"Cuz Their's No Blue Mondays In Your Sunday Clothes!"

(Or something along those lines! ;)

So, taking Miss Jo March's idea of a Saturday Morning Daybook, this will be a one-time Sunday evening.....nightbook? :P Anyway, enjoy it if it pleases you to read past that most incoherent sentence.

Date: June 26th, 2011

Starting time: 8:28 p.m.

Mood: content, pensive, dreamy, wistful

Outside my window: the remains of a sunset, the dusk creeping over the earth to cover it in a warm darkness

I'm thinking: I had an amazing afternoon with friends I hadn't realized I'd missed so woefully until they were here and I couldn't stop hugging them and smiling at them. *lump in throat* :' )

I'm currently reading: Lorna Doone by R.D. Blackmore--amazing book.

I'm listening to: Grace's bedtime c.d....classical music mixed with surprisingly realistic nature sounds. :) Very soothing and fitting my mood.

I'm wearing: a fifty's style cotton dress....courtesy of a dear friend, courtesy of a thrift store, courtesy of goodness knows where.

I'm looking forward to: My graduation....if I can stop worrying about my speech

I'm hoping: that I will get married someday. :) Preferably before I'm an "old maid". :D (Though I warrant not-quite-19 is a tad too young to start worrying :P)

Yesterday I: took everyone on a picnic, acted most unlike a heroine by fastening my hair under my chin like a beard, taking Leah's arm, and singing "Don't Sit Under The Apple Tree" to her while Sarah filmed us.....generally had a silly, laughable time. :)

I'm hungry for: Hm....hungry wouldn't quite be the word....but I'd go for a Dairy Queen blizzard right about now.... ;)

Song stuck in my head: None currently, but earlier it was "You Can't Get a Man With A Gun" from Annie Get Your Gun. :D Very funny song!

I love: dearer than dear friends who are made all the more dear because you've been deprived of their company far too long.... Jane Eyre....dimples....heroes.....Broadway Musicals. :)

I loathe: Stepping on spilled sugar... tight waistbands...embarrassing moments....colds in summertime. :)

This week my goal is: Finish a present for a friend, finish writing my speech, stop worrying about Wisdom Teeth Surgeries (JULY 6TH!!!! :{ )

Quote of the week:

*Me, talking to Sarah's camera at the picnic when she said she'd put the video on the blog*

"You poor blogging people...you probably think we're.....loonies! You probably think we are all from the Crazy Barn....oh wait! Funny Farm!" *busts up laughing* :D

Finishing Time: 8:40 p.m.

A New Take On The Noble Woman

At Daughters of Destiny camp, we had been reflecting at one point in the week on Proverbs 31. This is a classic picture, as we all know, of Biblical femininity, and, to be honest, at times I have felt I have gotten all I could out of it without totally tearing the passage to shreds. But of course, God's word is never "figured out" entirely, and He brought something to mind as we read the chapter. But we got home, and I got busy, and I forgot the observation, until yesterday when I was at a Bible study, and it was once more brought to my attention. Here is the verse that caught my attention: "She opens her mouth with wisdom, and on her tongue is the law of kindness- Prov. 31:26" I had always taken this verse to mean, as it does, that a godly woman's speech should be wise and kind. But I also was struck by a bit of a deeper meaning. "She opens her mouth with wisdom..." This points out to me, upon closer inspection, that she knew when to speak, and when to keep her mouth shut. Notice this verse did not say: "Her mouth opens with wisdom.." No, it said, "She opens her mouth with wisdom". This is a conscious decision on the woman's part to speak. Which denote a conscious decision on her part to be silent too! :)
Let's face it girls, we all like to talk. At least, more than guys generally do! Half the time, I don't think we make a conscious decision to speak, the idea just pops into our head, and the words come out easy as a wink! :) Haven't you been talking to a friend before and after-wards thought, "Wow! I can't remember what it was we were talking about, but I had fun!" :)
We girls just like to talk for talking's sake. Everything must be discussed from saying we went to a certain place, to when we went, why we went, who went with us, what we wore, what she said, what they said, what happened, what you ate there, etc. :D
I just wonder, what would happen if, just for a week, we each tried to say only things that really mattered? Not that you couldn't have a pleasant conversation, but we could take a hint from the Proverbs 31 woman, and, instead of telling the ins and outs, and whys and wherefores thereof, of every detail of what we have been doing, we could answer any inquiries pleasantly, and ask someone else a question, giving them some talking time for once! :)
I'm sure our brothers, fathers, and even our other friends would enjoy the brief respite from chatter! This afternoon I could hear a flock of noisy blackbirds flying through the woods far before I caught sight of them! I hate to make the comparison but...don't we girls often sound like that? :D Anyway, this was just a musing I had over a verse I had assumed had one meaning, and God showed me differently! Hope it was some good to another fellow-chatter! :D ~Rachel

