Baby Owl Rescue

Yesterday, grandpa Max came over after lunch to see if Weston and Millie wanted to come see a baby owl that had fallen out of it's nest. We all hoped on the 4 wheelers and headed down the little hill into the gulch just behind Max's house (he lives right next door).
Oh, that little owl was so cute!

For a baby, he was much bigger than I thought he'd be. I should have gotten a pic with Weston next to him for scale but he probably came up to Weston's waist and looked like a fluffy pear shaded thing from a distance. The mom stayed up in the tree near the nest, which still had another baby in it, but she kept a very watchful eye on her fallen baby and us.

They are Great Horned Owls and are beautiful. We have at least three different owl nests out behind our house and I think they are truly magnificent birds so I wasn't about to let this baby die. He had fallen from his nest about 30 feet up. Amazingly, he didn't seem to be hurt at all. He was actually pretty chill while we watched him and even laid down to take a nap.
I was kind of worried about him throughout the day since the neighbors dogs go down there a lot but the mama took care of him. Jason's brother Heath and his welders work down there quite a bit and were the ones to discover the baby owl. They kept an eye on him most of the day and said when some dogs did come down, the mama owl flew down and scooted the baby under an old truck nearby. Good mama.
I called the DWR and they said the best thing to do is to return the baby to it's nest if at all possible. Being at least 30 feet up with no low branches, we knew we would need some sort of man-lift. Heath had a bucket truck at his house but it had special "issues" and the only guy, Leon, that knew how to manage the "issues" had to work until late.
At about 9:30 my sister-in-law Marie and their employee Leon brought the bucket truck down. He got decked out in a thick coat, helmet with a visor, chaps, and welding gloves because he thought the mama might come after him. It was probably the baby he should have worried about with it's huge talons and sharp beak, although nothing ever happened. He took the baby owl up in the bucket while Jason controlled it from the ground (that's part of the "issues"; it can't be operated from the bucket). The loud clacking sound the baby made with his beak through the whole process just resonated and made the mama pretty anxious as she sat in the top of the tree and kept calling back. Once Leon got the owlet into the nest, the fallen baby about made the other one jump out when he spread out his wings to get away. They have amazingly large wing spans for babies. Halfway back down, the bucket stalled (another "issue") and Leon had to repel out with some rope. At least he was prepared.
Anyway, I know I tend to ramble, but it was kind of a fun night and the kids got to stay up late on a school night to watch, so yay for them. Both babies and mama owl are safe and sound and we feel like amazing animal rescuers now.


 

Weston and the door

Weston LOVES to be outside! He is constantly wanting to go jump on the tramp, ride the four-wheelers, or ride bikes over at grandpa's. He recently discovered he can easily open the back door, so I now have to make sure it is always locked or he will escape. The lock is too hard for him to turn...yet. I now see him multiple times a day trying to figure out how to get the door open. You can just see his little gears turning.
Today I found him with my car keys, aiming the remote at the back door, pushing the unlock button. HA! I laughed out loud...while he threw a little mini tantrum on the floor because is didn't work.
Oh, I love him!

Teaching Weston to be a man.

Millie is Weston's best bud. He adore her and does everything that she does. I'm always telling her to be a good example because he's always watching. The other day she really took this to heart and told me, very sincerely, "Mom, I'm going to start teaching Weston something new everyday."
Yesterday, while Weston and Millie are piling up old boxes in the kitchen-
Millie: "Today I'm going to teach Weston to be a man."
Me: "How are you going to do that?"
Millie, very matter of fact: "Well, men break things."
Then they both proceed to bust through their box tower and scatter them all over the kitchen.
I'm interested to know what's on her teaching agenda today.

Christmas 2013 in pictures

 I might have to do something more organized and sweet later but in the mean time, just to get something on here, here's some of our Christmas and Idaho trip in random pictures.

I guess these are just a few. I have some more on another memory card I'll have to post later.
We had a great Christmas and a great time in Idaho! We loved seeing family, especially Pompa who we haven't all been together with for years. We did miss some family though. Tyson and Jessica were in Montana and Brady and Corinne are still in Italy. Devin, of course, is on his mission but it was GREAT to Skype with him and everyone else.  So good to see his face!

Weston's new thing

This is Weston's new thing lately.

I think it's so cute, shows his silly personality, and makes me laugh!
But recently I finally figured out what it reminds me of...............

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Oh, well.  Weston's MUCH cuter and doesn't even know who this loony woman is anyway. It's his thing, not her's!