The GOAT Whisperer

 Tonight, the Nies showed up to Gig's work at Celebrity Dairy 

to help out with the baby goats.  

They have 80 goats in the nursery, with about 23 more mamas in the wings,

 ready to deliver (most goats deliver 2-3 babies at a time!).  

We had the opportunity to care for some adorable kids...some just hours old. 

We cuddled them, showered them with love, 

and made sure they were cozy and comfortable (it was 24 degrees outside!),

 and we bottle-fed them with warm mama milk.

Their cries were so similar to human babies that 

I must admit, it did make my mama's heart a tad bit anxious when they'd

all start howling together.

I was soooo proud of Gigs, who was helping deliver the kids, 

loving and caring for the mamas, and cleaning up the birth mess.

It was a little shocking watching him jump in there with all the

blood n' stuff, and with the afterbirth that's involved.

Even though I knew he was secretly dying, he's such a cute dude.

This will make him such a good daddy one day!

GO, Gigs, GO!

The Girls Are Back!

The girls (counting me!) are back, and we're having the best time together! 

We're laughing, staying up late, sharing memes, and doing LOTS of talking.

We're reminiscing, sharing funny photos, and 

hearing stories about Jane's life in Portugal.

We run errands together and do barre together, and I adore listening

to them gab away in Portuguese!

We've created a nice little schedule which includes breakfast with Lod,

(Gigs is long gone since he goes to seminary at 6:20. Good boy, Gigs!)

then drop her off at school and head into Chapel Hill to take our Barre class.

Claire is able to join us most days because she works

the 11-11 full-time shift as a nurse tech in Raleigh.

Jane is looking for a job until August when both girls 

move to Provo to attend BYU.

I'm giddy thinking about them living together in an apartment.

They will have so much fun, meet friends, date boys, 

and experience so much together.  I wish I could go.

Jane is slowly getting back into the real world.

She's job hunting, getting reacquainted with her phone 

(texts, memes, all the socials)

while reorganizing her life and stuff.

(18 months' worth of missed messages/e-mails.)

Tonight, for dinner, I made sourdough bread, 

and we cut up fruit and cheese and popped

open the sardines Jane brought home from Portugal.

Sardines are the thing in Portugal.

Honestly, Christian was the only one who actually ate them.

Purpose

 This morning, I woke up to find a certain redhead in my bed.  
She looked pretty comfy and happy.

The best sleep she's had over a year! (Literally).

After church today, Jane broke down while Gigs made

burritos in the kitchen. She shared with us that 

she missed being busy and productive- especially on Sundays.

Claire, who knows exactly the feeling, held her in the kitchen while she cried.

I was crying from the couch, watching the sweet scene unfold.

Claire gave her such good advice about how things would normalize 

and told her never to stop being a missionary; 

she would soon find her purpose and herself again. 

Jane took that advice right away and attended the 

branch correlation meeting, along with full-time missionaries

and Christian (who is the best missionary I know!).

She offered amazing advice and gave ideas about what worked in her mission.

She's planning on helping out with the English class each Tuesday evening

and setting up times to serve alongside the missionaries.

GO, Jane, GO!

It's no secret our family loves to share Jesus with everyone!

It's our greatest joy!

JANE IS HOME!

She's home!

She did it!

18 months in Portugal teaching people about

Jesus Christ and serving in His name for

47304000 seconds!

13140 hours!

547 Days!

And she's back in my arms!

Chris and Nellie Bingham, who are my second cousins and 

our stake president was on the same returning flight from

 NYC to NC as Jane. They were returning home from Spain.

They told me they'd be on the same flight a few weeks ago, but we

decided to keep it a secret from Jane.

Jane was sooooo happy to see them at the airport in New York!

What a sweet surprise!

They had lunch together at the airport

Nellie was SO AWESOME and took most of the photos of

us when we saw Jane for the first time!  

What treasures!

A few minutes before meeting Jane at the airport's return area,

 a man walked towards us and asked,

 "Are you Sister Nielson's entourage?" 

We proudly confirmed that we were. 

He then said, 

"She's a wonderful lady, you should be very proud." 

I replied with tears in my eyes, 

"Thank you, we are!" 

As he walked away, I noticed he had a copy of

 The Book of Mormon in his hands. 

It was clear that Jane had been doing missionary work until the very last second!

We waited eagerly for Jane to arrive, and as soon as 

I caught a glimpse of her distinctive orange hair in the distance, 

with Chris and Nellie, I couldn't contain my excitement any longer 

and ran toward her down the forbidden hallway, screaming with joy. 

Even though we did get in trouble for that by airport security,

 I simply couldn't resist the overwhelming happiness 

of seeing her again after so long.

We screamed and hugged and then huddled over in the corner 

near the baggage claim with the Binghams and talked and 

hugged, and talked an hugged and Chris said this reunion was

probably how it's going to be when we see loved ones who've 

passed on.  Lots of tears, hugs, and screams.

I couldn't have agreed more.

It was one of the most memorable moments of my life.

(Jane being set apart for her full-time mission, July 2022)

(Jane being released from her full-time mission, January 2024)

At home, I cut up Jane's favorite grasshopper pie that

I had made earlier, we listened to her favorite music

(Cranberries, TSP, Better Than Ezra, and The Killers)

and she opened up her suitcases and showed gifts she brought back

for us, trinkets and Milka bars in every flavor

 that she had spent her whole grocery budget on

and, of course, a load of dirty clothes.

Welcome home, Jane Bug!

(Hey, Gigs!  You're next!!!)