Family Christmas…

Saturday night we all got together at my cousin’s house for dinner, the reading of the Christmas story, singing, and lots of good conversation and laughs.  There were over 90 people in this one home.  Thank you Cris & Sarah!  We also did a full family photo which I hope to post as soon as I receive one.

What Christmas is all about…the kids.  For our family it would be a multitude of girls!

And the star of the show….

This little guy was tuckered by the time we headed out.  We found him curled up on a rug in an out-of-the-way spot.  He had been passed around like a baby that evening and was wiped out.  Sarah kept trying to toss him outside, but somehow he always ended up back in and cradled in someone’s lap.  He is a mastif puppy and probably already twice that size only a few hours later.

The next day was our Christmas lunch at Grandma’s.  After we all scurried around to get ready for church we ate lunch and opened gifts.

The weather was beautiful Sunday. 

You have to come at our family from behind.  If they see you with a camera they bolt.  In the process of bolting they say mean things to you.  This is as good as it gets for a family photo in our gene pool!

Mom entertained the little city girls by letting them feed treats to Mom and Dad’s llama, Sylvester.

Then there were trees to climb.

The girls had fun playing with all their cousins over the weekend, doing farm things, and eating lots of good food.  Katie (oldest) even helped Randy with chores Sunday morning before church.  Too fun!

Dad even dropped in for a bite to eat before heading back to the field to cut milo.

It was a fun day with lots of good food,  good conversation, lots of laughs, and lots of memories.

Later in the afternoon we got a phone call from a friend who was having trouble with a little 3-day-old-lamb.  We said good-bye to everyone and loaded up the car, stop by home for a few supplies, and headed over to help.

I ended up tubing the lamb who refused a bottle on his own.  Dan was headed to work night shift later that evening, so we offered to take the lamb home for the night and care for him.

He wasn’t looking good when first got him home.  His body temperature had dropped just from the short car ride.  I put some hot water bottles wrapped in towels in the crate with him and headed out to do our chores.

At his 7:00 feeding, just 3 hours later, he was able to stand with a little assistance getting up.  At 11:30 he was still the same, could not get up on his own, didn’t cry, and barely took a bottle.  We gave him a shot of B Complex and some fresh hot water bottles and went back to bed.  At 3:30 I got up to feed him.  He was able to stand up on his own, thought he needed out of the kennel to mill around, and drank a decent amount of milk.  He isn’t out of the woods yet, but will hopefully make a full recovery.

Dan came by this morning while we were at work to pick him up.  He will be in charge of bottles throughout the day.  We have a massive snow storm moving in, so by no means would he be able to stay outside in the shape he is in.  Randy has stressed the importance of him needing to stay in the house, 4 hour feedings, and how upset I will be if anything happens to this little guy.  I think he made him nervous.  Dan mentioned he had a family dinner tonight and may bring the lamb back if that was okay.  He is also toying with the idea of us taking careof him for a few more days until he is strong enough to stay outside and the bad weather has passed.

I can’t refuse the little guy.  I will do just about anything for these little guys.  Besides, who doesn’t need a little lamb in their house around Christmas time?  It is becoming a tradition at our house.  Last year was when this little guy and gal came to live with us.

Hope everyone has a blessed and  Merry Christmas.