Christmas In Estes

Here are the promised pictures from Estes:

Driving to our vacation house.
"Over the bridge and through the woods to our vacation house we go ..."
This is the back of our house ... I had great intentions of getting more house pictures but then got busy so this is it ...
The three little girls spent their days playing in this cabinet ... it's their dog house. I had pictures of them sitting and smiling sweetly but I thought this was funnier and shows their personalities. For example, Anna is thinking "look how sweet and compliant I am ... hehe", Rachel is thinking "I am queen of this dog house" and Elizabeth is thinking "turn your back for just a second so I can get into something dangerous and messy."

Rachel and Anna early in the morning.
"There were 4 in the bed and the little one said 'roll over, roll over'!"

We cut down this little tree to decorate. It was cute and very "Charlie Brown".

Anna and Rachel kept using the ornaments to play house. Rudolf was the dog, Santa was the Daddy ... what silly girls I have.

Christmas morning ... opening stockings.
A good brother shares his chocolate with his baby sister.
Benjamin and Uncle John warming up while talking football. We waited to open presents until Grandma and Grandpa arrived.
Baby Winston (my nephew) had a froggy theme for his first Christmas. We got him a wooden froggy pull toy, Joanie got him a froggy tent and he was wearing froggy jammies ... cutie pie.

This Commander Rex costume was Benjamin's #1 present ... he'd been asking for it for months. Unfortunately he's a tall 3rd grader and it was kind of snug. I don't think he cares though.

Elizabeth thinks he should wear the mask like this ...

Jacob, Timothy and Benjamin ... what happy faces.
Josiah was completely surprised with this present! All he really asked for was a $25 gift card to iTunes so he could put music on Mike's iPod ... instead we got him and iPod Nano of his own and Grandma and Grandpa gave him money for iTunes.

The girls got bikes and, yes, we let them ride in the house.


Elizabeth got a baby doll which she immediately had to feed and bathe and change and dress ... this gave poor Winston a reprieve from her constant nurturing.

Mary and Felicity ... Felicity got new clothes for Christmas.


Jacob patiently waiting for batteries in his new space ship ... he's too quiet for his own good ... the squeaky wheel gets the batteries first around here.

Aunt Joanie feeding little Winston. His jammies said, "Winston", on the back flap over his little bottom ... too cute.

And, finally, Christmas Cutie Cuddles. Mary came into our room one night at about 2 AM saying that "some little girl was in her bed and she couldn't get her out" ... it sounded like she had some kind of critter in her bed.

Elizabeth, The Naughty Magnet

Oh, little Elizabeth, what a child! She is the reason Tomato Staking was invented (ie: keeping your child right next to you at all times to catch disobedience immediately). Yesterday, all morning I kept her within my sight. She had blanket time, watched a Hide 'Em In Your Heart, colored in her high chair and then, when school was finished, I let her go to the basement to play "restaurant" with the other kids. While watching her video earlier she found a dry erase marker that Rachel was using to practice letters but I caught her immediatly so the crisis was evaded. But, after about 15 minutes away from me, I heard her crying in the basement. Ben ran down to see what was the matter only to find her shut in the bathroom ... naked and covered in black marker scribbles! All over her hands, tummy and arms (and the door!) I washed her up and put her back next to me ... all day. Then evening came and we were sitting in the family room. Right in front of us she grabbed Mike's hi-lighter and ran off. I quickly jumped up, grabbed my "obedience reminder" and asked her to hand me the pen. She looked up at me with her big blue doe eyes and said, "Sorry!" while handing me the pen. The "sorry" was not a repentant, remorseful response but more like "ugh, you caught me." So, today is a new day and she is right next to me. The thing is markers are hard to find around here. I keep them high enough that even I need a chair to reach them. She's just a magnet to naughtiness I think.

