Aimee's Bear!

Aimee had a bear license and got a bear tonight! I'm glad. There are so many around the area. Anyway, she wanted her family to see it so she asked me to post it!

Spring!

It's spring and that means beaver trapping. Isaac is enjoying having a willing, excited helper this year!! Pretty impressive! Isaac also took a couple of guys out trapping and camping.

This was taken a couple of weeks ago. Not good!  Thankfully the mud has dried up and roads are once again passable. 

It's the third year that I've been working on our courtyard. I'm not sure it will ever get done! I laid out landscaping blocks this last week. They looked so nice and even and I was so sore! Now some of the blocks have started coming up. I'll have to have another go at it and do some repair work. After that we will have to enjoy the uneveness if it happens again. I do enjoy the work outside though and we're already sitting on the chairs and glider dreaming about the flowers that we need to fill the extra spaces with!

We had a pile of rocks in the yard so Arthur and Matthias so graciously moved them in the courtyard area, under the eaves. Very cheap landscaping material with some of them having a lot of "character" to them.

When we cut a tree down to build our addition a few years back, we found this root growing in the shape of a cross.

Enjoy your week everyone! Don't forget to honor your mother this weekend, and don't forget that it's really all about the cross!

On the Farm

Everyday there's another new calf, or two, or a whole bunch! Isaac and Aimee have been helping out by tagging and vaccinating them. I love how trusting  the calves are of Isaac. The mothers not so much! Sometimes it gets downright dangerous. Isaac has been known to pull a calf under a trailer or into the truck to keep the mama cow away.

Cute, aren't they!

Have a wonderful day enjoying the blessings God sends your way!

Quick Post - For Lack of a Better Title

Things have been busy enough around here that it makes it hard to post.  I wanted to let you know what we've been up to though.  Last Sunday we gave Isaac and Aimee an open house for those that couldn't make it to the SD wedding.  We used some of the decorations that they used at the wedding.  Isaac and Aimee made it back from their "down south"  honeymoon and are settling in their house while Silas and Karen are settling in their house. 

Naomi came by with her children and we just had to get a picture with little Julia.  She is so sweet and looks  a little like little Aaron.

Arthur and Isaac shipped their fall calves yesterday.  It sounds easy but it took a few days to bring them home, separate them from the rest of the herd, and vaccinate them. Then a semi came and loaded them two levels high and brought them to the auction.  While the guys, and Aimee went, we girls stayed home and enjoyed watching it online. 

Well, that's it for now.  Have a great weekend wherever God has placed you!  Don't forget that you are where you are for a reason!

The Wedding!

Isaac and Aimee had a beautiful wedding on Saturday.  They told me to share a few pictures, and they are not the greatest pictures because I took them and my camera is not good :(  Mr. M. took Aimee down the aisle to give her away.  

Aimee and Isaac listening to Grandpa K. during the service. 

Aimee's side of the family and Isaac's side of the family.  A note of interest is that Isaac and Aimee will have five new nieces or nephews between the two families in the next few months!   

Signing the marriage licence. 

The happy couple!  Everything was so nice and decorated just perfect.  The food and cake were so good as was the fellowship with family and friends.  I can't wait to see Isaac in his husband role :) and am looking forward to seeing what God does with this awesome young couple!

We will be having an open house for them November 8th, from 2-5 at our house.  Anyone is welcome to come and this is your invitation!  If you are, and aren't from our church or a family member, give us a heads up that you're coming so we can look forward to seeing you!

Crazy Busy Week

I forgot to add this picture at the end so I'll put it on the top. Arthur took David out duck and goose hunting for his birthday.  That's one happy boy!

It has and is going to be a really crazy week around here!
First - Isaac and Aimee get married in five days!!! We are excited!!!

