Misc. Winter fun

Christmas Decorations

Gray Mouse Turtle watching, She hasn't fallen in yet!

My contribution to a potluck and 2 different dessert auctions on the same day!

Snow Mandy

Starting the snowfort under a tree

Jayce on the snowmachine

Alexis and Emerald workin on a snow fort

Emerald made these little dolls out of clay when she was studying Japan

Jayce practiced with the middle school students from October thru February for the Math Counts competition in Anchorage. I went with all the kids and we stayed in a very nice hotel.  Jayce was impressd with the fancy lighted mirror. The girls enjoyed the pool. 
 

Jayce has always wanted to stop and get water from the mountian along Turnigan. It was very sweet and cold.

Jayce is 12

Jayce didn't have any big plans for his birthday this year.  We made donuts instead of a cake and ate as many as we could.  Brandon came for a sleep-over on Saturday night.

Yum!

Opening presents from the girls

New boots, a size bigger than Dad's

Christmas

After the traditional cinnamon rolls and the Christmas story we got to open presents. The kids did a lot of their own shopping this year so it was fun to see them get excited about giving their gifts. 

I love wooden spoons!

 Grandma Brenda made pillow cases for all the kids in their favorite colors and with Grandma's heart on them, full of love. 

 

All the girls still enjoy Playmobil so they each bought some for each other.  Emerald got a bride and groom with a three tier cake and a knife to cut it. Alectra got a set of ducks and ducklings and Alexis got an ostrich family.

 

Then it was time for Dad's present for the family.  He led us to the machine shed, the chicken coop and the barn.  The girls were sure it was going to be a horse when he went into the barn. But the real hiding place was in the shop.

 

It was a new snowmachine!  They were pretty excited.

 

Luckly there was a little snow and everyone got to run it and watch Dad rip around on it.

Emerald out for a spin

 It was a long day of fun, everyone needed a nap in the afternoon. 

Warren and Big Ocelot

Emerald and Gray Mouse

 

Home Again

We arrived home and were greeted by eggs, kittens and winter.  The chickens were starting to really lay and we enjoyed the varius sizes and shapes.  We gave a lot of eggs away until they were more uniform and I found people who wanted to buy them.  The girls decided they needed a job to earn some money, so they do the chores and deliver the eggs.  Then they figure out the expenses and divide the profits. They are doing business as "Three Chicks Eggs" and making good money.

Small, Medium and Large

 Wenge had batch number two! I had no idea cats were as bad as rabbits.


The pond was a beautiful rink when we got here.  We got the skates sharpened dug out the hockey sticks and had a blast!

Follow the leader

Figure 8's are so hard!

The winter sunrises are so beautiful.  I love the dark.

Beautiful sunrise at 9:30

The kids remembered my birthday and made me a party. They made angelfood cake with raspberry sauce and tea. It was delicious!



Yummm!

Other Fun in VA

After the reunion we went to Warren's parents for the last week.  We spent time playing with the cousins and enjoying the family.  We went to the New Market park with Brenda one afternoon and the girls had a great time.  Warren and Jayce went hunting with Uncle Wayne and Grandpa.

Houston we have a problem!

Hang on Emerald!

Alexis

  Brenda tries to get all the girls together for a tea party when we are there.  This was the first time the younger generation was invited.  They had a good time and were very lady like with extended pinkie fingers and all. They brought books to read if they got tired of talking.

Janie, Alectra, Emerald and Alexis

 
We went to a new little tea room in Timberville and it was very good.  We missed Malinda, though.

 We got to see Uncle Eric on the combine this time.  He was in the river bottom doing beans.  Jayce loved the high-tech interior and was figuring out gross profit in minutes.  He thought running a combine would be pretty fun if he had all those gadgets to play with. The girls enjoyed shelling and eating the beans.

 

Ellirene's Family Reunion

We spent a weekend at Highland Retreat Center with most of the family members.  My brother and his family couldn't make it from Wyoming. 

The Family

We spent the weekend getting to know everyone, eating, playing games, eating, hiking and eating some more. Everyone pitched in to helped make meals and clean up afterwards.  Jim made pancakes like a professional, and sent beautiful flowers from Hawaii for the table decorations.  Grandpa organized the Settlers games.  Lodema brought a movie about oceans and organized the meeting on Sunday morning. We got to meet Leon's family and my kids got to spend time playing with the cousins.  Owen amazed us all with his yoga skills and shoes.

Mom, Dad and the girls

Grandpa and Jayce learning to play pool

Jayce ended up getting the stomach flu and sleeping all day Saturday, and through all the family pictures.  Thankfully no one else got sick.

The table, where we spent most of the time!

Mom and Dad

The kids had a great time on "The Swing".  It is a grown-up swing that swings out over the hillside and is about 20 feet long.  If you got enough momentum it was possible to touch the leaves at the top.  

Alexis is ready to launch

There she goes

The view from the launch pad with Alectra in the swing

Visiting Staunton, VA

Virginia makes history come alive, so when we visit we try to make the time for some fun field trips.

Jayce "reading" the story of the window

Warren's brother Mike was laying a brick labyrinth at a church in Stanton, VA, so we took a day and went down to see what he was doing.  Trinity Church is over 250 years old with gravestones all around the outside.  The building has several Tiffany stained glass windows and beautiful cathedral ceilings.  The custom built pipe organ was a wonder all by itself.  We enjoyed looking at the Gothic woodwork and windows.  It is fun to see Mike's work displayed in such a beautiful setting.

Mike's labyrinth

From there we went to the Frontier Culture Museum.  It was home school day and we got to enjoy the discount along with everyone else. The kids enjoyed the different farms and settings.  It was a great addition to our world history.

Emerald helping make cheese cakes in the "English Cottage"

Watching the water under the bridge

Getting water is fun!

"I like chainsaws much better!"

Alectra made a friend with hand fulls fresh green grass.

Alexis cleaning the "Pioneer 1750's" house.