Home and Happy

We're home from Estes and, while we had a very Merry Christmas, it feels great to be home. I have Christmas pictures to download and post but that will have to wait for another day and time. Tomorrow we essentially start our new year ... school, chores, schedule, budget and menus are all changing tomorrow whether I'm ready or not. One thing I know is that if I wait until I have everything written out and organized to my liking we will never start so we're just jumping in with what I have done and will gradually make adjustments.

Not much is changing regarding school. With the holidays and travel finished we will be hitting school hard with consistency and diligence. We will be part of a Friday morning electives group beginning in February that will last just 6 weeks. The kids will be choosing between fun classes like sewing, Lego, Karate and ballet. We are all excited although it will mean one more thing in an already busy schedule.

We've added some money earning chores for the kids including stripping wall paper and winter garden work. I'm also determined to put my little girls to work in that Anna and Rachel are plenty old enough to help. They are happy to help so I need to re-evaluate and re-assign chores. We are also adding onto afternoon chores by having the kids go from their normal afternoon chores straight into baths, jammies and room clean-up. This is easier in the winter because it is dark and cold early so I may as well take advantage of that.

Our schedule is changing in a few ways. I'll have to revise it on my schedules page. The little girls WILL stay in bed until 7:00 AM which has been a battle thus far. We are keeping them up later and making wake-up bags to occupy them if they awake earlier than 7:00. On the other hand the big kids WILL get up at 7:00 AM regardless of the bed time the night before. The only way to stay sane in this zoo is to have a schedule and rules that we all follow ... without that it's chaos! It doesn't do me much good to get up at 5:00 AM only to have 3 little girls to juggle while I pray, exercise, cook or get ready ... although I do kind of like them with me it's not a good use of my time and I find that I am NEVER alone. We are also moving devotions up a bit so that Mike can consistently lead us.

We will be tightening up our budget to accomplish some goals this year. We'll be changing our pizza night to alternate a burger night, taco night and ????? to eliminate the weekly pizza bill. Donut Day will be saved for birthdays (which is how it started in the first place) which will be healthier and more cost effective. Date Nights have been changed to Date Breakfasts on Wednesday mornings and will include a donut with Daddy or maybe Daddy's favorite, Q-Doba. And, since it usually seems to work out this way anyways, I'll be doing a giant grocery shopping trip on the 1st followed by just purchasing milk and produce on the 15th. This always saves us quite a bit.

I'm attempting to stream-line our menus as well for lots of reasons ...time, finances, health. I will use Saturdays to make waffles or pancakes to eat during the week and some muffin batter for breakfasts. I'd like to stick to breakfasts that I can set on the table with little prep work from me ... like buttering a thousand pieces of toast or flipping a thousand pancakes. Lunches will be soups in the crock pot or big salads and dinner will be the same. Easy, easy. I tried a terrific Pumpkin Bran Muffin batter in Estes that stores in the refrigerator for a few weeks (ha, like it would last that long here) and Mike bought me a new waffle iron I'll have to break in.

So, that's the new year. It's late and I'm tired. Writing this all out helps me to keep my thoughts in order although it may bore my readers to tears. Sorry. I'll try to get Christmas pictures posted soon ...

Winter in Estes

We're here! It's beautiful! We're relaxing, playing, laughing, resting and enjoying doing nothing! We arrived Sunday afternoon after a busy morning of last minute packing, cleaning and list checking. So far the only thing I seem to have forgotten is a baby gate. Some baby obedience would eliminate the need for the baby gate but that is in short supply this week and I know I can't remedy it right now.

On Sunday night, Grandma and Grandpa babysat while Mike and I enjoyed a lovely meal at the Twin Owls Steak House for our 18th Anniversary! 18 years .... eeghads! No words can describe what an amazing 18 years we've had together and each year is better than the one before. People tell you when you get married that it only gets better and you can't imagine that ... but then 18 years later I know what they mean. Mike and I love each other more and better now than I could have imagined 18 years ago. Not that it's always been easy but with every trial you get a little closer which is why the Bible says, "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." (James 1:2-4)

Yesterday we went to the town and shopped around with Grandma and Grandpa, walked down to the river with Grandpa, played great games like Jenga and Would You Rather and went to bed early. A very nice day.

