Happy Birthday Taryn

 Over the weekend we celebrated Taryn's 15th birthday! I can't believe that my little girl with all the curls is 15. Where does the time go. Her birthday is 4 days after Christmas and she sometimes gets bummed out about that. But, then I remind her that no other child in our family can have 2 parties with all of her Aunts, Uncles and Grandparents (because we usually clelebrate at the milkman's family and then at my family). She really does fine with all the attention :)

 She wanted these boots so bad. Her Aunt Alicia had taken her to the mall and she had found exactly what she wanted so 2 days later I went and picked them up and hid them for about a month until her birthday. In fact over the course of that month we had went back to the mall and she was so disappointed that they didn't her size anymore. Needless to say she was very excited when she opened her present!!

I ask her every year if she wants a birthday cake or a pie. She usually asks for a strawberry pie but this year she asks for a chocolate cream pie. Happy Birthday Taryn we are so proud of the young lady you are becoming. Keep looking to Jesus and our wish for you is that you have a very blessed year.

Winter Wonderland

I meant to post these last week when it snowed a little and I don't know where the time has gone. It always looks so pretty like a winter wonderland. I love cold and snow but then again I am not the milkman who has to be out in it all day! I am just so thankful for a warm house that we can stay cozy in and a hard working man that provides that for our family! Stay warm this weekend and enjoy your last weekend of 2012!                            

Bake Day 2012

Every year here we have a bake day. This year I didn't really plan anything thinking the kids wouldn't want to because they were getting older. Boy, was I wrong! So, we threw it together and it ended up being a great day. We always invite friends to come out and bake with us and this year it just happened that Sally, Cassidy and Carson could come over. Sally and I have been friends since our college days! (Brad couldn't make it. He is a pastor and he was getting ready for Sunday). 

 It was so fun to see everyone getting into it. I put soup in the crock pot so in between the sugar you could eat something other than sweet!

 One of the highlights for bake day is making gingerbread houses. Kenton takes it SERIOUS! He spent forever getting everything just right. Where as Tiana and Carson were done in no time flat! 

 Kyler helped with everything or at least she thought she needed to :) 

 Thanks Sally, Cassidy and Carson for spending the day with us! It was a fun way to kick off the holiday season!

Mooey Christmas

Mooey Christmas from our house to yours. I hope you all have a very blessed season!!

Popcorn Cake

So you need something quick and easy to take to a holiday party. I have the perfect recipe, it is super simple and oh so good. I have to preface it by saying when I was younger one of my folk's good friends KJ would bring this to our family every year. We couldn't get to it fast enough!! As we got older and started to eat more my sweet mother would hide it so that she could pass it out, and it wouldn't all be devoured in one minute. I'm not kidding you it is that good!

 Here is what you will need:
1 gallon popcorn (its about 2 microwaved bags)
2 cups of plain M&M's
1 cup of roasted peanuts
Put all of that in a bowl
A side note: I like to put the popped corn on a cookie rack like it shows below so that all of the unpopped corn will filter out. I hate biting into one of those. OUCH!

 In a saucepan melt together
1 pound of marshmallows
1/3 cup of margarine and 1/3 cup of oil

 Pour melted mixture over the popcorn mixture stir until completely coated

 Pour into a buttered pan I use a angel food cake pan. Press it in to make sure it all gets in there. Let it sit until it firms up and then turn upside down on a platter slice and enjoy!!

Company Party #2

Last night we had our annual company Christmas party. This is about the only time I get out the fancy china, cloth table lines and cloth napkins. On the menu was BBQ meatballs, baked potatoes with all the fixins, green beans, jello salad and rolls. Kenton started a roaring fire which made it feel nice and cozy. It was a nice dinner and we had some funny conversation.

After dinner we passed out gifts. It was fun to see them open them.

 We had sweatshirts made with our company's logo on them.

 We do have a motley crew!!! We are so thankful for all of them without each and everyone of them we wouldn't be able to run the farm as smoothly as we do. Thank you for all your hard work!

 The evening was completed with some chocolate pudding cake and ice cream. Scotty forgot to bring some clean pants to change into for the party so he borrowed some shorts from one of the kiddos. What a super cute outfit!! Thanks again to everyone for such a great year and we are looking forward to 2013!

The Package

In case you have never heard me talk about Jenny K she was our nanny from Germany that lived with us back in 2002 for 6 months. We miss her dearly and we were so excited when she came to visit back in March of this year. Every year we always send each other a Christmas package. She always sends us the most delicious German chocolates! Have you ever had German chocolates? Let me just say it is some of the best chocolate in the world!!!!!! Yesterday, we received our package I set it on the counter to see how long it would take someone to realize it had arrived. Needless, to say it didn't take long at all! Thank you Jenny K for the yummy German chocolate. We love and miss you so much and we hope you have a great Christmas season.

An answered prayer

About 2 months ago I started praying that God would just drop someone into our lives to help out here on the farm. The milkman who NEVER (I'm not even kidding you, never) complains about how tired he is. But, I could tell he was getting really worn down. Kim who is our full time employee and who is AWESOME doesn't work everyday, which she shouldn't, but the milkman does and it was wearing on him and me for that matter. At the end of November we went to the kiddos Christmas program and  there out of the blue Scotty (or as friends call him Scotty McHotty) came up to the milkman at the program and said "I will be home for a month over Christmas and I would love to work for you on the farm". "I can work as many hours as you can give me." Isn't God awesome like that!! Now I realize that God doesn't always answers prayers like this but this time He did and I'm so thankful!

Thank goodness Kim has been here as well to help show him the ropes.

Scotty does work long hours for us and when lunch time rolls around after he eats he takes a little nap on our floor. He is so tired that even Kyler can't keep him awake. Thank you Scotty for working so hard for us and giving the milkman a much needed slow down. We are so grateful!

The Party

The party went great! The milkman made some amazing food as always Yum-O!! I'm not sure why some of these pictures are blurry I think my sweet daughter messed around with the settings, sorry.

 We heard great feedback from everyone. It was a fun evening!

For dessert I made cupcakes of course. I made just 4 flavors this time: Chocolate Mocha, Coconut Cream, Carrot and Chocolate Peppermint just for the Christmas season.

 Thank you Remington for thinking of us. We hope you had a great time and we wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.