Gaerte Gang

Tracking Food Production for 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Gaertegang) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 14:57:00 +0000

I don't know about you, but my brain has been non-stop buzzing about all the excitement of Spring being right around the corner! I have successfully ordered all my seeds for our Butterfly Garden. I have ordered all our Veggie Garden seeds, except for the corn, bean, potatoes we plan to buy in bulk. I will also have to purchase the tomatoes, onions, and green pepper plants when spring planting time is here.

With all of this seed ordering and garden organization is going on, I had another thought. I want to be able to track our "Food Production" this year. I have seen it on other blogs...but it's usually right in the middle of harvest season that I remember it. (Here is your reminder!) So this year I am going to keep a log here on my blog of our food production. I think it will be a great way of keeping track of what veggies and fruits did well, and which ones did not. I'm excited about making a remarkably large garden this year and sharing the fun with the kids along the way. If your thinking of tracking you Homestead's Food Production now might be a good time to start! Whether your garden is small or an acre in size I think it's helpful to know what amount of food your producing. If nothing else it would be fun to know!
If you are reading this post in FB or on some sort of Reader you can go directly to my blog and check out the simple "List" I made along the left side of my page. For Blogger, I simply went into Add a Gadget, then clicked on List, Simply make your list to your liking and hit save. You can go back into this list and "Edit" each time you need to update each item.

This week I linked to Homestead Barn Hop!

2011 CHRISTMAS Memories!

noreply@blogger.com (Gaertegang) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 20:01:00 +0000

I know...I know...It's February, but I've finally got the pictures from Christmas that Hubby had stored on his phone. I'm warning you that there are MANY "captured moments" to follow!

I was REALLY THRILLED with the number of Christmas card we got this year!

All the Christmas loot.....

We always start by reading the Christmas story. Lance started reading....

Caleb finished up.

The kids bought gifts for each other this year. They all got to spend $1 on each person. They had such fun shopping for each other! Not nearly as much as they had getting the gifts from each other!

Many hugs followed as they thanked each other for their thoughtfulness.....this is a tradition we will be doing again and again for many years to come!

Now that Zach is reading he got his first Bible this year! It even has his name stamped on it!

Julia's bitty baby, Sarah, had a good Christmas! She got many new items to wear and play with!

My Hubby wrote me a sweet note explaining my gift to me.

So many great gifts, lots of fabulous food, and family time....

What more could you ask for? A few more pictures.....okay since you asked!

Wow, I'm not sure about you, but I feel such a relief now that we are all caught up again :)

Field Trip to REMC

noreply@blogger.com (Gaertegang) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 12:00:00 +0000

It's been such a long time since we have taken a field trip. We had the opportunity to go on one last week ,but the ice in the morning prevented us making it to the courthouse. We did make it to the afternoon REMC field trip. Here are a few that joined us......

We got a full tour of the building, garages, & warehouse.......

The kids loved checking out the inside of the trucks...they each have their own laptops!

After the tour, we got a very informative safety talk. The kids really liked all the zapping noises.

Our Homeschool group has a few more field trips planned and we are looking forward to them!

Another Addition to the Homestead.....

noreply@blogger.com (Gaertegang) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 01:23:00 +0000

Meet "CUB", a long dream of my Hubby's...is now finally a member of our little family...

We've searched for a long time for just the fit for what we needed. Thanks to my Husband's great ability at stalking Craigslist and all it has to offer. He found the ad, called and bargained a lower price, then went to get his little gem all in the same 12 hour period. To say he's excited to put this baby to work is an understatement! I'm excited for him to use it too!!

She's a 1947.

Just to sweeten the deal a little more, we also are getting the cultivators to go with the tractor as well! Spring can't get here fast enough...

Hint: I think Justin is going to go all out with the garden with this little at his disposal!

SNOW FUN!!

noreply@blogger.com (Gaertegang) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 12:00:00 +0000

We FINALLY got enough snow to break out the snowmobile and sleds! It didn't stay for long, but we seized the moment the other day!

Justin & Julia

When there aren't enough sleds for everyone...naturally you just hang on on ride on your belly. (Don't worry as soon as they got to the barn we hooked on a sled for him.)

I really like this funky camera angle....

Caleb riding backwards like a true rebel....

To stay nice and cozy I borrowed Justin's super warm hat..looks silly but ohhh baby is it warm!