This morning the kids opened one present, the dvd Walle, which they watched first thing. Then Mike took the 3 little boys to town for a treat. I plan to take the 3 oldest to town for lunch and then we'll find some time to take the 3 little girls out as well. It's nice to have some time with just little batches of kids to chat, shop and snack. So, that's a sampling of our week so far. We are blessed beyond measure to have this opportunity to refresh and regroup before the New Year begins. And on the New Year note, our Christmas letter will actually be a New Years letter this year which will include a picture of us up here in Estes. John's family arrives tomorrow and I will update more later.

Spoiled Kids on Pizza Night

As my children complain about a Friday without pizza, so we can save our pennies for better, more expensive pizza in Estes next week, I stumbled onto this article. It's about a 92 year old woman who found her mother's grocery list from 1937. Her mother had 9 children and it lists what she shopped for and talks about her diligence in feeding her family during hard times.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1097462/The-credit-crunch-busting-1937-shopping-list-shows-feed-children-1.html

Honestly, I could never eat pizza again and be perfectly content. Pizza, pizza, pizza ... what is it with kids (and Stephens men for that matter) and pizza? So we will joyfully eat our spaghetti with lentils and garlic bread and be thankful we're not eating tinned corned beef and custard powder.

Preparations for Estes Park

We leave Sunday afternoon for Estes Park. One week of sledding, sleeping, playing, eating and relaxing ... well, as much relaxation as you can get with 9 kids in the house. Here are my current lists:

To Cook/Prepare:

XPumpkin Bran Muffin Batter
XBroccoli Rice Casserole
XMonkey Bread Mix
XTurkey Enchiladas
XMarinate Meat
XCook Chorizo
XPancakes
Bundt Cakes - ran out of time ... no Bundt Cakes for us ...

Refrigerated Food:

XButter
XSausage
XBacon
XSalad Dressing
XJelly
XSalsa
XMuffin Batter
XHam
XCheese
XPotatoes
XSalami
XChunk Cheese
XApples
XCarrots
XTortillas
XRice Milk
XSour Cream

Frozen Food:
XEnchiladas
XSteaks
XChorizo
XBread Dough
XBroccoli Rice Casserole
XCheesecake
XPancakes

Misc. Food:
XPopcorn
XSyrup
XTortilla Chips
Pretzels
XDrinks
XCoffee
XPeanut Butter
XOlives
XPickles
XBread
XCrackers

Things:
XGriddle
XPopcorn Popper
XBig Bowl
XSleeping Bags
XPortacrib
Blankets
XSleds
XSnow Clothes
XSaw
XTree Stand
XLights
XExtension Cord
XSnow Shovels
XLitter Box
XCat Food
XBibs
XSippy Cups
XPaper Plates/Cups/Napkins
XChristmas Gifts

I'll add things as I remember more. Special Meals, Sledding, Christmas Gifts and supplies are all adding to the expanse of vacationing. I also want to bring a bunch of food so I don't have to worry about what everyone will eat when we get there. I have a menu plan and hope to only get milk, eggs, 1/2 & 1/2 and a few frozen veggies when we arrive. Not only are things much cheaper in stores down here but I already have certain things like peanut butter that I don't want to have to buy when we're just an hour away!

Now I'm off to an Electives meeting . Lots to do. Laundry, packing, cleaning ... oh, my!

The Camera Has Been Foud

It seems that we left our camera at Uncle John's house on Sunday the 7th while celebrating Grandma's birthday. Now, none of us remembered to take pictures during the party which is why we didn't realize that's where we left it. We all kept thinking, "where did I take the last picture?" and all we could remember was the last chess tournament. Duh! But at least we all forgot and not just me. Here are some of the pictures that would have been lost for all eternity ...