Random Things, including dried frogs, and a cucumber named Alfred

I learned a lesson at lunch: Never be watching an educational video about caves with super good photography while eating. They were detailing a 100 meter-high mound of bat guano covered in cockroaches, and explaining the immense part this food chain plays, and I suddenly totally lost my appetite. The mound was absolutely swarming with cockroaches. I don't know what it is about me and crawly bugs. I love frogs, toads, snakes, and lizards, unlike most girls, but I squash every bug I see. On the same d.v.d. they were also showing glowworms threading out their little sticky threads.....Ew! I don't want to be a girl about it but...I am. But on the other side, today while folding laundry we found a dried up frog that must have run through the wash in someone's pocket, and I wasn't scared or disgusted by him....we all have our limits! :)But isn't God's creation wonderful? I mean, even the bugs, I must admit, play a huge part in creation, and we'd be entirely lost without them. I once read a little rhyme by Ogden Nash that said,

"The Lord in His goodness made the fly

And then forgot to tell us why."

But have you ever stopped to consider that a fly really helps decompose stuff? I don't know...I'm trying to look on the bright side of "bug-dom"! :) So some other things that are going on are that we made strawberry goat's milk icecream! Yum! It is super good! It should have been though! We used 10 egg yolks in it! Also, Gracie decided to "adopt" a cucumber, and named it Alfred. I haven't the foggiest idea where she got that name, but...any-who! That's what's been going on in our life recently! Oh! Tomorrow we are going to have a whole family of girls and their mom spend the night, and we are going to watch "Wives and Daughters"! I am soooooo excited! YAY! When Mama asked Dad he thought about it a moment and said, 'It's free, and it's fun- Let's do it!" :) If you haven't yet, pretty please enter our movie quote contest below! :) -Rachel

I Titled This "Untitled" :P

Hey People! ;) How is everything going? I hope you guys are having a great week! Church today was super small. (We missed you Wilson group! :) But it was good, and the last family is just leaving. Our goat, "Houdini" (who we miss-named "Daisy Sofia" ;) got out and it took about 15 of us to corral her back. She had run way back into the field across the street, and we were hoping against hope that she wouldn't get into the woods over there! Thank goodness, she didn't! (But she did narrowly escape getting hit by a car twice!) I got to hold the most fat and delicious baby today! He has cheeks that are absolutely huge, and a dimpled chin, and Sarah can't fit her fingers all the way around his leg! So I sat on the porch and rocked Little John (as I like to call him) and generally had a sweet time! The others played volleyball. I was going to, and began to, but it was bright and confusing and boring out there, so I chose a baby instead. :) He really is the fattest thing! Mr. T. calls him a "Tater bug", and I call him a "Baby Snapping-turtle". :) So tomorrow is Memorial Day! Please remember to pray for our troops, and the families of those who died in protecting our country!
The Wilsons are having their annual picnic! Yay! I am making a mixed-berry pie for the young ladies' pie-making contest. I wish I knew who the judges are..... :) Tomorrow marks two things: first, the anniversary of my snake bite, (Remember that Oliver? :) and the second, THE FIRST OFFICIAL DAY OF BAREFOOT SEASON!!!!!! (according to Dad's rules. We've done some black-market barefooting already! :) I am using way too many exclamation marks and smiley faces, but I am in a happy mood!!!!!!!!! :) :) :) (Okay. That is irritating me.) Sarah is probably going to make a chocolate pie for the contest. We are all looking forward to having a "Garrison Team" made of Walkers and us, to play volleyball! "Move over lil' people! The storm's comin'!"
I am also excited about the music and singing we can do! The Wilson's uncle, (and I hear their new helper: Collin) can play banjo, and we have a veritable orchestra of guitars and some pretty fine singers! Well, have a great day! -Rachel

