December's Merry and Bright

Howdy :) 

December was a bustle of things merry and bright(except for the sick bugs caught at the end of the month-ugh).  We thoroughly enjoyed having Jadon home for the month of December.  All too soon he headed back at the beginning of January, but is settling into his continued training well.  The photo trail, mostly taken by Kirk and myself...

...well, hello there...the new head of cattle that arrived beginning of December...

...Dottie...

...Snowball and Lacey...

...Tater is in the front here...

...a mingling of the new cattle and some of our current head...

...this gal is a pretty one and sweet personality too...

...Grandma and Grandpa Rokey helped haul the cattle with Daddy to Texas...they then stayed for a couple of days to visit.  Games were enjoyed, the help was appreciated, and we had a great couple of days all together...although, I don't think we got too many pictures though...

...enjoyed checking out some Christmas lights after eating out...

...the Christmas gift Kirk got from Rokey grandparents that he absolutely has enjoyed!...

...Kirk took his sisters over to our neighbor's swingset for a bit one evening to enjoy the outdoors, fresh air and treat his sisters to a fun time for a bit...they loved it!...

...home-ade pumpkin einkorn sourdough sandwich bread, fresh from the oven with honey...my crew loves it when there is fresh sourdough...

...some books Kirk got the month of December that are pretty cool and they came with some of the neatest maps...

...wow, time flies and he definitely has matured since he started high school.  This is a collage of pics that Kirk took while in his online high school classes at the beginning of every school year in high school...

...some books Janessa and I thoroughly enjoyed reading, and Ishtar's Odyssey we aren't quite done with due to some sickness that hit the last couple weeks of December...

...the cereal box book report is done...and so thankful for the help of this sweet, sweet lady in getting it done :)...

...the girls love her and she is a gem...

...what the girls thought of getting the Christmas and winter holiday decorations up...super excited...

...lol, another random pic...

...cold and chilly outside, but toasty, quiet inside for morning coffee and devotions...

...holiday gifts from some sweet neighbors that the girls thoroughly enjoyed...the youngest one is crying, but it's because she thought she liked Janessa's better until she opened hers...lol...

...a new mug I am enjoying...thank you friend :)...

...love the quiet, slow Saturday mornings that are like this...

...the spotted donkey across the road that is so sweet and cute...

...Kirk got this spike buck out hunting with Jadon...

...Jadon took Janessa with him hunting a couple of times...she loved it...

...some of our Christmas traditions we love and enjoy...some are ones we do every year, others are ones we did just this year(like the tree bird and Advent cards from one of our sweet neighbors)

...cheap, cheap Aldi flowers with greenery from our neighbor's back fenceline...

...the Young Men's Bible Study group's Christmas party...great group of guys...

...our church's Gingerbread house contest at the Christmas gathering :)...

...some of the BEST crackers right here...Rye Cranberry Sage Pecan Sourdough Crackers...

...the Gingerbread creation this year...mostly by Kirk, some by Janessa, and KeKe's "I want to help", but grumped at for 'helping' :D...music and audiobooks enjoyed while constructing it over 2-3 days...

...I love how our new freshwater shrimp from a friend, fit right into the betta bowl...thanks for the suggestion and supply of shrimp :)...

...one of the sweetest surprises that showed up in mail deliveries from a good friend from Kansas...

...LOVING the greens we are still harvesting out of the garden...all the greens in this salad came from the backyard garden-yum!...

...even after the really hard freezes lately, most of it is still doing great.  I planted very cold hardy varieties this fall and it was a good choice :)...

...Jadon making some of G'pa Meyer's jerky recipe...it turned out fabulous!...

...my little sourdough cinnamon roll bakers...I LOVE them both! :)...

...Kirk has gone through and 'spring' cleaned his room and decided to move out of his closet the marble tower bin...this little one has LOVED the marble tower and has spent hours playing with it and begging her Daddy to build different and new marble towers every couple of days...this is something the boys so enjoyed and it's so neat to see the youngest one loving it too...

...what a fun local Logos Christmas party...

...the 'clown' waiting for me to get done in the sauna, LOL...

...and this little one decided she needed adjusted at the chiropractor and she up and asked the Dr...she can be SO shy, but at times she can be so BOLD, lol :)...

...look at all our extra ducks!!!!...

...YUMMY...gluten-free, refined sugar-free, dye-free Christmas cookies...they were SO fun to make and didn't make one feel guilty eating them and the best thing: they were DELICIOUS!!!  You couldn't even tell they were a healthier version...

...the girls enjoying painting while listening to some Christmas carol music...t

...our Christmas dinner...even if it's just us, I feel it's so special and creates a rhythm of beauty and place of belonging to always have a special meal for holidays.  Family and friends, or anyone needing a table to gather around, is always welcome at our table, but if it ends up being just our crew, I still feel it's such a blessing to gather around, share, talk, do life, and be community together...

...before stockings or gifts get dug into, the reading through of Scriptures and final lighting of the Advent candle...

...we have been pretty healthy all fall, until the end of December...we were hit with walking pneumonia, then a virulent strain of influenza a on top of that(maybe it was worse, because we were battling walking pneumonia), and then my double bug decided to turn into full pneumonia. At one point I thought I was getting better, but then wham, I wasn't good at all again.   I am slowly recovering, but it's been a brutal last couple of weeks and I am ready for everyone to be 100% well!!!!!  This front porch saw many sick naps taken in the afternoon, to try to catch fresh air and some sunlight....LOL, I don't know what the delivery drivers thought when they pulled up and there would be sick ones napping on the front porch though, but they did finish their deliveries :)...we are on the upward mend though!

Praying for health, blessings, and a great year of 2025 for everyone!

Some quotes or thoughts that have stuck out in the past month to me :) 

"People aren't longing to be impressed; they're longing to feel like they're home.  If you create a space full of love and character and creativity and soul, they'll take off their shoes and curl up with gratitude and rest, no matter how small, no matter how undone, no matter how odd.

~shauna neiquist~

"The world needs the home.  If there are only workers and no homes, then man will become nothing more than a piece of machinery; children will certainly be trampled. Beauty will be drained out of life..."

~leila marie lawler~

"The power of finding beauty in the humblest things makes home happy and life lovely."

~louisa may alcott~

"You're not grown up until you know how to communicate, apologize, be truthful, and accept accountability without blaming someone else."

~anonymous~