There's lots to do to get everyone ready for a wedding!
We've had some colds ;(  Pretty much everyone except Isaac!We're finishing up the garden.  I made four gallons and one crock full of sauerkraut. I can't wait for it to be done! (Added carrots to one and bell peppers to another.)
Miriam is digging and washing carrots, and there's a ton of them!
The guys are working on moving all the cattle home so they can vaccinate them before shipping them in a couple of weeks.
We're trying to clean up the maze and figure out what to do with all the stuff!
Silas is making plans to get his house ready, which isn't ready for him to work on, so they can move into their house, so Isaac will have his house to live in! If that makes sense!  Good thing these guys, and gals, are not the kind to worry!
So,
if you think of us, please pray
That Isaac wouldn't get sick!
For Aimee's family as they do all the last minute wedding prep!
That the wedding would be a blessing as Isaac and Aimee start their married life together! 
Safety for the guys moving cattle around!
For Cora and Michael who also have a wedding this Saturday!

Corn Maze, Hunting, Ministry (Not in that Order!)

Not too long ago, I'm losing track of days, Isaac took Joshua and Aimee with him up to Beardmore, Ontario to help the Mikesh family. Mainly they helped reside the church Mr. Mikesh preaches in.

Okay, these pictures are out of order. While they were up at Beardmore a man took them out on his commercial fishing boat.   Awe, cute aren't they :)  (I bet Aimee smiled when she read that! No, I don't really bet, but you know what I mean!)

Here's Joshua and Isaac putting up siding.

It wasn't just our guys up there, there were a whole group of men that all met up there and they also helped with the siding, putting up new stairs, painted, and did some work inside the church as well.

Joshua measuring siding. Sorry that some of these are blurry.

A certain someone wanted his picture on our blog!

Way up high!  Isaac must be waiting for siding or something?

Joshua and Isaac doing some finish up work.

Aimee helped out with cooking, and other jobs that Mrs. Mikesh had for her.

Mr. Mikesh and some of his kids out on the boat.

And another one of the boat.

Back at home, Arthur and Josh took some time to go goose hunting. Josh has been staying with us for almost three months now.  We're going to miss him when he leaves ;(  We would adopt him but somehow I don't think Arthur's sister and her husband would go along with that!  Thank you for sharing him!!!

At the maze, we just had our largest day ever with over 600 people! That doesn't count family, church people, those we missed because it was just too busy to keep tract, and season pass people. It was crazy but everything went relatively smooth. We used to wonder if we could handle 200 people in a day!  No one seemed like they were in a hurry to go home, so that must be a good sign that they weren't as stressed out as I was!!

It was our special Pumpkin Weekend and one of the things we did was have a pumpkin smash.  Arthur and Josh would throw pumpkin from the top of the bale mountain and the first one who grabbed the stem from the smashed pumpkin got some maze money to spend.  It was probably one of the most fun things we've done as far as extra activities.

Arthur also took Daniel out goose hunting for his birthday.  Daniel was pretty tickled with the geese they got and his canoe ride out on the lake.

Back to the maze.  I thought I'd show you a few things in the store.  I've made a lot of these notekeepers.  They are special DVD type cases without the hub in them .  They have a notebook, sticky notes, and a pen that all match in them.  I love making them and embellishing them and will show you the insides of some of them when I get time.

The girls have been kept busy making jar mixes, and we sell a lot of these.  Favorite kind?  Probably the Cranberry Hootycreek ones!  Someday I'll post the recipe.  You can find it online though if you look.

Hosanna and Priscilla embroider dishtowels to sell.  Hey, if they don't sell, mine are really grungy so I'll buy them off of my girls! :)

And, at the end of this long picture post, is a picture of  Rachel and Hosanna in the concession stand.  We could not do the maze without such fantastic workers!!!!  Hosanna has worked very long days fixing and serving the hot food, in addition to spending hours and hours making popcorn balls at home.  Miriam tirelessly works making water balloons, and running nonstop errands for those at the maze (Miriam, we need more ice, Miriam, we're almost out of water balloons, Miriam, can you make some more popcorn balls for me, Miriam, we need more $1's, Miriam, can you bring more pretzels over, Miriam, run to town and get more pop, quick!, etc), while trying to get our garden processed at the same time.  Priscilla makes the dipped pretzels and those fantastic cookie dough brownies, as well as helps clean and works full time on weeekends. Not to mention all of them spend hours each week cleaning the maze to get it ready for the next weekend or between groups.  I am so grateful for their help as well as the other workers. This is going to be our "group" week with 11 groups during the week and weekend.  Please pray for us that we can finish well, with a smile on our face, for good weather, safety of those that come, and for the tracts that get passed out.

