About a month ago, Ev load the family in the truck to get a "surprise." We went to our neighbors' dairy and got a little black bull calf. 2 or 3 days later, we did the same thing except it was brown. Why did we get the calves? According to Evan, it's for the kids. And for dog training. And maybe for eating. I told Ev, I couldn't eat a calf that was named.
Introducing: Red Cowboy (Riley's brownish/reddish calf) & Rio (Hyrum's black calf).Ev & Hy used to have races to see who could get done first. That kind of ended with Hy freaking out. Especially when Riley beat Hy one day.
It's fun to see the kids' personalities come out as they feed their calves. Hy: he knows it's cold, but he's got to do his work! He's gotta take care of his calf.
Riley: HATES feeding calves. It's cold. It's so far to walk. The bottle is HEAVY. She wants to stay in the house in her nightgown. But once she's out there, it's all good. We occasionally threaten that we'll give "Red Cowboy" to Lins.
Lins: as soon as someone even goes close to the door, she's putting on her boots. "Moo? Moo?" She follows the gang out there, taking her sweet time with her little legs. she gives the calves a handful of hay, pats them on the head, says "hi" to the dog and the kitty, and usually carries Riley's empty calf bottle back in the house.
I LOVE watching...sometimes I go out with everyone, sometimes I stay in and watch from the front window. But it always brings a smile to my face. Except for the one time Ev was gone for a week and I had to feed the calves (I definitely felt like Riley that week). I love these little things about my husband, my kids and my life! :)