Caleb again being a rebel and riding with no hands....can you guess who the dare devil in our family is?

Now Lance doesn't want to be "showed up" so he is snow surfing...

More Jake LOVE....

noreply@blogger.com (Gaertegang) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 13:29:00 +0000

It's been just over a week since we brought Jake home, he's doing really great!

Here is his little hut we made to keep him warm.

He likes to stay put under the toasty heat lamp.

We've started giving him just a little hay with his bottles....he LIKES it!

He's a cutie....we're totally smitten with him!

Celebrating......

noreply@blogger.com (Gaertegang) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 13:17:00 +0000

Last night we celebrated my sweet hubby's BIRTHday!

We love you honey....

Meet Jake......

noreply@blogger.com (Gaertegang) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 14:06:00 +0000

We welcomed a new member to The Gaertegang Homestead last night. His name is Jake and he was born right at the first of the year. His mama had twins and just can't produce enough milk. Uncle Nate decided, with our permission, that this might be a great project for the boys. They are all thrilled to have him!

Since we have ZERO knowledge about taking care of sheep. Uncle Nate was giving us a crash course in the easiest way to bottle feed him. Then it was time for them to try it out.......Lance was first.

I think Lance was saying here, "It's not as easy as it looks mom."

Caleb seemed to do very well...not much milk spraying when it was his turn. Caleb is planing to take this little guy for his 4-H project which makes it extra fun. (At least at this point)

Then Zach had a turn. Zach was VERY GOOD at spraying milk all over poor Jake. Although he really didn't seem to mind all that much. After feeding him, we loaded him up and brought him home, and he was cuddled like this for the next hour and half..........

Jake seemed to enjoy all the loving and attention. Julia enjoyed petting and talking to him. Although she didn't have any interest in feeding him yet. She just kept saying, "Ahhhhh he's so cute mom." Jake seemed to enjoy his first night with all his straw bedding and heat lamp to keep his warm. Hopefully I can get some better shots of just him and share them soon.

A special thanks to Uncle Nate & Aunt Christa for thinking of us and giving the kids a chance to experience this new adventure. We are hoping it provides them with some sweet memories of spending time out in the barn together.

A Glorious Way to Start the Day!

noreply@blogger.com (Gaertegang) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 12:00:00 +0000

Monday morning I started by running to town for my chiropractic appt. & I was greeted by this:

Breath taking isn't it? This is the very reason I carry my camera in my purse at all times....I don't want miss moments like this.....Ohhhhhhhhhhh I love it!

On Tuesday morning I was reading my Bible when Caleb came to join me at the table with his Bible (I didn't even ask him to)! He read while I finished up. Then a few minutes later Zach woke up. The boys suddenly disappeared then I came around the corner of my room and found this:

Zach has become a great & more confident reader in the last couple of weeks. Caleb & Zach cuddled in my bed reading his "reader books" while I made pancakes.

I don't know how tomorrow will start. I'm sure thankful for these past two morning being so dreamy!

My FIRST Quilting Retreat!

noreply@blogger.com (Gaertegang) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 18:06:00 +0000

Last Friday morning, my mother-in-law Jody & I hit the road and headed to Shipshewana for my first quilting retreat experience. Two days of NO cooking, NO cleaning, NO responsibility for anyone except myself.....no you understand why anyone would be crazy not to sign up :) The retreat was held at the beautiful Farmstead INN. With the gorgeous snow falling outside we set up shop and went to sewing.

In case you've never heard of not been to a retreat this is how is goes down. You pack up what seems like your entire sewing room, including all your tools, sewing machine, fabric, patterns, books. Yes it will look like your entire family is coming along with you because you have at the very least THREE large bags, along with your machine and other stuff!

Then you arrive to your own 8ft table....and it looks a little something like this.

There were 44 women who attended the retreat this year. I was the youngest who attended by about 20-25 years, but I certainly was the last one to care about that. There is so much advice and wisdom to soak up from these women, it was a complete joy to be there with them all!
Our first day we began around 3pm and called it a night around 10:30ish. This is what I accomplished!

