O, Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

It is supposed to be our family tradition to decorate the christmas tree the weekend after Thanksgiving...however, this year has been a challenge trying to find a time when everyone is awake, feeling well, and together!

We still haven't gotten it decorated, though we do have it down with the lights on it. I did manage to get the lights and decorations done outside but that is all. Maybe tonight!

Abigail was so excited about the tree, I found her like this the next morning:

Thanksgiving 2008

Jonathan's first Thanksgiving...it is hard to believe this is his first one as he seems so old! But...it is!

This year we went to Roxanne & Jeff's (my sister's house). The cousins had such a great time playing together...we hardly even noticed the kids...unless they wanted to play games or were fighting! (hahaha)

I would say the holiday was mostly characterized by games...we played several either with the kids or with the adults! Marion even got some exercise by playing football in the back yard! We also went for a long walk around the lake and down town in the FREEZING cold...I hadn't been that cold yet this year! (Actually, it wasn't that bad because we were walking but it was definitely chilly around the lake.)

So, here are some pics of our time in Gothenburg...I don't have a ton because I was busy helping...

Kimberly and AJ loved to toss Jonathan back and forth, up and down!

Abigail wanted to be a big helper...here she was rinsing the dishes as Aunt Roxanne washed them.

Kimberly feeding Jonathan!

I LOVE these next two pics...Uncle Marion played quite a few games of Garbage and Probe with the kids...I caught a few funny faces he made:

Tyler had just gotten his hair buzzed off!

OH...and I almost forgot the most important thing that happened on Thanksgiving day...it came as such a HUGE blessing for my kids, husband and sister! They talked about it all day long - endlessly - what was this huge blessing....

I lost my voice!

I got a new washer machine!

Yep...after Marion said we weren't getting any more gadgets until 2010...our washer went on the blink! The capacitor went out! It was about 9 years old and so Marion decided we could get a new one.

I LOVE IT....did I mention I love it! Oh by the way...I love it!

It is a front loader...I was told that within two years, they will stop making top loading machines...so if you want a top loader...you might want to buy it in the next year or so!
Anyway, it has a capacity of 4.0 I believe and it has cut down on my wash loads by half! It still takes just as long to dry...but I am drying more clothes in less loads, so I am sure if I did what used to be a normal load, it would take less time!

The first several loads, I watched it because I couldn't figure out how it was working! I totally anticipated the water to come up into the window...but it didn't! It wasn't until I washed a really small load that I figured it out! The kids love to watch the clothes...or at least they did at first...the newness is waring off. But, Jonathan still likes to watch it!

Marion was concerned it would look like a spaceship but it has a flat top for him to stack his stuff on and it doesn't look too bad next to our older dryer...here are a couple of pics:

Surprise...I have more Teeth!

Last night as Marion and I were playing with the kids, I had Jonathan upside down and I saw quite a bit of white in the top of his mouth so I decided to investigate.  I turned him upside down again on my lap and low and behold he as FOUR teeth through on the top! FOUR!  We knew he had one and was drooling a ton but THREE teeth at once?!  No wonder he has been cranky! 

 

We were so surprised we just had to write and let you all know!

 

Have a Happy Thanksgiving.

 

Jim's 70th Birthday Weekend

On November 20th, Jim turned 70!

The following weekend the boys and their families all gathered to celebrate with cake after the morning church service, and time together over the weekend. Here are a few pictures of the weekend (they are not in any specific order & captions are below the pics):



Tucker and Jonathan playing.



Doesn't Nathan look so grown up here!




Grandma Schlatter made the girls matching jumper dresses.



The house was a bit chaotic!



This was at the church after the morning service, the kids were all enjoying cake...we were only missing Jonathan and Erik in the picture.

Playing on the porch...the kids are getting to the age they can entertain themselves...though they make a huge mess! I believe Uncle Marvin was telling stories at one point!

Jim and Marianne with the cakes at the church.

Jonathan was so cute with his black turtleneck!

Trying to get everyone around the table was challenging...Grandma had to add another table which took up the whole dining room and most of the living room!

Here is the traditional grandkids picture!

The Beef

Okay, I have succumbed to the pressure and below you will find the picture of the beef! I put it down a ways so that if you first get on and you don't want to see a dead animal skinned and gutted hanging from the rafters you can try to bypass it a bit.





For those of you interested...enjoy!

I couldn't get the whole thing from hoof to hoof...but Marion said it was proof enough!

