Ice Storm

 
Last night Michael and I were watching a movie in the den, when there was a loud cracking sound. It was a sound that last for several seconds.

If you were ever around when the dad's were logging, you'd know the exact sound. There would be a loud CRACK as the tree began to fall . . . followed by creaking and one of the men shouting, "T-I-M-B-E-R". For us kids waiting at the trucks, it was exciting. You'd scan the woods in the direction of the shout and try to see the tree fall to the ground. You had plenty of time to look because the tree falling started off slow motion. It would take out smaller trees before hitting the ground.

Ok, back to the ice storm. We bundled up and went outside to investigate. The biggest tree out back had lost a huge branch. (Fortunately, it missed the neighbors fence.) We should have plenty of firewood next winter. Now for a chainsaw to cut up the wood.

The ice storm left a solid inch of ice coating all outside surfaces. We had snow earlier in the week, which the ice covered, making our yard into one big ice skating rink. I tried skating in my slippers . . . it worked really well. The ice has added to our already full gutters. Hopefully they hold until the temperature warms up. 

I'm staying warm with a nice cup of spice tea and snuggling under the covers with Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austin. :)

Sledding

Since today was our last day together, we decided to make the most of it and go sledding!! We bundled up, snow suits and boots.

First, Audrey and I cleared off the car. We delayed going to the park because one of us started a snow fight. After successfully beating Audrey, ahheem, I mean cleaning off the car . . . we took off for the park.

Our driver (back)

Walking to the hill

 The park was deserted when we arrived. YES! The whole sledding hill to ourselves. We trekked to the hill and began our afternoon of fun. (Last week I had been shopping with Christa and I found blue "Powder Stick". It looked like a new and improved sled, so I bought it.) We tried out the powder stick and discovered why it was called that. When sledding down the hill . . . both people on the sled were bombarded with snow dust in the face. When we called it a day, we were all tired and ready for a hot cup of spice tea.
PS We did take more pictures, but they were on Audrey's camera. And I forgot to download them before they left. sigh Guess that means they will have to visit again soon. :)

Beautiful snow picture 1!

Beautiful snow picture 2!

Before sledding down

After our snow shower

My wonderful sisters

The end of our sledding adventure :)

Ski Trip

Saturday, we all ventured out the Perfect North Slopes for some skiing.

On the way we had to make a little detour for some necessary purchases. (Thank goodness for Wally-World!) The snow does give off a glare which makes sunglasses and sunscreen quite important. Haylee and I settled on the BIG sunglasses . . . they covered half our face and were quite effective.

Water, Sunglasses, batteries and sunscreen = Important Gear

Fashionable Ski Attire

We spent an hour taking lessons, which was really smart because learning as you go can be rather painful. It was nice having an experienced instructor giving tips. We were then able to enjoy the rest of the time skiing the slopes.

Uhhhh, wipe out?

 Most Important Lessons

To Stop: Ski into the hill. Pointing toes together (without crossing your ski's) is also effective.

How to get up after falling:
Untangle self from fall. Lay side ways. Use poles to push yourself up. :)

If your poles are not nearby:
Good luck getting up!

Our walking boots

Michael, Audrey and I quickly learned that the ski boots are not good for walking. It was decided a locker is worth renting for the day for non-valuables items. Especially since wearing a backpack with water bottles gets heavy on the slopes AND throws you off balance.

Michael

The Girls!!

 We all enjoyed skiing and have no serious injuries to report among our group. Despite Haylee's attempt to cut in line by barreling down the slope straight into the cones! Thankfully none of the bystanders were hurt. And she only suffered minor bumps and bruises. All together a fun and safe weekend. :)

Taking on the slopes

sigh  . . . "It's harder than it looked!"

"Are you ok back there?"

Comedy relief . . . ask Michael

Surprise

It is funny how life can be full of surprises . . . . and is definitely the best way to start a new year.

After prayer meeting, I went to the kids room to let them know that they could join everyone else in the living room. I opened the door and poked my head in to say, "Hey guys, its over," only to see my sisters standing there! So, instead of announcing that the meeting was over, I said the first thing that popped into my head, "What are you guys doing here?!?!" And then I hugged them both to cover the tears that suddenly appeared in my eyes. sigh I have the BEST sisters. :)

New Recipe :)

The other day I was wanting to try something new in my kitchen. So I pulled out some recipes that Christa gave me. I settled on General Tzo's Chicken, a delicious Chinese recipe for supper. Since I had turkey on hand, I substituted chicken for turkey. The result . . . "It's a keeper." :)

General Tzo's Chicken

Cut up 8 chicken breast into cubes; mix in 3 eggs
Breading:
1 c. flour
1 c. cornstarch (I don't like cornstarch, so I added extra flour)
1 T. parsley
1 t. ginger
1 t. salt

Sauce:
4 c. BBQ sauce
2 c. corn syrup
2 T. soy sauce
1 T. ginger
1/2 t. cayenne pepper

Dip chicken into eggs, then breading. Fry in oil. (Olive oil works well.) Remove chicken. Add sauce to frying pan. Stir until boiling. Add chicken. Let set to glaze.
Serve with rice and enjoy! :)

Now I'm getting ready for a cookie bake on Wednesday. Unfortunately, I left the best recipes for Christmas cookies at home! I'm longing to make the delicious jam filled cookies. Mmmmhmmm, they are good!

Really Big Turkey

After watching the price per pound of turkeys, I decided to cash-in on some of the good deals. I got two BIG turkeys, one for 57 cents per pound and the other around 25 cents per pound. I had to go with the non-traditional method of cooking the turkey. I cooked it in a roaster pan on the stove top (we are still waiting on the appliance store to "fix" the oven). Anyways, after cooking a turkey, I decided that one is enough to last for a while. . . the other one will keep the freezer until Christmas.

Michael has been enjoying turkey sandwiches, while I have worked on freezing the cooked meat in ziplock bags. So far, I've put away 4 quarts with 4 cups per quart. We won't be needing meat for a while! The rest of the turkey I'm in the process of pressure canning. I was giving a wonderful pressure canner for our wedding and I thought I'd try it out. :) Thankfully it has a pressure-canning booklet with recipes, as my Blue Book is still packed away. Two quarts of turkey meat and hopefully three quarts of turkey broth will be done by the time Michael gets home from hunting tonight.

On a different note . . . the Bosch meat grinder works really good! After having some difficulty with the venison getting jammed in the grinder, we realized to just drop the pieces in and let the grinder pull it through. :) Now we are enjoying ground venison and put about 10 pounds in the freezer.

Thanksgiving Surprise

Wednesday evening we drove to the Matsonian's and surprised U. Matt at the door! He had just come up from the basement and there we were at the door. :) After getting over the initial shock of us standing there, he brought us down to the basement were the guys were chilling. Josiah, Benj and Peter were all shocked to see us walk down. It was priceless!

Rachel drove up a short time later and saw our car with the Texas license plate in the driveway . . . she guessed it was us. :)

Thursday was filled with finishing the Thanksgiving meal. Aunt Susie and Rachel made a delicious brunch, complete with bacon, eggs and money bread! It was the perfect way to start Thanksgiving. The kitchen was overtaken with food . . . turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, sweet potato pudding, gr. bean casserole, spinach souffle, stuffing, sweet potato casserole (with marshmellows), and tons of dessert!


The rest of the family made it in and the house was turned into a hearty celebration. The camera's were snapping all through out the meal. Now, no Thanksgiving is complete without a good game of hearts. The girls kept up the tradition while the guys crashed in front of a movie downstairs . . . we had more fun. :-)