We had quite the full day yesterday! It was one of those days, when it's over, you know you used your time wisely and worked as hard as you could til it was time to sleep. On Sunday a few men came over to help Jonathon with the slaughtering of our dear steer, Oreo. After many escapes out of his pen and getting too rough for the children to "play" with, it was time for him to continue serving our family in meat. After hanging in the barn for a couple days, we needed to bring him in to warm a little before cutting him up. Diella and I helped Jonathon get him down out of the barn and onto tables in the garage.
My parents arrived first thing in the morning to lend their hands in the butchering, and we were so thankful for their help! While I finished up fixing breakfast, the men got more tables set up, knives sharpened and then the special surprise for the boys.
A couple years ago my parents took just our girls to Branson, Missouri to enjoy a fun filled weekend watching horse shows and seeing other neat sights. They still talk about their vacation with them. Well, lately Josiah keeps asking when it's the boys' turn to go on a vacation with them. So, my parents have been trying to figure out what they can do with the boys that they will really enjoy. A weekend to remember was introduced in the morning when Josiah was presented with his very own Colts shirt.
He looks pretty happy about it, huh?
All the men with their shirts on.....
Then Grandma presented Josiah with tickets for the men and him to go see the Colts play next Sunday.
He's checking them out with a very happy sister looking too as the girls know how much he will love this.
Then the grand finale for the weekend that will include Benaiah too. Grandpa got them tickets to go to the rodeo in Howe on Monday. Jonathon even found his dad's real cowboy hat that's been in a box to see if it would fit him. Sure enough, a perfect fit. He just might wear it for the occasion. The boys are super excited for their weekend, and I'm looking forward to some girl time with my girls and my mom.
We finished up breakfast then got started out in our meat market. :) Shortly after the men went out to start, Benaiah came in the house, and we see him taking a sharp knife from the drawer out to the garage. STOP! He was just wanting to help them, so I went up and got a play knife. He was quite happy to saw at his chunk of meat. I missed all that action as he soon got tired of it. The girls were great helper in cutting up chunks of meat for the canner. We ended up canning 14 quarts of meat, which isn't a lot, but after splitting the animal with some friends, getting steaks, 3 roasts, and meat for burger, I am quite happy with what we'll have to put up for the year.
The process took us to about 4:00, and we were all cleaned up, disinfected and finishing up the second batch in the pressure cooker. After a later lunch, we just kind of snacked and weren't really hungry for supper. It's always nice to just do snacks in the evening instead of make a big meal after you've had a full day already. We sat around and visited for awhile, then got the games and hot chocolate out. I bought whipped cream in the spray can thingy just for a special treat when all the work was done. I should have taken a picture of the cup of hot chocolate I had that my dad topped with whipped cream. Wowwee! It was delicious!
We played 3 games of Catch Phrase of which the girls were the final champions, then more drinks for everyone and a round of Apple to Apples.
Do you like our centerpiece?
And my dad's cup of "hot cocoa". For some reason he didn't take seriously the bag in the hot chocolate basket that read, "cocoa". He ended up adding all sorts of stuff to it to make it drinkable. It was good for some laughs anyways.
Much work, much laughter, games and good conversation filled our day. What a blessing!
Dad and Mom left and Jonathon sat down to get his paperwork ready for the next day's work and I set out to cleaning bathrooms. I should have done it before we had company, but sometimes the day just doesn't permit. So, I got all 3 bathrooms cleaned in the house and will finish up tubs and showers today. Phew, what a day! I fed the baby, then went to bed. Saphira slept 9 1/2 hours straight (this momma needed that) and now wer're all starting our day with rested bodies.
The weather sounds like snow is coming our way, so we're getting outside chores done and getting ready to hunker down. Stay warm today. And if you fix yourself a cup of hot cocoa, make sure it's with hot chocolate mix and not plain cocoa. : )
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