Cloth Napkins

Baby Boy Quilt

This is one of my new books...and a total favorite. My napkins, and baby quilt patterns came from this book. Also the fabric line I used for the baby quilt was "Pure" also made by the authors of this beautiful book! I'm in LOVE with everything these girls do...they rock! Be sure to check out their blog here! Then you can hop over to their Esty shop and buy the book or any other their other goodies. All weekend long women were picking up this book and gasping at all the cute stuff in it...then declaring they needed to get it :)

Saturday morning I awoke at 5am...to excited to get sewing again, and my mind swirling with what I was going to make. I didn't waste any time as was back at my machine around 730ish. I started off using the scraps that I had from my first quilt (above) I showed you and whipping up this lovely little boys quilt as well! I LOVED that "Pure" fabric so much I hated to waste any of it. I do have to add one more dark boarder to the outside of this yet, but I'm thrilled!

The scraps make up the middle part then I had some more charms (5" squares) around the outside.

I was able to share with all the ladies my OBSESSION, LOVE, NEED for pre-cuts. Many of them had never used them....Ohhhhhhh girls! I think I convinced many of them to get on board when you want some instant gratification (or you want to save your arms and back from all that cutting) pre-cuts are the way to go. They keep teasing me about getting so much work done and they were still on their first project....but with pre-cuts it just makes things go so much faster!

As lunch time approached we took a field trip to the local quilt store....because that would just be crazy not to! We stopped for a quick lunch and the cafe nearby and this wonderful lady offered me a FREE pretzel. She has a buy one get one FREE button. I graciously accepted and shared it with my mother-in-law......YUM! Then like any responsible blogger would do...we took a picture together!

Next stop...the quilt shop!!

FABRIC!!

BUTTONS!!!

PRE-CUTS!!

BOOKS!!! What more could you ask for?

I walked out with nothing...now that is self control at it's finest :)

Looky what we found in the parking lot? A twin to my van...

My partners in crime for the weekend...I'm also in sewing bee with these lovely ladies plus a few others.

My precious mother in law...love her! She's the one who got me started with my love of fabric, quilting, and beautiful patterns.....

Cheryl...we teased her all weekend about her OCD and need to organize constantly. She was suppose to be doing a "random" scrappy pattern......hahaha

Cindy...ohhhh how we all LOVE her! She not only is super fun, but she is my long arm quilter! She does the most creative, wonderful, and gorgeous work on the long arm. She was also kind enough to show me a few things on my machine (again) to help me do some small machine quilting of my own.

The rest of my Saturday I worked on this stack of fabric...

I didn't get the quilt finished but did get 16 blocks sewn together and the top sewn together. I want to add more block plus a fun piano key boarder to it. So you'll have to wait to see the results in the weeks...or months to come.

On Sunday morning we had "Show & Tell" with all the ladies! Here are few I captured....

Wool Penny Rug (below)...just gorgeous!

Isn't this darling! It was for her granddaughter Stella!

Hand applique!

This one was all flannel! Sooooo soft!

These were hand towels my mother-in-law made!

This is the twin bed quilt my mil also made this weekend!

Great weekend...Thanks to my sweet Hubby who was excited for me to go, watched all the kids the whole time I was gone, and gave me a fabulous back/neck massage when I got home!

I can't hardly wait till next year!!

Plugging away...MORE THAN half way through the YEAR!!

noreply@blogger.com (Gaertegang) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 12:00:00 +0000

Right before our Christmas break we hit the halfway point of our school year! REALLY?? Some days are hard, some days are easy, some days are joyous, some days are just plain rough. At the root of it all, I wouldn't trade it....okay well maybe some days I would....but schooling my kids has been one of the best investments I can think of. I feel like we have finally reached a point with everyone's ages for things to be really fun and a "little more" ( I use the term loosely) under control. There is still lots of stuff going on at the same time with 4 different grades being taught. We have so far hit all the goals I've had in mind.
I caught some shot of the kids really concentrating on some things last week. LOVE IT!

Zach taking a math test.

Julia cutting out pieces to be glued.

Lance working on his math.

I didn't get one of Caleb for some reason....maybe next time.

I am wanting to get a few field trips on my calendar...let me know if you have any good ideas!

A Beautiful SMILE.....

noreply@blogger.com (Gaertegang) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 12:00:00 +0000

After about a year and a half Lance got his braces off this week....exciting stuff right? He thinks so.

This is BEFORE his appt:

This is AFTER his appt:

A little something funny: He looked at these pictures and said, "WOW! I have a lot of freckles!" I said, "Yes you do buddy, you can thank your dad for that." I was laughing so hard because the way he said it was like he was noticing it for the first time.