Luke accepting his first rated trophy! Woohoo!

When Daddy's in charge Lizzy can feed herself and eat her cousin's baby food .... mmmmmm!
Storm Troopers and Sand People at Toys R Us ... the funny thing is when a huge gaggle of geese flew overhead they shot at them to entertain the kids ... it was pretty funny.
The girls with Princess Leia ... the little girls wanted to see her but needed Mary to be brave enough to get a picture with her. What a good big sister.
Uncle John and Winston ... the mighty camera sleuths!

Five Crockpot Lunches

This week since it is cold and we're busy busy I'm trying Kim's Five Crockpot Lunches (from over at the Large Family Logistic blog). Here's the link:

http://largefamilylogistics.blogspot.com/search/label/recipes

I actually tried the Lentil Stew on Saturday night (for the kids to eat while we were on our date) and it was really good. Not all the kids loved it but they ate it with the incentive of a special dessert when we got home from our date. They'll learn to love it ... or at least tolerate it. A few of the kids have inherited Mike's texture issues ... raisins, lumpy things, ... and I'm not sympathetic. There are children starving right here in Ft. Collins for Heaven's sake. The nice thing about the Lentil Stew is that the veggies totally disintegrate. I added chicken stock instead of water which I think gave it more flavor too.

Today we have orthodontist appointments all morning and then Grandma is coming to make a Gingerbread House with the kids and bake cookies. We're all really looking forward to the visit. Our camera has gone missing ... last seen at the recent chess tournament. We are fervently praying that it will be found (it's NEW) for the sake of our Christmas memories and our already tardy Christmas picture. I'm off to make dough to chill ....

Friday Chores and Why Coffee Is My Friend

It's 7:55 am and I've already had a venti coffee. It was lovely ... warm, hot, creamy. My amazing husband went out at 6:00 am because one of my children gave the remainder of my Half and Half to the cat who consequently threw up all over the front room. A morning with cat vomit and NO cream for my coffee could make for a grouchy Mom. Coffee heals all wounds although it doesn't magically clean up cat vomit.

We have our usual Friday Chores to do today. The upstairs has been sorely neglected lately and will be the focus for the girls and Mom. The basement will be tackled by the boys with the incentive of mini-PS2 turns if done well. They always say "it's finished and is perfect" but I've learned that boys have some sort of mess-filtering device in their brains that allows them to overlook clutter. PS2 turns seem to deactivate this device.

This afternoon is the Chess Club Christmas Party. The boys are very excited. Following the party we'll eat pizza and watch Horton Hears A Who (despite the fact that the nemesis in the story "pouch schools" her child ... too funny ... us wacky "pouch schoolers"!). We have no plans for tomorrow which is wonderful. Maybe I can wrap some Christmas presents or bake or finish Mary's room ... well, I guess those are plans BUT we don't have to BE anywhere.

Hurry Tuna or Chicken Curry Recipe

I made this for lunch today for Mike, me and Mary. It was really good and super fast and easy.

Hurry Tuna or Chicken Curry Recipe

1/2 onion diced
1/2 bell pepper diced
1 T butter
1 T olive oil
1 large can tuna or chicken
1 t salt
1 t pepper
1 1/2 t curry
1/4 t cayenne pepper
1/2 cup of peas
1 cup sour cream or yogurt

Saute onion and pepper. Add meat, peas and seasonings. Stir in sour cream and heat through for 10 minutes but DO NOT BOIL. Serve with rice.

This took only 15 minutes to make! I had the rice cooking while I assembled it and made the kids lunch. Really tasty. My curry seems to be really bland so I need to go to the spice shop and find a better quality curry. Other than that this was great. I crave the Indian buffet at the Star of India every week. My next project will be to master buttered Naan. I don't have time to bake and cook like I used to ... but one day I know I will again.

