Noah's braces come off!...and ranch sledding V

On Friday, March 8th, after 18 months, Noah's braces came off. 

Before...

...and after!

He looks so very grown up and handsome!

I liked Evan's Orthodontics because they were less pushy and more fun. They sing for everyone who gets their braces off. 😆

My oh my how he's grown. 

They gave him two $5 giftcards as a gift, for Starbucks and McDonalds. We used the Starbucks one right away when we bought some donuts as a reward at Safeway. He took his own selfie, ha ha.

He was the most excited to eat Tootsie Rolls again. He's been so obedient to the rules. He never ever had pop or anything sticky, etc.

First bite of that donut. He kept saying his teeth felt slippery and weird. 

Meanwhile Terry had been getting the other kids ready to go out to the ranch. Jerry needed some help with his new cow cameras that Terry had installed a couple weeks before. 

Had to visit Chuck and the chickens while we were there of course. They were under lockdown due to the arctic temperatures. 

This particular hen wanted lots of interaction. It was so cute how Gramma was talking to her. 

We got to see their very first calf of the year! 

The little stinker didn't want to eat though so Jerry and Alice had to try to keep his energy up with a bottle. 

The whole thing was so stressful! First they had to immobilize the mama by pushing her against the wall and locking this fence in place so she couldn't move. That did not go smoothly though. She kept pushing out at the fence and almost knocking every down. So often ranchers could very easily be killed or severely injured by their cows! Once the mama was finally locked up they tried to get the calf to eat. He refused. He refused the bottle too. I was so worried about him the rest of that day. The next day Jerry came out to find the calf nursing happily away. They'd figured it out on their own. 🙏

We had lunch of course, and when Noah and I had to return to Rapid to pick up his retainers, Terry took Evie, Samuel, and Ezra out to the field for some ranch sledding. 

It was a busy but good day.