Thanksgiving/Justin's Birthday/Cabin

It's cabin time!!

We are super excited to be here getting set up for the first day of hunting season!

It has been a fun Thanksgiving vacation so far!

Leading up to this day the past week has been full and festive!

School Thanksgiving parties had us stepping... Food got sent from my kitchen to the school classrooms... Jenika's class got pumpkin whoopie pies and Jordan's class had a fun brunch... it was french toast casseroles for them but they had many other yummy foods that arrived as well. It all sounded so yummy and then the fun pumpkin activities they did were such a blast for them to.

Dave and I had one Amish wedding this season and it happened to fall on Justin's birthday. The food is always so AMAZING at these weddings! Because of the big wedding meal we had Dave took Justin out for his birthday evening instead of doing a supper at home. They did the Chiropractor first then they did supper and some shopping.

Justin got mats for his truck from his dad and my parents gave him some to. He got a sweatshirt from me and Jordan got him a bucket of car cleaner goodies. The Little's made him a card and he got Eagles tickets from Eva. I think he likes being seventeen! Birthday pictures are not an option when he leaves before daylight everyday and comes home after dark! I hope to get a few pictures of him up here at the cabin.? His stage is tough to grab pictures of...:)

 Happy Birthday Justin!! We love you so much!

Thanksgiving day was spent at Sam and Marilyn this year... We so enjoy time spent together with cousins and best friends!

We have so much to be thankful for and we are so very blessed!!

The food was once again AMAZING! Marilyn had the table set up down in the basement and we enjoyed fellowship until night time!

Jordan and Mark found a surprise for Jenika when they took a walk in the woods... Jenika was beyond thrilled when Jordan pulled this thing from his pocket!!...

She has been LOVING on this thing ever since and it even came up to the cabin with us! She has a litter box for it and a cozy box where she sleeps. The kitty was named "cutie" and it purrs nonstop! I'm sure life with Jen is way better then out in the woods all alone! I'm still not sure what will happen to this kitten since we already have a cat (a fixed one) that we like.

Guess who showed up!??

It was Ginger!!!

Dave printed out this picture and we made flyers with them. We posted a few here and there in hopes that someone would tell us where we could find Ginger! It paid off! Ginger was found in a back yard not far from us. The lady was a horse farrier. She kept him for two weeks and had reported him to the local police. After two weeks she sent him twenty minutes away to a lady that wanted to rescue a mini pony. Ginger is being well cared for. I had also called the local police so I'm disappointed that they didn't make the connection for us. Ginger will be back in our barn again soon and Jenika couldn't be more thrilled to have him found!! The new family Ginger is with had named him "Tank" because he was so fat...:)

Thanksgiving day at Marilyn's... Phone pictures once again until my camera get mended...:)

Cheesecake that was super yummy!! Brooke Nissley is on the island of Ambergris Caye in Belize with YWAM.  Lill (her mother) did a cheesecake fundraiser to help out with the mission trip... I think this is a great idea and the cheesecake was so very yummy!! You  can't  go wrong with a mixture of cinnamon, salted caramel, pecans and the whipped topping... seriously!! if you ever get a chance to get one of these just do it!!

Austin...:)

Football... Justin and Eva against Mark and Jordan...:)

We were leaving Sam's after the Thanksgiving day was over and Jordan had gotten something in his eye. Straw from the barn is what it seemed to be. He spent a miserable night and we went to Urgent Care as soon as they were open on Black Friday morning. It was very painful for Jordan and when the Doctor put numbing drops in his eye he whispered to me "lets sneak that whole bottle to take home!"...:)

He was afraid the eye would mess up his hunt Monday but the prescribed drops seem to be helping with the healing... We are going to be shooting the guns soon to get ready for Monday morning.

I do plan to be in a tree stand. I'm not sure the details but it will be fun to be in on the action on buck season morning again this year...

My morning run up here was lovely!...

The guys are putting up tree stands as Jordan and Ashley assemble them.. They seem to always get stuck with assembling these things but they are pretty good at it by now!

Now that Thanksgiving is past we will enjoy the Christmas season! As it moves in the calendar keeps filling up more and more!

The gift ideas are at least getting jotted down on paper and one day soon I hope to do a shopping day out... Online shopping is becoming more my thing and I love not feeling the pressure of needing to get out there to shop!

Christmas pictures are done and ready to send out. We already got a few Christmas cards by mail! Some people are just really on it...:) The next month will be so fun as the cards and gifts get exchanged. Time spent with family and friends is never a disappointment. Names got picked by the kids so we will enjoy getting just the right gift for that special Christmas name.

I'm off until another day... Maybe Monday will bring enough of excitement to do another post from up here...:) Tomorrow we go to church and enjoy a lazy day up here. Monday we hunt and shop online...:)  Monday night I head home with the school kiddos after the evening hunt and supper while the rest stay another day.

Once we get home we think Christmas program and the many other fun Christmas banquets and parties that scatter throughout the next month. We decorate and we bake. We listen to Christmas music for a full month! We bless and are blessed in return. People seem to smile more and the whole season itself is just so sacred.

Jesus has done so very much for us when he came as a baby knowing he would die on a horrible cross bearing the sins of all of us and the whole world!

As we look into the next month and all the busyness that this time of year can bring let us stop and pause often to remember and reflect on the true meaning of it all. Let us look around us at the lost world and be the hands and feet of Jesus more then ever.

This time of year can be really difficult for those that have lost loved ones and once again just before we came up here we were reminded of how short life can be! Justin's friend Shane was driving a truck home from Cabela's when he slammed into a box truck parked on the shoulder of the roadway. The impact killed Shane's nineteen year old cousin in the passenger seat and Shane was sent to the Reading trauma unit. He was later stabilized and on a road to recovery but this will take a recovery for his mind as well and this will most likely be more difficult then his body injuries.

 Please join in prayer for the Stoltzfus family as they once again grieve the loss of a loved one. Ben and Anna go to Spring Garden church and Ben passed away last winter. They have been through so much already!

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If you are hunting on Monday stay safe...:) We love and appreciate Thanksgiving break!!

 Jordan says the Monday of buck season is the best day of his whole year next to Christmas day!...:)