Tulip Festival Time!

It's become tradition to go to the Tulip Festival with our friends the Tuppers. We went this weekend and had BEAUTIFUL weather and a lovely time tip-toeing through the tulips.

We went to Tulip Town. Here's a few pictures.

These tulips were cool (my favorite) and Shaun thought the name was funny. These were Shaun's favorite tulips.

Did we mention it was kind of sunny?

This isn't my favorite picture--kind of makes us look dorky--squinting, teethy grins, and Shaun's camera holder or should I say HOLSTER?!
It was hard to get a good family photo of the Tuppers--lots of toddler movement.

We couldn't get Emma to look at the Camera...she made it a game.

Emma--age 3--brought her boots so she COULD walk through puddles. (Or rather Mom--Wendy--thought of this. Genius?!) Emma started to run ahead to find more puddles. She's sweetheart.
And with this exotic tulip type we found that nobody else seemed to notice over by the bathrooms.Oh, and speaking of bathrooms--please note that Tulip Town made an effort to hide all the port-o-potties, but not a very LARGE effort to make it pretty. But to my amazement--I saw many foreigners posing and taking pictures in front of the large picture of tulips they put up. (Sad to me...but opportunities come in different forms to everyone--so I'll try to be more understanding.)

Moving---Well the Chickens Have Moved

The Booth chickens have moved! They left the garage and have been living in their coop for a week. They seems to love it. They seems happy to roam and find worms. They have also mastered the chicken coop gate/bridge. (They can quickly move up and down it.) This video gives you a good look at their new world!

Here's a picture of the chickens that reminds me of Sesame Street--"Today's Post was brought to you by the letter Z."

Shaun and I went outside to visit the chickens later on in the week and saw that they have started bunking together at night to stay extra warm. It's hilarious to see 11-12 chickens crammed into ONE roosting box. (Awww...and cute too..except for how the eyes came out with the photo flash!)

The chickens are a new delight for me to watch and hold. I never thought I could bond with a chicken! (And Yes...Zachary still comes to me and has even walked up my arm and sat on my shoulder.....and he's gotten his poopy talons all over my sweatshirt too. I don't mind though.)

The News Has Arrived

Shaun got the call today from his boss Chris--Joes WILL be liquidated. That means this week is his last hunter's safety class and then he'll be helping the Mt. Vernon store be sold off piece by piece--it's not sure how long they'll use him, but we've had plenty of time to prepare ourselves mentally and spiritually. We're confident that everything will work out for the best. We are so blessed that I have a job that can support our little family--just without the frills or savings. We have no hope of getting medical insurance now--so, maybe with Shaun out of work in the future, we will qualify for DSHS insurance to cover the baby's birth. I'm not sure how that works but we may soon find out!

I think that Shaun and I have been so blessed up to this point, that we can't imagine the blessings stopping because of some temporal thing. We continue to thank our Heavenly Father for the miracles and joy we feel sweeping through our daily lives. For me, when these kinds of twists to the plot come, I wonder what Heavenly Father has in store next...and tend to optimistically look forward to the new changes and opportunities to grow closer to Him. It always keeps my blood pressure low and me especially humble. Faith--not fear. Hope--not doubt. We've been guided by the Lord to this point--we know we're suppose to be here--and pregnant. We will of course be actively putting our faith into action--we won't take this sitting down--so, yes, if you have any job connections, please let us know. Thank you everyone for your support. We know many are going through similar--if not worse--situations currently due the economy. Please let us know if we can help you!

Me=Mama Hen

So, have you heard? I am now 27 weeks pregnant. To some it is considered the 3rd Trimester--but I'll wait until next week to call it that--when it's my seventh month officially. (This means I go to the doctor every two weeks instead of each month.)

Anyway, I'm doing SOOOO well I can't believe how wonderful this pregnancy thing has been for me. I haven't had lots of the potential symptoms/ailments that the books explain. It's really amazing to me that I've not even really felt round ligament pain (the aching in the sides as the uterus grows larger). I have had to use the little girls room a lot more--but that's not an issue for me since there's always one accessible to me at work and home. So, here's a picture of me at 26.5 weeks (on 3-26-09) and some from today (4-6-09) in my 27th week.

Well, the Booths are getting back tonight from a little vacation. Shaun and I have been dog, fish, and chicken sitting for them. I have made a special bond with a little chicken who I have come to call "Zachery Binks"--even though it's suppose to be a girl. In my attempt to hold a chicken earlier this week, one chicken seemed to be the bravest and let me hold her. From then on, whenever I put my hands in the chicken cage, Zachery would come right over and let me pick her up. I came to adore her. She even started to close her eyes and get comfy one night. I have a new found love for this particular chicken and have learned a lot more about chickens that would have helped me in high school. ...You see in high school we did a drama class exercise where we studied and animal--portrayed it onstage--and then let it morph into a human. I chose a chicken--and became a woman who had a neck bobbing tick. It really wasn't that great of a performance. I didn't have enough one on one chicken time back then. BUT NOW!!!...I may have to do a second performance with all that I've learned. Here's me at lunch time checking in on her.
In Shaun's life, he's started his Spring quarter today. He came home excited about the classes--the 3rd class in his Biology series and another math class. Apparently, his math class only grades on the midterm and final. That's it--so, he'll have to REALLY pay attention and test well. He had a great quarter in the winter and we're looking forward to continuing that success through. Hooray for Shaun!
As far as Shaun's employment situation--in case you haven't heard--Joes Sporting Goods, where he teaches Hunters Safety may be going bankrupt completely. The future of Joes's is to be announced Friday. If they get a buyer, then cool--we keep going with Joes, if not, we will find out the timeline of how much time he has left--and then look for a new job. Maybe REI would like to have a Hunter's Safety teacher to help bring in customers and do a great community service by offering Shaun's class? We'll see. We know everything will be okay if we have faith. Well, that's all for now friends! Chow!

The Most Appaling Cake Yet (CAUTION: Do not read further if easily nauseated)

I just wanted to share with you what Sarah S. made for Activities Day treat tonight. It was Cat-Litter Cake. It looked appalling--and I tried a bite just to say I did. It's made of spice cake, vanilla cake, vanilla wafer cookies (crushed up and dyed blue with food coloring to look like crystals), vanilla pudding, and semi melted tootsie rolls. I was amazed Sarah had been served this as a child. Poor Sarah...just passing on the curiosity! Really, it was pretty creative...but really gross. The picture I have on the blog is not the ACTUAL cake--she didn't serve hers in a litter tray.