A little bit of heaven

Lucy has a cute little go-to-bed routine, or did until yesterday. I have to explain. After a clean diaper I lay her in bed and hold her bottle (yes, she's old enough to do it but that doesn't fit into the routine!) While she drinks she snuggles a blanket and runs her fingers through her whisps of hair. It's a precious indulgence.
Yesterday, she held her bottle herself! So I puttered around not wanting to leave the bottle in her bed during her nap. When she was finished with it she handed it to me, laid down and went to sleep.
Today, it was different still. She let me rock her to sleep with her bottle. I don't think there is anything more sastifying than holding a sleeping baby. I wanted to hold her forever but knew I needed to put her in bed so she could have a full nap. I rocked her for just a few more minutes while expressing gratitude to my Heavenly Father for being a part of Lucy's life and having the trust of her dear parents. Another tender mercy.

And then there came Kisses

Whose surprised?!?!? Had 24 hours passed before we had a new
bunny?
Lane took
Claire out
to Hal
Anderson's
farm in
Highland to get a new bunny. Hal assured us his temprament would be similar to Squidgets, it's part of their breed, Minilop. Claire immediately named him Kisses.

Every morning Lucy comes she first needs to go out to see Kisses. Because he's a baby he is too small to winter outside this year so we have him in the garage.
The first few visits she was happy to sit on her little towel and talk to him through the cage. It wasn't long before they were both begging to get out and play. As you know, I do NOT like animals in the house, not furry ones anyway. But, it's just too cold and dirty to let Kisses and Lucy run around the garage....so, in they come to play.
I suppose a little extra mopping on my tile floor isn't the worst thing in the world. The both love to be the aggressor but both take off when being persued. They both get a good amout of exercise. I wonder how long it will be before she holds and snuggles him.....The play time is great for both of them! Lots of giggles.

The First Snow

Is there anything more beautiful than the first snow?
I love the quiet hush and the brightness in the night.I love the squeels of delight as the children look out the dark window to see what's accumulated while sleeping. I've very grateful that Lane put the studded tires on my van for our family home activity!

The snow led to a long conversation about seasons, cold, and if I were to move would I miss winter weather? You know, winter weaather isn't what it used to be. My memory is never the best source of refrence but as I recall, we almost always had snow! And lots of it!! I love snow.

I don't love cold, really cold. it's snowing, it isn't bitter cold! I think that's the difference. Winter is supposed to be snow and all the activities that accompany it! The bitter cold is just miserable. It means poor air quality, too cold to go for a walk, too cold to play. Brrr! Even as it is, I'll endure these drier winters because I love spring!!!! Spring makes me absolutely giddy! I love to see the buds on the trees, the bulbs peek through the ground. Spring is just glorious!

What?!?!

Both Stephen and Claire have taken classes in digital photography, and are the only truly camera literate. I am often surprised to see what shows up on the computer....

This thing hanging on and then in is a little guy that has sticky hands and feet and walks down the wall, window, mirror and such. We found him very entertaining....but this?
Yes, he is washable. In fact, to keep him walking well he needs to be washed often.


This is Mycami, she's a good friend. She's here a lot and we adore her! You'll have to trust me for now, she's beautiful!
The girls were wrapping presents for Thomas' birthday. They got a little carried away with the embelishments but had a great time! I wonder if the guy that invented pom poms intended them for this use???
They had a great time.


We get lots of corny shots, but Abby's eye
through a water pitcher, wow, that's really cool. They especially love special effects. Need I say more?

Lucy loves leaves

I would like to introduce you to Lucy Jane White. Lucy is my niece and, lucky me, I get to watch her on Tuesdays and Wednesdays while her Henny, my sister Amy, teaches first grade in Payson. I adore her!




Lucy just turned a year old. While she doesn't talk yet, she communicates very well.
This was not a "let's take Lucy outside and see if she likes it" experience. This was a "Lucy sitting by the door, playing patiently with the door stop, begging to go outside!" It was a cold but beautiful day, so I took her out. Maybe I don't remember correctly but I thought babies didn't like grass, leaves, and such. Lucy loves textures and the outside variety is no exception!
She crawled across the sidewalk from the grass to the flower beds. She took the petals off the geraniums and scattered them. She was quite tempted to taste all of nature but quickly spat out whatever she had.
She was especially enchanted with the crunch of the fall leaves. She'd crawl speedy quick then pause to take it all in, then off again to another part of the yard all with lots of squeals of delight.
Stephen found a praying mantis to look at. Lucy wanted to touch it but it was dying and very cold so she just looked. She loves animals and gets very animated when she sees them.
Speaking of animated....while I was typing this she crawled over to be held. I picked her up and scanned through all the photos of her to see which ones I wanted to post. Oh my goodness! She was all smiles and giggles! She likes herself :-) This is a happy baby! I am the luckiest auntie on earth!
I love to watch her discover God's creations!

