Second Snow

In case you all are wondering, no, I am not going to post pictures from every single snow we get here, but these were great pictures anyway!

Mom's Art

Attempts at hugging snow-covered dogs.

A kiss for you!

Cherry nose.

Art

Our barn.

Oh, Christmas Tree... Oh, outside Christmas Tree...

Up the hill

Front Yard Snow

Sledding

Eggs?

Yes, eggs! Our chickens laid two eggs this morning. Hopefully, they'll lay a few more in the future - you can't feed seven people on two eggs! Well, they will. Eventually. I took a few pictures of the eggs. (For fun) Of course, as many of you know, I take pictures of everything! If you recall that one time Roberta posted the flat tire on the Cascades? I'd taken pictures f millions of things by the roadside, and she wouldn't post them. As I say, a photographer sees a photograph in every situation!

Ah, yes! An there they are! Don't worry, they'll get bigger, as the chickens do.

Okay, really bad picture. Still cute!

Recent Happenings

I'm sorry I didn't post this later, but it's better late than never, right? Well, we're going to need your prayers! (Again.) Our dad, Dave, is going, well, he's gone on a missions trip to Sudan, Africa, and he needs your prayers. He left yesterday, November 28, and is flying down to Sudan right now. He's going with a team of doctors. He'll be returning, if all goes well, December 14th. Just pray that all will go well, and he'll come home safely, and be a blessing to the doctors he's ministering with in Africa.

First Snow

I know that to a some of you, snow means nothing, if it doesn't mean "a Natural Annoyance" but in our family, the first snow means fun and family excitement. We love snow, since we've nearly always lived in a place by the coast where it never snows, or only snows once in fifty years! I, of course, grabbed the camera the moment I heard the news (We'd just finished dinner and Dad and Joe were leaving for firefighter training - did I mention that? - and Dad poked his head back in the door to announce it was snowing) and started taking millions of pictures. Okay, twenty.

Sarah and Stuart enjoying the snow. Thankfully you can't see here that she's got Christmas Red eyes in this photo!

The machine shop in the snow.

Art. Very good camera flash, too!

Bewilderment.

Snow. (Isn't that an imaginative and shocking title?)

What was that I said about Dad and Joe being firefighters? Oh, yes, the volunteer firefighting crew of Addy - they're going to be in it. Joe is also taking an EMT course starting this week and going till February for that training so he can use that sometime in the future if necessary. So, that's whats going on here! For now. :-0!

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Well, we are a day late, but I still wanted to say it. Perhaps it would be more appropriate to say Happy Holidays now. (Yes, I've decided it is- Happy Holidays!) I've got some pictures, both silly and nice, of our day. Hope you have a great day!

Two sisters

Joe's Modern Art

Thanksgiving shenanigans

What a Day!

We've had several... interesting... experiences since Dad posted that last post about Saturday. Especially today! Here are the events - in chronological order:

First of all, to begin with, at 10:30, a.m., Rocky and Chip somehow discover an entire deer leg (hair, hooves, and all) somewhere on our property (or the property next door, which, thankfully, is vacant) and commence bringing it into the front yard to...um...dissemble it?

Second, 12:00, noon: Mom, Sarah, and Roberta leave to "go see" (haha!) some Alpacas down in Spokane. Why, then, did they... Whoops, I'm getting ahead of myself. Must be studying foreshadowing to a further extent than necessary...

At 4:00, they return. And guess what is in the back of Dad's pickup truck? Alpacas from Spokane. Yes, I said Alpacas! We've got two; they have been renamed - Micheal and Gabriel (a.k.a. Mike and Gabe) - both white/brown. I haven't even seen them yet - they're back at the barn. What could "go see" mean next....? ( Comment from Roberta "They are so cool! Mike is a brown/red huacaya and Gabe, he's 'my boy', is a white suri." Their expressions are priceless!! By the way, WHY didn't any of the info I read on these beasties say they got car-sick!? Yeah, wretchedly so. But they are definitely worth it.) By the way, this is just an experiment. The man who owned them wrote on the recipt - "If not happy, money back," We're still thinking...

Mom is racing around, getting ready to go to" farm school" and agricultural course at the community college given for small-scale farmers. And, could you guess what the dogs come up with now? A turkey! A real, dead turkey in the middle of our driveway. Oh, boy, Joe says...

At 4:30, Mom and Dad are running out the door to farm school, (almost late...) and a piercing shriek comes from downstairs. Now what? Abby. Has. A. Dead. Mouse. In. Her. Boot. I am telling the truth! Seriously - a dead mouse. and she was just wearing those boots a few minutes ago. Must have been the excitement of the new water heater. Mouser patrol!

Well, that's all for right now...what else might happen today!?
Sincerely, your reporter,
Hannah

Fluffy, the Alpaca. He's not ours...

Mike, the Alpaca. Look at that head! Hm...

