Our New Neighbors

It's Feeding Time at the Radder's
They have already cleared out the area directly behind them
They sure love those blackberry bushes!

This is how they sleep, all over each other like this. They are in what I like to call their pig chalet, Marcus made it for them for shelter, he even used left over roofing tiles from our house. This is Violet, we had to have her double penned up while trying to make sure the fence was secure.

So first of all I have been blogging like a maniac so be sure to scroll down because I think that this is my third post today, I've had some catching up to do, we have had so much fun stuff going on to blog about! :)

Well we have new neighbors, 6 to be exact! We put up a fence and have two cows, well one is a cow which we named Violet and the other one is a bull, which we haven't quite named yet. They are both one year old. Technically they are my parents cows, but we are hoping to work out a deal where we can get one down the road after Violet has had some calf's. It was quite the hoopla when we first got them. The bull broke free twice and Violet broke out once (on Mother's Day of course!) but we figured out the kinks and their pasture area is like Fort Knox now!


The pigs are way too cute. There are 3 girls and one boy. The boy is all black with a white middle and the girls are all pink. We haven't given them names as they are going to be in the freezer later this year. Marcus built their enclosure around our humongous pile of gnarly blackberry bushes with the hopes that they would eat them down, root out all the roots and take care of our blackberry problem for us. Right away they were rooting around in the dirt, but I was skeptical whether they would eat the bushes and the other day when I went out to feed them they had cleared a 4x4 area overnight-way to go pigs! Plus they are so happy to run around outside and roll in the dirt. Olivia comes with me in her stroller to do the morning chores. We do the pigs last and she is just mesmerized by all of their squealing and oinking. With any luck all of them will stay in their respective pens, but who knows you may see me chasing pigs down the Everson Goshen if any of those pigs turn into little Houdini's.

Olivia's First Time to the Temple!

Here we are outside the Temple, the weather was Perfect!
She was so good just hanging out in her stroller for all of the pictures and everything, then I figured out what was keeping her so occupied.....
Her stroller was positioned right underneath this tree. I took this picture from her view. It was even more beautiful in real life. The light was filtering through the trees and it just looked amazing! She did so good on this trip. She hardly cried at all the whole time, even with her naps being disrupted and everything. It was so great to be there and see my cousin starting his own Eternal family!

Playing Catch Up

So last month we went to Portland for my cousin Ammon's wedding. It took me forever to get these pictures downloaded so I am playing catch up in posting them!

I was nervous before we left that she would be a maniac on the flight, but she was awesome. She pretty much was passed out the whole time! On the way back we flew around Mount Saint Helen's which was pretty dang cool.

We went with my parents and my favorite Auntie Rosalie. It was so much fun! Rosalie and I bunked rooms at the hotel and just had a BLAST! Olivia slept great through the night and we learned that long distant trips are definitely doable. My Dad flew us down which was also really cool, it was the longest flight he has done yet. On the way back we stopped in Bremerton at a place called the Airport Diner which is right off the runway and had some pretty amazing fish and chips!

Oh wow

Home Sweet Avion Trailer

Well I have a lot of new pictures to upload, just haven't got around to doing it yet. I was looking for a picture that I already had down loaded and found these. These are pictures of the trailer that we used to live in when we were building our house. Looking at these made me so grateful for the beautiful home that we have now, especially that it doesn't have wheels! We did end up painting the trailer and putting in hardwood floors although I couldn't find any of those pictures. Our queen sized bed fit perfectly in the front end. It took up the whole front end in already limited space, but at least Marcus and I didn't have to sleep in separate twin beds!! Just thought I'd share our trailer trash days ;)

How Cute!!

So whenever we hang out with Kaitlyn and Trevor, we get a kick out of letting the babies play. That is if conditions are perfect like they have both been fed, diapered and aren't cranky. It is so cute because Blaine thinks Olivia is fun and will do her crazy play time laugh and it cracks Olivia up. She can't get enough of Blaine, she just talks and makes weird noises at her until Blaine does the laugh and then she cracks up and makes the noises all over again waiting for Blaine to do the laugh some more. It is inevitable that after a short while one will start to tire of this and melt down and the other one, so sad that she is sad, starts the meltdown too. It is the cutest thing to see and whenever we go to head over there I am always like "Olivia are you happy you are going to see your best friend Blaine?". It's so fun to see their little baby interactions!

We always joke that because we want them to be friends that when they get older they will just drive each other crazy and never want to play... "Do I have to play with HER?" But I'm sure that wont happen, they will have many more fun play dates to come!!

New Project

So on the corner across from Walmart, my Dad is going to be developing that open area. He's going to be overseeing a United Furniture store, sporting goods store and a Starbuck's. This pole building is currently on the site and needs to be moved. My parents told us we could have it if we took it down. It's a great opportunity to get the metal and wood framing for free. It is a great size for Marcus to have a shop area and to provide shelter for the animals that now reside on our property (more about the animals later). Marcus got some menfolk to help him take off the metal sheets (special thanks to Peter and Trevor for the wonderful help, especially in the down pouring rain!! Also to their wives for letting them go!). Marcus was out there the other night taking a million pictures so we will know how to put it back together once all the parts are at our house. My Dad's been an awesome help with figuring out the best way to take it down and use of his tractor and excavator!! It's exciting but also a little daunting because of the work involved. The next time you drive by take a look, all the metal is off and it is just the frame, so this week the focus is getting the wood off.

On a side note my Dad found something interesting in the woods behind the shop. He was walking back there and stumbled across this old lady who had been living in a tent in the woods for I think over a year now (If I'm remembering it correctly). She asked him when construction will start so she will know when to move. She said she lived there all year round! It gave him quite a start because he wasn't expecting to see anyone and she just walks out of her tent and says "hello". So when we had the work party there she was back in the woods just hanging out-CRAZY!! How many times have I drove past there and never knew a little old lady was living back there?

The Results are IN!!

Olivia and I after my interview on the steps of the building

So for all of you who are waiting with bated breath for the results of my interview for citizenship, the results are in....

I MADE IT!!!!!!

I got a little nervous before I had to go back, there were some questions that I was still fuzzy on. Like name the 13 original colonies, and some of the Bill of Rights questions. Luckily my interviewer asked my all the questions I knew, so I got 100%! I also had to read a sentence he wrote ( All the boys are in the park), and I had to write a sentence he told to me ( It is a sunny day today). He also had to review the moral character questions from my application, which was kinda awkward as the questions were: Have you ever prostituted yourself? Have you ever been a habitual drunkard? Have you ever sold drugs? These are just a few. A week later I was sworn in and now I am happy to say I am a lawful citizen of this country. They give you this cute packet that has a mini book of the Constitution, a mini flag, and another book telling you all the great things you get to do now that you are a citizen! US Passport here I come!!