Old and New

Its 2011 now, 2010 is history and what a year it was. I am thankful that despite all that last year had to offer, I feel that we made the best of it, learned a lot about each other, our friends and family and most importantly that our faith in God grew which in turn brought our family even closer together. Last year was one of many sacrifices in many ways; some more obvious than others. Through it, I have found a deeper piece and love for God through trusting more in His promises; what it truly means to TRUST and the fact that a promise is just that, a promise, and God doesn't change His mind so, for me, the reality of that fact hit home during this year. At the beginning of each year, Bryan and I sit down and right down our goals/projects for the year; the list is usually quite long but the sense of satisfaction that one gets when you get to cross one off because its been done is simply wonderful, however, this past year brought lots of 'interruptions' to the proposed plans. It was a good reminder that we are not in control and I am thankful to say that after we were all healed( and that was a very slow process) and able to get 'going' again, there was plenty of opportunities to just want to quit but only through the grace of God(and He reminded us of His grace frequently) we came through with smiles, especially knowing that it all could of been a whole lot worse.
So, time to put off the old and on with the new but don't forget what was learned with the 'old' and apply it and then hopefully the 'new' will be better.
Here are some 'old' and 'new' faces around our home.............

Lee has decided recently that he is a dog of comforts and when I say comforts I don't just mean the warm house and carpet, nooo............we are talking bean bag comfort!!!

This is the one of the most fearful rabbits I have ever owned-she litterly trembles when you open her cage and look at her. We have had her for over a year and I would of thought that by now she would of relaxed, even a bit, but that's not the case. She is litterly afraid to move and her plump frame proves that.

This is Bugs-very original name. He's about a year old now and while he initially appears shy, once you get him out he's a riot! Very curious and mischievous and comical.

This is Dumpling, Bug's brother. We thought that he was a she and so far that name hasn't changed with that bit of info. He is a very friendly, affectionate bunny but also like his brother has a sense of adventure.

These are some old faces.........our small herd of fainting goats. The 'fainting' seems to go away with age to a point and some of them are getting some age on them( 11yrs and 9yrs) so they are not as entertaining as they once had been but never the less, we love them.

Here's a new face-Phil. Phil came to us about a month ago from some people that no longer could keep him and asked if we would want him. I of course, being the softy that I am, said yes. We were told that he had a 'bummed' leg but I didn't know the extent of it until we got him. Apparently it had been broken when he was a 'kid' and was never set back in its proper place but the previous owner's didn't want him put down, so after about 3yrs now, he has adapted well to life with 3 good legs and a permanently deformed limb. Believe it or not, he is the hardest goat to catch-I get the rope out because he can out-run us all!! Quite embarrassing!!

These 2 are new faces here too. Jazmine and Jenny the pygmy goats. Very sweet girls as you can see!! They thrive on the affection................and their grain and a few other munchies.

Jazmine is probably the toughest, smartest and most out going of the girls. After bringing her home, she soon discovered how to go under the fence by putting her nose under it and lifting it up-this took us 3 times to finally 'goat proof' the fence. She also likes to chase our dogs around-she thinks she is some tough goat!

Here is the last of the new goat faces here-Miracle, She's a Nubian/Boer cross and is just as friendly as her 2 best friends, Jazmine and Jenny. She is their shadow and is literally lost without them. We discovered this on one of their escapes when Bryan just lifted the two pygmys over the fence but Miracle was to heavy and trying to get her to walk around to the gate was quite the challenge but once she figured out where we were going, she drug me.

Jenny here is probably Marisa's favorite as she could sit here almost all day and just soak up the affection; unlike the boys, there is no one impress, push around, etc..........Jenny is the goat that could be a dog-a lap dog-if you let her.