Jim and Marion Butchered a Calf

Jim came over this morning and the two of them killed, skinned, and gutted the calf.  I was not out there when all this was happening as I was dutifully watching the children inside so I don't know all the details of how it went but we now have two beef halves hanging in our grainery to cure out.  In ten days to two weeks I'm told the calf will go over to the other place and Marianne is going to can beef.  Marion isn't sure but thought maybe they could get a few steaks out of it but I guess that will be up to whomever cuts the meat up. 

 

If you are wondering how this came about, there was a calf that broke its leg a while back and it never really healed right.  The calf just couldn't get around and they didn't think it could gain enough weight to be worth while to take to Kensington to get butchered. After some discussion Jim and Marion decided to butcher it themselves.

 

Marion was extremely excited about the idea of participating in butchering a calf...you know how he is with home grown/done things!   He tried to get me caught up in the process but I had to remind him that I was just the hamburger grinder girl back in my day of butchering.  I did not partake in the actual butchering or cutting of the meat back then.  

 

So, welcome to the farm...we had an exciting day!

 

PS...okay so Marion is begging me to go out and take a picture so we have PROOF that he participated in the process of butchering a calf...I'll try to warn those of you who have queasy stomachs before we post the picture. 

Harvest is Done

Well, Harvest is now complete. They have to still do the clean up of putting the combine away and everything that goes along with after harvest duties, but at least all the milo is out of the field.

Jim ended up finding a different header that we could rent to help get more of the milo that had fallen down. It was well worth it as alot of the milo had fallen.

Marion is very thankful that we finally got it all done as there are still fields untouched in harvesting around us!

Now it is on to working cattle and preparing for the weaning and sale of calves come the first of the year!

Update on Milo Harvest

Well it rained. I don't know how much but the sidewalk is wet at least. Marion is gone so I don't know if they are trying to evaluate cutting or what is going on. Last night Marion said they had about 40 acres left I think. He was hoping they could get finished before this storm as the milo is starting to fall down but they had a break down two days ago that halted cutting till the next day!

Nathan has been VERY excited to ride in the combine and will do it for hours on end. Here are a few pics I took when I dropped the kids off for a ride a few days ago!

Stairs and Walking

Yes in deed that is where Jonathan is at. He has really taken to the stairs and Abi and Nate love that they can go upstairs with him and play. It seems so forbidden to them. He has not learned to come down yet but he is very shy of the edge so I am not too worried about him falling down. I've done the same thing with him that I did with the others and that is I let him go up but wait for him to cry at the top indicating he wants to come down, then I meet him at the top and show him how to come down backwards. He is starting to show some understanding of this once we get going. Someone told me it takes about two weeks from the time they learn to go up to learn to go down.

As far as the walking thing, he is walking around everything holding on has he goes. He had gotten into pushing my roller chairs all over the house so that one time I found one in the far dining room corner. I knew that Grandma Marianne had a Playskool Walk & Stride which is a ride on car that stands up for pushing so I asked if we could borrow that. He gets so excited but doesn't know how to turn it so he just goes wherever it leads him and when he runs into something he is just stuck. When he realizes he can't go any further he just sits down and cries.

He also has just started this whole putting my head on the floor and crying pathetically thing when he is in trouble or doesn't get his way. It is actually quite cute though I am sure after a while it will get old. Well, speaking of the little guy he is getting tired and needs a nap so I better go but here are a couple pics...I have a video but that will have to wait till later:

Abigail's first Tea Party

Abigail was invited to her first tea party. We dressed her up all pretty in a fancy dress and fixed her hair special. Here is a picture of her ready to go:



When we arrived the girls played for awhile and then Mrs. Hall (Tracy) had us sit around the table and explained that we had Carmel Tea and Cinnamon Tea with cream, sugar, and honey available. We also had snack mix, grapes, cheese cubes and crackers, and small scallop shaped sandwiches. It was quite the party. Here are the girls that were able to come:





The top picture is of Maggie Peterson, Sherelle Peterson (Maggie's Mom) and Abigail. The bottom picture is of Lydia and Kara Hall and Maggie.

After the girls were settled with their trays of snacks and tea Mrs. Hall read them a book about God's purpose for little girls and she focused on being kind. (I don't know the actual book title sorry.)

When the girls were all done, Mrs. Hall had a braclete making activity for the girls below are a few pictures from that.

Abigail had a great time and on the way home asked when we could do that again!