In Which I am a Seamstress :)

`Ello Gov'na'! :) I don't know...that was just as sort of English sounding opening for a post on a very English day! :) I have had a perfectly lovely afternoon! One of my friends called me up this morning and asked me to come over and pick their cherry-trees with her! I was so excited, but then it began raining in earnest, and her Mama didn't want us to be out in the rain and catch cold. We are all walking on tip-toe till Saturday when we have our voice recital. No colds till then please! :) But then her older sister invited me to come work on my Scottish dress, and so I did. This dress has been trying to be made since....January? I bought the material and cut everything out and then...our machine quit. I shall not go into gorey details because they would bore you and irritate me! :) The Walkers were just about to move in, and so I felt that the Lord was just telling me that now was not the time to do it. So I packed it all away in my sewing box, and laid it aside. I knew that if I persisted in trying to make it my agenda, I would be constantly snarled because I knew my agenda was not the one I needed to focus on in this season. So I had almost forgotten about my Scottish finery laid away in the sewing box. Then The King's Daughter and I talked about it again. She offered to make it for me, since she had made her's and numerous other sewing projects since my burial of my hopes! ;) So with a very willing heart I gave her the project, and today I went over there and worked away at it with a good will! We were all three out in the room over their barn: a perfectly lovely apartment. The walls are painted the sweetest forgetmenot color, with white trim, and the floor is wood. At one end is a quaint little double-wide window looking out upon the prettiest garden this side of the Mississippi River! (Mr. T. keeps a Mr. MacGregor garden with not A SINGLE WEED!!!) Anyway, the rain was pouring down in torrents upon the tin roof as we sewed and sang together! I have little recollection of a wet afternoon more pleasantly spent! :) I worked on the blouse on Maryanna's machine, and The King's Daughter nearly finished the skirt on another! All that is left to do can probably be accomplished in another good afternoon's time. We must finish the blouse and make the vest. I am so excited! The Lord is rewarding my waiting with a most lovely chance to be with my sweet "sisters" in that pretty room! :) Yay! Three cheers for Scotland's traditional costume! (The King's Daughter and I plan to wear our outfits together one Sunday! :)
-Rachel

6-word descriptions, valentines, and various musings of Rachel (which should be enough for most of ya'll to come see what I've come up with!)

Hey guys! Okay! I will post the 6-word descriptions of two people, and later, when she's around, Sarah will do the other two. Right-O!

Abigail: spunky, dancing, dramatic, giggles, considerate, enouraging

Joanna: my-girl, stylish, SINGING!!!, hugs, smiles, homemaker

There seems to have been a fifth person, but he already described himself. It is none of our business to refute one's own opinion of oneself, but I shall only say, all six things were redundant, and so did not fit the quota of 6 words describing the person.

Okay! So today we got just enough snow to make it nice and silvery-filigree on the trees! I wrote a poem about it, but I'm not sure if anyone cares to read my poems on here. If you do, leave a comment, and I'll tell you about it. Let's see.....