Well, I wanted to get you all caught up on what's going on around here.  It will be a busy week so we'll update you when time is available!  Did I mention there's a lot of fall farm work to get done? :)
 Have a great day and keep giving God the glory for the great things He has done!

The Bear

Yesterday was the first day of bear hunting season.  Isaac was heading out to bait the bear and then to sit down and wait for him to come along.  When he got out to the woods, the bear was already waiting at his bait pile, so, he got it, and within an hour was home again.  Not the biggest around, but a nice bear.

Isaac managed to find a girl that doesn't mind cutting up bear meat, so that's what they did this morning.  Then, Aimee proceeded to clean out Isaac's truck.  I don't think Isaac is ever going to let this girl out of his sight again!! :)

Miriam and Aimee have also been busy canning tomatoes.  Pot after pot. Will sure taste good this winter in soups or the salsa with nachos!

Meanwhile, Priscilla has been working on the Bible Bee, running errands, and general house stuff. Hosanna has been spending her days out on the tractor baling hay while the sun shines.  The guys are all out working with hay.  I'm wondering how I got so blessed as to have such capable girls that I'm not needed in the kitchen!  I think I'll go take a nap.
 Zzzzz. ;)

Mike, Corn Maze, Isaac, Aimee, and Stuff!

Isn't Mike handsome! We'll he's eating so his face is a little stuffed.  Anyway, a few days ago, Mike ran in front of Arthur who was on a tractor, pulling a baler, and a hay wagon.  Yup, Mike was run over by all three! Arthur felt super bad.  It was evening so we decided to let him rest the night, and maybe take him to the vet the next day if need be.  We knew he probably didn't have any broken bones because he ran home, quickly.  Well, he survived the night, because we were all praying for him I'm sure.  He stayed in pretty much one spot for about three days only getting up to eat and run outside, and to chase cats.  Today is the first day he's seemed back to normal.  Running, eating, and following Arthur around like normal.  It's nice to know God cares about our pets too!

Our church had a bridal shower for Aimee, and Karen brought little Samuel Paul out for the first time.  Here's a couple of his great, great aunts checking him out, and a bunch of girls eager for a chance to hold him!

Lori gave a devotional about communication, Priscilla and Hosanna had everyone play a "Get to know Aimee" game and a couples matching game.  Rebekah and the Mitton family made a nice lunch and then Aimee opened a bunch of gifts.

Jubilee and Cilla had the same hairclip in :)  Rebekah sells  clips like this and you can find out more on their blog and her facebook page.

It was a good weekend over at the corn maze.  Two down, six more to go!  It's been SO nice having not only Hosanna home this year, but Aimee and Joshua helping!  I actually got to stay home during the maze!  Something I rarely get to do!  That'll change when things get busier.

Big dino got moved to the maze entrance.  I can't imagine how many pictures have been snapped by him!

The duck races have been a HUGE hit, especially with the younger ones.  The hot weather made it popular too.  Little Aaron had fun grabbing Esther's duck before he was suppose to!

The older girls take turns working in the Granary.  This day, it was Elizabeth working.  Best selling item?  Probably the ring pops sitting on the counter, or maybe the hair bows.

I have no idea what they were laughing about!

Isaac and Aimee and Joshua went through the maze.  Joshua and Ronnie also helped "corn cop".  It's kind of funny how you can size people up and know when there's going to be trouble and it's nice having some guys to walk around and stop anything from happening!

Hosanna and Priscilla have been doing the food prep.  Here's a soft cinnamon and sugar pretzel with frosting to dip it in!  Mmm!  The salted with cheese sauce sell better though!

And today, Isaac and Aimee got some garden produce from Grandma K.'s garden.  Isaac was a little embarrassed to be seen snipping beans while the other guys were out working! :)

So, it's was a busy weekend but enjoyable one.  Enjoy your evening everyone!