The Real Circle of Life (And Death...)

We have been enjoying reading the Book of Mormon as a family. This morning we read the account of Shiz and Coriantumr. Ether 15:30-31 says, "And it came to pass that when Coriantumr had leaned upon his sword, that he rested a little, he smote off the head of Shiz. And it came to pass that after he had smitten off the head of Shiz, that Shiz raised up on his hands and fell; and after that he had struggled for breath, he died."

I have to read with great emotion to keep the attention of the kids, and Adam caught this photo of me describing the scene of death.  How little we knew the next scene of death we would witness with our own eyes!

 We took a little walk around the property and admired the chickens.  Eliza makes us sing "Old McDonald Had a Farm" every single day, so she was in absolute heaven seeing REAL chickens!

This is Evelio's wife, Dolly.  She doesn't speak any English either.  We thought she was going out to collect the chicken eggs, so we asked if we could come with her.  We didn't understand what exactly she'd be doing!!!

 The chicken was strung upside down, squawking like crazy. Dolly took this dull little knife, held the chicken, and sawed off its head, all with a huge smile on her face and chuckling. The kids watched in horror as blood gushed out of the neck and continued to drip for a few more minutes.  Dolly laughed wildly and held up the head, which was still trying to squawk.  It's beak kept opening and closing apart from its body.  Adam and I looked at each other, and in unison exclaimed, "SHIZ!!!!"  Ha ha ha.  We like to bring the scriptures to life. Thanks for helping us out Dolly!

We had a good conversation about life.  Dolly survives off the animals and plants on the farm.  Dolly doesn't view the chicken as an animal with feelings like we do, she views it as food to survive.  Killing it is not emotional for her. Jade couldn't handle the thought of the chicken dying and refused to come out to watch, but we had to explain Dolly's perspective. The circle of life is amazing.

 Dolly got us these weird looking fruits with the seed on the outside.  She was super excited about them, but they were disgusting!!!  We have had so much fun on this farm and have learned so much!  We continue to grow and improve our lives through these experiences.

Linc took this picture of us playing Uno.  It's his favorite game and something we like to do alone.  He likes his one on one time and he's actually quite good at legitimately beating me!  He has strategy!  Love that kid!