Battle Cake

Yesterday was Jonathan's 7th Birthday.  Mama made a brownie-cake in the shape of LEGO blocks.   Then Jeremiah, Mama, and I set up a battle scene!  Bad guys against good guys; it was lots of fun.  Here are some close-ups.

Mama made the "blood" out of left over cinnamon roll icing and red food coloring.

As you can see, Jeremiah set up some very "gruesome" scenes!

We had a great day!

Jonnie's 7th Birthday

Dear Jonathan,

Happy 7th birthday!  I can't believe how quickly you've grown in only 7 years.  You are so much fun to be around and play with every day.   I am so thankful to God for blessing our family with such precious gift.  May He bless you on this special day.  I love you so much. 

Elijah and Jeremiah

We all had to take turns holding him!

Fishing buddies.

Best buddies.

Uh...seriously...I wasn't supposed to have that cookie?

Happy birthday again.  We all love you.

Birthday!

Thursday was Christian's 9th birthday.  It has been wonderful to spend these past nine years with him.  He is such a blessing to our family.  It is so amazing to look back and see how much he has grown over the years. I love his brave, chivalrous, and courageous personality, along with his quick wit and sense of humor.  He keeps us laughing!  Christian you are such a blessing from God, and we thank Him for you.  

Wasn't he SO cute!

Little Christian trying to do his own clean-up job.

Christian was pretty proud of his belly flops.

One night we were staying in a cabin in Iowa and Christian heard owls hooting in the woods.  Here's how his face looked when he asked, "Do owls have hands?  Do owls have swords?   Can they open doors?  What do they eat?"









Jeremiah and Christian's "major" bike accident (no one was harmed in the photographing of this incident). They do all of their own stunts.

Christian's birthday cake last year.

This year's cake - a healthy cake made with black beans and avocado.  Hannah will be posting the recipe on her blog shortly.

Christian had the marvellous idea of buying coffee ice cream to go with the cake.

Christian still makes this face.  *just kidding*

Deer Butchering

November 19th was opening day for gun hunting.  It lasted for 9 days and within that time, we were blessed with three deer, two does and a button buck.  Papa used a .300, Elijah used a 303 British, and Jeremiah used a 30-06.  On the last Saturday in November, we butchered them in Northern Wisconsin with the Richter family.  We had a lot of fun and it was a great learning experience.  Here's some pictures from our time. 

This is Mr. Richter's buck that he got opening morning.

While Mr. Richter was dragging out one of his deer, he found this temporary bear den.

We had a snowball fight on Wednesday night.

Elijah, Jeremiah and Grant skinning the deer.

Before we butchered the deer, we torched the hair off of them.

Cutting off the tenderloins.

These are some of the tenderloins and roasts.

Christian and Jonathan helping Grant grind the meat.

Christian

Lunch break.

Mr. Richter wrapping the deer burger and John labeling.

We washed the floor where they hung after we finished butchering.

The Richters have a really fun tradition...

The Richter's have a family "contest" to see who can get the most nubbins.  They like to pick on Mr. Deland Richter!  :)