Happy New Year!

It’s been a busy last couple of weeks for us, as I’m sure it’s been for everyone! It seems like the holidays came and went so quickly this year. 

Farm Updates:

We had some pretty stressful events unfold at the farm before we left for Christmas. One morning, we drove out to let the chickens out (we do that at least every other day), and immediately saw that someone had turned around in the driveway as there were muddy tracks off the path. Aaron quickly went and looked in the outbuildings and saw that a door had been kicked down and quite a few of our tools stolen. We were so frustrated, because we’d unhooked our security cameras a week or two earlier when taking out the flooring and siding from the farmhouse, and had moved some things out of the more-secure house to the outbuildings as we are getting ready for demo. This was the third break-in we’d had since buying the property, which was disheartening. We filed a police report, but knew there wasn’t much they could do without video or other evidence, even though we had a few serial numbers from the items stolen. 

Later, we went to Costco and picked up some wireless security cameras and set those up in different spots around the property, and then ordered a shipping container that we will rent month-by-month until the house is redone. We decided to go ahead and leave the gate unlocked just in case they decided to come back. And then two days later, they did! The new cams picked up a truck driving into the property at 9:00 AM on Monday – I immediately called 911 and Aaron and I were able to give a good description of the thieves to the operator. We went ahead and set off the remote alarm, which scared them, and they left quickly (they were only on the property for four minutes, but were still able to grab more things). We quickly rushed out to the property and met the police there – we reviewed our video footage with them, and they were able to get a number of very specific details about the truck, even though the license plate was fuzzy. We went home, thinking they probably wouldn’t be able to find them, but were so surprised an hour later when the police called back and said they’d located the truck and wanted us to come down and ID the suspects. We met the detective at a gas station and he put us in the back of his car with the shaded windows so no one could see us and then drove us over to the truck a mile or so away. They had three suspects get out – the first two, we couldn’t ID for sure, but the third was the one we’d seen on the tapes and had described in detail to the 911 operator (we later ID’d the second one after watching the videotapes again, in which their faces were more clear). They also asked Aaron to come over to the back of the truck to visually ID our stolen items. After that, they dropped us off at our car again and we went home to fill out the statements and stolen inventory list they’d given us. We got another call later that day letting us know that they’d been able to recover quite a few of our stolen items, which we were very thankful for. 

It’s been so interesting to see this side of the justice system. We thought that would be the end of everything, but received notice by phone and mail that we have a court appointed victims advocate, with information on the defendants, their pleas (both pleading not guilty, which I’m confused about since we have clear video evidence that we’ve given to the police department), and their trial date. I hope we don’t have to testify, since this has been scary for us. The trial is set for February, so I suppose we’ll know more in the weeks between now and then. 

In better news, the chicks are growing so quickly and are almost as big as Lady & Tweet Tweet now. The older birds are so funny – since the one night, months ago, that we tried to integrate them into the same coop, L & TT won’t return back to their home to roost at night. Instead, they are trying to roost on top of some old cabinets stacked under the carport, so we always have to go find and collect them and carry them to bed. Silly birds. 

Aaron “wrapped” the bees for the winter as they were getting pretty lethargic in the cold. We bungeed a sleeping bag and tarp around them and they are doing better! Aaron also made some homemade sugar “cakes” for them and put those in for them to enjoy – they didn’t make as much honey as they needed this first year. 

We had fun visiting our home designer’s farm in Puyallup recently – she has a miniature horse named Chance who has the cutest bangs. It will be fun when we are settled at the farm and can take care of more animals! 

Poulsbo Update: 

Before Christmas, Aaron and I took a quick trip over to Poulsbo for just one night. We’d had a super stressful week, and wanted to get away for a little bit. We stayed at a sweet farmhouse AirBnB, walked around downtown Poulsbo during their Christmas festival, and read and went to bed early. The farm there had the cutest little miniature goats (why is everything cuter in miniature?) – adding those to the wish list for our farm someday. 

Christmas Update:

We spent about 10 days with my parents on the Oregon coast for Christmas, and had a great time. Casey and Jenn came up from Fresno with their two dogs, Hobie and Yuma, so along with Sadie and Fenn, we had a full house! We did lots of relaxing, playing Balderdash and Hugger Mugger, watched the first season of Making a Murderer, ate loads of good food, did a six-mile hike (challenging at almost 6 months pregnant!) down Cummins Creek Trail (helps that it was all downhill), played music together, and enjoyed being at the beach. The sunset last night was so stunning – wild, beautiful colors. And after that, dozens of boats lined up across the horizon, lights bobbing across the water – this morning at 8:00 was the start of crabbing season in Newport, so everyone was out to stake out their spots. 

We also found a great new baby store in Florence that had tons of beautiful, clean, barely used baby gear/clothing for $1-3/item. I bought $46 worth of things and left with a huge sack-full of things I loved (for example, we found a sweet pair of grey, cashmere leggings from Neiman Marcus with the tags still on for $1.99!). The store is called “Jawsome Kids Resale” in case anyone is driving through and needs good baby/kid clothing! We’re also super thankful for family members who’ve given us gently used baby gear from their own kiddos! We love hand-me-downs. Makes us feel very cared for – thank you!

Baby Update:

I am just two weeks from being six months pregnant now! I’m feeling the baby move regularly, which is fun. Aaron had his hand on my tummy the other night and she kicked so hard it startled both of us! He talks to her regularly and it could be in my mind, but I feel like she’s more active when he’s around and connecting with her. I’m so excited to see who she is when she arrives. I hope for so many good things for her, and have felt kind of sentimental lately thinking about all the things I hope she has in life. I am almost through making her a broadcloth baby quilt that I hand quilted (my first time!). I love how it’s turning out, and I hope it will be something special she can keep for a long time. 

Wishing all of you lots of peace and happiness in the year ahead!