A visit with the calves.

We went out to my Aunt and Uncles place one Sunday for home church and to get some more hay. While the guys were loading up the hay I trekked out though the knee deep snow to visit with the boys. Both calves are looking well and have grown considerably. I was amazed to find that Billy's (the black one and half Holstein) back was chest high on me!! Bobby, being red welsh, is still the 11 inches shorter but just as heavily bodied as Billy. My cousin Glen was out with me and telling me that the calves were really friendly. After I left he managed to get Billy to come right too him!! But they both have forgotten me and neither would come close. Billy has no fear of the tractor at all and when it came past him he simply moved his head out of the way but did not move his body at all. The tractor was so close that it would have hit his head had he not moved it. I asked my uncle if he was a pain to work with but he just shrugged and said No. That's good anyway. I'm very glad to see they are behaving themselves, though my uncle did tell me Billy was 'stealing' from another cow until they took the calves out, and that they are quite tame and calm. We are not sure if we are going to bring them home in the spring or finish them out at my Aunt and Uncle's place. If they come home they will have to be teatherable again which is part of the reason I'm so happy to see them so calm.

Eating the house...

The Gingerbread house. J tried to hit it hard enough to get the chimney off but the house was too tough for him. Papa took the chance to show off his stuff (the picture explains it all) but it didn't break. The icing was TOUGH!! LOL. Papa finally did break it by hitting it with the palm of his hand on the side of the roof!! Poor Baby R was in the firing distance and got sprayed with tiny chunks of icing..as did the table, floor and the 3 other kids. He didn't think it would shatter like it did. I think Papa really surprised her because she cried!! But Papa gave her a little candy and she forgave him. :) All and all a good tradition!!

SNOW<><><><><>

In the last 2 weeks or so we have gotten about 18+ inches of snow. One morning it was 8 inches at a time. I had to walk out to a truck yesterday to get something I've been storing in it and the snow was to my knees, and that was on a path that had been used before. When I opened the truck door the door pushed snow as I opened it. This morning I went and fed my chickens with a 5 gallon bucket and the bucket dragged through the snow, PUSHING snow, the whole way. And the amazing thing about that is that Papa already plowed there once this year. The boys went out side yesterday to play in the deep snow and loved it. They both said deep snow was hard work. I believe it. On them the snow is past waist deep and they are light enough to walk on one layer and play on the other. I think if they were to fall through the bottom layers they'd be to their eyeballs. :) They had a great time though and no one sunk. E would be to her eyeballs in the top layer which is why she is staying inside.


I had a flash back this morning watching Papa try and get out of the driveway. :) Flashed back to living on Jackknife Mountain where we often got a foot of snow at a time, over night, and rarely got our driveway plowed out. I remember many mornings where I would stand at the window and watch Papa go back and forwards, back and forwards and gain some ground. Then our little Toyota would rock again until he'd gain some more ground. When he stopped moving I'd pull on some boots and a coat and gloves and go stand on the bumper and push in turns until we got the car all the way out the driveway and on to the plowed main road. We lived on a bus run so the road was always plowed before he went to work. Only twice do I remember it wasn't plowed, but then it was all downhill so Papa (before he was a Papa:) would just ride in someones tracks as best he could all the way down the mountain. I never envied him these trips. That road scared me in summer, winter was horrible!!! The only difference this morning was that our Betsy car was red and this Toyota, Annabell, is white. When he came home at night I could here him rev it up all the way up the last 1/4 mile and then pull the brake and HIT the driveway with as much speed as he could and in this way he could make it too the house without help. After a few days of this he had a nice set of tire tracks to follow and could make it out on his own until the next snow. We lived there 3 winters and we never got less then 6 feet of snow. We did enjoy living there and I often miss the stove in the living room on cold winter nights (and I'm planning on in our house). But I don't miss that road at all.