Lego Mania: Featuring Lance's Creations

noreply@blogger.com (Gaertegang) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 12:00:00 +0000

I think my kids are amazingly creative, what mama doesn't right? I want to remember these days of Lego's everywhere in their rooms, and constant creations they bring to show me. Hubby recommended that we start taking pictures of each Lego creation they make...genius!....shhhh don't tell him that! I wanted to start sharing them here with you all (my blog scrapbook).

Lance is our first LEGO Mania feature artist. He had this all set up for me the other day.

Some of these are from kits, some creations of their own. We have about a gazillion Lego's here between all three boys! They really started getting into them about two years ago or so.....and now that's all they ask for when it comes to gifts. I don't mind, it's great logically thinking, imagination, and engineering all in a toy! You can never go wrong with that winning combination.

BOYS Will Be BOYS!

noreply@blogger.com (Gaertegang) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 12:00:00 +0000

With this abnormally warm weather for January my "BOYS" were outside the entire day last Saturday. Some working, some playing, and some air soft shooting....good stuff!

Good Ole' Country Boys....

I think this was his victory pose...

My littlest man of the house, Zach, is just so excited to be included in the air soft wars.

We are trying to take advantage of this extra warmth and sunshine while it's still here. We are positive is will come to a halt sometime very soon! Then we will be "stuck inside" for the duration of winter.

New Lighting: One At A Time

noreply@blogger.com (Gaertegang) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 20:49:00 +0000

When we bought our Dream Home a year ago, one of the first things I noticed when touring the house was that all the lighting would have to GO! I'm not a fan of all the gold brass fixtures, never have been. At the same time they are not priority around here either because although they might not be my first, second, or third choice they do work and function just fine. Several people got us Lowe's gift cards for Christmas and I knew just what I would do with it......buy at least one light! (I actually bought a light, a new outdoor rug for our front door, several door stops, and a knob for my bedside table.) Just for the fun of it I thought I would show you a little before and after. Although I'm sure the pictures of the before & after just don't do them justice.....I found it hard to get a good shot. You'll get the general drift!

BEFORE: This is the light that hung in our entryway...all the way up in the loft.

(This actual picture is of the light above our table...twins cause I'm lucky like that.)

AFTER: I picked this up at a garage sale last summer $20

The picture just doesn't show it well, but it's a wonderful change!

BEFORE: This is the light that was right inside our front door.

AFTER: From Lowe's with Christmas GC...LOVE IT!!

My hope it that throughout the next year.....one by one, I will replaces the "old" lights/fans with lights more to my style. I'm not in a rush, but of course I won't oppose to someone dropping a healthy LOWE'S or HOME DEPOT gift card into my hand if they feel so lead. Since that happens....never....I'll just be patient and see what the next year brings in my finds at garage sales, auctions, and thrift stores.

Camera Drama + Quilting Progress....

noreply@blogger.com (Gaertegang) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 17:39:00 +0000

It was the night before Christmas (Eve)....and you know the rest of the story from all my prior whining (aka: pity party). THE GOOD NEWS is my Hubby was able to salvage my camera....for now. I am super happy to have it working again!!!! THE BAD NEWS: I has spend several hours researching and talking with others about my "new camera choice" and had myself all amped up for a new one. So I was a little let down when he got it running again! THE GOOD NEWS: He saved us lots of money....and bought himself some more time...smile! When we do decide to make a camera leap...I'm thinking the Cannon Eos Rebel 3i (pictured above) is calling my name. I even found a super great bundle deal that gets me 4 lens, case, tripod, and kinds of extras for a great price! I think it may be wrong that I get goose bumps just looking at it...giggle...giggle!

Onto the quilting progress.......Here is Miss Julia posing before we headed into a newer quilt shop I had not yet been too. She was just as excited as I was to go and check it out! FUNNY GIRL!

This shop is an OLD Victorian house they have restored and turned into a gorgeous...and packed FULL quilt store. Fabric from floor to ceiling...quilts on the ceilings, walls, and anywhere else they can cram them! They were having a big sale that day, so it made it hard to snap many pictures...

MY happy SHOPPING buddy!

HereI am very happy to report I have now finished my HEXAGON quilt!!! I absolutely LOVE it! The colors...the patttern......LOVE IT! I fear the picture of it here on my design wall just doesn't do it much justice!