Turkey Enchiladas

These were really good and tasted really fresh and homemade.

Turkey Enchiladas

3 cups cooked, shredded turkey
2 cups sour cream
3 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 t salt
12 corn tortillas
1/3 cup oil

Sauce

2 4 oz. cans chopped, mild green chilis
1 clove minced garlic
2 T olive oil
2 cups chopped onion
1 t salt
1/2 t oregano
1/2 cup water
2 cups or 1 can of diced tomatoes

Make sauce and let it simmer while you assemble the tortillas and turkey. Saute onions, garlic and chilis in olive oil until tender. Add remaining ingredients and let simmer for 30 minutes or until it thickens.

Combine turkey, sour cream, 2 cups of the cheese and 1 t salt. Heat 1/3 cup of oil in skillet and dip tortillas in until soft. Drain on paper towels. Stuff turkey mixture in tortillas and arrange seam side down in 9 X 13 pan.

Pour sauce over stuffed tortillas. Sprinkle with remaining cup of shredded cheese. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

I used turkey that I had mixed with taco seasoning which gave these extra yummy zing. I also garnished with sliced black olives for Mike. I have sandwich bags full of roasted green chilis from the Farmers Market in my freezer so I used those instead of canned ... they are so tasty. I tripled these so I'd have 2 pans to take to Estes for Christmas. If I made it for everyday meals I'd use low fat sour cream or yogurt and would cut back on the cheese. They are awesome with all the cheese and sour cream ... I may wish I didn't know how good these are when made with all this dairy goodness when I attempt to make them healthier. It seems like in the past I've softened the tortillas by sprinkling them with water and microwaving them but this time I did the oil thing. So there ya go! Happy Turkey Cooking!

The first day of a normal week ...

What does a normal week look like? I've forgotten! We have no upcoming weekend events, no outside weekday events, no appointments and minimal errands this week ... ahhhhhhh. I'm almost done with Christmas shopping which feels awesome. Now I'll just start wrapping. My dilemma is what to buy my 3 oldest as their "Big" present. I had an idea ... they may read this so I'm being cryptic ... but am now doubting my decision. This preteen/teen parenting thing is much trickier than I imagined. How do you guard their hearts while still slowly exposing them to the world? How do you let them enjoy interesting and profitable technology without sliding down that slippery slope of worldliness? Hmmmmm. Mary's easy. I can always get her things for her American Girl doll or clothes or jewelry but the boys ... ugh, they're tough. Josiah has shown me 2 books he wants and that's it.

We had a great weekend. The boys went to a chess tournament in Denver. The only one to place was Luke which is amazing because the competition was really steep. He placed 3rd in the rated division... his first trophy since he began playing rated. I'm so proud of him. He has been very diligent in practicing and it payed off. Timmy has been equally as diligent but is in a group that is K-3 which is a huge disadvantage. My BSF party was small and sweet. Nice fellowship. Aunt Joanie took the girls shopping during the party and Elizabeth napped. The best thing about the party was that it forced me to really get the house clean which feels awesome as we begin our week. We celebrated Grandma's birthday with all the Singer's at John's house yesterday and had a wonderful time. Such good food ... oh my! And such good company!

I'm making a new recipe of Turkey Enchiladas for dinner and will post the recipe if it's good. It's full of all things good ... sour cream, cheese, garlic, onions ... unfortunately I'll have to make a mini-batch for Elizabeth with all that dairy.

My two littlest girls are anemic. With Elizabeth this makes sense because she hardly eats and can't drink whole milk but with Rachel it's a mystery. I'm on a mission to figure out good iron sources they'll both eat plus I'm supplementing them each morning with a small cup of juice spiked with iron drops. Starting on Saturday I began only giving Elizabeth good healthy food ... no snacks or treats unless she's eaten a good meal before ... the issue with this is that her siblings give in to her doe eyes at the drop of a hat AND she sneaks food when I'm not looking. While making grilled cheese last week I turned my back only to turn around to find her shoveling sliced cheese in her mouth (I paid for this lack of attention for two days following). In the past I've let her have snacks because it is something she'll usually eat and I figured something was better than nothing but now I'm not giving in.