Squidget went to live with Amelia

The bunny cage is empty. Well, not really, but the bunny is gone; we had to bury him. It looks like a dog got into his cage and bit and broke his back. Squidget probably thought it was there to play with him! I've know for a very long time that his death would be traumatic. Sguidget was not just a bunny, really. You have to understand that I am not a pet person. Especially not a furry pet! A critter has to have some exceptional trait for me to even care, let alone be attached! Squidge was definitely exceptional! If you look closely he is laying in Claire's lap and she's rubbing his tummy. Um, in case you didn't know, rabbits never lay on their back and if their feet are not supported at all times they scratch and paw like crazy. Not Squidget. We've had him since he was about six weeks old. I'm sure in the beginning he was more typical but over the years he's mellowed to the point that I sometimes wondered if he'd forgotten all those innate instincts. Have we had him three or four years? I'm not sure but it's been a long time.
He wasn't demanding, though he would run to the fence when we came out the back door just in case we needed a reminder that he was there if we wanted to play :-) The only maintenance he had to have was, well, he had this little problem, his front teeth grew and grew. They'd get so long they sometimes looked a little unicornish. Lane became a pro at cutting his teeth. One of us would hold him, holding his jaw tightly while Lane snipped them down with his little blue cutters. Side thought...These cutters are so perfect for rabbit teeth cutting...I wonder what he really bought them for. They've been in his tool collection for as long I've known him. Hmmmm. He did not like to have his teeth cut. I can imagine it felt like a horrible tooth ache. There were always lots of snuggles after a cutting session. He also had one paw that was slightly deformed. The more relaxed he was, the further that little paw drifted out from underneath him.


Squidget had roommates. Two box turtles. One of the turtles never came out of hibernation this spring so we're down to one. Turtles eat bugs, fruits and vegetables. I think it was last summer that I took a banana out to the turtles and Squidge pushed his way to the banana and gobbled it up. Bananas?!? Weird! (He never tried to eat their worms or grasshoppers though.) Since then we've tried other things. He liked pears, plums, apples and grapes too. Not too big on vegetables. Funny bunny.
Last weekend was UEA weekend so we'd had more down time than usual, so nice. We spent a lot of time with Squidget cuddling, playing with him. Even the last time we cut his teeth, he just laid in my lap very patiently. I don't know what happens to pets in the eternal scheme of things but I know this for sure. If it's an option, we want Squidget to be part of our eternal family....and Wizzard too. As Stephen said, "That's a bunny that has filled the measure of his creation." Lucky us to have had his love.

Have you been to the funny farm lately?

About 21 years ago, we started what has become the Ferrin Funny Farm. You don't believe me? Come on over!
Sadly, too many people dread the teenage years of their children. Now I will readily admit we've had some of "those days," many of them. But what you don't hear often enough is how fun teenagers are!
Let me try to create a visual. It's late, much later than Lane and I would like, and we're finally all at home and can gather our family for scriptures and prayer. Often, I'm already in bed so the kids come climb on or in the bed, usually a combination of both. We recap the day and reconnect for a few minutes. It never fails, someone has a funny to share. We're all in the so-tired-you're-giddy stage so the sillies begin. Lots of laughs, hugs, leg slapping, you're getting the picture. Then at some moment Lane decides we really better start scriptures so we can go to bed. Lane usually reads from his palm pilot as do I, but Stephen and Thomas read and translate from their Spanish Books of Mormon. Occasionally, Lane reads from his Portguese book. As you can imagine this takes longer than everyone reading in English. Sometimes we girls beg for English only. Reading this way really adds to our understanding and often we get into discussions too lengthy for this time of night. Sometimes there's a funny in translation or someone just can't say "hither and thither" without laughing and it all begins again. Eventually we have family prayer and send the children off to bed. Now, wouldn't you think that they would run, or at least saunter to their rooms and fall into bed? Ha! More stories, more giggles, more one-more-thing's. All in all it makes for some great bonding moments. After they finally do go to bed, Lane and I cuddle and comment that we'll get some sleep when they've all moved away from home but for now, we savor the memories we're making.

Welcome to the Ferrin Family!