December......

(I'm slowly getting caught up on our blogging!!)

December brought winter with it; we received over 20 inches of snow in the course of the month!! The Ansons stayed with us for a week for hunting season. It's always fun to snuggle and play with the boys. They are growing so fast!!

Storytime with Nana.

Marcus helping Papa fix the front door.

Fun with Uncle Moses.

Scott & Paul proccessed the Anson's three deer.

Three weeks into December we had a full and busy week-end as Esther catered for Dan & Bethany Beasley's wedding. With a multitude of guests, it was no small task. Esther and her crew of helpers prepared a full meal, which became quite a challenge when both of the ovens quit working. How do you cook chicken for 600 people with no oven?!??!? Thankfully, it was a commercial oven equipped with 12 huge burners so we fried the chicken instead of baking it. Things were rather crazy for a little bit, but things smoothed out without any more major glitches. Esther did a wonderful job and the food was delicious!! Praise the Lord for giving strength!!

That same week-end, we were delighted to have our dear friends come for a visit!! They flew out to surprise Elizabeth for her birthday and all those who knew helped keep it a total secret up until the very last minute!! She was stunned!! They originally planned to stay for a week, but the heavy snow delayed their return trip and we got to spend 10 very special days with them!!

Jenna brought her violin with her, so we enjoyed playing together!

Canon in D in three parts (2 violin and the cello).

It began snowing on Christmas Eve and by Christmas night, we were completely snowed in. The roads drifted so badly that they became impassable. The winds continued to create bigger and bigger drifts, so they didn't even run the snow plows on our road until Sunday morning.

-Family Gift Exchange-

Andrew & Rebecca gave Silas this awesome playmobile castle.
Helping Silas open up his big mystery package.

New jeans make a little boy very happy!

Esther and Silas.

Noah & Rebecca.

New books!

Pink Boots....yay!!

Dad received a very special gift, complete with signatures from his oldest children. These clothespins are a longstanding joke in our family. For the past several years, every Sunday night Dad & Mom and the older children with jobs and busy schedules meet together to discuss the events of the upcoming week, and plan ahead for the coming months. It can be difficult to cordinate small details such as who is using which car on which day and plan ahead for bigger things like trips or having company and then spread the word to 5 or 6 people so they can adjust their schedules accordingly. The calender meetings are a great time for us to make plans and tell everybody at the same time. And it is an especially good time to laugh and enjoy being together before the busy week begins and we have a million things going on.

Now Dad likes to keep things moving along at a fairly fast pace so that our short meetings don't drag on for hours. One evening while three of us talked at the same time, and he lost track of which day we were talking about, he expressed that sometimes he felt that attempting to establish order in our meeting was the equivelant of being pinched with clothespins. Thus, his fun-loving children supplied him some really nice clothespins to do the job. One for the girls, and one for the boys. :)

Dad experimenting with his new clothespins.

Seth, Esther & Noah.

Aunt Karen & Jenna.

Silas & Justice eating together.

Jenna & Charity.

Our celebration with Grandma was the Sunday after Christmas.

Grandma's terrific gumbo.

Seriously funny conversations.
Silas & Phoebe.

Elizabeth, Tabitha, Esther, Moses & Jenna.

Rebecca, Mom & Auntie Karen.

New reading material.

Gumballs!

Justice helps distribute gifts.

Andrew & Rebecca & Justice were snowed in with us for the week-end, and we enjoyed the extra time with them!! Andrew was as full as mischief as ever!! :)

Charity sewed Grandma some beautiful silk pillowcases.

A marshmallow gun!

Rebecca opens her punch bowl.

Grandma got each child a set of tea-towels with the days of the week embroidered on them.

>Silas has Indians on his towels.

The girls and their presents!

Phoebe and the gift she made for Grandma.