I was also able to finish up several other quilts and send them off to my long arm quilting lady. I'll have to share those with you when they return.

This little quilt I whipped up quickly with 5" charm squares. Some of this fabric was left over from the bed quilt I made for the master bedroom before we moved in.

My latest quilt completion is my first T-Shirt quilt. I had been saving up shirts for a little while in preparation for such a project. This really went together SUPER QUICK!It will make a nice lap quilt to cuddle up with during the cold months ahead. I still need to machine quilt it....

At the new fabric store I was able to find 1/2 yard cuts of this soccer fabric in a bin for $1.95 each! PERFECT, RIGHT!!!

I had never even thought about using the numbers on the back of the shirts in this quilt, but once I put them up on the design wall I really liked them in it! I love HAPPY ACCIDENTS!

That's all my treasures for now! Ohhhh and by the way I need to clear the air here a bit. I have had several people call me things like "Super woman...Amazingly productive...and other things that make me giggle insanely! You all do realize that #1: last week we were on break #2 I made the time to quilt & skipped the work #3 my children are FINALLY to the age that I can work on a project with out having to watch them like a hawk every second. (I went MANY MANY MANY years without doing anything hobby related! It just wasn't a fitting season for me to try to quilt with so many littles to care for and no "real space" to work on my projects.) #4 My hubby was home all week....so if they needed something they asked Daddy! I just wanted to be sure that you all don't have these super CRAZY ideas of me being.....well I don't know what. I'm just a mama who is trying to enjoy and embrace this season of life that I can have a hobby I enjoy, and have a space to do it in (and then close the door behind me!) Hang in there if your still in the toddler stage of life, (it's such a precious time and it's gonna be gone before you know it!) your time will once again come for you to enjoy hobbies again on a more regular basis. I promise it will happen. Okay I feel better now that we have that all cleared up!

Happy Thursday....it's almost the weekend again!

Holiday Happenings....

noreply@blogger.com (Gaertegang) — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 19:24:00 +0000

The night before Christmas Eve my camera decided to take a poop on me! It's been a great little camera for 4.5 years...but really....why did it choose Christmas time to die? So I don't have any photos to share just yet..I have to download them from Hubby's IPhone...sometime. I also have been able to accomplish some fun things over our break...but I can't show you because of my camera situation. Can you see how this not having a camera is killing ME!! I take pictures almost every single day.....I'm feel like an addict having withdrawal (or at least I'm imagining it)! All this whining to say I'm shopping around for people's opinions on what camera they have/love and would recommend. At this point I am thinking of make the leap to an SLR camera. I would love to hear any and all opinions on what brands you LOVE, and which ones to stay away from......I'm ALL EARS...spill it!

In the mean time if you need me I'll be ~~browsing~~ obsessing over websites and reading reviews.

Our New Tradition in the School Room!

noreply@blogger.com (Gaertegang) — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 12:00:00 +0000

I saw this idea several years ago, but always after December is already almost over. I was thankful that I ran across it this year at the end of November. We wrapped up all books to do with winter/Christmas and put them under our little tree in the school room. Each day we select a new book to read aloud. One "student" gets to pick the book, another gets to unwrap it, then yet another gets to remove a link on our "Number of Days till Christmas" chain. I usually read aloud the books, but this week I have fighting off a chest cold and sore throat so Lance has taken over at the times he has been needed.

Our little tree with all our books

Our Number of Days till Christmas Chain

Flat Stanley Christmas Adventure was our first book

We sat ~~around the table~~ in our own coffee shop drinking hot chocolate while reading this book.

Lance reading a Magic Tree House book to us all

We LOVE reading at our house........

Random Picture Taking......

noreply@blogger.com (Gaertegang) — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 16:48:00 +0000

I love capturing random pictures of the kids...some posed...some not. Although, because I take their picture constantly as soon as they see the camera they automatically pose in some sort of fashion.

The first photo is posed by everyone except Lance......he was happy...really!

See I told ya....that's better.

Lance working away at his math....

Julia snuggling up to her pink kitty

Zach just chilling by the Christmas tree

Since I am always taking their pictures, Julia likes to grab the camera and take mine. Usually she take pictures when I am in sweat pants, hair looks totally awesome (not)! I thought I'd post one that didn't scare you all instead.

Justin and Caleb hanging out

The kids performed their CHRISTmas program at church...Zach made a cute shepherd (I'm completely biased....and not afraid to admit it.)