Yesterday after Papa had put a bunch of 50lb bags of feed in the backseat of the car and did his back and forth thing all the way out of the driveway I went out and took some pictures. The car is so low that he PUSHES snow with it all the way down the driveway (which thankfully is shorter then our driveway on the mountain.) In the snow you can see his wheel tracks, and drag marks where stuff under the car is making it's own marks as he pushes the car through the deep snow. Last night when he came home he had to back and forth it a bit to get in (hard to get up a run where we live now) and every time he backed he'd leave a pile of snow where the bumper stopped. Then he'd have to push through that pile and plow it and the rest of the snow forwards until he wasn't moving or was where he wanted to be. Why?, your probably thinking, doesn't he take the 4x4 Travelall to work?? That wonderfully high heavy 4x4?? That moves through snow like it's not even there??? Because it's an 37 year old rig and last Saturday on our way to the "CITY" we realized that the U-joints in the front are going, going, pretty much gone and Papa is waiting for parts so he can fix it. The parts should be here today and he'll hopefully take it to work tomorrow and then we will be a 2 car family again. He doesn't want to drive it, unless it's to work to get fixed, because the U joints could go gone and then we'd have a mess. :) I guess that's what we get for driving such a old rig... but I'd rather have the odd fix-it every once and a while then a car payment every month.

Reading to Baby R

J turned 5 on Monday (his party is on Saturday) and seems to have taken a bit more responsibility since then. He has always enjoyed helping me with everything but now is doing even more in small ways like this. He was showing her all the animals and their tracks and telling her what they said or did or whatever. They both had a great time. He got this book from Grandma and Grandpa F and loves it. He has all the animal names memorized and can tell you a lot about them as well as recognize their tracks. Baby R is trying hard to walk and just as I was typing this she was walking around an empty laundry tote and it fell over and she bumped (a tiny bump and mostly scared herself) into my trunk. Now she keeps looking at the tote like it's going to get her. LOL. She probably would walk already if we encouraged her, but we are not. We are not discouraging her either just letting her go at her own pace. She is finally in 12 months clothing and they fit her wonderfully.

Being Joshua...

I got these neat hair things awhile ago and this morning we found a new use for them. J took one look at himself in the mirror and proclaimed himself Joshua. As in Joshua who lead the battle on Jericho in the Bible. So I had 3 little 'Joshua's' running around here this morning!!!

Then again....

Really...

What else is new?? :)

Cold Weather fun.

We had really abnormal temp's for the month of December. Normally we are mildly cold with a little bit of snow and pretty nice weather all around. This year it has been -30F several times already but mostly -0F to -20F which keeps us on our toes. This weather is normal for us but in January/Febuary not December. The cold weather gives us challeneges we otherwise would not have. Like frozen pipes which means no water until Papa can get under there and fix it. (about 16 hours the 1st time and 10 the 2nd time). Two of our heat tapes that we plug in every fall have failed us this year which is why the pipes and cow water froze. Hopefully now we will not have to do anything but plug them in for a few years. The cow water float freezes shut every couple of days which can sometimes be cured with a swift kick to the bottom but if not we have a heat gun nearby just in case. The pigs have been borrowing deep in their bedding and fighting for the bottom spots. As they are beside the house we often hear these pig fights like they are happening in the living room. When ever this happens E stops stock still and says PIGS!!!! PIGS!!! PIGS!! with a very worried look on her face. I think she thinks they are loose and is worried. As soon as they stop though she goes back to playing without another word. I've tried to tell her every things fine and show her the pigs but she doesn't care to look which makes me wonder if she's really worried about it or just likes saying PIGS!! PIGS!! PIGS!!

Another fun cold weather thing is that the line to my washer in the entrance froze solid and I had to haul water from the kitchen sink. (6 three gallon pots for each cycle= 12 pots a load. One day I did 5 loads :) The line has a heat tape on it but that Rat and the cats took some of the insulation off it and it froze anyway. Papa did fix the insulation but it's not been warm enough since then to thaw the line and to take the insulation off the line and thaw it will take longer then he's had time for. One day it was the warmest we got in almost 2 weeks at -10F and the washer made some noises but the water never did come on. As it is I'm not doing much for laundry and the kids are living in PJ's. One unexpected downfall of not doing laundry is that I normally raise my buns and bread on the dryer when it's on. As J put it. "Why are the buns hard little round things??" I tried to raise them in the oven but it doesn't have a low enough setting or a pilot light. I can put them by the wood stove but can't get them close enough to raise properly. Papa did get the washer, line fixed and re-insulated with new insulation tape which the cats cannot get into, on one of his days off after Christmas which is a huge blessing!! My shoulders are still not the same after hauling 60++, one load was a really big load, 3 gallon pots of water on the 23.