I'm off to begin school. We're focusing on Bible, math and reading all month but letting the electives lie until January. I'm enjoying reading the Christmas story with the kids and am always surprised at what I've forgotten. For example, John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Spirit even in the womb! How amazing is that? At BSF we talked last week about how God wants to dwell with His people. In the Old Testement He dwelled above the Mercy Seat, in the New Testement He dwelled with the people as Jesus and NOW we have the Holy Spirit within us. God is within US! How will I change my actions, thoughts and words when I remember that God is dwelling within me? Pretty convicting!

Snow Day

We had such a great time yesterday! We went to Old Town and had hot cocoa, went sledding, ground a gazillion pounds of turkey and finished our day with a movie party with the Box girls and the Fahrenbrucks. Dance was canceled and I didn't want Josiah out late on the ice for CAP so we stayed home and watched Prince Caspian while the littles watched old Christmas movies in another room. We ate popcorn and M&M's and laughed so hard we cried (no, Prince Caspian is not a comedy but the Fahrenbruck's just crack me up!) I may regret my day of fun as I attempt to tackle Friday Chores today but I doubt it! Diana Fahrenbruck even folded laundry for me so that in itself made the day productive!

Heading out for cocoa.
The boots lined up while we eat lunch before we go sledding ... I thought they looked cute.
Heading out to go sledding. Grandpa had just arrived to help me grind turkey. Josiah and Elizabeth stayed home with me (much to Elizabeth's sorrow.)

I can't decide if I should post pictures of the great turkey processing project ... maybe when it's all done. I'm trying to determine if it is cost effective. So far it's been pretty easy and I have 9 1/3 pounds of meat ground plus my roaster full of broth and meat for other uses so when it's all said and done I will calculate the cost and decide what I think.

Ok, off to start Friday chores. I'm hosting my BSF group tomorrow morning and the boys have a Chess Tournament in Denver so we have LOTS to do. Mike is due in at 3:00 and then we'll go get our Christmas tree. We're very excited for that!

The First REAL Snow

Timothy greeting the first real snow of the year. The 4 youngest kids were so excited to wake up to see how much snow we'd really gotten. As we walked down the stairs I tried to temper their excitement with "it looked like it quit when I went to bed but it will snow more another day". Boy was I wrong! I think there are 4 or 5 inches out there. We LOVE snow! I've always said I could live in Alaska! Although, as a grown-up (supposedly) my main concern is not how long I will be allowed to play outside but instead will Mike be able to fly home tomorrow. Off to make breakfast! I think the first snow requires hot cocoa for breakfast to celebrate.

The Laundry Monster: Justifying the Nudist Lifestyle

It's Wednesday night. Where have the last 3 days gone? I vaguely remember waking up each day but from that point on it's just a blur of tired kids, a messy house and the thunking rattle of my washer. I have so much laundry to fold that I'm out of laundry baskets to put the clean laundry in so I just quit washing. I still have 3 sleeping bags from the trip to wash and a large basket of odds and ends. Plus the 3 older kids haven't gotten to do their laundry because I have been monopolizing the laundry room ... rank has privelege after all. Luke came down wearing a pajama shirt yesterday (this is cute when they are 4 not when they are 11) until I told him to go back up and borrow a shirt from his brother. So, before I go to the family room and start folding I thought I'd waste another 10 minutes blogging about my laundry saga. You know nudists don't have to deal with these kind of issues. They just have one outfit that they wear out in public so that they dont' get arrested. Think of the organized closets and drawers they must have. Granted it's 18 degrees and snowing here which would make for high heating bills for a nudist but maybe that would pay for itself in what you'd save in water, detergent and clothes. Even in the Garden of Eden Adam and Eve just used leaves ... or was it animal skins ... so why do we need all these clothes? Or maybe the solution is just one giant room where I could throw the clean clothes and the kids could just dive in and find what they need each day. Or maybe I need to never go on vacation and chain myself in the laundry room so I can keep up. Ok, back to reality for me. Maybe I'll take a picture when it's all folded so I can bask in my accomplishment. It would be a joyful reminder of hope when I wake up tomorrow to more loads to wash, fold and put away.