We were supposed to go to an ice-skating party, but bad weather cancelled it. (Boo-hoo-sob-sob. I've never been ice-skating before!!!) But that is alright, because at least we didn't have to be the ones cancelling it. The hostess did herself! I made three valentines today. I can't show pictures of them here, because they are for some of the gals that read this blog and so that....would be no fun at all! :) I will only say that I watercolored them and used hand-crocheted lace I had never found out what to do with after I made it, and had a load of fun! At the top, in case you were wondering, is the picture I watercolored for Alaina's 18th birthday. (The hostess of the aforementioned ice-skating party.) I am in love with the 1800's fashions and life, only I wish that there wasn't the whole industrial-revolution, feminist movement thing! Tell me how you like it! I can see several flaws in the painting, but over all, I think it turned out nicely. We leave for NY on Friday! Yay! The Laundry-fairy has paid for Sarah, Daniel, Matthew and myself to fly up their for 8 days! It is now a yearly tradition. This'll be my 3 time. We feel so rich going through the airports.... ahhhhhhhhhh......*sighs happily*. The first time I was the teensiest bit scared, mostly that I'd be sick. But then when we got to the lay-over in Baltimore, I was wanting to go walk around the airport. They have the best Mexican resteraunt there! Has anyone ever noticed that airport food is pricey? 3 of us shared a latte or something from Starbucks, and it was like 9 dollars!!! Oh! Mama had a brilliant idea the other day! If we start saving our money now, then when Sarah turns 18 (2 and a bit years) then she'll take us two to Prince Edward Island in Canada! I am wild with delight! I know I must get there someday, somehow. If not then, perhaps on my honeymoon? Or if not then maybe for my 50th wedding anniversery? And if not then..... this sounds like that segment on UP when they keep breaking that money jar doesn't it? And I'm sure it's really boring to read!

Oh! At Matthew's surprise party last night we did skits, and I played a part I'll never live down.

WAHAHAHAHAHHAHAH!!!!!!

Okay! Talk to you all later! -Rachel

p.s. Matthew may post videos of it so stay tuned!

Later:

Alright! This is Sarah and I'm doing Kelsey and Matthew's 6 words thingy.

Matthew: good-friend, athletic, fun, sincere, responsible, my-cousin :)

Kelsey: friendly, funny, giggles, creative, tall, energetic

Okay, there you go! I hope I did them well. I don't know Kelsey very well but I did my best!:)

-Sarah

Sundays At a Home-Church

Hello Everyone! Hope you guys are all having a good day! Here is a list of things we'll be doing: (not that you really want to hear them :)
Clean the house for hosting church
Shampoo the carpets for church
Clean the house for church
Make some food for church
Make iced tea for church
Clean the house for church
Clean the house for church....

You get the idea! But it is a lot of fun hosting church!! At our home church there are about 100 people. I could get Sarah's list and tell you how many kids we have of each age, because there are a lot of kids. But I won't bore you with that! Anyway, the church is probably 3/4 of the way made up of children and young adults. We only have about 10 or 11 families that come. (and that includes a few elderly couples) So make that about 8 true "families" and that is an average of something like 10 kids a family.
Anyhoo! So people start coming to our house around 10:00. Usually we are still setting up chairs in the living room, making iced tea, etc. We all stand around and talk about various and sundry things like the weather, the week's news, and what we will do after church, and then one of the elders (My Dad, Mr. Scott Wilson, or Mr. Don) corrals everyone into the living room. So we seat ourselves on whatever we can find (Sometimes we end up on the floor because there are seldom enough chairs for everyone) and then have worship time. Usually Daniel, Katie Wilson, and Alaina and Justin W. play their guitars as accompaniment. I love the singing time! Though generally, (Ask Aaron K. or Hannah Wilson) I sneak out of the living room to remove my yowling cat from the laundry room and lock her in bedroom. It is my weekly sport :) After that, one of the elders, and one or two selected men share whatever they have brought, and then we have prayer request and prayer time, and usually close with a song and announcements about how the yard is muddy from all the rain so don't go playing football! :) At this point we all are starving, as it is often after 1:00 before we are through, so we older girls and the Moms set out the food, and we go through the line: Moms first, then older daughters, then children, then men, then boys. The boys always complain that there is not a scrap of food left for them, especially not dessert. It is true- they are generally left with strange rice dishes or collards, or something of that sort. So whenever I make a dessert, I try to split it up and hide away some for the boys. I do feel badly for them!
After lunch we move into Bible Boot Camp time, which is like Bible Drill. That takes nearly an hour when all is said and done. After that, everyone breaks outside and plays until they must be torn away to leave. In the summer we have a mighty crowded volleyball court! About 20 kids on each side! Yeah. We trip each other up most of the time! :)A lot of times Morgan and I go walking arm-in-arm around the field or yard just discussing things. I love our little strolls and tete-tetes m'love! *smiles at Mistress Morgan* Anyhow usually the last people don't leave till around 4:30 or 5:00, and then we finish whatever clean-up is left, and then Mama and Dad go out for their date/meeting night. So there you have it; our Sunday around here. Hope I didn't put anyone to sleep with my recitation! I love hosting church because we are always the first ones there, and the last ones there! (Otherwise, we are always late) See some of you tomorrow! :) -Rachel

