we got goats!

Wednesday we loaded up the family and drove two miles away and came home with two adorable goats. The woman who sold them to us was awesome. She's a high school math teacher by day and a farmer by night, grew up in the suburbs of Georgia, married a Minnesota farmer and has figured it out ever since. She was so supportive, so encouraging and loved her animals so much. We made another friend and I'm so grateful.

We got a mama goat and her baby, a female. My sister-in-law Lisa thought we should name them Lilac and Tulip because those flowers are in full bloom on our farm this week, and I loved that idea and calling them Lila and Tulla. But Rory couldn't remember those names and kept saying, "what did you name them? Lyza and Minnelli? Flora and Fauna?" Rory makes me laugh.

Ivar didn't like Lila and Tulla either, so he decided the little white goat should be called Precious. And Rory is still coming up with the Mama's name.

Animals are so fun. We went to bed last night and Rory commented that it just feels so good to have some animals in that barn. And Ivar has been by Rory's side the entire time. Early this morning Ivar asked, "Dad, am I your first farm hand?" And Ivar found a place in the electric fence that needed to be looked at because the baby could burrow under the wire. Everyone was quite proud of Ivar for spotting the weak part of the fence!

Today the boys are mending the wire fence that runs around our property from the previous owners. That way if a goat escapes the electric fence, we'll have a second fence to catch them. Worst case scenario would be an escaped goat! A double fence feels like a good precaution.

They are very sweet in temperament so far, more scared than aggressive. So we've spent lots of time sitting by their pen, talking nicely, hand feeding them their hay and cracked corn. It's a real life petting zoo, right here in our barn and it's really, really fun.