Horsy time

Chancy getting all pretty
Sharing an apple with Popcorn

Christmas preparations

Thanksgiving is past, it's time to move on to Christmas! We're looking forward to an especially fun Christmas this year with grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins to fill the house with fun and laughter and great memories.
Jordan making disco- veries as we sort through Christmas boxes
A windstorm left most of our lights inop last Christmas, so Jordan and I spent hours yesterday testing every bulb. About 25% went into the "Good" bowl. :-(

Our Thanksgiving

I'll let Jordan tell you about our Thanksgiving, from a two-page report he wrote for school:

On Thanksgiving we went to a frends house and we had thanksgiving there. Instad of having thanksgiving at our house so at the frends house for dinner. I had stufing, turkey, water, and green bene casiroll, and the thing I did the most was watch the football game. After dinner while we where waiting we went on a walk. After the walk we lonched rockets. The first rocket went about hafe the way we walked and the second rocket it got lost. Then we lonched the first rocket again and the second we fond. Then we went back to the house and then we had dessert after dessert. We watched two movies the first was caled The Pollerexpres and I forget the second movies name.

Making dinner rolls in the morning
The feast
A few of us took a walk between dinner and dessert
Jordan taking a rest (or posing!)

Thanksgiving

It's Thanksgiving Day! A day for family, friends, and pumpkin pie. A day for sitting around with friends, for doing nothing but making great memories, for playing Eurorails well past the little ones' bedtimes. This Thanksgiving we're thankful for family near and far, a warm house to live in, stable employment in tough economic times*, and friends both old and new. We also have a special gift from God to be thankful for this season, the gift of a new life growing in Claudia. For this and all life's many blessings, we give thanks!


*(pun intended)

Windswept Willow

 

First snow!

It wasn't much, but it was enough to bring excitement into every southern child's heart!

Chili Queen!

Claudia is Purcellville's new Chili Queen! Our local Giant grocery store had a Chili Cook-off competition today that she and I both entered. I had to practically beg her on my knees to enter, and finally she relented but only on condition that she could make a real simple chili. I slaved over my chili for hours, searching the internet for the best chili recipes and buying fresh chili peppers and other exotic ingredients. Claudia mixed a few canned ingredients into a crock pot. I didn't even get runner-up. Claudia won the $100 first place prize. Life's not always fair, but it's great to have a Chili Queen as a wife!

All saddled up and ready to ride

Jordan's been taking weekly riding lessons this fall, along with some friends of his. All boy, he prefers the "real" trail rides over lessons in a ring, and going fast over walking. He's very confident on a horse, even a big horse like Scotchy. What a neat opportunity to grow up around these large animals his whole life! I think he may be just starting to realize in some small way the unique perspective he has from growing up "on a farm" (almost).

All in a good day's work

Jordan and Andrew (a neighbor), resting in their GIGANTIC pile of leaves.

Ben's favorite no-bake cookies

1 3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup butter
1 square of unsweetened chocolate
1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter
3 cups quick-cooking oats
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, milk, butter, and chocolate. Bring to a boil, and cook for 1 1/2 minutes (kids are great at counting the seconds for this). Remove from heat, and stir in peanut butter, oats, and vanilla. Drop by sticky teaspoonfuls onto wax paper. Let cool until hardened. Enjoy with a tall glass of cold milk and the next chapter of The Voyage of The Dawn Treader.

Alergen- and everything-else-free:
Substitute 1 3/4 cup of maple syrup for the sugar, goat milk residue for the milk, crisco for the butter, gluten-free chocolate morsels for the unsweetened chocolate, almond butter for the crunchy peanut butter, and certified glute-free rolled oats. Let me know how it works.

Unexpected Visitors

Being introduced to a new game, "Ticket to Ride"





This morning, before we all went our separate ways.

Kiddie trail ride

Click on the pictures for a larger size, to get the full effect with the fall colors.

Our trick-or-treat crew

4-wheelin'

Clearing trails for horses can be hard work... or an excuse for a lot of fun! Claudia and I borrowed a four-wheeler this weekend and explored some new areas for trail riding, including some cross-country escapades where only a hint of a previous trail remained. Eventually we rejoined a trail we knew, and now Claudia can go back and clear it a little better for the horses to get through, and use it for her trail rides.

Trail ride in the rain

Last weekend Claudia and I took her youngest pony, Chance, for a walk to get her used to being away from the other horses. It was a wet day, alternating from drizzle to downpour, but the fun was just in getting outdoors in any weather and having an adventure. The girl on the black horse is a friend who came along with a horse she's training as well.