Chris Tomlin Concert

Hey guys! (Man, I wish I could find a better opening than that to all these posts!) Anyhow, for Daniel's birthday, Sarah and I took him to a Chris Tomlin "Glory In the Highest" concert. A few other good friends and Matthew tagged along, and it was alot of fun! When we got to the church where the concert was held, a man from our homechurch, Mr. Jack, and Justin Wright were helping set up. So Mr. Jack asked us if we wanted good seats, and we were like... "Sure!" and he said, "It may be a little loud, and you'll have to sit on the floor!" so after a vote, we decided to take up his offer, and he proceeded to lead us down to the very front.. not the very front row, but literally seated on the floor with our feet touching the stage! We had such a great view! If we had had a camera, the pictures would have been just as good as those posted by Oliver about Third Day! Thanks Mr. Jack!
Of course, it was a little loud, and I was going to move, but then by the time Louis Giglio spoke and the second half of the music had begun, it was alot quieter and more worshipful, so I stayed.
After the concert we stayed around talking, and got to chat with the bass player. He had a really funny story to tell us: apparently, when they came onstage all was pitch black, but they could see us 8 or ten people sitting right near the stage. Since most of us were girls, he saw the vague outline of hair, and then one girl was holding a white coat. Then Mr. Jack was standing behind us with his white hair, and the bass player said, "I was getting really worried I thought Oh NO! They're doing a Nay-tivity!" He then said, "I was thinking, what are we gonna' do? Ummm... thanks for the nativity, now.... scoot! And when the lights finally turned on I was so glad ya'll weren't dressed up as Biblical characters!"
Ha-Ha-ha! So we hae succeeded in causing a moment of uneasiness to a famous person's band member! :) It was such a blessed evening, and I really enjoyed it! -Rachel

The Well-Known Barn Dance

Hey Everyone!
This is Sarah. As most everybody knows, the Alexanders hosted a VERY FUN barn dance on the 14th. Daniel, Rachel, Leah and I all went in a van with the Wilsons and the T.'s up to the Alexanders. It was really fun to carpool and we got to chat the whole 2 1/2 hours up there. We got to their house around 4:00 and then started playing volleyball(the Hampton Roads Team vs. the Other Team :) That was really fun, especially since the hosts had rented a nice volleyball net. As more people started showing up, I got to meet a few people I'd heard of or read their blogs: Anna, Elizabeth, and Abigail.(to name a few) After grabbing a little snack we started to dance! I think besides the square dances we also did The Harper's Ferry, The Trenchmore, The Virginia Reel, The Spanish Waltz, and a few individuals did the Polka, the Gay Gordon(?) and different waltzes. It was sooo fun! It turned out that there were probably twice as many girls as boys so we just either waited to be asked, danced with other girls, or watched.
The Barn was set up Very Well, and set the perfect scenario to square dance in!
Thanks to everybody who made it possible! Well, That's All For Now!
-Sarah