One thing that is a challenge with the cold weather is the boys. Sounds funny really but it's true. It is much too cold for them to go out and play so they are inside with the rest of us all day. In such a small space as we have this feels really full. I've of set this with letting them play and be loud and goof off in their bedroom and watching more movies. We have also been doing more crafts and games and getting 'new' toys out. So far we are surviving and hopefully it will warm up for a bit soon and I can kick them outside again. The kids are also all in the same room now and so if Baby R is napping then their room is out of bounds. How, you wonder, did we fit 4 kids in 1 room?? Easy. Each bed has it's own wall. Soon Papa is going to build a 4 bed bunk bed and then we will have an extra bed as Baby R will go into E's crib. :) They all sleep 12 hours at night and rarely wake each other up in the middle of the night. Naps are a bit harder as Baby R sleeps from 1 to 4 and the other 3 sleep from 2 to 4 but we manage it right fine.

Pictures for you all!!

Thanks Becca for putting picture online for us!!

Sorry I can't move the pictures around so they make more sense. Becca very sweetly put them all on for me with her computer
and we both thought we could move them around but I can't.
And it would take a LONG time for me to put them on so
better on then not!! :)

L and E with their stick on mustaches. They loved them and they are reusable!!


J and L with their facial hair and their matching PJ's.

Smiling!! Papa's got a funny look on in the back!!

Our 2nd annual family Gingerbread house project!!

We build it close to Christmas and eat it on New Years.

We got a huge kit this year but had icing problems so this is as

done as it gets. E decorated the trees in the front. J and L did

a side of the roof each and Papa and I did the rest.

Baby R watched from her chair and ate Gingerbread cookies...

I think she has the right idea!!!

(from the one that flopped the icing :)

The boys decorating the roof!!

E, smiling as she happily stacked candies on the trees.

E in J's armour that he got for Christmas..

Papa reading "On the shores of Silver Lake" to the kids in their matching PJ's.

I think this was boxing day!!

J with his brand new 'kid guitar' which he's already learned a chord for,

and in his Knight outfit!! Boy is he growing up fast.

This was Christmas morning.

Note the ice on the window, it was only 0F that morning

and we could see out the window!! Bonus!!

E cooking with her new little kitchen on Christmas morning.

We have limited space so we got

her this little set that all fits into the pink box for storage.

She loves it and made all kinds of things already.

Papa is tuning J's guitar in the back.

L with his new log truck... playing with his sisters moose.

He does like his trucks

but they zip around so much I haven't got a good picture yet.

This was also Christmas morning.

The boys using their new swords to help E open her little kitchen!!

She was quite impressed!!

J and L with their armour and pirate stuff on Christmas morning.

They were both SO ecstatic!!

Note: What you see in the back is about 1/3 of our living space. Kitchen and dining room.

The boys are in the living room.

Oh and just in case you are wondering the curtains have new rods that

will cause them to fit properly... the old ones are too short and too brittle!

L looking very piraty!!

We disliked the skulls that were all

over this set so I took them off or colored over them.

Much better and he didn't even notice!!

J without his sword!!

I packed this all together in a box and wrapped his sword separately.

He was SO worried he wouldn't get a sword to

'protect the family!'

From what I know not!! :) But he loves us!!

E looking very pleased with her new horse from Auntie R.

When I took the picture she had just realized that the horse made noise!!

Taken Christmas morning.

Well that's our Christmas in a nutshell.

I hope you enjoyed the pictures and God Bless!!

~Christmas~

We are truly blessed and we had a wonderful Christmas. The kids counted down and ate their chocolates from their advent calenders and counted down some more. Then, all of a sudden, it was THE DAY. LOL. The pictures will pretty much speak for themselves but a few verbal highlights are: J, after opening his breastplate, helmet and shield, "Oh I really need a sword!! I really need a sword to protect the household. Mom is there a sword so I that I can protect the household." Then after opening his SWORD. " I GOT A SWORD!! NOW ME AND PAPA AND L CAN PROTECT YOU AND E AND BABY R" He was so excited he really did talk in capitals. E got a stick horse that makes sounds from Auntie R and she thought it was a sucker for ages and when we were opening it I'd ask her "what is that?" and she'd come back with "sucker". Then we got it open enough to see what it really was and she her eyes just LIT UP and she says "HORSE!!!" Then later I went to fix his crumpled ear and it has a button in it that makes noises and she LOVED it. It's so heavy for her 21 lbs that she can only play with it in short bursts but she always goes back to it. It was Baby R's 1st Christmas and she enjoyed the fun. She really liked her stocking and the chocolate that went with it. She's a real chocolate hound. L had a great Christmas and seems to really enjoy his new replacement "big Papa dump truck" and his new log truck.

