The Hunt, the Front and Feeling Festive

Tom and a couple of guys from church (Brian Ketter and Lester Finney) went hunting! Tom and Brian got drawn for cow elk and Lester was the guide. They were out a total of 1-1/2 days and they got their cows from the same herd - something about spotting them a ways off, then a car chase, and finally guns were drawn. Now we have about 100lbs of elk meat being processed. I'm new to this eating wild game, can anybody tell me how to cook it?

Here's Tom and his cow - he literally broke her heart.

The front of the house if fully sided. Tom and dad got all the way up to the top of the second story windows before Dad went home. So he finished it all by himself! He created some sort of hanger/helper to hold one side of the board while he nailed the other. Go honey!! Now he's working on the SW side...and it's really cold out there. Poor guy, out there working in the cold while I'm in here nice and snuggle warm...I think I'll go take a nap when I'm done blogging. :)

It's Christmas time again! While down in Phx over the weekend, the kids, my parents and I went to see Glendale Glitter (they string lights all over downtown, have lots of vendors selling stuff, etc.). We got to see a kid production of the Nutcracker and eat kettle corn - yum yum! Yesterday we strung garland on the island and then after the kids went to bed we put up the tree. Tonight we'll all decorate it and get out the nativity set. And before lunch the kids plus Anneliese and Amy Castle help make our first batch of Christmas cookies. I should have looked a little closer at the recipe, it's the kind where there's multiple layers and refrigerator times. So, they are not done yet and...maybe tomorrow we'll try to get it rolled and put the filling in. We'll see.

Here's Tom putting together the tree - He got a little hot!

Here are the darling little helpers.

And here's Ben over Thanksgiving weekend - he was getting his St. Nick impersonation down.