over four blooming fruit trees before the temperature dropped to 21 that night.

Did I do something unusual like put the wallet in my sweatshirt pocket? Maybe. I went back to Walmart thinking some Good Samaritan found it and turned it in. No joy. I called them next afternoon after Church. No joy. I checked the Internet frequently both days to monitor my various debit cards and credit cards to see if a not-so-good-Samaritan had found it. No activity. I searched my truck for the 3rd time. No joy.

Which made me think more and more that it must have fallen out of my sweatshirt pocket when I got of truck, or was wrestling with wrapping fruit trees. 

So I searched in the dark with a flashlight. I searched in the day light. No joy. I figured that if it fell on the ground, one of our two new puppies may have found it and was using it as a new chew toy.

On Monday, I cancelled all my cards, except for one (when I told the wife on Sunday I would have to cancel all my cards, K6 spoke up and said, "Not all of them", and handed me one of my debit cards I had loaned him days earlier!)

I went to town and ordered a replacement driver's license, and was contemplating the hour drive to nearest military base to replace my ID card.

Monday night, K8 and I moved some big bales of hay out to various paddocks for the cows and sheep. When I got back to barn I noticed I had lots of cow manure on my tires, so I decided to drive around the parking lot and front yard to clean them off.

As I was driving along the garden fence line, I noticed some green paper in the grass...

...I knew I hadn't planted ten dollar bills, so I slowed down...

...pretty soon I pass a $5 bill and receipts, so I'm thinking, "Those darn puppies did get my wallet!"

As I passed the $20, I saw the plastic Sam's Club card, and knew the mystery was solved. After parking tractor and picking up the money and various receipts, I searched for the wallet and the rest of the plastic cards. No joy. What the heck?

Tuesday afternoon, Patty (the spotted Catahola puppy on the right) got herself stuck climbing thru the garden fence, quite a way down from where I had found the money the previous night. One of the kids heard her whining and got there before me, and this is what I saw when I arrived. The canvas wallet was chewed up, and my driver's license and military ID had some teeth indentations, but all the plastic cards, which I had cancelled, were undamaged...now useless, but undamaged.

Darn puppies. Never a dull moment here on the Wanch.

Another Eagle Scout and farm work

Our son K8 earned his Eagle rank back in December, but we finally held his Eagle Court of Honor last Sunday afternoon, at which our Bishop (also an Eagle, but in the last century...) presented it.

We waited until Spring break so K4 and her husband Ryan could bring their six children up from Texas. K5 also drove up for two days - she took care of the reception. We had a good sized crowd, but we failed to get a group photo.

I also forgot my cable for connecting my MacBook to a large TV, so I just played K8's photo slide show on my 13" screen. Made for a cozy gathering around the screen.

On my way home next day, I was treated to this beautiful moment when a little, bright window into Heaven opened up.

Ryan helped me finish splitting up the rest of the Sycamore tree we cut down behind our house in paddock #2. You can also see the new house we are building for Grandma. 

Friday, Ryan helped K8 and me do some more farm work - burning brush along our fence line and...

...using the tractor to drag big old dead logs off the stream bank, cutting them into manageable sizes, and building a burn pile. I poured on a little diesel fuel and K8 lighted it.

Once it was burning, K8 hit it again with another bucket of fuel for good measure...

...awesome fun, and we got this area along our stream cleaned out. Then we used the tractor to pull out an old stretch of barbed wire and t-posts imbedded in a thicket of thorny brush, which Ryan and I later took to our local re-cycling center.

Then we moved to the other side of the creek to drag this giant Sycamore tree out of the water before the next storm sends it down stream to break our water gap fence. It was cut down recently by the power company. It broke into three big pieces when it fell. We had already pulled piece #1 out before this pic - this is pieces #2 and #3. Thank goodness for a tractor. I would hate to have to cut and drag this kind of stuff by hand.

While we were outside working, our son Kaidan was having fun playing with his nephews from Texas (K4 and Ryan's two youngest sons). During their week long visit, K4 and Ryan found a nice spot up on our hill, on which they plan to build a house some day. We can't wait! 

Our new son, K9!

We were very blessed early Friday, March 11th, to adopt this beautiful and sweet baby boy! The Judge signed the adoption order and legally changed his name. He is 18 months old, and we have raised him since he came home to us from the hospital aged 2 days old. The following photos are not in any chronological order, so just enjoy...

We first discussed adoption over 41 years ago, when we were very young and newly engaged. A doctor had told my wife that she probably would never have children, and she was devastated. I told her no problem, we would adopt.

Little did that quack Dr know that we would have eight healthy, naturally born children over the next 23 years.

But there were times and events over the years that we would briefly talk of adopting...and then we would get pregnant again with a new little one on the way, and would table that topic.