We spent Christmas Eve with my family, those who could make it, at T&D house. They have a great big house which is great because our family is growing every year. There are 12 grand kids and 14 adults so far. The pictures of us in dresses and 'good clothes' as the boys call them, are from Christmas Eve. We all managed to match which was neat and one of these days I want to take a family picture in our "Christmas clothes." When and if I can find someone to take it I'll post it. We had a great time with the family and the kids had a blast playing with the cousins. One of the Cousins said a pile of verses for us all and J chimed right in and said his Christmas verse as well. L said his later when we were all leaving after his 'shy' had worn off. J's was Luke 2:10 and L's was Luke 2:11. E's was Heb 13:1. "Let Brotherly love continue" Which is the 1st verse our kids learn.

Papa and I got a wonderful Christmas present from an unusual source. A real blessing!! A friend of mine knew of our washer problems and also knew of a family who had just gotten a new washer and dryer set because their dryer quit. So she called us and asked us if we wanted it!! We did!! Our washer was 30++ years old and worked but not very well. It leaked oil out the bottom and had started leaking oil into the washer while it washed!! The new washer and dryer were in the 'big city" where our friend lives and her and her husband rented a dolly and loaded them up (turns out the dryer may be a quick fix) and brought them to us!!! He dropped it off yesterday and helped Papa take the old one out and the new one in. Papa crawled up under the addition and fixed my water freezing problem and now I have a "new to us" washer ( we think it's about 5 to 7 years old) with running water.

Christmas morning was spent at home reading the Christmas story from the book of Luke, opening gifts, taking pictures, playing and eating a great breakfast of pancakes, sausage, homemade syrup and eggs, thanks to Auntie R!! In the afternoon we went to the W gathering (my mom's side) and saw a bunch of Aunts and Uncles, my grandparents and my cousins and their kids. One of my cousins brought their 2 day old baby and we got to see him for the 1st time. We all had a great time and stayed late to enjoy part of the evening with them.

All and all we had a great Christmas Holidays. Boxing day was spent at home and Papa took the boys out sledding with their new sleds. It snowed most of the day and we relaxed and played most of the day. I read an entire book (390 pages of a mystery!! :) and Papa read a good chunk of his new beer making book. In the evening we watched "Finding Nemo" one of the kids Christmas movies and had a snack night. After the kids were in bed Papa and I had a 'Movie date" and watched "Junior" with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito. A very funny movie that Papa had never seen before and we both really enjoyed.

Baby R's 1st Christmas!!

Baby R, still tiny but not really a baby anymore as she is crawling and cruising and trying to walk!, and Papa on Christmas Eve. That red thing in front of her is a Christmas dress from Grandma and Grandpa F which was size 3 months and fit my 9 month old perfectly. The dress came with neat tights that had black shoe shapes on the feet of the tights so it looked like she was wearing little black dress shoes! Which is a real bonus when you can't find black dress shoes to fit or stay on her tiny little feet!! The thing that she is so excited about is a toy cow that makes a sound that is suppose to be a mooo but sounds like something else entirely!! She loves it!

The top picture is of Christmas morning and the pink thing in her hand is her "Baby's 1st Christmas" Ornament. The dollar store fish between her legs is a greatly sot after toy from the biggest to the littlest child. Strange things that kids just love!!

Merry Christmas!!

Well it's that time of year again and this year I've decided to email our letter and photo around to those who have email and print them for the very few who don't.

Our family has grown again and we welcomed Baby R Griggs into the family on March 10th 2008. She was 7lbs 15.9 oz and 19 3/4 inches long. Now at 9 months she is a healthy smiley if small girl who loves her siblings and BEAMS with love for every one. Papa and I both think she is our happiest baby yet. She weighs in at a mere 14 lbs and about 25.75 inches tall but is crawling like a pro and cruises along the furniture. She is a little joy to us all and we thank God for her.

