The Saga of the Goat

Most kids bring home a pocket knife or maybe a cool leather bracelet as a souvenir from the scout-o-rama. My kid? He brings home a baby goat.
Yes, you read that correctly.
A goat. Maybe 4 months old at the most. Yep.

Bartley, they named him. They being the 3 boys who hatched this plan, decided to go in on it together monetarily and be part owners of said goat. Brandon, Branson and Tanner.

You'd think, wouldn't you, that the scout leaders chaperoning the boys on this trip would've put a kibosh on the plan? Well, you'd be wrong. You and I both. Because between what I think boils down to a cross between miscommunication and practical joking, not only did they say yes, but actually lent the boys the money to buy the goat!

So when I could've sworn I heard goat bleating as I went out to bring the garbage cans into the garage and chalked it up to what surely must be Julianne's "baby" inside the house crying...apparently I should've trusted my ears. Because a few minutes later I got a phone call from Brandon. And his first order of business was not to tell me that he was home from his overnighter but rather to giddily inform me of his new souvenir.
Oh my.
"But mom, we already have ducks and chickens in the backyard. Why not a goat?"
Again, oh my.

Blessedly Branson's parents, after listening to the scared and lonely goat bleat from their backyard for a few hours (goats are social animals and don't like to be alone...you always buy goats in pairs), made a call to another neighbor who owned a farm in Farmington and arranged to take it there, at least temporarily.

Sunday church was a flurry of talk. Ward members laughing over the story, and those of us involved trying to figure just what in the world actually went down at that scout-o-rama! Bryan was all for leaving the goat tied to a tree in the scout leader's front yard and letting him deal with it. But by this point in time I had been contacted on facebook by my friend Russ. He and I had done "Power in His Touch" together a few years ago but hadn't seen each other since. He had a farm in Taylorsville, he said. He had 20+ goats already. Our little Bartley was more than welcome to join the herd.

So today Brandi (Branson's mom) and I, along with her son Deven and Lilian drove to Farmington to pick up Bartley...already crated up and ready to go....and continued south to Russ' farm. And I have to say, I really think Bartley will be happy there.

Along with checking out Bartley's new home, Russ gave us the full farm tour. We cuddled with not only goats, but also rabbits, horses and alpacas. We were there for over an hour and had such a great time! We learned all the animal's names, we heard all sorts of fun stories about farm life....and it was great to see Russ again after all these years. He says we can come back and visit Bartley any time we want. We just may take him up on it....

The goats were so playful...running, jumping, chewing.  This goat kept chewing on my shirt. Every time Brandi knelt down they would chew on her long hair.