Several years ago, in Texas, we actually took the nine week long mandated training to become certified foster parents, and then, two of our daughters announced they were getting married, and my wife became a wedding planner during the next six months. Also, K8 was only 4 years old, and we worried about the effect that fostering might have on him. 

And then in the summer of 2014, we took the training again. We told the State Children's Division that we were interested in fostering children aged 5 years old to about 12 years old, with the intent of possibly adopting. No babies, because I did not want to mess with diapers, bottles, or the "terrible twos". The week we were to be officially certified, we were asked to take in a new born drug baby because he needed someone medically trained, like my wife the RN. He needed to be de-toxed and carefully monitored...even if only for a short period, until the State could find someone else.

Well, my wife was scheduled to work four days that week, so I took care of him for the first few days. Then she got sick that weekend, so I continued to care for him. He pretty much was glued to the front of my shirt, with his little fists dug into the fabric and crying and grunting non-stop...for two weeks - the length of time it took to de-tox him. I walked him most of the time, and when exhausted, I would sit and lean back on the big green couch in our basement family room so his noise wouldn't disturb anyone during the night. He and I would take short cat-naps together, him snuggled on my chest. K8 would take over each morning for two hours so I could sleep in bed. 

Sometime early the first week we told Children's Division they could stop looking for a new home - we would care for him as long as needed. He has been with us ever since. From early July 2015 to late December 2015, we were involved in a very stressful legal battle to gain permanent custody of him. We were extremely bonded to each other and felt we offered the best home, family and future for him.  

At the end of an eight hour court battle on 30 December 2015, the Judge agreed and awarded us permanent custody. Then we had to wait for lawyers to draft and process the required adoption paperwork.

We could not talk publicly about him until now. Today, the Judge approved our adoption and legally changed his name (No, not to K9).  

He had a slight developmental delay in his muscle motor skills - he did not roll or turn over until well past the normal time other kids could do those things, and he never really crawled on his hands and knees...

...he would only scoot along the floor on his bottom until he finally started pulling himself up on walls and furniture. Yesterday, March 10th, he just started letting go and walking! It was amazing, so naturally, we entered the court room today with him holding one of our hands and walking between us.

He is bright and inquisitive...

...very loving with immediate family, but shy around strangers...

...a very good "eater" of just about any kind and quantity of food...

...funny and full of energy...

...very cute, and now able to climb up on anything...

...very sweet, contented and pleasant...

And loved by all.

For the past few years now, the 11th of March was already a special day for our family - ever since our nephew Rex was killed in Afghanistan. It has been a day tinged with sadness. Now it is a doubly special day, but filled with joy. The Lord works in mysterious ways.

3rd and final update. You are now current with most Wanch happenings.

We have been blessed with good weather for past few weeks which has allowed our building crew to get a lot of work done.

K8 had to finish some drain lines along both retaining walls.

The basement walls are finished.

The floor joists are completed. K6 is on the left entering the basement.

Have you ever seen a power pole burn? I had not either until I asked K8 to burn the fence line, specifically mentioning he be careful near the hay bales and the two new power poles, since they are soaked in creosote. Well, he didn't listen very well, did he?

The pre-built exterior walls, and then the pre-built interior walls, all went up in a day and a half!

And then we were ready for the crane to lift the rafters up into place - done in four hours.

The back porch concrete was poured just a few days earlier. Once the rain stops this week, we'll be putting up the 6" X 6" posts along the back and start build the back deck.

Looking good.

We have been blessed with a good crew and lots of good sub-contractors.

Unfortunately, all this blue sky went away the day after these rafters went on. We are now waiting impatiently for the rain to stop and dry out. The water well will be drilled in the next day or two, and the roofing crew shows up early Monday, and by next Tuesday evening, we'll have a new, red metal roof. Then they start putting the siding on while our crew installs windows and doors. The electrician arrives Wednesday to wire the house. I am pushing hard to get Grandma's house finished and get her moved in by end of April.

Unfortunately, there were a few victims of our house building. We had to remove four trees, oak and hickory. It took us a week to get them cut, split.

Everything is now gone except the stumps and root balls. The hickory and some of the oak went into our family's firewood racks for next year or two. The rest was donated to families who use wood to heat their homes. My friend Jack (just below his blue truck) comes to our farm often and spends 2 to 3 hours a day cutting down dead trees or cutting up old downed trees. He's a wizard with a chain saw. I then follow along with our gas powered log splitter, after which my boys or other Church boys, help us load and deliver to needy families. We re-cycle the wood while cleaning up our property.

The rural electric co-op sent a crew to take down 2 of the 3 Sycamore trees in paddock #6.

They took down the 2 that were leaning right toward the power line, and left the one leaning toward my fence line! The power company is very good about keeping the power lines clear, so we have fewer power outages during storms that break off big branches or knock down trees onto the lines.

And now you are caught up on most of the bigger events on the Wanch. Stand by for tomorrow's Big news...