Morgan's Graduation

Hi Everybody! To most people reading this post, all this will be old news. After all, pretty much all our followers are people we are closely associated with. Except for a few, and on that note, thanks Anna for joining! Okay! Once again, we upheld our awful picture-taking reputation and took absolutely no photos of Morgan's graduation. Miss Meredith has generously offered for us to pirate any of the pictures she puts on her blog, so perhaps I'll do that later, or, you can just hop over to her blog and look at it there!
Okay! Formalitites are now done with!
We hosted church today, so we spent all yesterday morning before the party cleaning house. Then Daniel, Sarah and I went to the Wilson's where I proceeded to put up Morgan's hair in a style very becoming to the said young lady. She wore ostamaria in her hair too. It looked rather bridal Miss Morgan! ;)
So anyhoo, we were enlisted as helpers in the kitchen and to serve, so for the first bit, I hardly socialized, because we were scurrying about setting out food. After a quick blessing, we took our places at the food line and began to serve people's plates! You learn alot about the preferences of various people by serving them food! I think the plate that won the prize for the least nutritious was a boy who simply had a white-flour roll and a plop of jello-salad. Yeah.
It was fun though! So we hurried to put the food away, and then we started the ceremony. Such sweet things were said by everyone about Morgan! I nearly cried several times!(partly in sympathy with the multitudes that shed buckets of tears! ;)
After the ceremony Sarah, Alaina W. The lovely King's Daughter and her sisters and mother, and I sang "The Whipporwill Song" for Morgan.
Then it was cake time! Aunt Christy, the mother of the famed Oldest of Many had concocted a lovely cake! Sarah and I had done the shell border on two back up cakes!
After that, we all danced for a couple hours! Maryanna was the sweetest little thing and lent Morgan her Civil War dress, even though it meant she hadn't one for herself! But then Joanna finished a skirt for her in time! Anyway, we all wore our Civil War dresses, and had such fun dancing in those hoops! Morgan looked positively radiant! Mr. Crett, the graduate's uncle played banjo, and Justin and my gentleman played guitar! We did the Virginia Reel, the Gay Gordon, the Spanish Waltz, and the Harpers' Ferry. It was a blast! Morgan opened some gifts next, and we all crowded round to see. All I'm sayin' is that I hope I get such lovely gifts for my graduation next year!
We sang some, played some, and finally drifted home. The End! :)
-Rachel

What we did today

Greetings all our faithful followers! I shall endeavor to regale you with a tale of derring-do, a story of mud and slop and friendship, in fact, an epic day in the life of... well, us! Now!
Our dear friends, the Wilsons are preparing for the beautiful and charming maiden, Morgan's graduation. I actually have been enslaved as a hairdresser to make more beautiful her Rapunzel-like tresses. You might say I am her graduation-maid instead of a bride's maid. (There, if that doesn't make humble Miss Morgan blush I don't know what will!) But anyway, they are in the middle of a large kitchen remodeling project, and all that sort of thing. Dad offered our services for today, and it turns out tomorrow. But anyway, our tale begins in the dust of a deep, dim, cluttered cavern. In fact, our garage. Dad had an elders' meeting this morning, so he left us a very long list of tools and supplies to gather. Most of them had rather mysterious names such as "flux", "teflon tape", "bernz torch", and others of that sort. With Daniel's help in decoding the words, Sarah, Benjamin and I gathered the tools while Daniel loaded lawn equipment, and then we left. We met Dad and Mr. Scott at Lowe's, and proceeded to spend the next hour and a half there. (It's no wonder that some have nicknamed it "Slow's"!)
After we escaped from that place, we continued on to the Wilson's farm. Sarah and I showed off our weed-whacker prowess, (just kidding) as we whacked their yard into shape. Then I used the walk-behind mower to mow the back area. We helped the Wilson girls sort out a load of pork they had just gotten back from the butcher, and did various other sorts of farm chores until near lunchtime. I was glad that I had packed my mud boots! I had forgotten how indispensable those are on a mucky day! Morgan and I went inside and set out lunch, and now Sarah wants to write about the remainder of the day....
(It's me Sarah, and just as a post-script I didn't bring my mud boots, and suffered having to stomp through muddy fields all day!:(
Anyhow, while we were weed-whacking Daniel had pruned all the front bushes in the flower beds and limbed up the crape-myrtles down the drive way and that was quite an improvement. So after lunch, I helped Maddie collect and wash/dry/put away 24 dozen eggs and then we went inside to make "fudge". I learned today the Wilson's quick and easy way to make a nice fudge and the secret is; Hershey's Chocolate Frosting layed out pretty thin and frozen til you can cut it!
(One more thing leftover from the morning: The Wilson's Jersey cow, Moon, delivered a bull calf earlier this morning, so we got to witness a calf's first day ;)
After the fudge making we cleaned up our mess; we'd been making it on the counter Dad and Mr. Scott had temporarily set-up!
The same two, had been setting out and arranging all the cabinet bases for their kitchen and had to make yet another run to Lowe's for a few things.
Maddie and I watched the younger ones inside while Morgan, Katie, Hannah, Daniel, Rachel, and the younger boys were picking up debris from the yard work and unloading feed Daniel had picked up earlier this afternoon.
Eventually I helped Maddie milk her goats and then the others did the cow milking.
Then we came home, out of the mist and mud.
And that pretty much sums up our Epic Day!:)
The End