E turned 2 on Oct 22 and is also a very small girl. She weighs in at just 21lbs but is a full 33 inches tall. She is our daredevil and climber. With 2 older brothers she has a "if they can do it, or even if they can't. I WILL TRY IT!!" attitude. So far she hasn't broken anything but I suspect she'll be the 1st one in the ER with a broken bone. She has scared us both several times and luckily scared herself as well so maybe she'll settle as she gets older. She is a little mother and cleans up after the boys and herself, loves to help with 'chores' and mothers her 'babies' and protects them from her brothers. E and Baby R seem to have the start of a great relationship and we hope and pray that it continues.

L will be 4 in April and is 32 lbs and 37.75 inches tall. L has turned into a little reader in the last few months. He loves to look at books and make up or tell the story in the book. He still loves his trucks but books are a close second. He is very reserved with people until he gets to know them then he loves them completely. He loves to play simple games like Simon says or round and round the haystack. He loves his brother and the two of them are great friends. L recently found that he likes to draw and he is often at the chalk board drawing families. We've also found that L is very talented with snow. He makes awesome snowmen with ears and everything all by himself.

J will be 5 on Jan 5th and is 45 lbs and 44 inches tall. He is a wonderful willing helper. He enjoys telling hunting stories or singing hunting songs he makes up himself. He often 'reads' books to his younger siblings and has several books completely memorized. He learns quickly and retains almost all of what he learns. He enjoys singing, adding numbers, crafts, reading, pretending and tea parties with E and L. He will not be starting school until 2010 when we will be homeschooling him. We legally have to start then and are planning on taking the next year to research our options.

We had some other big changes this year. Papa has started his commercial transport mechanic apprenticeship as of Oct. So far we all love it. It gives us a lot more time as a family and a regular schedule which is really nice. We eat supper together almost every night and the work is steady and interesting for Papa. He mostly enjoys the challenge of diagnosing problems. The only part that is frustrating for him is that he can only fix what the customer wants fixed, even if it really needs it. To Papa that is leaving it half done and he dislikes leaving anything half done. The hours are nice and the schooling can be done close by which is an answer to prayer.

We also did some changes in our farm this year. We had our 1st calf ever born on the place this spring and had fun with him and another calf that we were given as we tethered them around, figured out several milking problems and tried to keep them and the cow happy. All in all we enjoyed them and are looking forward to the beef. We also hand cleared 2 acres with a chainsaw and lots of hard work. We did leave some trees as a wind break and canopy but we think we took out about 3 log truck loads of trees. Then we limed and seeded it and watched it grow. We are really looking forward to spring and the new patch of grass. We plan on finishing the 1/2 acre that is still down, and taking a few more trees out, and clearing another acre or 2 this spring and summer. We also did 6 pigs for the 1st time ever this year and raised them up on milk. They were summer pigs so we still have them and will probably butcher in the new year.

Our house is on hold as we save money to start the next stage. We did get the trusses built and the next thing we need is tin for the middle roof. We have decided that it can wait until we have what we need. Papa is planning on making several things in the trailer to make our storage problems more manageable. He is going to make the kids bunk beds which will free up a lot of room in their room. We've also turned the back bathroom into a storage room with a toilet which helps.

I keep busy with crafts, farming and reading when I'm not busy with the kids, household stuff, baking, gardening, sewing, and a hundred and one other things that need doing. I enjoy it, for the most part ( I honestly don't know anyone who enjoys toilet training and all the mess that goes with it) and like to keep busy. I also keep up our blog which I really enjoy as I am a writer at heart and writing about our kids and lifestyle suits me wonderfully.

Our family is still attending home church with 3 or 4 other couples in this area. We switch from house to house and instead of Sunday school teach our children verses and read them the Bible nightly. Both the boys have a wonderful clear conceptions of who God is and what He has done for us and what He does do for us. They often floor me with their questions and insights and often supper time is spent teaching them God's ways.

Luke 2:10 and 11. Then the angel said to them. "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born for you this day in the city of David, a savior who is Christ the Lord. "

Merry Christmas!!!

Love

The Griggs Family.