Carvers Cove, Eden, UT

My son, McKade, has OCD with some Anxiety.  At first I just thought he was turning into a picky eater but realized it was much more severe than that.  I started to notice his fear with food and the way he used food to control his environment.  Had I not worked with kids my entire life I don't know that I ever would have connected the dots and figured out it was much worse than being picky.  We had some friends in the neighborhood share with us about their sons OCD (his with germs) and what they did to work on it.  So, we contacted the U of U and got Mc into the program there for OCD.  He has been doing well but they told us food is the hardest thing to work on and it takes much longer than other OCD's.  I thought to myself, Of Course It Does. 

Anyway, why do I share all of this.  Well this is my journal but also its why we are at Carvers Cove.  McKade ate enough new foods to earn this reward he set for himself.  This cute petting zoo is located in Eden, UT and McKade loved it!!

There are a lot of goats..

This is McKades friend Ellie he invited to come with us.  This goat followed her everywhere and kept trying to eat her shorts.

Mc loved feeding all the animals to bad its not that easy to feed him.

Kian fed this goat but learned quick that he didn't like feeding animals.

Jeff enjoyed feeding all the animals.  He looks like the young Jeff I dated for some reason in this photo.  Looking at it brought a flash of memories through my mind.

The kids also got to ride a horse as part of their admission into the farm.  McKade loves horses and really enjoyed riding this horse.

This is the lady who owns the farm and she was great to talk with us and teach us a lot about the animals and the farm she has.

I think the dogs were my favorite part of the farm.  Perfect place for Border Collies so they can work all day.  This dog was watching Ellie like a hawk to make sure she took really good care of the bunny.  At one point all the goats got out and these dogs herded the goats back into their pens within  a few minutes.  It was amazing to watch them work so fast and with such success.

I really think McKade enjoyed the farm and I hope he knows how proud we are of him for his hard work.  We know this hasn't been easy on him.  I think at times I forget how hard this must be for him because I am to busy thinking about how hard it is on me.  But watching him struggle and truly seeing the fear in his eyes is heartbreaking and I just want so badly for him to get past this.  He said to me after our first session which was 2.5 hours.  "Mom, I am really tired and I don't really like coming here but I think it will be good for me."  I had to choke back the tears as I realized just how hard this has been for him.  Mc, I LOVE YOU so much.