Processing Our Broilers

Hey everyone! This is Sarah.

Yesterday afternoon, we got a call from some friends of ours saying that they, and one other family, were going to go ahead and process their 4-H broilers, and we were invited to do ours as well. So this morning, Dad, Daniel, Abby, Benjamin, and I went over to the T.'s house to process our broilers. Our birds weren't the biggest ones there, by far, but it was high time they were "done away with". ( They'd sort of been on a budget diet, but hey! We're new to all this and are learning all about it:) Dad, Nigel T., and Benjamin, sort of ran the killing, Mrs. T. and I did the head and feet removing(I felt like a real surgeon with rubber gloves ;) and Daniel, Daniel T., and Stephen T., were eviscerating. We got our 28 all ready and bagged in a pretty short time. Dad had asked if we could save all the innards , etc. to give to our pigs when we got home. Boy did they enjoy 'em! Here are a couple pictures of them feasting on their treats :)

Well, There they are, and I'd better be going!

-Sarah

Back From Camp

Hi Everybody! Wow! Seems like forever since we have written on this blog! Thanks Oliver and Katie for joining up as followers! Now if we can only entice someone else to join, we shall be even with Daniel yet again! No, really, it's great to be home! I had forgotten how sweet baby kisses are, how nice it is to take a shower in our huge bathroom, and what great food we cook every night! The week was so blessed. It surpassed everything I had hoped for. I was challenged and supported in my walk with Christ, and calling to be a stay-at-home daughter, and it was so wonderful to have a week of fellowship with other girls who are striving for the same thing. I met lots of new people that I hope to keep in touch with, and the Lord gave me an answer to something I had been praying about by bringing along a young woman who hopes to start a magazine for girls soon and wants me to write for it. I took creative gift making, smocking, and the art of letter writing. The latter was my favorite, for letter-writing is a passion of mine, and we got to sit around a huge fireplace and talk of "...ships and sealing wax, and cabbages and kings."
Mrs. Foster, our teacher, dressed as a Victorian lady every day. But our class was rather disrupted Wednesday, when the aforementioned lady who is co-director of the camp got a call that her married daughter Stephanie was in labor 6-weeks premature! She was gone all the rest of the day and half the night after that, and the baby was fine! 5 pounds, 9 ounces which, from what I've heard is a whopper for a baby that premature! His name is Gideon Davis.
That day in letter-class we wrote letters of congratulations.
We had a talent night. Sarah, Alaina W. and I sang "Hallelujah, I'm Ready to Go", and then the T. girls, Alaina, and Sarah and I sang "Edelweiss"and "So Long, Farewell". The last two sounded really good, (If I do say so myself :) There was so many really talented girls there! Three sisters played "The Orange Blossom Special" on their fiddles. Friday night was a banquet, and after that we had a sacred music concert. When all that was over, we went downstairs and two of the sisters played for us while we did the Virginia Reel, and the Gay Gordon. That was the last night of camp, so after, several cabins traveled around till midnight Christmas caroling to the other cabins and staff. Then our cabin proceeded to stay up till two. Not a good idea if you don't want to be zoned out all the next day!
We got home in safety, and spent yesterday partially recovering after going to church. I shall spend some of today writing letters hopefully, and I also want to get more into "His Chosen Bride". Which is a book I bought at the camp that is excellent so far. Well, I'm sorry this is just a cursory sketch of our week, but hopefully we shall have some deeper thoughts coming based on some of the things we heard! -Rachel