Miss Julia all dressed up in her new CHRISTmas dress.

Moments like this are what carry you through all the referee work you have to do as mama!

Cuddling kitties....always a favorite past time around here.

By the time the new year arrives I think we all feel a bit like this......

Gingerbread House Construction

noreply@blogger.com (Gaertegang) — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 16:14:00 +0000

The Christmas season is upon us and my ~~kids~~ students are just as excited as any for Christmas break! I decided this would a good time to take a little break for all the book work and insert some seasonal fun into the day. So last week we began construction.....Gingerbread House Construction that is. We have great fun! Each student got a section to decorate.

This was Zach's side of the house.

This was Julia side....

Caleb & Lance each had a top section so they both came up with how to decorate the top, so they would match. I was really impressed with what they came up with.

Here she is in all her glory... I think this will be a tradition we will do each year now. I bought the whole kit for $10 and I believe I got a great return on my money.

The kids and I totally loved the whole process.

Along with driving around one night to look at Christmas lights, unwrapping a new Christmas book each day, our Christmas chain (counting down the days till the 25th), we will also add making a gingerbread house to our tradition list.

Does your family have any traditions you do each year at this time?

Trash to Treasure X TWO...yet again!

noreply@blogger.com (Gaertegang) — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 12:00:00 +0000

We were in need of two bedside tables in our Master Suite. The two VERY short tables we were using just weren't cutting it, but I really didn't feel like shelling out any money to go buy something new. So I decided to go shopping here at my own home.....I do this often...smile!

These two pieces are what I came up with:

!0 purchase from a late fall barn sale.I was going to use it on the covered porch, but now I have found a new use for it! A missing drawer on top was fine with me, I hope to find a cute wire basket to put into that spot. Below that is an actual drawer..although I need to score a cute glass knob for it.

This second piece is something I got when my grandpa recently passed away. It used to sit beside their bed when my grandma was still living and he continue to use it as a bedside table as well. It is an old piece, but not in super great shape. I didn't feel guilty giving it a "make-over" and making it my own.

Here is how they look after sanding, priming, painting, more sanding, and some poly to protect them:

I'm loving how they turned out and looking forward to using them for many years!

Total Makeover for TWO bedside tables: $10...all the materials I needed I had on hand

SUNshine!

noreply@blogger.com (Gaertegang) — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 12:00:00 +0000

After all that wonderful white stuff fell....the next day was so pretty......I captured a few shots!

Sunrise: I never grow tired of a beautiful sunrise

Such a gorgeous BLUE sky with the white contrast...LOVE IT!

Another sunrise picture...I love the unique beauty winter provides.

We wish YOU a MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

noreply@blogger.com (Gaertegang) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 14:53:00 +0000

I decided to skip Christmas cards this year...part due to laziness, part due to the lack of preparation of getting a good picture session done. Here is a shot that was quickly taken at my in-laws house. In any case, we do wish you all a very merry HOLIDAY SEASON! I don't know about your household, but ours is really getting excited for all the celebration of OUR SAVIOR'S BIRTH!

I thought I had all my shopping done, but discovered I need to pick up a few more things. I trust all your last efforts are in full swing as well. With all the things to cross off your list, remember to really schedule in some time to just relax and ENJOY the season and all it truly represents.

Merry CHRISTmas!

ENJOYING the Splendor of the Season...

noreply@blogger.com (Gaertegang) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 12:00:00 +0000

We got our first big snow of the year last week......and boy did we enjoy it!!

Caleb pushing Lance to get him started on the snow board.

And he's off....He was so excited to get out and play in the snow that he forgot his snowpants!

Beautiful blanket of snow!!

It was snowing so hard, which such huge flakes I just stood at the window and watched for long periods of time....

I love it when the heavy snow sticks to the branches, making everything so pretty.

All together, I think we had between 6-8 inches.....too bad it's all melted now...but winter hasn't even officially began. I hope there is much more to come!

Christmas Traditions....

noreply@blogger.com (Gaertegang) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 20:34:00 +0000

One of things that we have done for several years with my family is go look at Christmas lights...although we sometimes skip a year in between outings, we always had fun when we go!

There are so many times our "Big ole RED bus" comes in handy and this is one of them! This is the back seat view.......aren't they are so cute? (Uncle Nate look you made the blog...again!)

My sister and I took the front seats.....good times!