Buffalo Turkey Pizza

We tried the Buffalo Turkey Pizza tonight and it was really good. I made it when we lived in Minnesota but it was way too spicy which tainted my memory. I cut back on the hot sauce this time around. I think it's probably better with tiny pieces of chicken breast BUT it's a terrific way to use up left-over turkey. Here's the recipe:

Pizza dough (home-made, frozen, canned...)
2 T olive oil
2 T butter
2 T Buffalo Wing Sauce
2 cups diced turkey or chicken
Blue Cheese Salad Dressing
2 cups Monterey Jack Cheese

Spread dough over pizza pan. Drizzle with olive oil. Bake at 425 degrees for 5 minutes. While baking, mix melted butter and hot sauce and pour mixture over meat. Toss together. Sprinkle meat over pizza dough, then drizzle with salad dressing (maybe 1/2 cupish) and top with cheese. Bake for another 5 to 10 minutes or until the crust is golden brown. We like it best with lots of meat, a little dressing and a little cheese and for the grown-ups I double the hot sauce. All but two kids really like this ... which are pretty good odds around here.

Turkey, turkey, turkey ...

We've had leftover turkey for about 10 days now and I'm not sick of turkey yet. Here's what I've made with it so far:

Turkey and Cornbread Stuffing Casserole
Brunswick Stew (Thank you, Grandpa!)
Shredded Turkey BBQ Sandwiches
Turkey Quesadillas

and for tonight .... Buffalo Turkey Pizza. I also set aside some sliced white meat that Mike and I have been eating at lunch time and in salads. I think my favorite for lunch is a few slices with cranberries on top and a baked potato ... yum.

I'm trying to gradually build up some meals to take to Estes Park with us for Christmas. I may throw together two pans of Turkey Enchiladas today for that purpose.

Next on my turkey agenda though is attempting to grind some to use with ground beef like for meatloaf and meatballs. The only problem is I don't have a meat grinder and am scared to use my food processor because I don't want to pulverize it. I may borrow a grinder for my experiment or take the plunge and go buy one. Still thinking on that ...

Thanksgiving in South Dakota Pictures

The Mammoth Museum in a bone house. The boys thought it was the perfect room ... muddy, hairy, smelly and full of bones.

The Mammoth Museum is built over the excavation site. It is amazing and shows the bones as they are being dug out of the layers. Really fascinating.
It's hard to imagine a beast as big as this mammoth.

When we left the Mammoth Museum we drove through the Black Hills to look at the wildlife. It was wonderful. We saw buffalo, deer, turkeys, antelope and donkeys. Jacob LOVED the donkeys and said that it was one of his best days ever.

Jacob particularly like this little baby donkey with the cross on his back.

This is a wild Elizabeth in our van. She fell on the path to the Oregon Trail track we stopped to looked at and skinned her wee little nose.
Rachel and Elizabeth at the playground.
Aunt Kimberly walking with Rachel, Anna and puppy, Missy.
Mike playing football with the boys.
Puppy Anna on the slide.
Timothy the Accordian Player
Timothy and Rachel at the School of Mines Museum.
Jacob, Timothy, Anna and Rachel looking at rocks.
Luke and Connor looking at the fossils.
Dinosaur Hill with the monkeys.
Rachel, Mike and Elizabeth on Dinosaur Hill. We have a picture of Mike on this very hill from when he was a child.