Monday, November 30, 2009

Thankful Hearts



"Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.

For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; 
his faithfulness continues through all generations."
Psalm 100:4,5




Fun Fellowship with Friends and Family






Devotion before dinner...






And then Dinner!








Oh and More Pies!!



With thankful hearts and full bellies, we continued our fellowship in comfy chairs.



Dani Rae and Toby had the right idea...

a snuggly nap together!





So much to be thankful for!
I hope that you have a thankful heart today and forever.


Many Blessings to YOU!

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Before the Feast

After filling ourselves with pie from the Pie Breakfast, we headed home. We let all of the sugar we just ate turn to fat digest and began our Thanksgiving dinner preparations.


Abbi and Nana making Sweet Potato Crunch. My FAVE!!



We even put my Grandma to work. She and the girls peeled the potatoes.



I know I keep saying this ~ but isn't she cute?



Mom and I with our cute aprons.



We had time before our friends were to arrive so,
Abbi, Dani Rae and Papa (my Dad) went horseback riding.





The Cowboy and little Cowgirl



The other Cowgirl



We had a relaxing and fun afternoon with my parents and Grandma.
Now... it's time to party with friends.
(next post)

Saturday, November 28, 2009

A Little Tradition...



9 Years Ago:
3 bachelor friends of ours came up with a great idea.
Pie Breakfast...On Thanksgiving morning!
They made the pies from scratch, brewed some coffee, and invited friends to their bachelor pad. 
We all (about 40-60) showed up for pie and fellowship that morning on November 2000.


Present Day:
The bachelors have since gotten married.
AND ~ the tradition continues. 

This year there was expected to be 300. 


My guess is that Dani Rae had, umm... Chocolate pie!
Good choice.



So many pies to choose from...

My Cute Grandma joined in on the fun.


And even more pies!


By the look on Abbi's and my Mom's face, they are thoroughly enjoying their "Breakfast of Pies"!


Our family looks forward to this tradition each year.
Thanks to the bachelors who started it!
And a big thanks to their wives who have supported it and made it even better!


Thursday, November 26, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving!



"O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our maker."
Psalm 95:6


Have a day full of fellowship, laughter and thankful hearts.


Blessings to each of you!

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

A Man's Best Friend


They say a Man's best friend is a dog.

And I would agree in many cases, but in this particular case, this dog has NOT been my best friend, let alone a friend. Why? Well, he has killed played with many of our chickens, usually (almost always) resulting in death. Something that does not make me happy.
A chickens death! Argh!!
All to say, he has NOT been my best friend...

However, I will say that he is cute in a funny sort of way.
AND, he has not "played" with a chicken for about 3 months and I am warming up to the idea of actually liking this dog.
{I can not believe I just said that!}


I mean, how could you not?
Look at those droopy eyes, the long-short awkward body. And the crooked legs. Too hilarious! And he is probably the worst defect of breeding in all of history.  Lab and Basset mix!! Who woulda thunk up that one? Probably some redneck...
 And only a redneck would take one home. :)


This picture shows his commitment to me.
Last evening, I was outside taking pictures of the progress on the barn. Noticing that all my pictures had my shadow, I kept moving around. And then I realized what those shadows were telling me.
I have a friend!
Even though I have not showed him much affection as of late, (unless you consider yanking him by the ear and locking him in the kennel (only because of a yet another dead chicken) affectionate) he has always greeted me with those droopy eyes and a look that says, "Don't be mad."


So, for now, I will throw him another bone and not be mad.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Is Your Mama a Llama?

My children might be thinking that I am!

Meet Jill!
~ the new member of our farm ~

A friend gave her to us.


The children absolutely adore her and she likes all of the attention.



We put her out to pasture with the horses and the horses stood from afar wondering what might that thing be inhabiting their pasture. Their curiosity got the best of them. They got close enough to smell Jill. It scared her and she ran. They ran. Abbi ran after them. I ran to help. Everyone was running.
Whew!
(no one got hurt. just a lot of exercise!)





She enjoys hanging out in the backyard, with us and Charlie.
Charlie (the kitten) played with her rope and she was thoroughly entertained by his playfulness.




She definitely gets a lot of lovin' around here.



Wednesday, November 18, 2009

The Return of Casey

~ The Buck ~
The Man of the Goat Pen

It's that time of the year again ~ Breeding!
The Does are ready for their man.


We picked him up today and he was happy to see "The Ladies" again.
For those of you who don't know - - Bucks stink! Really stink!!!
So, we have chosen (for now) to not keep one on the property. He is "on loan" and happy to be here with some new lady friends.




Bambi was very interested in him so we put her in right away. At first, she played hard to get ~ running all over the pen.




Then she warmed up to him.


Patsy (our other doe) is next.


And then babies in the spring!!
And yummy goat milk.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Back in September...

when it was warmer
(it was 12 deg this morning)
and we were still wearing shorts ~


the girls and I took a walk to Eagles Landing.
(a place down our road where there is a creek fed wading pool and trees where the Eagles sit in the winter. Hence ~ Eagles Landing)


When I said "girls", I meant all of the girls. My daughters and the goats!




Abbi rode Risky


Maggie


Elizabeth


Dani Rae


Tessa


The Crew of Girls

TIME OUT!
Before I close out this post I must tell you that Tess (2 yo), walked all the way home - BAREFOOT!
(She wanted to!)

See her cute little feet? See our gravel road?
 That's how she got home. Without even notice of the rocks. Those are some tough "tootsies".


Oh and I just have to throw these in, too.






There!
I just could not resist sharing that cute smile and those chubby cheeks with all of you.