Sarah's Artistic ... um ... talents?

Roberta and Gabe. Doesn't he look happy?

Roberta and Gabe again. What are you doing with your ear back, dear...? Don't look so... offended!!!!

How we spent Saturday

On the 10th of November (the 232nd birthday of the US Marine Corps) our water heater sprung a leak and saturated the basement floor area where it was located. We sprang to repair it and soon learned that it had a fatal wound (a cracked tank top) and complete replacement was required. This was not how I (Dave) planned to spend the birthday of the Corps! While Joe and I were replacing the water heater (and I was griping about the aggravation, cost, etc...), the Lord brought to mind the fact that at that very moment, many Marines in Iraq were spending their Marine Corps birthday without any hot water (and perhaps they hadn't had any kind of running water in many weeks or months). So, I repented of my bad attitude and was immediately grateful for what I had. After the heater was installed, Joe and I dedicated it to the Corps. Semper Fi!

Birthday Girl

We celebrated Mom's birthday on Friday, November 9th, though the real date was Nov. 7. Here's some pictures of the event - I would've taken more if I remembered to!

Abby, Mom, and Roberta.

Abby holds Mom's card - it plays accordion music!

Leftover cake - dark chocolate, Mom's favorite! (mine, too...)

Bunnies and Cats

Roberta has decided to raise Angora rabbits - so she got her very first on Wednesday! She's named them Lady Elaine, (a.k.a. Lady) Queen Gwenevere,(a.k.a Gwen) and Sir Rambeau Lancelot (a.k.a. Beau). (To all you poetry nuts, see if you can find out what epic poem these names are from.) His real name is not "Rambeau Lancelot" - but since Joe helped Roberta with the bunny hutch (cage) she agreed to let him name the buck (male). He named it "Rambo", but it didn't match the other names already picked out, so he was also given a last name. A great honor to a bunny, of course.

Roberta the Rabbit Raiser and Lady Elaine the Rabbit. By the way, for bunnies, this color is "red." Don't ask me why!

Another photo of Lady Elaine. She's VERY shy. (a problem overly common in rabbits.)

Don't even tell me what that barn cat is doing in the house!

Aha! The eyes of a mouser!

Oh, the Days Are Gone When Summer Sun...

Last Summer - For all of you who knows Robert Andrews, especially the folks at Heritage Christian Church, I recalled this event which I never took the time to post on our blog, The Andrews' Fourth of July Picnic. I found the CD of these pictures after a hunt of a few days (on Joe's dresser - who would have guessed?) and decided that, since the holidays are coming, and during the holidays, you're supposed to remember all the good things that happened to you (right?) I decided that, even though it is not good that I forgot, it's good that I remembered! So here are the pictures, everyone! Enjoy!

Dad and Abby on the swing in the Andrew's front yard.

Their house - I didn't know how many of you'd seen it, maybe it'll help you be more familiar with the Andrews, I don't know.

Mr. Andrews and Dad. They were so busy, that this is a one-of a kind picture, I couldn't make them hold still long enough to take it, barely!

Mom and Mrs. Andrews. Talk about busy...

Ah, yes - the annual softball game! I actually took the picture to let you all see what the area looked like - hope you don't mind a little bit of sports in your view. The field played on was Mr. Andrews' hay field!

Continuing...

The ladies, Mom, Abby, Sarah, and Roberta. Isn't the yard beautiful? Mrs. Andrews is an impeccable gardener.


Art

More!

Well, hello, everyone!
It's been a while since we've said hello last! There's not been too too much going on around here, yesterday was Mom's birthday. However, we didn't celebrate, because Dad wasn't feeling well. Mom hadn't been well the other day, and now, this morning, Sarah and Abby came down with whatever "It" is. We're going to celebrate her birthday next week, if everyone is feeling all right. Joe, Roberta, and I are holding our breath, just in suspense to see whether or not we fall ill, too! We're praying we won't. Thankfully, it just lasts about 24-48 hours, and you're back on your feet again!
Here's some pictures I've taken recently for you all to enjoy!

The brave explorers find a way to cross the raging river. (Okay, fine. Mom, Sarah and Abby cross the creek on the way back from feeding the chickens.

A close-up of the gorgeous flowers that Dad ordered Mom for her birthday.

A scene straight from the Scottish Highlands - minus the bagpipes for sound effects - if you don't count the trailer in the corner!

Sarah and her buddy, Stuart. He's getting big!

Size Comparisons (or attempts at such)

According to previous comments, the readers of this blog wish to see size comparisons of our dogs and cats. Here's my best attempt at doing so. I hope you enjoy!

A) First attempt. Whoops! Zoe didn't want to stay. I guess I'll do it with her on the table instead.

B) Okay, Zoe's good, Rocky's bad. Try again...

C) Whoa, it's vice versa. Zoe, must you always groom yourself at the most inopportune moments?

D) Zoe - alone. Stuart ran away!