Holiday Time in the Virginia Hills

Christmas cousin dress-up time at Grandma's! We opened boxes and emptied stockings with matching jammies, outfits, and lots of other little delights.

We used up one gift right away...shooting skeet against the Blue Ridge back-drop. It was really mild weather for the end of December!

Family times always require special foods. This year's Christmas dinner ended with creamy cheesecake and homemade raspberry topping.

The hubby and I took a night away to celebrate 15 years of marriage. It was a couple months later than our anniversary but grandparents gladly kept the children. Unfortunately many of them and the cousins got a tummy bug while we were away meandering through art galleries and enjoying an elegant urban bed & breakfast.

The bigger family holiday gathering brought in more cheerful cousins. 
We toured the old homeplace Grandaddy-Great built as a field trip down memory lane (and learning experience for us younger ones.) 

We ripsticked and learned to ripstick. 
We skyped with missing family. 
We ate burritos, fruit, chicken, salad, cake, veggies, bread, snacks, and more. 
We climbed all over the playset. 
We balanced on the zip line. 
We looked at pictures. 
We dabbled on the piano. 
We played the name game. 
We opened money cards. 
We chatted, discussed, explained, and caught up.

Ah, family!

Autumn Days (Week in Review # 8)

Starting on the first Saturday in October...

Annie sat & sold at Farmers Market in Pratt for the last time this year. She profited close to $200 for her efforts over the whole summer. Plus, to her delight, she had many sweet snacks of leftover cookies, brownies, etc. to munch on.

That evening we attended a potluck parents' meeting after Riley & Annie's first official basketball practice for the season.

Caroline -with Cora's help- created some tepees from the small patch of bambooish type ornamental grass in our side yard. 

Shannon finished the walls and cut out a window hole for Annie's someday bedroom.

We enjoyed some of the lovely weather out-of-doors on an evening walk. The girls picked up pretty rocks and junk metal along the railroad track.

the view as we walked back down the lane

Caroline brought in a marigold bouquet and wanted to have a tea party supper.

She started violin lessons.

We attended a viewing in Hutchinson for a homeschooling friend's father.

The ladies' secret sisters were revealed in our homeschool co-op on a rainy day while the children played ball inside the municipal building.

Shannon and I shared a coffee shop date with cousins on our shared anniversary. 16 years for them, 15 for us!

anniversary gift and secret sister gift

Our family spent the weekend at Fair Haven district camp-out down Turkey Lane. We arrived in time for the cook-off, concocting main dishes from apple-cinnamon brats, Gouda cheese, couscous, and limes. The dessert bag contained gluten free pizza crust mix, gluten free raisin cookies, organic soy milk, and coffee packets.

The judges sampling the first team's meal

the winning plates

Annie's team's dishes

my team: Mediterranean meatballs and caramelized onions & peppers with Gouda lime couscous
(I forget the name of the dessert)... a cherry tart with coffee cream sauce

The big & little kids had great fun bouncing, jumping, falling, and bouncing again.

There were volleyball games, Frisbee golf games, and

photo scavenger hunt games. I was the photographer for this team. We had a list of 10 places to take a picture trying to be creative and keep with the camp-out theme: the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Fun times with friends, new & old!

Also, of course, an abundance of yummy food!

The Relatives Came

September 1-5 Shannon's sister and family came to Kansas. It had been 5 years since their last visit!

They came bearing birthday gifts!

Meg revealing a little doll stroller

Riley's funny singing chicken card was a hit

The men and boys spent most of the days replacing the door on the small shed, building a door for Shannon's shop on the big shed, and general outside work. 

They also went canoeing one afternoon with all the kiddos.

The older girls prepared a 3 course "mystery lunch" for everyone using leftover pizza, hot chicken sandwiches, carrots & celery, turnips, tomato slices, cucumbers & onions, apple slices, and peanut butter bars. 

filling our 1st course menu orders

the boys first plateful

Annie learned a new hairstyle from Kate.

Ginny and Caroline (with Mom's help) designed and sewed this knit dress for Meg out of hand -me-down t-shirts. Kate and Annie made a tiny orange skirt.

The girls prepared dinner, fed the children, and fixed a fancy table to celebrate Jay & Gentry's Anniversary.

Then provided entertainment after the meal!

Meg stealing the show

such flair!
(the outfits were more impressive than the acting)

another mealtime

We enjoyed our last evening in the front  yard with glow sticks Grandma sent out.

best friends

matching cousins

Goodbye! Don't wait so long to come again!

60th Diamond Anniversary

Joe and Lorraine have been married 60 years! Kents and Michaels had an evening celebration at the Holiday Inn Conference Room. They served the small crowd a delicious meal and asked some trivia questions about the Brubaker couple. We answered questions like "What was Joe's first car?, What is Lorraine's favorite candy?, How many harvests has Joe experienced?,and What is their wedding date?". The dessert was so cute!

We have been blessed to work with and live down the road from Joe & Lorraine. 10 years ago we moved our little family 22 hours west to experience Kansas farm life. Way back then, Joes gifted us their reward miles to fly home to Virginia for a family reunion. Riley has had lots of opportunity to ride and drive huge equipment. Here lately, Annie has been "helping" Lorraine clean, bake cookies, & then they embroider together. We appreciate their grandparently love and care for all of us.

Blessings to you...
May you have many more!